My best car memory as a kid was when my dad pulled into our driveway with his new family car in the early 1970s. It was a near-new XW Fairmont 302 V8 auto in polar white with tan trim and those distinctive 'starfish' wheel covers of the era. The XW replaced an HD Holden we'd had for a few years and I'll never forget the difference when I first sat in the Fairmont. It was like I'd entered another world, with its deep V8 burble, sumptuous interior, carpets, front bucket seats and numerous instruments which glowed at night in a subtle and classy light green colour. Those memories are still so vivid. The old HD with its red vinyl bench seats, red vinyl floor, painted metal dash, lethargic red six and lazy two-speed auto seemed so cheap and nasty by comparison. My affection for XW Falcons (particularly with those starfish wheel covers) has never faded, all because of that wonderful Fairmont that came into my life as a kid.