First cars: Would you want to own it again?

RichardK ( snipped-for-privacy@NOSPAMbtconnect.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Ummm, yes.

It's those 'Miami Vice' suits.

Christ.

People used to say I looked 30 when I was 16, but I don't even have crows feet or anything.

*sighs*

Richard

First car? Renault 4. Tons of fun, 6volt, bench seat and mad French suspension! Blew the engine driving it frozen (v cold winter), before I passed my test. The first car I really drove much that I replace the Renault with was a

1500 Avenger, but again it didn't last long as I missed one of Lincolnshire's infamous 90 degree bends and planted it in a field.

So the prize goes to my Toyota Corolla 30 Estate, 1166cc, spent a fortune on it. Full recon engine, new wings, resprayed in acrylic (that was a new thing then) lots of new trim, recovered seats... fur covered dashboard (it was the 70s!), recarpeted it all. With twin carbs fitted it scared me! As students we managed to get 11 people in it twixt pub and party... back seat down, people laid horizontally lengthways like sardines, in three layers! Those were the days...

Bloody hell! I thought I'd done well with 11 in my Corolla - similar sized car after all!

heehee, nice one, but I was expecting something like that from Mr Plowman... ;-) ManualOverDrive, just in case anyone is confused. Badger.

Oh, jeez. Reading all the replies as of the time of posting puts me

*well* into the old fart category. It was 1968, and it was a 1957 Austin A35.

I killed the thing one winter night heading north on the A38 between Exeter and Taunton. It was icy and a southbound twit lost control of his car, and crossed the central reservation right into my path. In the course of avoiding him, I struck a glancing blow to the rear of a beer tanker. His bumper thingy sliced through the left side windshield pillar, which was more than enough to write off the car. And scare the shit out of the front seat passenger.

The other guy's insurance company eventually paid me exactly what I'd paid for the car - £65.

I'd have another one. It was very simple and straightforward to work on and at that time the scrappies had tons of them for spares. I liked that it was low geared, so it was actually quite nippy. Although, there was a short 1 in 3 hill somewhere down there in the west country that I took a time or two and I had to reverse up it, the car couldn't do it in first gear.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net, RichardK decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

One of the best cars I ever owned sold on ebay yesterday.

MTU11T, a Mk2 RS2000 Escort I owned 13 years ago. Loved that car, I did. I sold it for £6000 back in 1992, and it went on ebay for £2750 without an MOT and needing floorpans and a few other bits. Still looked good, but had been molested by people less tasteful than myself...

First car I bought with my own money was a '61 Austin Healey Sprite - LG4726. Sold it to a friend who left it in a lock up garage for years, went to get it out to restore it - he'd been saving up - and discovered the lock ups had been demolished to build a housing estate.. hey ho.

First car I drove on a regular basis was a Mk1 Escort 1300E with Mexico running gear, and yeah, I'd have it back.

The number of RWD Escorts I broke or scrapped makes me cry now. I scrapped some near perfect shells just because I had nowhere to store them. They're worth decent money now. I used to swap the bloody things for radios.

I had a 204 estate just like this:

...ok, it was RHD and *really* ropey.

Be fun to have one for a day again, not for keeps though.

A

Dutton Phaeton S2. I wouldn't have it again, because I can afford a proper Caterham now.

Mother's Morris Minor, on which I learned to drive, no argument. First car owned - shared with my wife-to-be - was a Mini, so again no argument. (In fact, I do still own one). Second was a Healey Sprite, which I'd love to still have, followed by a GT6, ditto. (If I'd kept all the cars I wish I'd never sold, I'd need a very big garage indeed.)

David Betts ( snipped-for-privacy@motorsport.org.uk) The Classic Car Gallery:

I went to Classic Saturday at the Bull, Stanford Dingley, with my daughter earlier this year in her immaculate, black Cinquecento Sporting. Got into a friendly discussion with the lovely Bob Archard and some guy from one of the mags as to whether it was a classic or not. I said they were stylish, they had their own club, Abarth made bits for them and they had really nice seats. End of argument as far as I am concerned. (Not my daughters first car, by the way. Preceded by two limited edition Minis - a Piccadilly and a 25.)

