David Fairhead tells of his adventures in a Bond Minicar which he and his wife bought as warmer transport than a motorbike.

After completing National Service in 1960, my wife and I decided we needed a warmer mode of transport other than a motorcycle.

We bought a three-wheeler Bond Minicar because I could drive it on motorbike licence.

To start the car you had to open the bonnet and kick start it like a motorbike. Having never driven a car before, the drive home was quite hair-raising to say the least.

We followed an Eastern Counties bus from Norwich to Bungay, as we did not have enough speed to overtake it.

We made many trips to Sudbury in Suffolk. On one occasion the exhaust pipe was dangerously loose so the garage we went to tied it on with copper wire which did the trick.

The car had no reverse gear so, if we met any car in a narrow lane, we had to turn in a circle and go back the way we had come.

One time the brakes seized on the back wheel, and smoke came out. We had to get a bucket of water to throw over it in case it caught fire.

On another occasion the Bond Minicar dropped off the pavement and broke the front suspension. This was soon mended and I used it until I passed my driving test and got a car with four wheels.

Tell us about your first car and the adventures and scrapes you had – email your motoring memories with a picture of the car to motoring@archant.co.uk or post it to Andy Russell, motoring editor, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich, NR1 1RE.