What was your first car and why did you choose it
Discussion
clockworks said:
Reliant Robin, because I only had a bike licence.
+1Estate painted dark brown below the door trim line, light ochre above. Referred to as "the chocolate orange", "that thing" or "the alleged vehicle" (from one of those amusing insurance claims). Also had blacked out rear side windows, slot mag rear wheels and Cibie spotlights. Bought like that in 2000 for £70.
I was 18.
First car wasn't a choice, I was given it for free by a family friend.
Car was a mk3.5 ford fiesta 1.3 LX in metallic aubergine. I loved the car. handled well, engine was rather noisy and burnt oil. However in th 5years I owned it it was very reliable. Took it from 64,000miles to over 100,000.
First car wasn't a choice, I was given it for free by a family friend.
Car was a mk3.5 ford fiesta 1.3 LX in metallic aubergine. I loved the car. handled well, engine was rather noisy and burnt oil. However in th 5years I owned it it was very reliable. Took it from 64,000miles to over 100,000.
Peugeot 309gti at 17 years old. My parents told me I had a £1000 budget, and they would pay my first years insurance, as long as it wasn't in four figures. I spent some time finding a quick car, that should handle, and was insurable. I wanted a 205 gti, but even the 1.6 was silly on insurance, the 309, well that was very affordable, so hence the first car!
1971 VW Beetle 1300. I was my mums and she gave it to me for a couple of hundred pounds.
Then my cousin (who was a car sprayer) gave it new wings and a coat of paint. I then put a full length sunroof in it, Bug Jam started and became the place to go and Air cooled VeeDubs were, for a fleeting moment, the thing to own. Sold it for £2500!....and went and bought an XR3i. Still kick myself for that decision.
Then my cousin (who was a car sprayer) gave it new wings and a coat of paint. I then put a full length sunroof in it, Bug Jam started and became the place to go and Air cooled VeeDubs were, for a fleeting moment, the thing to own. Sold it for £2500!....and went and bought an XR3i. Still kick myself for that decision.
First car that I bought, taxed and insured was a '86 205GRD in '98. Why? needed a bit of economy to get to Uni (sixty mile round trip), paid £600. Unexpected bonus - helped build my upper arm strength with a 1.8 diesel lump up front, no power steering and tight parking spaces in the back streets of Middlesbrough (managed to get the old girl parked in a spot about a foot and a half bigger than the car without touching either vehicle either side of the space as well). The first car(s) that I drove had been bought by my parents (first two actually) the humble 998cc Austin Metro, handled great in the snow 
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It was 2006 and most of my freinds were buying 1.2's, but i was a bit of Max Power brigade person, so I wanted something fast, fun, easy to modify and not costing the earth on insurance. I tralled the classifieds night after night, trying different cars on the insurance websites, then I found one that ticked all the boxes(well, it was fast for a first car) and ended up with a 1997 Peugeot 306 XSi, so it had the same engine as the 106 GTi, but for some reason, cheaper than a 1.2 Polo on insurance.
I learned to drive (a car) in 1991. I managed without a car until after my first son was born in 1992. By mid 93 I really needed a car, as I was living in Tidworth and relying on buses to do a weekly shop, along with getting a baby and a buggy on and off the bus, was beginning to get a bit irritating.
The solution came along when my mum mentioned that her brother was replacing his car, so I bought it from him for £100 (payed in two convenient monthly installments
).
The car?
PHL 836X, a MkV Ford Cortina 1.6L Estate painted Cardinal Red, although it was quite 'pink' by the time I bought it.
Tax and insurance came in under £500 for the year, and 364 days later I drove it to a second hand car dealer with one day left on the tax and MOT, which was required to claim my 'minimum part ex value' of £100 against a very tidy white/slate '88 Escort 1.6LX.
Unbelievably, for a car which barely wheezed onto the dealers yard, was rotten at both ends of the bulkhead/scuttle, and which leaked like a sieve to the point where I'd drilled a hole in the driver's side footwell floor to drain water out of the carpet, it appears to have soldiered on for another two years, because DVLA records show that it was taxed up until June 1996.
If it hadn't been in such terrible condition due to rust in structural areas, then I'd probably have kept the thing for a few more years. As it stands, it's the only RWD car that I've owned, having moved from one 'sensible five door family hatchback' to another over the years.
The solution came along when my mum mentioned that her brother was replacing his car, so I bought it from him for £100 (payed in two convenient monthly installments
).The car?
