'Cassic' car you wish you bought.

[Spacewagon52]

2 hours ago, rayaans said:

Had one of these about a decade ago in the classic green - broke down every 3 miles 

A friend was bought one of these as a wedding gift by her new husband. She let me drive it down the road, what a heap! Noisy and the brakes were aweful. Really put me off going too far back in time. I think we forget how much we now appreciate, Heated rear windows, power steering, electric central locking, air con. Yes all basic now but in the olden days!

[royoftherovers]

20 hours ago, The-Acre said:

Correct, my Wolsley 6/110 had a starting handle and it got used regularly!  And I never once broke any bones using it.  It was black with red leather and made me feel like I was in a Z cars scene....or Dixon of Dock Green for the even older ones!

Or Fabian of Scotland Yard ?  (Bruce Seaton ? )

 

Regards

John

[mikeyv]

I had two MGBs in the 70s, both roadsters, both reliable, and, the crucial bit, great fun with the hood down.

Hood up, in bad weather, not so great.

They were a bit of a heavy steer, but so were a lot of it's contempories.

I never understood the popularity of the GT, as there were far better cars, at the time, for the money.

My Capri 3 litre GXL springs to mind, huge fun.

[Spacewagon52]

19 minutes ago, mikeyv said:

I had two MGBs in the 70s, both roadsters, both reliable, and, the crucial bit, great fun with the hood down.

My Capri 3 litre GXL springs to mind, huge fun.

The key word here is FUN. Some cars we purchase to do a job, e.g. People Carrier. But a classic choice, or "fun" car must be something that puts a smile on our face - one day that could be a Rodius? But I doubt it.

 

[JonP]

I had 2 capris in the past, both were amusing. First was a Mk 1 2.0 GXL, the old v4 engine so it was one of the first, which I really liked, though by the time I got it it was a bit rusty and then a few years later a 280, which was my first ever company car.... The 280 spent most of the first year in the garage, long list of faults, I think Ford were using up the last of a whole bunch of part bins with it. Once it got sorted out it was good fun though. The combination of dinosaur suspension, a reasonable engine and an LSD with no traction control made getting away from the lights in a hurry very amusing at times. First time I ever had a tank slapper in a car....

[Big Rat]

1 hour ago, mikeyv said:

I had two MGBs in the 70s, both roadsters, both reliable, and, the crucial bit, great fun with the hood down.

Hood up, in bad weather, not so great.

They were a bit of a heavy steer, but so were a lot of it's contempories.

I never understood the popularity of the GT, as there were far better cars, at the time, for the money.

My Capri 3 litre GXL springs to mind, huge fun.

@mikeyv Capri 3.0GXL nice very nice had a 3000E, can't remember the difference between the two, was the 3.0 GXL slightly later ?

Big Rat 

[mikeyv]

5 minutes ago, Big Rat said:

@mikeyv Capri 3.0GXL nice very nice had a 3000E, can't remember the difference between the two, was the 3.0 GXL slightly later ?

Big Rat 

Good question, I think you may be right, mine was 73 'M' plate, twin round headlamps.

Didn't the 'E' have single oblongs?

 

EDIT:- Just googled capri 3000E, and it looks like you were right, just the earlier version of the top spec model.

[Big Rat]

3 minutes ago, mikeyv said:

Good question, I think you may be right, mine was 73 'M' plate, twin round headlamps.

Didn't the 'E' have single oblongs?

 

EDIT:- Just googled capri 3000E, and it looks like you were right, just the earlier version of the top spec model.

@mikeyv Yep you are absolutely right, personally I think the GXL was the best of the bunch, a friend had an Orange one black vinyl roof, mine was Fern Green all over.

IMO one of the best engines ever let alone in its era, I seem to remembering the Essex V6 was original penned for a diesel, which was why it was such a torquey motor.

I loved it.

