Unfortunately, the reality was he'd have sooner cut off his comb-over than been seen dead in anything without twin carbs and Wolfrace wheels.
As a result, I spent my formative years shoehorned into the back-seat confines of a host of ageing and unreliable non-family cars ranging from Triumph Vitesses to a Datsun 260Z and various uncompromising Scimitars and Capris.
The upshot of this early trauma is that I have exhibited a practical and sensible motoring addiction - a condition which has confined me to a string of reliable and spacious family cars.
From a Sierra 1.6 to a Citroen BX diesel, a Vauxhall Vectra and even an Omega estate, I have driven thousands of trouble-free miles without the need for a single flapping luggage rack.
The only trouble with these worthy vehicles is that they have all been unquestionably dull.
But that was before I discovered you could have your cake and eat it - in the shape of what the marketing people call the sports wagon.
Look at the facts - they're big enough to get all your kit in, many of the diesels are both quick and frugal, they hold their value and mum, dad and the kids all get their own doors.
They're not flash but they look good and you don't even need to think about joining a motoring organisation until they've done about 150,000 miles.
The Audi A4 Avant is the market leader in a class that includes the Volvo V50, the BMW Touring and the Alfa 156 Sportwagon.
This third version of the Audi does look slightly different to its predecessor but I was surprised to learn that every panel save the roof is new.
More aggressive styling is aimed at emphasising the sporty aspect of the car - something I've yet to get to grips with. Audi has bought into the Russian doll approach to car building with its bold design cues carrying through the range. The deep radiator grille plunging through the front bumper is unmistakeably the same one fronting up the A6 and A3 Sportback. On the road, the first thing that stands out is the ride, which is significantly improved.
I drove the SE model, which doesn't have the benefit of the lowered and stiffened set-up of the sporty S-Line models but is a vast improvement on its predecessor with a fraction of the body roll of the earlier car. But, while the handling has been sharpened across the range, not everything has.
The continuously variable Multitronic gearbox may be silky smooth but I felt it rendered the car lifeless. Certainly, the punchy 320Nm of torque seemed to be lost somewhere within its labyrinth of multi-plate clutches, cogs and drive shafts. I've driven a manual Golf and an A3 with this engine and found them far more urgent.
Rear seat passengers have slightly improved legroom in this new longer A4 and there's more boot space. But don't fall into the trap that many people do and expect these cars to be load-luggers. For instance, you'll get almost one-and-a-half times more stuff in an Astra estate with the seats down than you will in an A4 Avant. Both the Volvo and the 3-series wipe the floor with the Audi in this repect.
But the build quality is trademark Audi - fabulous. The attention to detail is nothing short of anorak. For instance, fore and aft seat adjustment is in 3mm increments. Over-designed? Possibly.
But many of the smaller touches are refreshingly common sense - a reversible mat in the boot area of the model I drove folded out to protect the bumper and load while manhandling it through the tailgate.
Audi is certainly a company on top of its game and although the A4 saloon has never managed to match the sales of BMW's 3-series, this new Avant is destined to put more air between itself and the Bavarian giant in the burgeoning sports wagon market.
My dad wouldn't be interested though - as soon as my sister and I left home he sacked the Supra Turbo and bought a Toyota Corolla {hellip} don't ask me.
TECH SPECModel: Audi A4 Avant 2.0 TDI
Price: £22,490
0-62mph: 9.9secs
Top Speed: 128mph
Insurance Group: 12E
Fuel consumption: 47.9mpg
Emissions: 158g/km
