AutoPuzzles - The Internet's Museum of Rare Cars!
Automobiles => Vintage => Topic started by: Ultra on November 28, 2006, 01:33:50 AM
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My first car or actually my mothers second car, a 1975 Mercury Bobcat, looked like the wood trimmed one except the paint on mine was hunter orange.
(http://www.lovefords.org/78/pintobobcat/New_Folder/1978_mercury_bobcat_wagons_001.jpg)
This was the car that caught fire in front of my school.
Then, I bought my fathers old ride. A metallic brown 1973 Plymouth Fury Gran Coupe with a tan vinyl top. The old boat ran real good.
(http://www.capitalmopars.com/c_bodies/Ed_S_02.jpg)
Bertha was the first car that was considered mine. I made quite a few memories in that car. It is one of the favorites in this part of my life.
Then I got my mothers 1976 4dr Impala, dark green.
(http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/3/301/2981/25751490001_large.jpg)
Transportation. :-\
I then purchased a 1977 Sky Blue Ford LTD.
(http://www.californiaclassics.nl/images/ford/ltd-1977-01-01.jpg)
I hated this car but the price was right. :yuck:
When the Ford died, I was temporarily carless. As I was licenseless due to suspension this did not concern me at all. I was making due with a Honda Spree.
(http://jleibovitch.tripod.com/1a739ab0.jpg)
Then, opportunity arose and I traded some illicit substance for a 1979 Honda Civic. Mine was also in silver.
(http://www.cmsnl.com/img/community/vehicles/1/14/148/14834/big_200612142311590.3.jpg)
Another great car of another era.
Then, the depths, a 1982 Plymouth Reliant K-car. Again, mine was in silver.
(http://home.milkmandan.org/dev/null/archives/plymouth_reliant.jpg)
After that, I drove Gordon Food Service company cars for about 4 years. They were all Chevy Cavaliers.
(http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/chevrolet-cavalier-24.jpg)
I also owned a pick-up during that period. Mine was red.
(http://z.about.com/d/4wheeldrive/1/0/8/W/ChrisH_SC_1992S10_RRLg.jpg)
While I worked for GFS, I bought the Challenger. Actual pics of this car appear elsewhere on this board. Here is a likeness.
(http://image.moparmusclemagazine.com/f/v1k1ng/7242403+w450+h338+cr0+re1+ar1/1970-dodge-challenger-8.jpg)
]
After leaving Gordon's, I needed a ride for driving my Sysco sales route. This Vauxhall gives a fair likeness to my convertible Chevy Cavalier.
(http://www.mamut.com/homepages/Sweden/2/4/svenskavauxhallregis/cavconv.jpg)
Then the 98 Neon R/T. Mine was black w/out stripes. I always prefer Qships.
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/408000-408999/408286_49.jpg)
Then the Stratus R/T. Mine was hunter green.
(http://www.rpmmotorsportstulsa.com/images/2002StratusRT-1.jpg)
Which brings me to the GTO.
(http://admin.dealermaid.com/admin_inventory/inventory_pictures/6G2VX12G54L303773-1.jpg)
Now..... tell me, with photos if you can, all about the cars of your life.
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(http://www.surface.ch/louis-chevrolet/lce2000/fiches/images/lce031-0120_73.jpg)
Picture this in beige
(http://local.aaca.org/fwcr/images/Mills%2064%20Rambler.jpg)
About right, but missing the rust I remember
(http://www.mopar.de/2002_68coro1.jpg)
Just about a dead ringer - even the right color!
(http://www.musclecarclub.com/musclecars/dodge-charger/images/dodge-charger-1973a.jpg)
Ditto
(http://i13.ebayimg.com/02/i/07/3c/b5/b4_1_b.JPG)
Ditto again. Then I became a family man...
(http://i15.ebayimg.com/01/i/07/31/6f/af_1_b.JPG)
Yep - about right. Three speed auto, bench seat. Huzzah!
(http://www.nzmustang.com/Buysell/Chicago_79.jpg)
Mine was white
(http://www.hansenandyoung.com/library/1988%20Ford%20Aerostar%20van%20blue%20silver.JPG)
Yup
(http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/bm/images/99escort_wgn.jpg)
blech
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Ultra - I rather like those early Civics - too bad they all rusted away. The Challenger and GTO are cool of course. My sympathies for the K-car - I learned to drive on it.
Karn - I like the Corvair! I have a similar Escort but mine has a aweful light brown colour.
Ok here is mine (takes a deep breath)
(http://static.flickr.com/56/134593248_72a3677d19.jpg)
My first "car" - a hand me down from my parents. Its orange colour named it the nickname "cheesewagon". Lots of fun in its own way and useful for camping trips and such. It had a 360cid V8 and 3spd automatic. The interior had velour captain's chairs, a rear seat that folded to a bed, wood panelling and shag carpet. Very groovy!
(http://static.flickr.com/55/134593246_f52aef2eaa.jpg)
My first car I bought with own cash. A mint 1978 Z28 with a 350cid V8, 4bbl carb, 4spd close ratio manual, posi 3.73 rear and some headers with true dual exhaust. The previous owner had ported the heads and put some sort of aftermarket cam in it too. Lots of fun. Sold to buy first house.
(http://www.mappyjack.com/Jr.JPG)
My was white and red. Oh and rusty. Oh and a nasty engine knock. The interior was ok I guess.
(http://static.flickr.com/73/166931028_03d1f90424.jpg)
My old Honda Civic - old picture taken at our wedding shower. This was a horrible, horrible car - very unreliable (and almost new at the time).
(http://static.flickr.com/56/166921692_773b8e119f.jpg)
1996 Ford Mustang GT that my wife and I used to own. First year for the 4.6L V8. Traded the above Civic straight across for it.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/arthurdent/MyExCars/taurus.jpg)
1988 Taurus wagon - wife refused to drive it AFTER I fixed it up. Mine was similar.
(http://static.flickr.com/71/166921698_052e001050.jpg)
4.0L inline six, auto, 4x4. I thought it was crap.
(http://static.flickr.com/51/134598112_c41bdf7415.jpg)
Great fun little car! Cheap, easy to work (except for behind the dash) and handled well.
(http://static.flickr.com/46/166931030_b02571f4cc.jpg)
2.0L I4 and 5spd. Was amazingly reliable - owned for four years almost a record for me.
(http://static.flickr.com/77/166921696_f842a1ab94.jpg)
1986 Toyota Camry I very, very briefly owned. Sister inlaw wrote it off three times in one month (she no longer drives)
(http://static.flickr.com/46/134593252_1a0e7d8cd4.jpg)
A very early 1969 GTE. 3.0L V6 / 4spd w/overdrive. Rare hand built British GT car. Project car that I never finished.
(http://static.flickr.com/52/166931029_bfbb3a9e46.jpg)
My wife's current vehicle. Pretty boring.
(http://static.flickr.com/45/134593249_9775f1bbae.jpg)
A real beauty in great shape. 12A rotary engine and 5spd manual transmission. A lot of fun to drive.
(http://static.flickr.com/76/164017233_27c1d3cf21.jpg)
A 1986 Hyundai Stellar that I chopped up
(http://static.flickr.com/94/244868951_3c77089917.jpg)
My Seven - I really need to get new pics.
(http://static.flickr.com/100/301152212_43720bdf62.jpg)
This is to be my new commuter car - 2.0L / 5spd with black Miata alloy wheels.
(http://static.flickr.com/103/301578257_ee2d8f730a.jpg)
Picked this up as a temporary vehicle for getting my Seven parts (mostly the engine). $400 and runs like a champ.
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My first car, a '72 Opel GT, with my brother's first car ('68 Mustang Fastback) in the background. I still own it, but it's much less shiny and currently under a tarp, awaiting sudden inexplicable influx of time and money.
(http://stephenmason.com/pics/opelmustang.jpg)
My first project car, a "90% finished" '73 Opel GT race car. Still owned, racing plans temporarily on hold awaiting sudden inexplicable influx of time and money.
(http://stephenmason.com/pics/ri_opelside.JPG)
(http://stephenmason.com/pics/ri_opelin.JPG)
My current daily driver, a '91 MR2 Turbo with 176k on the clock. Biggest repair to date was a head gasket at ~135k. Original engine, transmission, turbo, clutch, starter, alternator, compressor...I could go on. Original shocks, too, but I'm somewhat less proud of that.
(http://stephenmason.com/pics/tsv_mr2.jpg)
Ack, only 3 cars? I'm padding this post with some action shots of Senor Dos.
(http://stephenmason.com/pics/mr2autox.jpg)
(http://stephenmason.com/pics/trunksapce.jpg)
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With such an extensive list of vehicles spanning so many continents and eras, I am convinced that Stephen M is a mysterious, Methuselah type figure of shadowy origin.
Have any of you seen Highlander?
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Have any of you seen Highlander?
I saw 'em.
And then I chopped 'is head off.
There can be only one.
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Impressive to have only owned two seater cars. I've almost bought a MR2 like that a couple times but its never worked (yet). One day ...
Interestingly they never sold those Opels in Canada so they are a rare sight here.
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This pic was sent to me by lynxd67. His is on the right.
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Now that is a car! :o
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I like the one in the middle!
When I lived in San Diego a friend had a D type replica too. It had pretty much box stock 3.8L E-Type running gear, but with the aluminum body it was very light and very fast. I drove it about 50 miles one day, the whole time I kept thinking I should have my helmet on! What a great fun car!
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I met a gentleman at a concours a few years ago who owned a D-Type. He called the car a bitch because she was fast, loose and very, very loud. He spoke of his youthful days in the car where he'd take her out for a night blast through the small towns on the North Shore of Massachusetts. More than once, the local police came knocking at his door the next morning to discuss a particularly loud Jaguar D-type annoying and frightening the locals. Each time, he looked them straight in the eye and said "Me? You think that was my car? Gentleman, I was home all night long. You must have me confused with some other loud Jaguar D-Type."
Just looking at this guy, I knew it all to be true.
-Hey, I actually found a picture of the car!
(http://www.porridgehead.com/vortex/Awfulstuff/d-type.JPG)
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Above you've seen the photo of my Lynx short nosed D type but the love of my life has always been the Steve McQueen daily driver, the Jaguar XKSS, which in reality is a road going D type. The reality came one day when I was in Florida and saw two of the sixteen made together in the Walter Hill collection, sat in one, and from then on my fate was to be one day sealed. So I bought the D type a few years back fully intending for it to be converted into an XKSS but, the story unfolds, I became so in love with the car as it was that I couldn't bring myself to do it. There I was in a complete quandary until recently when the perfect opportunity came to finally resolve the conundrum - I bought a Lynx long nosed D type so that the short nose can be transformed, an operation which will take place in winter 2007/8. The new car was the 2nd built in 1977 and was originally BRG with tan hide but the new owner in 1993 sent it back to the factory and it had a complete strip down, new hot 3.8l engine and suspension, ventilated discs and was changed to Ecurie Ecosse blue with blue hide. Since then it has done but 5,000 miles and is in mint condition. I haven't even seen the car yet but did the deal through a garage friend who was a Lynx director and knows the car well. I trust him implicitly since he has always worked on my other one and is as honest as the day is long. He wouldn't even charge me a commission! There are certain things I don't like which they are changing, such as taking the indicators off and putting them in the stop lights and nascelles, getting rid of the horrible white instruments (for black ones) and a couple of other minor things. The 1st January in the UK we have a big meet at the bar where the big vintage car club was formed in 1954 and about 250 cars attend, no matter what the weather, so I'll post photos of that day for you. There is some tasty machinery there I can assure you. I remember taking my E type in the snow one year!
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Oh, and here's the real one that convinced me that I had to have one. This one was sold last year at not much under $2 million. Yes, that is me with hair and a lot younger!
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For some of our newer members, here is a link to my Cardomain page where I tell of the saga of my current E-Type.
Dave's Jag (http://www.cardomain.com/ride/505677)
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That's a right purty car. Did you check out the sweet Escort wagon further up the page?
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That's a right purty car. Did you check out the sweet Escort wagon further up the page?
indeed my Escort wagon is pretty sweet :P ;D
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:bump:
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I'll see your :bump: and raise you one :drive:
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Put IL plates on it, remove the windshield sticker, add some peeling paint on the "bumper" and put some duct tape on the driver's mirror, and that's my car! The only one I've ever had. I'm currently 18.
(http://www.murphyauctions.net/images/kenmore06may/1367.jpg)
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Oh yeah. It also needs a big dent at the bottom of the left rear door. It was like that when I got it.
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For a lad of 18, you've got quite a breadth knowledge of old cars.
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I've been playing Name that Car on another message board since June 2005. I spend a lot of time looking on the Internet for cars for that game. Once you get into the '40s or older though, I'm not going to have any clue what they are unless it's something insanely unique.
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1999 Ford F350
(http://www.runningboardworld.com/running-boards/images/Ford%20Dually%20SES%20&%20Ext.jpg)
1995 Ford F250
(http://www.westsideautosales.net/images/cars/1FTHX26H1SKC07009.jpg)
1995 Chevrolet 1500
(http://www.godmudders.com/040103/r3/mar_chevy.jpg)
1983 Suburban
(http://4wheeldrive.about.com/library/uc/ucgraphics/ksims.jpg)
1982 Olds Cutlass (427 BBC powered!)
(http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/e/ea/250px-1983_oldsmobile_cutlass_supreme.jpg)
1967 Chevelle (mine was a 300 Deluxe in white - this is a malibu)
(http://www.fraserdante.com/3798%20-%2067%20Chevelle%20HT%20-%20white/frtnostripe000.JPG)
1996 Mustang GT
(http://www.mustangspecs.com/carpics/96gt4.jpg)
2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee
(http://cing.theautodealer.com/images/items/fb0b3dab-27bd-4feb-93a1-0951d72d6e43/144/b144874.jpg)
2005 Pontiac GTO
(http://www.jannettyracing.com/images/photo_gallery/gto.jpg)
1984 Buick Grand National
(http://gnregistry.netnet.net/photos/BGN00805B/BGN00805B_1984_Grand_National.jpg)
The Riviera and '87 GN pics are actually photos of my cars, the others above are just google images of cars I have owned or own. The 1956 Bel Air is one that's on it's way from my dad soon. I need to make a spot in the garage for it.
