My first car was a 1958 Austin A35 Countryman and one of my purchases soon after was a Morris mini minor, a 1959 Mini the chassis number indicated that it was about number 2500 off the production line from the start of the Mini. I recall it had the starter button on the floor and the very early straight gear lever. It also had plenty of rust and a thirst for oil, the oil pressure light would wink at a higher and higher speed as the car warmed up!! It would probably be worth an arm and leg now but I wrote it off in a narrow lane collision with a Singer Gazelle!! (Now that may be telling my age!!!) Ah well the old adage "Today's lemons are tomorrow's classics!!"
First car and one of my favourites, 1975 Mk2 Capri 3000GT. 3 years old and up at £2195 but a trader friend of my Dad got it for £1600! 18 year old and insured in my Dad's name as you could do back then. I really wanted a Mk1 GXL but they were hard to find in good condition... Second car was a Mk1 XJ12, fantastic to drive but horrendous on fuel. It's the car that got me into bikes, intitially as a cheap form of transport for the commute, so in that respect I owe it a great deal! Things got a bit more sensible after that, for a while at least. Currently (for the last 15 yrs) run a late 90's, large diesel 4x4 so no fancy electronics, no Adblue, no DPF, no CAT etc, Oooer Missus!! Not the preferred ride of the tree huggers but a great towcar for the caravan.
I loved my first Mini, (doesn't everyone love their first car?), a shabby but shiny Mini 1000, BFN 824K that I thrashed to within an inch of it's life before rolling it over into a field 4-up one dark, rainy night on the way back from the pub, . Then came my 1965 Mini Super De-Luxe MHK 703C in tweed grey. I so wish I'd left it standard as it was in great shape when I got it bar a rusty rear sub frame MOT fail. Instead I turned it into a pseudo Cooper S and drove it all over the country on camping trips. Several other nondescript cars followed then a couple of Triumph Spitfires, a Mk IV and a 1500. Loved the 1300 MkIV but the 1500 was a bit meh. Then came my two absolute favourites - a 1990 Lotus Elan SE turbo, a car capable of taking a corner way faster than your brain thinks it can! The handling was sublime and it was gorgeous but it had to go when I got divorced. - (that's for the car, not the wife!). My crowning glory was a pristine Triumph TR4a in Conifer Green. Slow as fuck but absolutely gorgeous. It was my daily runner and never missed a beat. Unless it was actually raining the roof stayed down!
Aaaah, but how many of you can say they have owned and driven the same 'car' for the last 23 years? Okay, I rebuilt the engine, rebuilt the gearbox, reconditioned the axles, new brakes, new springs, new dumbirons at the front, new rear crossmember, and 4 out of the 5 chassis out riggers.... Other than that it's the same vehicle A 1982 Series 3 Land Rover. Technically still a car of yesteryear..... Oh, yeah... Swapped the hardtop for a canvas tilt too.
It's a Triggers broom then , still a proper Landrover as apposed to these chelsea tractors carrying the name
Maybe more of a meccano set..... Technically still the same engine and gearbox... On the outside. The insides are somewhat younger! EDIT I have 23 years worth of receipts too. I daren't add them up!
I had custody of a seriously ropey S3 for a while. The kids used to complain about the moss in the back when I did the school run. I've a hell of a lot of affection for the beasts (landrovers, not the kids, obv) which is why I like to borrow one now and again to get the rose coating off my specs and not buy one. Mind you, a paratransportable with an Essex V6...... *fires up ebay*
A past workmate of mine was a LR nut and had an air portable with a Rover V8 but he never altered the gearing so it was revving it's head off at 60mph. It got there pretty quick (for a LR) though, the old Series LR's rust faster than they accelerate. I hated it, noisy as hell and the interior was like the inside of an empty oil drum. I had a mid 90's Discovery. It never actually let me down but I had a near disaster with the timing belt issue and the build quality was poor. The steel/aluminium corrosion problem was also evident and the panel gaps were all over the place. The new Defender is also giving problems for some apparently........
The original 2.25 diesel! Slow, and noisy, but 29mpg, which is better than the 16mpg out of our old 2.25 petrol...
Aye, I saw that, 14hrs old and 147 miles before engine management light came on. Series one to new Defender.. "Dude, I think you're adopted".
Not Mine but ny Dads it was a Riley 1.5 twin carbs and nippy he thought it was a ferarri compared to his Ford Consul with column change, Morris half tonner and Triumph Herald all at leasy 10 yrs old.
I had a 1976 "Spirit of America" edition Chevy Vega. It would go 0-55 in about 42 seconds -and top out at 55.
I saw an Austin Cambridge heading out of Thurso today. They used to rot fantastically, surprised to see one still on the road. White with the blue (duck egg?)roof.
friend o' mine shoehorned a 348 "W" head Chevy motor in a Vega. Had to move the motor pretty far back in the "frame". Very hot ride, both performance and passengers. Mr. Toad's wild ride until he rolled it in a ditch. We towed it out and back to home, before the authorities showed up. However, he was a well known hooligan and had a visit a day later... to jail.
Been driving since the 60's, so have had lots of motors, unfortunately most on a budget and for family transport. A couple stand out though - Ford Anglia with a 1500 Cortina engine (surprised a lot of people at traffic light grand prix) and a Ford Granada 2.8i Ghia (in black - "gangster" express).
