UKC

Fiat 126 - Actually my mother's car but the first one I drove on a regular basis. Not fast overall but very nippy. You felt that it "wanted" to accelerate. Lousy gear selection though.
Ford Escort estate (1974)- big, cumbersome and vastly under powered. It would do 0 - 60 in about 15 mins. First car I owned and the one I crashed the most.
Renault 5 - Overall not a bad car, not fast but generally reliable. Weird umbrella handle brake and gear lever in the dash. Survived catching fire.
Ford Capri (1983) - first (and only) boy racer car, gun metal grey with a red "go faster" strip. First car I did over 100 in. Sold it to buy a house.
Several years of cycling followed then...
Austin Mini 1977 Jubilee special - One of my all time favourite cars. It took me everywhere and went round the clock twice (once for me and for the previous owner) bought it for £560 and sold it 6 years later for £450.
Leyland Mini Mayfair - complete dog, one of the most annoying cars I have owned.
Vauxhall Astra - brilliant car. Another good runner. Only down side the local knobs kept slicing the petrol feed pipe underneath it.
Ford Escort 1982 - Another dog of a car, frequently broke down and handled like a pig. Best thing about it the electronic doors which one could open or close from halfway over the car park.
Citroen ZX - Not a bad car. Nippy and not as expensive to service as I thought it would be. Down side, the boot filled with water and mushrooms grew in it.
Rover 600 diesel - Just glad to forget it. Second worst car I have ever owned and getting parts was a nightmare. Not even good miles to the gallon.
Vauxhall Astra 2000 - Another brilliant reliable car that is still going strong.

In reply to Duncan Bourne: that's nice Duncan

In reply to Duncan Bourne: Do you have a brother named Jason?

In reply to Duncan Bourne: P.S.
If you meet Jeremy Clarkson, talk about anything EXCEPT cars.

In reply to Gunboat_Diplomat:

Funny you should mention that

In reply to Gunboat_Diplomat:

As long as he doesn't talk to me about climbing

Mine was

Austin Allegro - nicked after driving it 7 miles to the gym.
Ford Escort mk II - lovely car to drive, only broke down when I messed about with it.
Peugeot 205 - Bought brand new - hated it.
Ford Granada - great whale of a car.
Ford XR2i 16v - slowest of the hot hatches due to cat being fitted on the exhaust.
Ford Escort mk iv - 2 litre so reasonable but got nicked (another!) in Chester
Peugeot 305 - quite good actually.
VW Polo (estate type) 1.0 - got this to free up money to got back to Uni. It got written off on New Years Day by a drink driver.
Rover 420 - needed a cheap car to restart work.
Ford Escort - needed a car fast when the rover seized
Nissan Almera - Father's old car when the escort engine blew gasket for 5th time

Took the train for 2 years after a stag totalled the Nissan.

Now driver a Honda Civic - nice car

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

My list goes

red polo
blue polo
yellow polo
green polo

Lester the Fiesta

The Ark Royal (the focus estate that is big, grey and expensive to run)

In reply to Removed User:

I guess that's a packet of fruit polos then...

In reply to Duncan Bourne: Honda Civic first series. Cost £50.00 and was a total rustbucket, door fell off and suspension mount rusted through so one day when i went over a bump the front spring came straight through the mount and popped the bonnet up so i couldn't see where i was going.

Fiat X19. Nice car to drive but was a pig to start sometimes.

Marlin kit car. Absolutely brilliant car, MG engine and the only car i've had that i sold for more than i paid for it after two years driving. Only sold it when i got married because i needed the cash.

Vaukhall Chevette. Okay but nothing sparkling.

Escort estate. Good little business runabout.

Subaru Sumo van. For business as well but very light and unstable in a cross wind.

Subaru Legacy. Superb car but expensive when anything goes wrong, had two of these.

Fiat Punto. Current Vehicle and had this for ten years since new, had a new cylinder head gasket but apart from that its been very reliable.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

1.2 VW Beetle (Brother forgot to point oil in and blew)
1.5 VW Beelte (Chassis Split)
Vauxhall Astra - totalled
Fiat Punto Diesel - Crap
Vauxhall Nova - Leaked
Citreon AX - Nippy bit crap
5 x different transit vans all of which rusted to bits
Renault Laguna - Nie until wife totalled it
Renault Laguna - Still got, bought out of loyalty as wife survived crash without scratch.

In reply to Duncan Bourne: VW Golf GTi Mk I from new 1981 to 2000, Audi 80E 2.0 pre-not loved from 2000.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

White 1.0 Vauxhall Nova Saloon. Weird tail-happy handling for a front-wheel drive car. No radio. 48mph even driven hard with people and kit in. Skinny tyres so brilliant in the snow. Lost in a fairly nasty accident

Black 1.3 Escort (Mk 3?)- alright, but bloody noisy: went to Scotland and Cornwall in it without issue. A cassette radio that wasn't louder than the engine. 45mpg. Lost when someone decided it was a great idea to pull out fro ma roadside parking space and stop without ever looking or indicating. Written off because of a dent in the bonnet - 3mph collision!

Red 1.6 old-body Nissan Almera. Looked rubbish but utterly brilliant to drive. Really unreliable for the first year of ownership then it was just the front disks and pads I kept going through 'for some reason'. 39mpg. Lost when someone decided that it looked better with a Punto in the side of it a precisely the moment I drove past their junction...

