Were we once as fond of our horses as we seem today to be fond of our cars? I suppose one thing was that 80 or more years ago few of us could afford to own horses so we simply did not have the opportunity to expend that emotion on a means of transport.
But we all have a car and often cars and we become more or less attached to them because of the freedom and mobility they give us. I've never been one to name my cars, but my former wife and several of her friends and relations did so quite regularly.
When I first went to England in 1963 I bought an Austin Mini ute from my cousin who was just then returning to Australia. I drove it around the UK for the couple of years I was there and then had it shipped back here for the princely sum of 80 pounds.
A couple of years later when I managed a farm at Rose River between Mount Buller and Mount Buffalo, in its toughest role I used it to cart four or five cans of cream at a time to a Milawa milk truck pick up point five or six kilometres away. I believe it was the only mini ute in Australia, but in the mid 1970s it simply wore out and my father, using a bulldozer, buried it on his farm east of Benalla.
While that was a case of found and lost, a 1984 Mazda coupe I bought from my former wife when we split up in the early 1990's reversed that concept at one stage.
I was living in a flat in Sydney's Paddington around the turn of the millennium and was parking the Mazda most of the time in a slightly off street space at the rear of the flat.
Over a couple of years it was so regularly broken into that eventually I left it unlocked to avoid having windows broken, as thieves usually gained access to it using a steel bar or rock. So while I lost a few things I certainly didn't find them again.
In the meantime I was every four or five weekends driving the Mazda 1300km or so to see family and friends around Benalla. As well, during the week, I was using it to deliver newspapers around Paddington.
But one morning thieves had removed the whole car. I duly reported the matter to the police thinking that would be the last I would see of it.
However, just a couple of days later Kings Cross police station rang to say they had spotted my car parked illegally in one of their residential streets, only a couple of kilometres from Paddington.
So I walked over to the address given me by the police and found the car sort of skewed in towards the kerb with its doors slightly open. Apart from a flat battery it was entirely undamaged.
After some jumper lead assistance from the NRMA, I drove it home and continued to enjoy its company for another decade or so. By about 2012 it had clocked up well over 500,000 km and I sadly delivered the old faithful to a mechanic friend for wrecking. In that 500,000 km the car had been utterly reliable. I think for most of us non petrol head that is really all we want.
So, I suppose for me with both the Austin and the Mazda, it was more a case of found and found than lost and found. They were two great cars to which I became much more attached than all but one of the horses I have ever ridden.
In the last week or two I have seen an absolutely pristine 1984 four door Mazda 626 for sale at the Lowen Lane wreckers. It has 161,000 km on the clock and a sign which says "$600, neg",
Anyone for a top second hand run about?
But we all have a car and often cars and we become more or less attached to them because of the freedom and mobility they give us. I've never been one to name my cars, but my former wife and several of her friends and relations did so quite regularly.
When I first went to England in 1963 I bought an Austin Mini ute from my cousin who was just then returning to Australia. I drove it around the UK for the couple of years I was there and then had it shipped back here for the princely sum of 80 pounds.
A couple of years later when I managed a farm at Rose River between Mount Buller and Mount Buffalo, in its toughest role I used it to cart four or five cans of cream at a time to a Milawa milk truck pick up point five or six kilometres away. I believe it was the only mini ute in Australia, but in the mid 1970s it simply wore out and my father, using a bulldozer, buried it on his farm east of Benalla.
While that was a case of found and lost, a 1984 Mazda coupe I bought from my former wife when we split up in the early 1990's reversed that concept at one stage.
I was living in a flat in Sydney's Paddington around the turn of the millennium and was parking the Mazda most of the time in a slightly off street space at the rear of the flat.
Over a couple of years it was so regularly broken into that eventually I left it unlocked to avoid having windows broken, as thieves usually gained access to it using a steel bar or rock. So while I lost a few things I certainly didn't find them again.
In the meantime I was every four or five weekends driving the Mazda 1300km or so to see family and friends around Benalla. As well, during the week, I was using it to deliver newspapers around Paddington.
But one morning thieves had removed the whole car. I duly reported the matter to the police thinking that would be the last I would see of it.
However, just a couple of days later Kings Cross police station rang to say they had spotted my car parked illegally in one of their residential streets, only a couple of kilometres from Paddington.
So I walked over to the address given me by the police and found the car sort of skewed in towards the kerb with its doors slightly open. Apart from a flat battery it was entirely undamaged.
After some jumper lead assistance from the NRMA, I drove it home and continued to enjoy its company for another decade or so. By about 2012 it had clocked up well over 500,000 km and I sadly delivered the old faithful to a mechanic friend for wrecking. In that 500,000 km the car had been utterly reliable. I think for most of us non petrol head that is really all we want.
So, I suppose for me with both the Austin and the Mazda, it was more a case of found and found than lost and found. They were two great cars to which I became much more attached than all but one of the horses I have ever ridden.
In the last week or two I have seen an absolutely pristine 1984 four door Mazda 626 for sale at the Lowen Lane wreckers. It has 161,000 km on the clock and a sign which says "$600, neg",
Anyone for a top second hand run about?
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