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Wilko220

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8 minutes ago, Eyersey1234 said:

Welcome. Nice looking Focus, I've a Mk2 Estate with 1.8 diesel flavour engine. Cracking cars. 

Apparently they're great to drive. Mine didn't get that memo. That said, I've never driven anything else, except for a diesel Pug 208 (genuinely shit) which was my driving instructor's car, and a Discovery 3 (similar in driving dynamics to a small apartment block but damn good fun), so my idea of what makes a good-driving car, is probably somewhat warped.

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9 minutes ago, Crackers said:

Apparently they're great to drive. Mine didn't get that memo. That said, I've never driven anything else, except for a diesel Pug 208 (genuinely shit) which was my driving instructor's car, and a Discovery 3 (similar in driving dynamics to a small apartment block but damn good fun), so my idea of what makes a good-driving car, is probably somewhat warped.

I've never driven a Mk1 but they had rave reviews when launched in late 1998. Hard to imagine now just how radical the Mk1 was when it came out. 

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On 8/26/2019 at 12:17 PM, Alan_Green said:

That van has appeared on here before.  Around 3 months ago on the Ebay tat thread.  I remember it.  It was in Antrim, right?   Welcome along.  I like your wicker speedo and the driver side window set up.

Yes!

In a little town called Randalstown. A friend of mine drove us up from Swansea through Ireland and upto Northern Ireland. Bloody good little adventure, made some mistakes that planning would have solved but will never forget it.

I remember arriving and seeing it for the first time and then the feeling of regret when I first started to look over it. I had to accept that it was a cheap-ish van and that I'd learn to fix it. I'm now going to college to do motor vehicles and hope to get onto classic car restoration eventually. I need to learn some welding to keep this thing going...

Oh yeah I have both mole grips of the each window now, proper luxury.

Thank you for the welcome! 

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Hello there!
 

I'm quite new to here but not new to what's known as shite here.  Quite a history of absolute cheap but quirky cars, lots of them being French and a bit odd.  Sadly most of them aren't with me now, particularly the Xantia Activa which I've not got a clue as to it's whereabouts now.  I've left Ireland where most of my interesting cars were based and I currently live in Manchester for the last couple of years. 

Couple of my favourites from times gone;

Mk1 Clio 1.4l.  Must have been a posh version, bought it for 495 euros.  Steering rack failed about 18 months later and was worth more than the car to replace.  They were a rare sight on Irish roads by 2012 and couldn't find anything to replace the steering rack.  Absolute shame, as the car handled brilliantly, stuck to the road and would catch a lot of bigger cars off guard when you gave the all 75bhp the beans.  I think it was one of the Energy engines off a Renault 19. Single point injection.  Simple engine to work on, the rad fan never worked, so it didn't like sitting in traffic but would be fine on the move.  Never overheated. 

Clio.thumb.JPG.0d4a6e4f0af83d15ead36c52fe5c5e22.JPG

Cliointeror.thumb.JPG.ded884b15025bcac015c0bc9ed2a0914.JPG

 

An Xantia Activa.  Must have only ever been a handful in Ireland at the time.  And less on the road.  Beautiful car.  Sold due to the archaic way Motor Insurance works in Ireland; only one car per policy and NCB couldn't be mirrored.  Couldn't get classic insurance on it at the time.  Also the tax was a killer;  710 per annum.   Wonder where it went to, hope it wasn't scrapped.  Lovely car to drive; not terribly quick in a straight line but through the corners?  wow, nothing ever like it. 

 

Activa.thumb.JPG.4c79d3ba4a1742f27ef56ea787380907.JPG

 

So currently in Manchester, it's quite difficult to get decent insurance premiums.  I suspect a lot of that is the area in which I live in.  A lot of it is that I'm seen as been risky due to my length of time in the country.  Hopefully that settles down. 

