My Dad's Car : Nostalgic cars of our childhood

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No Jon this week, but instead we're joined by Paul Gardiner from Speedbroker. 

As it happens, and by sheer fluke, Paul is good friends with out guest, Jo, and so we have a really open and honest conversation about her car memories, caring for her Dad, going car spotting as a form of respite from caring, and buying a dream car to help remember her Dad since he has passed away. 

Jo's earliest car memory is cleaning her Dad's Rover 800 at the weekend. 

Later, they had a Lada, but this sadly got stolen (who steals a Lada?!) 

They also had a Ford Orion, which some youths kindly entered without permission and 'hot boxed' it to get high, leaving all the windows down to clear the smoke before they went to use it again the next day. 

The Orion was replaced by a Ford Fiesta XR2, but this had a wheel malfunction and became a 3 wheeler whilst in motion! 

Jo's Dad was a Policemen when he was at work - and she would drive the Panda cars sat on his lap around the Police compound. 

More recently Jo recalled a Renault Laguna, then a Peugeot 406 Coupe a Chrysler Neon and a Vauxhall Frontera.

Give Jo a follow on social media here: Jo K (@skullsandsnaps) • Instagram photos and videos

Check out Jo's business page here: SNS Digital UK

Follow Paul here: Speed broker • Complete Vehicle Concierge (@speedbrokers) • Instagram photos and videos

And check out Paul's website here: SpeedBroker - Complete Vehicle Concierge

We're pleased to say the guys from Viking Covers are staying on as Sponsor for My Dad's Car. 

If you are looking to keep the dust, dirt and weather off your cherished car go check them out at www.vikingcovers.co.uk

Support the show

We’d love you to hear and share your stories, please tag and follow us on social media.

www.instagram.com/mydadscar_podcast

www.Facebook.com/mydadscar podcast

www.buymeacoffee.com/mydadscar

If you’d like to support the podcast and are able to, you can ‘buy us a coffee’ which will help towards costs of hosting and purchasing equipment to allow us to record guests in person, rather than just on zoom. 

Get in touch with us direct - [email protected] 

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Just a quick audio note to say "We're still alive" and we haven't forgotten you. 

In fact, we recorded this whilst we were recording another guest for Season 9. We've recorded 4 so far of Season 9, with more guests pencilled in for this September. 

In this bonus episode, Jon and Andy have a quick chat about summer holidays, Jon's work with grass cutting and furniture sales, Andy's rusty 944 and modern classics going up in value, and of course the fact we've had a little break for 'life'.

We hope you're all keeping well, and normal service will resume (hopefully) late September / Early October. 

We're pleased to say the guys from Viking Covers are staying on as Sponsor for My Dad's Car. 

If you are looking to keep the dust, dirt and weather off your cherished car go check them out at www.vikingcovers.co.uk

Support the show

We’d love you to hear and share your stories, please tag and follow us on social media.

www.instagram.com/mydadscar_podcast

www.Facebook.com/mydadscar podcast

www.buymeacoffee.com/mydadscar

If you’d like to support the podcast and are able to, you can ‘buy us a coffee’ which will help towards costs of hosting and purchasing equipment to allow us to record guests in person, rather than just on zoom. 

Get in touch with us direct - [email protected] 

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We're joined by Tom Gray, who may be better known to you as 'That Guy Gray' an automotive content creator. He's sat in his Range Rover L322 for this interview. 

Tom's earliest car memory starts off with him around age 12, and a Sunbeam Alpine that he would steer from the lap of a family friend. Other motoring memories include staying up 'late' to watch Top Gear with hid Dad. 

His Dad was and still is, a bit of a petrol head. Prior to children he'd had a Ford Escort XR3, Tom recalls the first car he travelled in was a red Peugeot 406, followed by a blue 406. 

His Dad would have BMW company cars, and these peaked with the E39 generation 5 series, a model both Tom and Jon hold a candle for. When his Dad's work dropped BMW from the company car scheme these were replaced by Ford Mondeos. 

When Tom was 13 his Dad bought a Fire Engine red BMW Z3, which they would take on road trips, and even did some track days in. This later inspired Tom to buy his own BMW Z4 Coupe. 

