Where it all began...

[Pete-M]

Cars have always played a large part in my life. My father owned a pretty large garage so even as a toddler I was always around cars. I remember holidays by the cars we went in: Colwyn Bay, 1976, Ex-Police Consul 3.0, and my first words were said in the back of a Rover 3500 P6. When it came on the radio that Elvis had died, I was in North Wales in the back of an Austin Allegro (1750). Where other kids were learning about football, or ancient Egypt, or how to look after a guinea pig, I was learning registration area codes and obscure facts about cars. The kinda shit nobody needs to know. I used to know bits of the bloody Glass's Guide Check Book off by heart... Sad doesn't even enter into it. We're talking weapons grade anorak material here. Stuff that's pretty useless now apart from on here.

 

So, after passing my driving test in July '88 I bypassed the Austin Healey Sprite that didn't work that I'd bought from my driving instructor and bought something that did. A yellow Mk1 Escort with a very strange spec for a "H" reg, for £60. 1600 GT engine, flared front arches, six clock dash, 1/4 bumpers, Rostyle wheels (probably from a 1600E Mk2 Cortina), knackered back box and rusty inner wing top mounts. Logbook knew it was a 1600 and the numbers matched. Worth £60 all day, especially to a 17yr old me.

 

 

After buying it I had to save up for a few weeks to pay my mates dad to weld the inner wings up. Eventually I had the £40 he wanted (£28 a week YTS was paying for this..) and they welded up the inner wings. Mates dad was a retired welder from the Docks, the welding gear they bought was serious stuff and the steel they used was more than up to the job - if I'd accidentally said "Armour plate the inner wings, please" and this had been the result it would have passed military inspections..

 

Unfortunately, after a couple of weeks waiting to save up for the insurance - £300 quid, ten weeks wages, I was doing what any daft 17 yr old petrol head would do. I decided to see if I could move it around the path with my legs crossed. Left foot for throttle, right for clutch. Drove it straight into the garage wall. Like a tit. Couldn't afford to fix it again so sold it, luckily for my money back.

 

 

Shortly afterwards I managed to get the money together to put a Mk4 Cortina on the road, legally. A Brown 1.6L fitted with the full Mk4 Ghia interior and a 1.8 Pinto from a Sierra. Absolutely knackered body panels, void bushes were shot, shock absorbers didn't and the sump had a 3/4" crack at the front edge. It went though, even stopped sometimes. I think I racked up around 500 miles a week in it just me and my mates going to Wales, Southport, Blackpool, anywhere. I swapped it for a Mk2 Escort 1.3 with a mate, and he spent ages fixing it up. Welded all the shell, repainted it, replaced the shocks and sump and fitted pearl white Orion wheel trims (from a new Orion, he worked for a Ford dealership as a sprayer). I have, unfortunately, got a pic of it on its maiden voyage to Wales. As he'd not passed his test, I was the qualified driver he needed to get behind the wheel. Yes, that's me on the roof.

 

 

If anyone's interested I'll dig out some more pics of my old shiters over the years.

[Junkman]

My father didn't own a garage. In fact, he is not a car guy at all. He is a railway buff. My mother was a fashion designer and also had little and no regard to cars.

I was on my own.

 

I am into cars for as long as I can remember. So much for children being the filtrate of their predesessors.

 

My awakening took place, when we (my dad and I) went to pick up his R16 TX from the garage he had a service done.

To get there, we had to walk down a stretch of the Landsberger Str. in Munich. On the way, a turquoise metallic 1959 Cadillac Series 60 Fleetwood Special cruised by.

From that moment, I kew it was either a finned yank, or walk.

Hence, my first car was a 1960 Buick LeSabre convertible. Until the tenth of the Month. Then it was either pushbike shite, or my mom's shite 'trelle.

The Buick did not go down well with my parents. "When will that red-light-district eyesore disappear from our drive?"

[Split_Pin]

Great thread Pete, more pics of your motors please!

 

I have no idea how or why I'm into cars as nobody else in my family really is.

 

When I was a kid in the early 80's I have good memories of watching a lad up the road fix up his similar Mk1 Escort and admiring his JPS Capri with a bodykit and blacked out headlights.

[skattrd]

I've always been a petrolhead, but only learnt to drive aged 34; not that many years ago. I very quickly bought one of my dream cars, a mk2 VW Scirocco sight unseen off ebay for £190 ... This was shortly followed by a nicer Scirocco (which I still have) and it's all been downhill from there.

[dollywobbler]

Nice post. Why do we have to try doing silly things with our feet? I once hooned a 2CV around a field, hanging out of the door with my left foot on the throttle. Unsurprisingly, this didn't go that well and I ended up aimed straight at a friend who was putting up his tent. Natural reaction is to put your left foot down as that's on the clutch. Only it wasn't. So I was now approaching him rather faster than intended and still hanging out of the door! Stamped on the brake pedal, stalled it, avoided disaster. Considered myself an absolute idiot of the highest order and have since never done anything so dangerous or daft.