Another Black Ford. 1.8 Focus. Great on paper, but I can't get on with the driving position and it was (until last month) ridiculously thirsty - 36mpg when driven in a fairly saintly manner! For some reason it delivered 41mpg on the way to Pembroke last month driven the same way as in previous years... still waiting to lose it!

PP.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:
BSA C15
BSA C11
Triumph Herald Estate
Triumph Herald Saloon
Hillman Avenger
Volkswagen Beetle
Yamaha DT 125
Volkswagen Caravanette (split screen)
Vauxhall Cavalier
Volkswagen Caravanette (Westphalia conversion)
Ford Escort Mk3
Ford Escort estate (Nicked, ram-raided three shops)
MG Midget
Rover Metro
Ford Escort (Turbo diesel)
Fiat126 bis
Peugeot 306
Peugeot 205
Peugeot 205 diesel
Volkswagen Polo (written off by Post office van)
Volkswagen Polo
Nissan Micra
MGf
Nissan Micra
New Beetle (Set on fire by chavs)
New Beetle
Peugeot 106
Yamaha YBR 125
Honda Transalp 700

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Billy, Cedric, Lancelot, Florence, Clive, Olive, Eddie, Yifter, Will, ... and several others I can't remember the names of. Sorry guys.

In reply to john arran:

Oh and how could I forget Kermit.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Not owned too many cars in my 45+ years of motoring -- I had company cars for most of that time, however if you include the various company cars that I've had exclusive use of for more than 6 months the list is quite long

1954 Mk 1 Ford Consul
1964 Morris Mini Van
1964 Saab 95 (the 3 cyl 2 stroke of course)
1966 Ford Corsair V4
1974 Morris Marina 1.3 (C)
1978 Ford Cortina 1.3 MkIV (C)
1981Ford Cortina 1.3 Mk V (C)
1972Morris Mini Clubman
1984Vauxhall Cavalier 1.3 Mk2 (C)
1985 Ford Escort Mk4 (C)
1980 Mazda 929 Estate (C) - Saudi
1983 Mazda 929 Ltd Sedan (C) - Saudi
1985 Toyota Cressida ( C) UAE
1988 Ford Sierra Sapphire (C)
1986 Vauxhall Cavalier Mk2
1986 Austin Maestro
1991 Honda Accord 2.2exi (C) Saudi
1988 Audi 80
1995 Hyundai Accent (C) UAE
1988 Isuzu Trooper 4WD (C) UAE
1997 Hyundai Galloper 3.0V6 4wd (C) UAE
1990 Peugeot 405
2001 Ford Ranger 2WD Pick Up (C)
2003 Skoda Octavia Estate 1.9tdi

The 3 best cars for various reasons were the Accord (went like sh1t off a stick), the Galloper 9went anywhere) and the Octavia (reassuringly reliable and comfordatle -- and the only car I've actually owned from new!.

The worst were undoubtedly the Mini Clubman, the Maestro and the Ford Corsair.

In reply to Duncan Bourne: Mini van
Ford Escort van (new)
Morris 1000 van (old)
Ford Fiesta
Alfa Sud (new - wonderful)
Toyota Corolla (new)
Ford Cortina
Vauxhall ???
Vauxhall Cavalier Sri (new)
Audi 100 (new - a thing of beauty)
BMW 318
Vauxhall Cavalier (old and cr*p)
Honda Accord
Golf GTI (stolen and gutted for its wheels and fuel injection)
Peugeot 205
Toyota Carina
VW Campervan (saved me going beyond 9 points)
(Another Peugeot 205)
Renault Laguna estate (new - but never really impressed)
Saab 9 something or other (horrible)
Honda Crv (new - still going strong after 160,000 miles)
Peugeot 206

That was an interesting exercise.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

1981 (year of registration, not when I got it) Ford Fiesta 957cc... (6 years) Tiny, Tinny, underpowered (top speed was 81mph).

1988 Volvo 340. (6 years) Lovely after the Fiesta, but then anything would be.

1997 Volvo V70 AWD. (6 years) Big, luxurious, and very, very fast. Also very, very uneconomical (25mpg on a good run).

1998 Subaru Legacy. (1 week). Written off after one week as a result of a muddy road in wales. For which I was glad. Horrible.

Ford Mondeo (6 months). Horrible.

2006 Skoda Octavia 1.9Tdi Estate 4x4. (3 years) Brilliant. Spectacularly good car.

2005 VW Passat 1.9Tdi. (1 year) Nice in most respects but the electronic parking brake was vile. You were just waiting for it to go wrong.

2011 Skoda Superb 170 Tdi 4x4 Estate. Possibly the best car I've ever owned, but as I've only had it two weeks a bit early to tell. Does everything. Capacious, fast, luxurious and economical.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:
J Reg Mazda 323f 1.8 GTI, 187,000 on clock when bought for £150, 280 spent on next Mot, got 30,000 and 18 months out of it, I loved Yoshi scrapped at advice for next MOT,

W Reg Escort Estate 1.8 Diesel, got 20,000 out of it before some sort of belt went that totalled the engine. 600 pounds cost. Loved it, slept in it in Wasdale after an epic walk in bad weather.

Now have a Rove 400, sketch garage sold to me, broke straight away, still have it, we're not too confident in it so want to upgrade before driving to Orkney next year for our wedding.

