Bren

I bought my brother this while at Chester zoo in 1981. It was the green version. I wrongly assumed he would be over the moon - he was pissed off when he saw I had bought for myself the superfast trans am - the gold one.

Love the car. But not that vinyl roof. In fact it wouldn't look out of place with whisper driving it in Live and Let Die.

I have the rover 2000, corvette and Hillman hunter. I actually prefer the whizzwheels because I was hatched in the early 70's - I have the whizzwheels camaro and rover 2000. The rover is a bit battered - boxed they command a small fortune.

What happened to the astra?

The Italian job. Ian gets in his ital to do a job.

It was a mate's signum that got me into that gen of vauxhall. His was the 2.2 petrol so had a permanently illuminated EML.

Looks very similar to the old casting.

Dropped the BM off to get this fixed. Told £180 which is very reasonable - it went back to the chap who painted it last time.

Go for it.

Despite being less than two years old the vectras' battery appears to be dying. I had it on charge overnight one day last week - this morning it only just started - it was below freezing overnight. Car has a mixture of local trips but longer runs to North Wales. I will get it tested before taking it back. Is everything crap these days?

Following on from the best all rounder thread - show us your estates! Many of your best cars seemed to be estates. Here's the ones we have owned. Xantia 1.9 SX. Fab car but 90 hp is not much. Wife didn't like it. 3rd gear got crunchy so it was moved on - the mechanic who looked after it bought it. He is now deceased and so is the car. Focus ghia. It was the 1.8 diesel. Lovely to drive - air con and six CD changer. Sadly we outgrew the car - plus the sills were a bit soft. Sadly no longer on the road. Vectra 3.0 cdti elite. Nice car save for the engine - thirsty, not much quicker than the 16v 1.9, expensive parts and a pig to work on. When it started using half a litre of coolant a day it was time to go. Sold on ebay - later seen for sale in Dewsbury for three times what it sold for - no doubt repaired with steel seal. Not been MOT'd for a couple of years - now doubt recycled into chinese learner motorcycles. Avoid any car with this engine - even if it's for free. This replaced the vectra. 1.9 PD. Remapped to 170 hp. Fast and economical. Sadly it was looking tatty ( tailgate had rusted through) and the suspension needed a refresh. However all the doors opened and all the windows went up and down ( so it had a rare spec ). Sold for more than its replacement cost us. Our current estate. Just ticked over 150k. 1.9 auto which means £315 road tax. Rare spec - digital green with XP pack. Landed us with a £900 bill when the auxiliary belt jumped. Not great on diesel but we dont owe on it.

Stuff thats new / nearly new will cost a premium. Bangers cost more because scrap is worth more. The stuff in between - £4 -£12k I am not so sure. If it fails you have spent too much on it to scrap it so an expensive repair beckons. Plus most of these are diesels which are now being vilified for their polluting ways. In this range I don't think supply and demand has much bearing - greed is the biggest factor. If you peruse the classifieds you will notice stuff up for sale for months. As I have said before the economy is not buoyant - wait and see what happens when the cap is removed from energy prices.

I had to have a humungous filling at the dentist this morning. And now just when I thought I was getting over the rona I suddenly feel shitty again. If I won a cruise it would be on the Belgrano.

I can see in my minds eye dodgy characters fitting a secondhand pump and trying to punt it on....

While covid has been doing a job on me I have been thinking about cars. In particular how complicated and expensive they have become. I can remember a time where the thought of a new car made me excited. Sadly not any more - the cost, and worry of a mechanical prolapse has killed my mojo. Sad really - cars were my greatest passion. Plus there is no sense of acheivement in having something any more - it is easy to have something new on tick - everybody does it. Next weekend it will be 30 years since I got my first decent car - by decent I mean something that didn't let rain in and wasn't full of filler - my mk 2 cav. I paid £2k for the car with 76k on the clock. It was eight years old at the time. Reasonable ( for the time) performance and 30mpg around town. I had the car for three years - I sold it to my brother when I took on my senator. He kept it for another year - he sold it in '96 with 140k on the clock. Car still wore it's original sills and had it's original camshaft -3k oil changes do work - even with mineral oil. I passed the car on the M6 in 1999 - sadly it looked tatty - obviously the end was not far away. It was easy to look after - the clutch was replaced in under an hour. They did rust but not as badly as a ford or Austin Rover product. When I look back it was probably the best all round car I ever owned - the front wheel drive cavaliers really were very good.

Got this today Never had this one as a child but my eldest picked up a gold one from a toy fair - it had stickers on it so it was from a superfast gift set. I prefer this style of box. The resemblance to an SD1 is uncanny.

My brother has an electric car. His utility supplier offered to tie him into a tarriff for 18 months that reflected his mode of transport. The cost? £2 5k a year. Electricity - like gas, petrol and diesel is only going one way price wise.

Electric. They aren't the answer to global warming but at £600 a month your conscience will be eased.

Why is there a sledge hammer under the car?

Some of it is cant be arsed. I think the rest of it is a lack of the requisite skills. There has been a brain drain from the motor trade.

Fucking dying.....😂😂

Every year I complain about the site fees for our static. But not now - given what two weeks holiday in the UK costs.

Had the 'rona a week now. I am feeling better but still have dizyness and a cough like Val Kilmer in tombstone. Surprised how much of my spare tyre has gone in just a week. Spent some of the week looking at used cars on tinterweb - prices truly are depressing for mainstream stuff - given that £6k+ is being asked for a ten year old mondeo £12k for a 500 hp Jag XFR seems better value for money.

Sad. Is it going to a recycler or some shithouse fly by night trader who will sell it with a slight running problem? Like you say, seems almost criminal.