What was your first car ? Tell us your story
Discussion
DHE said:
That's one hell of a first car Andi. What was the insurance like out of curiosity?
Anybody care to explain insurance too me? The lad had a quote, first car, fully comp, Honda Civic 1.3. It came out at £15k. Through frustration he put in details of an Integra Type R, £5k fully comp. Go figure.
Insurance was awesome at 650 quid - lack of experience seemed to count for nothing as I was over 26 at the time... I'm sure the Insurance world has changed a lot in 10 years...Anybody care to explain insurance too me? The lad had a quote, first car, fully comp, Honda Civic 1.3. It came out at £15k. Through frustration he put in details of an Integra Type R, £5k fully comp. Go figure.
MK 2 Ford Capri 1.6s 1978 'S' plate in Signal Amber with a Black vinyl roof. Was a one owner car from new (farmer from Hereford) and very straight and clean with 50k rec when I bought it back in 84'. Owned her for nearly 2yrs, few mods I carried out were Spax adjustable shocks and some unknown lowering springs on the front and lowering blocks on the rear leaf springs, chrome and foam pancake filter and my favourite mod was the 13"x7" Alleycat wheels I bought from what was then 'Peter Lloyd Rallying'. Loved that car until a mate persuaded me to sell it to him for what was then a good price. The mate in question wrote it off 18hrs after he bought it off me, showing off, 5 up (in a Capri
) on the twisty bits outside Abergavenny the P***K...
Only pic I have of her pre Alleycats...
) on the twisty bits outside Abergavenny the P***K...Only pic I have of her pre Alleycats...
Mini. 1100 engine, skimmed and ported head, Weber, rotten body.
Second car, Mini Marcos, crap engine, good body.
Answer, remove engine and all other useful parts from Mini. Fit engine to Marcos. Cut Mini in half with hacksaw, throw onto the back of my old mans lorry and dump down the tip.
Happy days.............................................
Second car, Mini Marcos, crap engine, good body.
Answer, remove engine and all other useful parts from Mini. Fit engine to Marcos. Cut Mini in half with hacksaw, throw onto the back of my old mans lorry and dump down the tip.
Happy days.............................................
I had a 1983 Mk3 escort for a few months after passing my test then decided to go the full hog and buy myself my pride and joy at the time: 1986 Series 1 Ford Escort Rs Turbo, I will never forget the registration C960BTT and the hefty insurance premium of £1300 which was a lot of money 14 years ago. I still think they look the dogs b@llocks today!! :-)
In theory, a duck-egg blue Ford Corsair 1700 V4 but after an initial drive, my father sold it to my cousin who was looking for a car. There may have been insurance issues as he was then going to give me his Cortina Mk II GT but that was a no-go.
Ultimately, we went out and found an Austin A40 Farina Mk II. Said 948cc on the logbook but turned out to be a powerhouse 1098cc which repeatedly thrashed my mate's Anglia 105E.
Over 2 years, much metal was replaced with filler. Lots of old newspaper was pulled from orifices but rust was always going to kill it eventually and I mercilessly used it for 30000 miles before it died. It was a really good car and taught me much about maintenance.
Ultimately, we went out and found an Austin A40 Farina Mk II. Said 948cc on the logbook but turned out to be a powerhouse 1098cc which repeatedly thrashed my mate's Anglia 105E.
Over 2 years, much metal was replaced with filler. Lots of old newspaper was pulled from orifices but rust was always going to kill it eventually and I mercilessly used it for 30000 miles before it died. It was a really good car and taught me much about maintenance.
A 1970 Ford Escort 1300 Super Automatic. Red with black vinyl seats and original 12in, yes 12" steel rims. Had an AM radio and 8 track .
Glacially slow, but had great handling once it got going. I had a lot of fun in that car one way and another.
When I bought it in '97, it had been laid up for some years by the old lady who had owned it from new. With zero mechanical knowledge, a haynes manual and some percussive maintenance, I finally managed to get it running, free up the seized brakes (drums all round, no servo) and take it in for its MOT.
