The old chod we bought when we were young vs. the old chod young people buy today

[Junkman]

This occurred to me when I recently saw a twenty something guy pulling up at Morrison's petrol station with his '93 Seville, which sounded rather menacing

thanks to some sophisticated pimpage courtesy of Borla.

Let's realise that he had a 24 year old Cadillac, which is probably as old as he is (which somehow made me feel very, very old).

I bought a 24 year old Cadillac in 1986, when I was a twenty something. Thinking this through, we both did exactly the same thing at roughly the same age.

Looking at the end results, the brainwindings warp.

[STUNO]

My first car was 25 years old, 7 years older than me.

A 1940 Ford Prefect. It was distinctly old technology even in 1965. It also only caught fire once (wiring short, non fatal). It never failed to proceed. Stopping was another story ........

 

Edit. I still have the insurance policy, 3rd party only , 5 pounds 2 shillings and 10 pence !

[fatharris]

My first car was a 15 year old Nissan Sunny I bought for £240 which gives an indication of its condition.

 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[Dave_Q]

Things I had when I was 21 or so included:

 

A 14 year old 7 series

 

A 12 year old small Renault

 

And a 14 year old VW Scirocco (no equivalent)

 

Not sure what modern me would be driving, but it's not them.

[doobietoo]

The first cat I bought was 6 years younger than me while the last is 2 years older.....am I doing it wrong????

[mercrocker]

After I passed my test in 1977 I drove my 1963 Imp to work. 

In 2017 I am still driving a 1963 Minor to work. 

  

I can't see anybody still being allowed to do that in a half century's time no matter what they buy today..... 

[Richard]

My first car was a thirteen year old Escort. A 53 plate Focus would be appalling shit, but nowhere near as shit as that Escort was.

 

My first legal car was an eight year old Sunbeam. The nearest equivalent now would be an 09 plate 207, which does seem like a new car.

 

Years and miles on pre-1980 cars count double by post-1990 standards though. Even the ten year/100k Volvo 244 we had was more akin to the twenty year/200k 850 I have now than an 07 plate V70. By that logic the Escort was more like an H plate Mk5 and the Sunbeam more like a Y plate 206.

[solid61]

One of my 1st legal cars was a 1957 victor f type,had it in 1979 and cars like it were super rare then,always got people coming up to talk about it and how they remembered them,if i drove a 22 year old vauxhall now nobody would notice,they would more than likely think i had no money to buy a nice new one.

[Richard]

I think my theory stands up there. Your Victor is like having a 1973 FE Victor now, which sounds about right to me.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

First car in 1981 was a 1970 Cortina, which obviously equates to a 2006 Mondeo. I don't know if a 17 year old could insure an 06 Mondeo now , I suspect not, but I seem to remember my insurance was about the same as mates with Escorts, Minis and Fiestas, whereas now anything over a 1000cc is prohibitively expensive.

 

The other great thing about insurance then was the "Driving cars not belonging to you or hired to you under a hire purchase agreement"this wonderful , legally dubious loophole meant over the following 2 or 3 years I had ( roughly in order) 72 Zodiac Executive, 76 Audi 100, 58 V8 Land Rover, 77 R16, 69 XJ6, 77 Audi 100 5E, 73 Capri 3.0 GXL, 76 Cortina 2000E, 74 R17 Gordini, 75 Daimler Sovereign . As well as driving a lot of Escorts and their Cortina engine donors.

I was stopped by the Police many times, almost daily in fact, at one time. Given many 7 day producers and that Cortina policy with the magic 3rd party only, driving other cars clause was always accepted. Not sure if my mom knows to this day , just how many heaps she was the registered keeper of in the early 80's.

[gordonbennet]

Passed me test in 72 age 17, first car was a '59 Volvo 122s Amazon cost me £60, but an unusual one having been imported from South Africa and had red rear indicators and now i think about it amber front side lights, which passed the MOT test fine,  plate rivetted to the top of the engine which said ''engine conversions by University Motors Salisbury'', dunno what had been done ( 4 branch flowed exhaust manifold the only obvious alteration) but it went like hell.

[Richard]

My insurance didn't even have my car's details on the policy, it was just for any car registered to me. In a claim situation it would have to be the car I told them was mine but in a HORT1 situation it covered anything.

