Dan the van

My only memory of mk1's is turning down a factory Lotus engined example in about 1980.It had frilly arches,twin 40's on bell mouths and was £400.I preferred my Manta so I said no.What a muppet.🤣

I took my 1988 Astravan to 347000 miles.Only had a 5 digit mileometer though so it read 47k.It was only ten years old.

Ha!,did that with an automatic Mini with no brakes once.My size elevens did an impromptu heal and toe and we sailed off the end.No damage thankfully.

On the subject of Minis,I used to work for a Mini specialist a long time ago.Returning after picking up parts one morning I wandered into the workshop to find the boss and the other mechanic struggling to start a dead Cooper.No electric at all.They were convinced that it was a wiring/ignition problem and had all the column apart etc.I casually asked if they knew the earth lead was off the battery.Cue much swearing.

....ever had to walk 'cos none of the chod will start...

After a quick trip down memory lane on Google they seem to be held in quite high regard these days.Not tempted tho',after discovering the internal combustion engine my days of peddling are long over.😄

Ooh Carlton Corsa,that's a blast from the past.My first proper bike,had one for years until I was allowed a moped.

Honda E.In a market awash with gopping over styled shit it's refreshing to see a clean crisp simple design that actually looks like a car.The dash is totally appalling tho'.As for the programme,the highlight for me was Harris calling McGuiness a massive ring piece.Accurate and to the point.

I have many many keys/keyrings in use but this has the most sentimental value by far.Made by myself in metalwork class at school.I gave it to my father as a fathers day gift.He sadly passed last year and it was left to me to sort his affairs.I was extremely touched to find he had his front door key on it.50 years later.Far to precious to use,it hangs in my daily in his memory.

Mk2 Pinto engined Transits were good for this,had a couple well past 6 o'clock.Hideously inaccurate speedo of course.

And the three UFO cars.

The E type is quite a famous car.It was the very first convertible built and on completion was driven by Norman Dewis overnight to debut at the Geneva motor show.I wonder if any of the Mafias Fiat Dinos are still about.Pretty car.

Yup,that's the one that was found abandoned in a boat yard.Lovely restoration,glad it's made it back home.LHD which is interesting.

That's true actually.On the C4 30th anniversary documentary one of the production crew stated he locked the warehouse on the last day with all 9 cars still inside hence why I think there are genuine survivors out there. Proving it would be very difficult however.

All the main vehicles from UFO survived.Fosters silver car is on the road in Australia,the two six wheel security vehicles reside in Italy and the Canary Islands.Strakers car is interred in a back garden in the Midlands and in a dreadful state.A replica has recently been made by a fan. The Italian Job minis all had fake plates in the film.The builders of the replicas managed to buy the relevant uninssued reg numbers from DVLA and created the cars on brand new Heritage bodyshells.Effectively new cars on private plates.They used at least 9 different Cooper S's during filming,there is a ver