My final car

[purplebargeken]

Well the Raleigh has gone to Wuvvum, lovely red Galaxy has gone to ohdearme, the very smart blue BMW will be going next weekend to another well-known shiter. 

 

That leaves me with the Hyundai and the Toledo.

 

The Hyundai will be up for grabs at the end of April/beginning of May when I will have finally retired from nursing after 33 years and no longer need a dedicated 'commuting car'.

 

Plans for the Toledo are thus:

 

I am rectifying the minor issues with the bodywork, they really are minor and involve a small amount of surface rust here and there. Then some small mechanical fettling to prep it for the Club Triumph 10 Countries Run. The car will be driven by a friend of mine who is coming over from America. It should be a great event. 

 

I purchased another car just a very short while ago. It's a car I am familiar with, having owned it briefly about 4 years ago now. I bought it from my former boss who in turn bought it from an old boy who had to stop driving due to dementia.

 

It's a X reg Rover 45 Club with the CVT setup. Formerly belonging to Wilko220 (who bought it from me). Ben has spent a pretty penny on it to this point and I am happy to be the owner again. The MOT was passed without issue, it just needed a hole the size of half of my fingernail welding up on the back box pipework, a tyre and a little bit of surface rust cleaning up and protecting underneath.  

 

Things to do: 

 

I have a new coolant cap to fit, these should be regarded as an annual service item

 

I also have a rocker cover gasket to fit as the one on there is leaking slightly. I have a replacement passenger side front wing that will need painting and fitting in the Spring due to silly woman car driver failing to see said Rover in the car park whilst the 45 was in Ben's ownership. I will likely drain and replace the CVT fluid when the outside temp warms up a little, maybe before, who knows. Oh, it needed a new battery too. All in all it has cost a tad under £60 to sort out plus the MOT charge. All I've done so far is vacuum the interior and give it a wipe over.

 

Luckily it now comes under the classic insurance bracket via PBIS.

 

I'd have loved to get the BMW back on the road, it truly is a lovely, lovely car and practical too with it being the Touring model, however, I could only get silly insurance prices for it which made it just not worth my while. However, the sale of it means that I have managed to recompense Clive and recover most but not quite all of the cost but that is the AS way is it not lol. At least it'll be sorted further and hopefully put to good use.

 

So, as per the thread title, the Rover will be the last car that I purchase as retirement will not allow me the flexibility levels previously enjoyed. Hey ho, at least I will have more time to fettle the cars I have. So it's not all bad news.

 

The total number of cars owned since passing my test in October 1981 is around the 550 mark. I've had some lovely cars and some complete shit pits, however, despite the grrr moments, it's been a blast overall. Just worked out how much I have spent on cars based on an average price of £750. Eeeeek, £412,500. Ohhhhhhh fuck, that is MAD.

 

The cars I miss the most are as follows:

 

My 1982 Mk2 Granada 2.3GL auto, Land Rover 110, the London Taxi, the black modern Beetle that I sold to another shitter on here and most recently, the big red Galaxy.

 

The car I miss the least.... the Volvo Amazon despite it's amazing looks I just did not gel with it. Such is life. 

 

I'll get some current pictures of the Rover sorted in the next couple of days.

 

So, there you go. Another K series to love. It's an illness I tell you, an illness. Don't judge me   Plus I've now joined the illustrious AS Rover 45 Club (haha).

 

NB: If anyone has some alloys with decent tyres on them for the 45 and the price is reasonable (translated as cheap) then I'd probably be interested

 

 

[SiC]

So, as per the thread title, the Rover will be the last car that I purchase as retirement will not allow me the flexibility levels previously enjoyed. Hey ho, at least I will have more time to fettle the cars I have. So it's not all bad news.

 

Quoted for prosperity.

 

A bargain dolly or an AX will come up and you won't be able to resist.

[purplebargeken]

^^ Sadly I will. The Dolly would be a difficult one to resist though, it really would.

[Tamworthbay]

Pics pics pics!! Judging by the updates on the Amazon in PC it seems the owner before you had been a bit of a bodge artist and you escaped serious financial harm by a whisker on it. Can’t wait for the updates on this mate and to see it in the flesh.

[SiC]

^^ Sadly I will. The Dolly would be a difficult one to resist though, it really would.

What about an 1100? :d

[STUNO]

Welcome to the club of old giffers who see cars they want but have to let pass by because the bastards want money for them.

Just enjoy retirement. I do !

[purplebargeken]

Can't afford it mate, tempting though it might be. 

[purplebargeken]

Judging by the updates on the Amazon in PC it seems the owner before you had been a bit of a bodge artist and you escaped serious financial harm by a whisker on it. 

 

Bloody right. He was also linked to PC and allegedly spent some serious coin on the car via various upgrades. The history file was vast.

 

Sam has spent a good few bob putting the car back to stock and it was driving really well right until the point when it wasn't. There was a nasty mess on the engine department I believe. I wish I'd bought a Triumph in all honesty but there you go. Stunningly lovely car but I hated driving it and it just sat there in the garage. 

[anonymous user]

Final car? I thought that, I had a very well thought out plan, choosing a vehicle that I liked that was infinitely rebuildable and had good spares availability. So my retirement car was a Land Rover; since then I have bought a Smart Roadster, a MkVI Bentley, a MINI Cooper, a C15 van, a C15 Campervan, another Land Rover and another C15 van. That's in about two years. So I hope it all goes well for retirement, but remember that plans are the things you make while life has other ideas.