[solid61]

I think my theory stands up there. Your Victor is like having a 1973 FE Victor now, which sounds about right to me.

The f type was 22 years old when i drove it,that would be like having a 1995 model now,i remember a lot of my mates at the time thaught it was crap ant in hindsight they were probably right

[cros]

The first cat I bought was 6 years younger than me while the last is 2 years older.....am I doing it wrong????

What the fuck are they putting in Iams these days?

[They_all_do_that_sir]

I had a 3yr old corsa. I was young and stupid, had inherited about £3000 from my gran and blew it all on the car.

My current self wishes I'd bought a nova instead - at the time a tidy enough example could be had for £300.

 

 

 

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

[DVee8]

My first road legal cars were a vauxhall cavalier that snapped it's cam shaft and a Toyota camry. So that would make it a insignia and a camry. I have a BMW and a Nissan x-trail. No real change then.

[Mr A Lawrence]

My first legal car after passing my test in 1990 was a '78 marina.

 

Before that I was bombing about in the lanes of deepest darkest Yorkshire in a '74 mini 1000 bought for £100 in 1987.

[Eddie Honda]

Not exactly cars first bought as quite a few contemporaries were driving parents cars initially. Here's the list:

 

Me (bought)[car age]:

 

Citroen Dyane 6 [11] / no idea what the equivalent would be now.

Wolseley 16/60 [23] / ditto

Reliant Regal [23] / ditto

 

Others:

Renault 21 Savanna [4] / Laguna 3 

Austin Metro Red Hot [2] / what would they be driving now? Korean tin?

Austin Metro [4]

Austin Metro [4]

Fiat Uno [3] / Punto 3rd gen?

Ford Fiesta [2] / (mk7)

Ford Fiesta [11] / (mk6)

Ford Fiesta [12] / (mk6)

Morris Minor [24] / can't think of an equivalent for these either

Renault 19 [1] / Megane 3/4

Renault 19 [2] / Megane 3/4

Vauxhall Astra [9] / mk5/H

Vauxhall Nova [6] / Corsa D

VW Golf [10] / mk5

VW Passat [5] / B7

 

Following on from that, nothing would have changed much. Plenty of sub-ten year-old stuff there, just the odd outbreak of 20+ with me as the main player.

[Ghosty]

And here I am with a 22 year old Rover...

I can't imagine anyone in ten years time buying a Project Drive 25/45 and lavishing it with attention.

I'm wondering if the R8 will become a classic or go the way of the SD3 and slide into obscurity.

[sporty-shite]

My first car:

 

 

It was less than eight years old when I bought it, and it was FUCKED, not that I knew that at the time. Amongst all the Mk2 Escorts, I was years ahead with my five speed gearbox, velour seats and rev counter! 

 

Equivalent now? 09 reg Juke? Although I agree with Richard's theory of double the age for a near equivalent in standard, so something like a Y reg Almera. *shudders*

[xtriple]

My first car (bought before I was old enough to drive - but only just) was a Mini Cooper 'S' which was 5 years old. I saved like a bastard to get that car and sold my pushbike, bike bike and didn't go out for months. A 'Saturday lads' wages didn't go far so it took a lot of saving. The equivalent today is obvious and painful to even think about!

 

Seconf car was a Triumph Spitfire which was rotten but looked good so a bit like me at the time

[rrsix]

First car was a 13 year old 4th gen civic GL 1.4 dual carb auto which was a family bike. It didn't need the rev counter you could use the petrol gauge to determine how well you were tramping on. Like this:

 

Today's equivalent except manual not auto I actually had the pleasure* of driving recently after borrowing it off my sister. 6th gen civic 1.4i. Like this:

 

Apart from the horrific fuel econony and lack of aircon the original was a much better car with nicer road manners and less cabin noise. We'll ignore all the H&S improvements as I still drive a 26 year old estate as my regular car. 

 

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Passed me test in 72 age 17, first car was a '59 Volvo 122s Amazon cost me £60, but an unusual one having been imported from South Africa and had red rear indicators and now i think about it amber front side lights, which passed the MOT test fine,  plate rivetted to the top of the engine which said ''engine conversions by University Motors Salisbury'', dunno what had been done ( 4 branch flowed exhaust manifold the only obvious alteration) but it went like hell.

