Rubbish cars that you miss
Discussion
One crappy phone picture and some memories are all I have left of my beloved 1996 Volvo 460 1.6 Shed.
Purchased for 250 glorious pounds and in the dark it provided me with 10 months and 20 thousand miles of uncaring, abusive pleasure. With the exception of 2 tyres, battery and an air cleaner it never let me down despite it's 154K miles, renault engine and complete lack of service history.
The starter motor wailed like a banshee and the badly bodged exhaust melted the back bumper. The fuel guage took 5 miles to decide how much fuel was in the tank and the handbrake was incapable of locking the rears even on ice unless the lever was pointing skyward. It was actually a good driving old thing (relatively) Electric windows and heated seats and reasonably well screwed together. I could ignore the ABS light as half the dashboard was in darkness at night
It was washed only once (for that photo incidentally) and the inside never saw a hoover, I treated the car like a POS. Rev limiter from cold and general misbehaviour, the car loved it.
The impending MOT which needed the following to be rectified
1. Exhaust
2. Discs and pads all round, ABS repaired
3. Full engine service and timing belt
4. Front wheel bearing
5. Small patch to passenger side floor
6. Passenger side headlamp and lights aligned
Of course it made more sense to buy a cheap T5 instead which performed it's 1st towing job the morning I got it home. Volvo 460 off to the scrappie. In disgust the 460 refused to start and had to be winched on yet started miraculously the previous evening.
Of course half of you who read this will think, WTF? It's an old nasty Volvo. But I'm sure a small percentage for whom sheds or bangernomics are part and parcel of being an enthusiast will understand what the appeal was. The liberating feeling of parking at Tescos and not giving a damn if you pick up a dent, not worrying about stone chips, road salt etc and the fact that you have only a few hundred tied up. The T5's I owned after that were of course much much faster and generally superior but I miss that old tank for some strange reason. I got rid in 2007 and yet I still think about that car
Anyone care to share?
Edited by v8will on Thursday 26th August 00:40
v8will said:
Of course half of you who read this will think, WTF? It's an old nasty Volvo. But I'm sure a small percentage for whom sheds or bangernomics are part and parcel of being an enthusiast will understand what the appeal was. The liberating feeling of parking at Tescos and not giving a damn if you pick up a dent, not worrying about stone chips, road salt etc and the fact that you have only a few hundred tied up. The T5's I owned after that were of course much much faster and generally superior but I miss that old tank for some strange reason. I got rid in 2007 and yet I still think about that car
Anyone care to share?
Anyone care to share?
Edited by v8will on Thursday 26th August 00:40
I've not missed any of my previous (non-volvo) cars but now that my other-half has started using my T5 I do worry about it
also I am in the middle of getting my old 850 20valve ready to sell, I'll miss that...it has been a great car and has been in the family for years
Edit = spelling
Edited by y2blade on Thursday 26th August 09:13
Funnily enough, in the spirit of the OP, I had a Volvo 440 1.6 base model (M reg. I think...) which was bought for around £500. Faultless in the two years I owned it as a thrashed run about. Did have the oil and filter done, though nothing else apart from MOTs. Sold it for £450 two years later to a 6th former who wanted a shed for their first car. Think it is still running, and why not.
Considering the strong Renault blood line and that the model was clearly built to a budget, I found it very comfortable, completely reliable and bomb proof. Just not stylish, but then, it's an old Volvo....!
Only other rubbish car I miss (this will make many of you shudder)....is an old Austin Princess from 1980 which was the family car. 2.2 HLS Automatic don'tchaknow, loved that car dearly.
Considering the strong Renault blood line and that the model was clearly built to a budget, I found it very comfortable, completely reliable and bomb proof. Just not stylish, but then, it's an old Volvo....!
Only other rubbish car I miss (this will make many of you shudder)....is an old Austin Princess from 1980 which was the family car. 2.2 HLS Automatic don'tchaknow, loved that car dearly.
Edited by carlingofblack on Thursday 26th August 08:33
Kevin VRs said:
Lada Niva, one of the most capable 4x4s ever. Very simple but thanks to short wheelbase and high ground clearance will go practically anywhere. Also because very cheap never cared if I scratched or bent it off road.