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I've been playing Name that Car on another message board since June 2005. I spend a lot of time looking on the Internet for cars for that game.
Well, we hope you'll consider this your home base for your NTC gaming. :)
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I've been playing Name that Car on another message board since June 2005. I spend a lot of time looking on the Internet for cars for that game.
Well, we hope you'll consider this your home base for your NTC gaming. :)
Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere.
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Once you get into the '40s or older though, I'm not going to have any clue what they are unless it's something insanely unique.
Hooboy, you're right there....I'm nearly 46 and I have hardly any clues left. I'm so glad it's lime jello day here at Sunset Acres.
;)
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Put de lime in de coconut..... :(
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(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/149/400782886_25baf9669e.jpg)
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/159/400782887_d8e0d37dd3.jpg)
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/128/400782891_227244986d.jpg)
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/133/400782892_85a64f1ae0.jpg)
I just picked this car up - its 1985 Mazda Rx-7 GSL with the 12A engine, 5spd gearbox, lsd rear end and four wheel disc brakes. Interior needs some cleaning. Aftermarket exhaust is reasonably loud and a light flywheel (I'd rather have the stock one since this is my commuter car but whatever).
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Looks to be in rather nice condition for a 22 yo car! :o
Oh, btw, if you ever experience symptoms like running out of gas when there's still plenty of petrol in the tank, check the wiring connector under the carpet in the left rear corner. Mine accumulated water in that region which disabled the connection to the fuel pump. Such things never seem to happen close to home..... :(
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I have a couple of nice cars.
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/340000-340999/340096_145_full.jpg)
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/9/web/2097000-2097999/2097654_60_full.jpg)
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Yes, yes and yes. Very nice.
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If that Porsche is old enough they could be both Continentals!
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I saw a 356 just like that yesterday. I was in the middle of a conversation with someone, saw the car drive by in the background, and promptly trailed off and forgot what I was talking about.
Also, FWIW, that Lincoln was one of the best designs to come out of the 1950s. Infinitely classier than the Cadillacs of the same period.
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If that Porsche is old enough they could be both Continentals!
They are both Continentals. The Porsche is a '55, the only year they were called "Continental".
I collect all things with the Continental name. I have several Lincoln Continentals and a '56 Chris Craft Continental, too.
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/11/web/2135000-2135999/2135989_1_full.jpg)
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If that Porsche is old enough they could be both Continentals!
They are both Continentals. The Porsche is a '55, the only year they were called "Continental".
I collect all things with the Continental name. I have several Lincoln Continentals and a '56 Chris Craft Continental, too.
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/11/web/2135000-2135999/2135989_1_full.jpg)
:thumbsup:
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When I turned 16, I had $1k to buy a set of wheels. My mother and I drove about 200 miles and picked up a cream colored (white roof) one of these for $700:
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/6/web/2394000-2394999/2394104_2.jpg)
After blowing a couple of junkyard engines (I learned how to tear one apart pretty quickly with vice grips, and a socket set) and graduating HS her bf bought me a rebuild engine (I later learned was build for racing), I traded it in for
(http://www.allamericanclassics.com/pics/P05214-81camaro.jpg)
After blowing that little V6 I got a 2wd version of:
(http://4wheeldrive.about.com/library/uc/ucgraphics/Michael_Truck2.jpg)
Blew the head gasket a couple of times before being relegated to my wife's:
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/2104000-2104999/2104366_4.jpg)
until my grandfather gave me (silver with maroon stripe):
(http://www.van-club.com/klub/sr/03.jpg)
We traded the I-mark for (I6 white on green, 2wd):
(http://www.coocc.org/75_Blazer_2.jpg)
Then traded them for a pair of dark blue (not at the same time):
(http://home.off-road.com/~ozifsja/tech/pics/89_gw.jpg)
After our daughter was born, we traded hers for a maroon:
(http://autooboz.omega.kz/foto/chrysler/chrysler_concorde(1994).jpg)
I bought:
(http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u284/GRAYWOLF69/truckprofile.jpg)
Then I got a good job and picked up one of these for the commute:
(http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u284/GRAYWOLF69/11090004.jpg)
Traded it for a new black:
(http://hot-ads.com/MTN-adGraphics/01_F150__484-4825.png)
I totaled the Tbird and got:
(http://cache.gizmodo.com/gadgets/images/oj_bronco.jpg)
Traded the F150 for:
(http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c215/CJCRealtor/WEBLHS1.jpg)
Sold the Bronco and picked up:
(http://www.automedia.com/NewCarBuyersGuide/photos/2005/Chevrolet/Silverado%202500%20HD%20Extended%20Cab/Pickup_Truck/2005_Chevrolet_Silverado2500HD_ext_1.jpg)
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I have a couple of nice cars.
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/340000-340999/340096_145_full.jpg)
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/9/web/2097000-2097999/2097654_60_full.jpg)
These are the other toys that I currently own.
'98 ML-320 135,000 miles Daily driver/work truck
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/340000-340999/340096_131_full.jpg)
'77 Lincoln Continental Town Car 19,000 miles bought it 25 years old with under 14,000 miles.
'88 BMW 750iL 77,000 miles Got to drive it on the Autobahn as fast as it would go.
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/340000-340999/340096_133_full.jpg)
Wife's winter car '88 325iX 100,000 miles. Original clutch. Will make a great rally car someday.
Can't find picture of her summer car '97 BMW Z3
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/340000-340999/340096_132_full.jpg)
'68 Lincoln Continental 6-door limousine
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/340000-340999/340096_196_full.jpg)
'69 Lincoln Continental Mark III custom convertible
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/9/web/2637000-2637999/2637511_1_full.jpg)
'51 Royal Spartanette travel trailer that I've converted into a toybox
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/340000-340999/340096_770_full.jpg)
'56 Chris Craft Continental near perfect shape, NEVER been sanded.
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/340000-340999/340096_77_full.jpg)
There are three more "Continental's I'd like to add to the collection:
1953 Cunningham C-3 Continental convertible (6 made)
1955-58 Bentley Continental convertible LHD (31 made)
1933-34 Continental convertible. (Inexpensive car when new, apparently no one kept one. Rare as can be.)
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We just traded the LHS for:
(http://www.jyskautokompagni.dk/Biler/339/Billede%20001.jpg)
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My SIL has one and loves it.
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I'll amuse you with what a European guy will start his career behind the wheel with. Not as big or flash as the American way, but I've managed to acquire some nice ones after a slow start :)
My first car was a 1982 VW Polo, very much like the one in the picture - white, but with a certain amount of rust. After having owned it for a couple of years, I got tired of its growing number of colours (a red bonnet, a blue tailgate, and the aforementioned rust) and painted it like a Dodge Viper - blue with two broad white stripes (bear in mind, I was 20 at the time...) - it actually looked really nice.
The next one was a 1983 Peugeot 305, also very similar to the one in the picture - light blue metallic, but without the 'nice' wheels. A very comfortable car with very low mileage and only three previous owners: An old man, my grandfather, and my uncle. So it was well kept, but it literally disintegrated. The Norwegian road salt is not very kind to older cars.
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When the Peugeot broke down (literally - one of the shock absorbers broke and pushed the spring onto the tire, causing me, on the way to a wedding, to have two punctures in about 30 kms before realising what was wrong) I wanted something a bit more reliable, and a bit more exciting - while still not costing too much. Car prices in Norway are ridiculously high, so I didn't have too much to choose from.
After having considered an MX-5/Miata and ditching the idea because of insurance costs (I was just too young) I decided to buy a 1990 Mazda 323F. It had the same engine as the MX-5 and was a nice car to drive, very tight and still not too bad-looking. And pop-up headlights are always nice :) This car I actually drove on the German Autobahn, mid-winter, on summer tires - managing very close to 200 kph. With very tired shock absorbers. Luckily, nothing broke.
And then it was time to make a dream come true. I discovered a seemingly very nice 1973 Fiat X1/9 1300 on a Danish website, and after a bit of negotiating and a trip to Denmark, I imported it in 2003, as a classic car (which means that the Norwegian government relieves the car of a lot of taxes) and have owned it for four and a half lovely years, experiencing topless driving all over Norway, Sweden and Britain. I'm not giving that one up very easily. It is not very quick in a straight line, but boy does it corner! It wasn't for nothing that Niki Lauda called it a 'baby Ferrari'...
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I guess you could say that after having bought the X, I fell even more in love with Italian cars and started toying with the idea of an all-Italian garage. So when I found a 1991 Lancia Dedra HF Turbo (or Turbo 2000 as it is known in some countries) I decided to sell the Mazda.
The Lancia was modified by German tuning company Hörmann and had its power output raised from 160 hp to over 200 - which meant it went like stink. The only thing I have ever driven to act as crazily when the turbo kicked in was an Impreza WRX STi. If you didn't have both your hands on the wheel at 2400 rpm in first gear the car could just as well go off-road as in a straight line. But it was an amazing drive - a real motorway cruiser with enormous punch (about 370 Nm - 270 lb ft in a BMW 3-series-sized car - enough to make it do 0-60 mph in about 6 seconds). Eventually, it just became too old, too costly, and a bit too rusty, and as I am no mechanic, I had to let it go. Luckily, the guy who bought it is a real enthusiast who will look after it. These cars are getting rare.
And then I bought what is now my daily driver (obviously, as the X1/9 spends the whole winter in the garage, I wouldn't want to expose it to the harsh Norwegian winter conditions) - a 1998 Alfa GTV 2.0 TS. A lovely car both to look at and to drive. I have covered a lot of tarmac this summer, and I'm liking it more and more. It is slower than the Lancia, but then again - anything would feel slow after that.
So, there you have it - I'm officially Italophile, and very happy to own two really nice cars at the moment.
Thought it was time to share this - after all, I've been around here for more than a month ;)
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So, there you have it - I'm officially Italophile, and very happy to own two really nice cars at the moment.
Thought it was time to share this - after all, I've been around here for more than a month ;)
Thanks for the additions. I am down to me and my GTO.
:)
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Also, FWIW, that Lincoln was one of the best designs to come out of the 1950s. Infinitely classier than the Cadillacs of the same period.
In an subdued, old man's giant T-bird kind of way, I guess.
The early Eldorado's get my vote. The zenith of jet-age styling, before longer-lower-wider turned them into absolute land barges.
Regardless, I can afford neither one.
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Just like @re said before, I´ve started very very small. The thing is I´m not really interested in real cars, I´d better stay with my tons of car brochures, car playing card decks, car advertisements etc. and admire the design history of a unique technical invention.
So what you see here is a document of low budget motoring :D
May I present in order of appearance:
Citroen AX LeNoir 1987, 54HP, 645 kg, 3500mm, my mother´s car, then mine - crashed... : )
Fiat Uno Adria 1988, 75HP, 820 kg, 3640mm, my mother´s car again, then mine - crashed... : )
VW Golf 2 Turbodiesel 1987, 70 HP, 920 kg, 3980mm, my first own car, bought for 800 DM (400 EUR) with 350000km, sold with 430000km for 300 EUR
Ford Sierra 2.0i GLX Turnier 1989, 120 HP, 1200 kg, 4511mm, bought for 850 EUR, sold for 1 EUR
Opel Corsa A 1.2l 1989, 40 HP, 740 kg, 3622mm, bought for 100 EUR, sold for 1 EUR
Opel Astra Caravan, 1.6l 1993 75 HP, 1020kg, 4230mm, bought for 650 EUR, sold for 300 EUR
Citroen XM Break 2.0i, 1992 122 HP, 1380 kg, 4963mm, bought for 900 EUR....
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I have a special affection for Citroëns. My father has had four of them; a GS, a BX, a CX and an XM. I took the CX over speed bumps at 90 kph, and it didn't care at all :) but you should have seen the look on my friend in the passenger seat as we approached the bump!
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Thought I'd add a couple of photos of my car to this thread. It's a bit different to most of the others here. It's a 1962 Wolseley 15/60 (Australian built, British design, stying by Pininfarina - a rather international mix!):
(http://eddie.foster.googlepages.com/Aus1.jpg/Aus1-full.jpg)
(http://eddie.foster.googlepages.com/Aus2.jpg/Aus2-full.jpg)
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I thought I'd add my car history for prosperity, in 18 years of driving I've owned the following:-
1955 Austin A30 *
1985 Vauxhall Cavalier CD
1990 Mini Cooper
1983 Alfa Romeo 33
1986 Peugeot 309 1.3
1985 Volkswagen Passat Estate
1983 Vauxhall Astra GTE Mk1
1980 Ford Fiesta Mk1
1974 Mini 1000
1978 Mini 1100
1980 Mini 850
1982 Mini Van
1980 Mini 1275
1988 Vauxhall Astra GTE Mk2
1980 Mini 1000
1988 Citroen AX GT
1983 Mini 1275
1990 Peugeot 205GTI 1.9
1990 Peugeot 205GTI 1.6
1989 Peugeot 205GTI 1.6
1984 Lancia Beta Coupe *
1980 MGB GT *
1994 Renault 19 Turbo Diesel
1986 Peugeot 205GTI 1.9 *
1988 Peugeot 309GTI
1989 Mercedes 190D 2.5 *
You may spot a couple of reoccurring themes here. (I'm currently trying to control my urge to own another mini).
The ones I still own have the *
Neil
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Those Betas are great-looking cars. I drooled over one some years ago, but I have enough with one old Italian :)
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Dedicated to my D I R T Y O L ´ B A S T A R D
For weeks I´ve been keen on spending this weekend at SpaItalia days, one of the biggest meeting of italian cars of every kind in the world.
But just 15km before the Spa racetrack I´ve sent my engine to nirvana and it died of piston seizure in the middle of nowhere on a belgian "Autobahn"...
Ladies and gentlemen, please keep off of old Citroen XM´s.
They´re heaven when rolling - unfortunately they don´t do it too often...
