Old Cars

[Wayne]

Alex's post about his Mum's car on Steve's Friday Poll got me thinking about the old cars that my Mum & Dad had during my childhood.
To me, your average modern cars are so generic. They all look the same to me. Whereas most of the old cars all had an particular look or style to them. Or is it just rose tinted nostalgia on my part?
What cars did your parents have? And what old cars can you remember from days gone by, that you particularly liked?

Like Alex's Mum, My Dad's first car was an Austin A40, which he bought second hand around 1969/70. Before this, he only had a scooter to go to work on.




In 1972/73 he bought his first new car: A Mini Clubman.
This is the actual car. It was apple green. I can still remember the registration: HAL332K. My Mum learned to drive in this car.




Around 1976, we got a Ford Cortina Mk III. (But it was a bright yellow one!) The support squad car in S3 of 'The Sweeney' was a white For Cortina Mk III.




The last car of the 70's that i can remember them buying in 1979 was a silver Fiat Miafiori 131 Special.
It was the first time my Dad had bought a non-British made car. Apparently, because of the superfast acceleration on this model!




I'll comment some other particular favourite old cars later.
Anyone else?

[Dirk Gently]

Yeah, my Dad's car history isn't brilliant, but that's budget cars for you.

First off he had a Ford Anglia! I'm not sure what colour it was as I wasn't around then.



Next up was a VW Beetle in red. (I quite liked this car).



Then he had a Renault 4 in Dark Green.



Next was a Vauxhall Viva in Metallic Brown/Bronze (which incidentally I also cut my teeth on when I started to drive).



Then an Austin Maxi in Dark Blue.



The an Austin Princess that looked like the picture here.



And then a Mini Metro in Orange.



After this he went all Vauxhall and had a succession of Astras & is now driving a Zafira in silver.

[SiHart]

My Dad had a dark blue Maxi too Tim. I remember the brakes failing and it rolling down the hill where we lived in Weymouth and Dad running very fast to catch it up!

We also had a Mark 3 Cortina- well two actually, one green and one exactly the same as they used in Life on Mars.

My favourites when i was young though was Dad's work Mini-van, which looked something like this:


We used to sit in the back and get thrown around the country lanes as my Dad drove very fast back then! You wouldn't get away with either now.

We also had a Mark 1 Ford Granada, in 70s chocolate brown, and it was gorgeous!


Ours was like this only with vinyl on the roof. Lovely car.

Other cars were less impressive really, but we all liked the Audi 100, which was comfortable and had loads of room in the back for the three of us.



After that it was company car ahoy and we had a Citreon BX, a Peugeort 405 and a Sierra estate. Not quite as iconic really.

Si xx

[Captain Tancredi]

My mum and dad have never had a car and, given that they're both now in their early sixties, they probably never will. The only car I can remember from the period in question would have been my Uncle Frank's Volvo but I can't remember the type or colour.

[Wayne]

@Tim & Si!

Even cars like the Austin Maxi have loads of nostalgia!

[Alex]

I'm going to have to dig out some photos of my Mum's Austin A40, it was her pride and joy for years and she has almost as many pics of the car as she does of my sister and I. She bought it from Kathy's Dad, who's a car mechanic and who I think owned the car before she did, and thanks to him he managed to keep it working for years after it should have rightfully died. She definitely had it up to when I was 18 (1992), and I think for a few years afterwards, and because it was so distinctive it became known as "The Finchmobile" by friends (and even vague acquantainces).

My Dad had an Austin Allegro, which used to stink of tobacco as he smoked rolled up cigarettes. I never liked it due to the smell of the car, and the fact that I only tended to go in it on agonisingly long car journeys when we were going on holiday. After he died it was left to me and became my first car, and I became much fonder of it once I got rid of the smell(!). It was a bulky old thing, but surprisingly fast, my Uncle once took me out in it to a quiet road in the middle of nowhere and persuaded me to go as fast as I could. Which, er, is a bit strange considering I hadn't passed my test and he's normally a responsible bloke. Anyway, it got up to 100, but it really felt like it might start to fall apart at any moment so I went back to the speed limit pretty quickly after that.

I never passed my test, but did drive in it for around 3 years with a friend who was over 21, but then I went off to Uni and have never got round to it since. It's a shame really, and something I definitely want to get around too, but there just seems no point at the mo when I can't afford to run a car in London. Anyway, I sold the car just before I went off to Uni, which turned out to be a good thing as apparently it died for good about 3 months later.

[Wayne]

Yay for the Finchmobile!


Here's a few others!

A few of my Gran & Grandad's old cars. The one's i can remember anyway.
First up a Cliff Richard ('Summer Holiday') mobile. (Not much fun for Una Stubbs i bet) A Ford Cortina Mk1.
Appropriately enough, I can remember my them taking me to Skeggy for the day in it. It was pale green.



They upgraded to Cortina Mk2.



They also had a Ford Corsair at some time.



Last one for now is one that i can remember my Uncle Malc having.
A Vauxhall Victor.

[Pamela]

one I remember fondly-but it was light metallic blue:

[Wayne]

That's a Ford Capri isn't it?

[Dirk Gently]

Certainly is, a Mark II I think. Nice car...even if they do rust badly.

[Pamela]

indeed it is boys

never got the chance to rust-it was treated like a bay-bay.

[stephenhannan]

Sorry no Photos, but I'll run through my Transport over the years


1972 Honda Bentley 125 dated 1962 Cost £40 A fine 4 stroke twin cylinder affair that gave Honda the start that eventually destroyed the British Bike Industry. Sadly after just a week the big ends went and it was impossible to get replacements as this was a sealed Crank and Japanese Parts were almost impossible to get then.