 

Current wheels are;

2002 Mk 1 C5 with the lovely DW10ATED.  It's my second C5, practically the same car I had in Ireland before I moved over.   There a lovely car; comfortable and the big HDi lump pulls strong.  It's like driving your favourite sofa.  Bought for 725 quid about 2 years back and apart from a dodgy alternator, it's been okay.  Just don't look too close, the rear quarter looks like someone has washed it with a brillo pad, laquer is peeling badly.

  c5.thumb.PNG.1b7fd47ea7e2c369d68e92d173aca362.PNG

 

And a 2011 Suzuki Jimny.  Now, it's a bit new to qualify as "shite" but the underpinnings are something aren't far removed from the 1980s Sierra; steering boxes, ladder frame chassis and live axles.  It's a proper 4wd which somehow didn't change until 2018.  It's pure 90s & 80s mechanical goodness which I think it can sneak in, maybe? 

jimny.thumb.PNG.261ef1ea8be25d95f8fe7dd22e51e7c1.PNG

 

Anyway, that's me!  I'd like another BX or a Volvo 440... So when insurance eases, I'll be back on the hunt of a classic policy and something a little bit different....

 

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On 9/2/2019 at 11:23 PM, Crackers said:

"My name's Crackers and I like trains."

Imagine someone introducing themselves like that. Oh wait, bugger.

Yeah anyway. I like trains a bit. Here's my Mk1-and-a-bit Focus which is approaching chod but not quite there yet I'm told. As a fashionable* 18 year old I cannot imagine anything I'd like to be seen driving less. In full Grandmother-spec with sparkling* old-people Blue exterior paint more commonly spotted on similar era Jazzes, but, it's in fine fettle, with 58k miles and, get this, air con. Oh yeah, and it was free.

Distinctly average in every single way, it ferries me around in total boring reliability and literally never puts a smile on my face. Can't wait to see the sod go so I can buy something worse (more on that later).

Picture taken before its last wash, in February 2018 :D

1533111964_IMG_20180222_162706(1).thumb.jpg.2d5078cfa503bc13bdff75c6f727573e.jpg

How old do i feel, i'm 40 in November and had a 2003 brand new one of these as a company car!

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Hello chaps. New here, so figured I’d say hello. Not much shiteing going on personally over the last year or so, but hope to entertain with updates to spotters threads as there are some crackers on my usual routes. And then, eventually, I plan something of a project for next year that I’ve had my eye on for a while...

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12 minutes ago, Joe Pineapples said:

Hello chaps. New here, so figured I’d say hello. Not much shiteing going on personally over the last year or so, but hope to entertain with updates to spotters threads as there are some crackers on my usual routes. And then, eventually, I plan something of a project for next year that I’ve had my eye on for a while...

Welcome 

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11 hours ago, underdog said:

Hi thanks for having me. I've been a lover of  all unloved ,unpopular motoring tat for many a year. I have a soft spot for BL Rover tat and somehow have managed to start a collection of my own.

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Rover 200/400 heaven! My old favourite that I never got to drive, the 220 coupe. I had three 200s, crashed two of them.

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On 9/5/2019 at 11:22 PM, Spurious said:

Hello there!
 

I'm quite new to here but not new to what's known as shite here.  Quite a history of absolute cheap but quirky cars, lots of them being French and a bit odd.  Sadly most of them aren't with me now, particularly the Xantia Activa which I've not got a clue as to it's whereabouts now.  I've left Ireland where most of my interesting cars were based and I currently live in Manchester for the last couple of years. 

Couple of my favourites from times gone;

Mk1 Clio 1.4l.  Must have been a posh version, bought it for 495 euros.  Steering rack failed about 18 months later and was worth more than the car to replace.  They were a rare sight on Irish roads by 2012 and couldn't find anything to replace the steering rack.  Absolute shame, as the car handled brilliantly, stuck to the road and would catch a lot of bigger cars off guard when you gave the all 75bhp the beans.  I think it was one of the Energy engines off a Renault 19. Single point injection.  Simple engine to work on, the rad fan never worked, so it didn't like sitting in traffic but would be fine on the move.  Never overheated. 

Clio.thumb.JPG.0d4a6e4f0af83d15ead36c52fe5c5e22.JPG

Cliointeror.thumb.JPG.ded884b15025bcac015c0bc9ed2a0914.JPG

 

An Xantia Activa.  Must have only ever been a handful in Ireland at the time.  And less on the road.  Beautiful car.  Sold due to the archaic way Motor Insurance works in Ireland; only one car per policy and NCB couldn't be mirrored.  Couldn't get classic insurance on it at the time.  Also the tax was a killer;  710 per annum.   Wonder where it went to, hope it wasn't scrapped.  Lovely car to drive; not terribly quick in a straight line but through the corners?  wow, nothing ever like it. 

 

Activa.thumb.JPG.4c79d3ba4a1742f27ef56ea787380907.JPG

 

So currently in Manchester, it's quite difficult to get decent insurance premiums.  I suspect a lot of that is the area in which I live in.  A lot of it is that I'm seen as been risky due to my length of time in the country.  Hopefully that settles down. 

 

Current wheels are;

2002 Mk 1 C5 with the lovely DW10ATED.  It's my second C5, practically the same car I had in Ireland before I moved over.   There a lovely car; comfortable and the big HDi lump pulls strong.  It's like driving your favourite sofa.  Bought for 725 quid about 2 years back and apart from a dodgy alternator, it's been okay.  Just don't look too close, the rear quarter looks like someone has washed it with a brillo pad, laquer is peeling badly.

  c5.thumb.PNG.1b7fd47ea7e2c369d68e92d173aca362.PNG

 

And a 2011 Suzuki Jimny.  Now, it's a bit new to qualify as "shite" but the underpinnings are something aren't far removed from the 1980s Sierra; steering boxes, ladder frame chassis and live axles.  It's a proper 4wd which somehow didn't change until 2018.  It's pure 90s & 80s mechanical goodness which I think it can sneak in, maybe? 

jimny.thumb.PNG.261ef1ea8be25d95f8fe7dd22e51e7c1.PNG

 

Anyway, that's me!  I'd like another BX or a Volvo 440... So when insurance eases, I'll be back on the hunt of a classic policy and something a little bit different....

 

Lovely shite you have there too!

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Hello All

Coming to your forum from Montreal Canada,got here from binge watching HubNut video's and hearing mention of the Autoshite forum.

I have been into shite my entire driving life (and before), and presently own a fleet of vehicles, the newest being my wife's 2002 Mitsubishi Galant.

The reason for wanting to join your forum is I have recently noticed that in 2020 I will turn 55 (not that this is a problem) and I should do something reasonably silly to mark that passing.

I was originally going to take some surf lesson in Portugal (my original native land,left when I was 2), but I have been having issues with a knee, and with our public health system here in Canada, chances are it would not be fixed (they can this cant they??) in time for surf lessons.

So I thought,what other sort of silly thing can I do?.................... perhaps buy a car in either Germany or the UK,and drive it to Portugal!.............. but it needs to be something impractical,CHEAP above all else, but with a reasonable chance of making it there with a little bit of TLC and constant vigilance.

To give you an idea, I have done this before, once I learned that in July in Portugal they have an event called the ALGARVE CLASSIC CAR RALLY, I decided that I would like to enter this and take my Dad along as co driver, I bought through the internet a 1974 Fiat 128 sedan for 1000Euro's in Porto (it had a MOT, which I would later find out must have verified by a mate at the testing station) and a few months later flew over to pick up my "new" car in Porto and drive it down to the south in the Algarve,something like 650 kms or so in a vehicle I had never seen or driven,looked over for 2 min's(found it was way crustier than it appeared in pictures) in the pissing rain at night when I picked it up and no fuel in the tank (though I was told he had put in 10 E in the tanks,though I suspect that he put 10E worth of fuel in a jerry can, but not all of it actually got transfered to the Fiat).

It broke down only 10 Kms from final destination, (the bakelite follower on the points delaminated) but it had run constantly for about 8 plus hours prior to that (because I could not turn the car off as the battery would not hold a charge with any amount of driving), so if the putz would have put a decent battery on, it might have helped as the points would have had a chance to cool while I was fueling up or taking a break for supper or coffee, none the less, called the breakdown service,(which took 4 hours to arrive),had the car towed to its final destination,and the next day found a set of points in stock at an obscure parts house a few towns away and got the thing up and running once again (only cost about 3E for the points set)

In any case 600 euros later, I had purchased a set of used crusty cromadora wheels (Because you always need alloys to turn a car from shite to ....hmm thats not bad looking(FIAT 128 Rally), had new tires installed(the old ones on the car were from a panda and were the wrong size) ,serviced the rear brakes (never done?), replaced the front disk and pads(total crap) as well as the plugs, wires cap and rotor,oil filter,upper rad hose ,battery ect ect ect.(how did this poor thing actually run?, now I loved it because it was aware that it had a new master and that I would do my best for it) 

I returned in mid July to get it past MOT once again(which it did with no advisories) and entered the Rally with my Dad, we had a great time, and everyday the Fiat ran better and better (it seemed to like to be flogged at wide open throttle for hours on end) and we finished the event in mid place (timed event and my Dad had no concept of that)  ,dined at very posh locations (included in the event entry) ,hob nobbed with owners with true expensive classic cars,

The 128 still exists in Portugal and I hope to get it back up and running later this year (last MOT was due in 2015!) just for fun and perhaps convince the wife to do the same event with me in 2020.

But in case that doesn't happen (she has mostly had it with my car obsession...........),I came up with this, London to Portimao in a shitbox.

My ideal car would be sub 500Pounds (much less if possible) ,diesel would be good,as long as its very simple, turbo or not. if not Diesel ,then simple gas powered would be good.I have seen Micra's, Pug 106/206/306 (this might be ideal seeing as I have to go through france),Astra, something 1.0 to 1.4L, smaller is better. I dont want anything similar to what we have here in North America.But I need to be able to "fix" it with a hammer and a flat blade screw driver sort of vehicle along the way if required.

I have mostly sorted the insurance side of things(can only get an acurate cost once the motor is purchased/decided on), as well, when closer to gelling this, I will look for a car with a short MOT (it will be going basically one way,then sold for parts or scrapped), but I may need your help with checking a car out and getting your opinion ect (I am hoping there are real car guys on this forum who can lend a hand with this)

I was told you need enough time to get the new V5 done and sent over (couple of weeks?) so I may need an address to have that sent to? (not 100% certain on that yet, if you have any additional info on that please let me know, over here you buy the car and get your regisration the same day ,job done).

 

Ok that enough for an intro, any questions please go ahead and ask away, and I look forward to sharing anything I can with you lot from over here!!

 

Cheers,

Paul

Montreal Canada

 

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2 hours ago, Rydz said:

So I thought,what other sort of silly thing can I do?.................... perhaps buy a car in either Germany or the UK,and drive it to Portugal!.............. but it needs to be something impractical,CHEAP above all else, but with a reasonable chance of making it there with a little bit of TLC and constant vigilance...

I came up with this, London to Portimao in a shitbox...

My ideal car would be sub 500Pounds (much less if possible) ,diesel would be good,as long as its very simple, turbo or not. if not Diesel ,then simple gas powered would be good.I have seen Micra's, Pug 106/206/306 (this might be ideal seeing as I have to go through france),Astra, something 1.0 to 1.4L, smaller is better. I dont want anything similar to what we have here in North America.But I need to be able to "fix" it with a hammer and a flat blade screw driver sort of vehicle along the way if required...

Welcome along.  When can we expect you at Cannock auctions? ?

 

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1 hour ago, chaseracer said:

Welcome along.  When can we expect you at Cannock auctions? ?

 

Hello There,

At first I was not sure what exactly that might mean, but my google-fu was strong today ,and I can see it is a local public auction in the mid-lands.

 I will be in the UK in October this year,but sadly I arrive on tuesday and depart on friday, so I will miss this, this time around .

Something else to look forward to on my next trip to the UK then....

 

Cheers,

 

Paul

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1 hour ago, Red_Machine said:

Hello all!  I'm Chris, and I drive a 2003 Rover 75 that you may have seen featured on Regular Car Reviews!  She's a joy to own, and I take the best care of her that I can.  Hope to have plenty of good chats while I'm here. ?

IMG_20150501_162759.jpg

Hello! welcome aboard! happy to see you on here as a fellow fan of RCR!

you should fit right in here having seen your episode :) 

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23 hours ago, Red_Machine said:

Hello all!  I'm Chris, and I drive a 2003 Rover 75 that you may have seen featured on Regular Car Reviews!  She's a joy to own, and I take the best care of her that I can.  Hope to have plenty of good chats while I'm here. ?

IMG_20150501_162759.jpg

It's a damn shame their just the wrong car to buy for £400 and run on a shoestring for the next few years as I really want one!

 

Nice car m8 etc, welcome!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello everyone, newbie Gareth here.

Mini's are my thing - I have a '97 cooper, and '88 designer and a Turner Ranger tractor based upon mini mechanicals (yes you read that right!)

But more suited to these pages is my 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe V6. 30k miles and hasn't run in seven years. Too good to scrap, too bad a condition to sell so I've decided to have some fun with it instead. I'm looking forward to following lots of adventures on these pages.

IMG_20191002_181126413.jpg

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