REGINALD NUTSACKS 1.2-LITRE BEATERS

[ChinaTom]

I'm picking my Seicento up this week from Scotland and whizzing it down to P'boro to GumBay it off my folk's driveway. Fresh MOT, new starter, new tyres etc. I could go via Cheshire and get the train back from there...

 

Trouble is, the £35 spectre hangs over these, so I may need to dodge the AS valuation guide and aim higher. Cracking little buzz-box though.

 

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[Louise2cv]

My sis had two of these when we first passed our test:

 

Sad faced festa: I liked. But only drove it a couple of times. Replaced a 1991 metro so felt like a lottery winners car in comparison.

 

Metro: horrible most flimsy, tinny car I have ever driven and I am Louise*2cv*!

 

Pug: I know it isn't what counts, but they look cool.

[UltraWomble]

The 1.4 Metro in 8v or 16v guise handles like a go kart.

The reason I hate the K series so much is twofold - rust ( galloping) and the Kettle ( kettling)

 

I'd far rather have an A series. That said I had two K series and both handled brilliantly and were a hoot to drive. A little cramped inside for me, and the fuel tank could have done with being larger.

 

Citroen AX/ Pug 106 also have similar handling feelings.

[MrDuke]

Hey this sounds friggin ace! Any more Intel???

They're in Hertfordshire, they've only had it for a few months while their other car was off the road. I don't reckon they'll want much more than a couple of hundred tbh. I'll phone them tomorrow and see if they can take some pics.

[dieselassist]

Suzuki swift 1.3 ?? I had one years back when I 'returned home' to Ireland n couldn't get a reasonable insurance quote for anything bigger engine/more substantial - having to start my 'insurance company history' with them all over, as they didn't recognise any other countries driving history,,,, bought it on a whim off a workmate's brother in law when I was working night shifts production welding - bonnet was welded shut (hinge fugged) and covered in paint, as the chap was a painter decorator... was very much abused when I got it, but I got 6 months out of it; clutch went in between that time; snapped the one key I had for it in its fuel filler cap one xmas driving my mate back to the airport, n a door handle or two fell to bits - never failed to proceed n was very quick/ nippy - I also did long trips in it n it was surprisingly good on motorway legs, n returned decent MPG - mine was a 4dr n wasn't much of a looker but did the job - random stuff like exhaust sections are expensive - €380 for the full exhaust so I just welded up my own version.... I sold it on to a Kiwi lady n bought a 91 Toyota Sprinter which was as good if not better... still I'd have another swift again - great small cars n very under-rated IMO

 

[philibusmo]

I can see whats happening with the Lancia Y10 loan car? It's a 1.3 and a hoot and a half - currently with a mate of mine in Durham, but could potentially be made available.

[Kiltox]

One of the guys at my work had an Alfa Romeo and it when it was in getting repaired (surprise) they gave him a basic Panda as courtesy car and he said he absolutely loved it. The just seem really well thought out. You can tell the places corners have been cut (no paint under the bonnet or engine bay) but over all they're really good. You don't really hear about them going wrong too much either.

*massive sweary rant*

 

Suppose I did buy a thoroughly end of life one mind.

 

Available for a massive £40 to anyone with a trailer and no sanity.

[Pillock]

The only two I've got experience with that have been listed are:

 

Fiesta. Tried in 1.8D form, utterly dependable and once you'd got up to speed you could keep it there on the twisty bits. Because you had to, because 1.8D.

I'd imagine a 1.25 to be quite nice really as the engine was my only complaint with the diesel.

 

Saxo. Similar thing really, you could sense it was made of tinfoil and spit but you drove it by swerving around stuff and keeping the speed up. Every journey was like a police chase in a French film. Nippy was the best word for it, also "clangy". 

 

I've also bombed around in an old Uno 55 which was hilarious trying to Vmax it on every journey, but I'd imagine any of those left now are either a resto project, or they've been restored and the owner wants all their cash back. Oh, and a Corsa 1.5TD which was fugging great, a weird mix of small car and the turbo whine off a Volvo F16 Globetrotter.

 

Nobody's mentioned Mk3 Polo yet, you can still get them with body panels all the same colour and a lack of Nitromors. Honest little things, don't appear to rust too badly, for a giggle get the 1.3 GT but the regular 1.3 is still alright.

 

Just realised I've had way more fun in little tiny cars than big ones. 

[phil_lihp]

Phil's Y10 is a great shout, I can't think of a better custodian for it and it's ideal for a back road hoon, as long as it's not too bumpy.

[tapir]

https://www.gumtree.com/p/peugeot/peugeot-205xe/1208442959

 

Any good? £300, MOT till november and history looks good.

 

[500tops]

Another vote for EP91 Starlet. Rock bottom prices, ride well, pretty nippy and *never go wrong!

[KruJoe]

 

 

Transmission: Manual

Model: 106 Fuel: Petrol

Engine Size: 1.4L

MOT oct 2017

 

£25 starting bid and it's not far away (Coalville).

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Peugeot-106-XR-/322384325995?hash=item4b0f9a6d6b:g:UQsAAOSw5cNYQvPO

[Jim Bell]

Theres a battered Fabia up here on Facebook for 150 squids.

