Old shite photos

[wuvvum]

I was turning out a cupboard last night looking for something completely unrelated (a multi travel adaptor thing for my upcoming US trip if you must know), and I found a couple of long-forgotten SD cards.  Plugged them into the computer and found a load of photos of vehicles I've owned over the last 10 years or so, some of which I'd completely forgotten about (although some were posted on here long ago).  Some of them might be of interest...

 

Here they are in roughly chronological order.

 

This was the last Mk2 Escort I owned - I just managed to catch the tail end of the period when a sensibly priced one would occasionally come up.  This was a 1.6 Ghia with a Kent cam and a close-ratio 'box (1600GT?), and it went like the clappers - until I melted a piston after sitting at the ton for ten miles on the A47.  I sold it to a mate who was going to repair it but never got round to it - don't know what happened to it in the end.  The 940 saloon in the background was mine too - 2.3 LPT auto.

 

 

 

This was my second A40 - this is actually after I owned it, when I had it it didn't have the numbers on the side.  It did however have a 1275cc Midget engine fitted, and went like the clappers on the rare occasions it was running right.

 

 

 

This was my first VDP 1500.  It was an auto, bought for £67 (!) from a classic car auction, back in the days before such places charged idiotic amounts of buyer's premium.  Suspension was a bit low and it didn't like to idle, but it drove OK other than that (or as OK as any vehicle with the AP autobox ever drove).

 

 

 

Scorpio Cosworth estate.  This was a bit of a beast when the gearbox was working properly, which it often wasn't.  Bonus Saab 99 and the back of my old Hiace camper.

 

 

 

Bedford Rascal.  Loved this little thing, far quicker than it had any right to be - it was ridiculously low geared but the engine would rev to about 9,000 which made up for the gearing.  I took it up to 80 on the bypass once, which was mildly terrifying.  Bonus CX estate, petrol Sherpa, Volvo and the top of the Toyota camper again.

 

 

 

BMW 635 CSI.  Not one of my better purchases.  It was a lovely car to drive (dogleg manual 'box), but I paid over the odds for it and then sold it far too cheap to fund the purchase of a Saab 900 T16S, which turned out to be fucked.

 

 

 

HA Viva, which was my daily for quite a while.  I loved this little thing.  It had a 1256cc Chevette engine fitted, and went like poo off a spade (relatively speaking).  Turned on a sixpence too.  Handling was rubbish, but it was so narrow and the steering was so light that you could get it completely out of shape and it really didn't matter.

 

 

 

Vauxhall Ten.  Should've kept this really (especially since it's now MOT exempt), but I sold it when I bought the Daimler Conquest Century (which there were no photos of on the memory card, but I've posted pictures of it before).  Drove nicely for an old 'un, apart from dreadful brakes (which probably needed a service to be fair).

 

 

 

Maserati Biturbo.  Bought this from Leeds, and trailered it home despite it being T&T'd - which is unusual for me, normally anything running gets driven home whether it's tested or not (only other time I've trailered an MOT'd car is the Mazda 121, but that was because I already had the trailer to pick up a non-running 323 Turbo, and it was just easier than getting the train).

 

 

 

Volvo 940 TD estate.  I bought this with the specific purpose of driving down to central France to pick up all the crap I'd been storing at our holiday house, which was being sold.  I then drove to my parents' in Grenoble to pick up the family Mirror dinghy which they weren't using, and then back home to Norfolk - it used a bit of oil, but other than that it never missed a beat.  This is it outside the gîte where my parents were staying.

 

 

And here it is outside the holiday house, loaded up and ready to go, with the Transit luton my dad had hired and the corner of my parents' Focus.

 

 

 

Renner Five.  This was a 1.1 GTL with a 5-speed 'box, and the best one out of the three of these I've owned.  It was my daily for quite a while - not quick, but comfy and economical.

 

 

 

My trusty old 900 T16S.  This also did daily duties for many months, until the head gasket went.  It sat for ages waiting for my mechanic mate to get round to doing it, and eventually got pikey'd.