I had a Lada Riva Estate 1.3 in cream and I can’t say I was very fond of it at the time. These days though I look back and really do miss it. It has a strange 80's style/attraction and more importantly, and the reason I miss it, is that it was built like a tank! I crashed it 3-4 times into various things such as a ditch, tree, front of a bookies shop, I wasn’t trying to rob it, and once into the side of a factory building, but that was deliberate to straighten the steal girder bumper from a previous accident!! I did try to straighten it with a sledge hammer but it was having none of it! Also got hit from behind by an accord. I stepped out to find bits of the accord of the ground behind the car and water poring out of the radiator. The guy was very apologetic but I was like "no worries mate" and drove off without a mark. The thing was bullet proof and I didn’t care where I parked it. When you are driving a nice car other road users try to take advantage because they now you don’t want to prang it, driving a Lada they all move over baby!!!
Can’t find one for love nor money these days.............
I have a 900cc Fiat Seicento as my daily snotter at the moment. £320 + £150 to put a new engine in (thieving ebay beggars...)
Although, objectively, it's a complete pile of poo there's something entertaining and rather charming about it. We use it as a pub car and a runabout. It takes me5 miles to work when it's too wet to cycle, gets loaded up with rubbish to take to the dump and generally gets abused. It loves it, engine enjoys being thrashed and - dare I say it - is really rather well put together.
Nice to have a car that you can floor everywhere and not worry about your licence, and means I never have to take the Mercedes into a supermarket car park!
Although, objectively, it's a complete pile of poo there's something entertaining and rather charming about it. We use it as a pub car and a runabout. It takes me5 miles to work when it's too wet to cycle, gets loaded up with rubbish to take to the dump and generally gets abused. It loves it, engine enjoys being thrashed and - dare I say it - is really rather well put together.
Nice to have a car that you can floor everywhere and not worry about your licence, and means I never have to take the Mercedes into a supermarket car park!
1999 daewoo matiz 3 cylinders and 800cc of pure fury but i did enjoy the comical 'smallness' of it and the refusal to use any fuel. ridiculously cheap in every way just like myself and i found myself bidding on one on ebay last night (oh dear).
1996 mazda 323 1.5cc with the fuse box containing many nails from the previous owner. stood for a year before i bought it for 250 quid. jump started it, left it to run for a couple of hours, put fresh fuel in and away i went for 12,000 trouble free miles. put tar over the holes in the boot from a previous stupid 'wing' and put the space saver on when one of the tyres decided to shed its skin down to the canvas on the autobahn. sold to a friend on the space saver for 500 quid. still going strong and is known as the 'porsche' in a tongue in cheek way by the boys at work all who fell over each other to buy it for 500 bucks when it comes up for sale in the next few months. it has passed through the hands of many guys at work but refuses to die unlike an omega, audi a4, nissan sunny and a few others.
rover 100 1.1 rio (it mattered) i drove since 17 and i am positive i could get it round the ring faster than anything else including an evo x or gtr as it immense fun.
1996 mazda 323 1.5cc with the fuse box containing many nails from the previous owner. stood for a year before i bought it for 250 quid. jump started it, left it to run for a couple of hours, put fresh fuel in and away i went for 12,000 trouble free miles. put tar over the holes in the boot from a previous stupid 'wing' and put the space saver on when one of the tyres decided to shed its skin down to the canvas on the autobahn. sold to a friend on the space saver for 500 quid. still going strong and is known as the 'porsche' in a tongue in cheek way by the boys at work all who fell over each other to buy it for 500 bucks when it comes up for sale in the next few months. it has passed through the hands of many guys at work but refuses to die unlike an omega, audi a4, nissan sunny and a few others.
rover 100 1.1 rio (it mattered) i drove since 17 and i am positive i could get it round the ring faster than anything else including an evo x or gtr as it immense fun.
The Fiat Uno.
I've owned them in many flavors. 999cc carb, 999cc injection, 1.4l 8v and I've also had my fair share of turbos. Two mk1 1.3 turbos and one mk2 1.4 turbo. My first car was an Uno!
