Top Gear tonight - dad's cars :)

[wesacosa]

Dad had a Wolseley 1500 when I was born, then a Riley Elf

We didn't have a car for the next 6 or so years then be bought a 1976 Fiat 128 estate which was truly awful and would never start in the winter. It lasted about a year then we went another 3 or 4 years before a 78 Mazda Montrose which we owned for 2 weeks.  after that Dad got fed up of driving shit heaps and bought a pov spec 1990 Nissan Micra on 0percent finance, followed by a Micra Wave in 1994, the last car we bought as a family before I left home

[Shite Ron]

I watched to the end and there was no mindless vandalism, hopefully it is improving. I have not watched Top Gear for years, I may try watching it again next week. Driving on laps was very childish and pointless and Paddy McGuiness is not an ideal host but certainly better than last time I watched.

My Dad.’s cars in order since I was born:

 Mk1 Cortina 1500 Super

Mini van (bought new, probably H reg)

mk2  Cortina 1600 DeLuxe F reg, this is the first I can remember vaguely

Cortina 1600E H reg

L reg Viva 2 door, kept the longest to my dismay, passed to my mum when dad had a company car

V reg Escort 1.3L 4 door (company car)

W reg Cortina 1.6GL (Company car) my favourite.

X reg Cortina 1.6 Base estate

B reg Escort 1.3L 5 door

E reg Escort 1.3L 5 door

J reg Orion 1.6LX diesel

L reg Astra 1.4L  last company car and worst, I am not sure of engine size, he had it at a year old and it was constantly back and fore the garage with issues, I never drove it and hardly went in it, it was really awful

When he retired I bought him a Y reg Cortina 1.6 Crusader, then a one previous owner Y reg Cortina 1.6L which he had until 2011, I have it now.

 

 

 

[MarvinsMom]

my dad drove some tripe* while we were growing up.

well they seemed like tripe compared with the shiny hpi'd stuff our friends were running about it.

difference been, us kids used to got horse riding every week (amongst other things) and me dad owned those car outright

so, a maroon Vauxhall Viva HC estate - highlights of that been the wingmirrors which were mounted right out on the wings fell THOUGH them one  evening when he was driving it home. one pair of pattern wings and a rattle can later, it was a good* as new,

then, Morris Marina 1800 "super" in vamillion, LPY576P i recall. i still have the pattern of the vinyl seats burn't on to the back of my legs. that one i remember poking my fingers through the wings around the leadlamps. me dad wasn't best pleased. the he fixed* with fibreglass matting and another rattle can. it was a shit car, no doubt BUT it was an ace car at the same time. it took us on holidays and to the shops and him too and from work everyday for the better part of 5 years, and as it was, i guess 4 years old when he got it second hand,  that for a 70s car is a pretty good innings!

that was followed by the one i remember most fondly, a mark one cavalier, KEF-something-W, a 2000 GL in pea green, with black vinyl roof, with such upscale luxuries as a radio (one with the 2 big turney knobs) a clock, and black velour seating! believe me after the Marina, that car seemed like a Rolls Royce. it was a great car, though it did get horribly pog weasled paint! it again performed without complaint for 4 years or so, and only got sold cos me mam was twisting his ear cos it was the oldest car, just about on the street.

then he got a mark 1 sierra, A570FAJ in a fetching shade of dark brazil nut poop brown. that was also a 2000, and a GL, it wasn't as good as the Cavalier before it,  and it was another one that fell to bits in true ford style. though it had the feel of a car that would just keep going, mechanically, the body was shot after 3 years, and yes, it was second hand again! the door bottoms, the battery tray, the  bottom of the windscreen, the back wheel arches, all the usual spots, though been brown i think it kinda, sorta hid the rot. a bit......

that one was part-ex'ed agains a wedgwood blue mark 2 sierra, J567WHL, that was only 4 months old when he got it, with an impressive 30,000 miles on the clock! it had been in Fords own fleet i think originally, and that car would be one that i too would eventually own! a fantastic car, and unlike the previous one this was pretty rot resistant, great seats, a good stereo, sunroof (had to have one of them in the 1990's) and the first car i knew that did more than 100,000 miles. the one thing i didn't care for was the engine, a poxy CVH, though it was at least an 1800,i sold it on in 2001, and regretted doing so afterwards.

me dad stuck with fords, as he got a mark 12 mondeo after the blue sierra, and then moved on to a new, yes, brand new mark 1 x-trail, then an octavia, and now a mark 2 x-trail. none of those i have spent any time with as they came after i had moved out.

there was also a 3-liter Rover P5, though that was before i was born, he got rid of that to go towards the deposit on my parents first home on the run up to them getting married. now, that was nearly 50 years ago since the Rover went, and it is the one car, the one and only car than me farther talks about with genuine affection. 

