Reminiscing for the fun of it

I realize that under the present circumstances this thread could fall on deaf ears , or might be deemed as inappropriate or whatever, but I’m gonna do it anyway, , because sometimes when your in a low ebb, talking about past adventures, or funny experiences, particularly involving sports cars, motorcycles etc can be fun,entertaining and interesting, and also a diversion .
So if anyone has any unusual or funny stories, don’t hold back let us hear them, I’ll start.
Back in the late 70s early 80s, I had 2 cousins, one had a little white MG midget, and my older cousin had a blue Lotus Elan hard top, with a black badge, and I had a Triumph Spitfire 1500, and we used to go for the odd blast together, anyway the Lotus was a money pit, paint scrapers jammed down the window glass / door frames to stop the windows dropping down, regular replacement of the black rubber wheel/ drive thingummies was just one of the many problems he had .Anyway we decided to go to Bude in Cornwall camping for a long weekend as the girlfriends were away, and on one trip out there was a huge bang, the car filled with smoke and fumes , we swerved to the left and ended up in some bushes as we couldn’t see were we were going, we lifted the bonnet, and re started the engine, all was running as normal , reversed out and pulled into a layby, but could find nothing wrong, it was ticking over and all seemed well.
We finished the holiday ,and got home OK , but never figured out what had happened, it was a great little car when running properly. but he sold the car a month later to a collector and bought a 3.0 Ford Capri !!
I only have one photo from this time. Boz

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Great post Boz, sadly I don’t have any photos from my pre 2001 adventures due to a rather traumatic divorce, ( she destroyed the photos including family ones, hey ho) however, I have very very fond memories when, in the late 70’s, I had a 1300 vanden plas princess, my chums had an MG BGT V8 and a Capri 2.8 , we drove from Sutton Coldfield to a pub in Redditch and on the way back, the MG lost its lights and we had to chaperone it back to Sutton, seems tame now perhaps but we loved it at that time when we were in our late teens

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That’s great, because so many people have had all sorts of adventures ,mishaps and funny things happen to them, whether its with cars or motorcycles ( which I also have a passion for ) and its nice to hear these stories, no matter how dramatic they are ,or how old or recent they are.

Boz

I remember my first ever job after University as a computer programmer. I had been there a few weeks when all the staff were called together and the two Partners said business was bad and they would have to make everyone redundant. They called me into the office later and said they felt a bit guilty about taking me on and was I prepared to carry on with the two of them on a week by week basis as they brought outstanding projects to a close. I said yes as I couldn’t face applying for another job so soon. After the redundancies they had a spare car on lease which they said I might as well have as I would need to visit customers - a 6-month old Midnight Blue Ford Cortina 1.6L. The secretary, who was also kept on, taught me to drive when we were quiet - sometimes up to 3 hours a day, and I passed my test first time.

On a trip to Devon one day I turned a corner and came face to bum with a herd of cows. I hit the brakes and skidded on some cow dung, just catching the rear n/s wing on a stone wall. I was new to the world of company cars and insurance claims, and probably a bit embarrassed, so I did what my older brother would do - I got some filler and a spray can of paint and fixed it myself. It wasn’t particularly successful and needed patching up at one stage. I don’t think the boss was too happy when he came to trade it in for a Sierra, but he still gave me his Audi 80 GLS automatic instead. The Cortina appears to have survived another 10+ years so my repairs clearly weren’t terminal.

With a vastly reduced salary bill the firm was viable and I ended up working at that firm for 3 years until the Partners finally closed up shop with all the debts paid and money in the bank. Looking back they were probably some of the happiest days of my life. Young and carefree with money in my pocket and a car. What more could you want?

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It is 1968 and I am 18 years old and living at home. We had a single drive and arriving home at 1am the standard procedure was to reverse my dads car out put mine in and pop his back on the drive.
One Sunday morning our neighbour came round and handed my dad the keys to his car. Obviously he was somewhat puzzled.
Our neighbour had woken about 4am and looked out to see my father’s car parked across the road with the engine running.
I always just left it in the road with the engine running as it would only be seconds before I put it back on the drive. I just forgot the last bit on this particular night.
Dad was cool about it God bless him.
:heart:

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I came across this old photo of me with my Triumph Spitfire together with a Harley Davidson belonging to a friend, I think it’s late 70’s. The photo is taken at Tyneham in Dorset, a small village in the Isle of Purbeck which was taken over by the army during ww2. Popular with summer visitors it’s well worth a visit when normality returns.

