Got me to thinking about times gone bye. My very first car, a 1952 Triumph Mayflower bought in 1970 at age 17. Any other "senior" members remember theirs?
Just been reading the thread started by mookaloid "I must be getting old I have a very odd desire to bid on this"
Got me to thinking about times gone bye. My very first car, a 1952 Triumph Mayflower bought in 1970 at age 17. Any other "senior" members
remember theirs?
Not that senior, but a Peugeot 309 GE 1.3 5-door in NHS Blue.
Austin 1100
[Edited on 26/11/11 by Wheels244]
My first car legally on the road was a FIAT Strada 
Mine was silver, same wheels, (I thought) they looked cool at the time but as they didn't have a centre hole, most tyre places couldn't
balance them
Austin A30. It was a while ago!
It was that colour too.. 
Bought second hand for £90 in 1970, thrashed it to near death in one year.
An Austin 1300 that had been sat in the corner of the workshop with the engine out and a knackered gearbox for 2 years. "If you can get that
sorted I'll insure it for you" were my Dads words.
2 years standing rusting resulted in...) 2 new sills (inner and outer), new "trumpets" under the front wings, lots of bog, lots of ratle
cans, machined the gearbox casing to take an oversize idler bearing and rebiuld, new piston-rings/cylinder hone and shells, head strip/decoke and
rebuild, new brakes and pipes, new driveshaft inner joints (maltese-cross type if you remember them), pair of twin carbs and inlet manifold from the
scrappers, put it all together and away i went for two years.
Morris 1100. Bought in 1970. (I was 22). Can't remember the year, but it must have been old 1963 ish. Cost me £50.
First brand-spanking new car bought in 1972. MG Midget. Cost £995. Those were the days eh? A new motor for under a grand !!
Very rusty, but bright yellow Mini 1000HL - PJA146W (deceased)
This was mine, a 1.6 but with Rostyle wheels. I loved it!
[img]
avenger
[/img]
Stu
64 mini truck, 62 mini cooper, MGB chrome bumpers, MK1 Mexico all in the first 5 years.
1938 Flying Standard 10, GS8302, bought 1961 when I was 19!!
[Edited on 26/11/11 by wicket]
CGC 671B 1964 Mk1 Cortina (pre facelift) 1500preXflow.
bought in about 1976/7 by parents then run by me very hard for the next 5 -6 years finishing with a 1662cc full race Xflow. Almost proud to admit to
being the forst of the true boy racers in my area.
quote:
Originally posted by wicket
1938 Flying Standard 10, GS8302, bought 1961 when I was 19!!
1972 Escort mk1 1300, in brown.
Great car until it got nicked and was found at Reading Station car park 2 weeks later.
Mk II Ford Cortina 1600 Super. Started off in Ford silver fox, which peeled off like every other one painted in that colour, then bright red (was a
Ford colour). Became a psuedo Lotus Cortina when a mate wrote his off and I 'borrowed' all of the running gear from him, including interior
and dash. Had a brief encounter with Rostyle wheels before installing very wide 'banded'steel wheels (could do that then )
A great car, and stayed with me until it was not worth chasing the rust worms. I still got good money for all of the goodies though when I scrapped
it. I wonder what those bits would be worth now!!
Cheers, Nick
a black 1957 Austin A35 in 1981.
Rolled it end over end after a week!
Got this knackered one and put all the bits from the crashed one on it.
It was painted all over with Hammerite and jumped out of 3rd gear when going uphill.
I really loved it (but not quite as much as the first one).
1st car was a Magenta Sprint when I was about 13. Then a Series 1 Landy and finally, when I was old enough to pass my test (learnt to drive in a Reliant TW9!) and legally drive, CVN 244T, a Minivan.
1973 MG Midget with the rare round rear wheel arches.
1360 Triumph Herald. Soon learnt about lift off oversteer!!!!
Alfa Romeo 1300 GT Junior in 1978, age 17. I got into, and out of some much trouble with that car - loved it
2.4 S model MkII Jag. Bought it off my mate's dad for £25.
Oh, how I wish I had it now!
I think that Alpha Junior ranks with the Mk1 Escort as one of the nicest small cars ever made.
[Edited on 26/11/11 by Confused but excited.]
Mk3 Escort, it was 16 years old when I got it and barely lasted a year before rot and engine cancer got it (went through two of them!)
