........... for everyday motoring?
My first two cars were 20 years old when I bought them them in 1956. The first was a 1936 Wolseley 14 and the second was a 1936 Citroën 12 which was a similar shape to the Light 15.
After I'd found out their many faults (I was young, inexperienced and naive) I didn't keep either of them for more than a few weeks.
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In 1982 bought 1957 Beetle - cost me the price of installing a telephone in the previous owners flat. Drove happily around London for several years although it was a bit cramp once first child arrived in the days of carrycots rather than 'new' baby seats.
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1947 Triumph Roadster 1800. I bought it in 1967 and used it for 10 years as my every day car. It used to be a talking point when I turned up for business meetings.
It was still running reliably when I sold it as I wanted a change.
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In 1968 I bought a 1929 Riley 9 and ran it for a year. I was a student.
It cost £30 and I sold it for £90.
I then in 1969 bought a 1947 Rover 16 and ran it for 3 years. It cost £80 and I sold it for £250.
Edited by madf on 15/12/2009 at 09:15
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In 2008 I bought a 13 year old Fiesta MK4. The engine sounded good and had no smoke so I thought I had a bargain. I soon found out the chassis was as rotten as a year old FSO, the clutch was slipping and there was so much play in the steering it was like driving a 1970's oldsmobile. I only owned it for two months yet managed to spend £250 on repairs, when the clutch went
I replaced it with a 9 year old Corsa which felt brand new in comparison despite it had higher miles on the clock!
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1966 Cortina
Mind you it was brand new at the time but it is the oldest car I have bought and always will be as it gets a year older every 12 months!
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July 2006, bought 1989G 205 GTi ; August 2009 bought 1990G 205 CTi (having sold the GTi first). Both in superb condition - but not for 'everyday motoring'. I no longer motor every day; not that I ever did, as I could walk to work until I retired, after which I had to DRIVE to my new part-time job.
I remember my parents buying their first post-war car, about 1954 I suppose - it was a maroon 1938 Standard 8 with leather seats.
Edited by Andrew-T on 15/12/2009 at 10:17
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A 1959 Austin A30, (black, red interior) I bought it for £15 when I was 13 (or maybe 12..) & ran it for a while - until the seller (a friend of my Mum's) decided she wanted it back. Nice little runner - a tiny car even to me then. My Mum may have asked her friend to ask for its return thinking about it!
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The oldest car I have "owned" (or been in my care) was in 1973. A 1969 Ford capri.
I have never had a car older than 4 years old since then.
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I bought a 1937 Austin 7 in 1959, £25 split between 4 impoverished RAF airmen.
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My first car was my oldest, a white 1971 Mk1 Ford Escort 1.1 Deluxe (Deluxe? nice one, Centurion!) purchased for 200 pounds in 1987 shortly after passing my test. I had saved up money from paper rounds and Saturday jobs for a couple of years.
It was more reliable than my Mum's 1985 Escort 1.6 Ghia, which was often off the road. She had initially protested about my lowering the tone of the neighbourhood with my old heap, however when the posh Escort was playing up (again) she miraculously forgot about those objections and didn't seem to mind borrowing it.
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21 year old Mazda 323 1.3 with new MOT and tax for £200, just 69k on the clock and it was rather nice as old cars go. Sold it when it became surplus to requirements.
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I've just bought a 1989 Skoda Rapid, its on a transporter heading for me as I type.
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Lud wil lbe there slavering over it, he loves them.
the 130?
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I think I still have the Autocar with a test of the 130 Rapide. They had it on the front cover and it was titled "Better than a Porsche"... there may have been a ? at the end.
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Its a 136, I don't really know a lot about them TBH, I just like the shape and the thought of driving a £150 motor around for the next 12 months or so.
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Thats the uprated 1300 engine. a heady 62BHP.
They are becoming rare and starting to fetch good money. where did you find it?
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Ebay
tinyurl.com/ybr2pfy
Bought without these wheels, no MOT, paintwork needs attention etc
Rolling resto
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That's quite a pretty one Dox. I'm a bit envious actually.
The 136 has an 8-port cylinder head and slightly bigger main bearings. It breathes better than a 130. However the one I had didn't seem any faster than a 130 despite its aftermarket Lumenition electronic ignition. It had long springs too so didn't look nearly as good as a rough 130 I had at the same time, and didn't handle as well either. That 130 went like a rocket for an Estelle.
Of course if you can find or have made a better exhaust system and the right manifold for a couple of small sidedraught twin-choke Webers (and then get them and the ignition in proper tune) you will have a car that can nudge 120.
If the rear half-shaft bearings are noisy let me know. I've got a pair of new ones (short halfshaft and two bearings that go on the semi-trailing arm).