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May it rest in peace. :'(
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Thought I'd add a couple of photos of my car to this thread. It's a bit different to most of the others here. It's a 1962 Wolseley 15/60 (Australian built, British design, stying by Pininfarina - a rather international mix!):
AutoPuzzles readers may not be aware of Jim's own website - pretty nice!
http://www.users.bigpond.com/jimjarron/
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Great site Jim. Interesting collection of vehicles too.
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I now have one of these:
(http://www.barbecuejoe.com/images/2005%20Chrysler%20300C%20Black.jpg)
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I now have one of these:
(http://www.allpar.com/cars/concepts/photos/300c-rear.jpg)
There is no image there, GW.
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That's weird, I see it in my post and yours!
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That's weird, I see it in my post and yours!
It is in your cache, not mine.
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See if that works any better (kind of big!)
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This is mine
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Nice Mopar. I would rather drive Dalla's 7 though.
;D
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This is mine
Nice! What flavour of Seven is that? I've got a Luego Locost that is close to complete?
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Nice Mopar. I would rather drive Dalla's 7 though.
;D
Yeah, but I doubt I could drive it!
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This is mine
Nice! What flavour of Seven is that? I've got a Luego Locost that is close to complete?
Maybe we could make a small quiz out of it? It starts with M
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Quite possibly a Mohr then.
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Quite possibly a Mohr then.
Ding ding
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My humble steed.
'88 535i Exec 5 speed manual. Swallows money like nothing else, but when it's running it's just so... right...
Not bad for a first car if I say so myself.
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This is my daily (the red one)
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My first car was 30 years old when i brought it and I paid a weeks wages for it.
learnt to drive in the first 100 yards and drove it 20 miles into a remote country place when 10 miles from home the magneto packed up and i spent all night swaping magneto ignition to coil ignition with only a screw driver and pocket knife.
traffic on this road would be 5 cars a day so just had to repair or perish.
so ended my first experience of mechanics and electricity.
(http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/5531/scan0004r.th.jpg) (http://img200.imageshack.us/i/scan0004r.jpg/)
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Some of the cars I used to own...
Lots of small rear engined Fiats.
500/600/850.
The green one was sort of a Cal Look version of a 500.
The pic of the Lombardi was taken by an owner after me, and he put Abarth emblems on it.
I had a Alfa Romeo F12.
And one of my best roadcars ever, a Mk1 Escort Estate. ( acctually a Mk2 with a Mk1 nose welded on after somebody cut a corner and hit me head on...)
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Whoa... Sorry about the huge pic.
Lets try the others once more.
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And some cars I still own.
Fiat Abarth 1000TC.
Mallock U2 Mk6
'28 Ford Roadster Traditional Hot Rod
And two '73 Capri's that I'm building.
( one a road race style build with Cologne fenders, big brakes, SBC on Webers, the other is '70s Street Freak style with a 351W )
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That's my favorite collection of those posted so far.
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That's my favorite collection of those posted so far.
It is a great run of interesting cars, isn't it.
8)
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Hmmm...my list is a bit more limited...in order of purchase....
1979 Monte Carlo Landau (still have)
1997 Corsica/"malibu" (purchased brand new; now LONG gone)
1976 Monte Carlo Landau (still have)
2000 Lumina LS coupe (purchased brand new; now LONG gone)
1981 Monte Carlo SC (still have; was my parents')
1972 Monte Carlo (still have)
1987 Monte Carlo LS/CL (still have; replaced '00 Lumina as daily driver)
Cort | 35swm | "Mr Monte Carlo"."Mr Road Trip" | pig valve.pacemaker ...Chitown #2 = 07/25/09
WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"We're outta here" ... Steve Azar ... 'I Don't Have To Be Me 'Til Monday'
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Wow, just stumbled across this section. I wondered what you fellow car nuts all drove. A mixed bunch to say the least; some great, some ....err... Each to their own hey... :P
Here's my motoring career to date. In three decades of driving, here are some of the cars that I have owned and used, loved, loathed, regretted and occassionally been glad to see the back of, or wish I'd never sold, in rough purchase order;
1963 Fiat 500 D My first ever car, bought for me by my parents as a joint Christmas/Birthday present when I was a car-crazed 12 year old - that's what you get for being born on Christmas Day like me!. It was very old and cost them £5, and I wrote it off by hitting my mother's beloved apple tree in the back garden!
1968 Honda S800 Coupe My first real car for the road, in which I passed my driving test at 17. When I passed, I also bought an S800 Roadster, which I scraped, due to rust, along with the Coupe . Ouch :'(
1972 Honda Z Coupe These were such fun, and cheap to run as a poor 18-year old student, that I ended up having three of them. They all rotted away, naturally.
1977 Renault 5 TS and 1979 Renault 5 Gordini Rolled like a 2CV; went like rockets!
1981 Peugeot 104 ZS Coupe Very rare in England, and very underated. A Mini Cooper S with Pininfarina design; perfect
1981 Fiat X1/9 1500 Nice car, but got sick of being called a hair dresser(!), so I stupidly bought its big brother, a...
1980 Lancia Beta Monte Carlo great to look at, hell to live with and drive, then a VW-Porsche 914, which was worse, but at least confirmed my general dislike for boring German cars!!
1957 Citroen 2CV Fun, fun, fun, but it got stolen, never to be seen again :'(
1983 Innocenti De Tomaso Especial One of the very last built with Mini running gear before the Daihatsu switch, The only one in England at the time; imported from Italy, converted to RHD, and rusted to almost nothing within 18 months. If you know of one for sale today, please let me know 'cause I'd love another one (and I am being serious - they've even now disappeared in Italy)
1977 Citroen Mehari Amazing, with some of the funniest journeys I have ever had; always being stopped by the police thinking I must have been a tree-hugging lefty up to no good because I drove a car with no windscreen, which I am most definately not!!
1972 NSU Ro80 With a Ford V4 installed - yuk! But oh, that styling, and ohhh, that depressingly functional Bauhaus interior that made listening to Stockhausen seem like fun :-\
1973 Fiat 130 Coupe Oh dear, the start of my costly Pininfarina coupe phase; beautiful to look at; but a bitch to own
1972 Peugeot 504 Cabriolet I really wanted the Coupe body, but very rare here and couldn't find one. Sort of like the 130 to own, but duller to drive, and just as rusty
1982 Lancia Gamma Coupe Okay, I had it bad, but I could not afford a Ferrari 400i or Rolls-Royce Camargue, especially after owning this pile of dung. Handled like a hovercraft, and broke down with alarming regularity, but could forgive it anything with those stunning looks
1971 Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato 1300 Came to my senses at last, sold all the Pininfarina 2-door barges and bought one of my dream cars which I then owned for 16 years. Astonishingly lovely, and the car I most regret selling to this day, which is way I'm on the hunt for another one (if an Alfa SZ doesn't get me first)
1972 Matra M530 LX Whilst I was searching for a Rene Bonnet or Matra Djet, I came across this and bought it like a fool. It was like driving a Renault 16 with sporty handling, and after all those stunning Pinin coupes, I had to redress the balance with an ugly car, and the M530 more than made up for that :(
1965 Panhard 24 CT A genuine RHD UK market example, which was rare even when new as the Panhard cost more than a Jaguar E-Type in England in 1964. Just a fantastic car, but sold it to fulfill my quest for a Djet.
1971 Alpine A110 This was my poor substitute for a Djet, as I knew the Matra was a better car but seemingly impossible to find before the days of the internet. (it took me 5 years to find mine) A nice car, but not good enough to now be worth the crazy money that they fetch today. Of course, when I had mine, they were still cheap, and I sold it for less than I paid for it. I now weep at the thought of what it would be worth today, but I still believe that cars should be enjoyed, not bought as investments to sit in heated garages and never used.
1981 Matra Murena This replaced the Innocenti as my everyday car, and could not have been better, despite that noisy old Chrysler engine. As with so many of my cars, this was LHD and never sold in the UK, so it always drew a crowd of perplexed admirers where ever it went.
1965 Matra Bonnet Djet Dream came true, and I finally found a Djet in Lyon, which I bought back to England, making this only the second example in the UK. There are now five here, two of which by spooky coincidance are based at Goodwood where I work! What are the chances of that hey? I've now had mine for 18 years, and I guess it will be with me forever (or unless I can't raise enough cash for an Alfa 33 Stradale and have to sell it, but I'll probly sell my spare kidney before that!)
After this I had a string of new company-owned cars, including a Fiat Panda 4x4 (great), Fiat Uno Turbo (too fast for its own good), and then over 50 Saabs, including 11 9-3 Viggens in a row, as I was the Saab product planning and PR manager for 15 years; a great place to work until GM screwed the life out of it, although Saab will now hopefully be restored again to its former glory as that it is finally out of GM's fumbling grip with clueless bean counters calling the shots that wouldn't know a good car if it ran them over.
1963 Citroen Ami 6 So ugly, it was beautiful, and made everyone smile, or feel sick!
1976 Acoma Super Comtesse A 49cc horror, with steering inferior to the Titanic's. Mad but fun, and very smelly
1979 Arola 14 I'd always wanted a car with perspex doors, as you do, so the Arola was a natural fit. Vastly superior to the Acoma, in case you've ever wondered!
1958 Citroen Type H Van Sublime, handles like a Mini Cooper in very slow motion, and scares my neighbours into believing that its very presence outside my garage is devaluing their house by the hour! I hope it is, so that I can buy another garage to keep some more cars in (afterall, a Chapron Delage needs a lot of space - in my dreams!)
1951 Bristol 401 My first ever British car, and one of the finest too. Anyone that used to read L J K Setright's challenging column in CAR magazine will know of his love of Bristols. Reading his stuff as a kid, I used to think that anyone that enthused over Panhards and Citroen CXs must have known what he was talking about, and having now driven many Bristols, I can really appreciate why he rated them so highly. They are just fabulous, and I recommend that every home should have at least one. I still own the 401, and get's better every time I drive it. The only down side is that I sold the Alfa Junior Z to buy it. If only I could have had them both, but that's just being greedy (and beyond my megre budget too)
1972 Bristol 411 Series 3 Oh, heaven. The best steering of any car I've ever driven (and that includes a Citroen SM, which is saying something!) and my first ever V8, which sounds magical, but drinks petrol not just for Britain, but for the entire Commonwealth! Sadly, the 411s huge thirst was the reason I had to sell it recently, as even a trip to the local pub was costing me two week's salary in fuel alone! Still a great machine though, and sorely missed. I'll have another one one day I hope
1988 Reliant Scimitar SS1 Ok, I know, but hey, it was cheap, and has a better chassis than a Mazda MX-5 Miata , making it ideal as an inexpensive but fun track day car, as long as you don't look at it. Poor old Michelotti must have died in shame!
2004 Smart Roadster Coupe After many years of driving company-funded cars, I had to buy a real car for every day use when I left Saab and moved to Goodwood. Living around 100 miles (160 k/ms) from the Circuit, frugal running costs were key, and the Smart fits the bill perfectly. Having now had it for 3 years and 90,000 k/ms, I can't believe how good and what fun it is. The fact that it was designed by my friend Michael Mauer is a bonus (I worked with him at Saab), and it has the key in the proper place (the middle) just like a Saab too. I also now have use of a new BMW 5-Series Touring, which I hate with a passion. Why so many people buy modern BMWs when they are such average/poorly concieved/ugly cars is a mystery to me; just goes to show what clever marketing and the 'power of the brand' can do. I'll just keep wearing that paper bag on my head when I drive it in case a real car enthusiast recognises me, as 99.9% of current BMWs in Britain seem to be driven by complete idiots that you would not want to meet at a party, second only to Volvo drivers, who are mostly beyond help (and this from a guy that owns a Scimitar SS1 and Arola 14, so what do I know?!! :lmao:)
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A quite vivid history on cars, though I don't agree with every remark you made...
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Cars are such subjective personal things, that I don't expect everyone to subscribe to my views, but at least it has provoked a response. It wouldn't do if we all liked the same things would it, as otherwise we would all be driving Kia Rios! ;)
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.....otherwise we would all be driving Kia Rios! ;)
:nerves:
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Currently my daily driver: ;) (terrible on-road, but off-road without competition)
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Heeeeey! I'm pretty amazed with your choice. No wonder there's no comfort on the road, but, as you said, in a cross country it works wonders. Sad thing is that AvtoVAZ can't use the Niva trademark anymore - it now belongs to GM, so the car is now called Lada 4x4 >:( I know it's business, but Niva is a legend for many people - it's just wrong to act like this.
As for me, in my 20 and with my mad love to cars I have to say that I'm only learning to drive, and the only car I drove yet was my friend's VAZ 2104 (Shiguli estate) ::)
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Unfortunately it's not my choice, but my duty...
Actually I like the car very much, but what makes me wonder is that in thirty years of production they weren't capable to get rid off those ridiculous drawbacks.
For instance: you have to pull a little handle in the rear side panel to open the tailgate, but this handle is undersized and it gets broken from time to time. You can't open the trunk anymore as it has no key lock...
The Lada mechanic told me that this part has never been changed for 25 years! :hah:
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That's the problem of all our cars...
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Here is the stuff I've owned since I last posted to this topic
1988 Ford Tempo bought for $50
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3037/2773635254_b94072b7c5.jpg)
A 1962 Volkswagen Beetle I bought and will be fixing up over the coming months. Its a Canadian Standard model which means less chrome, no gas gauge, old style steering column and wheel among a few other things. Now sold sadly.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3647/3563245745_81c42595f0.jpg)
1989 Toyota Hilux SURF - a right hand drive import from Japan. Like a 4Runner.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2475/3649033914_b10c5d1cb5.jpg)
Some sort of MG based kit car
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3554/3380637841_96a34c6388.jpg)
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You seem not to come with any conclusion about this kit car yet? Are there any news on it?
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Nope. I had one guy who figured it was some sort of dune buggy body work modified into a MG like shape. No real ideas. Getting close to having it running though.
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Have you tried any MG registers? You should have an engine serial number at least.
