Bamboocarman

“Brave restoration” 🙄

My best friend is a Doctor (academic, not medical). Definitely wouldn’t buy one of his cars, tho. Mobile tips, never serviced properly. As they say, “you can take the boy out of Sunderland, but not the Sunderland out of the boy”.

Yes, mine did back in the mid-nineties: a rough hand painted red 2 door, c.1960. It was minging. Can’t recall clearly now, but think I bought it for a few quid from the short lived dodgy car auctions off The Level down Lewes Rd, Brighton. Used to park it on the main A259 road outside my flat in Kemptown, if anyone remembers seeing it. When I’d had enough, advertised it locally and it was bought by a self-appointed junior “marque expert” from Peacehaven. Daft lad. Wonder if it made it back on the road or was dismantled for parts . . . Not long after, I found another in a front garden in Bexhill, bought it and had two reliable years out of it. I even commuted from Brighton to Haywards Heath in it for a few months. Hand painted/ rattle canned grey primer and green, a great car. Possibly the last years of genuinely cheap workable Minors.

Scoomys, then? 🥴🥴🥴😊😊😊

Yes, condition is number one. Also, beware of too low a mileage: ‘dry’ components ready to crumble once used in anger 💨💨💨 Gan canny . . .

I was fortunate to find the 35k mile 106 when they were sub £1k, and enjoyed it very much. I really don’t think that the GTi versions have any real advantage on public roads. Nice if people like bling tho. As with some Fords it’s a mugs game paying zillions of quid for one. Much better buying a more recent motor for a fraction of the price, however it’s difficult to find anything with a good balance of sufficient character, performance, simplicity etc. A Ford Sportka, or even a base mk1 Ka is fun, plenty of good handling available, cheap but also plenty of rust. The Twingo GT has the feel of the 106 about it, and are reasonably priced. The 100 was a decent fun car, but the suspension really was an issue for me. My direct experience of around 10k miles in one is a fundamental memory of the car ‘bouncing’ along the road most of the time. Driving it on my favourite North Pennine and similar roads was akin to torture, which spoilt the experience. Nothing like any of the others cars I’ve driven, apart from Issigonis Minis but they had other fun characteristics to compensate for this. Panda was too new to mess around with alternative springing so was glad to do a deal on the MR2: highly recommended for anyone who only needs 2 seats, superb cars.

I had a Panda 100 from new, kept it for less than two years then chopped it in for a low mileage MR2 to use in the high hills of mid Wales and Durham. Couldn’t get my head around the Panda, despite having a long history of running Alfas back in the day, and maybe living permanently in Brighton at the time meant that the roads were far too busy , even out of town, to really enjoy the ‘hot hatchness’ of it. Rock hard suspension, didn’t feel particularly nippy, couldn’t get it to do more than 40 mpg no matter how carefully I drove it. It was the far too firm suspension that finished it off for me, far far too uncomfortable. A low mileage Peugeot 106 XS, P reg, was a much better all round car, including taught but supple suspension, very easy to work on, and plenty of real world performance: who needs a 106 GTi? Even a base model AX was more fun than the Panda. I clearly missed the point of it and didn’t bond. Currently running a 2007 Yaris 1.8: great fun, very subtle, more than fast enough on a B-road blast, comfortable, quick steering, really superb handling, and above all its a well made, reliable Toyota. So good, it’s my second example. The only fun car I’d replace it with would be a Twingo GT.