 

 

 

The PB Cresta.  This was a wonderful old thing - it'd actually been used in historic rallies so the paint job wasn't just for show.  It had the later 3.3 engine and with the stripped-out interior it was bloody fast - it guzzled petrol though and it had no heater, so was unuseable in the cold winter we had that year.  So I sold it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JU250 van.  I bought this from north Yorkshire - it was cheap enough, but by the time I'd trailered it home behind my 2.8 petrol Nissan Patrol it owed me quite a bit...  It was a complete bag of shit to drive, but it was pressed into service when I was in the process of moving house, and I did several tip runs in it, which raised a few eyebrows.

 

 

 

Saviem tipper.  This, on the other hand, was a great old thing to drive for such an old design.  Plenty of grunt from the 2.6-litre four pot, although a 3,200rpm rev limiter restricted the top speed to about 55.  Coil springs all round, so it rode nicely, and could actually be slung into corners if you could hang onto the steering wheel.

 

 

 

Skoda 130 LSE.  I'd been down to Essex to buy a Xantia HDI, but that turned out to be a bit of a heap so I left it.  Then on the way home I got a 'phone call from a mate, who'd just picked this up cheap after the previous giffer owner passed on, and did I want it?  Yes, yes I did.  It was slow as feck to start off with, having been giffer-driven all its life, but it gradually loosened up as it got used more.  I eventually decided that I didn't really need two Estelles in the fleet, and I stuck this one on eBay.  A rather large gentleman came down on the train from Scotland and drove away in it - I never heard anything more so not sure if it got him home OK or not...

 

 

 

Ford Galaxy.  This was a bit of a heap, but useful for hauling shit around - I picked up a couple of bikes in the back during my ownership.

 

 

 

Mk1 MR2.  This drove beautifully, but was rather rotten beneath the bodykit.  Ended up being sold to a mate when the fleet started to get a bit out of control (again).

 

 

 

This Colt was a lovely little thing - 1.4 auto with very low miles, owned IIRC by an old biddy who'd given up driving.  I drove it home from Brighton in hideous conditions and it ran beautifully - although it was somewhat undergeared for motorway use.  I ran around in it for a while, then decided it was too nice to use as a winter daily and sold it on.

 

 

 

 

Saab 9000 Carlsson.  Except it wasn't a real Carlsson because the exhaust pipe was too small.

 

 

 

This Astra was fitted with the infamous GM low-blow engine.  I know there's not a lot of love for these on here, but I found it a perfectly adequate powerplant - not as punchy as the Isuzu engine, but quick enough to overtake without too much forward planning.

 

 

 

Rover 620 diesel.  This was an impulse buy off eBay, which I didn't keep for long - it was a perfectly pleasant car, but didn't really fit into the fleet at the time.

 

 

 

My Z32.  This had rear suspension issues which made handling at speed interesting, but was great to drive other than that.  I'd have another, but prices seem to have gone a bit daft since then.

 

 

 

Alfasud looking a bit sorry for itself.  This is shortly before I sold it - it was structurally remarkably sound for one of these, but needed too many niggly little jobs doing for me to take on at the time.  It went to Ipswich and then sat around for ages - not sure what happened to it in the end.

 

 

 

Honda Accord.  I liked this car, and should have kept it really.  It was quite an innocuous-looking thing, but it had the 2-litre 16-valve 150bhp engine, which in a relatively light car meant it went far better than its looks would suggest.  I took it round Marham one time, where it raised a few eyebrows.  It even had working aircon and cruise control.  Had ABS issues though which were preventing it from getting a test, and I couldn't be arsed with it at the time.

 

 

 

More to follow in a bit.

[rrsix]

The rake on the Cresta is fantastic 

[greengartside]

Loving that 9000 Carlsson!

[Cavcraft]

Without intending to sound patronising, I love this sort of thread. There isn't a single car you have in this above thread I wouldn't want to own.

[DVee8]

I could get well happy with that viva.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

The Colt ruffles my truffles. I owned a Y plate one with the double gearstick getup. Rare when new I reckon.

[HMC]

Brilliant selection of old chod. I missed the boat with mk1/2 escorts long ago. Did you have many others wuv when they were cheap?

