stripped fred Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 I found myself without wheels a few years back. I didn't have a lot of money at the time and a friend of my mate's dad gave me his 1.6 Maestro. It was tatty and only had a short MOT but I was very happy to have it off him. He refused to take any money at all so I bought him a few beers. He was a plasterer and he'd used it for the previous 10 years for work. The only downside was he was a chain smoker and I had to drive it with all the windows open. Still, there's something about a free car. You have low expectations so every mile travelled is a bonus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HillmanImp Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 This from KinkerSaab 10/10. Really good car. Would own again. trigger, xtriple, eddyramrod and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtriple Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Blimey that's lovely. how do I get one/get Kinkersaab to adopt me? eddyramrod 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sterling Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 My KV6: My Sapphire Ghia I had years ago comes in at a close second: DVee8, EssDeeWon and JohnK 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripped fred Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 This from KinkerSaab 10/10. Really good car. Would own again.I don't have a photo of my free maestro but I can tell you it was nowhere near as nice as that! I love the shape. It looks like a prototype or car of the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripped fred Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 My KV6: My Sapphire Ghia I had years ago comes in at a close second.Also very nice. Wouldn't look out of place parked up at the golf course... Lord Sterling and Charlie Croker 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cms206 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Also very nice. Wouldn't look out of place parked up at the golf course...It sounded like a sodding Skyline when I dropped it off... Lord Sterling 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabRat Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 A green x reg skoda felicia my dad tescued from one of his work collegues. It only done 32000 in the 7 years previous and was going to be scrapped because theyd bought a new one. It was the full povvo spec classic- keep fit windows, no power steering, central locking and the little 1.3 pushrod lump. Handled like a go cart and was great fun driving over the woodhead pass every day for work! Only sold on because i fancied something bigger and my little brother didnt want to be seen driving something that "makes a soviet gulag look like a comfortable place to be". Yes he's a nob! Ghosty and stripped fred 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave21478 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I really liked this.... Giffer owned from new 1.4 diesel with full history, but slightly dinked up bodywork due to some giffer driving mistakes. It was given to me for nowt and was probably the best free car I have had.I have had a couple of other "Its free if you come and get it" kind of deals that usually involve a trailer, a shovel and a broom. stripped fred and DVee8 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catsinthewelder Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 This BX came from Freecycle, it was brilliant fred, FakeConcern, DVee8 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnK Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I feel like a failure in that I've never had a 'free' car! Charlie Croker, Junkman, FakeConcern and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssDeeWon Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I am also failing at life JohnK. Lord Sterling is winning this thread by a country mile with that KV6 Sterling!! Twiggy, stripped fred, Lord Sterling and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripped fred Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 I am also failing at life JohnK. Lord Sterling is winning this thread by a country mile with that KV6 Sterling!!I think you're right, the Rover is in the lead. I also like the previously giffer owned chariots too. The perfect first owner! Lord Sterling 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Spares & Tyres Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 No pics sorry Was given a MK2 Y reg Passat diesel estate about 12 years ago. One lady owner. It had a vinyl roof and I found out she had rolled it when it was only a couple of years old and they couldn`t get the roof quite right so it was vinyl covered! Horrible car,hard, slow noisy and basic. I swapped it for a mates mk4 Escort, much better. It ended up on ebay and went to Scotland as the number plate was RAB +++Y Wouldn`t even be worth much now I`m sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoadworkUK Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 With the KV6 content of this thread I feel duty-bound to chuck up a photo of my own. Donated to me by my Grandfather, the second 800 he's given me. 825Si Fastback Manual. Not a Sterling, though, so I can only claim second place in the Free 825 Challenge. stripped fred and Charlie Croker 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oman5 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Talbot Solara 1.6 GLS. Much, much better than bar stool experts would have you believe. Quite sprightly, comfy and refined. Was free because it had 6 months MOT and no chance of passing another without lots of work. Charlie Croker and stripped fred 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkman Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I feel like a failure in that I've never had a 'free' car! Same here. In fact, I got so few things in life for free, that I meanwhile believe there is no such thing as a free lunch. JohnK 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplebargeken Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I've had a couple of cars: Mk2 Jetta in red, a work colleague was clearing out her dads stuff, this was in his allocated parking space and needed to be gone. It needed a new front screen which I got for 20 quid. Nice car but it did let water in via the rear light clusters. Exchanged it for some decorating via a neighbour who was a painter and decorator. The Triumph 1500FWD was a free to a good home car. Mk2 Cav - but very rusty, Dolomite 1850 - very, very, very rusty but helped other Triumphs to live. Last but not least was a mint 1993 Volvo 940 Wentworth turbo estate - free via the VOC. Bloody lovely car. stripped fred 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorfolkNWeigh Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 My first free car was actually my first car, no surprise in that it was my moms old Mk2 Cortina.I found it on my regular school lunchtime visits to Lloyd Motors, a Volvo main dealer in Aberaeron. I used to wander around the showroom and yard looking at new cars and trade ins- the