My name is Peter Leech and I have been interested in the design of cars since I was a teenager. My other hobby is using photography to create artistic images. I have finally got round to bringing these two interests together to produce a website.
My youthful life as a car owner began with a Standard Super 10 - not the hottest of cars, even in the 1960s. But as a teenager still at school it was really special to me. It cost me a fortune in wages from my part time job in a factory whilst studying at the same time for A levels. I can still remember the days of winding up the engine with a starting handle because the starter had gone and I had no money to replace anything that went wrong.
I had driven other cars before the Standard. When learning,
I alternated between the Driving Instructor's Triumph Herald and a family friends Vauxhall Victor.
The first one was tiny. It had a turning circle of about 18 inches and a wiggly gear change in the narrow gap between the two front seats. Then I would go into the Vauxhall. This was completely different. It had a big wide bench seat at the front. That fit 3 people easily.
It also meant that the gear stick had to be replaced onto the steering wheel. It had just the three gears whereas the Herald had four. How I ever passed my test I will never know.
After I went to University I let the Standard go. Instead when I finished I bought a Singer Gazelle IIIC. I have to say that compared to the Standard 10 ( even a Super one ") it was pure luxury. American styling, with small tail fins it felt like I was in a really posh motor. To be honest I hadn't had it long when I got married. We went to live in Leeds and driving over the M6 it started to make a strange noise. When we got back I got my brother ( a mechanic ) to take a look and it turns out that the half shaft had completely gone. He said he would fix it but after about a year standing on bricks outside my parent's house I just gave up and it went for parts.
Married life and living in Leeds saw me get a Mini. Well it was actually two Minis. The first one looked fantastic and I paid my money and drove off. We hadn't got the 8 miles home before it felt like my wife must have put on at least 6 stone as the car was leaning really badly on her side. Mini owners would know that the people I bought it from had got the hydrogas suspension pumped up before I went to look at it. never to be twice bitten I got my money back and bought another. That one turned out to be a lovely car for a young couple.
After a few years of working I felt ready to move upmarket. We went to see what was on offer. We came across a lovely car salesmen who had just the car for us. It was an MGB GT. Bright blue and lovely and shiny. We had some doubts about whether our fully grown golden Labrador would get in there. The salesman assured us that this was what the dog shelf was for. That was really the start of finding out about how to get ripped on in the car industry. I learnt a lot then and not surprisingly we never bought that lovely bright blue MGB GT.
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