Morgan84

The lovely Maureen

In 1979 I was driving this 1969 Triumph Vitesse 2.0 MK2 Saloon!
I should add the L plates were for my girlfriend and I had been driving for 3 years. Starting with a Hillman Imp Californian, Vitese MK1 2.0 saloon, Cortina MK2 1600 super 2 door, Rover 2000TC and this Vitesse MK2 I bought 3rd Sep 1978.

Mot till November and will definately pass another that I can give my cast iron word on.
How much that might cost is another matter.

What enables people to think that behaving like that is in any way acceptable? I just don't understand it.

I've had my 1992 Ghia since 2002,when it was gifted to me.The cars never been welded,and has still got beautifull glossy Diamond White paintwork,which is waxed on a almost monthly basis.They were ( and still are ) a wonderfully easy car to drive;I think mines escaped the tinworm through a combination of a very sheltered life,and the usual Ghia build quality.Of all my cars,this is my favorite of them all

Ok,I'll admit it - I like the Ghia plastic wood in Fords !

I look after a beautifull 1997 800 2.0 auto saloon;not sure what trim level is it,but its electrics all round,aircon,sunroof,walnut trim,and beige velor piped with navy trim which on a first glance when following the car looks like its leather.Only driven it once,but it's like a living room on wheels;they really are a wonderfull car

Scrubbers!!!

It moves the seals to a bit of the bore they don't usually come in contact with. If that bit of the bore is damaged or corroded it can damage the seals.

You're right, I really should have got there earlier - looks like there was some impressive tin which had already buggered off by the time I turned up.

Nice to have met you in person today Trigger

I thought I'd start a new thread on this as I have been researching (looking shit up on Wiki when I should be working) now defunct Eurpean model car manufacturers from the 1960's to the 1990's.
 
Does anyone remember if they had models by companies like Bburago, Polistil, Pilen, Norev, Guisval, Guiloy etc?
 
I had these to start off with (generic internet pictures):

Bits kept falling off (replaced it with a mint one again in 2003)
 
Too low for the carpet:

 
Solid and heavy:

 
Local bully buried the example I had of this. It survived and I found it - still has mud in the grille today lol:
 

 
I have purchased a fair few models from these manufacturers since, but I remember the above the best.
 
What models did you have as a kid from an obscure manufacturer?

One terrible phone pic that shows nowt

I would have wanted more compensation than that, but full marks for persevering with the car; these are a lovely car Keep the underside pipes and bodywork well rust proofed and she should last a while

I always feel sorry for the cars that end up mangled in the scrapyards, especially the ones that were clearly loved. Excellent source or parts to keep others on the road right enough but sometimes I feel incredibly guilty pulling something to bits that was once someone's pride. 
It's doubly difficult if you've got a car that's at the crossroads of being a run till it drops banger or a rare survivor and I suppose for those who see a car as an appliance to be dispensed with when it's a bit scruffy, out of fashion or needing some money throwing at it the decision to scrap is much easier. I hate to see something scrapped for want of a bit of mending so will probably do the opposite and keep the Carisma going for as long as possible. 
I'm probably just daft.

EFA

When you think about it,cars have a interesting life .... Let me explain my ponderings
 
The car is being created : All the decisions to be made,such as colour,engine,trim configurations etc = arguments over why it should be a blue one and not green
 
The grand day : A shiney new car has been taken delivery of,and is beautifully presented,and sparkling
 
The grand voyage : The family members go out for a pointless drive in the new car,just to get used to it,and see what it can do = no food in the new car
 
The car then settles into daily living routine,getting a lot of pampering to begin with - washed and polished ,and kept spotless,and is the pride and joy of the contented owner until ....
 
The first scratch/dent : This is a great moment of sadness/anger,which will most likely lead to a argument.One of two things will happen - fixed asap and forgotten about,or left as a reminder.If option 2 was selected,this means more damage is on its way,and the more it gets,the less it is loved,and pampered.The polishing stops,and the once sparkling new car is now looking well used,and a shadow of the car which once sat sparkling on the driveway the day it was delivered.
 
The car carrys on its daily routine,and age starts to take its toll,and gets replaced. Family A repeat the above stages,however for Family B
 
A replacement used car has arrived,and its been given a face lift ! New floor mats,a bit of a polish up,and its looking pretty good again,although still showing some battle scars,is looking pretty nice,and is the familys pride and joy to go on happy journeys with.
 