salesman tolerated me and always kept new model release leaflets etc for me . Anyway one lunchtime in 1978 I spyed a red 1600 Deluxe Cortina KEJ470H, sitting in the corner of the yard, every panel had a scrape,dent or different coloured giffer repair on it. But, the good news was that it had only done 18,000 miles, it was even still on cross plys. I negotiated a price- £178!! Then that night told my dad,who luckily agreed and went next day to pay for it. My mom drove it around for 2 years, then it was parked up when my parents divorced and she went mad and got a Mk2 Capri.It was A-Framed from Mid-Wales to London in 1981, on the back of a 504 diesel estate and parked in the carpark of my Dad's office where it was stripped by some scumbags, they got caught and prosecuted- ah the good old days. When the Police returned the bits I gained a 1600E wood kit and dash top.It was on the road for my 17th birthday and I abused it for almost a year before a 1972 Executive turned my head, I gave it to my brother.My brother was an apprentice panel beater and completely renovated the body and re sprayed it in Signal Red, he used it for a year then sold it. In 1986 a mate saw the Mk2 abandoned at the side of the road with smashed windows, it would have been rude not to have towed it home, free for the 3rd time. I applied for the logbook which came through with no questions. My brother and I replaced the windows MOTd it then parked it up, whereupon it was stolen ! Free again for someone, we've not seen it since, although I do have a close look at any red Cortinas I see. stripped fred, Charlie Croker and catsinthewelder 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercrocker Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 1958 Austin A35. When I was 18. Stupid callow youth that I was, I ragged it to death, broke a leaf spring, bent a valve and finally flogged it for £20 after six months of admittedly fun times. The free Mk1 Mini didn't fare a lot better although I carted it around in bits through various house moves until it had to be swept out of its last resting place. Rusty free cars soon stop being free, though. stripped fred 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuvvum Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Probably the Carina E, although that was inherited so don't know if it counts? Otherwise probably the E-plate AX 10E which I got out of the Freeads back in the day - it still had 3 months' rent on it and was used as a daily for that period, never missed a beat. stripped fred 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bub2006 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Long gone are the free for collection adverts in admag. Picked up a metro gta for free from derby. Pumped suspension up and all was good with it. Seemed to only do about 25mpg though. stripped fred 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John F Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 The Sera's winning this thread as far as I'm concerned. I was once given a Mitsubishi Colt that had OMGHGF and leaked so much oil it had to be topped up on a daily basis, the doors couldn't be opened from the outside so you had to climb in through the rear hatch (getting covered in oil in the process). I was also given a fully-working 1993 Renault Clio. I preferred the Colt. catsinthewelder and stripped fred 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strangeangel Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Never had a free car, but I was once given a 1987 MZ ETZ125. This came with two buckled wheels, a seized front brake and scrote theft damage - wiring ragged out and some fire damage where the useless twats had attempted (unsuccessfully) to torch it. I tried to get the engine to run but failed due to a combination of the mangled wiring and my own incompetence, and sold it to an acquaintance at Uni for £10. At that time a tenner was enough to fund an evening on the piss, so I was more than happy John F 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Tidybeard Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 when looking to change car my grandad and his bud had identical cars, fred was insulted by the trade in figure given so gdad decides i should bin my vectra and have this [/url]">http:// and when uncle harry decided to stop driving he told me to get rid or scrap this [/url]">http://http://s150.photobucket.com/user/nobertsback/media/19072009023.jpg.html'> which of course i didnt ShiteRider, Stanky, DVee8 and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dugong Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I'd love to know where all these free cars are. Where I grew up, people charge like wounded rhinos for stuff you'd think twice about tossing in the frag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulgalour Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 The less I spend, seemingly the better the car. The Xantia at £140/Free is the best car I've ever had in real terms. I lent chompy_snake the £140 he needed at short notice to acquire it but when he gave the car to me we wrote the debt off well before it was due to be paid back. That sort of means it's free but technically means I paid for it. The £180 ex-RobT Corsa is the next cheapest and the next-best car I've ever owned. When you get to the heady heights of the £450 I paid for the Princess the work needed is rather excessive. As a result of this thread making me realise this, I intend never to spend more than I absolutely have to in order to acquire a car. Sssshhhh.... we're ignoring the cheapest car of the lot, my £80 Renault, which needs many works. Luckythirteen 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckythirteen Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I concur with Vulg: I'd spent most of my savings on two shit cars, and was about to not learn my lesson, when Gran_Thirteen presented the Clio as an early Christmas present. On the proviso that I got it running of course, it had been sitting about with suspected cam sensor failure for a few months. Having arsed about with bits of cars before, I set about it (under supervision from Pa of course), and it coughed back into life in Oct 13.So, it was technically free, but at the cost of some parts. Best car yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six-cylinder Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I challenge Lord Sterling to top spot as I was given a Mercedes Benz? One day when the rest of you were napping "Mr Livered" of this parish offered his Mercedes 200TE for free! I replied first and got it. Charlie Croker, DVee8, Lord Sterling and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panhard65 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I seem to remember we have had this thread before. Around 10 years ago when scrap was worthless it was easy to pick up free cars. I picked up a twin cylinder Citroen Visa. A Mazda RX7, a Rover 3500s and a 5 year old Rover 200 with the usual hgf. It didn't last long but freecycle was full of free tat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now