ADUK Archive

My first car was a BRG Rover 214 SLi (came with obligatory slippers, cap and pipe) - I was 23!
The newest car I have ever bought (3.5 years old) and the most expensive (£6,500) - I went rapidly down hill (and up engine sizes) after that with a '69 mgb / Jag XJS / classic RR!

ALasdair

Ford Zephyr 6... Lilac faded to dirty pink... £30 in 1971...can't remember it's age... 1960s?

Frogeye, 1960.

1968 Herald estate in 1981. Paid £50 for it. I thought chassis was ok but didn't know the outriggers should have been present, not rusted to oblivion. It died at the next MOT.

revian wrote:Ford Zephyr 6... Lilac faded to dirty pink... £30 in 1971...can't remember it's age... 1960s?

...and insurance £35 or £36!

jonquirk wrote:1968 Herald estate in 1981. Paid £50 for it. I thought chassis was ok but didn't know the outriggers should have been present, not rusted to oblivion. It died at the next MOT.

Oooh, I had a Herald as No 2 about the same time. At least it had a walk-in engine room.

1961 minivan, bought for £25 in 1970. Big ends had only the most tenuous relationship with the crankshaft. Didn't dare drive it above 40 as the engine noise became so alarming. Had the nickname "Rusty" bestowed upon it by the family. Replaced after a year by another minivan with a decent engine, known as "Rusty the Second".

triquet wrote:

jonquirk wrote:1968 Herald estate in 1981. Paid £50 for it. I thought chassis was ok but didn't know the outriggers should have been present, not rusted to oblivion. It died at the next MOT.

Oooh, I had a Herald as No 2 about the same time. At least it had a walk-in engine room.

Flipping the bonnet and seating oneself on a front tyre before working on the engine was very civilised. Also, bleeding the clutch could be done solo as a removable cover allowed access to the slave cylinder whilst sitting in the driver's seat to work the clutch pedal.

A bright blue Nissan Micra "celebration" in which I did most of my initial training for HPC.

JamesAllport wrote:A bright blue Nissan Micra "celebration" in which I did most of my initial training for HPC.

My HPC assessment was done in a Datsun 160J Violet. Although on being told I could go straight on to the final two day drive I was given no choice by John Lyon, I had to use BSM's TR8.

Haven't passed my test, let alone turned 17

I'm praying to the gods that I can have a 100 HP Panda as a first car!

A 1974 (M reg) Mk1 Ford Escort 1300L purchased in 1980 after passing my test - can't remember exactly how much I paid but it was in the order of £250-300 (I think)... After much tinkering, it sported a 1300GT engine, twin choke weber and a banana bunch exhaust manifold - which sheared manifold stubs in the head with alarming regularity. Also had a set of Avon Safety wheels.

Although it was only six years old I soon discovered a bodged 'repair' to the holes in the floor pan - cardboard, filler and lots of underseal..! ...and I couldn't jack it up because the sills started to crumble. It needed new inner wings at the next MOT. I sold it in '82 just before I deployed to the Falklands - not much to spend my wages on whilst I was away for 5 months but blew the lot on the TR4a when I got back

Happy times...

My first car was a Ford Transit minibus with several seats removed but the 1700cc engine was thirsty.

Next was a 1972 Marina Coupe 1800cc twin carb, same B series engine as the MGB, with uprated suspension which took me all over UK and into Europe on frequent climbing trips for several years.

TheInsanity1234 wrote:Haven't passed my test, let alone turned 17

I'm praying to the gods that I can have a 100 HP Panda as a first car!

Sadly, you'll not be able to have as much fun, driving, as we older ones here had.

EAH444C, Wedgewood Blue Triumph Spitfire MK2.
Bought in 1968, with a negative camber rear leaf spring already fitted. Thus, the dreaded rear wheel tuck under avoided.
As others have said for that Triumph range, easy maintenance, that internal cover in the cockpit was the way to remove the gearbox, as I had to do to replace the synchro rings.
Ah, those olden days, youth and points on your licence was only due to, as the BIB back then would say, "failure to use your rear view mirror".