Big Rat

[mikeyv]

16 minutes ago, Big Rat said:

@mikeyv Yep you are absolutely right, personally I think the GXL was the best of the bunch, a friend had an Orange one black vinyl roof, mine was Fern Green all over.

IMO one of the best engines ever let alone in its era, I seem to remembering the Essex V6 was original penned for a diesel, which was why it was such a torquey motor.

I loved it.

Big Rat

Mine was blue, with black vinyl roof.

Checked reg online, and looks like it died in 86, though must have been resprayed red at some stage.

Registration: OAK52M

Make: FORD

Vehicle status	Not taxed
Tax status	Tax due: 01 August 1986
MOT status	No details held by DVLA
First registered	October 1973
Year of manufacture	Not available
Engine size	2994 cc
CO2 emissions	Not available
Fuel type	Petrol
Colour	Red

 

My first MGB did better, though changed from harvest gold to green.

Registration: PWR701K

Make: MG

Vehicle status	Not taxed
Tax status	Tax due: 01 May 2014
MOT status	Expired: 17 July 2013
First registered	May 1972
Year of manufacture	1972
Engine size	1798 cc
CO2 emissions	Not available
Fuel type	Petrol
Colour	Green

[Big Rat]

26 minutes ago, mikeyv said:

Mine was blue, with black vinyl roof.

Checked reg online, and looks like it died in 86, though must have been resprayed red at some stage.

Registration: OAK52M

Make: FORD

Vehicle status	Not taxed
Tax status	Tax due: 01 August 1986
MOT status	No details held by DVLA
First registered	October 1973
Year of manufacture	Not available
Engine size	2994 cc
CO2 emissions	Not available
Fuel type	Petrol
Colour	Red

 

My first MGB did better, though changed from harvest gold to green.

Registration: PWR701K

Make: MG

Vehicle status	Not taxed
Tax status	Tax due: 01 May 2014
MOT status	Expired: 17 July 2013
First registered	May 1972
Year of manufacture	1972
Engine size	1798 cc
CO2 emissions	Not available
Fuel type	Petrol
Colour	Green

@mikeyv You've prompted me to do some searching later now 👍

Big Rat

[mikeyv]

Just now, Big Rat said:

@mikeyv You've prompted me to do some searching later now 👍

Big Rat

I've started a new thread in the lounge, so as not to take this one too far off track.

[The-Acre]

2 hours ago, Spacewagon52 said:

The key word here is FUN. Some cars we purchase to do a job, e.g. People Carrier. But a classic choice, or "fun" car must be something that puts a smile on our face - one day that could be a Rodius? But I doubt it.

 

I'll tell you what was fun, my VW Variant. The fun part was seeing if it was possible to drive more than 10 miles without something else falling off!

[The-Acre]

7 hours ago, Malc said:

I thought at the time that Z Cars stood for the Zephyr and Zodiac Fords they used.  I never remember seeing Stratford Johns in a Wolseley or Westminster, that was an older time warp for policing I think 

Malc

That's true of course.  I'm referring more to the "extras" cars and general blackness of most things four wheels. The Wolsley and Westminster just remind me of all the early black and white police dramas. Evenin all.

 

[Big Rat]

58 minutes ago, mikeyv said:

I've started a new thread in the lounge, so as not to take this one too far off track.

@mikeyv Good idea I'll wander over later, so to speak.

Big Rat

[royoftherovers]

3 hours ago, The-Acre said:

I'll tell you what was fun, my VW Variant. The fun part was seeing if it was possible to drive more than 10 miles without something else falling off!

I had two Type 3 Fastbacks, both in Texas Yellow.

 

Regards

John

[Warrington guy]

Big fat. Here's one for you 

[The-Acre]

16 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

I had two Type 3 Fastbacks, both in Texas Yellow.

 

Regards

John

I actually saw one in a Wickes car park last week which is what brought it to mind.  Mine, I have to say, was awful.  