Another set of Minilite wheels would be nice if you can find them. I always thought they would look good on an Estelle.
Edited by Lud on 16/12/2009 at 16:12
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1980/81 Mk1 Fiesta 1.1 L bought in 1992, it died in 1993 after almost 20,000 miles with me and just shy of 100,000 miles in total due to terminal tin worm. A pity as there were no problems with the mechanicals.
Since then all our cars have been ex demos or brand new.
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Had a number of seriously old bangers during economically "challenging" times. I once bought a 1976 VW Polo as a stop gap car for almost nothing in 1993. Ended up keeping it for a year until the MOT was due and it was obviously not going to pass. Sold it for similar money. At the time it served as a sobering reminder as to how much car brakes had improved in the intervening 17 years.
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Bought a 1966 Beetle in 1980; one of the last 6-volt ones, horrible thing.
That acievement was totally eclipsed in 1982 when I bought a 1958 Landy; paid £500 from a local farmer, it was never any trouble. Having been seriously bitten by the Landy bug I traded it in for a 1951 Series 1; again it was very reliable but had a dipsomaniac thirst for petrol. At the time I was working for a company in Newark as their fleet mechanic so had my fuel paid for, but I fell out with the boss and sadly could no longer afford to keep the Landy.
Bike-wise, oldest Harleys I've had were a 1931 VL (never finished rebuilding it so that doesn't really count) and my current mount, a 1942 WLC which, since I only bought it last year, tops the poll so far I think. Strangely, my favourite cars and bikes have all been older than me.... perhaps I am a re-incarnation? ;-)
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When I turned 18, I bought a ?cyclops? Rover 75 for ₤35. The car was just three months younger than I was. Took it up to Manchester and back three and a half times; the half being when it died near Newport Pagnell Services. I got a bit of a shock when two years later I received a phone call from a policeman asking me if I was still the owner of the vehicle. He?d seen it dumped and wanted to strip some parts for his Rover 75.
As I grew older, my cars grew newer (but not noticeably better), however my present car is a 1984 Peugeot 505 automatic with a/c, which I bought 4 years ago from its original owner. Everything works and it drives beautifully, but drinks like a fish.
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₤35. is computer illiterate for 35 pounds!
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ooooo a 505 - what a lovely barge. I had the pleasure to drive one for a couple of weeks - a cosseting experience
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Cracking car the 505, nice that its quite an early one too, any pics? You had it feature in a mag yet?
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My dad had a 504 Family Estate and then a 505 Saloon.
These after a succession of Ford Cortinas, the Peugeots were soooooo much comfier than the Cortinas,
I remember the car sickness stopped instantly when he got the 504, part in due to
a. having 5 seats for 5 kids rather than 3 in the seat and 2 in the boot of his Cortina estate
b. the fact that the Peugeot had individual raised seats ( similar in style to current mpvs)
The 505 came with an aftermarked LCD display Amstrad radio/cassette, We thought we were the bees knees!!
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Had two 1937 Jowett 8HPs over the years.
Would like another now but will stick with the Javelin...not so much free space now.
Ted
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Cracking car the 505
It certainly was. About four years ago, I bought a 1984 'A' reg 505 2.5 GLD which was in surprisingly good nick for the year and only had (as I recall) about 50-odd thousand miles on the clock.
It was an absolute peach being supremely comfortable and economical and would sit very happily on the motorway at 80 all day.
I sold it very reluctantly as it was just starting to develop small bits of rust that I didn't have the ability (or money) to sort so it went off to Ireland to retire in the garage of a chap who had about six of them.
It's still one of the cars that I remember the most fondly, the others being a 1987 Granada 2.0i Auto owned between about 2000 and 2003 and a 1995 Saab 9000 2.3 Auto CDE owned from last September to this August.
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For many of us our first car was special. For me it was a much-loved 1955 Austin A50 Cambridge, suitably enough bought in Cambridge when I finished my degree in 1969. It would start first time every time and never let me down. Driving with the fine old flying-A mascot in front made one feel good to be British.
As I've said before on here, in the 50s Austins were the finest mass-produced cars you could buy. The rest (BMC, BL etc.) is history, and very sad.
Cost £65 and sold for £65: the only car I shall ever own which didn't depreciate, although I have hopes for only a small loss on the Z3 when I flog it next summer to pay for my younger daughter's wedding.
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A Morris eight series E, ex-post office van, rubber front wings, only one seat, the drivers with a wire mess gaurd behind it to stop I pressume the parcels etc flying foreward onto the driver during braking. Used more oil than petrol I think, having said that have`nt a clue what it actually did to the gallon ! Always smelt of warm oil when started up gave out loads of blue smoke all the time ! This was back in 1958, can`t remember exactley how old van was but cost £25 at the time so must have been quite old even then but for runner of MPV, carried eight with ease !
