Free cars

[messerschmitt owner]

So, FOAD's Alfa Sprint got me thinking - what free cars have we had over the years!

 

Mine are an Isetta and a Nobel and the wife acquired a Lada Riva from her grandad.

 

What have you had for nowt?

[lisbon_road]

A Vauxhall Viva in about 1988.  Not the one in the picture, though it does now have the gearbox and back axle out of it.

 

A Sierra a few years back that I have the engine box in my Sierra.  Should give the chap some money really, I broke it and sold £1000 of parts - hard work but I could give him something!

 

A Mk3 Astra which I am currently using everyday.

[Pillock]

A 1200 Beetle which I promised the owner I would look after, but it was such a heap of oxidised shit I removed the steering wheel and scrapped it later that week.

[panhard65]

When scrap metal was worth bugger all a few years ago I picked up a few free cars via freecycle. Including a twin cylinder Citroen visa, Rover P6 3500s, Mazda RX7 and a 5 year old at the time Rover 200 with blown head gasket. I did that one up and flogged it for over a grand. The rest of them I just got them running again and flogged them off for a small profit.

[Anglevan]

I was given a Standard 10 In around 2000, needed nothing but an mot which it passed with no issues. Sold for £1500 and never seen it again.

I was sure somat else was given to me but can't think at mo.

[Station]

Rover 213 off my dad in 2002.

[DodgyBastard]

Other than the Alfa, An Allegro and a Lancia Beta last year. Sold the Allegro for £750 and the lancia for £200 which covered transport costs, I felt bad for selling the Lancia as Scooters gave it to me and I had the intention of fixing it up and putting it on the road only to lose enthusiasm after about 2 weeks of owning it.

[castros_bro]

Alfa Romeo 33 LHD  and a model type not sold here,  on Italian plates left in a garage in Dorset by an Australian couple who went home. Well worth all the effort to put it on the road.

[Jim Bell]

A free 406 2.0 pez off my dad.

Which cost me about £700 in repairs in the first month, then got scrapped.

[fordperv]

I was given a 1275 metro, a 1.6 ghia escort, a rover 214 and a 1.6 sierra

[DVee8]

A Mazda 626 estate on a H reg.I got 5 or 6 bin bags full of rubbish out including new and used nappies,around 100 cd's 2 soldering irons and a socket set plus lots of other stuff.

Being the fool that i am it got bridged instead of being used and sold on.

Live and learn.

[mercrocker]

An A35 in 1977.   Rotten as a pear, had a brilliant winter out of it learning how to drift into bus shelters and discovering how uncomfortable it was to sleep in.   Only other freebie was a Mk1 Mini in 1990.   Twice as rotten - it had a months ticket on it which I used to tax it for a year and used it as illicit back-up transport.   Eventually I spent a few hundred quid on bits for it before discovering that not one corner of the shell was actually connected to any of the three others....

[HMC]

Mustard mitt, I've never been lucky enough to have a free car.

 

Closest was in 2003 a distant relative passed away and his Volvo 340, sat little used in his garage, was scrapped before I could offer to take it, and in 1998 I bought a cortina 2.3 Ghia from a Leeds canalside for all of £10; happy days!

[Mr Lobster]

Had a couple of Mk1 Renault 5s back when there were plenty around and you had to pay to get rid of scrap. Ended up breaking them for bits. Shame really.

 

I actually gave a car away once too - I'd completely lost my enthusiasm for old stuff at the time and had advertised it with no takers - 'A' reg Mk1 Renault 5 TS, really solid but no interior, no MOT and a bonnet in a different colour. Wish I'd kept that one, it'd made a nice car now.

[oldcars]

I got my Shuma when my grandfather passed away, Gran wanted me to have it. Now she has sadly passed away too its my duty to keep it mint and on the road 

[dave21478]

A new Daewoo Matits in 1999 or 2000 - raffle prize!

A Lada Niva and most recently a giffer owned pug 106 diesel.

 

My father used to palm off his old cars on me and my sisters too. I got a G-reg Orion off him.

[2MB]

Never been lucky enough to be given a free car but my girlfriend's sister was given a Subaru justy by her auntie. Apparently it was rust free and mint, with only 20 odd k on the clock, but they chopped it in against a new Corsa under the scrappage scheme. This happened before we met and bro in law told me the story last week. I was quietly mortified

[sierraman]

1990 Rover 214SLI 1.4 gifted to me from my brother. Failed head gasket included.

[bub2006]

I remember when adverts where all over for free to collect cars. Mine was a 1991 j plate metro Gta in around 2004. Needed suspension pumping up and was good to go. Another was a pug 309 diesel. Ad said needed gone ASAP. Me and a mate wondered over,car had remnants of a police aware sticker on window ad no ignition barrel.