I'd still have another
A fiat 124 reg SPM856G (my intials are SPM)
bought it for £100 with out an mot, and with in 10 mins it had an mot certificate
lasted 2 years until some twat in a vw beetle ripped the front off, and i HAD to dispose of the Fiat quickley, as one glance underneath
and a good look at the mot cert would of revealed a lot of problems, for me
after that, was an MG midget HKM97D , then ...................
Steve
quote:
Originally posted by UncleFista
My first car legally on the road was a FIAT Strada
Mine was silver, same wheels, (I thought) they looked cool at the time but as they didn't have a centre hole, most tyre places couldn't balance them
my 1st was a 1961 SWB SeriesII Landy, suffered from a chassis up rebuild before she was road legal, and I've still got her, although on a SORN.
How many others have still got their 1st car 20 years later?
1968 or so Simca 1000 - dropped the suspension, 5.5" wide welded wide rims with 185 tyres (looked huge) and tons of nagative camber at the back
and fitted Nikki twin choke carb - 0 - 60 in something like 15 secs - taught me how to handle oversteer . At least it was faster than my friends
one
Yellow Renault 4......it went 10mph faster if you pulled out the choke lol - saw one in Morrocco a couple of years ago with the roof cut off and a
full cage and wished I hadn't driven it into a Sierra a month after I got it
[Edited on 26/11/11 by D Beddows]
[Edited on 26/11/11 by D Beddows]
Hmm! well after a couple of M/bikes this was my first car, only all black, 1938 Morris eight series 2 tourer, purchased in 1956. Cheers Ray
[img]
Morris eight
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Cortina Mk1 2 door, 1965. Blue with grey roof. Purchased in 1976 for £100.
Started with a 1200 pre-crossflow. Ended up with a 1500 and a CD150 carb.
Cold start was excellent and choke in after 100yds. Did pink when hot though.
Lotus rear spring and fibregalss wings. Home made strut brace and a 13inch steering wheel.
Did 40k in it - took it past the 100,000 mile mark, then sold it for £110.
As you all say - those were the days.
Marina 1.8
The first car I bought - 1971 Morris Marina 1.8 four door.
I did have a few other cars before but they were given to me rather than bought
(1963 VW Beetle, Morris 1000 Van)
Ford 100E van bought in 1964
quote:
How many others have still got their 1st car 20 years later?
Ford Pop E93. Clubbed together with 3 mates to buy it from the local scrappy for £10. It had half a tank of petrol in so we drove home like kings.
We were all aged about 10 or 11!
My 1st own car was a 1987 Seat Ibiza Mk1 similar to the one in the pic.
It had been my father's car, then my mother's car and in the end became my car.
I was already 24 and working for over a year but didn't want to spend money buying a car, so was more than happy with the "gift".
Lasted 3 years until I got promoted to a position where I had a company car (VW Lupo).
But my 1st drives were when I was 13, on an early 70's Datsun 1200 similar to the one bellow (but in bottle green)
[Edited on 26/11/11 by HappyFather]
[Edited on 26/11/11 by HappyFather]
My first car was a 1.6 205 on a H plate.
HA Viva ANG334B 8-9 years old and I had to weld the floor back in before I could get an MOT
Red VW. Had it for just 3 days before I crashed into 3 gardens. In the street we lived in.
It was a 1972 Beetle fitted with the van engine, 15" Cobra slots and and the interior (leather) from the old Rover P4 (or 5).
Had 4 mates in the back plus one up front and my-self..Steering was a little lite!!! Came round the corner and!!!!!
Yep it never made it.. Whoops... Plus i was on L plates
PON 633M, MkIII cortina 2.0ltr XL in royal blue.
My mates had escorts and chevettes, so left them for dead!
i had a Vauhall Magnum 1800 estate in maroon.
had to replace the engine twice before my mum scrapped it when i was not there.
ditch
My first car was a 1975 renault 16. It was
chocolate brown with different colour wings
and i loved it
Andy
1968 HB Viva Deluxe. In green and filler
quote:
Originally posted by mark chandler
PON 633M, MkIII cortina 2.0ltr XL in royal blue.
My mates had escorts and chevettes, so left them for dead!
My 1st car was a VW Beetle 1302 s 1971, fab car.. I liked it so much i bought a 2nd VW 2 custom 1303 s 1976 in bright yellow...
Mk1 Ford Counsul bought for 10/-, but broke down so went up market with a 1964 Ford Corsair for £250.
1st - 1974 Ford Cortina 1600xl in yellow
Cost £125.
