Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[pigtin]

[poodge]

Brian is right,don't condemn a VW if you've never owned one.
I had both splitscreen and bay-window Kombi's,and they were the only cars/vans I kept for more than 5years.
Sure they are slow,but that's not the point of aVW.It's durability,space,and reliability that were it's good points.Parts prices,fuel consumption were bad.
I'm not letting the Marina off lightly either
The 1976 1800 model my brother owned was not a bad little car really,but the electrics were crap.We were forever tying to trace some short in the wiring,or a misfire.The engine was great when it was running well,but that wasn't very often.
PB Vauxhall,s had an abysmal gear linkage.The joints worked loose,and I used to carry a spare ball joint,in case one fell off completely while driving.The 2.6 was a great engine though,better than the 3.3,I thought.
As for the A30,(my first car),I snapped he crankshaft in half.The brakes were nothing to write home about either.My a35 was a bit better,but not much.I'd have one in a heartbeat now though.Would be real fun to tootle around in.
The Herald again had a lovely engine,like a sewing machine,but it seems I was forever changing bits in the suspension.At least you could sit on the wheel while working un der the bonnet.
I had all marks of Cortinas over the years,and looking back,I think the1st was the best.It was a 64 1500,and I don't think I ever spent a penny on it,apart from normal maintenance.
The mk2 I had was a dog,cost me a fortune.Mk3 and 4 were ok,but getting too fat and heavy.Seems that's a recurring theme in a cars development.

[Nic Jarman]

Bedford HA van. This was my first 4 wheel vehicle. It was simply awfull. Lots of lovely sharpe bit of metal inside the van. It's handling was nothing terribly bad, it just did not handle at all. It got into a tank slapper on the A40 and ended up going backwards then gently tapping the central barrier. A few weeks later it was snowing and while I was driving back from work I heard a loud bang and lost most of its power, which was not much in the first place. I instantly knew what had happened, the crankshaft had snapped. As the camshaft etc was driven from the rear of the engine it kept going. It got me all the way across central London and to Barking where I lived. I was then scrapped. Hoorah.
I have just been talking to a customer who saw this screen up on my PC and he told me this story.
He had just dropped his 2 year old son off from his Trojan buble car and went to deliver some motorcycle parts. He was going down a hill with a left hand bend in it. He had a puncture in the offside wheel which caused the car to start rolling. As the car has a built in roll bar it rolled over and over. It did not roll in a straight line but in a semi-circle through a gate and into a field. A lorry comming up the hill could not believe what he had seen and nearly hit. Together they rolled the bubble car back onto its wheels, fitted the spare wheel and then he drove it to his destination minus the rear window.
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1936 Morris 8 Series 1
1973 MGB roadster
1977 MG Midget 1500
Dax Rush

[emmerson]

Two-door Marinas, and all Ford Escorts. Why? Just cos I do!