[Stanky]

I got given a terminally rusty Rover 216i SD3 in ~2002 when they keys were wrestled out of my (now late) grandfathers hands. I used it for about 3 months then the MOT ran out and it got cubed as the front and rear were only kept together by the structural integrity of the carpets. Shame, but I was broke and only 17 at the time so insurance was ruinous.

[xtriple]

I was given a Fiat 126 about 12 years ago. The lass that owned it had died suddenly and her parents just wanted it out of the eyeline. Really sad. I tried to give them money but they wouldn't take it.

 

It was pretty much, mint. Though the lass had been ripped off in grand style by a garage before she died... but that's another story.

 

I've given a few cars and bikes away over the years when I've lost the will to live with them or friends have been skint. Wish I hadn't bothered now to be honest.

[RobT]

A Mk2 Golf Driver from my Dad.  He'd upgraded* to a Corsa C.  I did loads of miles in it, and when I went off to Africa to do some voluntary work in 2005 I gave it to my girlfriend (now Mrs T) to use.  2 days in the headgasket went and she had to pay to get it towed home.  Scrapped the thing after that.

[Twiggy]

^{An Austin 1800 from a colleague at work in 1984(ish). MOT and tax, I put it in the free ads section of Autotrader for £100. First to call came straight over and bought it, didn`t haggle, just took one look at it gave me the cash and away he went. IIRC, motion lotion was around £1 a gallon then so £100 was worth a lot more than it is now.}

[hennabm]

      Not had any freebies.

 

The nearest I have had, was paying £50 for a BMW 316 that I ran for 18mths.

[Bobthebeard]

My grandfather gave me a lovely Bedford Roma back in 1980. Basically a converted van (by Martin Walters IIRC). It was an H registration, grey with maroon side flash things. Raising roof, extending rear etc. I had been all around Scotland in it with my grandparents as a kid. Slept in a sort of bunk thingy in the roof. I ran it for a couple of months then swapped it for a white Vauxhall Victor as it looked way cooler*, had bench seats and a column change. The Victor lasted a week then broke down massively. Can't remember the details but it got scrapped. Verdict. I was an idiot. Grandad was livid.

The Roma was bought by a neighbour from the garage and lasted him years of happy camping. Still feel angry at my youthful stupidity!

 

My mum has some photos (on slides) of a few camping trips in it. One of the pics shows my grandparents grey Roma parked up next to his cousin Bill's Roma, theirs was a white one.

 

Edit. They had a washing line strung between the two cars. Lovely.

[oman5]

I was given a C plate Talbot Solara 1.6 GLS around 1998, by my sister before she went all posh. It had 6 months mot and iirc there was something wrong with the ignition module where it took lots of cranking to get it started. Once up and running it was a decent car, fair turn of speed and nice supple suspension with big squishy seats.

I did actually attempt to re-mot it but it was pretty rotten around the back end so it ended up cubed.

 

The only other I got given was a 1978 Saab 99 combi. it was pretty tidy in some weird pastel green colour. I drove it once and didn't like it, 4 speed manual meant it was massively under geared on the motorway and I had about 6 other cars at the time. No takers when I advertised it so it got cubed sadly.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Free cars:

 

1982:

1962 Sunbeam Rapier 111 

1970 Austin 1300

 

1983:

1965 Mini

1970 Cortina GT Mark 11

1962 Beetle

 

1985:

1979 Mini Clubman Estate

 

 

I'm sure there are others but those spring to mind.

[eddyramrod]

I have a feeling this subject has been covered before, but I CBA to search for it...    However, I have had one or two freebies in my time.

1960 Austin A40 in 1978.

1971 Vauxhall Viva in Cyprus in 2010.

1990 Mazda 323F in Cyprus in 2011.

Can't help thinking I've missed something out, if I have it'll come to me.

[dugong]

Nothing.

 

It must be great to have stuff dropped into your lap for free to then sell on for a vast profit having done fuck all.

Must be like owning property or working for the council.

 

Fuck off, don't care, just give us some money. I'm the most important. Go me.

[Bobthebeard]

Nothing.

It must be great to have stuff dropped into your lap for free to then sell on for a vast profit having done fuck all.

Must be like owning property or working for the council.

Fuck off, don't care, just give us some money. I'm the most important. Go me.

😳