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I've tried a kit car forum, British car forum, and a TD replica forum - nothing so far. The running gear is a mix of MG B stuff but mostly from an early one - probably a 64-65. The VIN is an assigned VIN issued by the province so its just a generic number unfortunately. May remain a mystery.
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I've just bought this......
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Cool! :thumbsup:
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I've just bought this......
Nice! How many BHP are lurking under the hood?
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It's a 1.6 K-series Supersport engine, so it should have 138bhp. While I'd love a VHPD engine (190bhp!), they don't have a reputation for lasting very long. Still, the 21 weighs under 700kg so even with a mere 138bhp, its power-to-weight ratio is pretty healthy
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That is a darn cool ride. Congrats. I sold my Beetle Hilux a while ago. The MG kit car is gone too. Bought this beauty for $160 though. Bringing it home tonight.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2761/4091690312_daab26a91b.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2487/4091684284_285305c8d4.jpg)
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A few things I have or have had:
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From my memory and assured to be accurate the Vin # is JH23G4B170271
(http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab49/Autopuzzles/7dd36bb0.jpg)
(http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab49/Autopuzzles/a19603cf.jpg)
These two shots were paper photos that I reshot with my Iphone in order to have some pics to post. I will dig out others of the car and post them in the next day or so. The car was a real labor of love. When I originally got it in August of 1994 it was a California car with a solid body. The paint was oxidized to the point of Ralleye Red look more of a GoManGo orange. The 318 had a rod knock and the carb wasn't stock. Headliner was gone, seats were torn, carpet pulled up, etc. I paid $3,500 dollars for it, drove it 70 or so miles home with brakes that pulled to the right and due to the gas gauge not working ran out of fuel about 3 miles from home. Not the most auspicious of beginnings for me and my Challenger but things only got better from there. Within two years the car looked as you see it here. A quick list of what I did to it.
All new brakes, polyurethane bushings, torsion bars and leaf springs. New headliner, carpet and seat covers.
440 w/forged TRW 10.5/1, Six Pack rods and forged crank. 3/4 Crane race cam and springs. Holley 750 on a Edelbrock intake with 1 7/8 inch Ceramic coated Hookers dumping into 3 inch collectors and finishing out a pair of 3 chamber Flowmasters out back. A 727 with slapstick shifter and manual/automatic valvebody on a TCI streetfighter with a Saturday Night Special Torque converter finishing iin a 8 3/4 inch SureGrip with a 3.55 ring.
The car was stripped to the uni-body and resprayed at Alpena Community College by the guys in the autobody classes there. The instructor is known for his fabulous work and though the car took nine months the students had to keep doing it until it was perfect. All it cost me was the cost of the materials.
Car ran in the high 12's. Motor came on the power at about 3000 rpm and the heads were all in by 6000. Torquiest monster I have ever driven. In first gear at about 20 miles an hour going down the street you could drop the throttle and people would just see air under the front tires. Could never get it to hook well enough to do those shenanigans at lower speeds. Finally sold it when I realized that the last two years I owned it I had drove it 3 times and the car was going to start need brakes and everything all over again. Though to myself I had been there, done that and I wanted to accomplish more and invest my time in other things.
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That is a darn cool ride. Congrats. I sold my Beetle Hilux a while ago. The MG kit car is gone too. Bought this beauty for $160 though. Bringing it home tonight.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2761/4091690312_daab26a91b.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2487/4091684284_285305c8d4.jpg)
Painted with rattle cans - its still going
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/4353867329_07d3df4b58.jpg)
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4354612754_f617f963a3.jpg)
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Presenting, Large and in charge, Sgt. Few-So-Large
'71 Imperial LeBaron, standard w/440 4barrel, dual exh. Optional Sure-Grip rear.
Only 1440 2drs in '71.
(http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t32/Lummoxed/Imp3.jpg)
(http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t32/Lummoxed/Imp1.jpg)
More of my big pigs to come soon! :)
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You ever get rid of that Imperial, I want it. Seriously, let me know.
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Added another pic above....just to rub it in. ;)
The cars I pick to buy are usually well thought out and it takes years for me to sell.
I love this one sumptin wicked!
I'll show ya some pics with '57 Lincoln Premere caps soon.
Thanks for the offer though!
Say it loud, say it strong, it's black and it's proud! O0 :)
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I've never actually sat down and listed all the cars I've had before, but looking at Djetset's list made me think I perhaps should before I forget.
So here they all are in chronologial order, starting with my first car when I was 17:
Austin Mini
VW Beetle (oval window)
Morris Mini-Cooper
Austin 1100 Mk 1
Austin 1100 Mk 2
Morris 1300
Triumph Toledo (worst car by a long way..)
TVR Vixen
Austin Allegro (yes, really!)
Alfasud Sprint
Alfasud Sprint Veloce
Ferrari Dino 246GT
VW Scirocco GTI
Trident Venturer
Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT
Ford Escort Mexico
TVR Trident prototype No. 3 (I still have this one)
Audi 80 quattro
Audi 90
BMW 320i
Alfa Romeo 164
Alfa Romeo 166
Alfa Romeo 156
VW Eos 2.0 Turbo
Audi A5 2.0 Turbo
Audi S3 Saloon 2.0 TFSI Quattro DSG (new September 2014) Stolen on August 3rd 2017
Audi S5 - to replace the stolen Audi S3
There are plenty of others I wish I'd had, and one or two I wish I hadn't had there...
It also struck me that there are several cars I owned or still own that are not on the list because I have them for others to drive, although some of them I've driven many miles in myself - mainly because I like them!:
Fiat 128 3P
Fiat Panda (original style)
Fiat Panda (another original style one)
VW Polo Coupé
VW Polo
Fiat Panda (2nd style)
Latest style Fiat Panda (I still have this one)
VW Lupo
Another thing struck me just scanning the list to see if I'd forgotten any:
All the cars without exception are either British, German or Italian! Nothing French, Swedish, Japanese or anything else!
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A Dino 246 GT ? :o
Wow!!!
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I'm more dismayed to hear that the Triumph Toledo was even worse than the Austin Allegro. It must have been really bad!
Now, the real question Carnut is which of the cars that you've owned do you think was the best?
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If anybody interested... I haven't been driving for so long and there was a gap. I don't tend to have cars very long, as you can see.
- Subaru Justy.
My first car, I believe a 3-cylinder 1 litre engine mated to a CVT automatic gearbox.
- Ford Escort
I crashed the first one after little over a year on an icy road. This was intended to be a stop-gap car, but had it for almost a year, when I moved to Ireland. 1.6 '93-gen Euro version.
- Suzuki Swift
After moving, I had no motor for some time. I literally got this car on my birthday, but it was degraded from a decent motor to a piece of junk when I got it. I only had it for a month or so.
- BMW 518i
I bought this car for little money and despite that I did through in some money to fix it, decided after a couple of months it was better to stop mending the unmendable. I was surprised to get money for it as a trade-in.
- Ford Mondeo 2.0 SLX
This was anice car, with a relatively common engine in Ireland. sun roof, so was pretty happy for more then a year with it. Then I had a broken waterpump, which in turn damaged the radiator. After that it was standing for a good year, growing moss and others, before selling it to a local junk yard.
- Ford Mondeo 2.0 GLX
I got my second Mondeo, a bit newer, with aircon. I decided to trade it in after more then a year for my present car
- Seat Leon
Nothing special, as you can see. Except for the Suzuki have picture of all of them.
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I'm more dismayed to hear that the Triumph Toledo was even worse than the Austin Allegro. It must have been really bad!
Now, the real question Carnut is which of the cars that you've owned do you think was the best?
That's a particularly difficult question to answer Djetset, because there are so many different definitions of 'best'.
There was the best-made, the best-handling etc etc, but if I were to choose on the basis of most fun per Pound (at the time) I'd probably say the Mini-Cooper. Of course it was nowhere near as good a car as the BMW 320 for instance, but was that as much fun? No!
Also I say the Triumph Toledo was the worst because it's the one I least enjoyed, so it's very subjective, but it was actually a better car than some others - the Trident Venturer, for instance, which really was absolutely horrible - but I enjoyed it! Perverse! And the Allegro wasn't nearly as bad as history would have you believe, but it wasn't actually my choice - it was foisted on to me!
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A Dino 246 GT ? :o
Wow!!!
Yes - it really was a fabulous car to own.
Everything written about it is absolutely true (including its susceptibility to tin-worm!).
But that was in a different life - pre-kids!
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Here's a fun vid my buddy made of my Filthy Fury. A '68 with a mildly built 440 w/390 grears
and lotsa other tricks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_RoiLvollY
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Another '68 Fury..."El Rauncho" I converted into a truck.
Was a Sedan, not a wagon.
I have had a small auto sheet metal shop for many moons, this is the shop truck for the non-snowy months.
(http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t32/Lummoxed/Raunch1.jpg)
(http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t32/Lummoxed/Raunch2.jpg)
(http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t32/Lummoxed/Raunch5.jpg)
(http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t32/Lummoxed/Raunch4.jpg)
(http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t32/Lummoxed/Raunch3.jpg)
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Cool!
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I love that Fury truck!
I've owned a few cars since I last replied to this topic - my latest is a 1973 Mazda 808 Coupe
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5132/5512594029_9563524591.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveseven/5512594029/)
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Hi
New on here just thought you'd like a peek at my little toy
It's the yellow one on the right, had to add a trailer as luggage space is just enough for an overnight wash bag.
(http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n101/Hatchy-62/DSCF0116-1-1.jpg)
On the driveway
(http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n101/Hatchy-62/DSCF0100-1-1.jpg)
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Hi Roger and welcome to Autopuzzles,
Your car has actually featured here as a puzzle before - check this page
http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=14448.25
Any other information and photos you can add to that topic would be great! Meanwhile, congratulations on having such a cool, eye catching and unique ride!
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I love that yellow car? What is it?
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I love that yellow car? What is it?
DLM 1 hybrid special by Derek Lawrence Masters - 1959
Roger tells us a bit more about the car here:
http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=14448.msg127633#msg127633
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I find it very hard to give all my affection (and part of my money) to one single classic car. So I don't have one. I owned just two cars so far, having the possibility to use family cars before. My first own one stayed for ten years and was an Opel Astra 1.6 Caravan Cool Dream (that beautiful name just pointed out that it had an air condition). After the costs to pass the TÜV (the German analogon to the MOT) were higher than what it was worth, I decided to buy a newer car instead. This time it turned out to be another no-frills-no-thrills practical car: a Volkswagen Touran 1.6, which I still have in use.
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You know so much about them but don't yearn to own/drive them?
I just can't live without cars; reading about them is one thing but actually being in and amongst them is something else..
I see your cars are Hamburg-registered (at least the Astra was so I assume the VW has the same number). I spent part of my formative years there, living in Othmarschen! Wonderful city (in certain parts anyway...)
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You know so much about them but don't yearn to own/drive them?
I just can't live without cars; reading about them is one thing but actually being in and amongst them is something else.
I don't even have a driving license..... :-\
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I don't even have a driving license..... :-\
Never? Have you tried?
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I don't even have a driving license..... :-\
Never? Have you tried?
Not really.... I can just about drive, but I haven't driven a car for about 7 years. Hopefully this year I'll get around to it (I've been saying that for a while though)
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I don't even have a driving license..... :-\
Never? Have you tried?
Not really.... I can just about drive, but I haven't driven a car for about 7 years. Hopefully this year I'll get around to it (I've been saying that for a while though)
I have to say I find that vaguely odd for a car enthusiast!
How do you get around? Bus? Bike?!
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I have to say I find that vaguely odd for a car enthusiast!
You can be a plane enthusiast without being a pilot, you can be a trainspotter without being an engineer. Why not be a car enthusiast without driving license? ;)
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I see your cars are Hamburg-registered (at least the Astra was so I assume the VW has the same number). I spent part of my formative years there, living in Othmarschen! Wonderful city (in certain parts anyway...)
I used to live in Hamburg-Rahlstedt, but now I live just outside of Hamburg in Ahrensburg, so no HH any more on the number plate, but an OD.
I agree with you: Hamburg is a wonderful city ;D
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You can be a plane enthusiast without being a pilot, you can be a trainspotter without being an engineer. Why not be a car enthusiast without driving license? ;)
I use what I call the 'architecture argument'. I love architecture, but there is no way I could design or build my own house. Doesn't stop me appreciating it though.
It IS odd though! When I reached legal driving age I had fallen out of love with cars a little, and spent most of my time doing the typical teenage stuff - chasing girls, getting drunk etc. I had lessons but I wasn't too bothered about it and never took my test. In the meantime I got distracted with other hobbies which took up most of my time & money (I'm a music nerd and record collector too. And I was still chasing girls) and it's only in the last 3 years or so I have rediscovered my passion for cars, mostly due to websites such as this one that allow me to talk to other people that share my interests. I turn 26 in a couple of weeks and I am determined to get behind the wheel this year.
Motivation and ambition are not exactly my strong points though... so don't hold your breath
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I have to say I find that vaguely odd for a car enthusiast!
You can be a plane enthusiast without being a pilot, you can be a trainspotter without being an engineer. Why not be a car enthusiast without driving license? ;)
OK, but your examples are somewhat less accessible though whilst cars are an everyday thing available to just about anyone. I would liken it more to being a music-lover without a radio, record- or CD-player...!
Good luck then barrett and I think once you have taken the plunge you will find out what you've been missing and take to it like a duck to water!
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Here are my vehicles!
1st picture: My 1958 Nobel 200. Picture was took in 1994, before I was born! My dad gave this project to me when I was about 7 (just as a joke I asked my dad if I could ahve the Nobel if I had my hair cut, and to my suprise he said yes!). I have started the restoration myself, updating progress on my site (see http://www.Nobel200.com/ )
2nd picture: My 1963 Messerschmitt KR200. Although just a bodyshell, they were built with a Monocoque construction, so the main tubes are the chassis. We have all the spare parts I need to make it complete (My dads been dealing with those cars for over 30 years!). I discovered this bodyshell myself, and the owner wanted only a couple of parts in exchange! It's ashame he kept the window!
