Car history.

Bedford Beagle Van - Good little runabout for 12 months after I passed my test.

Ford Cortina 1600 Mk2 - alright but rotten as a pear.

Ford Escort 1300E Mk1 - One of the best cars I’ve ever owned.

Ford Cortina 2000 Mk4 auto - Expensive mistake, should have bought an Escort Mexico.

Ford Escort 1300 Mk3 - Ok I suppose

Ford Escort Mk3 1600 Ghia - Excellent car !

Ford Fiesta XR2 Mk2 - Good for racing around Wales, Perhaps needed a bit more power.

Vauxhall Astra GTE 16V MK2 - Bought new, great car kept for 6 years, got stolen & recovered.

Ford Mondeo Ghia 2.5 V6 Mk1 Just brilliant!!

Ford Fiesta Ghia 1300. No go whatsoever.

Ford Focus 2000 Ghia Mk1 - I just didn’t like it.

Jaguar XK8. Very expensive mistake!! Totally Unreliable and also put me of autos for life. Sold it quick before the 

   Jaguar secondhand 12 month warranty ran out (I still have nightmares about that car to this day). 

Ford Mondeo Ghia X 2.5 V6 - Another Great Car, Fully loaded, great engine and a relief from that XK8.

MX5 2.0 Sport Roadster Mk3 - Brilliant car of course & totally trouble free.

Toyota RAV4 3 door MK2 2.0 petrol - all round brilliant car, do anything, go anywhere.

Finally, so far, MX5 MK 3.5 2.0 Sport Tech Roadster, Has to be the best car so far, a bit better that the mk3, although for the 9 months I’ve owned it not trouble free. still, looking forward to some top down motoring soon, Just wish I hadn’t wasted so much money on some of the cars in the past (Jag), hindsight eh? Intend to stick with sports cars now - If the wife and myself can continue to get in and out of them ok, ( 60 in a few months), lastly wish we also had the RAV4 as well when we need to carry extra stuff or park somewhere a bit iffy, but couldn’t justify the expense of owning two vehicles now we are both retired.

Regards,

Paul. 

 

 

Strange, but true.  The Rover and Lada badges both feature a Viking longship, so does Lada mean Rover in Russian?

Just a point MX5 BARY, the Honda FS1E was actually a YAMAHA Laughing

Barrie

Not in any particular order, but from what I can remember.

Mini van x 2

Mini saloon

Mini traveller 

Ford Cortinal Mk1

Ford Anglia 105E

Morris Oxford

Morris 1100 Saloon

Hillman Minx Saloon

Triumph Herald Saloon x 2

Vauxhall Cresta 

Fiat 2300 Saloon

Fiat 125

Fiat 127

Fiat 124 Sport Coupe x 3 (AC,  BC,  & CC) 

Fiat 124 Sport Spider CS

Austin Allegro

FSO 125P

Austin Metro

Vauxhall Astra Mk1

VW camper van x 2

Swift Sundance Motorhome

Holdsworth Motorhome

Ellis Motorhome  x 2

Mx5 Mk2 California

Mx5 Mk2.5

Current.

Mx5 Mk1 J2 Ltd. 

Mx5 Mk3.5 20th Anniversary 

Peugeot 206 Sport

 

Thanks Barrie.  I’m getting on.  I forget stuff     

But I’m happy and I have an lovely Toyota MX-5 

So I’ve taken the p*** of others so I guess I had better do my own list.

Yamaha FS1E (Early one when they were only available in metallic orange)

Honda CB125

Learned to drive in instructor’s Austin Allegro with the square steering wheel and Dad’s Viva HC

Ford Anglia estate (Base model without even an interior light) Started off blue but was brush painted in Crown Plus Two gloss in orange and black. Probably best not to mention the red sheepskin dashboard.

Vauxhall Viva HB estate.

Mini 1000. Nice period Dunlop alloys.

Ford Escort Mk1 1300XL

Morris Marina 1.8TC. Basically MGB engine in a chassis that didn’t corner.

Ford Escort MK2 van.

Ford Cortina Mk4 1.6 estate. (Peppermint green)

Fiat Panda

Volvo 360GLT

Another Volvo 360GLT

Ford Escort XR3i Cabriolet

Another Escort XR3i Cabriolet

Porsche 944LUX

Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth 2WD

Citroen BX Diesel.

Ford Escort Mk3 Diesel

Audi 80 Sport (the square one)

Audi 80 Sport (the rounded one)

Audi A4 2.6 V6 (full body kit, lowered and 17"alloys)

Ford KA (base model, great fun, drove like a go-cart)

Eunos 1.6 Mk1 Roadster

MX-5 Merlot Mk1

MX-5 ZSport Mk3

So what’s next? just waiting for an ND 2.0 Sport in Soul Red with tan leather to come up for around half original list. I know I’ll have to wait a while for somebody to take the big hit but with a ZSport it’s no hardship.

 

since passing my test in 1983 ive owned 90 + cars, far too many to remember them all , from allegros , classic minis , cavalier sri’s , xr2’s, volvo, 3 x mx5’s


plus many motor bikes from honda ss50, cx500 to gsxr 750.

many memories, some crap ( allegro ) to great (mx5 )

I’ve had a few cars in the past since passing my test in 1974 and a couple of small motorcycles.

All have been great but very much of their time

Austin Mini - red

Hillman Imp - white

Hillman Imp - white

Ford Escort - pale blue

British Leyland Mini - green 

Volkswagen Beetle - maroon and cream classic

Fiat Cinquecento - dark blue

Fiat Seicento - silver

Honda Civic - silver

Nissan Almera - pale green

Mazda MX5 NC1 - red

We still have the Honda Civic, Nissan Almera and of course the latest addition, the MX5 NC1

 

87 cars, 12 bikes. Can’t be bothered listing them all or I’ll be here 'til midnight.

Most memorable cars.

1964 E-Type Jaguar,

1968 MGC Roadster.

1968 Ford Mustang

Pontiac Firebird

Lancia Fulvia 1.3S

Alfa GTV 2000

Mini Cooper 1275S

Sunbeam Alpine 

3 x MGBs

Jaguar XJ6

BMW 318

BMW 525

BMW 730

Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8 TD

Now only have the MX5 and a Suzuki Bandit 1250 bike. 

As a perky 25-y/o I’ve only owned the following;

2001 Fiesta 3dr, White - Turned left, car continued straight into a ditch/tree @ 15mph.
2002 Yaris 5dr, Red - 1.0L VVTi engine, good fun as a little runaround.
2006 Clio 3dr, Silver - 1.6 petrol, riddled with faults. Kept only about 2 months.
2009 Clio 5dr, Silver - 1.5dci, motorway cruiser while I was in uni. Not too many faults.
2006 Mx5 NC, Black - 2.0, most fun I’ve had driving. No real issues to speak of except for being sideswiped which has now been corrected. Hopefully keeping for many years to come.

Passed test in 1969
Ford Thames 100E van
Mini 850
Mini traveller 1000
Triumph Herald convertible
Morris Minor (drove to Turkey in 1975 and sold it there)
Austin Healey Sprite 1275
VW Polo Mk1
Ford Escort
Vw Beetle
Ford Fiesta
Ford Escort
Toyota Corolla
Ford Orion
Toyota Carina
Ford Sierra
VW Scirroco Mk2
VW Scirroco GT2
MG Metro
Ford Mondeo
VW Golf GTI
VW Golf 1.6
Mazda MX5 Mk1
VW Golf 1.4TSi
Mazda MX5 Mk4 Arctic on order.

First car I had was a DAF,it belonged to my grandad,I was 17 and I thought it was great.I wonder if any have survive,it was a belt drive automatic.

 

Gosh, yes I remember those!  I haven’t seen one in centuries!

I’ve been given several lifts in a recent Jazz with a belt drive.  It was an eerie sensation listening to the engine note dropping while the car continued to accelerate, and vice-versa for engine braking when slowing down gently.

Ha! I’ve heard they’re quite nice?  Sorry I wasn’t being funny about the FS1E thing. I’m also of an age where some things have a slightly rose coloured hue and are often a bit fuzzy! 

Youre gonna hate me for this too then   the 250n superdream superceded the 250t ( which only ran for a few months ) in '78 so wasn’t out in '75.  Sorry mouth now firmly closed!

Barrie

I remember the original TV ads. ‘Forwards to go forwards, back to go back’.

 

Even stranger.  I entered what I believe is the Russian language version of Lada into “Translate” and it gave the English meaning as “Fret”!?  No really!!

 

I’ve just been told by a family s/a that “Lada” is the Russian word for “Lady”!  Whoops!

 

That’s interesting.  I’m pretty sure it was called a Honda Superdream.  May be I got the years wrong.  I’ve got some photo’s still so I’ll go back and check. I still had hair and teeth back then ! 

 

 

I cannot believe the cheek of this man who took the p*ss out of my car history.   

Fiat Panda…Morris Marina…Ford KA…Citroen BX diesel… I rest my case.  Wot MUST he have been thinking of at the time?     

Mind you…a few pretty decent examples in there too.  Nice wun. 

Barry

 

 

I’ve found a photo of (what I thought was) my Honda 250n Super Dream. The photo was taken in about 1985 and I believe the bike was a year 1975. I was ahem…a bit younger then. It’s difficult to see the signage on the side of the bike. 

 

photo Honda2025n20Superdream201_zpsisrhxc8r.jpg