 

My earliest motoring memories are also of a Mk1 Escort - the blue L-reg estate my dad had. I can recall watching him working at the wheel (like it had a steering box or something - I guess it must have had some horrific play in it somewhere given that it's rack-and-pinion!) and remember him introducing me to the word 'shit' as he battled rusty screws to change a rear light bulb.

[Partridge]

I can relate to your anorakism in early years. Sounds just like me me

I’d love to see more pictures!

[freebird]

Superb thread!

I can relate to much of what has been said. Ive been into cars for as long as i can remember. I used to have box fulls of matchbox/dinky toy cars and i used to tell people that when i grew up i was going to be a rally driver.

In the early 70s i spent my summer holidays out with my dad who worked for Moons Motors in London, criss crossing London in a series 1 Landrover breakdown wagon or, if we had to, it would be a Simca 1100 van with a tow boy trailer on the back. I then missed out on those brilliant days when he worked for the AA and the the RAC but, joy of joys, he then took a job with Arcade motors and got a brand new 6 cylinder Jeep breakdown wagon, which was LHD and fuggin brilliant.

When i passed my test in 82, it was the days before everybody had to have a bank account, you got actual real money in real pay packets and, like every other person, if you wanted something you had to save for it.

I dont think there was a bigger adrenalin rush than putting every penny you could to one side till you had enough to go looking for a car. These were the days when the local rags seem to have hundreds of cars for sale with loads within reach of what you had to spend, generally £250.

Those days are long gone and, if im honest, my love affair with the motor car isnt what it was. i still love them, ive got an old'un im doing up now and, yep, there is still a bit of a buzz going out looking for a car but nothing like it used to be.

There is much on this forum that I dont really get, i admire lots of it but I cant really relate to it.

Pete, Ive no idea who you are but i get this, i also get your other poignant post.

Keep this one going, its a nice trip down memory lane for me.

[Pete-M]

As you mentioned an old Land Rover, here's one my dad had in 1969 - before I was born... This was the day he moved his garage to a much bigger site.

 

 

Anyway, to continue on the theme of crap I owned just after passing my test..

 

The Cortina in the pic above I swapped for a Mk2 Escort. Originally a drum braked, 12" wheel, 1100 Pop trade-in, my mate had learned his welding skills from his dad on this old beastie, but once it was done he wanted my Cortina. Any Cortina would have done the job but as mine had the Ghia interior he went for the deal. This was New Years Eve 1988. Straight swap, Cortina (needing lots of work) for Mk2 that most of the work had been done on. As part of the deal the 12" wheels on the Escort were exchanged for the Cortina Rostyles from the Mk1 Escort as he'd somehow ended up with them and they had decent tyres. A Ghia interior went a long way in this deal - even though one of the springs in the drivers seat had snapped and it'd rip chunks from your arse if you sat in the car without being very careful indeed. The joys of being 17 meant that a Ghia interior was more important than chunks of flesh and bits of your trousers..

 

5 to midnight I drove the Escort to his house and somehow it was suggested that a nice big juicy burnout would be an excellent way to bring in 1989. So at the strike of 12 the poor little Escort was subjected to the clutch being dropped without sympathy at around 7000 rpm. Poor little Escort jumped about two feet in the air and made a large bang. That'll be the gearbox, rear leaf spring and propshaft gone then. Walked home. A few days later to return on the bus with a prop, leaf spring and gearbox...

 

The Austin Healey Sprout I'd bought from my driving instructor was still languishing in the garage at home, a friends dad wanted it to restore and I was devoid of working wheels, so I sold it to him for £450. Not a bad deal as it had cost me under half that. £350 then went on buying a Mini 1275 GT from another friends sister.

 

 

This is the wee beastie in question. I'd got it cheap because friends sister couldn't get more than 25 mpg from it. Possibly because it had a 1480cc semi-race engine and a huge great carb, but she didn't know about that. I'd rung the previous owner from the logbook after buying it and he told me she'd paid close to £1500 for it about six months earlier. Powermax pistons, LCB exhaust, cam, worked cylinder head, bigger brakes, the lot. It went like stink, but I didn't really get on with it that well. Chap who bought the Healey from me offered me £750 for the Mini, so he got that as well.