3rd picture: My Racing Mower. I called it Evil-Tron (just look at him, you'll understand!). I based it off a Murray mower, but recently I decided to change the engine. Its going to have a good old Villiers 9E motor (same as Bond Minicar).
4th picture: Mower next to my 2 mopeds: Red one is a Puch Maxi, blue one is a Yamaha QT-50. Nothing too fancy, just fun in the fields!
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I'm diggin' that tractor
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I'm diggin' that tractor
Hehe I got my brother to suprise me with a paintjob... It's awesome!
It was fast when it worked ;) Thats why I'm swapping engine... Also, the original briggs is prone to seizing when going in high revs.
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I just replaced my old "tow car" (1995 Chevy Suburban) with something very similar, a 1999 Chevy Suburban. Same color, even. The "Burb II" is 4wd, where the old one was 2wd. Both had/have 350 v8s with throttle body fuel injection. The "new" one has leather interior. I really don't like that. So it got a set of "suede"-like seat covers. Much more comfortable now. It might look a little strange, but I like it better.
And of course ya gotta have a good stereo to listen to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Ten Years After on, so I popped a Kenwood unit into it. Yes, I'm a "child of the 60s" and enjoy rockin out to progressive rock from that era. This stereo has a USB port on it so I can copy mp3 files to thumb drives and change 'em around whenever I feel like it. Surprisingly enough, it sounds great with the stock speakers and no subwoofer or additional amp. Ohh...it also has an iPod/Android interface so I can use my Droid as a music player if I want, too.
Then I installed a "rear view camera" and screen because I've covered the rear glass with reflective/foam insulation since it gets REAL hot on the salt flats and the Burb is my "Hotel Suburbia" for at least 2 weeks, sometimes 3, every year. When it's 105F (40.5C)+ outside, the last thing I need is sunshine heating up the inside of the thing. Anyway, that made the huge blind spot ever "huger" so I decided that instead of running over my neighbors' kids and fighting with connecting the trailer, I'd go kicking and screaming into the 21st century and for a coupla hundred bux I got a camera with a 7" screen that really helps.
I also hang a drape behind the front seat so that the air conditioning only has to cool a small area. There's a huge volume of air in the rear and insulated or not, it takes a long time to cool it.
Now...if I can just get the race car ready in time, I'll have something to tow it with...but progress is being made. Last nite I decided to quit fighting with the "racing seat" I'd picked up at a swap meet and buy "real racing seats." I bit the bullet and ordered a pair of 'em that includes adjustable mounting frames and adapters. I only have one set of 5-point harnesses, but that'll have to do for the moment...at least until I find a victim passenger who wants to ride along when I get to the point of doing a bit of road racing with it. Uh...that's the 85 Monte Carlo, not the Burb.
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Hi all,here is one of my cars.having trouble with picture size from my blackberry though.richard
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Very nice!
Here it is re-sized:
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Another attempt at posting a picture.this time my other Lancia.
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And Another
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Good looking ride.
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THanks! Not many of the Sedan S2s left in the UK with RHD,only 7 on the road according to a friend on the LMC forum.The PF( also RHD) is my project which needs new Dunlop. brake cylinders to pass an MOT.I also have a Fulvia s1 Zagato which is for sale at Percival Motor Co to free up some space.
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Haven't posted anything in a while, partly due to my illness. Hopefully I can tell you something postive on this soon.
In 2011 I had to move. Not just town, but even country, and as that country drives on the toher side of the road it was time for another drive.
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/182162_4258747637135_447037920_n.jpg)
I have had used cars before, this one actually being my newest ever. Have had it for some time and still love it. As I collect miniature cars, collecting real cars would make it probably to expensive. Having said that, I think I have done well in going for something unusual: A Lancia Delta. Driven it 7 hours straight during the christmas holidays.
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I suppose it's time to admit to this. Not the most obvious choice for a first car, but certainly an interesting (and rusty) one...
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A Renault 10 is not mundane, is it?
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A Bond Equipe?
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A Bond Equipe?
And a rusty one to boot!
Not many rusty glassfibre cars around (although of course the chassis rusts like hell..)
I thought you didn't have a driving licence barrett?
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Most of the body is GRP, but the doors are metal (ex Triumph Herald), so rust along with the chassis.
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Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere.
And then he was gone :(
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Finally, an update to my automotive history (it's the blue one) ;)
[attachimg=1]
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I like the one next to it and the yellow one! :P
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Here are some of the cars I used to drive. My favorite was without any doubt the Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV, quite a fast car and a true delight to drive !
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I just finally got a new scanner and although I am still learning how to use it I thought to join this thread.
Most will be in chronological order but I am still hunting some photos I know I have somewhere so they may be out of order.
As well, a few will be "stand in's" as I never took a photo of the car.
So, we start with a "stand in" my first car, a 1938 Oldsmobile Business Coupe I purchased in early 1957 to get to my job.
It had a bad connecting rod bearing when I got it and I had to baby it but it lasted almost 4 months before the rod let go.
Second car was a 1950 Oldsmobile fastback that I co-owned with a buddy when I was going to summer school in 1957 in a nearby town. We basically lived in the car at the beach in Oceanside California for about 2 months. This is the actual car.
Third car was a 1951 Mercury 4 door, here a "stand in" that I purchased in 1958. I had mine lowered 3 inches in the front and 2 inches in the rear and put dual exhausts on it with very loud "steelpack" mufflers.
I will keep it at 3 cars per post so here goes.
Bill
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Next batch.
1959 Fiat 600, my first new car which I used for courting my future (and still present) wife commuting between San Diego,
California and Phoenix, Arizona. The car was really not up to that kind of abuse and only lasted a year before major malfunctions occurred. A true "Fix it Again Tony" car. The photo shows me, my twin sisters and my two brothers plus our cat in front of my grandparents house in San Diego.
I traded that in on a 1960 Rambler American 4 door, another facsimile photo, which I ran for another year or so.
That car was traded backwards so to say on a 1959 Buick Le Sabre Convertible I purchased when I worked for a Buick dealer in the mid 1960's. Eventually, this car got a twin 4 barrel carb manifold, dual exhaust and some transmission upgrades and I used to drag race it when living in El Centro, California when working for another Buick dealer. I post here two photos, in it's original colour and later when it was repainted black.
Bill
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This next group is a work in progress as I only have one photo at present.
Edit... In the photo above of the Le Sabre in gold colour, you can see just a bit of one of the 1938 Buick Limited cars.
This epoch was my first "collection phase". I had earlier purchased a 1941 Buick Limited Limousine with divider window from a Funeral Parlour when living in San Diego. I returned to Oceanside and while working for the Buick dealer there, purchased a 1937 Buick Century which I used as a drag racer.
A customer noticed the 1937 car and told me that he had several cars, not running, stored at a lot and he had lost his job and they were going to tow the cars to a wrecking yard. We haggled a bit and I traded him $200 and a pistol I had for the cars.
So, I got another 1941 Buick, a Convertible, two 1938 Buick Limited Limousines without divider windows, a 1941 Cadillac Coupe and a 1939 Cadillac 4 Door Sedan. For the moment, I can only find a photo of the Cadillac Sedan but I think I have photos somewhere of the rest and will post them or facsimiles.
Sadly, we moved from a house on two acres of land to an apartment building owned by my then brand new Stepmother.
I was able to store the cars at the Buick dealership for some months, but then moved to El Centro and the cars did finally end up in a wrecking yard.
Edit: Found a photo of the 1941 Buick Convertible which I will add here.
Bill
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For this batch, all are facsimiles until I find real photos of my cars if I ever do.
This is the remainder of my first "collection", mid 1960's.
Bill
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1967 starts my new career in the auto industry, with the Volvo Distributor for the Western US based in Torrance, California.
7 years in total in the first segment, all in the Parts Division. On year as a Parts Field Rep for the Metro Los Angeles area plus the Pacific Northwest, a couple of years living in Portland Oregon as the resident Northeast Parts Rep, a year or so back in California living in Thousand Oaks as the Parts Field Division Manager and about 3 years as Parts Manager for the Distributor.
Mostly my cars during those 7 years were a rather boring assortment of 2/4/5 door box stock Volvo Company Cars which I had to turn over every 6 months.
However, I did manage to get two rather interesting ones during the years there.
One was a Volvo Express "Paketwagen", the only ever imported into the US. I and my Sales Manager counterpart were allowed to import one each of the Volvo of their choice for one year. He chose a Volvo Taxi!!!! I chose the panel truck.
As well, I imported my Volvo Sugga which I featured as a quiz car some time ago.
Here are a couple of photos, one in my driveway in Thousand Oaks and the other when we used it as a "chase car" in the original Baja 1000 race in Mexico. This car still exists I think in Connecticut.
Next stop, Sweden.
Bill
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Sweden...........
Perhaps two of the most interesting years of my life. Marvelous country, marvelous people.
I got picked up on a program that was intended to rotate national managers from throughout the world to the home office in Göteborg to more internationalize the Volvo organization.
The then CEO, Pehr Gyllenhammar recognized that Volvo exported almost 80 % of it's products and his management staff was something like 90% Swedish. The idea being to bring in fresh ideas and viewpoints. PG was a piece of work, believe me, in the most positive sense.
So, Pat, the three kids and I packed up and moved to the small village of Lerum, Sweden where we lived for two years.
Interesting cultural adjustment compared to the US to be sure.
I was International Parts Training Manager for one year and International Parts and Accessories Sales Manager for one year which involved a lot of travel and which will account for some other threads on automotive subjects I took photos of around the world.
The tax situation in Sweden at the time precluded my collecting any automobiles although I did collect a lot of literature from the 1930's and 1940's at the Auktionsverket in Göteborg as well as almost a complete container of furniture from the late 1800's, early 1900's. The city decided to tear down entire blocks of apartment buildings dating from the 1800's due to fire safety issues and built a raft of high rise apartment blocks outside of the city and moved the folks there. The new apartments were far better than the old ones but they had much lower ceilings and less storage space. So, I picked up boxes of bound issues of Swedish magazines, old photos etc. for a song. As well, as mentioned above, all of that marvelous solid oak furniture which is still in our house today.
So, only two photos of the 1974-1976 Swedish experience.
Two photos of the Cadillac I imported to Sweden and later sold to the President of the Swedish Cadillac Club, Tage Jingnert.
Sorry the photo in front of our Lerum house is mis captioned, should be Cadillac, not Cadillic.
Edit: Photos will not load but I have posted them elsewhere so no great loss.
Bill
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Making it difficult with the Swedish Cadillac photos, trying again.
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Peru...............
Having finished my Contract in Sweden, I was offered the choice to return to the US or apply for another position in Volvo's wide array of export markets.
My first choice was Australia and I was accepted but the incumbent Director of Parts and Accessories there decided to put off his retirement for a couple of years.
At about that same time, the then Gerente de Repuestos y Accessorios in Lima, Peru got caught up in some sort of smuggling scheme with some of the larger dealers there and was fired. I was offered that post and accepted.
Peru at that time was in the last couple of years of a Military Communist Dictatorship. As relates to the auto/truck industry, they had set up a scheme whereby one could only buy vehicles made in Peru.
Manufacturers were allowed to bid on the exclusive right to assemble vehicles in various classes on a fairly long term basis.
While I was there, Volkswagen had the monopoly on all cars up to 1200cc, Toyota, 1200cc up to 3500cc and Chrysler (Dodge) on anything over that.
On the truck/bus side, Chrysler (Dodge) had a monopoly on all trucks under 3.5 tons and Volvo had everything above that.
A most interesting tour to be sure and I learned a lot about doing business in a Developing Country, not even to mention doing business in a country under a Military Dictatorship. Not something many Americans get to do. As I was working with a Swedish company, based in a Neutral Country, I was allowed to play by a rather different set of rules, business wise.
A story for another day perhaps.
As to the Your Cars Department, rather dull. I had the same company car pictured here the whole tour but we did have a neat company vehicle in the Amazon Basin (Iquitos) that was under my control and I used it a few times.
The supplied photos show it after it lost a wheel during one of our family trips up there.
Just for fun, I am also posting a photo of myself and some of the family at one of the River Resorts on the Amazon where we would often take visiting Swedes.
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OH Canada:
Next stop was Canada.
My contract was ending in Peru and we started to negotiate a new one. Sadly circumstances did not allow this to happen.
The rate of inflation in Peru was at around 1,000% per year, one thousand, not one hundred.
My salary was fixed in Sweden although it was sort of indexed to the rate of inflation but never kept up. It was also registered with the Peruvian tax authorities. As the banking system was in a state of collapse, I got paid once a month in cash that was delivered to me in large paper bags. At the end, I was making over 1 million Soles per month and even though the banking authorities kept printing larger and larger denomination bills, it was still a mess and we had to hide the bags in our bedroom closet.
I was outside the Swedish system, being a Yank on a Swedish company payroll in Peru and pretty much on my own.
I did get a small stipend paid into a Swedish bank account as sort of a Social Security/Retirement fund thing but it wasn't all that much. The solution for the Swedes was interesting but very dicey for me as a non-Swede. The Swedish expats were told to take out large loans in Soles with the company and those loans were forgiven when their contract was up.
They used those loans to keep up their standard of living, to purchase Peruvian goods to take home and sell when they left or they could buy dollars on the black market and take it home. None of those alternatives were usable for me as I was still an American citizen and had to follow IRS rules.
So, I bid for Australia again, the guy still was not ready to retire. I applied for and was accepted as Parts Manager USA for Volvo Penta in the State of Virginia but before that was finalized Volvo Corporate asked me to take the position of Director of Parts and Accessories in Canada as the Director there had fallen ill and had to return to Sweden. That is what eventually happened.
Canada was marvelous and if certain things I will explain later had not happened, I would probably still be there.
The business practices were very similar to the US but some of the perks were a bit different. I was allowed one company car a year and it was box stock, no modifications allowed. But, I had an underground garage private parking place and someone washed my car every day. Interesting trade off.
So, the car situation was flat dull. Two identical Volvo 265 wagons over the time I was there and one AMC Matador that I bought for my daughter when she became of driving age. As my Volvo was stock and as I took no photos, I am posting a photo of the exact type of car in the same colour that mine was.