[jmsguzzi]

First Dad car I remember was his early Peugeot 306 1.4, I cried when he sold it (was only 5 so I can be let off for this).

 

The car that had the most influence on me was this 1993 Mercedes 190E 1.8 Manual, no optional extras whatsoever apart from the alloy wheels. I loved it and I’d love one for myself one day.

 

After the Merc he had a 2001 BMW 530D E39 for 9 years, which I also loved, so much so that I bought my own E39 last year from prepace off here, which I regretfully sold for an awful Rover 600 (which my Dad would of never bought).

[Dick Longbridge]

The first of my dad's cars I can clearly remember was his Marina. Not just any Marina mind; his was a Marina TC. Decent spec and lively enough according to him. I remember popping the rust bubbles on the leading corners of the front wings, much to his annoyance. I reckon the car would only have been around 7 years old at the time and was otherwise immaculate. 

[dozeydustman]

My mum didn’t drive until I was 2 years old;

Grandad on dad’s side gave her his Simca 1501 when she passed her test. The floor fell out after a few months so they got a Cortina Mk2, which my dad passed his test in. Can’t remember the registration numbers of either of these cars (The Cortina was H reg).

Cortina was stolen when my brother was very young so 1982/3, and was replaced briefly with nan’s Vauxhall Chevette while grandad (mum’s side waited for his new car to arrive.

Chevette was replaced by Leyland Princess 2200HLS LMX281P. I need to find a picture of this car for Vulgour’s wedgister.

Bottom end went in the Princess, so was replaced by my dad’s little sister’s Avenger (Chrysler, 1300LS in Doom Blue) which we ran for a few years before another car was handed down.

Peugeot 505 GR familial in beige. A431NKJ. Exported to Nigeria in 1996.

Replaced by Astra F estate L677FKR (I think): By this time I was driving myself.

The Astra was the first car my parents actually bought with their own money and the Chevette was passed on to my great Uncle who ran it well into the 1990s taking it up to 200k.

Everyone loved the Chevette and the Peugeot

[Matty]

7 hours ago, St.Jude said:

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!

That was exactly my reaction. When Chris Harris talked about keeping the tin of sweets in his car just because his dad always did fair brought a lump to my throat I must admit

[MrDuke]

Maroon Austin landcrab. One of my earliest memories of actual physical pain, was getting out of the black vinyl seat in the middle of summer while wearing shorts. I genuinely thought that I'd de-gloved my thighs.

There's an awesome photo of me sitting on the roof of our blue Bedford CA van, but weirdly I have no memory whatsoever of our owning it.

Then there was the Mk1 Granny (VUR906S), the yellow Cortina estate (XBH875X) and then the Accord (A627PNK) which I eventually inherited as my unofficial first car, complete with hammerite tidemark and DIY vinyl on the roof. Dad bought cars in decent condition, and didn't change them until they literally fell apart. Sometimes not even then.

[St.Jude]

15 minutes ago, Matty said:

That was exactly my reaction. When Chris Harris talked about keeping the tin of sweets in his car just because his dad always did fair brought a lump to my throat I must admit

Was always a bar of Dairy Milk in the driver's door pocket with my old man. Then various Irish country artists on tape on long journeys. Tried listening to the same ones as they're part of my childhood in 2019 when I was driving to Berlin, and I couldn't do it without getting upset. It's been 8 years near enough, so when Chris said it was 20 years for him I thought oh Christ I won't be listening to Brendan Shine for a while yet 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

As I was born when my Dad was 17, all of his cars have been since I was born.

Ford Anglia 103e                                                                                                      1964

Ford Prefect e93a

MorrisMinor MM  Convertible 

Morris Minor 4door black- first car I remember .

