I know I know, cliché, but what kind of a writer would I be if I did not dabble into matters that are personal? So here we go: my first car. I’m not sure how to structure this but I’ll just ramble on and I hope this piece comes out well.

I started driving from the age of (around) 13 years of age. Not the youngest, and I am certainly not claiming to be a protégé. I was the kind of kid who was very keen on poking around and driving. From a young age I was fascinated by the operation of a manual vehicle. From watching my parents drive my siblings and I around to the schools, to being taken to a drop-off point by the bus after school, watching a seasoned driver operate a mechanical vehicle is satisfying.

My father is my best friend ever. He taught me a lot about cars, mechanics and electronics. I’d spend time with him and watch him construct all kinds of objects in the workshop. We spent many hours together, eventually it lead to me learning how to park the pickup truck or the family sedan. The first time was relatively a breeze, I did have issues with learning how to use a clutch and to know the bite point.

From there on my driving skills had developed to where my confidence and awareness at the wheel was ever present. However I didn’t have a car till I was 24. It was a Nissan Sentra. Handed to me at a time where I really felt like a young man starting his life out. Before I was taking taxis to work. And in my experience, public transportation in South Africa really needs to be reformed. A Conversation for another day…

Back to the first. I needed it to make my trips to work and home much easier. I remember going home to my mother and picking the car up. I felt the utmost amount of joy to finally be experiencing my own car. It really was a ‘Sky’s the limit‘ moment.

The car in question was a 2003 160Si Sabre model. The paint was white and in some areas, was showing it’s age and weatherbeaten skin from how the previous owner treated it. It had a 1.6 liter twin cam four cylinder which is just about as reliable as the universe itself.

One distinct crack I remember is located on the left side of the front bumper, it was a big crack so the previous owner mended it with plastic cable ties. For some sentimental reason, a small detail like that adds to this car’s character. Rust was ever present, to the point on torrential days, the footwell carpet would get damp.

On to the interior. The headlining was not there, look up and there would be remnants of the glue and sponge from the previous headlining. Beyond that, it’s bare metal. Yes I was missing the headlining but it also quite unique, you hear more. Perhaps that lack of sound deadening made me a better driver. The air-conditioning was broken, the gear linkage would make rattling noises. I got used to the satisfying clicking.

The highlight of driving the Sentra was it’s lack of weight. It weighed in at 930 kg! That means it felt quiet engaging to drive no matter the speed. It was an agile car. The lack of weight also made it nerve inducing to drive when you’re hustling it. As the speed builds up, the front goes light and the steering wriggles ever so slightly to remind you to be awake. It had power assisted steering. It’s steering was light but teeming with feeling and weights up satisfyingly when you are attacking corners.

The engine is a 4 cylinder called the GA16DE. Multi point fuel injected dual overhead cam, this engine produces around 100 horsepower! With that it is accompanied by a colossal 127 Nm of torque! This is one of the most reliable engines ever. Why? Well I have to go back into this car’s mechanical flaws to explain.

The car had a idling problem where it would be firing fine when cold and as it got warmer it would start to idle in a funny way. I hardly remember the days of topping it up with oil and fuel consumption would put modern cars to shame.

I could rave for a fortnight about this car’s issues that I had to deal with. I did my best to solve them bit-by-bit.

One memory I remember was encountering a puncture when I was driving it from Durban to Joburg and to discover that the battery was barely functional. I remedied the situation with a spare tyre, which happened to be smaller than the other tyres. Let’s just say I never want to be that anxious when I’m driving long distances again.

There are so many memories that I can attach to that car. The people that I’ve also encountered or driven around with in that car. The memories of falling in love and having picnic dates of sitting and just connecting with another human. You can’t help but feel sentimental.

This is a small sample of my experience with my first car. I was in love with that car. It started becoming my friend and would always be reliable when I needed it to be.