Love/hate relationship

摘要

My first memorable experience of Minis was being dropped to school in mum's 1959 848cc blue Mini with an aftermarket Webasto and white stripes from bonnet to boot. I recall a few UK holidays in the mid-1970s, travelling from Kent to Wales and the West Country mainly. My sister and I would fight like cat and dog in the rear seat. Mum upgraded with a succession of four 1275 GTs. By the third and fourth GT the holidays had become more ambitious: Spain, the South of France and Italy. My dad, being a banger driver and night-shift worker, loved driving and thought nothing of a 12-14 hour stint at the wheel.