The First Few Cars

It's what they were commonly known as ....... the Ford Fiasco ;):D
 
purplemarina

The mods to mine were quite similar to yours, except that I used 5-leaf estate rear springs and turned the rear upper shock mounts around so that the shocks were more upright (and thus more effective), decent 165-size tyres on 5.5" rims (alloys on the 2nd car) - and fitted a front ARB to the 2nd (Mk 2) one, and that mod stopped most of the tendency to " go sideways"! Vividly remember having fun in that car with an MGB around a long cloverleaf junction near Swindon - he backed off and I didn't, and he "lost":)

PS: Just fitted a stiffer VRS rear ARB to the fwd Octy estate because that had the opposite tendency (i.e. understeer, not oversteer), and that sorted that problem - nowadays I'm a much bigger fan of selecting the proper front or rear ARB than trying to sort handling with uprated shock/springs because there is less effect on suspension ride in less "extreme" circumstances.

PPS to pm: the front ARBs were fitted to the 1800cc Mk 2 Marinas, and can easily be fitted to other Mk2/Ital chassis because they already have the chassis mounting points
 
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And I bet you even make a horlicks of that.
 
""CH

"go for it" - if anyone "dares" - because I would (if I could) :) Us "oldies" have some good stories to tell!

PS: after the "infamous" L.... posted his response, that could include "him/them" too. Upstart "youngsters" (and I haven't, "just" yet reached 70 ) ! :)
 
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I'll have to join in then. I'm sure that I've told this story here before but my first true car was an Austin A35 (KRN642). It had been a bugger to get it through the MOT with the very poor rear brakes - a hydromechanical system that had barely been adequate when the vehicle was new. I drove it around for a few weeks before my summer holiday job and then bought a damaged Mk1 MG Midget with the intention of transferring the front suspension and disc brakes and, hopefully, somehow the rear brakes. That car "only" had 1098cc engine so I bought a 1275cc engine to go in as well.

After a few weeks I looked at both cars and decided to restore the Midget instead. It was driveable but I needed another car for the holiday job so bought a 1200cc Mk1 Ford Cortina (PCC39) - the pre Aeroflow one. I took the Midget with me off to college and ran it for a few years. It was the first of several MG Midgets, my last one being a 1973 Mk III round wheel arch one - the best looking one of all. I eventually had a total of five MG Midgets through my hands.

The Cortina sat at home for several years while I drove my Midgets. I had entertained the idea of fitting a 2l V4 engine from a Ford Corsair and even went so far as to buy a 2000E gearbox. I was also thinking of fitting an extra fuel tank so that I could do long distances without refuelling as I was planning to go over to Norway to see my girlfriend who had moved out there. The relationship finished and that never happened and eventually it was ignominiously sold for scrap. Wish I still the registration plate though.

After the Midgets I then went on to a Vauxhall Chevette which I built from scratch for rallying. I built it up from two damaged bodyshells that I stitched together with a new roof panel. I basically prepared it to Group IV specification (five link rear suspension, turreted rear shocks, strengthened front crossmember, quick rack, etc) but without the wide arches.

I didn't want start immediately with the big engine and I didn't fancy the weedy 1256cc engine so I trod my own path by fitting an Alfa Romeo 1300cc twin cam from a Guilietta. I mated that to a dog-leg first gear Getrag gearbox (as used with the HS Chevette). As I was putting out half the horsepower of the works cars I didn't see the need for a Salisbury 4HA axle (as fitted to works Escorts, Sumbeams and Chevettes} so used the axle from the old Cortina suitably modified for the five-link suspension. I equipped the axle with big Girling drum brakes off a Mk1 3-litre Capri and at the front end persuaded the front hubs and discs off the Capri to fit. Calipers were Girling M16.

I hadn't entirely dispensed with the idea of big engines though and I bought a Blydenstein prepared 2.3 litre Lotus headed twin cam engine. And to take the power the axle off a Mk II Jaguar. Never used, I still have both of those and may get around to selling them one day!.

Anyway, after I spun the engine to destruction on an icy Oulton Park track in 1982 and, coincidentally, met my wife to be I gave up rallying. She had an MGB and so we shared that for a while and I still had my Bedford CF van (my second actually - the roof blew off the first one) from the rallying days.