 

 

I wonder if that was Salisbury in Rhodesia, or the more local one.

[Guest Breadvan72]

I was an obnoxious yuppie in the 80s, and so went from getting a driving licence to owning almost new Beemers straight away, but I did at least buy a 1970 Triumph Vitesse as well, to redeem myself a bit.  I only started buying bangers and practising daily driver chodenomics in the eary noughties.

 

What does my head in nowadays is that some cars that I could have bought new are now classics.

[Twiggy]

Bought 1966 when I was 20, £50, roughly equivalent to £1100 today ( petrol in `66 was 5/- (25p) per gallon, now 22 times that price, £5:50 per gallon)

 

Thanks to the Standard club for the photo. Mine was slightly* rougher than this pristine example:

 

[lisbon_road]

My first car was the 1967 Viva in the picture, which I still have.  I paid £60 for it, off a man who said it was £40 for the tyres and £20 for the rest.

 

It was always a durable car and didn't rot as much as many of the contemporary cars but its best friend would not call it quiet and the points system was dire leading to basically it never ran right, though electronic ignition was fitted and transformed it.  I read somewhere about a Datsun that came out not long after with five speed box, five bearing crank.... how badly that car needed those things.

 

In my experience, kids these days buy something virtually new on the never never and don't mess about with older cars.  They would not be seen in my Mk3 Astra.  

[Guest Breadvan72]

When I was at sixth form college in 1979-81, a few people had Capris, Barried Escorts, Mini Coopers and such like shiz. Not many sixth formers with the equivalent of Capris these days, I suspect, because yoof driver insurance megalotz.

[Junkman]

The only cars I ever bought new are

 

- 1984 Seat Ronda Chronos

- 1987 Camaro IROC-Z

- 1990 Corvette ZR-1

- 1991 Citroen CX 2500 GTI

 

So today that would be what?

 

Seat Leon SC

Camaro 2SS with 1LE

Corvette ZR1 (yes, it lost the hyphen)

DS Automobiles DS5 Performance Line

 

The game doesn't really work with new cars.

 

Other shite I bought way back when and what it would be today, disregarding Richard's quite interesting theory

of progress having slowed by 50 percent:

 

23 year old 1960 Buick Le Sabre convertible  - 1994 Buick Reatta

14 year old 1971 BMW 2000 tilux                    - 2003 BMW e39

20 year old 1964 Jaguar Mark X                      - 1997 Jaguar X300

13 year old 1972 Peugeot 304 Break              - 2004 Peugeot 307 Estate

15 year old 1970 Olds 442 W-30 convertible  - 2002 Olds Alero

15 year old 1970 Maserati Ghibli                     - 2002 Maserati Coupe

24 year old 1963 Lagonda Rapide                  - 1993 - well, the closest thing would be a '76 - '89 AML, no?

25 year old 1972 BMW 3.0 Si                          - 1992 BMW 735i e32

 

Well, not a single car in the right hand column does anything for me.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

I'm of 1975 vintage, and my first car was a 1977 Golf. It was typical of a 15 year old car at the time - half rotten with pog stuffed into most panels (my own doing), scruffy paint, very tired engine, mis-matching bumpers and proudly sporting a Stomil tyre on the rear N/S. I loved the thing, but there was no denying it was old and tired. The modern equivalent - a 2001 ish mkiv Golf, isn't even slightly comparable. They don't really rust, they still feel modern, and they're pretty tough old boots. Give me a scruffy mk1 any day.

[Spottedlaurel]

My first car:

 

 

It was less than eight years old when I bought it, and it was FUCKED, not that I knew that at the time. Amongst all the Mk2 Escorts, I was years ahead with my five speed gearbox, velour seats and rev counter! 

 

Equivalent now? 09 reg Juke? Although I agree with Richard's theory of double the age for a near equivalent in standard, so something like a Y reg Almera. *shudders*

 

Excellent, you've saved me doing a bit of maths as this was mine, and it was seven years old when I got it. Low mileage but already going rusty.

 

1981 Datsun Cherry 1.2GL 3dr (N10) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

 

When I had the Manta A in 1991 it was approaching 20 years old, and it seemed way older than pretty much anything else I’d see in regular use. Nowadays even I don’t notice a lot of stuff of that age that’s in day-to-day use.