Then on to the next adventure.
Bill
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Entertaining stories for sure. Love the Volvo connections. I've owned Volvos since 1980. The ATS wheels on that 144 are rare pieces!
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Hi Dale:
Thanks for the comments. You often wonder if anyone looks at these threads/postings.
The wheels on the Peruvian Volvo were on it when I arrived so I don't know where they came from.
If you like special wheels on Swedish products, keep tuned for the next chapter. Not Volvo's, but still Swedish.
I have a few more photos to scan in and then I will carry on with the saga.
Bill
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"Back in the USA" Acknowledgement to Chuck Berry.............
As stated earlier, I could have easily spent the rest of my career in Canada, perhaps the rest of my life. Great country.
Sadly, even though Volvo Canada was quite profitable, Volvo had sent a new President to the US to head up Volvo of America and he had the bright idea to combine the US and Canadian operations as 'Volvo North America". The Swedes accepted the idea and as Volvo of America also had a National Parts Manager, my job became redundant.
So I was once again transferred, to Rockleigh, NJ, and given the title of National Parts and Accessories Sales Manager.
Having already been the International Parts and Accessories sales manager for the whole world in Sweden, having been the National Parts Manager and Area Parts manager for Peru and Grupo Andino and National Parts Manager in Canada, this was not a very happy solution.
As it turned out, the former President of Volvo Western, my first Volvo employer, was also transferred to Rockleigh NJ as National Marketing Manager and he was not happy either. He was recruited by SAAB management in Sweden to run SAAB-Scania North America (he had worked for SAAB in the 1950's and was fondly remembered) and a few months later offered me the job of National Parts Manager for that company which I gladly accepted.
So started yet another career and yet another group of "my cars".
My new/old boss, Bob Sinclair, was a marketing and merchandising whirlwind, being responsible for the launch of the SAAB Turbo in the US and later personally responsible for the development of the SAAB convertible, a true marketing success.
He also had, as did I (I still do) gasoline in his veins and was very supportive of showing off our products.
So, some fun SAAB company cars as I shall show here plus Bob, our National Service Manager and I imported a few other interesting vehicles over the next 12 years.
To some of the cars.
SAAB Turbo Demo 1
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Demo cars 2, 3 and 4.
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To continue with the earlier mentioned mutual collection of Bob Sinclair, the National Service Manager and myself, here are most of the cars, all of which were eventually resold. All came from a used vehicle/salvage lot in Holland.
Citroen 2CV
Citroen TA
Nekaf m38A1
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The last photo, by the way, shows the result of a sort of rebellion on the part of my warehouse staff in Connecticut after I fired 5 or 6 employees for stealing radios in the warehouse. They slit the tyres on about 50 vehicles in the warehouse parking lot and this resulted in a huge problem.
For my own personal collection of odd cars/trucks, we can go on from here.
My second Matador, which I had set up with exhaust headers and two four barrel carburetors and a modified transmission.
Two motorcycles I owned at the time when in my mid forties crisis I thought I had to show I was still young.
Honda Sabre V4
Harley Sportster. One of my favorites until I had to lay it down twice when little old ladies turned in front of me on narrow city streets in Connecticut.
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Next is a series of vehicles I purchased in the late 1980's from a dealer in New England.
First, an International bus, if I remember a 1937 D30 which I left up there when I moved to Atlanta.
Then, a 1956 Ford F100 short box small back window truck which I still have.
This was the original induction system I had, 2 four barrel carburetors as well as exhaust headers on a "built and balanced" 300 cubic inch straight six Ford motor with an all synchro 3 speed transmission.
Later, I had the induction system changed to a triple sidedraft Weber system.
This was my "Saturday Night Sleeper" race car on the local Interstates when I would do acceleration contests with guys in their Camaros and Mustangs from say, 50 to 100 mph on a straight, open stretch of the highway. The truck is "barn find" rusty and does not look fast at all.
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Another car purchased from the same New England dealer, a 1969 Chevrolet Bel Air Police car.
This was a State of Maine State Trooper Supervisor car with a 390 horsepower 427 Cu. In. motor.
It was sold about 4 years ago. Sorry for the poor photo.
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Then, another Ford 1956 F100 purchased from California.
Quite a rare version, a long wheelbase big window with original Fordomatic 3 speed transmission.
I put an original equipment Thunderbird 4 barrel manifold and carb on this one as well as exhaust headers and a modified transmission.
I sold this one about 4 years ago and now regret it.
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Just updated my own list of cars!
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I've never actually sat down and listed all the cars I've had before, but looking at Djetset's list made me think I perhaps should before I forget.
So here they all are in chronologial order, starting with my first car when I was 17:
Austin Mini
VW Beetle (oval window)
Morris Mini-Cooper
Austin 1100 Mk 1
Austin 1100 Mk 2
Morris 1300
Triumph Toledo (worst car by a long way..)
TVR Vixen
Austin Allegro (yes, really!)
Alfasud Sprint
Alfasud Sprint Veloce
VW Scirocco GTI
Ferrari Dino 246GT
Trident Venturer
Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT
Ford Escort Mexico
TVR Trident prototype No. 3 (I still have this one)
Audi 80 quattro
Audi 90
BMW 320i
Alfa Romeo 164
Alfa Romeo 166
Alfa Romeo 156
VW Eos 2.0 Turbo
Audi A5 2.0 Turbo (new November 2010)
There are plenty of others I wish I'd had, and one or two I wish I hadn't had there...
It also struck me that there are several cars I owned or still own that are not on the list because I have them for others to drive, although some of them I've driven many miles in myself - mainly because I like them!:
Fiat 128 3P
Fiat Panda (original style)
Fiat Panda (another original style one)
VW Polo Coupé
VW Polo
Fiat Panda (2nd style)
Latest style Fiat Panda (I still have this one)
Another thing struck me just scanning the list to see if I'd forgotten any:
All the cars without exception are either British, German or Italian! Nothing French, Swedish, Japanese or anything else!
Which one did you recently add?
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Which one did you recently add?
Very unexciting: just a new Fiat Panda (latest model) at the very bottom..
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You went from a Scirocco to a Dino???????? Waddya win the lottery? ;D
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You went from a Scirocco to a Dino???????? Waddya win the lottery? ;D
Actually I see the Dino is slightly out of position.
I got it when I had the Alfasud Sprint Veloce and sold it when I had the Scirocco..
I'll have to move it.
Dinos were not so expensive in those days... I sold it for £9500 and I see they are now hitting £250000... C'est la vie!
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I've never actually sat down and listed all the cars I've had before, but looking at Djetset's list made me think I perhaps should before I forget.
So here they all are in chronologial order, starting with my first car when I was 17:
Austin Mini
VW Beetle (oval window)
Morris Mini-Cooper
Austin 1100 Mk 1
Austin 1100 Mk 2
Morris 1300
Triumph Toledo (worst car by a long way..)
TVR Vixen
Austin Allegro (yes, really!)
Alfasud Sprint
Alfasud Sprint Veloce
Ferrari Dino 246GT
VW Scirocco GTI
Trident Venturer
Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT
Ford Escort Mexico
TVR Trident prototype No. 3 (I still have this one)
Audi 80 quattro
Audi 90
BMW 320i
Alfa Romeo 164
Alfa Romeo 166
Alfa Romeo 156
VW Eos 2.0 Turbo
Audi A5 2.0 Turbo
Audi S3 Saloon 2.0 TFSI Quattro DSG (new September 2014)
There are plenty of others I wish I'd had, and one or two I wish I hadn't had there...
It also struck me that there are several cars I owned or still own that are not on the list because I have them for others to drive, although some of them I've driven many miles in myself - mainly because I like them!:
Fiat 128 3P
Fiat Panda (original style)
Fiat Panda (another original style one)
VW Polo Coupé
VW Polo
Fiat Panda (2nd style)
Latest style Fiat Panda (I still have this one)
VW Lupo (I still have this one too)
Another thing struck me just scanning the list to see if I'd forgotten any:
All the cars without exception are either British, German or Italian! Nothing French, Swedish, Japanese or anything else!
List up-dated 23/09/2014!
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My list of cars is rather short compared to the others. My first car was a 1976 Holden Gemini, then a 1990 Mitsubishi Magna, followed by a 2015 Skoda Octavia station wagon. I also purchased a 1962 Wolseley 15/60 12 years ago and still have it, although I haven't taken it out much lately (and before someone comes along to say that 15/60s were discontinued in 1961, this is an Australian built car, and they weren't discontinued here until around March of 1962).
My father had had quite a few cars. His first was a pre-war Rover 10. When we arrived in Australia in 1958 he bought a 1955 Hillman Minx, followed by a 1959 Hillman Minx, 1960 (I think) Citroen DS19, 1962 Austin Freeway station wagon, 1949 Jowett Javelin, 1967 Austin 1800, 1970 Holden Premier, 1975 Audi Fox, 1979 (I think) Ford Escort Ghia and his last car was a 1985 Mitsubishi Sigma. I drove all of them from the Jowett onwards and learnt to drive in the Austin 1800.
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Between Bill Murray and Carnut, my list suddenly feels a wee pedestrian.
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You went from a Scirocco to a Dino???????? Waddya win the lottery? ;D
Actually I see the Dino is slightly out of position.
I got it when I had the Alfasud Sprint Veloce and sold it when I had the Scirocco..
I'll have to move it.
Dinos were not so expensive in those days... I sold it for £9500 and I see they are now hitting £250000... C'est la vie!
And now Dinos are advertised at anywhere between £329,000 and £369,000. That's a £100,000 gain in less than 2 years... Oh, boy, I wish I had it now!
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Its been a while so I thought I'd re-post with all the cars I've owned since the last update. Its a long list.
(http://static.flickr.com/56/134593248_72a3677d19.jpg)
My first "car" - a hand me down from my parents. Its orange colour named it the nickname "cheesewagon". Lots of fun in its own way and useful for camping trips and such. It had a 360cid V8 and 3spd automatic. The interior had velour captain's chairs, a rear seat that folded to a bed, wood paneling and shag carpet. Very groovy!
(http://static.flickr.com/55/134593246_f52aef2eaa.jpg)
My first car I bought with own cash. A mint condition 1978 Z28 with a 350cid V8, 4bbl carb, 4spd close ratio manual, posi 3.73 rear and some headers with true dual exhaust. The previous owner had ported the heads and put some sort of aftermarket cam in it too. Lots of fun. Sold to buy first house. Went to a guy in Alabama. He drove it home from Alberta!
(http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/4/240/1521/38098260001_original.jpg)
1988 Ford Bronco II - My was white with a red interior (not my photo). Oh and rusty. Oh and a nasty engine knock near the end. The interior was ok I guess. I wanted to buy a Taurus SHO but the wife wanted this. Didn't trust it enough to take off road
(http://static.flickr.com/73/166931028_03d1f90424.jpg)
My old Honda Civic - old picture taken at our wedding shower. This was a horrible, horrible car - very unreliable (and almost new at the time - bought it at 2 years old). Had 5spd gearbox replaced, got terrible fun mileage, rattled at shock. Was fun to drive when working right.
(http://static.flickr.com/56/166921692_773b8e119f.jpg)
1996 Ford Mustang GT that my wife and I used to own. First year for the 4.6L V8. Traded the above Civic straight across for it.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/arthurdent/MyExCars/taurus.jpg)
1988 Taurus wagon - wife refused to drive it AFTER I fixed it up. Mine was similar. Traded in for Jeep below.
(http://static.flickr.com/71/166921698_052e001050.jpg)
1998 Jeep Cherokee - 4.0L inline six, auto, 4x4. I thought it was crap but the wife liked it.
(http://static.flickr.com/51/134598112_c41bdf7415.jpg)
1974 Triumph Spitfire 1500. Great fun little car! Cheap, easy to work (except for behind the dash) and handled well. Bought it for $1500 and loved every minute of it. Engine was getting tired at the end.
(http://static.flickr.com/46/166931030_b02571f4cc.jpg)
2000 Chrysler Neon (Canadian market) - 2.0L I4 and 5spd. It was amazingly reliable - owned for four years almost a record for me.
(http://static.flickr.com/77/166921696_f842a1ab94.jpg)
1986 Toyota Camry I very, very briefly owned. Sister in-law wrote it off three times in one month.
(http://static.flickr.com/46/134593252_1a0e7d8cd4.jpg)
A very early 1969 Reliant Scimitar GTE. 3.0L V6 / 4spd w/overdrive. Rare hand built British GT car. Project car that I never finished.
(http://static.flickr.com/52/166931029_bfbb3a9e46.jpg)
2004 Nissan Quest - family vehicle for several years. Drove it to Texas back twice. Suffered from a lot of electrical faults at the end of ownership.
(http://static.flickr.com/45/134593249_9775f1bbae.jpg)
1981 Mazda Rx-7 - A real beauty in great shape - bought from original owner. 12A rotary engine and 5spd manual transmission. A lot of fun to drive. Sad to see this one go.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4124/5409118299_5cbf02f484_z.jpg)
A 1986 Hyundai Stellar that I chopped up for parts to build a Lotus Seven replica (below)
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3629/3637875080_3e7de50aae_z.jpg)
My Seven project - A Leugo Locost body, Toyota 4AGE DOHC motor with twin Webers, T50 5spd, Hyundai Pony rear axle. Got so close to finishing this one but family finances dictated sale.
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/100/301152212_43720bdf62_z.jpg?zz=1)
1997 Ford Escort wagon - commuter car for a while - 2.0L / 5spd with black Miata alloy wheels.
(http://static.flickr.com/103/301578257_ee2d8f730a.jpg)
1986 Mazda B2000 - 2.0L / 5spd. Bought it for $400 - drove it all over the place for two months, sold for $400.
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/149/400782886_25baf9669e_z.jpg?zz=1)
Bought another Rx-7. This one was a '85 GSL. Better spec'd but I preferred the 81.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3037/2773635254_b94072b7c5_z.jpg)
1988 Ford Tempo L - Bought for $50. 5spd with higher miles on it.
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2077/1682972089_ea05c937d3_z.jpg)
1998 Ford Taurus wagon - I bought this off of my brother as a beater car. 3.0L DOHC V6. Sold off for same as purchase price. Lovely motor wrapped in a so-so car.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3065/2890483723_f6ac913eeb_z.jpg)
1962 Volkswagen Beetle - Canadian Standard model. Got it running after sitting for 20+ years. Had gearbox issues and sold on.
