'Everyday' cars you miss.

This thread got me thinking:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/anyone-got-a-new-shape-mondeo-what-is-it-like-to-live-with

We’ve had threads before on cars we’ve lusted after, and I’m sure plenty of people have had head-turning motors, but I was wondering what ‘normal’ cars we had in days past that we look back favourably on.

Two jump to mind for me. I had a 91-plate Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6GL hatchback which I absolutely adored. Beautiful, supremely comfortable, loaded to the gills (for its age) with toys, handled like a dream. Wonderful car. I loved it so much that it was my go-to marque when I needed a car in a crisis; followed it up with an SRi and a 1.8CD both of which cost sub-£500. Last decent car Vauxhall ever made, if you discount Holden.

The other was the froggy Ford Scorpio. Spent a grand on something which I thought was the best of a bad bunch at short notice (ie, I needed something right now), despite hating the look of the thing. The single most comfortable car I’ve ever owned, proper driver’s car with a seat like an armchair, absolutely ate miles. Ugly as sin outside but lovely inside, and what do you look at when you’re driving it? A little tail-happy but that kept you on your toes (-:

What do other readers think?

I really miss my Vauxhall Astra GSi (K Reg), 2 ltr 16 valved beauty in polar white. Very very quick back in the day.Great body styling , easy to work on and fun to drive. God i pampered it, now i drive a boring diesel hatchback 😥

1994 (L reg) Volvo 440 GLT. Paid £1k for it in 2004.

Frickin’ indestructible, comfortable, heated seats, fast as pants, nice looking motor (or so I thought) and a beautiful Renault engine.

I had it for years, only foiled by all calipers needing replacing at an MOT.

Memories, good and bad, but did a lot in that car. A LOT. I think once you have to sleep in a car, you develop a bond.

Rip L468 FTA

Proton Persona 1.6XLi was surprisngly good. Independant suspension all round, disc brakes all round. Didn’t weigh much so 1.6 was plenty. A lot more fun than you would think. Head gasket failure killed it 🙁

MkII Golf 1.4 cl- great car, bomb proof.

My 2.8i Capri, metallic burgundy with gunmetal grey sills, god I miss that car.. and I sold it twenty five years ago.. 😥
I still have the second speedo to keep it below 4000 a year on the shelf at home.. 😉

Citroen Dyane:

First car that was actually mine:
Simple, cost £400, loads of space, huge fun to drive, handled superbly and never broke down.
Killed by rust, eventually.

Daewoo Nexia:

Was given it by a relative – looked like it had rolled end over end down a hill, smelt of Um Bongo & crisps.
Slow, tatty, ugly, reliable, simple, thrashable & very cheap to run.
Took me and her, plus bikes & camping gear all over the UK.
Was called Shedric.
Eventually blew up spectacularly, boiling it’s water & pissing oil all over the road, right outside my favourite pub.
God, I miss that car.

I miss my Rover SD1 V8 3.5 manual with tweeks-what an engine 5mph to 105mph in 3rd….oh the days of doing less than 5mpg or burning a set of rear tyres out for fun…shame they were made of tin cans and it rotted to dust.

Of the cars I have owned I miss 2

Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon..a Real character, and made me happy to be in it.

Toyota Hilux Surf…The ultimate utility vehicle.

I still regret selling my ’64 Amazon. It was a hugely practical daily runner for three or four years. It’s only refinement was overdrive in fourth gear.

I miss my Rover SD1 V8 3.5

Mates Dad had one of them, bloody hell it was fast.

Actually, I’ll now ad my G reg Astra GTE 8v. That got me a lot of sex*

*a little^

^2 fumbles

My 2.8i Capri

I don’t have words for how much I hate you. (-:

I miss my Rover SD1

You’re not far behind either, buggerlugs.

Thank you everyone so far for “getting” the question. Great reading.

1990 fiesta 1.6s. It had a hole in the roof, and one door was a different coulour. Looked absolutely standard, had an xr2 engine. Awesome.

😀 it did have a few things done to it, heads, cams, exhausts, shocks, and a slippery diff out of a special, but totally standard bodywork with pepperpots.. Fond memories of the diff exploding at an indicated 140mph, looked like a hand grenade had gone off inside it..
I miss it even more now… 😥

My dad’s 1973 cortina mk3 2litre gxl with vinyl roof

oh and my 1975 triumph dolomite sprint. Great in a straight line, but not so good round corners…

MkII Golf. Best car ever!

Mk1 Mondeo V6 it had everything, so comfortable and pulled like a train! I didn’t realise how good it was until I replaced it with pos Astra.

I also miss my Dad’s Rover SD1 it is responsible for my love of V8’s.

Renault 5 turbo – wish I never sold that, would be worth far more now
205 1.9 gti – dangerous but soo much fun.
Landrover 110 defender SW. Still gutted about selling that.

I had a Citroen AX GT in the early 90s.

I don’t know how I didn’t kill myself in it.