 

 

 

 

[M'coli]

 

 

£25 starting bid and it's not far away (Coalville).

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Peugeot-106-XR-/322384325995?hash=item4b0f9a6d6b:g:UQsAAOSw5cNYQvPO

I'd be all over this like a tramp on chips if I needed another petrol 106, it's just the right spec.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Quite an appealing Mazda Demio has appeared on my FB feed for not very much, but it seems to be being sold by a teenage girl from what I can tell so is probably one to avoid. Might try offering the latest copy of 'Smash Hits' and a packet of fags in payment.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

This 'Mazda 121' looks absolutely perfect, typically its right on the bastard S coast though

 

https://www.gumtree.com/p/mazda/mazda-121/1208897089

[Parky]

And built up the road from me in the Japanese suburb of Dagenham!

[Sigmund Fraud]

What you really want is a Lupo/Arosa. Like a shorter, better built Polo 6N without the grim interior and wallowy suspension.

 

Easy to work on, parts are easily available and cost peanuts, very good on fuel, cheap to insure.

 

Slightly less comfortable suspension than its french rivals, but far superior from an NVH perspective. Not as quick or pleasant to drive as a Fiesta or Metro, but far (...far, far !) more rust resistant.

 

Oh, almost forgot... It's a VW so you can always tastefully* modify it to join the cool* kids :

 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

"Lifestyle Understatement Performance Optimism", anyone remember that? What a load of balls.

[SiC]

The Lupo GTi's look like an absolute hoot though.

[EssDeeWon]

Check out the Rover Metro with leather and 48k in Stafford I just posted on the tat thread.

[cort16]

I have to say I've always found living with most basic small cars a profoundly miserable experience. No performance, no space, no equipment, crap fuel economy, tale gated relentlessly by knob heads and they're usually horrible to work on unless you have tiny otter hands. The Panda is surprisingly roomy inside but it is horrible to work on.

[Pillock]

The Lupo GTi's look like an absolute hoot though.

 

They did when they were new.

Now, every single one of them has been thrashed to shite. I'd love one, but I'll never bother because finding a good one is like finding a needle in a haystack. Underwater. Blindfolded.

[Guest bangerfan101]

+1 on the sad face fiesta. Got mine as a stopgap and she's still running sweet 10 months of abuse later

[rml2345]

No-one mentioned an AX yet?

 

 

Sadly only 1 litre, so outside the +- 10% rule, but I reckon it would make up for it in the drive like a rollerskate stakes.

Needs welding and no MOT, so could be a bargainamundo

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291994958919?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I was going to suggest an AX but you need tiny feet and offset knees to drive one as the pedals are like piano keys all in one corner and the rest of the footwell is wheelarch. Having said that, its probably the most hilarious car I've ever owned, like a tin top go-kart and if you chucked it at a back road it just clung on with ever more comedic body roll. The small but willing engine and four speed box meant you really had to drive it all the time though which could be quite tiring. An 1124cc with better gearbox might be easier but you'd really need to keep the brakes in good fettle as they don't inspire confidence at the best of times.

They are also very noisy.

The 106 or 205 will undoubtedly be easier to live with however being roomier and a bit more solidly constructed but if you fit in one and can live with it's faults AXs are ace.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Had a bid on the 21k mile Rover 100 at the start of this thread today, didnt win it though, went for 530 quid, there was only one other bidder. Onward!

[dollywobbler]

I have to say I've always found living with most basic small cars a profoundly miserable experience. No performance, no space, no equipment, crap fuel economy, tale gated relentlessly by knob heads and they're usually horrible to work on unless you have tiny otter hands. The Panda is surprisingly roomy inside but it is horrible to work on.

 

I think you need to try a Nippa. It has all the negative points you mention (bar 55mpg) but somehow manages to make me smile every time I drive it. It's so wonderfully dreadful that it's somehow ace. 

[vulgalour]

It's so wonderfully dreadful that it's somehow ace.

The very definition of 'shite'.

[strangeangel]

The Skoda Favorit is great, if you like asthmatic, rattling horrors with an interior made of the cheapest brown plastic you will ever see. They go well, are comfortable (if noisy and prone to a bit of the old rock'n'roll) and reliable if prone to rust. I had one for five years with no complaints at all. In the unlikely event that you can find one that hasn't been entirely consumed by rot then I say go for it.

 

There are several posts mentioning 'modern' Pandas, I see... Our Lass has had one for the last eight years, and it has been mega reliable, and super cheap to run. It has even put up with her absolute lack of mechanical empathy for the last 160000 miles of unremitting abuse, which is, frankly, remarkable. Sadly though it is a truly miserable thing to drive; it's noisy and gutless, with dreadful seats and rock hard suspension. The driving position is awful - a normal-sized bloke (me) has his left knee digging into the transmission tunnel and will smash his right elbow on the door when reversing round a corner. There is no boot to speak of, and you can see the square root of fuck all in the door mirrors. And yet even when all that's taken into account, I'd still rather drive one of these than a Metro.

[Alexg]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BANHAM-CONVERTIBLE-/252472434906