Our car is getting old now,and interest is reduced,and the battle against wear and tear is warming up again;cars not looking or sounding so good these days.Time for replacement
 
Family C want a old banger to run about in,and just want something no frills to get about in,and don't care how it looks,as its the runabout.Car isn't given the spit and polish treatment this time,and is driven,and occasionally serviced, or driven until it stops.Usually,a MOT failure will kill off our once prescious motor car,and it is now time to lay the car to rest after many years of faithfull service.
 
Car is now in a scrap yard,and either will suffer one of the following
1) Robbed for bits
2)Put through the crusher straight away
3) A Autoshite hero will come along,and resurrect the once brand new car,and give it a happy second life,and spend hours putting back the life the car once had
 
 
Sorry if that bored anyone,but thats how my mind works !

When you think about it,cars have a interesting life .... Let me explain my ponderings
 
The car is being created : All the decisions to be made,such as colour,engine,trim configurations etc = arguments over why it should be a blue one and not green
 
The grand day : A shiney new car has been taken delivery of,and is beautifully presented,and sparkling
 
The grand voyage : The family members go out for a pointless drive in the new car,just to get used to it,and see what it can do = no food in the new car
 
The car then settles into daily living routine,getting a lot of pampering to begin with - washed and polished ,and kept spotless,and is the pride and joy of the contented owner until ....
 
The first scratch/dent : This is a great moment of sadness/anger,which will most likely lead to a argument.One of two things will happen - fixed asap and forgotten about,or left as a reminder.If option 2 was selected,this means more damage is on its way,and the more it gets,the less it is loved,and pampered.The polishing stops,and the once sparkling new car is now looking well used,and a shadow of the car which once sat sparkling on the driveway the day it was delivered.
 
The car carrys on its daily routine,and age starts to take its toll,and gets replaced. Family A repeat the above stages,however for Family B
 
A replacement used car has arrived,and its been given a face lift ! New floor mats,a bit of a polish up,and its looking pretty good again,although still showing some battle scars,is looking pretty nice,and is the familys pride and joy to go on happy journeys with.
 
Our car is getting old now,and interest is reduced,and the battle against wear and tear is warming up again;cars not looking or sounding so good these days.Time for replacement
 
Family C want a old banger to run about in,and just want something no frills to get about in,and don't care how it looks,as its the runabout.Car isn't given the spit and polish treatment this time,and is driven,and occasionally serviced, or driven until it stops.Usually,a MOT failure will kill off our once prescious motor car,and it is now time to lay the car to rest after many years of faithfull service.
 
Car is now in a scrap yard,and either will suffer one of the following
1) Robbed for bits
2)Put through the crusher straight away
3) A Autoshite hero will come along,and resurrect the once brand new car,and give it a happy second life,and spend hours putting back the life the car once had
 
 
Sorry if that bored anyone,but thats how my mind works !

When you think about it,cars have a interesting life .... Let me explain my ponderings
 
The car is being created : All the decisions to be made,such as colour,engine,trim configurations etc = arguments over why it should be a blue one and not green
 
The grand day : A shiney new car has been taken delivery of,and is beautifully presented,and sparkling
 
The grand voyage : The family members go out for a pointless drive in the new car,just to get used to it,and see what it can do = no food in the new car
 
The car then settles into daily living routine,getting a lot of pampering to begin with - washed and polished ,and kept spotless,and is the pride and joy of the contented owner until ....
 
The first scratch/dent : This is a great moment of sadness/anger,which will most likely lead to a argument.One of two things will happen - fixed asap and forgotten about,or left as a reminder.If option 2 was selected,this means more damage is on its way,and the more it gets,the less it is loved,and pampered.The polishing stops,and the once sparkling new car is now looking well used,and a shadow of the car which once sat sparkling on the driveway the day it was delivered.
 
The car carrys on its daily routine,and age starts to take its toll,and gets replaced. Family A repeat the above stages,however for Family B
 
A replacement used car has arrived,and its been given a face lift ! New floor mats,a bit of a polish up,and its looking pretty good again,although still showing some battle scars,is looking pretty nice,and is the familys pride and joy to go on happy journeys with.
 