Some other cars we had around that time were a Renault 5, an MG Maestro 1600, an automatic Vauxhall Victor FE 2300 Estate and a LHD Austin Montego 2l turbodiesel Estate. That almost brings us up to date for the new millennium where we had a Mk 1 Citroen C5 2l turbodiesel estate (cavernous) and a Mk II Citroen Xsara 2l turbodiesel Estate until this year. We now have a Mk III Citroen C5 Estate and a facelift Peugeot 308 Estate. These may very well be last cars that we have.
 
On a serious note, are ford fiesta's any good these days, I'm looking at buying one o_O
 
FWIW - and here come's a memory from the past!!!!

When I was "quite young", we had a Wolseley "4/44", i.e. 44 bhp (maybe, on a "good" day if it was "feeling "OK") in which I learnt to drive, and I sometimes fancied putting a Jag "straight six" under the bonnet (there was probably enough space - just!) - would have been fast in a straight line, but "lethal" in anything like a corner because, with x-plies all round, it would slide at the slightest bend (as my mother would have attested, were she still be around - having been "in attendance" when that happened on quite a slow bend near home). But what a "Q car" - Google that if you don't understand that - that would have made , because I always want something that looks mundane" but goes like "sh1t" when "required as that gives me a big grin when it happens. :) The "tweaked" Octy estate kinda does that! :)
 
Fiestas?

Probably OK if you get a recent "good" one - all the older ones have already rusted away, or been nicked and stripped (as was my wife's Mk1)!
 
L..

"Punti" is what you said, but "Punto" is what CJ said - so that was for "you", and so is that "liking" multiple Italian Fiat rustbuckets (you probably need many of them for that reason!)? :)
 
?

That Absinthe must be an especially decent Vintage.
 
L....

Punti - Punto?: Sorry if I "confused" you - must be the "age" issue. Hope you get better soon!:)

PS: maybe the vodka (can't get the ouzo at the moment!) is getting to me - but I'm kinda "enjoying" the effect:)
 
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Just to muddy the waters further, we currently have a brace of his-and-hers Punti (Or Puntos, if one prefers) .... broadly identical models in terms of age, colour, spec. and trim level.

One is called Bianca (Guess the colour) and the other white one (Whoops, gave the game away) is called Bertie.

Please, good folk of the Forum, be aware that it is SWMBO who insists they are given names, not me!
 
jeallen01 said:
But what a "Q car" ...
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For me that was my first Bedford CF van. Again apologies for this as I'm fairly sure I've told this tale before.

It was kitted out with a bed and cooking gear for accompanying me when I went rallying. I bought it in that condition and the previous owner had changed the engine for a 2300 variant from a VX4/90. Sadly there was no room for the twin carbs so it just had the standard Zenith.

It still had the standard rear axle so it was very undergeared I could quite easily beat most cars away from the traffic lights. Once, when I took the van for its MOT, the tester came back after the brake test run with a big smile on his face. "That was great" he said "It goes like a bunch of f*cks"!
 
Lazarus said:
Please, good folk of the Forum, be aware that it is SWMBO who insists they are given names, not me!
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My late wife used to insist cars were given names, something I wasn't particularly keen on. However, when SWMBO and I bought our Dacia Duster earlier this year I christened it 'Arfer' (as in Daley), because it came with half a tank of diesel...
 
PaulR said:
It was kitted out with a bed and cooking gear for accompanying me when I went rallying.
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That reminds me i had a morris LD ambulance kitted out as a camper van i used it mainly for drinking purposes (staying in pub carparks after the saturday night session).
it had air bag suspension which would go down in the night leaving you at a steep angle if you didnt put the blocks of wood under.
on a work mates stag do 6 of us camped out side his mums house, all night the door banged as we took turns to let the beer out. the neighbours complained of the travellers that stayed in the close that night !. i dont think she ever told them it was her sons friends.
i blew a piston coming up the old severn bridge i remember seeing the sign displying the towing charges it was more than a weeks wages at the time:eek: by the time i got to the top it was in first which was like a crawler gear barely moving! but i kept going and i made home to the south coast another engine to rebuild.
 
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