My dad had a company Cavalier, a CDX I think, but for reasons unknown it had a redtop in it- partsbin special we thought. Was a lovely bit of kit- well bolted together, went like stink while not looking like it should, and had a really nice grey/green pearl colour that was almost like a very subtle flip. It got written off by a truck, when we went to pick out the replacement it was parked round the back and I’ve never seen such a sad sight, wheels pointing in all directions and it was covered in dust, all the shine gone from that lovely paint. Sad.

I got quite attached to my horrible Focus, it had the worst engine and absolutely no optional extras other than a surprising amount of rust, and it ended up being a money pit, but still it was a very friendly car.

My grandad’s ridiculous old Cortina is still running about, now that was a car. Blown up the engine? Just hammer in this v8 we’ve got lying about. Chassis rusted through? You need just need a gallon of isopon and a load of coathangers. Exhaust was a scaff pipe. He spent the war doing much the same thing to hurricanes and didn’t realise you’re not really supposed to do it with cars. Poor sod that bought it thought it’d be a quick project. But from the outside, it was just a well used 1.8LX, not a shrine to madness.

I’m very fond of my Passat, although I’m not allowed to be. You form a relationship with your car as it ferries you through life’s ups and downs.. well at least I do. That car was with us on some great adventures.. then there’s that battered grey Prius.. brought both my kids back from hospital in that.. ok so kid 2 ‘s first trip was actually TO hospital… 🙂

My classic mini’s.

Still yearn for my ’99 Saab 93. That thing could eat up the miles.. and overtaking was a breeze with the proper turbo.

The best car my dad had was this Cavalier LXi. The “i” meant everything back in the day.

Check out this picture of it on a lads “fishing” trip in Bridgenorth. 😀

Exhaust was a scaff pipe

I fixed my first car’s exhaust (1977 Fiesta) with a length of telescope I found in the yard of a coachworks. Bright red and flared at the end, looked like I’d fitted a cherrybomb.

I’d not be able to resist the temptation to pull over from time to time to refocus my exhaust.

Check out this picture of it on a lads “fishing” trip in Bridgenorth.

I have the strangest… 😀

The ginger body builder in the hot pants is now a Managing Director.

My 1970 Cortina 1600E (UAY 992H) in Fern Green. That car saw some action one way or another!

Still yearn for my ’99 Saab 93. That thing could eat up the miles.. and overtaking was a breeze with the proper turbo.

1999 Saab 9-3 is my current car 😀

Like luffy105 I loved my Renault turbo. It was a ‘Le car 2’ and looked like a standard Renault 5 but went like stink. Unfortunately I bought it off a ‘mate’ who forgot to mention that he had spanked it up and down the A1 from London to Aberdeen on a regular basis for 2 years without getting it serviced or even an oil change.

Everything that could have gone wrong, did, and I had to flog it for next to nothing after 6 months.

My mini. I loved that car. It was awful, but I loved it.

1275GT, smoking a bit when it came into my hands so bored out to 1300. Stage 2 head, Dellorto carb. 40, maybe. Big huge tyres (12 inch!). Worst brakes ever on earth, ever.

It leaked through the sunroof, ate radiators, had rotten sills and I loved it.

It went like stink in a straight line but it was the corners where it came alive. Like on rails. Ford Xr3i’s were great for a laugh, the owners always reckoned they’d win a race and in a sprint it was roughly evens, I’d usually be a bit quicker but as soon as the road got twisty they’d disappear in my mirror. Cosworths were better and certainly quicker flat out but again, the corners showed them who was boss.

I part-exed it for an Xr2 which blew up within a month 🙁

The ginger body builder in the hot pants is now a Managing Director.

he’s dreamy.

My series 1 1956 land rover ..with 3.9 v8 engine fitted ……..now that was fun

My Dad went from a cream maestro 1.6l with a shit brown interior (not being rude, being descriptive) to an MG Montego 2.0 efi.

I think my Dad grew about a foot taller in my eyes that day. It was ace!

Mate’s Dad had a Montego Turbo when they first came out, for some bizarre reason my mate was trusted to drive it (and the previous Cavalier sri), we were only 18. We used to cruise about in them all the time.

Good point v8.
My dad had an old Mazda one day and came back with an RX7 the next. I got the impression it was just an impulse purchase that didn’t go down too well with my mum.

I was like a god in school. Whenever my friends were at our house my dad would deliberately nail the car away from the house with screeching tyres. They frown on that sort of thing nowadays.

They frown on that sort of thing nowadays.

Whoever THEY[/i] may be, they certainly are NOT impressionable, hormonal and excitable teenage boys! Good times. 😀 😀 😀

This one isn’t mine, but one day I will own another – a mint one costs a fortune these days

After passing my test at 17, the first car I had access to was my dads Sierra XR4. God knows how much it cost him to put me on his insurance. (come to think of it, it was a company car and I bet I wasn’t actually covered 😯 )