What did you drive in the 80s?

[liner33]

Another MK1 Capri owner



Also a Toyota Corolla SR Coupe



And a Burgundy one of these

[Clifford Chambers]

What a decade for me.

Started off with.



Then I broke it, so being skint acquired, this. Best glove box.... EVER.



Head gasket failure lead to another one of these, lower spec and no metallic paint.



Proved OK, but made way for this. Drove well, light and nippy.



Crashed it in France, hitched home, being skint bought this, actually underrated, comfy and even liked the square steering wheel. Liked a drink of oil.



Clutch failure, rust and total brake failure led to one of these. But in a rather fetching bronze (I couldn't afford a Sirocco)



Good car, kept for while then traded for this. Because I'd always fancied a Citroen, approved of the extensive use of plastics on the body, best seats and suspension I've ever had.

Edited by Clifford Chambers on Tuesday 23 February 15:40

[Blib]

During the 80s I owned a couple of XR3s, an Escort cabrio and in in 89 I bought one of these.

[baconsarney]

Blib said:

During the 80s I owned a couple of XR3s, an Escort cabrio and in in 89 I bought one of these.

I always wanted one of those in yellow.... Are they as good to own as they are to look at?

[a8hex]

I had more different cars in the 80s than any other decade.
My first car was a Hillman Husky, the Imp estate version. I paid rather less for it that my push bike, but then I think the bike had better range. The collection of tools in the back probably soon over took it in value too. The engine was great fun, change gear when the valves start to bounce and if you're going to drive something that overheats quite so often there is a lot to say for one where you can pickup the long engine transaxle assembly.
That was followed by a Dolomite 1850HL. A couple of years later my Mk1Mrs had a Sprint for a while. I really love the Doli.
Throughout this period I was also frequently driving a Bedford based ambulance.
The Dolomite was followed by getting a company car. I had a few "loaners" while waiting for my newly ordered one to arrive. A Cavalier (Mk2) and a Rover 216 EFi which might have been a VdP, leather seats and all, that was quite comfortable once I'd bolted the drivers seat in properly .
The Vauxhall Belmont GLSi I'd ordered then turned up. The engine seemed to be much the best of bunch, although I didn't drive a 205GTi 1.9 to compare the Vauxhall lump against that in a lighter weight car, it didn't seem as lively when trying to pull a 405 around.
A change of job inflicted a Ford Onion 1.6i Ghia on me, I got to know all the local AA & RAC drivers. That lasted until I threatened that either it went or I did. An end of lease Cavalier SRi (mk2) arrived that afternoon and I stayed at the company.
About this time I bought the Mk1Mrs a Peugeot 309 SRi, bugger all head room but a good ride and great handling.
The company car was replaced with a Mk3 Cavalier SRi, which was the first of 4 that I and the new SWMBO went through, I preferred the saloon body ones while she went to hatchbacks. Again the engine was very much the strong point in the car, well until they fitted a cat to the Mrs' last one, it never used to go quite the same after that and drank like a fish. The earlier ones had a jumper under the bonnet to set depending on whether you were using 95 or 98 octane juice, On 98 it was noticeably quicker and would do well over 500 miles per tank driven with lead feet whereas on 95 it was nearer to 350 miles than 400 no matter how you drove it.
I guess that takes me to the end of the 80s.

[ian2144]

j4r4lly said:

Didn't have anything particularly interesting in the 80's. None of them tended to last very long although the Metro stayed in the family for 5 years and was still going strong into the early 90's.

The Daimler went bang on the M11 and we had to tow it back home with a neighbors 1.3 Hillman Avenger (it killed the clutch). Two of the Capri's were stolen, 1 being written off, the Simca was written off by a hit and run driver in a stolen car, the Golf was a festering pile of unreliable junk and the 1.6L Cortina which I paid £150 for, was almost indestructible and never failed to start and was actually quite nice to drive in a wafty way. Old cars like these are actually quite liberating as you don't really care where they are parked, if they get doored in a car park etc. Living in Hackney and then Canning Town in the 80's it wasn't worth having anything decent.

1973 Chrysler Simca 1000 GLS
1971 Capri 2000 GT
1974 Capri 2000 GT
1975 Daimler Sovereign 4.2L
1985 Bedford Astramax Van
1977 Capri 1600 GL Auto
1974 Capri 1600 GT
1984 Vauxhall Nova 1.0 Swing
1984 Vauxhall Nova 1.2L Saloon
1977 VW Golf 1.5 GLS
1976 Cortina 1.6L
1977 Cortina 1.6 GL
1983 Metro 1.0 HLE

not many Simca owners on here.......I had a Rallye 1 in the early 70's My old man has the 1000 Special at the same time which shared the same 1294cc engine.

[CallThatMusic]

First car 1980



Second car 1982



Third car 1983...still have it.

Thereafter a succession of company cars including Renault 18 turbo diesel...Citroen BX diesel ..
..Audi 80 twice..