1972 Ariel Leader 250 CC Two stroke twin 1960. Cost £25 What a massive thing this was with a beautiful alloy two stroke engine in a box frame weighing about half a ton. It at least ran beautifully with blue white smoke billowing out of the exhaust right through my upper sixth year. The envy of some of my class mates who were going through their unreliable bubble car phase.

1973 Suzuki Invader 200 cc two stoke twin. 1971. £90 went like stink despite the kick start falling off every time I used it. sadly my Step brother was killed on this machine after I lent it to him which led to me not talking to my step father for 14 years This was the second death on this machine as I had bougth it as a bargain after the previous owner had been killed on it. The bike however survived and I sold it for a pint to someone who I met down the pub. Three weeks later he piled it up and bust his Pelvis. Thankfully this time the bike was a writeoff.

1973 "Nippy Norman Moped" 1948 £15. Top speed 20 MPH, But at least it got me to my girlfriends safely and ran forever on a pint of petrol.

1976 passed my car test.

1976 Ford Popular 1959 £120 and 1200 cc ( I think) three speed gearbox side valve. Struggled to make 50 MPH but first car what the heck. Started to play up after 3 months and having no money could not affoard to have it fixed. A mate suggested that the engine was kapput and noisy and I should drop it like a stone. His answer was to fill the engine with Quaker Oats and treacle to deaden the noise. ( A trick of the trade ) and we got someone to give me £40 for it. In hindsight I was diddled as I now believe that all that was wrong was that the timing was out.

1977 Sunbeam Stilleto 1000 1967 cast £250 Bought from my brother who had had it for a year and it had gone beautifully. In my hands It was a dog that cost a fortune. Looked like a fast back Hillman Imp. went super and I had great fun burning of the then popular Mini 1275's at Traffic lights Even Had on of those 10ft Flexi Ariels on the the front which you bent over the car and attached to the back. Fun at Multi Story car parks. Gave up the ghoast after the head gasket went and I took it to bits trying to repair. never went the same again and ended up on the scrap heap.

As a side point It's funny to remeber that I had to have seat belts fitted in this car to meet the new law which had just come in.

1978 Ford Escort 1100 1971 £500. Duped into buying a rust bucket. The floor went through and the passenger had to hold up their legs to prevent contact with the road. Bought and poured a bucket of fibre glass into the fllor pan. Piled it into a tree November 1978 and had to have 25 weeks off work and 9 weeks in Hospital. I still have wired up joints today.

1979 Mini 100 £800 1976 Super car that went rather well unless it rained when the electrics went Kaput. I ended up covering it in painted Flowers with bells on the inside. ( Late Hippy days ) Lasted until 1982.

1982 turned in the above for 1975 Vauxhall Chevette 1275 £1500

The biggest load of S**t ever with no redeaming features. However I did go touring Cornwall several times camping despite the fact that in just over 2 years I had 2 replacement engines, new Wings, Sills etc. Cost a fortune.

1984 First Company Car. Austin Maestro 1300 XL RED. Don't believe everything you read about Maestros. This was a Beauty and I was so proud of it. The envy of my work collegues as they all had standard versions and mine came with a Cassette Player and a Passenger door mirror. Wow!!!

1986 Vauxhall Astra 1300 estate. reliable workhorse that gave my back hell. What is it with Vauxhalls.

1989 Montego 1600 Did 126,000 miles in this with no problems, whilst collegues had Sierras that broke down every 5 minutes. Again don't believe all you read about Rovers.

1992 Rover 200 1.9 SD Again a very reliable car that sipped fuel. Just oh so slow.

1995/6 Vauxhall Vectra. 1.9 TDi The absolute most uncomfortable Car I ever Had. I begged for a change and as a reward for a good year at work I got it.

1997 Volkswagen Golf GTI. Super Car loved. It always having electrical problems and always in for repair but I loved it. Held onto it for as long as I could 7 years and 190,000 miles.

2004 Turned in the above for, wait for it. Volkswagen Golf TD GT. You know the build quality had dropped and this Golf was not a patch on the first one.

2006 Seat Leon FR TDI 170 Had for 15 months now and it is a super pleasure. Goes like stink.

[Wayne]

Sorry no Photos

Too lazy to Google!

[Jeff]

My Dad's first car, well before my time, was...



a 1967 Chevrolet Impala SS... only blue, and I think with white racing stripes..



For me, in 1991 the first car I got for myself was...

http://sky.prohosting.com/jrswet/75_...s/DSC00564.JPG

(I've linked since it is a big image) a 1975 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Landau. The color is right too, though I had hubcaps.

I drove it for 3 years but got my real pride and joy in 1994..



A 1987 Pontiac Firebird. This one looks exactly like mine except for the "Formula" written on the door, as mine was a plain Firebird and not a Firebird Formula (the next level up being the Trans Am)... I loved that car and drove it until the transmission broke in 1998.

[Jeff]

Some other cars my family had growing up...



1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme...



a 1987 Buick Regal.

And a red


1988 Ford Taurus.

My Grandparents had a teal green..


1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

[Wayne]

Nice one Jeff.
Good to see some stylish American cars. I like the older ones like your Dad's first one, & your grandad's. The Ford Taurus looks almost British stylee though.

[Jeff]

Looks like the link to my first car, the 75 Chevy Monte Carlo Landau isn't working, so here is another one, except mine was a dark blue...



Mine also had dual exhaust with chrome tailpipes and the type of exhaust that gave it that musclecar sound (see: Glasspacks)