 

I wanted another Cortina, and I had enough money to buy a good one so went searching through the classifieds. Found what seemed to be a good one, T reg, 1.6 GL, full MOT and a full black Ghia interior. £500. Had to be done, so I went off on the bus to buy it. My brain wasn't functioning that day. The Cortina looked quite nice, although one rear 1/4 was stuffed full of filler (which I didn't notice until later), it was a little bit on the cammy side, the front subframe bushes were utterly shagged and the back axle was a tad noisy. Being a daft 18 year old I bought it anyway - Ghia interior!! Drove it to a friends house on the way home, as I pulled up outside the diff imploded and jammed the car right across my mates driveway. Didn't help that his dad needed to get his van off the drive.. Cue the three of us trying to lift a Mk4 Cortina by the rear wheel arches in a futile effort to move it about six feet, and rather a lot of filler becoming obvious in doing so. Eventually a neighbour tied the Cortina to his 2.8i Capri and dragged it to a suitable position.

 

Couple of days later we fitted a cheap scrapyard rear axle to it and it was on the road. Woo! Unfortunately, we didn't replace the little serrated plates that locate the axle properly which resulted in OMG DRIFT action at every roundabout. Fitted a secondhand cylinder head to it and fixed the cam problem and it was my pride and joy for a couple of weeks. I always parked it so the filled rear 1/4 wasn't too obvious. One evening I managed to catch the front subframe on a manhole cover, car stopped dead but once it was reversed off it seemed ok, just a bit more vague than usual. Few days later I was in deepest Wales in this piece of shit when one of the rear brake cylinders decided not to hold fluid any more. The joys of a scrapyard axle.. I suppose I should have checked them before fitting it, but hey. The only way of getting the car home was to somehow stop the brake fluid escaping, so I unscrewed the top of the brake reservoir, stretched a plastic bag across the top of the res and screwed the top back on. Woo! Brakes!. It got me home. I shudder to think what may have happened if I'd had to stop in an emergency. I doubt heavy braking would have been an option. By the time I got home, braking wasn't exactly on the cars and the rear shoes were that wet the handbrake didn't do anything either.. After a week of going to work on the bus I'd saved up enough to fix the brakes and it was back on the road. I spent the day fixing the brakes and that evening took my pride and joy out for another spin.

 

Didn't get far. Being a Pinto it had a habit of occasionally backfiring through the carb. A twin choke Weber from a 2.0 had been obtained from somewhere but without the air filter. Whoever had fitted the Ghia bits to the car had fitted the underbonnet soundproofing. The car back fired and set fire to the sound proofing. This was the result..

 

 

Insurance paid out, so I had my money back. Probably the best result I've ever had with a car.

 

 

£350 of the money went on this.

 

 

An utterly mint 1.6 GL Capri which had been fitted with a full Ghia interior (see a theme here?) and a 2.0 engine and box. If you've ever driven a Capri with a 2.0 engine and 1.6 diff you'll know how much fun they can be. It was ace. Unfortunately, I wanted something bigger and more silly so sold it and bought a dog rough Mk1 Granada 3.0 Ghia Coupé, which I killed on the Formby bypass within days.

 

I'll dig out some more pics.

[Charlie Croker]

Good thread this. Well it began for me at Seed Ford in Colne Lancashire. I always had a thing for cars and i used to go around the local garages collecting leaflets and anything else they would let me have. There used to be a British Leyland dealer Vauxhall-Opel Renault and of course Seeds as it was known who was the Ford dealer. All of these were in easy walking distance of my home........no need to take out the purple Raleigh Chopper that was Crokers only mode of transport at the time. Mind you it was 1978 and i was 13. Now Seeds was different to the others as the salesmen there must have seen i was a good sort and let me wander around and sit in the cars. I would spend my weekends there and the things i learned off those guys was great and even now is still fresh in my mind. It would not happen now as nobody would trust a 13 year old like they did. I imagine a good few of them will have died now although i am in touch with one of them. As for the garages this is the part what makes me sad.....ALL are gone. Seeds was demolished around 1989 to make way for a Kwik Save of all things. Im sorry if this is a bit of a ramble/bore but i could talk all day about Seeds.lol. Oh and i can still rattle off most colour/trim/options that were available on any late 70s or early 80s Ford.lol.

[Split_Pin]

Great thread this, Pete you should write a book. The pics are ace!

[John F]

ZOMGs. You have lived TEH DREAM

 

Looking forward to the next instalment, Pete.

[eddyramrod]

Pete, well done: this is Autoshite gold!

Where it all began for me was in my pram. Seriously! My mother told me that she taught me to talk using the names of cars that would pass us as she pushed me into town. This being the very early 60s the cars would be Morris Minors, Ford Anglias, Humber Hawks, etc. I always had Corgi/Dinky/Matchbox cars throughout my childhood, and in fact still have nearly all of them! They were all I was interested in, while other kids were discovering football and other distractions. Like Pete and Freebird, my head is crammed with information about cars that is useless in real life, but often comes in handy here. Is it any wonder I consider this place "home"?

