PAPA'S CAR PT.1

4 kids in the backseat, with an age difference of 10 years between the oldest, my sister Patricia and me, the youngest, shoving, squirming, disagreeing while Mom and Dad, tried to navigate and discipline us at the same time. Maybe the reason why my Dad bought a new car so often was because we were getting bigger and louder. I can't remember when was that last time my whole family, all 6 of us were in Dad's car, or what year, make or model that vehicle was but here are the ones I remembered:



'67 or '69 Volvo (Red)
This is my first memory of riding in a car. As a kid, I thought it was the biggest I'd ever seen. I loved riding in it especially on road trips to Malaysia we would take every year during the school holidays. Being a Volvo of course, it would breakdown  consistently, oft times interrupting our windy journey through open, winding roads and rubber plantations as we headed north for resort towns like Port Dickson and Melaka, and even all the way to the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur (a 6 hour drive back in the 70's).

Of course, I was always front and center in the backseat, squeezed in between my parents, lapping up every new turn around a street corner, getting yelled at by my Dad to 'Sit back!' Little did I know the Volvo would be a sought after classic today. Definitely in the Top 3 of my Dad's cars.

BTW I really don't recall what the exact year/model it was but the pictures of the Volvos I found online were close.

(to be continued)

PH •