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Top Gear tonight - dad's cars :)


LeahStornes

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  • LeahStornes changed the title to Top Gear tonight - dad's cars :)

Highlights; 

Renault 6, sliding about on the vinyl seats with kid sister asleep in a drawer from the old oak wardrobe in the back. 

Blue Imp, cool as wish it was still about though run into the ground by time I was six.

Toledo, holes in roof lining so you could 👋 or flick the bird  to other motorists out the vents above the back window.

mk1 cav in metallic green gifted by drug dealer neighbour as he needed shot of it quick smart. 2.0 was ex police haha. 

H plate 1.6 Sierra laser estate lease car when the old man made the big time working for the council.

 

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45 minutes ago, LeahStornes said:

Hope they don't smash them up.

Watched it up to the start of the sitting on laps bit then got bored and gave up. Also had noticed the Beemer's rev counter wasn't working so prob not the best kept examples so no doubt smashing them up for laughs was gonna be the finale.

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So many memories of my Dad's cars.

I can still smell how the k reg Escort 1.8 16v LXi smelt when he picked it up when I was 7, 1994.

Ford's all had a very distinctive smell to me, the Mondeos he had smelt the same but the Sierra I don't remember quite as well as I was about 4 when he got that. Still remember picking it up on the roof of Shipley Ford though somehow.

I remember sitting on my Dad's knee on many Friday nights, driving round my grandma's work car park waiting for her finish when I was about 5 onwards.

Remember him racing a 525 down the A64 at 130 in his Xantia, chasing his friend who had a tuned Sierra 2.0 GLSi in that bluey purple colour over countless visits to the coast over the years, racing to get the ferry back from France when we'd slept in and were still in Paris when we should have almost been loading, a MK1 Mondeo 2.0 16v would do an indicated 140 MPH if you tried hard enough it turned out 😂.

And there's so so many more, that was a great episode of Top Gear, really got some memories coming back.

Got me wanting an Activa even more than before now as well 😂

 

 

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Depends which era of childhood, but favourites were,

Mini MK2 in Tartan red with funky glass fibre flip-front. The first car I remember him having, however he got rid of it soon after I was born for something a bit bigger (as below...)

Vauxhall Viva HA SL90, in completely faded red with white side flashes and the fancy SL wheel trims. 

YWW 159 L, '74 Hillman Avenger DL in white, hockey-stick tail lights ahoy!

BYG 745T,  '78 Chrysler Avenger DL in brown with brown vinyl interior and  sportier 2 door looks.

PTO 715M, '74 Escort 1300 estate in beige. Not the quickest car around, but never let us down, never failed to get us where we were going, and unusually for a MK1, never rusted (much). Being the early '80s, it was fun riding around in the cargo area...

B829 MPY,  '84 Nissan Sunny DX. Our family's first brand new car, replacing the Escort. I remember the excitement, the new car smell, marvelling at how quiet it was and how much difference in performance there was between a new 1.3 engined car and an 11 year old one. A few more Nissans followed including the later Sunny hatchback and a K10 Micra.

There were many more, all new , (deep breath,) MK4 Escort popular, Fiat Uno 60S, Rover R8 214Si, Escort Mk7 Mexico, MK1 Mégane RN, Escort Mk7 Si, Rover R3 214 Si, Citroen Xsara facelift LX, and the last car he got before he died, a Renault Mégane fat-arse Dynamique. Mother_201 still drives, currently on a 69 plate Hyundai i10 'Go' special edition thing, which isn't a bad little tug.

If I was a motoring presenter, I think the one I d pick for the show would be the Hillman, the best looking one of the lot in my opinion.

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1962 singer gazelle 111C. 8265SP bought by my mum in '64. I was born '74 and we had it until 1983. 

1970 Viva HB. UTJ745H. Aqua Starmist. Bought 1983, sold 1988.

1978 Cherry F11. CSX730S. used to pinch it as a teenager and drive around. Never got caught but he always moaned about the fuel economy 😆

He was a proper shiter. Always did his own spannering, even doing the rings on the Gazelle. He was a cabinet maker but would turn his hand to anything. 

 

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The first car of my Dads I remember is an fd victor 2000 sl, KSE278J. It got traded in for a bright yellow victor fe, GSE591N. Which then made way for a leyland princess 2200hls TSE599R in which I learned to drive and passed my test in. He then went back to Vauxhall with two mk1 Astras, two mk3 Cavaliers then a Suzuki wagonR+ which was his last car.

Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk

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Fatha_Outlaw had:  Gilera 175, don't know the year, but it was his first motorised wheels, and before he met my mother in 1963.

Then Anglia 100E, Newark Grey, wheels painted in red lead, town and country tyres on the back because Essx.

1963 Mini 863NWC Tartan Red, his elder brother had a green one with either the reg number before or after.

1966? Farina A40, I came home from Hospital after escaping the womb in October 1969.

1972 Renault 6 TL Silver, @Nev carriage from maternity.

1974 Renault 12TL  TVW278N in that horrible metallic green with tan ninyl seats that heated up like a hotplate in summer.

1977 Citroen GSpescial, "Bluebell" SMM347S bought on the say-so of a 7 year old me, because the suspension was deemed to be magic.

1980 Renault 18TS HKL515V bought in 1984 as needed a bigger car. Turned out that the engine was full of Radweld, and had to have a recon after it all came out.

1984 Austin Montego 1.6L B727XVW. Utterly unreliable, leaky, bag o shite.

1987 Austin Montego D299TWC Moonraker Blue. Last of the non two tone models, bought at a good price, and a generous trade in for the other one because shit.

1989 VW Passat 1.8GL Bought because it looked smart, had been given bigger RIMZ and various other bits. Was shit though, never got to the bottom of what was wrong with it.

1991 VW Golf 1.8GL J981BPU Metallic Blue, and mother had to be restrained from speccing it with Ronal Teddy RIMZ.

1996 Mercedes C250TD Estate p something. Big red bus, they've just got rid of after the gearbox shat itself.

 

There;s been others but these are all the ones registered to my dad, the "second" cars have all been registered to my mum, whoever drove them.

 

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In order;

1962 FB Vauxhall Victor Super. Bought in 1969, traded in in 1973 because a bigger car was needed with the arrival of my sister. Made good exchange money because petrol crisis. 

1970 Ford Zodiac - kept for 15 years, Dad loved it but the rust was beginning to get a bit of a problem even for him. Last I saw of it, it was near-derelict and unloved. 

1980 Cortina 2.0 Ghia. Bought to replace the Zodiac in 1988, Dad really never got on with it and he died a year later. Mum couldn't drive so I sold it. 

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The first car I vaguely remember was an Armstrong Siddeley Hurricane. Then in the late 50's a P2 Rover 14. Red leather interior which I thought was rather grand. Suicide doors, running boards and big headlights. Mmmm. Loved it even though there was no heater for the winter. Brr.  

1964 saw the departure of the Rover and the arrival of a brand new Mk1 two door Ford Cortina. A Deluxe no less.  I thought the vinyl seats were shit compared to the Rover. Burn your ass in summer and sliding about on corners with no armrests, unlike the Rover which had them in abundance. In 68 that was chucked in for a Mk2 1600E. We were on the up financially a the time it seems. Flogging a few paintings to Queeny Liz probably helped.

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Austin metro 1.0 done up as a MG

Renault 5 

Mk4 cortina, in midnight blue, black roof,brown interior 😎

Mk1 sierra 1.6 l in silver with tide mark, xr3i doglegs and a peco backbox

Mk4 escort eclipse in blue

Capri 2.0 laser in white/rust/wob

Mk3 cavalier 1.6l in frost blue

Then went all posh in the early 2000s and got a 3 year old mk2 mondeo zetec in purple*

 

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Bedford CA Dormobile (477 MVW) 10 seater. Many happy days for the 7 of us in that.

Followed by a Ford Anglia 105 Estate (LHK 601C) which took the 7 of us to Cornwall a few times

Then a D reg Cortina Mk1 estate which he had for a few years. Elder brother and two sister had left home, so downsized to a brand new two door Mk1 Escort (SHK 672K) and just before I left home, a new bright yellow Fiesta 1.3S took over.

Dad also had a few work vans too for his building work. The first I remember was a Ford Thames, followed by an Austin A35, a Bedford HA, a Mk1 Escort and finally an Astra.

