Newbie alert

[JohnDeere]

Hello, I've been lurking here for a loooong time but never posted till now. Mainly because I don't actually have any Shite, but I guess you could call me a closet Shiter. So to try to get past the bouncer, here are some pics of some shite I've previously had... I won't attempt to sell any motors for the first 200 posts, and I will steer clear of Protons, regardless of reg.

 

I passed my test (2nd attempt) in 1988 after learning to drive in a variety of D/E/F-reg Minis run by the James Scott school of motoring in Lincoln. When it was raining my instructor used to make me stop so he could hop out and spray liberal amounts of WD40 on the distributor. Meanwhile, the parents bought a second car supposedly suitable for a 17-year-old. My dad had a colleague at work who was offloading an R-reg Citroen Ami, which would have been extremely fab but apparently it was too far gone - shame. So we ended up with a blue 2CV Special A951 WTL, actually bought off the forecourt of the main dealer, Lindum Cars in Lincoln.

 

Only known pic is below, still looks shiny - it would have been about 5 years old. With this fuzzy pic you can't see the inevitable rust on the scuttle or along the bonnet hinge.

 

 

It was a fab car. I installed the Philips MW/LW radio, late 1960s vintage, that had previously been in my dad's BGT, Maxi and GS and was gathering dust in the garage. Took 5 people to Skeg for the day in roof-open cabriolet style. And left me spectacuarly stranded when it played the fave 2CV trick of ejecting one of its pair of spark plugs. Went off on a flatbed to Bulwinkles to get the thread sorted. Was finally replaced by my mum by an F-reg ex-driving school Metro 1.0L F130 DWD which was also a great car in a fab metallic grey colour and went on for years. Last saw the 2CV a couple of years later on a dodgy used car lot in Lincoln for about twice what it was worth (then) ... that same lot at one time had a W-reg Saab 900 that I lusted after as a 15-year-old... and also had one of the ex-James Scott driving school Minis showing about a third of the mileage that it had when I was learning in it....

 

Moving on... while I was at Uni I saved up enough pennies to buy my own first car in 1991. Scouring the ads in the Lincolnshire Echo I found a B-reg Citroen LNA 11RE (then about 6 years old) B746 CAF. I think for about £1100. I guess I was one of the only people then that knew what a Citroen LNA was! Previous owner was a vicar in Cornwall (I got his details from the V5 and called him to check the car's history). Drove to back to Uni in Birmingham the next day - during the journey the exhaust dropped off in rather spectacular fashion going round a roundabout near Nottingham... phone box + directory enquiries = recovery truck to tow me to Kwik Fit. Bet they wouldn't have an LNA exhaust in stock these days (thinking back, it's surprising they did then).

 

You can just see a very young me in the second pic below (as well as a neighbour's Cortina)...

 

After that first incident it turned out to be a great car. Got it undersealed and threw some Waxoyl in the back arches which kept the first signes of rust at bay. After replacing the alternator brushes for the umpteenth time I splashed out on a new alternator at Citroen Birmingham - and remember getting a lift back in a brand-new G-reg XM. I did most of the servicing myself, but the one time it went to a "Citroen specialist" in Lincoln, it ran rough as Desparate Dan's face for months afterwards, stalling at every junction. Eventually found they'd put totally the wrong plugs in. The LNA was sold in 1992 when I went to London and needed to pay course fees. Advertised it back in the Echo as "like Talbot Samba" and got £700.

 

Gets a bit light on the picture front after this I'm afraid. September 1993 meant starting work - I was then working as a freelance journo for BBC local radio and needed to get around the country. Next door neighbour was Mark Popham who had a small lot in Lincoln specialising in pensioner-specials (originally Metros, later Micras, most recently Kias and Hyundais though he's just sold the lot now for housing development)... bought a G-reg 216S in British Racing Green from him for £3995 borrowing the money from my dad. Thinking back, perhaps not the obvious motor for a 22-year-old but I was swayed by the thought of 1.6 power, the luxurious interior and the leccy sunroof - all a huge cut above the Escorts of the time. Can't ever recall having a problem with that car, G618 FOF, other than listening to the door bottoms gently fizzing away. Spent far too much on a Kenwood stereo and CD changer (which lived on through the next two cars till 2005), had a frayed rear seat belt which cost vast amounts at TC Harrison in Hull to replace for the MOT.

 

The 216S was choped in a couple of years later for the pinnacle of all things automotive ... a year-old 416SLi in blue from Amstrong Massey Beverley, M211 GRW. £1500 for the 216S, and £7995 sticker price for the new one. Brought untold luxuries like remote locking, leccy windows and an airbag. OK, realise I'm losing the Autoshite ethos by now ... but at least it counts as Shite looking back! Also saw the 216S on a used lot in Hull a month later ... for nearly the price I'd paid for it originally.

 

Later motors got less and less Autoshite ... the 416 gave way to an S-reg BMW 318ti Compact - first new car. OK, I know, definitely not Autoshite territory ... but kept it for best part of 8 years -- when I sold that on eBay it was the only Compact that had not been Barried to destruction - and S562 FUM still going strong according to DVLA. Meantime, the 416 went to my mum to replace the Metro, and in turn to my brother (who swapped his dodgy 480ES wth mum) who then wrote it off.