Sold it for £325 and thought I was a car dealer, ever since Ive lost on every motor
shit brown Renault 4 JDD244N in 1981. replaced after a year by a Citroen Dyane ("upmarket" 2CV) TPE156M
One of these
Not the best car I ever owned - 2 low gears and 2 very high, with a HUGE gap between 2nd and 3rd. The floor rotted away...
quote:
I think that Alpha Junior ranks with the Mk1 Escort as one of the nicest small cars ever made.
quote:
Originally posted by wicket
1938 Flying Standard 10, GS8302, bought 1961 when I was 19!!
[Edited on 26/11/11 by wicket]
1953 Standard 8. Had been re-imported from Austria and was a total rot box. It had an ali bell-housing that was cracked all the way round so the
vibration at 50 mph was intense, but I could drive through if I went fast enough.
Cost £16 in 1967.
A red, 11 year old, 1968 Mk1 Austin Mini, OWD 667F
It was fab, baby!
Mine was a blue Vauxhall Chevette ES just like this one...
It was a very nice example until it accidently fell into a ditch
100E prefect that ended up with a crossflow and Escort running gear, to tow the racing dinghy.
1960 Ford F100, 312Yblock V8, 14mpg when fuel was cheap. Bought to tow the ski boat, great to pull it up the boat ramps! I loved this old beast,
and wish I could have it back. Had a 7'x11' tray, that the sprint car just fitted on nicely.
Cheers,
Nev.
Daytona yellow 1300E mk1 Escort.
I was always greedy and had 2 at the same time. Both "full of character" Datsun was rusty and Opel was basic
1977 Opel Cadett 1196
1977 Datsun 120Y Coupe. I loved this car. Mine was Burgandy with a black vinyl roof:
.......Neil
This bad bay
'59 103E Pop bought for £25 in 1967.
Improved, rebuilt and modified over the following eight years:
100E Engine + gearbox
Hillman Minx rear axle on twin semi-elliptics. Kept snapping original axle halfshafts and you could easily get another whole axle for £5 from the
local breaker but got tired of axle changes after about the sixth time!
Removed the canvas insert and made a roll-back sun roof which was (amazingly) totally weather proof
Bellamy IFS
Aquaplane head, twin SUs and exhaust manifold.
...and electric wipers!
Front brakes converted to hydraulic using 105E backplates, cylinders & drums. Compatible PCD with Hillman rear axle
I did a fair number of classic trials and PCTs with it and it was very reliable.
The worst (and most baffling) breakdown was the rotor arm failing due to a crack between the top brass plate and the shaft; driving along and it just
stopped!
New rotor arm after trying almost every other possibility and it ran perfectly again.
Happy days!!!!
John.
quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allanson
Alfa Romeo 1300 GT Junior in 1978, age 17. I got into, and out of some much trouble with that car - loved it
I keep getting told how old I am these days (mainly by SWMBO), but judging by some these posts I've still got a way to go
for the record I had one just like this:
1978 fiesta 1.1L with a massive 52bhp - its 3 years older than me!
I even grew to love the 'oyster gold' paint and brown interior
(I still know who's got it now - one day I'll get it back.... )
[Edited on 28/11/2011 by mcerd1]
A dark blue Zastava Yugo 55a for me. No one had a clue what it was. It came complete with spare wheel and jack under the bonnet
a 1966 dulux black mini van with those widened steel wheels that you bought exchange, (remember them?), with a sticker on the back which read, dont laugh, your daughter,might be inside! that was in 1976.
Mine was a 1967 hillman imp Californian coupé , when i got it it had a dash covered in pink fur and sills made of newspaper and poly filla. I spent
about 18 months rebuilding it and fitted a wood trimmed dash with full instruments from a stiletto and eventually replaced the engine with an imp
sport unit and fitted a front anti roll bar and lowered springs.As soon as I had got it how I wanted I sold it for a good profit and bought an MGB and
started all over again.
Paul
Ex police rover P6 3.5 for me - wonder what the insurance wiould be now for a new driver!
Hugh
Mini 850 for me, XYT 641H, brought off an instructor at the EITB training school I was at in about 1981. I wrote it off after 7 weeks by putting it
into a ditch one night. Spent a week in hospital with a fractured vertebrae and a good few weeks off work with a neck brace on. When people ask if you
miss your youth, events like this make me realise I don't. Still, beer was cheaper then so maybe I do
[Edited on 28/11/11 by TAZZMAXX]
1958 Moggy thou
'77 Ford C**i
similar to this but with fewer golf clubs and not so fancy wheels.
it was a disaster.