I want... hang on that would be a different thread.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Hmm, I have an embarrassingly long list, given that I've only had my driving licence for just over 3 years... I think I'm cursed with cars

The Gaffer - a Rover 214 with one wing mirror held together with gaffer tape. Suffered electrical failure and I couldn't turn the immobiliser off. A combination of being skint and having a broken leg meant it sat around for a few months without being used, during which time it got vandalised by local scallies and I ended up scrapping it.

Ernie the Hyundai Atoz (aka the fastest milkcart in the west) - bought from Yrmenlaf of this parish when I was skint and needed transport. Great little car, fantastic for city driving but a 1l automatic was never supposed to be ragged down the motorway to Pembroke at 75mph. Died of stub axle failure that was going to cost me £800 to fix.

Bertha the Mk 3 Cavalier - I loved this car, had it for a year and did 26k miles in it. Appalling accelaration and maneuverability but got 50mpg and was built like a tank. I sobbed my heart out when she died, upside down in Scotland after an altercation with a slippery road and an embankment. Her parting gift was to ensure that both me and t'bloke (+ the several grand's worth of MTBs in the boot) were totally unharmed in the crash.

Dave the Ka - bought in a hurry to replace Bertha. Great fun to drive (in a go karting kind of way) but had a tendency to stop working in the rain or if I drove it through puddles. Scrapped due to impending MOT failure and desire for something a little more reliable.

Pug the 206 HDI - my current baby, the only car I've spent anything like decent money on and I love it! 55-65mpg, fun to drive, cheap as anything to tax and insure and pretty cute. Currently in the garage receiving some major TLC after some teenage tw*t crashed into it last week while it was parked up outside my house - grr! Hoping this one might last me a few years...

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Austin 1100 - only drove this while learning to drive, my husband drove it most of the time

Morris minivan - great little motor

VW Beetle - comfortable. warm and reliable

Austin Maxi - very versatile workhorse

Hillman Hunter - another reliable car - once locked my keys inside and ended up getting one of the local car thieves to break into it to get them back, it took so long he said he would never try to get in one again!

Talbot Horizon - had a very useful trip computer which gave you fuel consumption etc.

Datsun Cherry - leaked

Morris Mini - broke down whenever it rained hard

Fiat Panda 750cc - loved that car - went to Chamonix several times with loads of camping and climbing gear and it still went up the hills without problem. Broke down once on the autoroute and the AA sorted everything.

Vauxhall Corsa (5door) - good car but steamed up a lot in wet weather my son has had this car for several years now.

Citroen Berlingo - excellent motor, very versatile, first diesel that I have owned and I like it very much.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Late 1999, bought a Claudia, a 1987 Fiat Uno, not even a 1 litre engine on it.
Christmas 2000, Claudia died (inconveniently in the outside lane of the A1 just past Henley's Corner heading out of London) and was replaced by the ever-so slightly feistier and slimmer Emmanuelle, a Citroen AX with a whopping 1.1l engine (bought from a stranger in a pub for £55 and bottle of wine)
February 2003, wasted some real money on a 1999 Polo Saloon that was such a money pit that it never even got christened (unless "Heap of Shit" counts as a name)
I now have a 2001 Astra, my first car that is not red. It is a hand-me down, I didn't really choose it. No interesting stories with this one yet.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

"my first car that is not red"

A wise choice, red cars are by far the most frequently stopped by the police.

Why? Because, allegedly, the traffic police like to play a bit of snooker, using your cars colour as a direct replacement for a rack of snooker balls. The officer with the highest break wins the monthly kitty.

Who says the police haven't got a sense of humour?

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

1st car in 1977. Mini Clubman saloon - had to join the uni motor club to gain access to their garage in order to weld new sills on. Bus trip across Manchester with replacement rear sub-frame was interesting. New gearbox after idler gear bearing disintegrated on way back from the Count House - made it home though! Also clipped the Cromlech bridge in this after asking far too much of worn XZX's in the wet...

Mini Van - brilliant. Veteran of several 3-up, no roof-rack, trips to Verdon. Once got stopped on the way home from Wales in this by a very nice Staffordshire traffic officer who was so surprised it only had a 1098 motor that he left it at a ticking-off...

MkII RS2000 - bought after I finished my training at work. Lots of quick weekend trips in this one. Wrote it off on some black ice, but got it repaired. Had it nicked from Stoney lay-by with all my gear in the boot, found in Manchester same night minus it's set of Minilite wheels, front seats, stereo and my gear...

Opel Manta GT/E - handled better after Bilsteins fitted all round, a stop-gap really until...

Astra II GT/E 16v - First car from new. Stonking engine (lithium-filled valves!) but standard chassis a bit of a handful. Improved by a set of Konis and more rubber. Had to grovel to Carmarthen Magistrates after one particularly enthusiastic dash in this from (wet) Devon to (sunny) Pembroke. (I liked the aforementioned Staffordshire appproach better...)

Astra III GSi - last car bought new. Much better than the Mk II. Had this one for 6 incident-free years. Well, no memorable ones at least...

Alfa 146ti - Ok. Funny switches. Nice motor. Got licked(!) and dented by cows at the top of Beeston Tor. Luckily the dent popped out without a trace, unlike the ones inflicted by a Bedford Troop Carrier met on the way to Wales another weekend. Repaired along with the other cars damaged by the same buffon of a driver, courtesy of the MoD...