Our car is getting old now,and interest is reduced,and the battle against wear and tear is warming up again;cars not looking or sounding so good these days.Time for replacement
 
Family C want a old banger to run about in,and just want something no frills to get about in,and don't care how it looks,as its the runabout.Car isn't given the spit and polish treatment this time,and is driven,and occasionally serviced, or driven until it stops.Usually,a MOT failure will kill off our once prescious motor car,and it is now time to lay the car to rest after many years of faithfull service.
 
Car is now in a scrap yard,and either will suffer one of the following
1) Robbed for bits
2)Put through the crusher straight away
3) A Autoshite hero will come along,and resurrect the once brand new car,and give it a happy second life,and spend hours putting back the life the car once had
 
 
Sorry if that bored anyone,but thats how my mind works !

Well done, I would have probably got my money back and sacked it off and bought something different as I have no sense of adventure.

Well, now that the Porsche has finally sold it was time to rearrange the fleet. As good as the Skoda has been I fancied a bit of luxury, you know things like windows that work? Time to hammer a bigger estate over it...

The Scorpio that I posted about previously never happened-it was too much money just to get it on the road needing a windscreen and a VIC check as well as probably 4 new calipers and welding.

However a large veg munching estate was on the shopping list. I was sidetracked by an Audi S6 4.2V8 running LPG which would have been a nice way to cart bikes around but the seller never answered his phone so someone beat me to that. As there was no working diesel Scorpios for sale anywhere in the country I decided to go for a w210 Merc 300td,

I looked at one in Edinburgh (still on Gumtree) which wasn't bad but with only an MOT til May at £1600 it was too much. I had spotted anothe car on ebay that looked promising with the same miles but MOT'd til December and a lot cheaper but the seller never responded to my email. After the Porsche went and with the Skoda hopefully off to a new home shortly I needed transport. After a phone call it turned out it was still for sale so on Thursday night I ventured to Alloa to check it out.

It was for sale by a trader who let me get it up on the ramp-no rust underneath which was nice. With a bit of haggling(the fact he was off on holiday soon helped) a deal was struck.

No collection thread sadly, he delivered it home there and then and I ran him back home in the Skoda.

Here's some pics from his ad.









The ad mentioned full service history and he wasn't lying-there's absolutly loads including a bill for a full respray for £2750 in 2008 and £1500 to fit the Merc Sat nav/TV nonsense-which has a knackered screen It was registered overseas first (it's a German built car which I was told is good for these-still needed a full respray and two wings though...) then came to this country where it was owned by a company in London for many years before doing a Volvo and heading North.

It drives well but as always needs a fettle so off to get some bits. Here it is amongst some Mercs of a similar size...



I was at the commercial side as the had a part on ebay I needed. Then off to the proper Merc dealers for bits to change the transmission fluid-sealed for life my arse. I need to buy a dipstick first as these don't come with one-just a plug over the end of the filler cap which has been sealed since 1999

This afternoon was spent washing the thing inside and out-it was dark when I finished so no pics but I'll get some tomorrow. Here's the colour of the water that came out of the carpets though...



Off mountain biking tomorrow so it'll get a decent run and I'll get some pics

You're to be congratulated.
 
It's like the washing machine my Mrs and I inherited when we acquired this house in 2011. A Hoover machine of indeterminate age (but probably a T or a V plate), it was noisy but did the job. Then the opening catch bust. Mrs Bluejeans wanted a new machine. I said something along the lines of 'fuck that, I'll fix this'. In fact, that's what I said.
 
Bought a new catch from Amazulu for about 6 quid, stripped the machine in the kitchen and got it all fixed again. Last Jan though it really did fuck itself - there was a burning smell and a dreadful noise - motor was seizing up and the belt was trying to melt. That's when I weighed the fucker in and bought a new one in the sales. It was horrible though - rust around the bottom and the rubber seal where the front door fits was misshapen and leaked a bit. Point is though, I got the very last drop of useful life from it and that's how it should be.

