I learnt driving on this Land cruiser, when dad as well as MP was not around
Wherever dad was posted, my first aim would be to get the confidence of driver. Te driver showed me basics of accelerator, clutch, brakes and gears. I used to reverse and forward in the drive way. As my confidence grew, i started driving in colony until our neighbour, a colonel sahab reported my driving to my dad. Thank God the driver wasnt around, he was handing over things to batman in kitchen coz he would have got the blame for handing me the keys. anyways long story short, he was saved, i was told to lay of the RKR.
Like i adhered..........i was on road after a few months again...... I was caught twice by dad.
The first time he told the driver not to let me have the Jeep.
The second time he told me that he will teach me driving and my nightmare began of driving dad's old car with him in passenger seat. After every jumma prayers, i had to drive the car to home and my trip was miserable than ever.
all pics are reference.
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As dad ranked progressed up in Army, my choice of driven vehicles also expanded
The era of staff cars started for dad. My mom used to lecture me that dad is getting promoted so i should also maintain integrity for his regard. My itching for getting behind wheels had to be kept under control
First came a car like this, i forgot the name, crown or corona. It was in rawalpindi so didnt get much chance to drive. However i did speed it up once on peshawar road in rawalpindi and loved it. when near Chaklala, i handed it over it to driver.
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next came a corona 1985, below.
as soon as the driver came home after dropping dad to office, i would jump in car before mom had any plans and drive on deserted roads at the ends of cantonment with driver.
I was spotted many times by MP, but dad was highest ranking official in the cantonment. No reports made. I did scratch the car a few times, minor ones but never got the driver in trouble, i used to man-up with my heart beating faster than anything in the world and walk up to him and tell him its my fault.
Most of the times he would glare at me for a few seconds and then continue doing whatever he was doing while i stood quietly and then slipped out of the room.
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The car below was a beast. Corona 1995.
By this time, dad had become immune to by habits and chose to ignore even when driver gave him reports of my driving.
It had a 1.6 or 2.0 litre petrol i think and the the way it ran on GT road was amazing.
I was about to have an incident once and before i could tell dad, the driver told him. I was banned from driving this until the driver changed and i took him in confidence the very first day and things got back to normal
I was behind wheels again from time to time.
The gates of the house were huge and guard used to stand on all gates. On night, me, brother and cousins decided to take the car at around 1am for a spin on roads. We arranged for the keys but the opening of gates an issue and so was starting the car in the drive way.
The guard was tasked to open the gates as softly as possible and push the car in neutral outside the gate. This was accomplished in 5 minutes and i started the car when outside and drove slowly till i reached the main road and from there zoomed in first gear to 40km/hr.
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dad started getting posted to departments where civil number plate vehicles also joined his entourage and made my life even more colourful
I was already very conscious driving vehicles with Army markings number plates and formation signs. My choice had expanded exponentially
By this time Dad had escort and guards with him so sometimes going somewhere with him meant travelling with a few officers and a group of soldiers.
Just naming a few notable mentions below...Dad preferred his official car, while i preferred to use all the cars at his disposal, haha
A Pajero.
When Dad used to come and pick me up from a certain Military Academy for my vacations, i would drive this and dad would sit with me. Perhaps, he knew i was aching to get my hands on wheels after being locked up for 2-3 months as a cadet.
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along with a twin cabin
The driver for this one was hard to tame, he was a pathan and very quiet, probably an NCO. i used to load up friends in this Hilux especially on Chand raat in cantonments and the fun was beyond imagination in those days. Now i think i quite over did a few things as part of my late teens.
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and a corolla
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got the above corolla brand new as 2001 model,I remember taking this corolla to 90km/hr in 2nd gear and the driver was about to jump out of window
My driving habits had now come under control and i hated driving this car to the military institution again after vacations finished.
I had all the good times in my teens and late teens due to my dad and i miss those times now.
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