Astra IV 1.8 SRi - good chassis on these Astras (at last!). Same brakes as on the GSi but a lighter motor, so easy to get a lot from the engine. No big moments...

Skoda Fabia MkI vRS - current motor, first oil burner. Excellent. Hope to keep it for a while, bit of Q-factor?

In reply to Duncan Bourne:
In Australia '82-'88
Morris 1100
1966 Mini 1000
1970 Mazda Capella 1600

In UK:'89 - '05
Escort MK2 Estate (old V Reg)
Maestro 1.6 HLS (A Reg)
Meastro 1.6 (C Reg)
1995 Peugeot 306 1.6 Petrol
1997 Peugeot 306 1.9 TDi
2002 Peugeot 206 2.0 D Turbo

Back in Oz
1997 Toyota Camry 3.0 V6.

The Maestro's were the worst (even the Morris 1100 was better!)
The Capella was a fantastic car for bashing down 4WD tracks in the Grampians.
The 206 was much more fun than I expected a TDi to be. Even managed to haul 5 of us to a BMC Area meeting once in it (I still feel sorry for Berie being squashed in the back with SLoper and Al Evans for company!)

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:


Words I thought I'd never see together (I've owned 2; I enjoyed them, but the 2nd was kept purely as spares for the 1st).

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Austin A35 - bizarre!

Mini - fond memories of looking in the rear view mirror and seeing the entire exhaust system disappearing in the distance. This was on a campsite in Llanberis. Fixed it back on with a dozen daisychained jubilee clips.

MG Midget - wonderful but totally impractical, so cold and noisy for the journey from Sheffield to Chamonix and back in 1980. Discovered that the Midget was an Austin A40 chassis and engine with a different body!

Ford Orion - yawn!

Vauxall Cavalier - a monster, got this for pulling a caravan.

Ford Mondeo - extremely reliable and brilliant for the Cham trips.

Focus 1.8Tdi- reliable, powerful and economical.

Focus 1.6Tdi Titanium - comfy, full of gadgets, £35 tax, fast enough and getting 60mpg. My best car ever.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Ford 100E Van (Bought for £30 and sold 6 months later for £50 - the only vehicle I've ever made a profit on!)
Ford 105 Van
Ford Popular
Austin Healey Sprite (Frog Eyed)
MG Midget ( Turned it over and written off - full insurance settlement))
Austin Healey 3000
Austin 35 Van
Austin Mini
Austin Mini Estate
Morris Traveller Estate
Ford Cortina Estate
2nd Ford Cortina Estate
Peugeot 405 Estate
Peugeot 205 Saloon
Ford Sierra Estate
2nd Ford Sierra Estate
Ford Escort
Ford Sierra 4x4
VW Scirroco
2nd VW Scirroco
VW Golf Convertable
3rd VW Scirroco
Rover 3000 (Stolen by joy riders and written off - full insurance settlement)
2nd Rover 3000
MG Montego turbo
Land Rover Series ll
Land Rover Series lll
Land Rover 90
Land Rover Discovery
2nd Land Rover Discovery
Nissan Micra
BMW 5 series saloon
BMW 3 series 2 door hatch
BMW 3 series saloon
Vauxhall Astra
VW Golf TDi (Hit by 3rd party and written off - full insurance settlement)
VW Bora TDi (currently owned)
Kia Rio (currently owned and kept in Spain)

In reply to MJ:


Num Num knows that they don't like to go 'in off'. He always buys a white car.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

1969 VW Beetle 1300 cost me £100 in about 1988. My first car, I was going to fix it up but it just got worse. Never saw any road action
1982 Vauxhall Astra Mk1 not too bad but kept breaking down. Sold it to a banger racer
later model Vauxhall astra, very reliable just not very quick
1996 Escort. Again, very reliable just not quick and not very economical
2003 Fiat Stilo diesel turbo. I have had this 3 years and still going strong, reliable, was very quick when I got it but is becoming sluggish and uneconomical. I think the turbo has gone home.

This will be the last car I own in Britain, as I am of to Turkey later this year

In reply to Duncan Bourne:
Vauxhall Nova - first car, lasted about 18months before it became too unreliable/rusty. Ate distributer caps/rotor arms!
Vauxhall Corsa, 5door - lovely car, economical to run, nice to drive. Did a few weekends to N.Wales in it no problem.
Vauxhall Corsa, 3door (new style) - ok, but not as economical as last Corsa, underpowered and seriously poor rear/side visability.

In reply to MJ:

I've been pulled over twice in red cars and probably about 15 times in blue cars, despite the fact that my red car mileage is probably about 10 times higher than my blue car mileage. Even if we knock off 12 of the 15 blue car police "pull him over" incidents, that still leaves 3 for a much lower mileage.

In reply to Trangia:

Of those cars my all time favourite was the Frog Eyed Sprite

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Fiat Punto 1997 P Reg - Fine until it was written off in the Lakes in a head on collision. Always fond memories as it was my first car.

Vauxhall Astra 2003 2.0 DTI: Really liked it despite it's gruff engine and occasional electrical faults.

Vauxhall Astra 2007 1.8 SRI: Didn't cost me a penny in repairs but for a 1.8l engine, it was a little lethargic. The 2004 onwards Astra is a shape I really like.

Volvo C70 2.4 turbo diesel 2008: Company car. Screams 'The man driving this car is a tw*t' from every conceivable angle. Cream leather interior with oak finish, electric hard top covertible, girly blue. Was offered to me as company car (my manager's old car, you see) and there was no alternative. I keep my head low when driving it and think about the money I got from selling my previous Astra. It just about justifies driving around in it. It could be worse - my gaffer now drives a Range Rover Sport. Oh dear.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Fiat 124 special of uncertain vintage
1972 mini clubman estate
series 2 landrover pickup
1971 MG midget - still in the garage currently being restored ETA next spring
very old volvo 145 estate - panic buy when my eldest was born
early 80's talbot Horizon
1979 Range rover
2.5 diesel land rover defender county
citroen BX 1.9td
2.5 tdi land rover county - stolen anfter 3 weeks ownership
2.5 tdi land rover county
series 2 land rover discovery td5
2007 skoda octavia 1.9 tdi (currently in the garage - courtesy car is a shitty little peugeot 107 - I can't understand why anyone would ever buy one).

In reply to Removed User:


Is it also full of seamen?

In reply to Duncan Bourne:
Vauxhall Viva 1.3l L reg. Had it for 4 years, big Vinyl sunroof, horizontal speedo, lots of fun trips. Replaced the engine with and newer Astra 1.3 unit, much quicker.
Metro Mk1 1.3 - great until it died a complete engine death.
Metro Mk2 1.1 - again good fun, got from Malham to Liverpool in under an hour in it. Stolen and trashed with my gear in the back, got it back.
Fiat Punto 1.1. Noisy and slow. As relaible as most Italian cars.
Pug 306 1.9 Diesel - non turbo. Slow to accelerate but great handling. Always gave 45mpg no matter how you drove it. Ultra reliable until I wrote it off.
Nissan Primera 2.2DCi - Quick enough, pretty reliable, economical (55+mpg with a light foot, 45mpg pushing on), spacious, but doesn't handle too well. Done 100,000 miles in it so far.

Andy F

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Mk 1 Cortina - Spruce (puke) green Old when i got it & quickly expired
Fiat 128 - Dissolved after a couple of years
Mk 1 Ford Escort -The 1st decent car I owned
Renault 14 - Great little car, bags of space inside but then all the paint
fell off
Austin Ambassador - I needed a cheap big car to transport all the
paraphanalia that goes with twin babies & it worked
fine
Nissan Bluebird hatchback - One of Sunderland's finest
Fiat Tempra Estate 2.0 ltr - Fast but ridiculous fuel consumption.
Fiat Marea diesel estate - Good space, economy & ok performance
Mk 2 Vectra hatchback - Efficient but dull
VW Caddy Maxi Window van - Had it for 18 months & I love it, 2.0 ltr diesel
45 mpg, good performance & so much room

In reply to Blue Straggler:

"I've been pulled over twice in red cars and probably about 15 times in blue cars"

That's because you drive the blue ones really slowly, hence the name "Blue Straggler".
Your alter ego is "Red Dasher" and has had so many 'seven day wonders' that he has his own parking spot down the local cop shop.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:
>>the one I crashed the most.
>>Survived catching fire.

Ever felt the world may be trying to tell you something? :

Mine:
1.1 fiesta - had for 9 months, died when the timing chain went in the middle of the Snake Pass. Replaced with:

(another) 1.1 fiesta - truly dreadful car, had it for five months and in that time I spent more than it originally cost me on repairs and it did more mileage on the backs of breakdown vans than it did under its own steam. Everything that could possibly break did. Eventually sold via a comedy decription on fleabay and got £122 for the thing, which was approximately £120 more than it was worth. Replaced with:

1.4 Corsa - surprisingly good fun to drive and very reliable. Painted a revolting shade of swamp green with occasional rust patches, but on the plus side I was getting quite good at minor paint repairs by the time I got rid. Had it for four years and eventually scrapped it when the head gasket went. Replaced with:

1.6 Astra - first car I've had with power steering, handles like an elderly whale but on the plus side the boot's big enough to hide a weekend's worth of kit

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

VW Scirocco Scala (good learner's car)
Rover Metro 1.4 GTa (utter rubbish, but nippy, blew head gasket after two weeks)
Land Rover Defender 90 200TDi (Fun, still got it 7 years on - upset at having to sell it now, but not suitable for kids and dogs)
Volvo 940GLE (NEVER a day's trouble, great for powersliding)
Ford Fiesta Zetec (great gearbox and handling, awful turbo lag!)
Land Rover Discovery 300TDi (Main family car, reliable, super comfortable and good fun [not as fun as a defender though]. Learnt an awful lot about welding!!)

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

1990 Austin Metro 1.3 'The Shrew'
1985 Mk11 Golf GTI 8v 'Joyous in every way'
1995 Peugeot 306 1.6, 'pretty good but boring'
Currently
1995 Toyota Hiace van 'The Green Godess, reliability itself'
2003 Fiesta 1.4 'money pit'

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

First car VW golf 1.4 aqua green. I hated it! It was dull to drive, had no connection from steering wheel to road. So it had to go. Good thing was I sold it a year later for £200 more than I paid for it.

Replaced with a MG metro 1.3, white with red interior. I loved this car, I blow up the engine three times over revving it. The funniest thing was My dad went mental when I found the suspension was fluid filled and gave the car the lowered boy racer look. Very cool! he fixed it the very next day.

Sold the Mg and got a Dihatsu GTti 996, white again. It was a flying machine my mates called it the pocket Porche, three cyclinder turbo on lotus suspension, 7 secs 0-60. Best car I've ever owned! Had to sell it due to the court removing my right to drive

A year without driving

Nova 1.4 SR, strange wee car the steering wheel and pedals where off set so you had to drive facing off to the left. I hated it.

Ford Escort XR3I Red, great car but it got scrapped due to serious electronic faults.

Had motorbikes for years.

Pug 306 diesel, great wee car my first car I got without thinking of performance. Had it 2 years and exchanged it for a

Subaru Impreza, Blue. This car was the love of my life I cried the day she had to be sold. Many fond memories of camping and climbing trips, sleeping in the North Face carpark.

current car is a boring Grey Astra Cdti. It looks good, has much better mpg but everyday I miss my Subaru.

SDB

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

In 35 years of driving -

Car
Car
Car
Car
Car
Car
Car

Still have the last one. Let's just say they are a means to an end and most of what I can remember about any of them is the colour.

ALC

In reply to Duncan Bourne: Well now, here's a journey into times past.

1. Austin Allegro. Bought from an auction for £100. The first thing I did was change the engine as the 1300 in it was knackered. £30 got an 1100 engine from a scrapyard. I learnt an awful lot from that car which was subsequently sold for £150 to a policeman who wanted it for motorway driving (!). Yes, it did have a square steering wheel.

2. Triumph Dolomite 1300. It was a fine running car until it blew a big-end bearing. After much consideration (see below) I couldn't be bothered with the whole engine out, regrind the crankshaft business so I fitted a new bearing and sold it on.

3. Austin Maxi 1800. Bought when the Triumph was out of action and I was considering getting another engine and needed something big enough to cart an engine around in. A terrible car whose gearbox fully deserved its reputation of being like 'stirring a bag of marbles with a knitting needle'. Scrapped.

4. Vauxhall Cavalier 2 litre; the hatchback version that was essentially an Opel Manta in all but badge. Gave me one year's faultless running and then increasing amounts of trouble. Note to anyone foolish enough to consider trying; setting the tappets when rebuilding the engine is a messy business.

5. Peugeot 309 1600. Lovely car, no trouble at all.

6. Opel Manta GTE. I had to scratch an itch. I scratched it. Then eight months later I sold the scratcher which, in all honesty, was a dog.

7. VW Golf 1800. Not a bad runner but kept blowing hoses.

8. Nissan Primera 2 litre. Only got rid of this because of ominous knocking sounds from the camshaft area, otherwise a fine car in all but appearance.

9. Peugeot 306 1.8. Trouble from the second month, I got rid of it as soon as I could reliably drive it to get another car.

10. Nissan Primera 2 litre. A newer version than the previous, just as trouble free.

11. Saab 9-3. Excellent car bought for a very good price, only sold because it was a bit big for the drive after moving house.

12. VW Bora Diesel. Four and a half years incident- and trouble-free driving. Excellent to drive if a little tedious in appearance.

Which reminds me; time to book an MOT and service.

T.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

1000 cc Mini - Brakes, arghh!

1.6 Ghia Mk2 Escort - Rust, arghh!

1100 Renault 5 Mk1 - Heap.

2.0 Sierra Estate - Engine management light - arghh!

1.6 Ghia Escort Mk3 - Heap.

1.6 Nissan Sunny - Good car till the clutch went but cheap to fix.

3.0 Carlton GSi - Lovely car, stolen, recovered.

2.0 Cavalier SRi - Good car, easy to service.

2.5 Vectra SRi - Power steering leaks, hard to work on and expensive to get serviced.

1.6 Astra Estate - Good car, a real workhorse.

2.0 Mondeo Estate - Good engine but had lots of trouble with driveshafts and front hubs. Think it had the wrong wheels on it.

1.6 Renault Megane - heap, blew head gasket. Fun fixing that and skimming the head at work one cold January.

Citroen C3 1.4 HDi - Good car, still got it.

1.4 Honda Civic - Heapy runaround but seems quite reliable, still got it.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

You lot seem to have better memories than me, I'd struggle to remember all my cars from the last 10 years.

In reply to Duncan Bourne: 1977 mini, which my sister effectively taught me to drive in. Eventually ran out of gears to use.

bit of a break in the late 80s when I was driving transits and landrovers but didn't have a car of my own

truly horrendous 1.1 Fiesta, which mostly ran on 3 cylinders

pleasant 1.3 Astra in unpleasant browny orange - no major problems, but totally forgettable

ugly and unrelaiable Volvo 340 which spat its gearbox all over the A1 one night.

Suprisingly nice diesel Volvo 440 which did the job suprisingly well, but in an impractical shade of white (was also using a Nissan D21 pick up, but it wan't "mine")

Passat estate - really nice car and very little hassle. Big box for stuff, really. Got shut when the bills started adding up.

Nissan x trail. Got the passat stuck once too often, so decided I needed something a bit more appropriate, but still mostly a big box for stuff and a mobile kennel. Going to need tyres soon, but otherwise no hassles yet.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

My first car was my Mum's old Polo. It was fine, apart from dreadful rust round the hatchback, and the fact that the timing kept going awry. I got quite good at adjusting the rotor arm.

That was followed by my first company car, which was a Mondeo that stank of the previous driver's cigars.

Then there was a Citroen BX, which was quite fun. That was another company car.

Then I got a job where I didn't have a company car and I bought a Peugeot 30something. It was a bit rubbish.

Next was a company Astra diesel estate. It was a bit rubbish too.

Best was then an Audi A3, which felt proper grown up and was very nice. It had a good CD player.

Then there was a Peugeot 406, which was way bigger than I needed, but I was doing a lot of miles from Cheltenham to Scotland, so it was good to have something big and comfy.

Then I left work and had to rely on my partner's Peugeot 306, which was good fun.

And now we have another Audi A3, and it's as good as the first A3. It was supposed to be a Golf, but we saw the A3 in the showroom and I was easily persuaded.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Mini Mk 1 (850cc) c1975 - pretty crap really
Escort Van late 70s- every climber had one.
A slew (a dozen or so) of Vauxhalls; Astras, Cavaliers, a Manta, A Calibra, and a Vectra Estate for 5 years, all pretty reliable and nice enough motors
A Nissan 200ZX, poky, but skittish in the wet, it burnt out a valve - twice. No more Nissans for me.
Subaru WRX, then a squeaky Legacy and currently an STi. Solidly reliable (7 years of ownership and zip has gone wrong so far), incredible performance and thirsty too - but hey-ho, that goes with the territory!

Chris

Mk1 Ford Fiesta
Peugeot 309
Wrangler Jeep (I know....)
Mk2 VW Golf
Mercedes C Class

In reply to a lakeland climber:
Let's just say they are a means to an end and most of what I can remember about any of them is the colour.


"Road transport is a subject close to all climbers' hearts. In the same way that we all spend about a third of our lives in bed and know the need to be comfortable there, a climber might spend a third of his weekend on the road. The first requirement then is for his vehicle to be fast, not only for additional enjoyment and prestige, but because the faster the car the sooner the climber gets to bed - in Wales on the Friday night and at home on the Sunday night."

Tony Smythe, from 'rock climbers in action in Snowdonia' 1966.

The inspiration behind all of my car purchases...

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Austin Princess - rolled
Mini Cooper - rusted
Ford Capri - What to say. Er..
Fiat Panda - sold to my dad. Hated it.
Ford Sierra - loved it so much. Eventually rusted through floor.
Volvo 850 estate - 500,000,000 miles and its STILL going well down in Devon
Vauxhall Vectra - brothers but I had full time custody
Fiat Cinquecento - 78 million miles to a teaspoon but I hate small cars so..
Landrover Series IIa (truck cab) - I loved this so much
Rover deathtrap - only major crash I've ever had. The thing had bad juju
Landrover 90 - original 90. Another passionate affair. Did her up from scratch
Range Rover V8 - bye bye bank balance.
Volvo S60 - about to be replaced. Reliable but need 4 wheel drive estate

In reply to J0:

Jingers and, indeed, crivens!

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Hillman Hunter
Vauxhall Viva
15cwt tranny (or was it a Bedford) van
Datsun Cherry 100a
Vauxhall astra Estate
Ford Escort (c/w fake RS Turbo badge)
A red one that I can't remember the make of
Fiat Panda
Renault Clio
Another Escort (mk III)
Another Astra
Now a VW Golf

In reply to Duncan Bourne: In Oz 1989 - 2001
Mercedes 450sel
Rangie v8
Land rover series 3 swb - my first own proper car
1989 honda accord - sweet motor

Uk - nothing for 8 years then ford focus petrol estate 1.8 in 2009- another sweet motor.

In reply to J0:

I thought you had a clio at one point?

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Gosh. Started thinking about this and it became a bit of a life history ...

1979-82: Allegro 1.3. About 5 years old. A hand-me-down from my dad. Much better that its reputation would suggest.

1982-3: Cortina MkIV 1.6. Another hand-me-down.

1985-6: Early-seventies-vintage Renault 12, “The Mean Green Machine”. 200 quid shared between 3 of us. Got us to the crags and back again until my co-owners, both final year physics students, refilled a hot engine with cold water …

1987–91: Sierra 2.3 diesel. My first new car (sort of – it started as my company car). Dodgy roadholding, especially in the wet. Did over 100k miles, but it came to a sticky end one weekend on a wet road to Pembroke.

1991: Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi. Borrowed for a few months from a friend. Lots of fun.

1991-4: A series of company cars. Some unfortunate individuals had been made redundant and the survivors had to use up the remainder of the leases on the now surplus cars. I didn’t complain. Had a Peugeot 405, a couple of Mk2 Golf GTIs and a Peugeot 305 GTi. Best was a Nissan Sunny GTI which was great to drive. But no fun at all to be in the tiny, uncomfortable back seats.

1994–now: Mk 3 Golf VR6. Company car that I bought at the end of its lease. Suitably christened on the day it arrived by driving to Font and then 3 of us sleeping in it. Lots of good memories and still going over 17 years later. For sale if anyone’s interested …

2000–2: 1998 Ford Explorer, the one with the exploding tyres. Company car. Just about tolerable for a couple of years in Thailand.

2002–11: Isuzu Trooper, 1998 vintage, complete with 'roo bars. Just the thing for downtown Hong Kong. Or perhaps not. My only excuse is that it was the cheapest 7-seater I found. Horribly agricultural, but stubbornly reliable. I finally gave up hoping it would die and sent it away to Darkest China.

2010-now: 1997 Porsche 911 4S Cabriolet. Mrs SimonCD was not amused.

2011–now: Volvo XC90 2.5T. Sheer joy after the Isuzu.

In reply to Simon CD:
"Volvo XC90 2.5T. Sheer joy"...So comfy & easy to drive that it's just like sitting in your arm chair with pedals

In reply to Simon CD:


I mean 309 GTi, of course.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Very hard to remember. I think:

Austin Mini
Ford Anglia van
[three motorbikes]
Renault 5TS
Volkswagen Polo
Volkswagen Golf
Volkswagen Derby
Volkswagen Golf
Volvo (can't remember what model was called)
Austin Maestro
Renault Clio
No longer driving

Best was the Polo (best handling on the road), closely followed by the Mini, which was a complete pain in the arse to service. The worst by a very long way (it was given to me) was the Maestro.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:
Hillman Minx 1958 vintage
Sunbeam Rapier
Triumph Spitfire x 2
MK 2 Cortina Estate
Vauxhall Viva 3 litre - Quite rare
Fiesta - company car
Escort Estate - company car
Vauxhall Cavalier SRI - company car
Vauxhall Senator
Toyota Supra - Male menopause Motor
Ford Mondeo
Mercedes Benz - Company car
VW Passat 1900cc
VW Passat 2 litre - current

Al

In reply to Gaston Rubberpants: I forgot my Triumph Dolomite which I had after the Cortina Estate and which appears briefly in the TV series Rock Athlete.

Al

In reply to Duncan Bourne:
Morris Marina, late model 1.9 (straight lines only,a car so fundimentally flawed would not have been allowed to be built today,(thank god))
Renault 11
MG Midget MkIV
Land Rover Series 3 88" Petrol
LDV 300 ex riot van, converted to camper
Saab 900 (the starship)
Vauxhall Caveller
Landrover stage 1 V8 (in yellow)
Austin Maestro 1.9D (a gift, gee thanks)
BMW 320
Mercedes 230 SE
BMW 318i auto
BMW 518i
Vauxhall Astra
BMW 518i
BMW 325i
VW Golf
Volvo V40 1.9D SE (£260 off ebay non-runner quick repair 2 years on still going strong)
Various motorbikes at intervals

BMW 518i

In reply to Duncan Bourne:











<smug>

In reply to Removed User:


Ooops

Austin Princess - rolled
Mini Cooper - rusted
Ford Capri - What to say. Er..
Fiat Panda - sold to my dad. Hated it.
Ford Sierra - loved it so much. Eventually rusted through floor.
Volvo 850 estate - 500,000,000 miles and its STILL going well down in Devon
Vauxhall Vectra - brothers but I had full time custody
Fiat Cinquecento - 78 million miles to a teaspoon but I hate small cars so..
Landrover Series IIa (truck cab) - I loved this so much
Rover deathtrap - only major crash I've ever had. The thing had bad juju
Renault Clio Sport - fast but couldn't take the 1/2 mile rough track to the house and so was sold to fund...
Landrover 90 - original 90. Another passionate affair. Did her up from scratch
Range Rover V8 - bye bye bank balance.
Volvo S60 - about to be replaced. Reliable but need 4 wheel drive estate

In reply to J0:

Is it worrying that I remembered that? Mind you, my stepdad's had over a hundred cars and I can even remember the number plates of some of them...

In reply to Removed User:

I use the registration number & model of some of my parents old cars for some internet passwords

In reply to Removed User:

Slightly

I can remember some reg plates. PDD 637M was the Hillman Avenger we had in 1978..

I also forgot the Volkswagen Polo and the Subaru Estate which should be just before the Vectra. Both died of rust.

In reply to J0:

My brother and I's Austin Mini that we had in 1968 was CPT 452B. My Honda 90 (1972-76) was JNK 64L. I can't remember a single other registration number.

In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Eclectic mix:
2001 VW Polo
2003 BMW Z4
2005 VW Passat Estate
1997 Audi A4
1994 VW T4 Westfalia California
2009 Fiat 500

Morris Minor 1000 part owned with my mother
Morris 1100 part owned with my mother
Lambretta LD 150
Morris minor 1000 van ex NCB a total shed
Austin A35, nearly lost my then GF when the door open going round a bend.
Morris mini van 850cc,a bit of a snail great for climbing and sleeping in etc
Triumph Spitfire Mk 4 died of a knackered engine and rust.
Ford Capri mk1 1600, shed
Morris mini 1000,not as good as the van for climbing/ sleeping in.
VW type 2 camper
Ford Fiesta 1.1,ex mothers car.
Vauxhall Nova 1.3SR top little car, my first new car.
Peugeot 405 1.6, good car but liked petrol tooooo much.
Vauxhall Astra 1.2 ex mothers car. Good little car
Citroen Zantia 2.0 used it to tow a caravan, good car, tad thirsty.
Peugeot 309, crap
Ford Sierra 1.8, crap
Vauxhall Astravan 1.3, bloody awesome cost me £110, never let me down, wish I had it back.
Citroen Berlingo 1.6 bought it new in 2003 and it's still going strong.
MGB roadster 1974 1/2(rubber bumpers) now resides in France, really likes petrol.lol

In reply to johnwright: I also had a Citroen ZX 1.9d, great little car.