PHL 836X, a MkV Ford Cortina 1.6L Estate painted Cardinal Red, although it was quite 'pink' by the time I bought it.
Tax and insurance came in under £500 for the year, and 364 days later I drove it to a second hand car dealer with one day left on the tax and MOT, which was required to claim my 'minimum part ex value' of £100 against a very tidy white/slate '88 Escort 1.6LX.
Unbelievably, for a car which barely wheezed onto the dealers yard, was rotten at both ends of the bulkhead/scuttle, and which leaked like a sieve to the point where I'd drilled a hole in the driver's side footwell floor to drain water out of the carpet, it appears to have soldiered on for another two years, because DVLA records show that it was taxed up until June 1996.
If it hadn't been in such terrible condition due to rust in structural areas, then I'd probably have kept the thing for a few more years. As it stands, it's the only RWD car that I've owned, having moved from one 'sensible five door family hatchback' to another over the years.
It was 2006 and most of my freinds were buying 1.2's, but i was a bit of Max Power brigade person, so I wanted something fast, fun, easy to modify and not costing the earth on insurance. I tralled the classifieds night after night, trying different cars on the insurance websites, then I found one that ticked all the boxes(well, it was fast for a first car) and ended up with a 1997 Peugeot 306 XSi, so it had the same engine as the 106 GTi, but for some reason, cheaper than a 1.2 Polo on insurance.
My first car was an AX GT in white although it was going a very off white/brown color, The guy training me for my apprenticeship sold it to me for £150 and the insurance cost me £1200, considering that I'm 30 now it was fairly pricey back then lol. wish I had a picture of it but I did end up selling it for £500 the next year.
Adam
Adam
This:
A 1995 1.6 LX petrol which was bought with 92,000 on the clock for the princely sum of £200 and insured for ... a lot more than that. A workmate of my uncle had inherited a new car from his father who had sadly passed away and he was planning on taking the Primera to the scrapyard.
Over the 18 months I owned it it needed a new starter motor, a full new exhaust, various new tyres and, the replacement of about half of the component parts of the front suspension. It also had a number of electrical gremlins which variously caused the rear electric windows not to work and the electric aerial to bounce up and down at random intervals.
Despite this, as well as its somewhat grandad-ish image, I loved it. It handled far, far, better than it had any right to and wasn't horrendously slow.
Sadly it suffered an undignified demise when the radiator expired on the M6 causing it to roll into Knutsford Services in a cloud of steam. With the help of lots of Radweld and a clever bypassing of the fan switch from the RAC I managed to limp it home. Having now got thoroughly sick of repairing it I sold it for £150 to a local mechanic who fixed it up and sold it on, I think it ran for another couple of years and was then scrapped.
A 1995 1.6 LX petrol which was bought with 92,000 on the clock for the princely sum of £200 and insured for ... a lot more than that. A workmate of my uncle had inherited a new car from his father who had sadly passed away and he was planning on taking the Primera to the scrapyard.
Over the 18 months I owned it it needed a new starter motor, a full new exhaust, various new tyres and, the replacement of about half of the component parts of the front suspension. It also had a number of electrical gremlins which variously caused the rear electric windows not to work and the electric aerial to bounce up and down at random intervals.
Despite this, as well as its somewhat grandad-ish image, I loved it. It handled far, far, better than it had any right to and wasn't horrendously slow.
Sadly it suffered an undignified demise when the radiator expired on the M6 causing it to roll into Knutsford Services in a cloud of steam. With the help of lots of Radweld and a clever bypassing of the fan switch from the RAC I managed to limp it home. Having now got thoroughly sick of repairing it I sold it for £150 to a local mechanic who fixed it up and sold it on, I think it ran for another couple of years and was then scrapped.
H reg Sierra Sapphire 2.0 gls when I was 18.
Paid £850 for it, insurance was £1200 for the first year. I needed something decent sized as I was doing motorway miles quite a bit. I also wanted rwd and the plan was to turn it into a cossie replica. I ended up having a rs2000 16v engine fitted and cossie body kit. Sold it when I was 19 and bought an xr4x4 2.9 and then got a cossie when I was 20
Paid £850 for it, insurance was £1200 for the first year. I needed something decent sized as I was doing motorway miles quite a bit. I also wanted rwd and the plan was to turn it into a cossie replica. I ended up having a rs2000 16v engine fitted and cossie body kit. Sold it when I was 19 and bought an xr4x4 2.9 and then got a cossie when I was 20
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