MOTORING MEMORIES COULD SOON BE LOST

Mum and dad bickering over maps and directions, playing I Spy with the kids and using wire coat hangers for replacement aerials are now all part of a bygone age of motoring, according to a new survey by the BBC's Top Gear programme. The research into family car travel over the last 40 years reveals a seismic change between generations, and identifies the in- car travel experiences that could soon be consigned to the history books and never be encountered by the younger generations.

The survey of 2000 UK adults aged 40 and over was commissioned by BBC Studios to mark the start of the 30th series of the flagship BBC One motoring entertainment show in March. In the series opener on 14th March, presenters Paddy McGuinness, Freddie Flintoff and Chris Harris drove their old family cars and reminisced about their childhood motoring memories. (Harris is pictured above with the BMW 323i he remembers from his childhood; the others recalled a Ford Fiesta and a Ford Cortina.)

The top ten family car travel experiences which have been lost to history were:

Unfurling of maps and arguments between parents over directions (54%)

Having just one CD or tape in the car that you had to listen to every single time you went on a drive (53%) Pre-planning routes (39%)

Using a coat hanger as a radio aerial (39%) Using the cigarette lighter for its original intended purpose (35%)

Endless tuning to get a radio signal (34%) Classic ‘in car’ games such as I Spy (34%) Picking up hitchhikers (30%)

The rallying cry of ’are we there yet?’ (24%) His and hers sunscreen strips (23%)

Clare Pizey, Top Gear’s Executive Producer, said: 'As this new survey would seem to prove, whilst long car journeys back in the day took forever, and weren’t always very comfortable (or indeed safe given lots of us didn’t have rear seat belts), what they did have was loads of family chats and games that have made precious memories. Fred, Chris and Paddy certainly felt like they were driving down memory lane when they drove their dads’ cars recently and they all remembered just being with their parents in the car very fondly.'