Some differences: Small standard headliner, No chrome trim on dash or door panels, No chrome on running boards, No chrome in the window rubbers (body coloured painted vent windows trim), No interior chrome, Deluxe bumpers, Deluxe body side and hood chrome, No door panel pockets, No fuel gauge but reserve tank and lever, No arm rests, 1963 style rear deck lid with "T" handle, Pre-1958 steering column and wheel, Small signal lever, black interior knobs, Dimmer switch on floor, Silverbeige knobs and window cranks, Current engine offerings, No door panel pockets or arm rest, T handle deck lid, Dealer installed gas heater
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3647/3648226275_35a802dea4_z.jpg)
1989 Toyota Hilux SURF - JDM market truck so right hand drive. Was diesel but had a 22RE gas motor swapped in. 5spd
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3554/3380637841_c62a3e2547_z.jpg)
MG kit car - unknown brand
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4039/4353867329_07d3df4b58_z.jpg)
1986 Chrysler LeBaron. I painted it with rattle cans - outside ... in the winter. A real POS but I loved it. Had to get rid of when we changed insurance companies. Traded for a Lada Niva.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4111/5082119709_12cf345eaa_z.jpg)
1995 Lada Niva Cossack 1.7i
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4118/4853964210_b48235db5f_z.jpg)
1991 Lada Niva 1600
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4141/4851587995_c3a7fd2f98_z.jpg)
1985 Lada Niva 1600 - parts truck
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1377/5106160350_9ee8724e6d_z.jpg)
1981 Datsun 210 - Thought it needed a clutch but gearbox was broken. Sold to a guy who made it into a race car.
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5261/5865426176_007cd4e2a9_z.jpg)
1973 Mazda 808 coupe - 1.6L four / 5spd. Like an Rx-3 but with a piston engine. Loved this one. Time warp condition. Was actually my daily drive for a while. Engine needed a rebuilt - smoked a lot.
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5119/5894257546_3cea37bd6e_z.jpg)
1968 Ford Falcon - bought as a cheap summer cruiser. Sold on after a brief stay.
(https://farm7.staticflickr.com/6033/6217227113_1a4873ebdb_z.jpg)
1987 Toyota Corolla - auto. Bought as a beater for $80. Fixed up a bit but hated driving it so sold on quickly.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7010/6555519345_2bcd927f92_z.jpg)
My Canadian market K10 1989 Nissan Micra. Bought as beater replacing hateful Corolla. I loved it. Great fun to drive. Mechanic doing mandatory safety inspection wreaked the ignition system. Was able to partially repair but was never the same.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7080/7219552636_f0081e22b8_c.jpg)
2012 Mazda 2 - wife got tired of all my beaters and was strong armed into buying something respectable. 1.5L / 5spd. Have auto-x'd and ice raced it. Still my daily driver.
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8006/7286322298_33a574e806_c.jpg)
1965-ish Honda S600 - ex drag racer. Shouldn't have bought as it was way too hacked up. Sold as a parts car to a guy with a rotary powered S600.
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8003/7472849534_705bb04ae3_c.jpg)
Owned a couple of these older but mint condition Dodge Caravans.
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8142/7515746950_98839ce59a_c.jpg)
1982 Toyota SR5 truck - rusty and high miles. Ended up getting parted out. Still have the grill in garage.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3725/9547004932_c6853a89e7_c.jpg)
1970 Mercedes-Benz 220D - bought with a 1971 parts car. Fixed up and was my daily driver for about a year. Auto-x'd it. ;D
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8529/8617320629_d45beccc3d_c.jpg)
1965 Envoy Epic - It is a Canadian only variant on the Vauxhall Viva HA sold at Chevrolet/Oldsmobile dealers.
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2881/11345432905_bcb6faa852_c.jpg)
1984 Volvo 244 GLE (Canadian model) - 4spd manual with O/D
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5526/12176996105_6e58b1ce3a_c.jpg)
2005 Ford Expedition for the wife who enjoys gas guzzlers.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3924/14859166366_21a9087319_c.jpg)
1978 Triumph Spitfire 1500 - mostly restored this one. Only $200 investment separates the before and after photos.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7631/16809006749_b20cb0904b_c.jpg)
1988 Chevrolet S10 - bought with a bad first gear. Fixed the gearbox but now need to re-install. Currently in my driveway bringing down property values.
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/382/19184127705_10241eda84_c.jpg)
1950-ish Austin A40 Devon - currently hopeless project - in pieces in the garage right now.
The wife has got herself a 2012 Ford F150 now too.
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Wow!
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47 vehicles at last count :D
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A few years ago I posted a few cars I'd had. After the recent seriously long lists I'll try to list what I have or have had with photos where I can.
1930 MG M type
1950 Lea-Francis 2½ Sports
(http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=32826.0;attach=115267;image)
1958 Wolseley 1500
Simca Aronde Montlhery
(http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=615.0;attach=115131;image)
1960 Daimler SP250 (plus three more!)
(http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=615.0;attach=115130;image)
1962+ Ogle Mini
AlfaSud ti
1938 Lea-Francis Sports
(http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=615.0;attach=115127;image)
Reliant Scimitar GTE
Ford Escort Mk 3
AlfaSud Gold Cloverleaf
Phoenix 11.9 h.p.
(http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=615.0;attach=115129;image)
MG Maestro
1993 Rover 214
1995 Rover 214
1912 12-15 Mors
(http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=615.0;attach=115128;image)
1999 Subaru Impreza
1910 15 h.p. Star
(http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=32825.0;attach=116194;image)
2006 Subaru Impreza
2016 BMW 320d Touring (since yesterday!)
More photos later
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47 vehicles at last count :D
A few nice left-field ones there!
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Subaru Imprezas Allan; so you do like some modern cars then?!
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Subaru Imprezas Allan; so you do like some modern cars then?!
Well remembering that of my two dozen cars all but five were new or recent at the time I owned them and of the five one was all I could afford as the student I was at the time so only four were bought with age as one of the reasons for buying 'em.
The Impreza, since you raised the matter was a normal small/medium hatchback endowed with plenty of power which it transmitted using all four wheels. It could (and did) tow a trailer of up to 1600 k.g. I'd have had another byt the equivalent car is either not made or not available in UK, hence the BMW which I can already say has too many "bells & whistles" fitted because they can and not enough down-to-earth engineering - e.g. no spare wheel, jack or wheel spanner because they believe the run-flat tyres are all that is needed. PM me for the full diatribe ;D
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I think the last time I posted here I had a rotten Bond and my Standard 8. Quite a lot has happened since then.
The Herald was here for about a year but never worked properly. Sold at a very small profit last year.
The Allegro cost £200. I did more than 10,00 miles in it as a daily driver and it's never let me down. Currently looking forlorn and awaiting a few MoT jobs
The Silver BX replaced the Allegro as my daily and is fantastic. It looks like a shed but drives better than any other car I've tried. I've done maybe 35,000 miles in it and I love it
The green BX was cheap and near and I felt sorry for it. Needs a good week's work and a few hundred quid throwing at it to get it on the road
The Peugeot 404 was also cheap. Currently in France having an engine rebuild. Will be lovely, one day.
The Panhard 24C was a case of 'never meet your heroes'. Achingly pretty but I only did one successful journey in it. Otherwise, a whole year of fiddling trying to get it working before I gave up and got rid a few weeks ago.
The Dyna X is its replacement. A nice, mostly original low-miles car but more of a curiosity than something that can actually be used. This is going up for sale next week to free up much needed funds for other projects.
The blue thing is a Heron saloon body on an A7 chassis. As far as I know the only survivor of this type. Needs an engine and thorough recommissioning. A very well-built Special that should be a fun thing to go to the pub in when it's done
The Model A I haven't even seen yet. Bought sight unseen, but from somebody I know. It runs and drives but has the 14.9hp engine so I'm on the look out for a 24hp to slot in instead.
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Oops, I knew I'd forget something!
This has been here for about two weeks and I've done about 1000 miles in it. A very, very rare UK-market survivor, mostly original and unmolested. Great fun!
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barrett - I love that Heron Austin Seven - very neat looking and unique! What a wonderful collection of motors you've had and have.
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I had it in my mind that you said you didn't have a driving licence barrett!
Was I dreaming? Or have I confused you with another prominent puzzler?
I must have been dreaming because aren't you something to do with 'Old Motor' or a similar car mag?
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When I joined this site years ago as a fresh-faced 20-something I didn't have a licence! I was a very late starter and consequently I missed the boat on a lot of cars I like so I'm making up for lost time... 13 motors in three years isn't that much compared to a lot of people I know, but I don't have enough money to indulge as much as I'd like to!
Now as a not-so-fresh-faced 30 year old I've been driving for three years. I think I've driven around 60 cars since then, with a couple of exceptions they've all been 'old'.
Old Motor folded in 1982 ;) It's one of the other ones that pays my wages...
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Old Motor folded in 1982 ;) It's one of the other ones that pays my wages...
You'd thiknk I might have noticed..
I just couldn't remember which one it is but I know it's a respected old car mag. It's not one that I subscribe to though; you have to draw the line somewhere and C&SC, Classic Cars, Octane and Classic Car Weekly is where the line is (since I also have to get through Auto Italia, Sprint TVR mag, Ferrari and 4 copies of Autocar and Auto Express every month as well!
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Promote this site in the mag?
Just asking.... ;)
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Popped in so time for an update?
Since the last time I've bought and sold a few things.
The Chevy S10 got sold.
The Austin A40 was very rusty and folded itself in half once the doors were removed. Ugh.
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7538/28441006600_4f43faf156_c.jpg)
Bought myself a 1991 Honda Nighthawk 250 and taught myself how to ride this summer.
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7473/28707110201_6d5d790928_c.jpg)
2001 Dodge Grand Caravan for the wife's business. Soon to be sold I hope.
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8033/28952211793_d1c70528c1_c.jpg)
1983 Dodge Aries K-car which I used on a beater rally. Now sold.
(https://c7.staticflickr.com/6/5133/29981848406_c1516ff071_c.jpg)
And undoubtedly the nicest classic car I've owned - 1981 Triumph TR8. The more rare TR7 variant with the V8. Mine is the 5spd as well.
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Glad you still have a look sometimes AD!
The TR7/V8 looks in good shape and so far as I recall when they were works rally cars they go well too!
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My first car, an heroic Renault 4L.
Then Renault 11 12 Estate :thumbsdown:
Chevrolet Malibu 1978 :thumbsdown:
Fiat Fiorino :thumbsdown:
Fiat 147 Spazio :thumbsdown:
Lada Niva :thumbsdown:
Toyota Land Cruiser 1984
Ford Sierra 280LS Automatic 1987 :thumbsup:
Ford Explorer 1996 :thumbsdown:
Honda Civic 1999 :thumbsup:
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Renault Scenic 1999 :thumbsdown:
Honda Fit 2002 :thumbsup:
Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 2004 :thumbsdown:
Honda CRV 2004 :thumbsup:
Honta Civic Coupe 2006 :thumbsup:
Toyota Fortuner 2008 :thumbsup:
And I bought a Renault 4L to restore. And I did it, but it didn't work and I gave it away
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Renault 11 Estate
Do you mean Renault 11 Hatchback or was it an obscure market-specific version ?
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Was this awful orange lowsy estate. I've bought new from the Renault dealer and 6 month later was leaking oil from the engine
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So it must have been a Renault 12. ;)
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Yes, you're right. My mistake
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Corrected. Renault 12 Estate 1980
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Glad you still have a look sometimes AD!
The TR7/V8 looks in good shape and so far as I recall when they were works rally cars they go well too!
Isn't it a genuine TR8? Looks like one...
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Surely in the UK we knew them all as TR7s hence TR7/V8
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Yes it is a genuine TR8. Only sold in North America. Just about 2800 or so of them.
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Taught yourself to ride!! Nice work AD.
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Thanks - quite enjoyed it. The Nighthawk 250 is great around town but I will be very tempted to get something a bit more highway friendly this summer.
Sold off the minivan since the above posts.
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I've never actually sat down and listed all the cars I've had before, but looking at Djetset's list made me think I perhaps should before I forget.
So here they all are in chronologial order, starting with my first car when I was 17:
Austin Mini
VW Beetle (oval window)
Morris Mini-Cooper
Austin 1100 Mk 1
Austin 1100 Mk 2
Morris 1300
Triumph Toledo (worst car by a long way..)
TVR Vixen
Austin Allegro (yes, really!)
Alfasud Sprint
Alfasud Sprint Veloce
Ferrari Dino 246GT
VW Scirocco GTI
Trident Venturer
Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT
Ford Escort Mexico
TVR Trident prototype No. 3 (I still have this one)
Audi 80 quattro
Audi 90
BMW 320i
Alfa Romeo 164
Alfa Romeo 166
Alfa Romeo 156
VW Eos 2.0 Turbo
Audi A5 2.0 Turbo
Audi S3 Saloon 2.0 TFSI Quattro DSG (new September 2014) Stolen on August 3rd 2017
Audi S5 - to replace the stolen Audi S3
There are plenty of others I wish I'd had, and one or two I wish I hadn't had there...
It also struck me that there are several cars I owned or still own that are not on the list because I have them for others to drive, although some of them I've driven many miles in myself - mainly because I like them!:
Fiat 128 3P
Fiat Panda (original style)
Fiat Panda (another original style one)
VW Polo Coupé
VW Polo
Fiat Panda (2nd style)
Latest style Fiat Panda (I still have this one)
VW Lupo
Another thing struck me just scanning the list to see if I'd forgotten any:
All the cars without exception are either British, German or Italian! Nothing French, Swedish, Japanese or anything else!
