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Rick Site Admin
Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22429 Location: UK
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Keith D
Joined: 16 Oct 2008 Posts: 1127 Location: Upper Swan, Western Australia
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 2:33 am Post subject: |
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The first car I owned was a 1936 Morris 18 hp sedan. We lived on a small farm in Essex at the time and I removed the mudguards and painted the whole thing bright yellow. Petrol was five bob a gallon and any friend who wanted a drive spent five bob on a gallon and we thrashed the car around the larger paddock. Spent the summer of 1959 doing that. I was fifteen years old. I bought the car for five quid from the local wrecker (a friend) and sold it back to him a few months later with a broken rear spring, for two pounds ten.
My first road car was a 1946 Austin Ten sedan. The vehicle was given me by my uncle and was immaculate. Unfortunately the engine was shot. It used the same amount of oil as it did petrol. The year was 1961 and the infamous Ten Year test had just been introduced and that took care of the Austin. I was an apprentice by then and certainly had no hope of finding thirty quid for a recon engine. She went to the big Austin park in the sky.
Keith _________________ 1926 Chrysler 60 tourer
1932 Austin Seven RN long wheelbase box sedan
1950 Austin A40 tourer
1999 BMW Z3
Its weird being the same age as old people.
You are either part of the problem or part of the solution |
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alastairq
Joined: 14 Oct 2016 Posts: 1950 Location: East Yorkshire
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:17 am Post subject: |
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My first car was a Morris Minor [948cc] which was scrapped [I presume], when I had to abandon it, effectively, in a car park off Commercial Rd, [near Limehouse Cut] London. Abandonment came about due to the gearbox falling apart. At the same time I was posted back to sea, so it was a case of, a quick call to a scrappie, and bye-bye. |
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peter scott
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 7113 Location: Edinburgh
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:31 am Post subject: |
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I too had a Morris Minor as a first car. The miserable thing only had a clapped 803 cc engine though. I sold it in early 1968 and I think I got £50 for it but I have no memory of the person who bought it.
Peter
_________________ http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon |
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Riley Blue
Joined: 18 Jun 2008 Posts: 1750 Location: Derbyshire
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:46 am Post subject: |
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Mine was a 1962 Mini Traveller 'Woody' in red though it was about ten years old when I bought it. In less than a year I'd festooned it with just about every accessory available: seat brackets, switch extensions, 'racing' seat covers, steering column bracket, grille buttons, Peco exhaust and much more. Mechanically it remained standard apart from one thing; the head gasket needed replacing so a mate and I did it on my drive one weekend morning and discovered that its engine wasn't as it left the factory, it was a 1098 _________________ David
1963 Riley 1.5
1965 Riley 1.5 |
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Rootes75
Joined: 30 Apr 2013 Posts: 3788 Location: The Somerset Levels
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:56 am Post subject: |
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My first car was in the early 1990's, it was a Mk1 Vauxhall Astra. It was still parked at the back of my parents driveway till about 5 years ago when it was decided to scrap it. _________________ Various Rootes Vehicles. |
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MikeEdwards
Joined: 25 May 2011 Posts: 2464 Location: South Cheshire
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 10:33 am Post subject: |
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My first car was a yellow Vauxhall Viva 2-door saloon. After a while I found a Firenza 1600 coupe for hardly any money, had it transported to a garage to get an MOT, and the Viva went to the garage in exchange for the work. I remember being quite happy with that deal, but I've no idea who got the best out of it.
