I started learning to drive in one of these - shipped back to the U.K. by my father who had been serving in Washington - of course it was left hand drive. 1956 Plymouth Suburban (ours was black with a white roof).
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No Holdens were locally owned but eventually taken over my General Motors. Holdens v Falcons (Ford) were huge competitors and formed the backbone of our motor sport.
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We had our own versions of “tank tanks” but there were some US imports around I remember a few mother had a Mercury.
We did used to get The Bathurst on terrestrial British telly.
They tried putting Murray Walker commentary on it for some reason until everyone realised the Australian guys were much better!!! 
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Ah the great race, hasn’t been the same since both Holden (Commodore) and Ford (Falcons) stopped production. We now get Camaros and Mustangs, just doesn’t feel right.
Speaking of Bathurst it’s a spectacular race track they did try British sedan racing but it failed miserably.
It had a 302 cu in v8 in a very light car.
Passed my test anyway…Maverick Grabber
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Looks very similar to a 1956 Chevrolet.
I started learning in one of these:
But switched to one of these before my test:
And swiftly realised the gulf between truly sh-t awful cars and ones which are quite good fun as it goes…
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I took my test in a fiesta but, learnt in my driving instructors metro. He filled it up with fuel and they had a fuel filler defect……spilling fuel over the back wheel. He never got to me as he lost the back end……
took the test in my dad’s car🥺
I passed my test in a MK1 Fiesta in base trim with the 957cc engine.
My missus passed her test in a '57 Chevrolet Bel Air when she was 14.
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I remember BSM buying a whole load of Triumph 1300, lovely cars to drive. Passed my test in one and promptly bought a second hand Triumph 1500 , which I kept until my first company car.
Has mainly British cars throughout my company car days , never any problems except with a basic Ford Escort
My patriotism was killed by several Minis , each one eroding a layer of support for the car industry.
I now drive a Suzuki
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I was lucky as I learnt to drive in a mk1 escort. Had a brilliant gearbox and decent brakes. Sent the instructor under the dash practising the emergency stop.
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Mk1 was my first car , 14yrs old when I got it on a 73 k plate. Engine was tired and it had holes in the floor! My 14 year old civic now is still like new so guess that’s progress… but I’d rather drive round in the escort , so much feed back compared to the sanitised civic.
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Funnily enough I now drive the latest Civic and have to say it’s a brilliant car.
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TBH my mk9 has hardly costs a bean to run in the three yrs ive had it ( it will break now of course!) and is easy and comfortable to drive… just a bit dull
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I moved to civic from SUVs to do my bit for climate change. The handling and performance is brilliant and it does 54 mpg but it’s a bit low for someone in his 70s.
I would delete the pics with your registration……easy way of getting your car cloned. Which is a pain in the neck when it happens. Nice car
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Coming up to retirement, as I was at the time, and needing a vehicle a bit taller and easier to get into, knackered knees, ankles, back etc, I wondered what to buy and why did my brother keep buying Volvo XC60s by way of upgrades, boy what a find (yes, I know there are even better cars out there! But!) so we road tested the car below and what a revelation! Smooth, quiet, powerful and extremely well put together and featured. I had it Polestar engineered a year or so back, another revelation, not exactly a sports car but low and mid range power massively increased, and on a road trip from East Yorkshire to Brighton (and beyond, eventually!) it recorded 74mpg on diesel (all motorway).
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Thanks Gazza, never thought about that, I suppose, sadly, even on a forum such as this one should be careful!
I know……but there are us locals, and those that lurk, but never post?
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