 

Now - I'm afraid to admit on this forum - I have two moderns. And diseasals that that. 58-reg CRV will be kept until it becomes Autoshite, so that nearly counts. and 60-reg Fiesta Econetic (oh yes, livin' the green dream) gets free congestion charge and cheap-ish commuting between Fenland (Cambs) and London.

 

To make up for that, here's a bonus picture of our old school minibus, on a geography field trip circa 1988. CTL 651X lived on till 1997 according to DVLA, and presumably these days would be worth about £28,000 so long as it was infested with rats (did I get that right?)

 

 

Will follow up with a post on BBC shite ... watch this space!

 

~Rob.

[Cavcraft]

Welcome along, Rob. One day all first posts from newcomers will be that good, it's a pleasure to read stuff like that.

One question though: how on earth did you tow that caravan with the 2CV?

[lancashireclamper]

Enjoyed your first post Rob, very nearly stumped up mega bucks for a nearly new Rover in the mid nineties but was too much of a tight arse, (nothing changes)

Paticularly like the mini bus photo, was the swastika on the front passenger door a dig at the German teacher?

[Mash]

 

I see Hirst finally got the flux capacitor working in the Galant!

[RobT]

Welcome Rob. The 216S and 416SLi shows you were a shite visionary! I bought cars for pretty much the same reason as you when I were younger, not that they were the trendy, obvious choice, but because "Above all, it's a Rover"

[Split_Pin]

Welcome along.

 

Thanks for sharing your car history and for making it into a very enjoyable story

 

I cant wait to see your post on BBC Shite. I don't think I've seen anything on here about these types of vehicles before.

[Albert Ross]

Jarvis House?

[JohnDeere]

One question though: how on earth did you tow that caravan with the 2CV?

 

Here's a clue - the Volvo 740 towed the 2CV when it broke down...

[JohnDeere]

Jarvis House?

 

Don't think so - not sure I've heard of that one?

[Lord Sterling]

Welcome to the fold Rab.

 

The Rovers sounded great, would you have any pictures of them? I've only had Rover 800s but have driven a fair few other Rovers, though I havent tried the earlier SD3 200s or the slightly later 200/400s.

 

Strangely enough, I have seen a couple of G***FOF Rovers, i think I may have a pic of a White Rover 820i with a similar plate so may have came from the same pack.

[JohnDeere]

Strangely enough, I have seen a couple of G***FOF Rovers, i think I may have a pic of a White Rover 820i with a similar plate so may have came from the same pack.

 

I think G***FOF was a sequence used by Rover for pre-reg or management cars, I also used to see quite a few others. Certainly the 416 was orignially registered as a Rover-owned management car in the M***GRW sequence. Still need to find and scan some old pix...

[Albert Ross]

In the background of your third picture is a block of flats. If it's Lincoln, it has to be Jarvis House in Hartsholme, certainly NOT Shuttleworth House, and probably not Trent View. The reasoning? To get that 3/4 view, you would be on the Fulmar Road area of Doddington Park if Jarvis House.... For Trent View, you'd be on Ermine West, and the houses there don't have windows. Ergo it must mean you were near Baker Crescent, Elsham Road, Staffordhsire Crescent etc. But I'm likely to be very wrong!

[JohnDeere]

If it's Lincoln, it has to be Jarvis House in Hartsholme, certainly NOT Shuttleworth House, and probably not Trent View. The reasoning? To get that 3/4 view, you would be on the Fulmar Road area of Doddington Park if Jarvis House.... For Trent View, you'd be on Ermine West, and the houses there don't have windows. Ergo it must mean you were near Baker Crescent, Elsham Road, Staffordhsire Crescent etc. But I'm likely to be very wrong!

 

Ah, I see! No, it's Trent View. House is just off Burton Road, so that pick is looking east towards the Ermine. Funny, I never knew the name of the block in Hartsholme. And we did actually live just off Fulmar Road in Doddy Park for a few months, but that was a few years earlier.

[Vin]

Welcome Rob

 

It sure is great to see old pictures of Lincolnshire registered old tat Great stuff.

[ruffgeezer]

Nice to know there are a few other Lincolnshites around

[AnthonyG]

Welcome - its interesting to see how generous builders were with garages and drives with modern houses 25 years ago!

 

The boxy Rover 200s were very luxurious for that era, compared to Escorts and Astras, but unfortunately rust never slept in any of them. The next generation (R8) ones were much more durable, in the South West and rural Wales you still see them pottering about. I loved the 214Si I had in the early 1990s.

 

How do you get on with the new Fiesta dash? it looked too much like a mid2000s Nokia phone for me.

[JohnDeere]

How do you get on with the new Fiesta dash? it looked too much like a mid2000s Nokia phone for me.

 

Actually I really like the Fiesta to drive. The dash is fine, the only minor problem is that the radio buttons are angled for LHD. Funnily enough I had a near-identical LHD Fiesta as a hire car on holiday the other week which felt very familiar despite being the mirror image - and easier to see the radio buttons! (though 1.2 petrol a bit sluggish compared to the 1.6 dizzler).

[Shep Shepherd]

Welcome to the fold! Tread warily, though, as before too long you'll want a shite car of your very own