Tom's Mum has had Fiesta's, a Ford Focus and these days drives a JCW Mini Cooper, which she is keen to modify - Tom less so! 

We hope you enjoy this chat, and please do go and give Toms channel a follow. 

Tom Gray (@thatguygray) • Instagram photos and videos

We also reference previous guest and friend of Toms, Grant Williams.

Please give his episode S8E4 a listen here: Buzzsprout

We're pleased to say the guys from Viking Covers are staying on as Sponsor for My Dad's Car. 

If you are looking to keep the dust, dirt and weather off your cherished car go check them out at www.vikingcovers.co.uk

Support the show

We’d love you to hear and share your stories, please tag and follow us on social media.

www.instagram.com/mydadscar_podcast

www.Facebook.com/mydadscar podcast

www.buymeacoffee.com/mydadscar

If you’d like to support the podcast and are able to, you can ‘buy us a coffee’ which will help towards costs of hosting and purchasing equipment to allow us to record guests in person, rather than just on zoom. 

Get in touch with us direct - [email protected] 

Send us Fan Mail

Paul Harding steps into the co-host chair once more for this great episode with Emily Wilson.

We found Emily on Instagram Emily Wilson’s Cars (@emwilsons_cars) • Instagram photos and videos where her channel has rocketed to now over 40k followers in only a matter of months, largely based on her 81 year old Dad's antics, knowledge and huge likeability, and her own skill of extracting soundbites and pearls of wisdom and turning them into social media content for others to enjoy. 

Emily's story starts very simply, living above an antiques shop, her Dad would drive a Ford P100 pickup and between him and his wife (Emily's Mum) they would source, sell and deliver architectural antiques, with previous customers including Ringo Starr and the now King of England, Charles III. 

As business grew, so the cars came along - her Mum choosing to buy a brand new BMW 7 series, and her Dad favouring Dodge Ram pick up trucks! 

Alongside the truck, her Dad would also buy and restore classic cars which now form a 15 strong collection including Bentleys and Rolls Royces from the 20s and 30s, through to Jaguar E Type, Austin Healey and even a Ford Escort!

We really hope you enjoy this chat and reflection on both car nostalgia, but also on what it takes to create content in 2026. 

We're pleased to say the guys from Viking Covers are staying on as Sponsor for My Dad's Car. 

If you are looking to keep the dust, dirt and weather off your cherished car go check them out at www.vikingcovers.co.uk

Support the show

We’d love you to hear and share your stories, please tag and follow us on social media.

www.instagram.com/mydadscar_podcast

www.Facebook.com/mydadscar podcast

www.buymeacoffee.com/mydadscar

If you’d like to support the podcast and are able to, you can ‘buy us a coffee’ which will help towards costs of hosting and purchasing equipment to allow us to record guests in person, rather than just on zoom. 

Get in touch with us direct - [email protected] 

Send us Fan Mail

We're joined by Paul Lucas, a serial kit car builder and man behind the YouTube channel Kit Cars With Paul 79. 

Kit Cars with Paul79 - YouTube

Our conversation starts with us diving into the channel, what made him start doing kit cars, and whether its a day job. 

From there we're back on track with Paul's earliest car memory - an MGB GT with a V8, possibly a factory built car, maybe a diy upgrade.

Later this car would be replaced with Triumph Stags, which would facilitate a whole social circle and camping trips to the continent. 

Paul's Dad loved a Jaguar too, and often would have a pair at anyone time. Although despite liking a big engine such as the V12 XJS he would insist on driving slowly to keep the MPG as high as possible!! 

Sadly Paul's father is no longer about, but we do chat about him building the Ferrari kit car at his Dad's house, how he would help him with jobs (although not to his high standards) and how he did get to see the first Porsche builds before he 'popped off'. 

To find out more about these cars check out Paul's website.

Kit Cars with Paul79

We're pleased to say the guys from Viking Covers are staying on as Sponsor for My Dad's Car. 

If you are looking to keep the dust, dirt and weather off your cherished car go check them out at www.vikingcovers.co.uk

Support the show

We’d love you to hear and share your stories, please tag and follow us on social media.

www.instagram.com/mydadscar_podcast

www.Facebook.com/mydadscar podcast

www.buymeacoffee.com/mydadscar

If you’d like to support the podcast and are able to, you can ‘buy us a coffee’ which will help towards costs of hosting and purchasing equipment to allow us to record guests in person, rather than just on zoom. 

