You never forget your first love. That’s why we look back with enthusiastic car owners on their first car. At nineteen, Wierd Veenstra received a Vauxhall Viva from his grandparents with a worn-out clutch. A handy neighbor boy did the repair, and afterwards, they toured together through the Northern Netherlands.
When did you first come into contact with this Viva?
“My grandparents bought this car new in 1973. They had a good relationship with the garage owner where they bought it at the time. He advised them to take the cheaper Vauxhall instead of the expensive Opel, because then you could drive a more luxurious version for the same money. The Viva was the cheaper, English counterpart of the Ascona A of that era. It was quite rare, as it wasn’t really a common model. When my brother and I were little, we often rode in this car with grandpa and grandma. Later there was also a period when I already had my driver’s license, but I didn’t have my own car yet. If we went somewhere, grandpa always let me drive.
How did the car then come into your possession?
“My grandpa drove three to four thousand kilometers a year and really only when the weather was nice. As a result, in eleven years, he only drove 40,000 kilometers. In 1984, he bought a new Opel Kadett because he wanted something new. At that point, the Viva gave up because the clutch plates were worn out. My grandpa had the bad habit of always keeping his foot on the clutch pedal. I had just gotten my driver’s license, and he said to me: ‘Well, you can have this car. It costs nothing, but you have to make sure it drives again yourself.’ Then, the dealer who sold him a car gave him a free set of clutch plates for the Viva. At that moment, I didn’t know anything about it myself, so a neighbor boy installed them for me.”
Where did you go afterwards?
“My neighbor boy didn’t want anything for the work, but after that, we traveled all over the country in the car. Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe; in fact, we covered all of the Northern Netherlands at one point. We became very good friends then and had a great time. Not only in this car, but afterward too. Later, he emigrated to Australia. I was the only student at secondary school who came to school by car back then; the rest came by bike or moped. That was funny and also cool. I was nineteen, so the world opened up for me. I could go anywhere, stay dry, and even had a little radio.”
How did you keep the car on the road?
“Look, a free car is nice. But it also needed fuel, it needed maintenance, and you had your fixed costs. So you had to do something for it. On weekends and during holidays, I was therefore working on a neighbor’s farm to keep that car on the road. It was a dairy farm, so I would, for example, milk cows or work in the fields., Fortunately I never had expenses, but I do remember that the car was quite rusty. It was kept inside at my grandparents’, but I just had it outside. Then the car deteriorated quite quickly in a year and a half.”
Why did the Vauxhall go away?
“At some point, I wanted a slightly sportier car, and it was indeed starting to rust badly. But the Alfasud I bought afterward did that too. In that respect, it didn’t really improve much, but it was much faster and sportier. That appealed to me then, but ultimately I found the car less satisfying. The Alfasud was favorably priced because it was neglected. It had to be completely polished to get its beautiful orange color back. It looked neat then, but afterward, I also had engine trouble. My neighbor boy took over the Viva from me because he had just gotten his driver’s license. He drove it for a while, and eventually, the Viva unfortunately ended up at the scrapyard.”