[bub2006]

I was born in 1987 and my dad used to own a touring van so we always had big cars. Ten a penny then are cars you don't see now. Granadas jaguars volvos rover SD1 and even a commer campervan. Can remember my dad owning a mustard yellow maxi 1750 and pulling a 18 ft sprite with it. I also vaguely remember a capri 3.0 and a magnum firenza 2300. Among older stuff when money was tight when I was young like wolsely,hillman etc from late 60's early 70's

[Pillock]

If I've ever got a motor to get rid of, I'll just bang a Ghia interior in it and flog it to Pete.

[Joseph]

In my family, it kind of goes like this:

 

Grandfather: Not into cars whatsoever

Father: Quite into cars to an extent

Me: Totally, fully and eternally into cars, buses, lorries, engines etc.

 

I've always been interested in cars. As long as I could recognise that a large steel object with wheels and engine noises was a car, I've loved cars.

Done my test at age 17, done the IAM test, got a car at 17, and now at age 20, still loving the automobile.

 

But where did it all begin for me? Well, since I can remember, my dad had been taking his cars to get fixed at a small Volvo independent garage in Glasgow. I can always remember that every visit was complete with a feeling of excitement - the smells, the sounds, oh, and the fact that there was always a Volvo 340 or two knocking about at the garage (my favourite motor). Friendly chats with the garage owner and mechanics fuelled my knowledge of motors and, from this, I began reading a huge amount of books and magazines, all about cars. Such was my interest in cars, that I spent a week of my work experience in this garage.

 

I had always intended to become a mechanic, such was my love of cars. And although I am effectively following an altogether different career path, my passion is still there. Has anything changed at age 20? Well, I am still adding to my huge collection of new (and used) car brochures, car parts, and pub-quiz knowledge of cars!

[Rocket88]

Only one in the entire family with the car bug [my Dad has always been into boats, in which I had no interest] First motoring memory is sitting on my uncle's lap steering, whilst he operated the pedals [i must have been about seven] This was on the public highway, by the way, and back then [early sixties] was deemed perfectly acceptable..........By eleven, I'd graduated to waiting until the parents were out, and driving my mum's Morris Minor up and down the private avenue where we lived. Bought my first car at 15, a totally rotten Minx, hid it from my folks at a friend's house. One Sunday, decided to take it for a run.......first junction, the brakes failed, and I ran into an off duty policeman...............year's ban before I'd even taken my test!

[dieselnutjob]

My first motoring memories were of my Dads Renault 4 I think. Then he had a Saab 95 for the next twelve years.

 

This was my first car, and it was a diesel.

[fotorabia]

At 18 months old I was reversed over..back wheel across my lower middle back by a Ford Fairlane in the Nthrn NSW town where I was born..not a squeak out of me and over filled my nappy..left a tyre mark bruise..and funnily enough I was run over by a Doctor.On the huge wheat and sheep station we moved to later..as toddlers my mate n I filled a 1928 Pontiac cut down ute with sheep bones..and our home help's husband owned the local junkyard so I spent many an hour clambering around 1930s trucks and sitting in the back seat of a Ford Crown Victoria...when we moved back to Scotland in the early 1970s..Grandfather had a fuel injected V12 E-Type which I adored...i was also the first boy in the family in 28 years so Mr Eadie actively encouraged me and bought me lots of Corgi!..my aunt in 1979 was top woman racing driver rallying Fiestas..and saloon car series..so I went on a racing driver holiday ..saw the first Mazda RX7s in action and met Sirling Moss and Barry Sheene!She also ended up buying the Jim Russel Racing Driver School and taught Ayrton Senna a thing or two..when we finally located to Strontian in the Highlands..my Mum was the cook in the Ben View Hotel..the owner of the hotel had a Boss Mustang 302..which was replaced by a black Rover P5B and a purple Scimitar...our family car was a blue Mini Van ex engineering works where my Grandad was the chairman..Laidlaw Drew..they designed glass furnaces for the auto industries all over the world...so yep..it was very much a family impression thing...

[brickwall]

I too love the smell of a garage, independent ones that is.

 

Grandpa = First guy in his street to own a car just before the war.

Dad - Had a great love of cars had Jags, Willys Jeep and all sorts

Mum - Loved anything expensive although her most memorable was an A40 van

 

My dad was an engineer and director at a huge Glasgow based global engineering firm. He designed stuff for planes, train s and cars and also submarines. I always loved anything that moved mechanically. The good thing was that he always had a company car and they changed a lot and 'cos he was a big wheel he got loans of new models before release and I remember some crap. Some good ones too...like the Granada 2.8 Ghia. The bonnet rusted within a year and had to get a new one. Double Six was awesome as was the Carlton. Memories.