WHETHER it’s your first set of wheels or the dream car you’ve been saving up for, a lot of people become attached to their vehicles.
A man who has owned the same Ford Capri since 1974 says the car is now “part of the family”.
David Doyle purchased his 1969 Ford Capri secondhand for £625 in 1974[/caption]
David Doyle, who lives in Pyne near Exeter, originally bought the 1969 Capri second-hand for £625 he told the BBC.
He has since spent more than £40,000 restoring it to “better than factory” condition.
In 2012, David even considered scrapping the beloved car over its poor condition.
However, he credits his late wife Kath for persuading him to keep it and restore it.
He nicknamed the car Bessie, and explained how it contains “quite powerful memories for people” at classic car shows.
In 1974, David swapped out his two-seater Austin Healey Sprite for a more family-friendly car as his wife was expecting their first child.
He pointed out how young children and two-seat sports cars “don’t go well together”.
However, David was then faced with the issue of squeezing a pram into the Capri.
He recalled how he put the top of the pram in the back seat “with no seatbelt on”.
David joked how his daughter probably developed a bad neck during her time “rolling around” in the car as an infant.
Originally from London, he would take the car for drives around Heathrow Airport’s tunnels back in the day.
He would tell his wife he was “popping out for half an hour” and drive through the tunnels with the windows down to listen to the engine.
If he wanted to “add a bit of throttle”, David would “drift the back end out”.
However, nowadays he says he treat the car with “the utmost respect”, calling her “an old lady”.
After being driven daily since the day he purchased it, the car eventually broke down in 1991, eventually being restored in 2012.
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David said he was “forever indebted” to his wife for the “amazing vision” she had for the classic car.
It was “taken back to a shell” and fully restored over a two year period.
The car enthusiast said that the Capri was “probably in better condition” than the day it “left the factory in 1969”.
As well as holding fond family memories, the car has also helped David connect with people.
He explained how “retired guys” often approach him to tell him about working in factories that supplied parts for the car.
David described how people “light up” when they see the Capri and share their stories.
He revealed how old cars often have “this connection in evoking quite powerful memories for people”.
Acknowledging that the Capri is “an inanimate object” he said it is also “part of the family”.
David explained that his classic car has helped him connect with others at car shows[/caption]
