1955 Austin A30 which I acquired for free in 1978 from my younger sister (I was a student, she had a job) when it failed the MOT. I blagged some benchspace in a local garage where I learnt how to use an adjustable reamer to fit replacement kingpins.
It was this colour grey (but not this actual car). And small. And ooooooooh so slow ! A couple of summers later I took my then girlfriend all the way to Edinburgh in it. And four (yes, really) passengers down to Stonehenge on a whim one midsummerâs night. It eventually died of engine failure (big end) on the A1 at Baldock. A mate towed it back to Oxford with me at the wheel. I swear it went faster on that journey, dead, than it ever did when it was alive.
Its slowness taught me courtesy though. Even now if I find myself in someoneâs way on a country road I pull over and let them past.
It had a thundering 948cc twin carb (basically Morris Minor) engine, which I had to rebuild. Young and foolish, I thought the trip from Plymouth to Scotland was a good time to run it in - 45mph for the first 300 miles, then 55 for the rest of the trip. Everything was overtaking me, from artics to a Citroen 2CV and Fiat 126 ⌠the artics were particularly scary after dark with headlights at about head height for me, pulling up to what looked like a few feet from my rear before moving out âŚ
The suspension had very little give and your arse was about 3" off the road, so you felt everything, but it would âpowerâ oversteer on a dry road if you went in a little too fast and kept your foot in - great fun
Golf MK II gave the freedom to roam. In the late spring of 92 a budding Jr Midweeksexy arrived at Castlemorton for a free festival that promised gratuitous hedonism. Thinking the event would likely be stopped by the police (It went on for about a week) and being impatient having traveled to the site in convoy the car was abruptly dumped at the entrance gate. Several hours later Jr. MWS was ihaving a heavy and retreated to the car to hide / sleep under a blanket. Not sure how long later but I awoke to what felt like an earth quake. Peering up through the blanket the car was surrounded by policemen who were âbumpingâ it across the road finally leaving it and me dumped in a fairly deep trench. The poor car bore the scars of the trench until itâs untimely demise
My first car was a Reliant Supervan. Iâd passed my bike test (aged 16) the summer before and it was a particularly horrible winter.
I was riding my bike home from work one evening, thoroughly wet, cold and fed up. There was a Reliant car shop on the route, so I called in. About an hour later I was driving home in the Reliant having part exed my bike (a Honda 750/4).
In those days, you were allowed to drive a three wheeler (classed as a tricycle) on a bike licence. Thing was, Iâd never driven a car before in my life! That was a fun journey home in the rain, teaching myself to drive
Aged 19 I paid ÂŁ200 for a dark blue (goldflake roof) Zodiac Executive 3LV6 which belonged to a black Birmingham based pimp called Jimmy. I would be waved at as I passed certain women in Balsall Heath & Ladywood. I was pulled over on a couple of occasions by Jimmyâs BMW driving associates & asked firmly why I was driving Jimmyâs car.
But it was a cool cruiser when petrol was ÂŁ1 per gallon & Ghost Town was on the radio.
Mine had blue leather armchairs rather than black, but you get the idea.
Ford Cortina Mk II 1500 auto. An insanely sensible car bought from an old couple in 1978. It had the ability to numb the senses and cure me of petrol fever for the rest of my life.
My first was a 1971 mini 850 in tomato red. My mum bought it new and I bought it off her in about 1980. It did me through my last two years at University and my first year at work, then it was passed to my younger brother who wrecked it within a fortnight.
Given how these were everywhere at one time itâs amazing how few there are around now. I suppose they werenât valued as much as the classics of the same time (Jags, Granadas etc) & were allowed to go for scrap. I recall tooling about in a bright green metallic Ghia 2.3i for a while & having loads of fun in it⌠Proper hooligan car it was!
I had one of these as my first âownedâ company car in 1995.
The 1.8 diesel lump was horribly mismatched to the chassis. If it broke 20secs for 0-60 I would be surprised.
It was so heavy that it would understeer badly on roundabouts, leading to snap oversteer in anything other than dry conditions. Using the gearbox was almost pointless as the entire power band consisted of one long flat spot.
Hillman minx,an utter lump of shit,that only worked in 1st and 3rd gear.
Some days the ignition wouldnât start so you had to hand crank it.Remember doing it with my foot,and the bastard thing recoiling,and cracking into my shin,how i laughed.
1960 grey 4 door Morris Minor, like the one below. Bought in 1970 after working between school and Uni., good car for learning basic maintenance and repairs. Lasted me 3 years until it met a Rover 3 litre coming round a blind bend on the wrong side of the road, first of my 3 not-at-fault write-offs.
Haha, i learnt to drive in that very same car and engine.
The instructor blamed the Learner triangle on the roof for the reason why it would get stuck at 55mph in 5th. âDonât worry itâll pick upâ
I had a Fiesta 1.4 Ghia. It actually went ok, but the 1.4 CVH engine was rough as fuck. I remember getting to about 120 indicated driving down the Massif Central. It was weaving all over the road, probably because it was generating positive lift and trying to take off.
It did have a heated windscreen which was brilliant in winter. All cars should have them!