[Matt]

The PB Cresta.  This was a wonderful old thing - it'd actually been used in historic rallies so the paint job wasn't just for show.  It had the later 3.3 engine and with the stripped-out interior it was bloody fast - it guzzled petrol though and it had no heater, so was unuseable in the cold winter we had that year.  So I sold it.

 

PICT0577.JPG

 

Yes! What a fabulous thing.

[Sudsprint]

Fantastic spread of vehicles. Love the Sud, the Renault 5 and the commercials in particular.

[Split_Pin]

That's an eclectic mix of interesting cars, love that Cresta, older than old-school itself.

 

Real regrets are over what we didn't try, so it looks like you won't have any, motoring-wise!

[Vantman]

A wonderful selection of vehicles,thanks for sharing.   I really must do a thread on some of my past vehicles.

[mercrocker]

All major motoring food groups are represented as well as some rarer minerals and vitamins.    Very healthy shite diet.

[cort16]

some great stuff there

[wuvvum]

I missed the boat with mk1/2 escorts long ago. Did you have many others wuv when they were cheap?

I had a Mk1 Escort van about ten years ago which I bought for 150 quid - underneath was rotten but it ran and drove.  I had a few before that, including a matt black bubble arched Mk1 1300, a tatty but running gold Mk2 estate I paid 50 quid for, and a couple of Mk2 vans that I never got round to doing anything with.

[wuvvum]

Right then, where were we?

 

 

Ah yes.  This was a chopped-down Chinese scooter (a Yiben if memory serves) which I used to buzz to and from work for a while.  It was actually surprisingly reliable, but it wasn't exactly quick for a 125 - and those headlights were completely useless.

 

 

 

This proto-Proton was bought off eBay as I was missing the W-reg Colt.  This was a 1.5 manual and was nothing like as interesting as the earlier car, although it drove nicely enough.  I sold it to a mate, who crashed it.

 

 

 

My first Magentis - and my first car with a "new style" registration.  This was a 2.5 LX and was a lovely thing to drive.  Unfortunately I bought it in the dark and didn't notice that the roof had a load of little dents, which put a lot of people off when I came to sell it.

 

 

 

Mitsubishi Galant.  I'd always liked the look of these, and this came up at the right price at the right time.  Unfortunately it had a noisy gearbox, as a lot of these did.  I ended up selling it to a chap who had another one with different gearbox issues - he was going to make one good 'box out of the two...

 

 

 

I bought all three of these on the same weekend - on the Saturday I set off for London at the crack of sparrow to pick up the CX, then that evening I went to Thetford to buy the SD1.  Then it was down to Buckinghamshire on the Sunday for the Moggy.  All were taxed and drove home under their own power (although I lost half the Moggy exhaust just short of Kings Lynn), and I had change from a grand for the trio.  Those were the days.

 

 

 

Here's a couple more of the SD1 - a 2600S with a wonderful blue velour interior.

 

 

 

 

 

And here's the CX.  2-litre carb Pallas.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a Transit Executive that I bought from up in the Yorkshire dales, via this very forum.  It was basically the predecessor to the Tourneo, so had nice comfy seats, alloys and a turbo diesel engine, and really drove rather nicely.  Unfortunately it was even more rotten than I'd first thought, so I ended up selling it on.

 

 

 

My first QX.  This was a 2-litre, so sounded nice and was pleasant to drive but really not very fast at all.

 

 

 

Saab 9000.  This was a 2.3 turbo which had been tuned.  It had Aero seats fitted and went like a bat out of hell.  Bonus ex-Spottedlaurel Camry estate next to it.

 

 

 

Doloshite.  This was originally an 1850 but had had a Sprint engine fitted, which I never did manage to get running right.  Eventually sold it to a lad off RR.

 

 

 

My first of three dizzler Espaces.  This was a later DCi.  It drove nicely, but the oil cooler went just as I was selling it, so I ended up losing quite a bit of money on it.  I vowed after that that I'd never own another modern diesel Renault.  I've only had five more since then.