[Peanut130]

Passed my test 14 feb 1980

1968 triumph 1300 fwd
1974 escort 1100
1970 escort 1100 van
1970 cortina mk2 1600
1972 escort 1300 estate
1977 granada 3000 ghia
1951 austin devon hotrod 1600
1977 morris marina 1300
2 x 1975 cortina mk3 2000e
1965 humber scepte 1725
1960 austin a35 van 1100
1962 vauxhall pa cresta 2262
1962 wolesley 1660

[TarquinMX5]

DBSV8 said:

first car just after i passed my test in 1984 , Ford Capri 3 litre cologne ....which i still own

3-litre Cologne?

[s m]

CallThatMusic said:

Third car 1983...still have it.

I used to walk past one of those almost every morning - parked outside a Shrewsbury hotel

[Blib]

baconsarney said:

Blib said:

During the 80s I owned a couple of XR3s, an Escort cabrio and in in 89 I bought one of these.

I always wanted one of those in yellow.... Are they as good to own as they are to look at?

Yes and no.

I specified non-turbo for mine as turbo lag was awful, IMO. When it ran the car was fantastic fun. Sadly, the car was also deeply flawed from the get go, with persistent engine overheating problems.

I had a courtesy car for so long that my young daughter gave it a nick name. In the end, Renault bought the car back for what I paid for it. And that was the end of it......

......until about 8 years ago when it popped up in front of me in the queue to get into a PH Sunday Service!

Once in, I hastily parked my car, made a beeline for the Alpine and offered to buy it from the owner there and then. He declined, saying he intended to refurb. it with his son.

I left my number with the chap and subsequently forgot about it once more. A few months after that the owner called and offered to sell the car to me. But, by then the moment had passed and I didn't buy it.

Right, I'm off to the "sales" section.

[s m]

j4r4lly said:

Didn't have anything particularly interesting in the 80's. None of them tended to last very long although the Metro stayed in the family for 5 years and was still going strong into the early 90's.

...........


1983 Metro 1.0 HLE

Was reminiscing about those yesterday on here and with a friend

HLE was the high compression version with an 12% power and the longer gearing

Someone mentioned yesterday their 1.0 ( low comp ) wouldn’t break motorway speed limit in 3rd.......they just needed to try harder!
Remember the HLE would show well over 80 on the clock too

[greenarrow]

I was a bit late getting my driving license so only just joined the party in the 1980s. What a decade it was to be driving. Very few speed cameras, cheap insurance for young drivers and a massive choice of RWD or FWD cars to choose from!

Anyway, I drove a Ford Capri Mk3 1.6 GL as my first car. Felt fast to me but obviously wasnt and really oversteery in the wet.

Then a Toyota Corolla 1.2 GL followed by a 1980 Alfa Romeo Alfasud. That is one of the few cars I regret selling.

My biggest regret back then when I was living at home with no mortgage? Not going all out and buying one of the 1980s hot hatch icons in their prime. Most of my colleagues at the bank where I worked had a Fiesta XR2 Mk2 or an Escort XR3i. I Should've at least had a Golf GTI or a 205 GTI. Had to wait until 2003 for the latter and it was too old then really!

[tonyvid]

jet_noise said:

Ford Transit LWB
Mini Minor
Citroen Visa GT
Renault 5 GT turbo
Alpina C2 2.7

Yey, me too, finally found someone else who had one(and I loved mine)! Before that:
Fiat 1100D Estate 1964(look it up)
Bond Bug
Citroen Dyane
Alfasud 1.5Ti
Said Visa GT

[RDMcG]

Toyota Celica
Honda Prelude
Buick LeSabre
Buick Park Avenue
BMW 528E.

I just never got round to the Ferrari or Lambo dealerships for some reason.......

[Pit Pony]

TS50ER
TS125ER
MK4 SPITFIRE
1.6 DANGLY MIRROR SIERRA ESTATE base in beige.
Z500
RD350LC
Mini 1000
SC100 flying zit
Sierra Sapphire.
Mk3 escort 1.6 gl
Mini 850


In the 90s I drove 70s and 80s cars

Mini clubman,
Metro turbo
Metro 1275
Mk2 cavalier
Breadvan polo
Mk4 Escort xr3i

And in the 2000s I had 3 mk2 cavaliers including a CalibrE and an SRi and a CDi auto.

[DBSV8]

TarquinMX5 said:

DBSV8 said:

first car just after i passed my test in 1984 , Ford Capri 3 litre cologne ....which i still own

3-litre Cologne?

H reg 1970 mk1 3 litre fitted with early cologne body kit

[Dapster]

Pit Pony said:

1.6 DANGLY MIRROR SIERRA ESTATE base in beige.

Did you feel your life ebbing away from you?

[V1nce Fox]

Another one here for capris, all mk3s though.

[Mr Tidy]

In 1980 I had a Rover P6B 3500S that I replaced in 1981 with a MK2 Granada 2.8 Ghia.

Then replaced that with this MK2 Escort RS2000.



Replaced that with a 2.8i Capri, then some sensible cars until I got another 2.8i