Morris Minor 2 door with 1275 Midget engine

Bedford HA van DTS173 D                                                                                1970

Cortina 1500 estate Mk2 SFK470F

Vauxhall Viscount TMM 160 F

Land Rover S1 RGC 576

Ford Granada GXL 

Austin Cambridge A60

Triumph GT6 Mk3                                                                                                    1980

company cars

Granada 2.0 L.   DRK28T   ( first car I crashed)

Ascona 2.0 SR Berlinetta auto.

Renault 16 TL an ex- company car he bought when he left.

Austin A40 mk1

Spartan 2.0 Pinto ( I sold him this , I swapped it for a 1967 Impala)   He still owns it.

Simitar GTE auto

Renault 15 TL.                                                                                                                  1990

Talbot Solara

Rover 2000 SD1

Audi 100 Avant 1.8

Granada 2.4 GL

Citroen BX Flight

Scorpio 24v saloon                                                                                                        2000

Volvo 855 2.0

Land Rover S1 1955—Still owns- everyday French car.

Land Rover Disco.  200 Tdi - now a shed in his French house.

Land Rover 300 Tdi Disco.

Land Rover TD5 Disco.

Mercedes SLK —Still owns

Triumph TR4 1964- the car he wanted, but couldn’t have because I was on the way- took it to France in late 2019- hasn’t driven it since. Hopefully sitting in his barn .

2012 Defender 90- Everyday U.K. car.

[lisbon_road]

My parents had a Fordson van first.

Then a Flying Standard

Then a Bristol 403 (really) sadly written off. 

Then a brand new Mini.  They did 60K miles in it in a few years.

Then a Triumph Herald that rotted through the chassis in about four years.

Then a Wolseley 1500 that also rotted as we lived in Holland and there was a lot of salt.

They then bought an HB Viva estate, G reg which was a good car and took it from 20K to 120K.  It had only regular maintenance.

This was followed by an HC Viva estate which was very unreliable and never seemed to run right.  It proved also to have been in some sort of accident.

Next a brand new VX1800 estate, which they still have,

Then a B reg Montego company car which was ok but difficult to find the years.

Then an E reg white 2.0 Montego which was a very good car generally.

Then a K reg Rover 820 in grey, also a good car.

Then a P reg Rover 820 in gold with cream leather.  I never liked it due to the colour, but I don't think there was actually anything wrong with it.

Then we're out of autoshite territory and anyway I get a bit confused.  Hmm.... remember the older ones, that's an age thing!

[tommotech]

Just caught up on this and found it enjoyable and strangely emotional. Dad is still around and working at 74, delivering lease cars for Audi on his truck having sold his garage business 4 years ago. Being in the trade made for some interesting car history. Before my memory kicked in he had an Austin A40 where he fitted Sprite running gear and brakes, a mk1 Cortina and a mk2 Lotus Cortina. As my own memory goes;

Rover 2200 TC P6 1968 in blue, I distinctly remember Dad having to fish his keys from between the seat and the transmission tunnel.

Rover 3500 V8 P6 1971 in tobacco, this car used to take us to Wales and Cornwall on holiday, towing a caravan. It also broke down on the North Circular where the fuel pump failed, I can smell petrol now as it was on the remainder of the journey.

Ford Granada ghia mk1 3.0 V6 1976 in Roman Bronze with creme vinyl roof and creme interior, this was an awesome car where me and our kid thought we were the Sweeney!

Ford Granada mk2 2.8 GL 1979 in silver, another big old comfortable barge that me and our kid thought we were in the Proffessionals. This car failed to proceed when it should have taken us to the airport for a holiday to Jersey, the fibre camshaft gear broke up as the Cologne engine tended to.

Mercedes 280 SE 1974 in dark blue, we thought we’d really arrived as you looked down the bonnet (which was as long as you could remember) to that three pointed star. This car broke its oil pump drive as it made 60k miles (regular Merc failure apparently) and sat in the corner for the next few years.

Reliant Scimitar SE6b 2.8 V6 1984 in metallic green, many adventures were enjoyed in the Scimitar. It was manual with overdrive and a car that I did get to drive some years after Dad sold it, I saw why he had a grin driving this gem.

