Sam's 2nd Post - My History of Cars

Below is the brief history of cars in my family.

The first car to enter the Knowles household was a 1990s Holden Commodore station-wagon pictured below. This facilitated my Dad's business at the time, serving as an incredibly reliable vehicle. A lot of my childhood memories involve this car - just looking at the picture brings nostalgia. Obviously, the car is nothing fancy, just a sturdy, practical vehicle for getting from A to B.

In 2001 my parents split up. With my Dad hanging onto the station wagon, my Mum needed a cheap, second-hand car to make the 40 minute commute to work/school. She found this 1960s Volvo and decided to give it a shot. As the decade indicates, this car was ANCIENT. In an attempt to make it more hospitable we did up the seats and put in a new CD player, likely doubling the car's value! In fact, if a thief were to break into the car (of which there were many ways) the CD player would unquestionably be the only thing worth stealing. Unsurprisingly, though, the car had incredible charm and while we'd never take it back, it remains as one of our favourites of all time.

In 2003, we parted ways with the old Volvo and upgraded to a Holden Astra. By far and away, the best upgrade the car provided was air-conditioning and heating, meaning that we no longer battled dehydration in the summer and hypothermia in the winter. While undoubtedly an improvement on the last car functionally, it lacked character and seemed to epitomise the notion of a pragmatic car whose sole purpose is that of a tool. Needless to say, I neither miss this car nor despised having it - it was merely just there.

In 2008, my Mum bought the car which she still drives to this day. It's a Subaru Impreza hatchback.

This is the car which I predominantly learned to drive on, and with my limited experience driving other cars, it seems incredibly easy to navigate. From a functional perspective it fits the bill, with a spacious interior and all aspects you'd expect from a modern car. To top it off it's had only minimal mechanical issues in the 6 years it's been on the road.
Now, as we all remember, I'm not a car person. 100, 200, or 300 horsepower means absolutely nothing to me (are those even standard denominations!?). However, when I put my foot down on the accelerator, the engine roars and the car moves quickly... very quickly. It doesn't take any mechanical know-how to realise that going fast is fun. This car incorporates the sheer power and ferocity seen from WRX drivers (read: tryhards ;)) into a modest and practical vehicle.

This concludes my chronological history of cars! My next post will be about selling of a written-off vehicle!