 

 

 

Petrol Fourtrak.  I owned this twice - sold it to a mate who used it for a while, but fell out of love with it when a front wheel bearing broke up on the M11.    I bought it back off him, did the bearing and used it for a while longer.

 

 

 

My Alpine.  I bought this from somewhere over in Warwickshire, drove it back with no problems - it always looked like it was about to overheat but never did, and went bloody well too.

 

 

 

Rover P6 V8.  I bought this in the dark from a chap near Wisbech.  It turned out to be quite rotten.  I sold it to a mate who welded it all up, then it lost reverse gear so he got pissed off with it and sold it back to me.  I stuck it on Carandclassic as I was in need of funds at the time, and a chap from Germany bought it - came over in his Hymer camper with a trailer.  Nice chap - he even brought me a bottle of his local liqueur, which I still have a bit of left (it's quite potent stuff).  Including the second photo even though it's rubbish because the Mobylette makes a cheeky appearance.

 

 

 

 

Austin Ten.  This was the last "vintage" car I owned (it was actually a 1946 model so didn't count as vintage, but whatever).  Looked nice but was crap to drive, and it kept blowing head gaskets - not a difficult job on a sidevalve engine, but still a pain.

 

 

 

 

 

Mazda 626 1.8 petrol.  Utterly reliable and brilliant on fuel, but deadly dull and I just couldn't find a comfortable driving position, so didn't keep it long.

 

 

 

Toyota Townace.  This had had the start of a half-arsed camper conversion in the back, but the previous owner had given up on it.  I bought it from Sheffield in OMGSNOKAOS and had great fun* driving it home, especially as the heater only blew hot intermittently.  It was a nice enough thing to drive though, very comfortable and relaxing, if not hugely quick, and the 4 wheel drive came in useful several times that winter. 

 

 

 

Time goes on and the Colts get newer.  This was a 1.5 auto that I bought from Cambridge.  Pleasant enough to drive, but utterly useless in the snow and did about 19 mpg.  Then I left it parked up in Norwich overnight and it got nicked.

 

 

 

Peugeot 104.  This was another car which was far thirstier than its performance could justify - although part of that was probably because it'd been sat for ages when I bought it and the front brakes would bind on like a bastard - at the end of one 15-mile run in the dark, the front discs were actually glowing a dull red when I got home.  Sold it on RR in the end.

 

 

 

 

Carlton 2.6 estate.  Nice old thing to drive, if not quite as pokey as I would have hoped from such a large engine.  I think Garycox ended up having this one.

 

 

 

Dodge 50.  This was another partial camper conversion.  It'd been downrated to 3.5 tonnes, which was useful.  I drove it all the way home from fugging Cardiff - that took a while.  Hit a monsoon on the M25, which it didn't mind at all - chunky tyres, rapid wipers and high enough up to be above most of the spray - I actually got into the outside lane at one point.  That didn't happen very often though - this still ranks as the slowest vehicle I've taken down my private stretch of bypass, hitting 60mph from a standing start in 58.5 seconds, 3 seconds behind the Ligier Ambra.  The carbuncle on the front of the roof was so a full-length ladder would fit in.

 

 

 

This was my second QX.  This one was a 3-litre, and was much more enjoyable to drive than the smaller-engined version.  I sold it to the same mate I'd sold the beige Colt to, and he wrote this one off as well.

 

 

 

Scirocco.  Don't really remember a lot about this, apart from the mushy brakes.  I have a feeling it was an automatic.

 

 

 

Toyota Estima Enema.  I actually really liked this - I never had any mechanical issues in my ownership, and despite nominally having only two more horsepower than the Townace, performance was in a different league - I had 101 mph out of it up the A11 once.  4 wheel drive too.

 

 

 

My first Laguna II.  This one was actually quite reliable, apart from not locking on the button and the driver's door window not working - but that's par for the course with these.  The rear shocks had had it, but other than that it drove nicely.  It was a 1.8 petrol if memory serves.