Only photo I have of any of his cars or vans, and it's his clapped out Escort van

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In my lifetime, my dad had:
 

  • 1985 Ford Capri 1.6 Laser. This was his second midlife crisis car, but the first he had in my lifetime - I was born when he had it, and I remember him being fastidious over it. He used to have a Scimitar, and I guess wanted a more economical coupe. As I understand he sold the Scim and bought a few years old Sierra off a colleague with the express intention of getting a better PX on a Capri. He kept the Capri until about 1997 when he had someone service the diff, but as I was told they failed to refill it with oil and it seized up on him on the motorway. After this my dad distrusted the car and in about 1997/8 PX'd it for an ex-Motability K11 Micra which he gave my mother, and took her...
  • 1989 Ford Fiesta 1.1L, which my mum had bought in 1992. It did the job, and he seemed to like it, but in 2003 he traded it for the car I truly remember as 'dad's car': 
  • 1992 Mercedes 190E 1.8. Smoke Silver with brown interior, eight hole wheels, front electric windows, sunroof and an autobox. He both loved and hated it, and I have good memories of driving places in it with him. He had a wooden camel shaped air freshener hanging from the mirror, that I could never work out the smell of. It had a slightly naff Aiwa CD player - weirdly, I still have one of the exact same model knocking about in the garage with a broken LCD - it was in my blue MX5 when I got it. 
    After five years, a propshaft, and two replacement bonnet badges, it started to show signs of HGF, and was PX'd for...
  • 1998 Honda Prelude 2.0i. This is where the Honda bug began. We kept it for a couple of years, and it was well liked, but just not practical enough, so it was replaced with a: 
  • 2001 Honda Civic 1.4i SE (3dr). This was a bloody good car. We kept it a damn long time and did a hell of a lot of miles in it, and that was the car that I started learning car things on. My dad used to take me on trips down to his office at Stansted Airport in it, and would send me off to get the train into London and just do whatever, then come back in the evening, or sometimes I'd go to my uncle's and sleep on his sofa. I have some fond memories of cruising up and down the A1 in summer in that car. 
    After a very happy five years, with a cambelt due, and the sills starting to rot out, it was PXd for... 
  • another 2001 Honda Civic 1.4i Sport (5dr). The first manual since the Capri, it was an alright car, low miles, but it had the typical Honda issue of being completely gutless unless thrashed (the autos have much better gearing). We never really got on with the seats (it was a runout model that had a VTi interior), it smelt weird, and just didn't inspire us, so was sold on in about six months and replaced with my dad's final car, a:
  • 1995 Audi A4 2.6 quattro. I didn't like this one, it was cramped and uncomfortable. Went alright, and was fun to fix up, but it had a whining clutch release bearing and something on the propshaft was so questionable that my dad didn't drive faster than 60 in it. It was sold when my dad decided he didn't need his own car any more after I started driving, and the proceeds bought the Volvo 740 I had a few years ago. 
     
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10 hours ago, skoda_fan said:

Watched it up to the start of the sitting on laps bit then got bored and gave up. Also had noticed the Beemer's rev counter wasn't working so prob not the best kept examples so no doubt smashing them up for laughs was gonna be the finale.

I'm very pleased to announce that none of them got harmed. There was a stupid bit where they tried to drive on one another's lap but otherwise I really enjoyed it. Also Chris announced on Twitter that he's bought the BMW.

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If i had access to any kind of car i wanted and my boss paid for them, then i got to drive them about on the company insurance for,a couple days playing with it.... 

Then the offer of buying it (more than likely at cost)

Sure i would have a sizable fleet as well...... 

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As a result of working for main dealers most of his career and until a few years ago having demonstrators/company cars, my dad had all sorts of cars. Here's all the things I can remember him bringing home as part of this.

I vaguely remember a Mk2 Clio and a Laguna II when they were new, Daihatsu YRV, several Rover 25 courtesy cars, at one point a 75 saloon, Daewoo Kalos (back when they were still Daewoo), a couple of Primera P12s, think they were all estates (one of which got borrowed and written off), Almera, several X-Trails, a Murano (which turned up one night with no headliner because they'd run out of time fitting a DVD player in the back), at least one Pathfinder, possibly an Alfa 159, Mazda 5, Mazda 6, Kia Sportage, Kia Sorento, multiple Pug 407 estates, a 508 saloon, 508 estate, 3008 hybrid, a couple of Octavias including an estate and a VRS, then there was a gap, then finally a Suzuki Vitara and a couple of S-Crosses, before he went back to private cars.