BMW 735i SE 1988 in Lachs Silver, this was and still is my Dad’s most favourite car. It was fast, quiet and superlatively comfy. It had every gadget and a blaupunkt New York stereo, until some scrote hoicked it out of the dash. 

Merc ML’s and an Audi have been his cars of choice recently but they don’t hold the memories for me. If I wanted to emulate Dad and by one of his cars I’d have to go with the BMW, although I think finding a decent one for reasonable money would be difficult. 

 

[Alusilber]

My dad had an Anglia 105E when I was born, which gradually rotted away until he finally replaced it with an early Avenger 1250DL in 1976 (always associate that car - and its black vinyl seats - with the scorchio summer of '76) which he only kept for a couple of years. That was unusual for him, but probably because the fuel tank was leaking and his chewing-gum repair wasn't going to last forever. The next car was a Series 1 Marina 1.3L Coupe (with a radio! And a heated rear window!) which I don't think he liked very much but still kept for about 7 years. Then he bought a (first-gen) Astra 1300S L, which was much nicer and the first car I ever drove. For some reason he decided to downsize to a Nova 1.2L about 1992. His last car was a one-year-old 1998 Fiesta 1.25 Encore, the newest car he ever had and the only one he bought from an actual dealer.

[Vantman]

My dad didn't have a car but he got the occasional use of a Standard Fordson tractor!

[trigger]

My dad had quite a few cars as i grew up, the oldest one i remember was this Silver VX2300 when i was 3, i can just remember the blue velour interior and being sick in it!

That was replaced with a blue Y reg Cortina 1.6 Crusader around 1985, that was well posh as it had wood door caps and a grey velour interior! then things get a bit hazy, he had a blue Escort 1.3L estate on a E plate briefly around 1988 time, he then sold that for a F reg Sapphire 1.8 LX in red but with the full RS bodykit in 1989.

That was the dogs, the best car he had but they fitted the bodykit incorrectly and didn't extend the exhaust so all the flumes went into the boot whilst visiting family in Cambridge, we fell asleep in a layby for a bit before dad realised what happened! in a panic he traded it back in and we ended up borrowing Sierra from my Grandad who owned a Vauxhall Dealers in North Wales for a week

Before buying this awful Metro of him for my mum to learn to drive in, Dad hated it! I can remember us coming home 4 up with all our luggage over the Horseshoe pass back to Essex and my dad being well pissed off with it! God know why he bought it!

That got sold around 1990 time and we ended up with this Escort 1.3 L for the next 5 years.

Eventually ended up with a smiley face Escort 1.6i LX on a K plate. By 1997 I had passed my test so didn't really go in his car again, To be fair dads had a works van all my life which he used a lot more, Starting off with that Marina van in the first photo, then a B reg Transit from 1984 to 1992 which was replaced with this P100 1.8TD until 1996 (unbelievably this P100 is still on the road! J406AOO) 

then he had this Transit from 1996 to 2006

and he's had his current Transit since then and at 202000 miles it's still going today.

[Grumblespeed]

Interesting to watch - Fits in with my memories too, my dad had a mk4 Cortina, but a 2.0S no less, none of your 1.6L peasantry (company car obviously) and later had a mk1 Fiesta he bought brand new that was hateful & never ran right - replaced that with a Triumph Acclaim which is probably the one I'd revisit given the choice. He always wanted the BMW though.

Have to say for newfangled Top Gear it was a really nice premise for a feature and done with a lot more feeling than their usual tomfoolery.

[Kiltox]

Harris has bought that 323i according to his Twitter!

[ProgRocker]

1980-89 (I was aged 2 - 12 years old)

1976 Ford Granada 2000 L

1979 Vauxhall Royale 2800

1980 Talbot Horizon 1.3 LS

1983 MG Maestro 1600

[motorpunk]

Endless Cortinas for my Dad, he's in a Mondeo now. He just likes reliable stuff with plenty of space. 

I must catch up on TG, sounds like it has turned a corner. 

[AnthonyG]

It was a good feature, particularly where Harris was talking about his dad - and his mum being the better driver! 

I’m not surprised he bought the car, he seemed genuinely very fond of it and the memories it invoked.  Flintoff also seemed very taken with the Cortina.

