Our was a light olive green colour, not the grey in this picture.
This was the car that shared the driver teaching duties with the little black FIAT - including for my wife.
When we got married my wife didn't have her driver's licence, but she soon realised how much easier it would make life for us, and with my encouragement she set about getting her licence. My Mother actually took her driving some as well, and it was in our green Fiat.
So we both learned to drive on this car.
But by the time that happened, I already had memories with this car. Like going up to Karratha to visit with my uncle and to go to the Wittenoom Gorges - now called Karajini.
The public reason for the name change was to return it to the Aboriginal name for the area, but I personally think it was more about distancing the region from the name Wittenoom, which was one of the largest Asbestos mines around. It was just convenient for them to "do the right thing" and return the Aboriginal name.
I think it is a good thing by the way, but I think the reason for it was political rather than altruistic.
Anyway, the Green FIAT wagon took us from Karratha along the heavily corrugated dirt roads to Wittenoom and through the gorge areas - which are incredibly stunning by the way
My Dad and uncle used exhaust tape and putty to "fix" it, and we drove all the way back to Perth like that with no problems.
This car was like Old faithful - no matter happened to anyone else's car in our family, the Green Fiat was always there to pick up the pieces.
This is the funny thing about our Fiat's - in a time when FIAT came to be understood to mean "Fix It Again Tony", our Fiat's - both of them - just kept on going.
Granted, the little black one needed particular care, but it always got me home.
The Green one however was faultless - at least as far as I can remember.
I don't ever remember it giving up on us.
And everyone borrowed at one time or another.
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