Utter, utter, utter s
te cars in all forms. Unreliable, terrible build quality, rubbish handling, rusty, uncomfortable, noisy etc. Every bad thing you could say about a car, relates to an Uno. Even the turbos aren't without their errors. The only thing that doesn't relate to them is that they aren't slow. They still don't handle and fall apart.
Yet, I want one. Really want one. Not as a daily, but as a fun project. Something I can stick on the drive/garage and play with with the occasional show outing.
I wouldn't buy a Turbo. They are too unreliable and too expencive in good nick these days. TBH. You wont find one in good nick. They all have something wrong with them, regardless what the owner says.
I would find a 999cc or 1.1l example and go on bodywork condition alone. Finding one of these without rust is impossible these days, but there are still some ok ones about. I would then drop out the engine and drop in either 1.2 16v or 1.4 16v from the same range of engines. 1.2 is 85hp as standard and 1.4 is 100hp as standard. The 1.4 could easily be tuned up to the 115hp that the Turbo put out and probably beyond. It would be far more reliable and be a hell of a sleeper (leaving the 45/999cc badges on the back :-) ).
Hmmm, off to ebay.
I've owned them in many flavors. 999cc carb, 999cc injection, 1.4l 8v and I've also had my fair share of turbos. Two mk1 1.3 turbos and one mk2 1.4 turbo. My first car was an Uno!
Utter, utter, utter s
te cars in all forms. Unreliable, terrible build quality, rubbish handling, rusty, uncomfortable, noisy etc. Every bad thing you could say about a car, relates to an Uno. Even the turbos aren't without their errors. The only thing that doesn't relate to them is that they aren't slow. They still don't handle and fall apart.Yet, I want one. Really want one. Not as a daily, but as a fun project. Something I can stick on the drive/garage and play with with the occasional show outing.
I wouldn't buy a Turbo. They are too unreliable and too expencive in good nick these days. TBH. You wont find one in good nick. They all have something wrong with them, regardless what the owner says.
I would find a 999cc or 1.1l example and go on bodywork condition alone. Finding one of these without rust is impossible these days, but there are still some ok ones about. I would then drop out the engine and drop in either 1.2 16v or 1.4 16v from the same range of engines. 1.2 is 85hp as standard and 1.4 is 100hp as standard. The 1.4 could easily be tuned up to the 115hp that the Turbo put out and probably beyond. It would be far more reliable and be a hell of a sleeper (leaving the 45/999cc badges on the back :-) ).
Hmmm, off to ebay.
Deluded said:
The Fiat Uno.
I've owned them in many flavors. 999cc carb, 999cc injection, 1.4l 8v and I've also had my fair share of turbos. Two mk1 1.3 turbos and one mk2 1.4 turbo. My first car was an Uno!
Utter, utter, utter ste cars in all forms. Unreliable, terrible build quality, rubbish handling, rusty, uncomfortable, noisy etc. Every bad thing you could say about a car, relates to an Uno. Even the turbos aren't without their errors. The only thing that doesn't relate to them is that they aren't slow. They still don't handle and fall apart.
Yet, I want one. Really want one. Not as a daily, but as a fun project. Something I can stick on the drive/garage and play with with the occasional show outing.
I wouldn't buy a Turbo. They are too unreliable and too expencive in good nick these days. TBH. You wont find one in good nick. They all have something wrong with them, regardless what the owner says.
I would find a 999cc or 1.1l example and go on bodywork condition alone. Finding one of these without rust is impossible these days, but there are still some ok ones about. I would then drop out the engine and drop in either 1.2 16v or 1.4 16v from the same range of engines. 1.2 is 85hp as standard and 1.4 is 100hp as standard. The 1.4 could easily be tuned up to the 115hp that the Turbo put out and probably beyond. It would be far more reliable and be a hell of a sleeper (leaving the 45/999cc badges on the back :-) ).
Hmmm, off to ebay.
