Your First Car

[ees complicated no?]

Vauxhall corsa 01

 

[Poyetry In Motion]

In 1989, I bought one of these off a mate for £30

a 1978 Fiat 128 coupe Berlinetta

 

[Ex-Staffs Gull]

A reg (1983) Austin maestro - every time it went through a puddle the distributor got soaked and broke down. I think I spent more on wd40 than petrol. £400 notes.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

Austin 1100. Original r plate

Cv joints were constantly going and it's top speed was 60 in a hurricane downhill

 

[Hastings woody]

Opel kaddet coupe 1976 red.

 

[Barrow Boy]

One of these little beauties, a 1967 model in 1972 for £225. Great in a straight line but I used to say the Lords prayer going into corners, especially if it was wet and windy, due to the high camber on the front wheels. Fun but scary in equal measures!

 

[fire&skill]

RPM 951G

 

[middletoenail]

1993 Citroen AX GTi - Bloody rapid death trap!

 

[jakarta]

Austin 1100. Original r plate

Cv joints were constantly going and it's top speed was 60 in a hurricane downhill

Must have been one of the very last ones if it was an R (76-77) plate, my Dad was a BMC then British Leyland dealer and all I can say is it was no surprise they went tits up, the cars were such heaps of shit and badly assembled to boot.

At one point he had three mechanics doing nothing else except Warranty Work, I remember the cheques arriving from British Leyland to pay for it, hundreds of pounds a week and we were a comparatively small dealership.

He gave up on them around 1977/78 and started selling Mazda, absolutely no warranty work (although they were ugly and bland, they never broke down) which was good news for him but he had to let a couple of mechanics go!

Because of his business I was used as a gofer on Saturdays & during school holidays so I drove all manner of heaps of rust to auctions etc. but our company runaround was a 1970 H Reg Morris Minor Pickup - so I learned to drive that at 14 on a local (disused) Airfield which sitting on a cushion so I could see over the dashboard. Not exactly my first car but didn't own one until I was nearly 26 as I preferred my motorbikes!

 

[fly high]

Don’t really know if it classifies as a car, friends called it a plastic pig or a sowing machine on wheels. It was a Reliant Regal (the forerunner to the Robin) & yes it was a pig to drive but that also made it quite exciting as you could never tell if you’d make it round the bend or if the front wheel would take you in the direction you wanted to go.

Did 60miles to the gallon & you could drive it on a full motorcycle licence so I didn’t have to pass car driving test till I wanted to upgrade to four wheels.

 

[Since1982]

Renault 10 - front wing held on with a strip of dexion bolted to the bulkhead. Engine was in the back so had a paving slab in the front boot to stop the front lifting off in windy conditions. Ploughed back and forth from Burgess Hill to Portsmouth with complete reliability when I was a student down there in the early '80's

 

[Weststander]

A crappy brown Morris Marina from a friend of my dads. Boy, that was awful. Can't remember how old it was, but I bought it in '82 before I passed my test.

Bought a Marina as I my second car in 1985 for £1,500. Never had problems, but it was naff styling and embarrassing.

Friends and family had awful problems with other Leylands - Triumph Dolomite & Austin Aggro. Hence, the reason why Brits turned to better built imports.

 

[happypig]

1968 mini 850, bought in 1982 for £150.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Bought a Marina as I my second car in 1985 for £1,500. Never had problems, but it was naff styling and embarrassing.

Friends and family had awful problems with other Leylands - Triumph Dolomite & Austin Aggro. Hence, the reason why Brits turned to better built imports.

Mine had one of those vinyl covered rooves, one small tear in it and the whole thing just ripped off in the wind.

 

[jakarta]

Bought a Marina as I my second car in 1985 for £1,500. Never had problems, but it was naff styling and embarrassing.

Friends and family had awful problems with other Leylands - Triumph Dolomite & Austin Aggro. Hence, the reason why Brits turned to better built imports.

Marina production stopped in 1980, I'm sure if you had spent that much in 1985 then it would have been the engineering marvel that was the Morris Ital (inevitably dubbed the 'Izal') that you purchased?

From what I recall they did have uprated suspension and handled a bit better, not that it was difficult to make a better handling car than a Marina!

Ah yes the Triumph Dolomite (or Dollop of Shite as my Dads mechanics used to call it)

Getting all nostalgic about this thread!

 

[Return of the Rev]

hillman super minx £150

 

[Daffy Duck]

A little black Morris Minor 1000 bought for me by my Dad from Tony Bloom's grandad at Hove Motors in 1965.
VXW 253, the only number plate I can ever remember.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Marina production stopped in 1980, I'm sure if you had spent that much in 1985 then it would have been the engineering marvel that was the Morris Ital (inevitably dubbed the 'Izal') that you purchased?

From what I recall they did have uprated suspension and handled a bit better, not that it was difficult to make a better handling car than a Marina!

Ah yes the Triumph Dolomite (or Dollop of Shite as my Dads mechanics used to call it)

Getting all nostalgic about this thread!

I think mine was about 7 years old when I bought it, and paid £1300 in '83, so he could easily have spent £1500 in '85 for a newer marina, I reckon.

 

[ChilternGull]

An Austin A40 blue Reg GYP112J Took me on many journey from Bucks back home to watch the Albion in the early 1970s

 

[skipper734]

A little black Morris Minor 1000 bought for me by my Dad from Tony Bloom's grandad at Hove Motors in 1965.
VXW 253, the only number plate I can ever remember.

My first is lower down the thread, this is the third or forth motor in my life. Also from Uncle Ray at Hove motors in 1966. I added the Carlos Fandango Wheels myself.