The Art of Shedding

[S100HP]

That 305 is lovely. Any more details (or have I missed them?)

[BugLebowski]

Oilchange said:

Maybe its because the owners of the two websites are at WAR !

That would be akin to Equatorial Guinea going to war with the US. I doubt if they'd even notice.

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

Retroste said:

I can understand not allowing it due to people needlessly spamming the site but not allowing sharing videos that correspond with the post/story/photos seems silly.
I've seen a few other threads where others posted links to the op's thread which seems to go unnoticed.
Anyway, I'd prefer not to get banned so I'll not post any more video links.

Don't know if it's against the rules, but could your channel be linked in your profile?

[Retroshite]

S100HP said:

That 305 is lovely. Any more details (or have I missed them?)

I've probably given a brief description of it but to reiterate, I bought it from the Morris Leslie classic car auction in April 2018 for £420 bidding fees included.



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It had belonged to an elderly owner in Forfar who had died and his family were left to dispose of the car. Fortunately they put it into the auction with no reserve rather than just sending it straight to the weighbridge like a lot of people seem to do - Old car = Worthless scrap in a lot of peoples eyes.

Having just sold my 305 van a couple of days previously, I wasn’t exactly looking for another 305 to replace it with but after a friend told me about a late entry Peugeot 305 GR at the Morris Leslie Classic car auction which was happening the very next day, I knew it was a sign! I had to buy it.

I contacted Keith Murray who works for Morris Leslie to ask for some details about the car as it hadn’t appeared in their online sales catalogue yet, he informed me that the car hadn’t arrived yet but would let me know when it came in.

After an hour or so Keith sent me some photos and videos of the car, I had never seen one in that colour before and it looked ok in the photos so thought it was worth checking out.

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I jumped in my 305 SRD estate and headed up to Errol for a look at the car, I had thought on the journey up that I’d probably offer around £200 for it as my highest bid after all it was a crusty old French car with no mot and doesn’t have much of a following in the classic car scene.

When I got to Errol I was greeted by Keith who took me straight to the car, handed me the keys and said “take it for a spin”. I took it out onto the old airfield which isn’t particularly smooth and it drove fantastically.

The cars 1.6 petrol engine was incredibly quiet and smooth compared to the diesel I had just driven up in and the car handled brilliantly. I was impressed with the GTX style interior and steering wheel which were in immaculate condition.

There were plenty of dents and scrapes on the bodywork and the rear arches and sills looked quite crusty but having just had the pleasure of sitting in it and driving it I thought I’d up my bid to £400 to try and make sure I was definitely going to get it.

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With that dealt with I had a wander around the auction stock.

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There were some nice cars on display, most of them out of my budget…

By around 2.30pm people were starting to leave so I headed inside to watch the remaining cars go through. I was surprised by some of the prices, everything seemed to be selling for a lot more than I had guessed it’s value would be, there were a couple of mk1 mx5’s that went for over £5k each and an e46 316 auto that went for over £2k. With results like that I was starting to worry that the 305 would sell for more than anticipated and I’d be leaving empty handed and disappointed.

Then came a 2cv, it was totally hanging and I could see daylight through every floor panel when looking round it earlier in the day. I thought if this actually fking sells for decent money I’m doomed when the 305 comes up. Bidding started low and ended on £300 which gave me a glimmer of hope that if this slightly more sought after crusty French piece of chod wasn’t of much interest to the regular bidders at the auction then maybe I’d be ok for the 305.

As the auctions went by I was starting to feel even more nervous and helpless, I wished I had registered to bid because at least then I would have been able to raise my bid in the heat of the moment if the hall bidders had went above my maximum £400 which was left with the auctioneer. In hindsight I should have either registered to bid or just not turned up and waited on a phone call to see if I had won the car but at the time I was just too excited at the prospect of getting another 305 I had to know the result as soon as possible.

By the time the auction came I was a nervous wreck, I had to just sit and wait and see what was going to happen.

