Dad cars: what's the best car your dad's ever had?

BMW 5 Series (E34)

Richard Ingram – Reviews editor

My dad’s list of anonymous three-box saloons stretches longer than my arm. He’s had countless BMWs, Volvos and even the odd Jaguar – and in my early days he proudly paraded around in a bright white Vauxhall Carlton.

But one of my earliest motoring memories is his dark grey E34-shape BMW 5 Series. It was his first Beemer, and was undoubtedly the car that got me hooked on the Bavarian brand. So much so, I now own a tatty square-light ’76 BMW 2002.

Despite being the relatively lowly 520i, I can still remember the sound that silky straight-six made under full throttle. It was so smooth, in fact, that my dad regularly reminds me of its powers to send me to sleep after only a few miles. They just don’t make them like the used to…

Renault 19

Alex Ingram – Staff writer

One of the first cars I remember my Dad owning was an H-plate Renault 19 Prima in Bleu Ozone (pale metallic blue, to you and me). It isn’t his favourite because it was the fastest or best-equipped. It’s because it was indestructible.

• 120 years of Renault history: classic french cars driven

From memory, the 1.4-litre ‘Energy’ petrol spent its entire Ingram tenure being ruthlessly thrashed, but it never complained. A Ford Escort driver rear-ended it, ruining the Ford’s bumper, yet the 19 didn’t have a scratch. Just before the 100,000-mile mark, Dad traded it for a brand new Mk1 Megane. Within six months it had needed two new gearboxes... 

Click onto page six for more of the best cars our dads have owned...