Ford had it planned back when the Fiesta 1.25 Zetec engine was launched - 10 years or 100000 miles cambelt. A lot of Ford's of that era such as the Escort were lucky to reach them goal posts. Cars are now getting more complex,that they are suffering early deaths through technological failure,and not the previous killer that was rust and mechanical failure

When you think about it,cars have a interesting life .... Let me explain my ponderings
 
The car is being created : All the decisions to be made,such as colour,engine,trim configurations etc = arguments over why it should be a blue one and not green
 
The grand day : A shiney new car has been taken delivery of,and is beautifully presented,and sparkling
 
The grand voyage : The family members go out for a pointless drive in the new car,just to get used to it,and see what it can do = no food in the new car
 
The car then settles into daily living routine,getting a lot of pampering to begin with - washed and polished ,and kept spotless,and is the pride and joy of the contented owner until ....
 
The first scratch/dent : This is a great moment of sadness/anger,which will most likely lead to a argument.One of two things will happen - fixed asap and forgotten about,or left as a reminder.If option 2 was selected,this means more damage is on its way,and the more it gets,the less it is loved,and pampered.The polishing stops,and the once sparkling new car is now looking well used,and a shadow of the car which once sat sparkling on the driveway the day it was delivered.
 
The car carrys on its daily routine,and age starts to take its toll,and gets replaced. Family A repeat the above stages,however for Family B
 
A replacement used car has arrived,and its been given a face lift ! New floor mats,a bit of a polish up,and its looking pretty good again,although still showing some battle scars,is looking pretty nice,and is the familys pride and joy to go on happy journeys with.
 
Our car is getting old now,and interest is reduced,and the battle against wear and tear is warming up again;cars not looking or sounding so good these days.Time for replacement
 
Family C want a old banger to run about in,and just want something no frills to get about in,and don't care how it looks,as its the runabout.Car isn't given the spit and polish treatment this time,and is driven,and occasionally serviced, or driven until it stops.Usually,a MOT failure will kill off our once prescious motor car,and it is now time to lay the car to rest after many years of faithfull service.
 
Car is now in a scrap yard,and either will suffer one of the following
1) Robbed for bits
2)Put through the crusher straight away
3) A Autoshite hero will come along,and resurrect the once brand new car,and give it a happy second life,and spend hours putting back the life the car once had
 
 
Sorry if that bored anyone,but thats how my mind works !

When you think about it,cars have a interesting life .... Let me explain my ponderings
 
The car is being created : All the decisions to be made,such as colour,engine,trim configurations etc = arguments over why it should be a blue one and not green
 
The grand day : A shiney new car has been taken delivery of,and is beautifully presented,and sparkling
 
The grand voyage : The family members go out for a pointless drive in the new car,just to get used to it,and see what it can do = no food in the new car
 
The car then settles into daily living routine,getting a lot of pampering to begin with - washed and polished ,and kept spotless,and is the pride and joy of the contented owner until ....
 
The first scratch/dent : This is a great moment of sadness/anger,which will most likely lead to a argument.One of two things will happen - fixed asap and forgotten about,or left as a reminder.If option 2 was selected,this means more damage is on its way,and the more it gets,the less it is loved,and pampered.The polishing stops,and the once sparkling new car is now looking well used,and a shadow of the car which once sat sparkling on the driveway the day it was delivered.
 
The car carrys on its daily routine,and age starts to take its toll,and gets replaced. Family A repeat the above stages,however for Family B
 
A replacement used car has arrived,and its been given a face lift ! New floor mats,a bit of a polish up,and its looking pretty good again,although still showing some battle scars,is looking pretty nice,and is the familys pride and joy to go on happy journeys with.
 
Our car is getting old now,and interest is reduced,and the battle against wear and tear is warming up again;cars not looking or sounding so good these days.Time for replacement
 
Family C want a old banger to run about in,and just want something no frills to get about in,and don't care how it looks,as its the runabout.Car isn't given the spit and polish treatment this time,and is driven,and occasionally serviced, or driven until it stops.Usually,a MOT failure will kill off our once prescious motor car,and it is now time to lay the car to rest after many years of faithfull service.
 
Car is now in a scrap yard,and either will suffer one of the following
1) Robbed for bits
2)Put through the crusher straight away
3) A Autoshite hero will come along,and resurrect the once brand new car,and give it a happy second life,and spend hours putting back the life the car once had
 
 
Sorry if that bored anyone,but thats how my mind works !