The auctioneer started bids with me at £200, a hall bidder went to £250 fk fk fk st! Back to me at £300, hall bidder was out of the game. The auctioneer says all done at THREE HUNDRED POUNDS, any advance at £300, by this time I was sting it and thinking to myself just drop the fking hammer! The auctioneer says going once at £300, going twice then bang, the hammer dropped and the car was provisionally mine (they had to call the owners to make sure it was ok to sell at that price)

With auction fees added I ended up paying £420 all in.

I drove the 305 home the next day and made a start on the welding repairs.

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This side I just bashed some metal into a general wheel arch shape and patched up the end of the sill, it looked like crap. The other side I managed to make a little bit better.

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After the welding repairs were completed it was pressed into daily use and passed the last couple of mot's without any concerns.

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I did briefly consider selling it in the summer of 2019 when I seemed to have an abundance of 305's but even though it's the best driving 305 I've ever owned, most people were put off with the tatty bodywork.

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I had a diesel 305 saloon in much nicer condition cosmetically but on over triple the mileage and drove like a dog. I advertised it at the same time as the estate and it gained much more interest. The estate looked a lot rougher but drove so much better so when the saloon sold I decided to keep the estate.

[S100HP]

Thanks for the write-up. Really like that 305.

[Retroshite]

Macron said:

I have one too, it's been stuck in a garage for donkeys so lacks rust, but rubber is, err, unhappy. I will sort it one day.

How did you drive it home without an MOT?

Legally by insuring it and booking it in for an mot.

[Macron]

Your trade insurance would help that I’m sure.

[NGRhodes]

Those Rallye wheels suit the 305 nicely.

[whytheory]

Another great write up, the 305 was definitely in one of the best corners of the auction, would have been tempted by all three;

Retroste said:

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[Retroshite]

Macron said:

I have one too, it's been stuck in a garage for donkeys so lacks rust, but rubber is, err, unhappy. I will sort it one day.

Any photos of yours? I'd love to see it.

[Veeayt]

That's a sweet 305 in the best shape (though 3dr estate is much rarer), and great story too.
Here's my late dad's 505, which I dug out a few years ago. Wish I had your skills and energy to press it into service once more. But we getting there.

[Retroshite]

Some more progress on the Chevette, wing removed and a start made on the A-pillar repairs, a repair panel was made up for the battery tray then an outer panel was fabricated, after that another panel was welded in position, there's still a few more bits to be sorted before the wing goes back on.





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[stevep944]

This thread just keeps on delivering. Love it!

[mercedeslimos]

I gulped when I saw the rust on the Chevette!

The last pic looks not as bad, but braver than me!

[chrisch77]

Loving the 305 estate; my parents had an identical E reg GRD estate from about 4 years old and both my brother and I learnt to drive in it and did our first couple or years on the road with it. Same Steel Grey paint and velour interior as yours (although our bonnet was always a darker shade thanks to some obvious earlier repair work!).

It gained a rust hole in one of the front wings by the time it was about 8 years old and the rear suspension collapsed in 2000 and my dad replaced it with a 306 estate. It then sat rotting away on my dad’s driveway for the next 5 or so years until he sold the house and it went for scrap.

[BigRusko]

Retroste said:

Reminds me of my 827 Sterling Coupe I had in the same (Knightfire Red??) colour, complete with warped dash! - great for cruising down from the Fylde coast to South Wales in.

I loved it, SWMBO hated it!

[Retroshite]

Chevette Weldathon week 3...



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The funny thing is, all that time spent making the panels similar to how it came out of the factory and nobody will ever see it when the wing goes back on...

[Bobberoo99]

I was thinking that but didn't want to be the one to point it out!!!

[Retroshite]

Swapped the Acclaim for another 305!

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[Jonny-Jimbo]

I like an Acclaim. As they say, there is no shame in an Acclaim.

Pretty good cars, even if they were a sort of Bitsa. From memory the UK spec ones even had seats from a Ford Cortina or something. Getting quite rare and going up in value a bit.

However, I would fully agree, those 3 spoke alloys are utter gash. I don't like 3 spokes anyway, but they really do not suit an Acclaim. You'd wonder what someone was thinking!