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No photos unfortunatley, but when I was 12 or 13, I decided it would be a good idea to take my Mums mini clubman estate ( the one with the propper wood trim ( KCX 599E from memory ), out for a spin up and down our quiet little road…the problem was the clutch had gone…so you had to start it in gear…
Got out of our drive ( 1920’s syle semi with quite a narow driveway ) with no probs. Down the road, crunching gears. 3 point turn at the bottom, starting the car in gear each time as no clutch.
Back up the road, tried turning the car in to the drive in 2nd gear, got the front end in…but forgot about everything after the front doors…ouch ! The gateposts were made from rough cast reinforced concrete…double ouch !
It was Saturday night, the only time my parents went out and left me and my sister alone. My sister being 16 had a boyfriend to deal with, so had no interest in my little escapade…
So being inventive, I duly painted the side of the car ( it was white…ish ), with Dulux brilliant white gloss, and stuck the wood paneling back on in to the wet paint…and went to bed.
The following morning I got up at stupid O’clock, before anyone else, and went fishing, thinking I would get away with my clever repair.
Needless to say, upon my return home, my feet did not touch the floor !!!
All I can say is that due to financial circumstances at the time winthin our family, the car never was never “properly repaired”, my Mum drove it with my “repair for years”. The car managed to live for a further 5 years within our family afterwards ! Dulux must be great paint ( other brands available ).
How times have changed. A bit of hight jinks in the 70’s would now be the crime of the centuary, quite rightly so…but that was the story of my first car repair…

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Excellent paint back in the day!

Dulux Light Mushroom Exterior Gloss transformed our 1951 Morris Minor from a roasting hot oven in Africa because of its very faded black into a relatively cool ‘mushroom’, locally known thereafter as the Toadstool. It took my Mum and me three days to put on three coats by brush, and it almost looked OK. I passed my test in that a few weeks later.

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Love the photo, Spitfire and Harley together, great memories I’m sure, and nice place to visit.
Had a Spitfire myself :smiley:

Boz

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1964 parked outside my parents house
1 MGA 1500

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Nice photo of your Spitfire Boz. I sold mine when I got married to raise money for our first house. A very familiar story I’m sure!

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Yes MX, a similar thing myself! :grimacing:

Always liked the classic look of the MGA Geoff

Boz

All the best people had Spitfires. I ended up with two - I needed a a mini or other sensible backup while the 1500 was being worked on and got a Mk.IV! A couple of years later I’d agreed to sell the IV to some people at a show in the Midlands and they would pick it up a few days later. On the way home the oil pressure light came on. A quick fiddle under the bonnet and I was good to go. As far as the M25 where it came on again with a noticeable increase in noise and reduction in power! Managed to limp back to Alperton although the noise of a redlining engine with no bearings and “Terrytune” exhaust was deafening up Harrow Hill - according to my friends who were several cars and a bus behind! Once home I called the prospective buyers, offering a couple of hundred pounds off as the big ends had gone but they’d already said they had a tuned 1500 to install. Unexpectedly they agreed, but they only got around the corner before the engine lunched itself completely. Several hours later I sneaked past as they were still waiting for AA Relay.
A couple of years after selling my beloved 1500, I met my future wife who had a…Spitfire 1500. So she’s as keen as me to get out in the AE30 again when allowed.

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This is the Spitfire I have now ! :wink:
I’m no collector but I do have a few diecast cars ,including this Spitfire Mk2. :blush:

Boz

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How are the chassis outriggers looking?

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All looks ok to me, :wink: not that I know what chassis outriggers are as I’m a terrible mechanic :smiley:

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To continue the Spitfire theme - 30/09/1978

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:grin: I bet that took some cleaning!
I’ve heard various stories regarding the reliability of these lovely cars, but for me personally I had very few problems which has probably made me biased, as I just had to fit a new fuel pump and also a blowing exhaust that needed sorting, maybe I was just lucky.
I found the handling on uneven roads a bit skitish and it didn’t fair well on wet roundabouts !

Boz

It was followed by this one, a 1960 MGA Twin Cam, and ex Monte Carlo Rally car

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Very nice, and great memories too I’m sure, as good as digital is, there’s something about an old photo , a physical thing that you can pick up and look at, thats just more interesting, for want of a better word.
Obviously the photo has faded a little over time, was the car Red?