List updated 20 August 2017
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Sorry to hear about your S3 being stolen. That's a bummer. At least you owned and drove it for nearly 3 years - I had a new A4 2.0Tdi back in 2007 which I owned for approximately 5 weeks. Woke up one morning to find the cat very confused as to why we couldn't find the front-door keys to let it in. My keys and my daughter's handbag were gone, together with the car. It's known I believe as a creeper burglary - they broke the lock on the patio doors and I slept through the whole thing. The car was found about 6 months later, or what was left of it. They break them down for spares.
I hope your loss wasn't too traumatic. It's the nuisance value as much as anything - all the rigmarole of changing house locks, reporting stolen bank cards, new locks on my daughter's car (costs a fortune because they're all ECU-linked), plus having to fork out for another car until the insurance coughs up, which took months. Plus I lost the use of my personal reg plate for ever.
Sorry - am I rubbing it in? I expect it's a bit raw at the moment. Really tough luck.
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It's always a complete bummer when anything like that happens. I was fortunate that they took nothing else, just the car and 5 sets of car keys, two of which were for my Audi. My daughter and her husband have been able to have their cars reprogrammed so thay can't be started with the keys which were taken.
My S3 was meant to be for my retirement. I ordered it 2 years before it was delivered and there's no chance of finding another with the same specification. I had no Gap insurance... That'll teach me!
I've found a very nice Audi S5 which cost about the same as I should get from the insurance company. It's not new but looks and feels it. I avoided getting the same as it would remind me of the one which was stolen so now I have the fun of a completely different car: just as fast but somewhat less lairy and more grown-up!
It's not so much the car, which is at the end of the day just a hunk of steel and other materials, but it was full of my personal stuff like CDs, footwear and all sorts of items. They are irreplaceable.
Boy, if I could get my hands on the perpetrators....
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It's always a complete bummer when anything like that happens. I was fortunate that they took nothing else, just the car and 5 sets of car keys, two of which were for my Audi. My daughter and her husband have been able to have their cars reprogrammed so thay can't be started with the keys which were taken.
My S3 was meant to be for my retirement. I ordered it 2 years before it was delivered and there's no chance of finding another with the same specification. I had no Gap insurance... That'll teach me!
I've found a very nice Audi S5 which cost about the same as I should get from the insurance company. It's not new but looks and feels it. I avoided getting the same as it would remind me of the one which was stolen so now I have the fun of a completely different car: just as fast but somewhat less lairy and more grown-up!
It's not so much the car, which is at the end of the day just a hunk of steel and other materials, but it was full of my personal stuff like CDs, footwear and all sorts of items. They are irreplaceable.
Boy, if I could get my hands on the perpetrators....
I even had a tracker on my car, but it was useless at the time. The usual MO in Ireland is to take them to the Republic for a couple of months until the heat dies down. The Irish police don't have equipment fitted to their patrol cars which can trace tracker transponders. After a while the Northern Irish police lose interest and the vermin (it's still a sore point with me after 10 years) bring them back to the Province for stripping. My opening sentence mentioned "at the time" - in fact the tracker had been activated and the batteries must be extraordinarily powerful, because they showed the position of the car 6 months later, and the police could finally advise my insurance company that the car had been found in a write-off condition. Then and only then, I received my insurance payout.
I never did get my private plate - in the confusion and hullabaloo of the theft I had forgotten to tell the DVLA that I wished to retain the number. It still exists unused but their petty regulations mean that it cannot be re-allocated. Red tape!
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I had my very tidy and original 1954 ripple bonnet 2CV stolen (supposedly to order, as lots of early 2CVs were going to the Netherlands at the time) from a lock-up about 25 years ago, and it still bugs me today, especially as these early examples are now worth a small fortune :-[
More recently, I had a mid-50s Velo Solex bike taken, as well as the (rare) hard-top roof of my Smart Brabus Roadster Coupe. Bloody criminals!
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I met some fellow AP members at the Goodwood Revival and one of them asked what I drove and seemed mildly surprised at the answer (foot of the list). I suppose because I'm so interested in 1950s/60s motor sport it would be expected that I would have an interesting daily drive, but that's not my MO. I was brought up and influenced by a father who would make a Scotsman or Yorkshireman look like a spendthrift - it definitely rubbed off on me and I have always bought relatively sensible cars which were apt for their purpose. Clearly when I was younger I had to be careful of running costs, but later in life I needed small/medium hatchbacks because of my work, and diesels because I covered circa 30,000 miles per annum. Having fun didn't come into it.
Some of the early cars were chosen with care because of the opportunity to make money - I used some of them for 12 months and then sold them for more than I'd paid. I'm a parsimonious man. Everything I bought had to justify itself. What would I really like? A well-built replica Jaguar C-type, to be honest. Can't justify (or afford) it.
Vauxhall Viva SL (HA)
Austin 1100 de luxe (a purchase from a probate sale - bargain)
MG Midget 1275
Ford Escort 1300 Sport Mk1 (I dread to think how much the shell is now worth)
Triumph Spitfire MkIV
MG Midget 1275
Vauxhall Chevette GLS (my father-in-law was the manager at the local dealer)
Vauxhall Cavalier GL Mk1
(Now began a period of company cars, after which I returned to using my wife's Metro)
Austin Metro City
Vauxhall Nova Merit
Vauxhall Corsa ( carjacked during what is known in the UK as The Drumcree Riots)
Vauxhall Corsa Premier
Peugeot 306 XL 1.9td
Peugeot 306 XL 1.4
Seat Leon SE 110 Tdi
VW Golf Sport 1.9tdi (carjacked and never recovered - plus no insurance payout because the gang has to be at least 5 people)
Seat Toledo SE 110 Tdi (interim panic purchase)
Audi A4 2.0Tdi S-line (stolen from my house after 5 weeks ownership)
Honda Accord Sport 2.2 Cdti
VW Golf 1.6 Tdi
Seat Leon SE 1.6 Tdi
Seat Ibiza FR 1.2 Tsi
During my company car years I had a 1972 MGB GT, a 1965 Morris Minor 1000 Traveller, and a Ford Orion Ghia for the wife to shut her up. Without going into too much personal detail, I had a drop in financial fortune at one stage, which explains the drop down to the Metro and the slow build up back to newer cars.
I live in an apartment with one allocated parking space, and nowhere for storage. Hence only one sensible car.
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A few yers ago I already posted pics of some of the cars I have owned, but here is the full list (including company cars) :
Volkswagen Beetle 1972
Volkswagen Beetle 1969
Alfa Romeo Alfetta 1.6
Ford Escort 1.6 D
Peugeot 406
Nissan Primera 2.0 SLX
Ford Mondeo wagon 2.0
Opel Omega 2.5 V6
Volvo V40 1.6
Renault Laguna
Fiat Marea Weekend 2.0 HLX
Alfa Romeo GTV 2000 Betone
Citroen C5 break 2.0
Hyundai Terracan 2.9 crdi
Volvo V70 2.0 T Momentum
Volvo V70 2.4 D5 Summum
Volvo V70 2.4 Comfort Line
My worst car ? Citroen C5, mainly electrical problems, so typically French...
My best car ? Hyundai Terracan, very reliable and fun to drive
My favorite car ? The Alfa Bertone, no doubt !
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“But Chance, you’re only 14, you can’t possibly have owned a car or driven a car!”
You see thats where you're wrong pal, I’ve driven all the Cars you can think of, and raced them on the track too. Granted they were hotwheels. ;)
My first car was a Matchbox Tow Truck that had decals from the Nickelodeon show ‘Jimmy Neutron’ Granted now it is destroyed but I still have it.
There was also a Ford Focus with ‘Dora The Explorer’ decals but lets not loose track.
From then, all I played with was Hotwheels, and Matchbox. My Grandfather Is the cause for this. He is a Hotwheels collector himself, and lives in Knoxville, Tennessee. He has been collecting since my own mother was born. (Hotwheels came out in 1968, the same year my mother was born.)
Over the years, my toys grew and grew, then It started to take shape into a Collection. My basement is bombarded with crates of Hotwheels from all different sets, and all different years, still in box.
My rarest set to this day is a set of Hotwheels cars from their 35th Anniversary, In which they made a movie, “Hotwheels: World Race” along with a set of 35 cars that were in the movie. It took me 2 years but I succesfully collected all 35 cars, which in total almost costs $2,000.
As for REAL Cars, In 2 years, I start Drivers Education, and that will be when I get my Driver’s Permit. There Is a high possibility I will take the car that my mother currently owns now...
A 2002 Oldsmobile Alero...
I’m actually quite excited for this, Brown, Dull, 2-Door car for one reason. My Father bought this car off of my Grandfather (not the same as before) before he had passed away not too long ago. We say the car is possessed with his spirit because It still runs today, even thow the Drivers side window is broken, panels are falling off, It still works. And I would love to continue the legacy of this car before my Mother throws it in a dump.
Well thats my experience with cars. I’ll be back in 2 years to ACTUALLY tell you my first car(s). ;D
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I would hope it does still work - 2002 year build is like a new car in my neighbourhood ;D. Plenty of taxis round here that are a lot older than that. Enjoy.
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2002 an old car - nope my 1989 BMW easily beats that only 193000 and still used to commute to work (about 36 miles a day).
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my "new" little car ;D
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An update since my 2008 post...
The Mercedes 190 2.5 diesel has gone to a better place after 330,000 miles. I wish I still had it.
1984 Porsche 924, pretty car that never worked properly, caused a standstill to the rush-hour traffic in Colchester when it refused to proceed, seemed attractive to thieves for some reason. It's now gone, I'd love to drive a good one one day.
1996 Jaguar X300 3.2 Executive, bulletproof! A lot of motor car for the money. Now sold but I enjoyed 5 years of driving either like the Lord Mayors chauffeur or a 1960's bank robber, 2 cars in 1!
1990 MX5, just superb to drive, but it had to go due to the usual rusty bits.
1999 MX5 Mk2, also superb but slightly less 'sports car' than the MK1. Due to an altercation with a Scania on the A12 it has sadly gone.
1964 Morris Minor 2 door, a bit 'hot rod' with a 1275cc engine, Toyota 5 speed box, disc brakes and telescopic shocks. Really good fun. It seems that everyone smiles when they see a Minor, but not as much as the driver.
1994 MX5 MK1 1.8. I need to keep this car forever, and fix the heater.
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Latest update to my list!
So here they all are in chronologial order, starting with my first car when I was 17:
Austin Mini
VW Beetle (oval window)
Morris Mini-Cooper
Austin 1100 Mk 1
Austin 1100 Mk 2
Morris 1300
Triumph Toledo (worst car by a long way..)
TVR Vixen
Austin Allegro (yes, really!)
Alfasud Sprint
Alfasud Sprint Veloce
Ferrari Dino 246GT
VW Scirocco GTI
Trident Venturer
Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT
Ford Escort Mexico
Audi 80 quattro
TVR Trident prototype No. 3
Audi 90
BMW 320i
Alfa Romeo 164
Alfa Romeo 166
Alfa Romeo 156
VW Eos 2.0 Turbo
Audi A5 2.0 Turbo
Audi S3 Saloon 2.0 TFSI Quattro DSG (new September 2014) Stolen on August 3rd 2017
Audi S5**
Abarth Simca 2Mila
Morris Mini Cooper S**
These are cars I have owned or still own that are not on the list because I have them for others to drive, although some of them I've driven many miles in myself - mainly because I like them!:
Fiat 128 3P
Fiat Panda (original style)
Fiat Panda (another original style one)
VW Polo Coupé
VW Polo
Fiat Panda (2nd style)
Fiat Panda (3rd style)
VW Lupo
**These are the cars I still have.
Another thing struck me just scanning the list to see if I'd forgotten any:
All the cars without exception are either British, German or Italian! Nothing French, Swedish, Japanese or anything else!
Sadly the Abarth Simca has now gone (blame divorces and lawyers...) but here's a picture of it for posterity's sake:
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I didn't know about the Abarth-Simca! Lovely little car, what's not to like. I take it this is your "fun car" while the TVR is being rebuilt.
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I didn't know about the Abarth-Simca! Lovely little car, what's not to like. I take it this is your "fun car" while the TVR is being rebuilt.
No, the TVR is back and looking fabulous.
The Abarth-Simca is being restored so only ready in 2021..
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I didn't know about the Abarth-Simca! Lovely little car, what's not to like. I take it this is your "fun car" while the TVR is being rebuilt.
No, the TVR is back and looking fabulous.
The Abarth-Simca is being restored so only ready in 2021..
Thanks for the update. Really chuffed for you about the TVR. Long wait but obviously worth it. Let's hope that clutch holds out ;D.
I moved to Belfast in August and since then I've done about 300 miles. It makes me wonder whether I need one at all.
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I had another new clutch and flywheel fitted whilst the car was away, at an AC Cobra specialist so it's the correct one this time..
All performing superbly!
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Owned a few since I last by these parts.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/4063/34917908143_cdb95a41eb_w.jpg)
Cheap MG B for a season
(https://live.staticflickr.com/2949/33422706053_f332d37ff9_w.jpg)
Beater Civic for the kids to learn to drive on
(https://live.staticflickr.com/4371/37086620040_d647f5e332_w.jpg)
Acura TSX with 6spd manual (current daily driver)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/1826/42446887654_4571d96544_w.jpg)
Suzuki TU250X - did a 5500 km road trip on it because 250cc says road warrior. Still have this one.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/1859/43463125615_7b77140bd3_w.jpg)
1961 Pontiac Laurentian - Canadian model so Chevy mechanicals. Revived a field car that had been off the road almost 40 years. Drove it over 1,000 kms over a weekend.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48734280078_9b618d8cd9_w.jpg)
1984 Innocenti SE - sort of a failed project car I recently sold.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47066086374_da57af4067_w.jpg)
1996 Toyota Tercel - replacement kid's car. This time with manual gearbox. Still have this one.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48933129857_413b2f8e30_w.jpg)
2003 Nissan Fairlady Z - yes right hand drive. Fair weather driver.
Plus some other boring stuff mostly for the wife. :)
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can we also insert motorcycles?
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can we also insert motorcycles?
I don't see why not!
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Yamaha Fazer FZS 600 my 2003: