Have just got round to reading Geoff Waltons article in the last issue of STHT. He as had many nice cars, and if I could choose one today it would be the MK 1 Lotus Cortina. In my youth I myself had the Mk 1 1500 GT Cortina, not quite the Lotus but how I wish I had it now. Sadly as a young man with little experience or welding ability I sold it for £100 when it was due MOT and needed a bit of work.
With this in mind I think I will try to keep hold of my J1 Limited Roadster for as long as I am driving, which should be a while yet. Thats not to say I wont get an additional MX-5 but I do like the one I have.
So what cars have you had that you now regret getting rid of.
Had a few in my youth, but a mint 1600E MK2 Cortina I often wonder if is still living, but even rare I had an Avenger Tiger fitted with a 1750 Holbay engine as standard, haven’t seen one in year’s I part ex it for a Custom Anglia with 3.0ltr V6 fitted and Jag rear end…ooooh! I’ve had some crackers… and some nightmares.
The '5 is actually my first car - I imagine this probably makes me pretty unusual!
I’ve been driving my other half’s Corsa for the last 3 years though, so I’ve got a certain amount of experience. We’re keeping that car, at least for now, for the not-that-rare occasions where we want to take extra people with us. And the other half’s not being entirely positive about my new one. At least not yet. Hopefully she’ll come around quite quickly though!
Before the Corsa, she had an old Rover Metro as a £96 first car. Lasted a few months, then started to produce a smell of petrol on cornering. Turns out there was a hole in the pipe from the filler cap down to the tank. So that car was junked. Don’t think anyone still wishes they had that car!
1 - A 1975 series 3 Land Rover I bought a couple of years ago, sold it because I didn’t think I had the time to restore it, on reflection it didn’t need much at all really.
2 - A 2002 Land Rover Discovery td5 in Java black, exchanged it on a misguided whim that 4x4’s were murdering the planet. which of course now we know they ain’t.
A Mark 1.5 Midget[:)] - Brilliant fun for a 19 year old!!, I was about to recapture my youth by buying another one but went to this years Classic Car show, visited the MX5 stand [:D]and now the Midget is history!!
From my long list the absolute favourite was the '62 Lotus Elite. Was getting married and needed the money, so I traded it for a '63 1275 Cooper “S”. Ah happy days, no regrets really I had some lovely cars and enjoyed all of them one way or another---------
An original Fiat 500 - but the hole in the floor was nearly as big as the sunshine roof - and a 2 door Morris Minor.
Both were a BIT like the Five in that they were underpowered but drove like karts, were cheap to buy, great fun, totally reliable, economical and easy to maintain.
We loved them but things move on.
Worst cars we wished we’d never bought in the first place - a Renault Four - one wheel went its own seperate way, with part of the chassis, on the Isle of Wight - and a Saab 95 Estate. Driveshafts went and repairs would have cost more than I paid for the car - but that was shoestring motoring.
The Fiat cost £80, the Minor, Renault and Saab £400 each - many, many moons ago :-)
1967 Ford Corsair 2000E
Goodwood Green, Twin DCOE40’s Custom made Rosewood Dashboard, Leather interior Skimmed Heads, 4,2,2 Pipe, lowered suspension.
I was an apprentice engineer at the time (late 1970’s) and we had a chrome bath on site so everything that could be chromed on Saturday morning overtime, was (good old union days!). This car was to be fearured in Street Machine and on the weekend before the “shoot” I managed to stuff it into a comcrete bollard! I never understood why the magazine didn’t turn up after I had told them. LOL.
Again I am alive with my 5!
I had a Fiat Strada Abarth that was an ex hill climb racer. Full roll cage, high lift short duration cams, proper carbs, braces everywhere and no suspension to speak of. FWD, but it stuck to the road like nothing else I’ve ever driven, including the five. It was pretty tired when I got it, and during the time I had it I averaged 7mpg due to a fuel leak (erk!) and blew the oil drain pipe through the side of the sump - I think it came loose and made contact with something big at 7k rpm. Finally ended up with poor compression on 2 cylinders, I couldn’t afford a new engine -> scrapped it.
My first car was a 1.25 Ford Fiesta with the Zetec engine which was a little gem. Sadly the car was written off shortly after it was bought due to it’s owner crashing it in to a parked van(don’t ask!) and thank goodness for that little airbag
And yes i did pass both my theory and practical first time out thank you very much!
My first car was an immaculate 1983 Ford Fiesta Mk1 1.3 Ghia. It had no rust, even the electrical aerial worked on it! I wish I’d kept it - it would now be a classic! But I had my head turned by an XR2… which rusted away to nothing in a matter of months :-(
Fab! - I had a white Viva E Coupe (Firenza body, but new name) - put a Droop Snoot front on it.
It was a 1256cc, but I transplanted a Magnum 2300cc motor and transmission into it, fitted it with twin inch & three qtr Strombergs.
Went well, but limited by 4 speed box - o/drive would have been useful!
I don’t think there’s any I wish i’d kept, but certainly a couple that I got rid of them at the wrong time and had great times in.
First would be this immaculate 1988 Ford Escort XR3i Cabriolet. Managed to afford to run it when I was 19 and loved every minute of driving it. I actually cried when I traded it in. I managed to keep it so clean that after 3 years of ownership I traded it in at a dealers for more than I paid for it.
Second car that unfortunately came to a very short end was my first ever car. It was a 1983 Ford Fiesta 950cc. It was sooooo clean, and even polished under the bonnet. Was so incredibly gutted when I managed to jump a ditch and park it into a VERY large tree. (must have looked impressive though) [;)]
Geoff can relate to my 365hp 5.5 litre SLR 5000, which I bought in 1983, then sold in 1991 and bought back in 2000!!
I moved to the UK and bought back a car back that I had designed/built in 1971. It still only has 15,000 miles on the clock even now (on it’s 1600GT Cortina drive train).
I was down on the Gold Coast just before Christmas and It poured with rain, glad to get back to the Sunshine Coast.
Yep these Aussie muscle cars are quite something. It can be quite humbling at a set of lights when a seemingly innocuous Holden disappears into the distance, amazing what 6 ish litres can do. I love the Moonraker, always fancied a type 35
PS they don’t go so far since I fitted the supercharger[;)]
I had a Triumph Herald estate as my first car (only a year younger than me . . .) and was so impressed with it’s meccano-like construction, I bought a wedgewood blue saloon to replace it. Amazing how much oversteer the combination of 48bhp and swing-axle rear suspension can generate! In fact my wife nearly bought a Spitfire (Triumph, not Supermarine . . .) before we married - if she had, I may never have had a '5.
- and a 2 door Morris Minor.