Same vendor offered me £1500 for my Morris Minor, which I subsequently sold two weeks later for £2750. No comment. 🙄🤪🤦🏽🔥🔥🔥

'Such spiteful comments this delusionist is posting whilst trying to sell an overpriced Renner; been for sale a while now, at different prices, but who would want to deal with such a potentially unpleasant person? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/renault-5-le-car-2-1985-1108cc-mint-show-car-as-seen-in-the-french-magazine/153721993879?hash=item23ca8b7a97:g:ujgAAOSwvMBdyo1l 'renault 5 le car 2 1985 1108cc mint show car as seen in the french magazine' blocked so far ali-000-786 pdub-29 Ho HO HO ! What don't people get! No more silly questions offers etc! Cant people read and understand? the answer is NO! you will just be blocked and reported to ebay! Small minded change people just pass! It's not my fault you have tiny pockets! go away! You know who you are! Don't think your cleaver ! you pretty sad ! wanting to pretend you can afford such a car when clearly you live in a dream world! Was offered 5K at the last baston show and turn that down! The only way I could let it go cheaper was to sell the alloys and put it back onto the the steels as i've done. Was original up for sale at thorney car and classics for £6995 this is a massive price drop and no room here for any sort of price negotiations in away or form you will just be blocked and reported to ebay! one hugh loss and thats the price ! as stated ! get yourself a classic for a bargain with nothing to do but enjoy! buy with real confidences sad to see this classic go for a song! Other bits seen in the picture are avaible seperately "see my other items"! You are buying the car not the other bits! ie wheels bumpers!

Thanks for that, really did brighten my day; excellent, ta.

Blimey! Penultimate pic is of the Colliery Tavern, bottom of Wayman St, corner of Southwick Road. Wearmouth pit baths on left of pic. Grew up in Wayman St in the 60s, in the street that would have been behind the billboards, picture dated around '73/'74 mebbes? Happy teenage and earlier memories there. Couple of Wayman St car memories from those days: a black and red, tatty, Morris 8 series E two door, a blue Panhard, parked at opposite ends of street, and a Ferrari Dino driving slowly down the street, with a 'Jason King' a like at the wheel. Thanks very much for posting the pics, great. BBCM (living in exile, away from canny auld Sunlan').

Have always found simple cars to be focused and pure = more fun, in many ways.

Hi, Above are my two Charades, the red and the silver; third car, the four door, was a loan car. Both red and silver were bought with around 4 to 5000 miles on each, so were in fairly 'as new' condition. Red one was chopped in for a Smart Roadster - big mistake, the Roadster is a fairly useless car, nowhere near as much fun as a Cappuccino or a MR2, not to mention being temperamental and difficult to work on. Still have the silver Charade, getting on for 9 years now, and its recently passed the 35k mile mark. Spent most of its life in Brighton, but has been used for regular long distance runs up to Staffs, Mid Wales and Tyneside. Totally reliable, no issues, except the EML light has been 'on' for a few years. Now that the light is MoT fail, will need to get it sorted. As with Rave's example, its the second downstream sensor that's indicated, so will have to switch it off come the test, and see what happens. Heaviest load its carried so far is a 2CV engine from Redditch to North Staffs, nee botha, man. In a hurry one lunchtime, I jacked it up in the wrong place, and damaged the radiator, so replacement was fitted. Eventually. The 4 door loan car was from Clarion Cars in West Worthing, who were once Daihatsu dealers. At the time in 2014, it had covered 130 odd thousand miles, and was still as sweet as a nut; brilliant. An automatic, too; just like driving an old Issigonis auto Mini, or a dodgem car; really really great fun around town. Last time I checked on line, it's still on the road with around 145k on it! They're all great fun cars, very well made, characterful, comfortable, easy to work on, spacious inside, and very very cheap to run. Genuinely found both to be more real world fun than a nearly new Panda 100 I owned some time ago; mind, my boggo 950cc AX was much more fun than the bloody Panda, FFS! Have kept careful mpg records over the years, here are some findings: Medium to fast run Brighton to North Staffs, up the A5 = 58mpg Mid Wales mountain road tour in winter conditions = 62mpg Local touring around East Sussex/Romney Marsh = 61mpg Fast run Sunderland to Brighton = 47mpg M40 motorway flat out, full throttle (not exceeding 70mph) = 42mpg thanks, BBCM

Yes, original best: simpler the better.