[Linas.P]

2 hours ago, mikeyv said:

Registration: OAK52M

Make: FORD

Vehicle status	Not taxed
Tax status	Tax due: 01 August 1986
MOT status	No details held by DVLA
First registered	October 1973
Year of manufacture	Not available
Engine size	2994 cc
CO2 emissions	Not available
Fuel type	Petrol
Colour	Red

Registration: PWR701K

Make: MG

Vehicle status	Not taxed
Tax status	Tax due: 01 May 2014
MOT status	Expired: 17 July 2013
First registered	May 1972
Year of manufacture	1972
Engine size	1798 cc
CO2 emissions	Not available
Fuel type	Petrol
Colour	Green

 

I wonder if that means dead or could it be that somebody put personalised plate on it?

[Big Rat]

31 minutes ago, Warrington guy said:

Big fat. Here's one for you 

@Warrington guy I'm many things fat isn't one of them, well not yet anyway 😂

Big Rat

[royoftherovers]

3 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

I had two Type 3 Fastbacks, both in Texas Yellow.

 

Regards

John

Drove to Germany in mine in `72. Down to Munich and Stuttgart,back up alongside the border (then) to Wolfsburg. Across the Border near Magdeburg and along the corridor to Berlin.East German Border Guards  on motor cycles at every exit with machine guns strapped to themselves. Drove up to Checkpoint Charlie and was given a guided tour of West Berlin by a Texan who had just finished duty and boy was he impressed by my "stickshift"

Back to Wolfsburg for a guided tour of the Beetle production line, then back home to Wirral.3000 miles in two weeks....the stuff that dreams were made of !!

 

Regards

John

[Ace8800]

Always wished i bought Escort RS1600 (1985) or a Sierra RS500

Atm i own a Nissa  Bluebird U11 (my85) 2.0SGL.

You can see it here.

 

[Spacewagon52]

That brings back memories! Love the brown interior! 

 

Thanks for sharing. What mileage does it have on?

[mikeyv]

1 hour ago, Ace8800 said:

Always wished i bought Escort RS1600 (1985) or a Sierra RS500

Atm i own a Nissa  Bluebird U11 (my85) 2.0SGL.

You can see it here.

 

That looks to be in lovely condition.

Must be pretty rare too, and to think you couldn't drive 100 yds without seeing one, in their day.

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, mikeyv said:

That looks to be in lovely condition.

Must be pretty rare too, and to think you couldn't drive 100 yds without seeing one, in their day.

I had one for 2 years and not one single thing went wrong. It had 2 odometers, which was unusual in its day.

It succeeded a Nissan Sunny which was also completely trouble free.

I had a Daihatsu Charade (trouble free)

I`ve had 1 Audi 100, 4 Mercedes and not one of the 5 has been without faults. German engineering is a myth!!!

 

Regards

John

[mikeyv]

10 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

I had one for 2 years and not one single thing went wrong. It had 2 odometers, which was unusual in its day.

It succeeded a Nissan Sunny which was also completely trouble free.

I had a Daihatsu Charade (trouble free)

I`ve had 1 Audi 100, 4 Mercedes and not one of the 5 has been without faults. German engineering is a myth!!!

 

Regards

John

I've mentioned it before I'm sure, but I part owned a taxi firm in the 80s, and we bought loads of bluebirds and laurels at auction and ran them as cabs 24/7, with an assortment of kamikaze drivers.

I serviced them once a month, oil, filters, plugs, points, condenser and brake pads, and a thorough all round check.

Rarely were any other parts required, breakdowns were unheard of, and 200,000 miles was the normal lifespan, by which time the bodywork and interior was showing the usual signs of taxi abuse.

I stripped down a couple of write offs, for spares, gearbox, back axles etc, and never used them.

By contrast, I also looked after some of the independants cars, including Leylands, Vauxhall, Peugeot and Fords.

The fords weren't too bad, but the rest weren't great and the British Leyland were, sadly, pretty appalling.