The brakes weren't fantastic on the mile or so drive to the MOT station, I put this down to them being unservoed and unserviced drums. The MOT guy put it straight on the rollers, then came back to me and said "Did you drive this here?" It rurned out the brake cylinders were shot, losing fluid as fast as you could press the pedal down. Hate to think what would have happened if the test station had been further away.
Glacially slow, but had great handling once it got going. I had a lot of fun in that car one way and another.
When I bought it in '97, it had been laid up for some years by the old lady who had owned it from new. With zero mechanical knowledge, a haynes manual and some percussive maintenance, I finally managed to get it running, free up the seized brakes (drums all round, no servo) and take it in for its MOT.
The brakes weren't fantastic on the mile or so drive to the MOT station, I put this down to them being unservoed and unserviced drums. The MOT guy put it straight on the rollers, then came back to me and said "Did you drive this here?" It rurned out the brake cylinders were shot, losing fluid as fast as you could press the pedal down. Hate to think what would have happened if the test station had been further away.
My first car was a 1.3 burgundy Peugeot 309 that I bought off my mum. Had to have the boot floor welded as the first time I put something in it it pretty much went straight through. It had a wobbly speedo so you could be cruising along and you didn't know if you was doing 30 or 40 mph as it wobbled that much.
Dismantled some full on disco speakers and wired them in with an amp. I didn't know what I was doing and wired it straight to the battery which meant it drained it all the time as you couldn't turn off the amp without going in the boot and taking all the wires off.
Eventually thought I was too much of a driving god for that little thing and bought myself a Vauxhall Astra Belmont SRI. 1.8 litres of pure muscle (or so I thought at 18
)
Loved that peugeot!
Dismantled some full on disco speakers and wired them in with an amp. I didn't know what I was doing and wired it straight to the battery which meant it drained it all the time as you couldn't turn off the amp without going in the boot and taking all the wires off.
Eventually thought I was too much of a driving god for that little thing and bought myself a Vauxhall Astra Belmont SRI. 1.8 litres of pure muscle (or so I thought at 18
) Loved that peugeot!
An Alfa Romeo Alfetta 1.8 saloon in red.It cost £595 from Tewksbury car auctions about a week after I passed my test at 17 and 6 weeks in 1982.
It was a 1977 two owner car with 50k miles and was absolutely fantastic and is still the only car I would have back in whatever condition whatever the price.Sadly it did not last long after I sold it 2 years later to go to uni.Should have kept the car and got a job.
Seemed a fast car back then and I had a lot of fun proving to myself that I wasn't a driving god.Looking back now I wonder how I survived and did so without a ban.
If I could find another like it I'd love to have it.Seems there are only a few left and I haven't seen a red one for sale for years.
It was a 1977 two owner car with 50k miles and was absolutely fantastic and is still the only car I would have back in whatever condition whatever the price.Sadly it did not last long after I sold it 2 years later to go to uni.Should have kept the car and got a job.
Seemed a fast car back then and I had a lot of fun proving to myself that I wasn't a driving god.Looking back now I wonder how I survived and did so without a ban.
If I could find another like it I'd love to have it.Seems there are only a few left and I haven't seen a red one for sale for years.
Mine was a 1986 D reg Mini Mayfair. Pretty swanky at the time as it had many high-end features, such as, head rests, a pass mirror and a rev counter. Saw it advertised in the free ads yellow paper and went to see it in Mayals, Swansea, which I considered to be a nice address for a used car. Took my uncle, an AA mechanic with me to see it. An old lady had owned it. She'd only done 26,000 miles in it between 1986 and the year I bought it - 1998. Unfortunately, as she wasn't well and was housebound for lengthy periods, she'd often use it to nip out for a pint of milk in the rain and then garaged it. The chassis seemed sound but there were sections of bodywork that were so rusty you could put your hand through. It wasn't far off the flinstones.