I never really trusted the Viva for anything more than short journeys, but the next owner used to commute from Crewe to the Potteries and back without any trouble. A quick check suggests it hasn't been taxed since 1987. |
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badhuis
Joined: 20 Aug 2008 Posts: 1390 Location: Netherlands
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 11:25 am Post subject: |
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I felt sorry for a ca. 1968 Austin Mini 850 in the scrapyard. It must have been about 14 years old and was one of the first I ever saw of the older model with the sliding windows in the doors and external door hinges. So I rescued it, towed it home and test drove a few rounds on the grass land behind my parents house enjoying the hydrolastic suspension. As it has no registration I sold it on to a Mini specialist. Twenty years later I bumped into someone who still has the car! Registered with 1970 plates, he had always wondered why it seemed to have the wrong specification for the year. I told him the plates were not original to the car, he was not very pleased to hear…
The first car I actually drove on the road was a light blue 1971 Citroen 2CV4. It had been stolen and recovered but was without keys and no front brake drums. Bought it for DFL 50,- Got some drums from the scrapyard and installed a hidden switch bypassing the key. Never used any keys. Used it for a year and sold it on for DFL 450,- (900% profit!) Regrettably it has not survived. _________________ a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment |
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Ellis
Joined: 07 Mar 2011 Posts: 1382 Location: Betws y Coed, North Wales
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 8:02 pm Post subject: |
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My first car was a Blue Royale Wolseley 18/85 Mk 2, JFF 900H which had been bought new in August 1969 by my late father.
It had only 22k miles when I started using it in May 1976 but it's years of lack of use had done it no favours. Once used regularly many things started to go wrong or fail. The brake servo was the first followed by the clutch master cylinder and for some reason it would only run properly on 5 star petrol despite several attempts to tune it correctly.
It would "pink" on 4 star.
A policeman bought it in 1977 and the tales of woe continued. The petrol tank started leaking and the steering rack and the power steering pump both had to be replaced for it's 1977 MOT. It had still only had less than 35k miles on it's odometer.
I looked it up on the DVLA Vehicle Check earlier and it was last taxed in 1987. _________________ Starting Handle Expert
1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet |
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lowdrag
Joined: 10 Apr 2009 Posts: 1585 Location: Le Mans
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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The first car I bought was a 1962 green 850cc Mini and in which we covered many a mile. That was, until one night it was stolen in Portsmouth. A police report was made, an insurance claim was paid out (£200) and nothing was heard for two months. Then the police came knocking saying the car had been found. It had been used in a Post Office robbery, then dumped off the commercial dock in Portsmouth. At low tide a ship had sat on it, so when it was hauled out it was a mini Mini. I remember to this day seeing the crabs abandoning ship and the barnacles all over the car. Of all things, my wallet was still in the door bin and I had to send the pound notes to the Bank of England via Natwest to get them separated and credited to my account. |
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47Jag
Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 1480 Location: Bothwell, Scotland
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 10:40 pm Post subject: |
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Technically my first car was a 1933 MG K1 Magnette which cost me £7 10/-. The only ‘driving’ I got to do in it was getting towed 8 miles to my house by a mate in a 1 1/2 litre Jaguar. This guy was mental.
The camshaft drive gear bearing was shot and I could find any parts so I couldn’t get the engine timed so a year later I was offered a 1948 Jaguar 2 1/2 litre for £35. The MG was sold to a scrappy for £5.00. The Jag. was a runner and served me well for nearly 3 years before I sold it for scrap. The doors were riddled with rust by this time.
Art |
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roverdriver
Joined: 18 Oct 2008 Posts: 1210 Location: 100 miles from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2018 8:09 am Post subject: |
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Strictly, my first 'car' was a truck. A 1918 Model TT Ford one ton truck. I learned a lot from disassembling and reassembling it, but alas never got it on the road.
My first actual car was a 1930 Morris Minor with its O.H.C. engine. I was a school teacher at the time, 1962/63. It was fun machine that I drove for many miles for a couple of years, then sold to one of my students.
_________________ Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking. |
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Bitumen Boy
Joined: 26 Jan 2012 Posts: 1733 Location: Above the snow line in old Monmouthshire
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2018 10:33 am Post subject: |
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First car I owned was a scruffy '78 Mini. The body was surprisingly sound but the engine, gearbox, brakes and pretty much everything else were knackered. I pranged it into a hedge one day and parked it up discreetly in a little car park round the corner and used it as a source of parts for the next couple of Minis I owned until the council came and removed what remained - by this time it had no identifying marks left so they didn't get to send me a bill
I did investigate getting the accident damage repaired - it wasn't much more than a crunched front wing - but being an impoverished student I simply couldn't afford that as well as the mechanical bits it would need to be viable. At the time you could pick up roadworthy old Minis for a few hundred quid but I kick myself now for not trying harder to save it. |
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