I can't knock the uno at all. I bought one a couple of years ago for £300, commuted in it for 6 months, and then drove it to the gambia. A change of oil before we left and that was it. Throughout those months I only had 2 breakdowns, the first was on the day I bought it where the points failed, and the second was the same problem (same bodged dizzy) 5 and a half months later. Oh, and I ripped the fuel lines off the underside whilst climbing over rocks, but that was hardly the cars fault.I've owned them in many flavors. 999cc carb, 999cc injection, 1.4l 8v and I've also had my fair share of turbos. Two mk1 1.3 turbos and one mk2 1.4 turbo. My first car was an Uno!
Utter, utter, utter s
te cars in all forms. Unreliable, terrible build quality, rubbish handling, rusty, uncomfortable, noisy etc. Every bad thing you could say about a car, relates to an Uno. Even the turbos aren't without their errors. The only thing that doesn't relate to them is that they aren't slow. They still don't handle and fall apart.Yet, I want one. Really want one. Not as a daily, but as a fun project. Something I can stick on the drive/garage and play with with the occasional show outing.
I wouldn't buy a Turbo. They are too unreliable and too expencive in good nick these days. TBH. You wont find one in good nick. They all have something wrong with them, regardless what the owner says.
I would find a 999cc or 1.1l example and go on bodywork condition alone. Finding one of these without rust is impossible these days, but there are still some ok ones about. I would then drop out the engine and drop in either 1.2 16v or 1.4 16v from the same range of engines. 1.2 is 85hp as standard and 1.4 is 100hp as standard. The 1.4 could easily be tuned up to the 115hp that the Turbo put out and probably beyond. It would be far more reliable and be a hell of a sleeper (leaving the 45/999cc badges on the back :-) ).
Hmmm, off to ebay.
It wasn't comfy, but it did take a hell of a lot of abuse quite well. By the end of the trip, the front was smushed, the rear was smushed, drivers side smushed, floor smushed, and roof dented, it couldn't go in a straight line, most of the electrics were broken, it ended up with a top speed of 60mph regardless of gear, and the oil pressure light would come on when you approached even the most gentle of corners.
But it did climb the highest roads in morocco, endured 3 days of sandstorm, crossed the sahara, spent a few seconds in the air, and spent 24 hours involved in a people smuggling mission.
Damn good car.
Have fond memorys of my Old 440 Turbo, drove really well, was pretty quick and for me cheap to insure at 22, (ok it was as ugly as sin) Used to overtake some very suprised XR3/XR2/GTI drivers. Did nearly 60K miles over 2 years in it, passed every MOT and only needed a new backbox in that time. Sold it to a pikey for £450......who used it in a shop ram raid in London, shame really as there was nought wrong with it. Loved my old 306D Turbo that replaced it as well (even if it did pretty much eat it self)
Car I miss the most, though not in the spirit of this thread is my Evo VI RS
Car I miss the most, though not in the spirit of this thread is my Evo VI RS
Rover 620 tdi!! my favourite work banger! Purchased for £250 pounds with 135K miles, 2 years and 50k miles later still running strong without so much as an oil change! A few tyres and a starter motor were my only items required to keep her moving. How I used to laugh at the people spending £300 a month they cant afford on a brand new car they cant afford, out of fear of a an expensive breakdown.
Can't beat bangernomics.
Can't beat bangernomics.
My first car - an Austin A40 Farina Mk II. It taught me everything about working on cars and the use of filler and paint. Actually, for it's time it was a very under-rated car. It covered 30000 miles in 2 years in my hands and never let me down...struggled occasionally but never actually broke down. Far better than the Cortina Mk II that replaced it.
citroen zxtd in plain dark blue.
bosch pump, tuned. actually pretty quick.
ran on pretty much anything you poured in it.
ridiculous mileage.
parked it anywhere.
took the m3 up north the other day, £100 quid just in petrol. the zx once got me from dorset to london and back on under a tenner and i didn't spend 30 mins nancying around for the perfect space.
bosch pump, tuned. actually pretty quick.
ran on pretty much anything you poured in it.
ridiculous mileage.
parked it anywhere.
took the m3 up north the other day, £100 quid just in petrol. the zx once got me from dorset to london and back on under a tenner and i didn't spend 30 mins nancying around for the perfect space.
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