Get in touch with us direct - [email protected] 

Send us Fan Mail

We're joined by Ben Marshall from the YouTube channel Dad Cars to discuss why and how he got involved in the automotive world. 

It all starts with a Mitsubishi Space Wagon, a rare car, with 7 seats, back in the day but a car Ben would love to get his hands on, although they have all seemingly vanished from the planet!

Following his parents split, his Dad got a sliver Mk1 Fiat Punto as a runaround, his Mum never passed her test, despite several attempts.

Music wise, Bens Dad would listen to Fleetwood Mac and Queen.

A pivotal car in his childhood was an S1 Lotus Elise which belonged to a neighbour, Ben would later re-live that ownership fantasy himself as an adult.

At school Ben had a pal with a burgundy Jaguar XJ, it didn't have any seatbelts in the back, and his Mum let them run around with their t-shirts off in the summer, let alone climb up the scaffolding at his house. 

Please check out Ben's Dad Cars channel on YouTube here: I MADE A MASERATI MPV FAMILY CAR WITH 6 SEATS!

and on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/dadcars88

We're pleased to say the guys from Viking Covers are staying on as Sponsor for My Dad's Car. 

If you are looking to keep the dust, dirt and weather off your cherished car go check them out at www.vikingcovers.co.uk

Support the show

We’d love you to hear and share your stories, please tag and follow us on social media.

www.instagram.com/mydadscar_podcast

www.Facebook.com/mydadscar podcast

www.buymeacoffee.com/mydadscar

If you’d like to support the podcast and are able to, you can ‘buy us a coffee’ which will help towards costs of hosting and purchasing equipment to allow us to record guests in person, rather than just on zoom. 

Get in touch with us direct - [email protected] 

Send us Fan Mail

We're joined by You Tuber Mike Fernie, previously a presenter for DriveTribe, he's now out on his own and doing fantastically. Andy met Mike at the NEC Classic Car Show last year, and Mike was kind enough to say he'd join us for a chat.

We kick things off with Mike's earliest car memory, and it's his fathers MGC behind the garage doors which sticks prominently in his mind, from when he was 2 or 3 years old. Behind the MG, is parked a 1930s Lanchester LD14, a car that we think either belonged to his Grandfather or Uncle, or is the same model that they used to drive. The MGC is due to be back on the road again in 2026, the Lanchester sadly, with its 8hp engine, is still sat in the corner, awaiting some love. 

When it comes to cars in regular use, his Father's Rover 600 is the core car memory, along with his Grandfather's Mk2 Ford Mondeo.

Just like many of our other guests, Mike has dipped his toe in reliving those ownership experiences himself, however, he's 'one-upped' his elders and bought the range topping sportier versions, the ST200 and the 600 Ti with the Tomcat turbocharged engine. 

We touch a little on Mike's time on DriveTribe, and see if we can get any inside 'dad's car' scoops on his previous ex-Top Gear colleagues. Jeremy's Dad had a Cortina 1600E, and Richard now owns the Morgan he'd previously gifted to his late father, and apparently has plans to modify it in the future. 

A big thanks to Mike for joining us - please go and check out his channel here. 

Mike Fernie - YouTube

https://www.instagram.com/mike_fernie

You'll also find lots of Mike Fernie content over on Drivetribe.

http://www.youtube.com/@Drivetribe

We're pleased to say the guys from Viking Covers are staying on as Sponsor for My Dad's Car. 

If you are looking to keep the dust, dirt and weather off your cherished car go check them out at www.vikingcovers.co.uk

Support the show

We’d love you to hear and share your stories, please tag and follow us on social media.

www.instagram.com/mydadscar_podcast

www.Facebook.com/mydadscar podcast

www.buymeacoffee.com/mydadscar

If you’d like to support the podcast and are able to, you can ‘buy us a coffee’ which will help towards costs of hosting and purchasing equipment to allow us to record guests in person, rather than just on zoom. 

