Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[clan chieftain]

Maybe a strange wording for a thread as cars are all foreign nowadays. Why the blazes have we not got our own British built cars . Rant over. I reckon my 2001 Mazda Premacy was the best and very reliable and the back arches were ok.Had it for 4 years and all it had was routine servicing. Now retired and only the wife and I the wee Suzuki Alto does us fine. Surprisingly it is a good wee car. All I had to buy for it was a sump and a timing belt kit. Its 7 years old and not a blemish on it.Easy on the pocket.
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The Clan Chieftain

[ajlelectronics]

[baconsdozen]

[D4B]

Likewise, my best foreign car owned had to be a 1974 Datsun Cherry
100A........ paid £75 for it and did 30000 miles in it, then
sold it for £575 !!

My daily driver today is a 1990 MK1 Mitsubishi Pajero thats also
a fantastic vehicle if you can keep the rear brake caliper handbrake
mechanism from seizing up............

Not forgetting motorcycles, loads of fantastic jap bikes, but the one
I have the fondest memories of is the Bimota DB2 (900cc V twin Ducati)

[Rick]

All of our "moderns" have been foreign-built - Saab, Volvos, BMWs, Mercs and a pair of MX5s, plus the recent Vitara V6.

The MX5s (Mk1) were great little cars, my favourites though were the V12 BMWs (3 of), this perhaps being the best of them, a late-model E32 750i.




The first V12 BM was an early E32 750iL built, I believe, for the Motorshow in 1987, and it felt noticeably quicker than the 750i shown above, despite its extra weight.

I'm now running 'er indoors' V70, but I hate it in many ways (slow, doesn't handle, terrible turning circle), so at change time I might well plump for a Brit car at last (XJR).

RJ
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[norustplease]

I had a series of Volvos for many years, up until the end of the 90's when a company car took over.
I started with a 1966 122S in 1974 and then worked my way through several 144's, a 164 (which my father wrote off!!!), a couple of 240's and then finally a 940.
Best of all was the 122, which was the first car that I owned that was properly reliable, and didn't rust away in a couple of years.
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1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV

[peter scott]

Apart from an Isetta bubble car (which was not good) the best foreign car I've owned is the only one.

It was a Citroen BX Diesel and whilst there were lots of tacky elements to it (all the electric windows and electric sun roof failed and the seats gave no support and were rubbish) but the engine was superb. On long motorway runs it returned 60 mpg and on my normal commute to work through town it always did 50 mpg. It only weighed 950 kg and acceleration off the line was also excellent up to 50 mph.

Peter
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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Rusty]

1970 Lancia Fulvia Berlina, square and not all that stylish, handled like it was on rails, stopped like you dropped out an anchor, very economical and was the most fun car I ever owned but value for money was the Toyota Corona my dad purchased new in 1981 that traveled 580,000 klms before we retired it in 2008. It had a set of rings at 300,000 but the top end was never touched. The only reason it was retired (we still own it) was upholstry wear and a bit of rust (not bad by UK standards) and the engine getting very tired second time round.

[emmerson]

Any or all of my Citroen D series. I had about seven form 1970 to 1982, when the local Citroen guru gave up. Marvellous cars, but sadly, I can't afford one now!

[victor 101]

Had a selection of Honda's over the years and thought they were a great motor, especially the American built Accord coupe. Bought the wife a new Honda Jazz, I didn't like it when we bought it, and hated it by the time we sold it.

[Ellis]

I always had an aversion to Japanese vehicles until I test drove a friend's "grey import" Mitsubishi Pajero SWB in 2002.

I was surprised at how impressive it was to the extent that I bought two, one after another and they both proved to be excellent and reliable vehicles for thousands of miles without any problems or unreliability.

I find it sad that breaker's yards are full of Land Rover Discovery's terminally corroded and fit only for breaking whereas only last month I took my daily drive Ford Ranger for an MOT. On the garage ramp was a 1994 N registered Pajero SWB, a farmer's daily hack, covered in mud and grunge and yet as solid as the Forth Bridge underneath. It passed it's MOT with one or two minor advisories.

A 1997 Discovery later that day failed with terminal chassis and rear crossmember rust and that was a gently used local family car.
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[Scotty]

Without doubt the best car I've owned and to be quite honest better than the Jaguar I bought 6 months ago -



VW MkVI TDI GT 3-Door.

[poodge]

In a way it depends on how you judge "best".In the 90's,I owned a VW bay-window Microbus,and loved it so much i kept it for over 5 years,3 years more than i'd ever kept any vehicle.
Since selling that,all my vehicles have been of Japanese origin,probably because they hold more than 90% of the local market.
For various reasons,my current car is a 20-year old Corolla wagon,and although i have no particular feeling for it one way or the other,it is utterly reliable.It now has 170.000k on it,and unless it suffers a major failure for a warrant of fitness(the nz version of an mot,required every 6 months),i will keep it for several more years.
Parts are cheap as beans,and not often required.The only time it failed me was when the 8 year old battery died.Can't grumble about that.
Of course I'd rather have a classic Riley,or a Rover,or.....or..........or.
But for everyday clockwork operation,you can't beat a Corolla.,boring or not.

[mikeC]

As poodge says, it depends on your interpretation of best.

Most enjoyable: 1958 Lancia Appia Coupe, closely followed by 1971 Fiat 850 Coupe - both exceeded my expectations by a country mile.
Most surprisingly good: 1993 Lancia Dedra - far, far better than Top Gear would have you believe; I loved that car and only sold it after five years because of difficulties in getting parts for it.
Most boringly good: 2005 Hyundai Getz - still with us after seven years, the longest I have ever owned a car, has never needed anything doing to it at all; the 2000 Micra was nearly as good, but was showing signs of major attention needed after five years.
Most boringly bad: 1998 Nissan Almera - probably nothing wrong with it at all, but so booooooring I sold it within six months... (nearly as bad as the Triumph Acclaim )

[peppiB]

favourite car was a 1979 Merc 280SE - had it for 6 years but most useful and reliable were Skoda Octavias. I had 2 and put 90,000 miles on each in just over a year. Other than regular servicing they never missed a beat
(was a 'volunteer driver' for social services - ie glorified taxi - and they were never off the road)