[SRi05]

Final car ? Were there's a roffle there's a way...

[purplebargeken]

It really does have to be this way unfortunately. It really does. 

[BeEP]

NB: If anyone has some alloys with decent tyres on them for the 45 and the price is reasonable (translated as cheap) then I'd probably be interested

 

Ken, I have these 15" coronet alloys originally from a 45...

 

 

Wheels are in excellent condition with only very minor kerb marks to the outside edge of two of them.  Three have excellent matching tyres, the other is a different make and whilst not as good is still legal.  Yours for £60 if you want.  You could collect them at the same time as the wing   I have more photos I can send if you're interested.

[purplebargeken]

Oh mate, that's spot on! Yes please!!!

[Brodders]

Ooh, an early 45, very nice. Is it a saloon? If so it should be the thinking man's alternative to a 75, with all of the wood trim and velour you could want, but fewer of the fiddly pain in the arse jobs that piss you off and sour the ownership a bit.

 

I would put money on it not being your last car though. No matter how much we tell ourselves that is the case, we can't stop the inevitable from happening. We know it is probably a bad idea and know it really doesn't make sense, but despite this we still keep buying K-Series engined Rovers and old French shit that 99% of the general population forgot existed.

[purplebargeken]

Sadly it will indeed be my last one as I will have neither the money or  the space for anything else. 

 

It really is a lovely car, just a slightly smaller 75 really in many ways. A credit to the old boy who owned her and obviously to Ben.

 

Bet the V6 version is impressive eh DW?

[LightBulbFun]

completely off topic but you owned a London Taxi? thats pretty fucking cool! got any more details on it was it an FX4 one? 

 

(an FX4 Black cab is pretty high on my want/wish list )

[purplebargeken]

There you go. I sold it to Cavcraft and then it went on to some bloke who was going to fuck about with it. Brilliant around town, no-one cuts you up, people did at times try to hail me or ask me for directions and they looked most confused when I said I had no idea. Engine and gearbox goes on forever, this had about 350,000 miles on the clock. Glacially slow on the motorway and prone to rusty panels but otherwise totally ace. The only issue it had was a dodgy door lock and a diesel pipe split but was fixed within minutes. Buy on condition of the bodywork. 

 

[tooSavvy]

... condition of bodywork, aye & goes for ancient Toyotas

 

And, on the topic of retirements, ToMM will most definitely be my absolute last..!

 

I will expire before that damn 4A-F :/

[purplebargeken]

Oh bollocks, too late for pictures of Rover now, will try harder tomorrow. 

[dollywobbler]

Sadly it will indeed be my last one as I will have neither the money or  the space for anything else. 

 

It really is a lovely car, just a slightly smaller 75 really in many ways. A credit to the old boy who owned her and obviously to Ben.

 

Bet the V6 version is impressive eh DW?

 

I'd be very interested to try a 1.8 CVT against the 2.0 V6. Must be very different. Don't feel you're losing out too much though. The V6 mostly makes nice noises and drinks a lot of fuel. It isn't punchy.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

.....Just worked out how much I have spent on cars based on an average price of £750. Eeeeek, £412,500. Ohhhhhhh fuck, that is MAD.....

 

Could have moved out of Edmonton to a slightly more pleasant district for that...

 

#hindsight #wonderfulthing

[Bren]

Tell us about the granada.

[purplebargeken]

The Granada was in a solid lightish blue, I still don't know what it was called tbh. 2.3GL auto with 68 though on the clock. It previously belonged to GEC based in bloody Edmonton, urrgghh. I bought it from a smallish dealer in Shenley (it's still there). It was an utter minter. It had steelies with small chrome or stainless centre trims, the interior was utterly lovely in dark grey trim (not Chatsworth I think). I did my usual bonding valeting thing and there was nothing to clean. Really weird.

 

It was an engagement pressie from the then Mrs PBK to be. 

 

However, all was not well. On the run up to St. Helen's to visit my mum and dad, there was a misting of gearbox oil exiting the car and a call to the AA soon saw me and the car transported to the parents. A call was made to the dealer and he arranged to transport it all back down South. He sorted it out without any fuss. A seal had given up the ghost, a common issue IIRC. It went on to give sterling service until I sold it to a work colleague as the mpgees became an issue. I could get it down to 17mpg if I tried hard enough. I used to love the fully adjustable seats, they were fab.  I believe it no longer exists now which is quite sad. If I can find the picture I have then I will stick it on the thread.

[purplebargeken]

T'interweb says it was either Riviera Blue or Nordic Blue. 

[purplebargeken]

I'd be very interested to try a 1.8 CVT against the 2.0 V6. Must be very different.

 

^^ Shall we organise?

[DeeJay]

 I bought it from a smallish dealer

Harry Wormwood?

[pandamonium]

Ken, I have these 15" coronet alloys originally from a 45...

 

 

Wheels are in excellent condition with only very minor kerb marks to the outside edge of two of them. Three have excellent matching tyres, the other is a different make and whilst not as good is still legal. Yours for £60 if you want. You could collect them at the same time as the wing I have more photos I can send if you're interested.

Dammit, been looking for something like that, cheap.

[chaseracer]

I'd be very interested to try a 1.8 CVT against the 2.0 V6. Must be very different.

 

^^ Shall we organise?

 

HUBNUT VIDEO.

 

[purplebargeken]

Harry Wormwood?

 

Not that small lol.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

If my last car was a Rover 45, I'd end it now I think.