My first car

by James McCann

I remember my first car, it was a Red Fiat 127. I paid £50 for it. My Dad and I had to go up to Dublin and collect it. My dad brought me up to Dublin in his little red Renault van with a trailer on the back of it. It was 1986 and in the month of June. It was a very hot day and there was not a cloud in sight.

I was so excited sitting in the front of my Dad's van going to collect my first car. I couldn't wait to get there, the journey felt so long and I remember so well the place where we collected the car, it was beside the Children's Hospital in Crumlin.

When I got it home the head-gasket was gone. That was the first car I worked on and I was only 12 years old. My Dad and me spent every evening for two weeks working on this car. I felt really great working with my Dad and I just couldn't wait to see what the car was going to be like to drive. We finished the car on a Friday and my dad had to drive it first because I had to wait until I got my licence. I sat in the front seat and I was so happy - it went like a dream.

After that every evening I would come home and Dad would let me drive the car around the our garden. I used to count down the days till I was got my driving licence. The day I got my licence my Dad took me up the road for my first drive in the car and I felt great. I stayed working in my dad's shed with him till I was 23 and I learned every thing from him. I'm proud of my Dad as he taught me all I know about cars today.