Privately, he had:
- A K-reg Primera P10, possibly red, although I don't remember this.
- R-reg Primera P11, navy blue. Mum inherited this to replace her Maestro when he started getting cars
- My Corsa as a stopgap when he changed jobs to one without a car
- 53-plate PT Cruiser 2.0 Classic in black - we had two of these for quite a while.
- 67-plate Juke Acenta auto in red - So excited to get a new car again, they offered to pick me up from my first works christmas do at 2am in it - managed to hold off redecorating it.
- 68-plate posher Juke auto in blue - Actually worked out cheaper a month for some reason. Think they'll hang onto this for a bit.

Prior to my existence I believe he had an assortment of Sunnys, and I would not be surprised to hear that his antics in his SD1 in the 80s are part of the reason why there are speed cameras on a certain road in Nottingham.

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Now that's a cool subject to do a show on.

Here are my dad's cars in order of date of purchase (to my knowledge):
- Zastava 1100p - actually grandad's car but it's what my dad learned to drive on. Rotted away to nothing.
- Trabant 601 - first car my dad actually owned. Ended up getting lent to my dad's brother and later parked in a field where it was set on fire by some hoodlums.
- FSC Żuk - was still around after I was born and I have vague memories of it. Sold.
- Star 29 - I remember this one as well. It had a really knackered SW-400 diesel swapped into it. Sold.
- Fiat 126p 600E - bought just as I was about to be born as the Trabant it replaced was pretty knackered by then. Sold.
- Lada 2107 - first passenger car my dad owned that I properly remember. Sold.
- Opel Corsa B 1.4 ECO - dad's first new car. Was crap and got sold after a couple of years.
- Subaru Legacy estate (very briefly) - imported from Switzerland by a family friend. Turned out to have so many issues my parents swapped it for another car the same guy imported which was a...
- Mitsubishi Lancer GLXi 1.6 - lasted quite a few years, had fancy velour seats and AC. Sold.
- Skoda Felicia pickup - dad's work car at the time. Sold to my grandfather.
- Ford Focus mk 1 1.6 estate - not much to say about it, lasted a few years before being sold to my grandad and replaced.
- Ford Transit 2.5 TD (smiley) - replaced the Felicia as my dad needed a larger car. Still in the family but now retired after my dad closed his business.
- Nissan Navara D40 - still in the family, currently my daily driver.
- Honda Civic 1.8 (UFO generation) - still in the family, driven by my mum.
- Ford Transit (2010) - replaced the older Transit as a work van. Sold.
- Toyota Auris Hybrid - currently dad's daily.
 

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Dads cars i remember...

 

A 70 and a 76 Viva HC. the latter was green with leopard print seat covers. 

A 77 Capri S - i remember this from a family trip to Blair Drummond safari Park. We weren't allowed in as "the monkeys will hurt themselves on the rust holes in your wings sir"

A 76 Hunter - i remember this mostly for the appalling back pressure smell. Every journey was an ordeal and possibly why I now have asthma. Looked great though.

A 76 Alfasud. Rear suspension collapsed with rot and it was towed away to the scrappy.

A 79 Cortina 1.6L. Lots of good memories of this one. KFS498T. furry dice and seat covers and I remember walking home from school to see my dad brush painting underseal up to the middle of the doors.

After that he had a string of company cars - astras, fiestas and escorts which were all new and much less fun.

 

 

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4 hours ago, MiniMort said:

I'm very pleased to announce that none of them got harmed. There was a stupid bit where they tried to drive on one another's lap but otherwise I really enjoyed it. Also Chris announced on Twitter that he's bought the BMW.

I'm happy for him really. With both Chris and Paddy talking about their own Dads, I inevitably thought about my own dad and his cars, then more about my own dad, and I'll be honest I didn't expect to go to bed on a Sunday night with that sort of emotion in my head from bloody Top Gear!

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Was an ace episode last night.

I can remember a metro van my dad had, and the subframe dropped off on the speedbumps at my school. Everyone was like is that your dad? no don't be silly.

Also x2 capri 2.8's one that my mum crashed in Asda, that didn't go down well. The other he wired a dodgy stereo in that set on fire.

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1977 Citroen GS x2, this was followed by a 1980 Alfa Romeo Guilietta 1.8, after these my old man retired, so he and my mum then shared a car after that.

 

 

 

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