I took it to the Aztec centre in Fforestfach to a guy that sprayed vans on the cheap. The guy agreed, probably out of pity for a 17 year old with a rusty mini, to take on the job. Quoted me a very reasonable £220 for a complete respray. I provided new doors as these had succumbed to the worst of the rust. He told me to come back in a week. A week later I called over and the car was in bits. Turns out every spec of rust, once rubbed down was much worse that it appeared. He spent an entire fortnight just on my car but honoured his £220 quote. Meanwhile I picked up some chrome bumpers and black mini-lite wheels to compliment the black roof. I added four huge spotlights from my mates RS Turbo and wired them up to my high beams. Was great in the llanes at night.
What a car. Would overheat at anything above 60 mph and would die if driven on the motorway in the rain due to all the wetness that came into the engine bay. Felt fast at the age of 17 and go-kart handling was great fun. Remember coming down constitution hill (it's pretty steep) at speed and then dash falling off.
Next up was an 8 valve Golf Gti that seemed epically fast at the time. 113 bhp no less. Bought from a guy in Llanelli. It went through three engines. This was followed shortly after by a Japanese imported Prelude VTI with a crazy 200 bhp. In 2000 at age 20 this was supersonic. Good times!
I took it to the Aztec centre in Fforestfach to a guy that sprayed vans on the cheap. The guy agreed, probably out of pity for a 17 year old with a rusty mini, to take on the job. Quoted me a very reasonable £220 for a complete respray. I provided new doors as these had succumbed to the worst of the rust. He told me to come back in a week. A week later I called over and the car was in bits. Turns out every spec of rust, once rubbed down was much worse that it appeared. He spent an entire fortnight just on my car but honoured his £220 quote. Meanwhile I picked up some chrome bumpers and black mini-lite wheels to compliment the black roof. I added four huge spotlights from my mates RS Turbo and wired them up to my high beams. Was great in the llanes at night.
What a car. Would overheat at anything above 60 mph and would die if driven on the motorway in the rain due to all the wetness that came into the engine bay. Felt fast at the age of 17 and go-kart handling was great fun. Remember coming down constitution hill (it's pretty steep) at speed and then dash falling off.
Next up was an 8 valve Golf Gti that seemed epically fast at the time. 113 bhp no less. Bought from a guy in Llanelli. It went through three engines. This was followed shortly after by a Japanese imported Prelude VTI with a crazy 200 bhp. In 2000 at age 20 this was supersonic. Good times!
Daihatsu Charade GTti, same as this 
Cracking car, kept the ex's foot prints on the widescreen for 6/7 months
should never have sold it, next owner killed it 
just a Scorpion exhaust from Peter Boshier Jones (is he still going? Used to love going there!) Boot flew open canning it up Caemawr hill, new shelf speakers, amp & subs went flying out the back
Took me to Catterick and back a few times until the clutch finally died when my 6ft 7 Coldstream Guard instructor borrowed it taking his bit on the side out for a meal!! Wasn't happy getting recovered!!
Traded it for a Renault 19 16v Executive after 9 months :
Cracking car, kept the ex's foot prints on the widescreen for 6/7 months
should never have sold it, next owner killed it just a Scorpion exhaust from Peter Boshier Jones (is he still going? Used to love going there!) Boot flew open canning it up Caemawr hill, new shelf speakers, amp & subs went flying out the back Took me to Catterick and back a few times until the clutch finally died when my 6ft 7 Coldstream Guard instructor borrowed it taking his bit on the side out for a meal!! Wasn't happy getting recovered!!
Traded it for a Renault 19 16v Executive after 9 months :
A 1973 white mini clubman. This was the late 1970's and the glory days of the Hot Car magazine. Within a couple of years I had it sprayed black; black side windows; rear widow louvre; big revolution wheels; big wheel arches; crappy rally seats; furry dice. It looked a cool car but it still only had the original modest engine. Eventually it failed an MOT so scrapped it as welding work was needed. Remember the front wheel falling off on one occasion as I had forgotten to properly tighten the nuts after a wheel change.
Gassing Station | South Wales | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff