on 08-03-2019 15:22
OK - confession time....
I have owned, over the years, a Lada, Skoda (old type), and a Trabant - thankfully not at the same time.
All have been as bad as rumoured, and good for building up one's mechanical skills.
Can anyone top this list of motoring dog toffee
on 08-03-2019 22:41
on 08-03-2019 22:46
on 08-03-2019 22:48
on 08-03-2019 22:48
@TallTrees wrote:
I am noticing that no one, including me, can actually say they hated their car(s)💗?
As you grow to know, and live with, your car's foibles, @TallTrees ...
on 08-03-2019 23:15
on 09-03-2019 00:01
on 09-03-2019 00:01
Can't say I've owned a bad car since they've all been quite reliable even the Austin Metro 1.0L that suffered from rust before I got rid of it. Typical of the 80's build quality from BL. Learnt a few things but I'd rather not repeat the 'engineering' skills I gained from owning it.
Of course, our family has had a couple of duds. Lets start with my brother's first mini that leaked oil so got told to get off the driveway. Most memorable was that it broke down 2 miles from home and you couldn't really leave it being a country road. So we pushed it the 2 miles home only to be stopped by the Police. Fortunately they wanted to give a lift but we declined since we were a 1/2 mile from home. Think that one got written off by a herd of cows later.
Then there's the Austin Maestro which wasn't bad but seemed to stop dead at the wrong time. But nowhere near as bad as the classic Allegro fondly called "All Aggro" by my father. Lets just say we have a greater input to him buying cars since. He just pays for it
on 09-03-2019 00:21
on 09-03-2019 00:21
We also had a couple of VW Beetles. (via the boys again) They were the 'in' car to have apparently)
Now I'm lead to believe Beetles were either good or bad depending on the year of manufacture.
(I'm no mechanic but anyone who was into these cars will surely know what I mean?)
Anyway, with limited funds, my lads got the bad ones. Obviously!!
One was sold on after a couple of months, the other lasted quite some time. He sprayed it psychedelic colours and it was sent up to a friends garage to be sealed with lacquer.
It took a long trip to a festival. All Beetles in convoy. It lasted the journey back... then gave up the ghost
Veritas Numquam Perit
on 09-03-2019 00:41
on 09-03-2019 00:41
I remember one of the first cars I had was an Austin 1800 which came into the garage for new hydrolastic pipes and the guy who owned it couldn't afford to have it done. I offered him £70.00 (seventy!) for it and he was happy to get rid of it. I put 2 new steel tubes on it, new front sub frame mounting bushes and a new handbrake cable. The parts cost around £30.00 so I had a decent motor for £100. I think the suspension fluid was around £12.00.
I did all the work myself, pumped up the hydraulic suspension so there was double the clearance between the tyres and wheel arches, and boy could the *beep!* move, the suspension rode brilliant although you could get a little seasick
I don't know if any of youse drove or were a passenger in one but inside was huge. The seats were leather and not your normal bucket seat, it was like sitting in an armchair. The space in the back was like a stretch limo....oh my, those were the days.
I quite liked the Allegros, the Austin/Morris/MG 1100's too for the ride. Mechanically they were ok, body-wise wot a pile of rusty kak!
My worst car ever. apart from the Russian tanks, just had to be the Morris Marina superseded by the Avenger. Rust buckets the lot of them. I had to do a lot of welding but you could buy new chassis and floor panels from the parts suppliers. As we were BMC dealers, we stocked a lot of panels etc.
Trade-ins were always parked in what we called Ken-cast Corner. Those of you of a certain age will well remember that they were suppliers of garden sheds!
Oh the tales I could tell you....but they were the best years of my life.
on 09-03-2019 08:26
on 09-03-2019 08:26
I am really enjoying all the comments on this !
I knew I would not be alone ~ the love/hate relationship with our cars!
Sorry when it ends really ~ Love it ~
Rust! absolutely!
on 09-03-2019 08:31
on 09-03-2019 08:31
My (then) boyfriend had an 1100 vanden plas
now that was nice! The seats were white leather
comfortable, car was spacious.
on 09-03-2019 09:16
on 09-03-2019 09:16
Reading all the posts from you guys, I got to say that my fav car was probably an Austin 1100 which got me, tent, and girl friend to the Reading Festivals and coped remarkably well with the rain and mud.
The worst car has got to be the Hillman Hunter I had. That car did not like the cold weather and cracked the alluminium head on more than one occassion. Cost a bomb to run and sold it for a pittance but so glad to get rid of it.