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Back in the 80's when I started driving I had a couple of 20+ year old Minis, complete with handpump for the washers, dipswitch on the floor, and pull string on the doors. Minis like this were very cheap back then - I recall I paid the grand sum of £30 for one of them. Given the value of older Minis now I do wish I'd kept at least one of them.
My Landie was 25 years old when I bought it, another car I still miss.
The current Ash family transports are 14 and 17 years old.
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I think I lose this one.
Every single car I have bought has been brand new. (Though none have been posh or expensive.)
One was written off in an accident, and I still own all the others.
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My current transport is a 22 year old VW Polo, bought because I haven't quite finished the 51 year old Peerless yet.
I think the Polo is cheaper to run than my bicycle....
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in 2007 I bought a 1990 BMW E30 325i. A fun car that was so controllable but would lose its back end in the wet when power applied ;)
Swapped it out for a V8 monster in late 2008, and still miss the car now.............
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......... I haven't quite finished the 51 year old Peerless yet.
A neighbour had a Peerless in about 1965. I seem to recall that the window winder was in the form of a lever which only needed about 45° movement to fully open the window. Am I right?
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I seem to recall that the window winder was in the form of a lever which only needed about 45° movement to fully open the window. Am I right?
You are correct, if only Trivial Pursuit had a category for old cars our team would clean up. I believe it was used on Rolls Royces and the rear doors of pre P4 Rovers.
Allegedly when a car was being road tested once, the journalist stuck his head out of the open window when reversing and put his arm on what he thought was the armrest....
The window didn't quite take his head clean off, but must have been close.
Edited by Garethj on 16/12/2009 at 15:53
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Ah those heady days of youth!
Having just passed my test at the end of '89, I bought a 1979 V reg 1600cc Ford Cortina Estate from a local trader. Matt white, recon gearbox, woefully underpowered, and with 75,000 miles on the clock (I guess at least 200,000 miles in today's money) - it was great parking it up next to the rusty Fiestas, Metros and Novas in the sixth-form line up.
As any discerning student would do, the car was soon upgraded. A fancy alarm from Halfords complete with solenoid door locks gave the car a classy feel with remote central locking (although to be fair, I could only afford one solenoid - so only the driver's door actually unlocked...).
Mechanical refinements included the steering - upgraded through the fitment of a padded leatherette cover on the steering wheel.
Then Christmas arrived and two different people each bought me a pair of "driving lamps", so I decided that both sets should be fitted. I took a colleague down to UoS in Guildford for an UCCA day - driving back was the very first time I got to try main beam with the new lights. 6 x 55 watts of halogen bulb - it was like daylight - forget Xenon!
That car took me all over the UK sussing out University places. A great car, but definately a car stuck in the 1970s.
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1976 Mini 850. My first car bought for the princely sum of £80 in 1992. 9 months (very obviously bent) MOT on it, a hole the size of a dinner plate in the passenger footwell, and a rear subframe resembling a piece of swiss cheese.
Drove it for 9 months, spending nothing on it other than an oil and filter change, dashpot top up and a replacement fuel hose. Put it in for MOT (family friend) and the tester laughed at me. Asked me if I wanted him to stop the test when the welding bill passed £500, which it did after about 2 minutes underneath with an inspection lamp. Punted it through the local auction where it fetched £60.
50 mpg, £20 depreciation, and about £50 spent in upkeep for 9 months reliable and fun filled motoring. Thinking back, just thank heavens I never crashed in it! :-)
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In 1990 I bought a 22 year old Triumph 2000 mk1 as a cheap runabout. Fell in love with it and still have it. Had it restored when I got divorced...as a present to myself (along with the bike and a newish Jag).
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Austin7 open-top from about 1932 and then 30 years old.
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In 1964 I bought a 1951 MG TD from Camden Motors in Leighton Buzzard. In 1969, when a student I bought a 1946 Humber Pullman (Thrupp & Maberley) from a local Funeral Director. He threw in a spare car, and the hearse (which was serving as a chicken shed on a nearby farm). All three cost £40, and I sold the spare on for £20. I could never afford to go anywhere however. My day-to-day car was a 1955 Citroen Light 15 (Slough built).
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As an impecunious student in UK in 1960 I bought a 1933 Singer le-Mans. Running order, but I used the College workshops to tidy it up a bit. This was just before MOT started, but it passed when required. Nice runabout, but, after the 1962 winter, I changed it for an A40 Devon with useful extras like a heater.
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