Get in touch with us direct - [email protected] 

Send us Fan Mail

Josh Davies joins us from the USA to talk about his Dad, Richard Davies, who Andy worked with for over ten years at Heritage Parts Centre.

Richard was a brilliant guy, hugely knowledgeable, and stoically lived with Cancer for 20 years before it finally caught up with him. 

Josh recalls his Dad having a Herbie VW Beetle when he was young and growing up in Wales. 

They moved to USA for Josh's Dads work, 

In Colorado, Josh and his Dad would go for a drive, with classical music playing loud, in an attempt to scare the Buffalo! 

We're pleased to say the guys from Viking Covers are staying on as Sponsor for My Dad's Car. 

If you are looking to keep the dust, dirt and weather off your cherished car go check them out at www.vikingcovers.co.uk

Support the show

We’d love you to hear and share your stories, please tag and follow us on social media.

www.instagram.com/mydadscar_podcast

www.Facebook.com/mydadscar podcast

www.buymeacoffee.com/mydadscar

If you’d like to support the podcast and are able to, you can ‘buy us a coffee’ which will help towards costs of hosting and purchasing equipment to allow us to record guests in person, rather than just on zoom. 

Get in touch with us direct - [email protected] 

Send us Fan Mail

We're joined by Grant Williams this week, a third generation classic Jaguar racer who is a crowd favourite out on track. 

Starting from pole position in his first race, to winning the championship in the first year, to wowing the fans at Goodwood events going sideways at every opportunity. 

It’s fair to say racing is in his blood. It started with his Grandfather, who with a few friends used to all race on the same license, keeping a bucket of water on the paddock to cool the drum brakes between races! 

He regularly races BUY 1 which was first bought by his Grandfather from the factory team as it had disc brakes and kept beating him! Grant has also recently bought back his father's Mk2 Jaguar wide body 'lightweight' project which will be powered by 700hp V12 race engine, and features 19” wide rear wheels from an F1 car! 

Other cars of note include a 3 door Range Rover tow car, and a Mk3 Ford Escort Van that used to tow the Jag behind it. 
Grant would travel in the car, and his Dad would drive the van - when they got to a hill, Grant fired up the race car and pushed the van along, helping it get to the top!! 

You can follow the whole project on YouTube.

Grant Williams - YouTube

Grant Williams (@grantwilliamsracing) • Instagram photos and videos

We hope you enjoy this episode, and please do tell your friends! 

We're pleased to say the guys from Viking Covers are staying on as Sponsor for My Dad's Car. 

If you are looking to keep the dust, dirt and weather off your cherished car go check them out at www.vikingcovers.co.uk

Support the show

We’d love you to hear and share your stories, please tag and follow us on social media.

www.instagram.com/mydadscar_podcast

www.Facebook.com/mydadscar podcast

www.buymeacoffee.com/mydadscar

If you’d like to support the podcast and are able to, you can ‘buy us a coffee’ which will help towards costs of hosting and purchasing equipment to allow us to record guests in person, rather than just on zoom. 

Get in touch with us direct - [email protected] 

Send us Fan Mail

We’re joined by James Blaze this week who has found himself the custodian of his late father’s car collection. 

The story starts with Citroen 2CVs and moves through a Peugeot 505 estate that he welded seat belt brackets into and toured around Europe. 

His father became interested in motor trials and picked Skodas as his weapon of choice, before getting introduced to Porsches, firstly with a 924, then a Turbo before a run of 968s, including several Clubsport models. 

We first saw James on Jonny Smiths Late Brake Show - watch the video here. 

https://youtu.be/w_Y1i1qWo1M?si=A-8aGQzSl7g0La3_

We're pleased to say the guys from Viking Covers are staying on as Sponsor for My Dad's Car. 

If you are looking to keep the dust, dirt and weather off your cherished car go check them out at www.vikingcovers.co.uk

Support the show

We’d love you to hear and share your stories, please tag and follow us on social media.

www.instagram.com/mydadscar_podcast

www.Facebook.com/mydadscar podcast

www.buymeacoffee.com/mydadscar

If you’d like to support the podcast and are able to, you can ‘buy us a coffee’ which will help towards costs of hosting and purchasing equipment to allow us to record guests in person, rather than just on zoom. 

Get in touch with us direct - [email protected]