David Betts ( snipped-for-privacy@motorsport.org.uk) The Classic Car Gallery:

SteveH ( snipped-for-privacy@italiancar.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

You've never met Richard, have you?

He's about as far from a "Miami Vice Suit" kinda bloke as you can get...

I've always looked far younger than my years - when I was 18 I still looked about 15, when I was 15 I looked about 12. I'm 24 now, and a couple of years ago someone was surprised how young I was, said they'd put me down as mid-20s, but a shave and a haircut literally makes me look about 18 again. I can live with that. I'm looking forward to being 40 and still looking 25.

: People must think I'm ancient, the cars I've had :/ : : Wait. : : I bloody well am. I can no longer tick 18-30 (well, maybe I can for : another couple of months).

Thanks. Bastard.

Anyway, my first powered transport was a Velosolex, which I still have though I haven't used her for almost twenty years. First car was a Herald 13/60 convertible, sitting in garage awaiting interior restoration - the body's done - as I type.

Ian

Dean Dark wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Me too! My first car was bought in 1966, and it was a 1957, one owner from new, Standard 10 with "Standrive" two pedal control (It had a clutch, but that was operated by a switch on the gear lever releasing inlet manifold vacuum into the clutch slave cylinder). Even new, this model was rare. I have only ever seen one since, in the car park at Buckfastleigh Station.

I learned to drive in it, thanks to a friend with a full licence and spare time. We would happily go for day trips to Devon from London as driving lessons. I learned car repairs too, because if I couldn't fix it, I certainly couldn't afford to pay someone else to do the work.

I kept that car for over four years, and eventually scrapped it with 185,000 on the clock when the MOT tester refused to drive it for the brake test because he could see the road through the floor in too many places.

I got used to steering an average path, thanks to the slack in the worm and nut steering, the incredibly sloppy gear change (the gear knob travel across the gate in neutral from the reverse position to the 4th gear position was about 2 feet) and I got used to the bolt anchoring the handbrake cable coming undone regularly. Would I have another one? Absolutely, if I could find one that wasn't rusty underneath.

I replaced it with a 1952 Triumph Mayflower, which somebody near where I worked was going to scrap, because having dismantled its engine to fix a fault, he couldn't find the parts he needed or remember how to put it back together again. He told me that if I could fix it and drive it away, I could have it. I did get it going, but it had a hairline crack in an oilway (oil pressure 55psi cold and 5psi hot at 50mph!) and a slight distortion of the cylinder block so that the head gasket lasted on average 3 months. (I carried a spare in the boot at all times, and could replace the gasket at the roadside in 40 minutes). But it was an incredibly comfortable car to drive, could climb hills in the snow and had synchromesh on first (which was incredibly good - I could engage first gear at 60mph, I just didn't dare let the clutch up!). Head gaskets apart it was incredibly reliable. Eventually after a couple of years driving, the low oil pressure started to do terminal damage to the engine, and the rust was starting to get a hold in the double skinned wings, and I scrapped it after laying it up for a year while I tried unsuccessfully to find a replacement engine. No e-bay in those days! I would love to drive one again, but don't think that now I would have the patience to fight the continuing battle against the rust if I owned one. Picture here,

ifyou are interested. I am the one on the right, and the photo was taken in1971, at the end of a journey from London to John O'Groats. Jim

*cough*

Richard

I've seen the photos.

Getting back on topic for the group.

The one I'd most like to have again would probably be my 4th car - a

1979 Fiat 124 Spider. It was a bit ropey around the edges, but wasn't terminal, and mechanically it was spot on.

JackH clocked it at over 110mph when he followed me on his bike.... I didn't have a clue it was that quick as it had an American spec. speedometer.

Second choice as one I'd own again would be my 33 16v. Getting seriously rare now.