 

 

 

Marea 2.4 JTD estate.  This was a quick car when it was running right - unfortunately the previous owner's Mrs. had run it out of diesel and sucked a load of crap into the fuel system, so it kept fouling up its fuel filter.  I sold it to help pay for a holiday to Morocco, so this must have been about the time of the Stondon meet.

 

 

 

Another SD1.  This had started life as a 2600 but had been converted to V8 auto.  Nice to drive, if thirsty - not helped by the fact that the kickdown cable kept getting stuck.

 

 

 

Shit blurry twilight picture of the Justy.  This was a brilliant winter hack, unstoppable in the snow.  Surprisingly good to drive in "normal" conditions too.

 

 

 

190E manual.  I didn't keep this long as I couldn't get on with the manual 'box.  Again, this sold through RR.

 

 

 

This was my third and (to date) last 166.  2-litre twin spark manual.  Sold when the fleet was once again getting out of control, to Craigcheetam formerly of this parish.  Funnily enough, as he was giving me a lift to the station after I'd delivered the car to him, we spotted a white ECVT Justy for sale in someone's driveway for a very tempting price - I was so close to knocking on the door, but in a rare moment of sensibleness I managed to resist.

 

 

 

Punto turbo diesel, bought off a mate's lad.  This wasn't a particularly brilliant vehicle - it really wasn't much more economical than a 1.2 petrol Punto.  It also overheated if taken much over 60 - not a problem for my single-carriageway commute, but would've been a bit of a pain on longer journeys.  Sold it to a giffer who reckoned he never went over 50 anyway.

 

 

 

Honda Accord VTEC.  I picked this up from north Norfolk, paid 100 quid for it.  I bought it as there was a Marham trackday coming up and I didn't have anything suitable to take.  Then the trackday was cancelled and so I sold it.

 

 

 

CZ 180, bought off a mate of Spottedlaurel's I think.  Surprisingly good fun to ride when it was working right, but not the most reliable thing.

 

 

 

One of only two R8s I've owned.  This was quite a basic one, but pleasant nonetheless, as R8s normally are.

 

 

 

Beetle.  This looked nice and ran OK but was actually quite rotten.  Didn't really do very much with it to be honest.

 

 

 

LDV 400.  Ex Parcel Farce, so roller shutter door on the back and slam locks on the cab doors (which caught me out once - I had to borrow a pair of boltcutters from a passing pikey in a Transit pickup and cut the padlock on the roller door, then lean through the window in the bulkhead and open the cab doors from the inside).  This was a NA 2.5 Peugeot diesel, so not fast, but a reliable old thing and quite solid despite appearances.

 

 

 

My first Stagea.  This was a non-turbo but still quite adequately quick.  The 4 wheel drive didn't work, I think this was linked to the ABS light being on.  Still a nice thing to drive though, and far better on fuel than the turbo.

 

 

 

That's all, folks...

[Sudsprint]

Fantastic

 

Must admit complete ignorance of a Stagea (from your photo I thought it was some front end grafted on a 405 estate 'till I Googled it!)

 

Live and learn etc..

[Spottedlaurel]

Good to see them – some were familiar to me, others not. I remember seeing your stash parked up when you lived in the city. That would have been late 2003 and we were test driving a rusty Prairie, so some years before AS. I dimly recall an Allegro, but could be wrong.

[fatharris]

A very eclectic collection there.

MrsWuvvum is a saint.

[PiperCub]

Great & varied collection - thanks for posting it. I can only claim to have owned a very few of these. 

 

 

Am I alone in seeing a reg plate '51' and onwards and still thinks 'That's a new car'? (The newest I've had is X).

[Timewaster]

Did I imagine it, or did someone here one buy some sort of East European military truck in a drunken ebay moment?

 

I'm sure I read it and it made me chuckle. So much so I joined up.

[mercrocker]

I still cannot comprehend the new plates either.....Keep seeing "JRU" or "OCR" and thinking they are local from new before I remember its completely random now....

[Bstardchild]

Sheesh chap - you really do have a car buying problem - please carry on

[wuvvum]

A very eclectic collection there.

 

MrsWuvvum is a saint.

MrsWuvvum is imaginary.

[DVee8]

I found these, while looking for something else