The Chevrolet anniversary

I hear it's a big day for Chevs, and they're claiming they're the most bought brand evah.

Well, we had one once, waaaaaay back in the day when I was at university. It was beige and long and probably had tail wings, I'm not sure. What I do remember was the ride. My dad slept in the front seat next to me as I drove along the endless stretches of road that led through the Karoo semi-desert on our journey between Johannesburg and Cape Town. My mom sat in the back, quiet and content as was her wont. Then my dad woke up.

"Bren! You're doing eighty miles and hour!!"

So I was. Which was probably dangerous, seeing as I hadn't been driving all that long. In SA license only possible to get once you'd turned 18 (i.e. not 16). So I slowed down, but hey, I'd been flying along quite happily and that Chev gave a floating kind of ride we always compared to being in a plane.

My dad was an autophile. That was great for all the family because we inherited his cast offs whenever he got enthused to buy a new model. Over the years I've driven many different brands and only now have settled into (mostly) VWs.

One day when I was a child, a widowed friend of my parents came to visit. She was 'Rhodesian' and drove a van which she called by an affectionate name. It escapes me now, but made a big impression at the time. I don't think we ever really did this, but there's no doubt in my mind that different cars and especially different brands have different 'personalities' and demand different driving styles. (Got that?)

A Fiat we once owned seemed determined to speed. A large Alpha Romeo was somehow gracious and polite. The Mini we drove in London seemed to cower at the onslaught of black taxis and red busses, but soldiered valiantly on. Then there were the Lancias, the Citroens, the Mercs, the BMW (only one), the reliable but boring Toyota, the Peugeots, the Jeep...

In the end, what makes for a safe and yet pleasurable ride may be a bit like the whole Apple mystique. i.e. to do with the designer, the engineering and the attention to detail.