In all, a good episode and with no damage to the cars. What a comparison to that little twat Hammond and his hammer attack on an Allegro, his dad’s car.
 
I noticed the wipers didn’t work on the Cortina in the Windermere bit, no wonder there was nearly an altercation with a Transit in the narrow lanes....

[Spiny Norman]

I thought all three of them seemed quite young for none of their Dads to be still around. Shame.

Mine left us when I was 24 and the car I most remember him for was the Renault 16, because he had three, the last one being a TS automatic in dark blue metallic, BGB 927K.

[balford]

On 3/15/2021 at 7:32 PM, Matty said:

That was exactly my reaction. When Chris Harris talked about keeping the tin of sweets in his car just because his dad always did fair brought a lump to my throat I must admit

Mine too. To be honest I haven't tuned in to TG for a long, long time but I might start watching again as the current trio seem to have a natural chemistry.

Anyway, on topic, earliest car I can remember my Dad having was a Ford Anglia estate in maroon, I only have fleeting memories of this as I was two or three when it went.

Next was a blue Hillman Hunter estate, 858 OLI
White Peugeot 305 van (with windows cut into the back and the seat from a Renault 4 installed!), 920 CI - he kept this for over 10 years till it almost literally fell apart
Grey Renault 19 Chamade GTS, 90 D 17083, written off after nine months due to someone pulling out from a side road
Red Renault 19 Chamade GTD, 90 D 22999
Blue VW Vento CL 1.4,  93 D 25479 (this was my first car, which I gave to him after I upgraded)
Red Renault Laguna II 1.6 Sport, 01 KE 4456 - surprisingly trouble free
Black Peugeot 307 1.4, 04 D 20423 - his last car as he started suffering with dementia and had to give up driving four years ago.

 

[Lord Sterling]

Bloody 'ell. Where do I start?

In the UK that I know of/been told about: All cars are as close to the original colour/spec as I could find a photo of.

1970s BL Marina in Green - unsure if it was a fastback or a saloon. This car has been mentioned by Dad, Mum and uncle (Mums brother) otherwise little other info.

CAW995T - Renault 14TL similar to the one below:

A??? ??? - Mk1 Ford Sierra:

Ford Escort (sport ?) - Apparently we only had this for a few days or weeks and it was taken back to the seller after finding something out some things that weren't quite 'right' about it.

A??? SJN - Vauxhall Cavalier GL - We had this for a very long time. It instilled my love of Mk2 Cavaliers.

G886KAW - Ford Fiesta Popular Plus - Bought brand new from Furrows for Ford off the A5 to Shrewsbury road as a car destined for Mum. Above Mk2 Cav put as a p/x.

D233 KYG - 1987 Rover Sterling - The car that had the most influence on me throughout my life and the reason why I fell so deeply in love with the Mk1 Rover Sterling and why I have....a few...in my collection:

After this, my parents went thier own separate ways.

Mum_Sterling: The Fiesta eventually got written off and Mum actually had a Mk1 Rover 820 Fastback for a while:

Sadly it was stolen by a by-then separated partner.

Mum_Sterling didn't have a car for a few years but then treated herself to a then new Micra in 1998:

Now the Grey one because the Blue one got hit:

Fatha_Sterling - Ole Dad has had a load of tat.  I'll try and keep the pics in chronological order if I can and according to what I have seen/heard, close to colour/spec and all in Belgium from here on:

(Civic was buy to sell fodder)

2004 Altima in Kuwait:

Back to Belgium again:

Current:

There is more. There are cars that I didn't see and some I deliberately didn't include because of lack of info etc... I also didn't include some other buy to sell fodder or his Mercedes truck single car transporter which he used in his business.

[LoftyvRS]

Some moving moments in the programme i thought, seemed a lot more grown up, and i'm pleased to say they didn't knock seven bells out of the cars, very respectful.

My dad was the polar opposite of a car fan, he bought cars outright and kept them for ever it seemed, especially when other mates dads were changing cars every couple of years. I appreciate why he was that way now, a precision engineer by trade, he looked after stuff and it lasted, so why waste money? 

First car i remember - i was brought home from hospital in this one was a 1968 Vauxhall Viva HB SL90  (UAB 951F) in white with black leg burning vinyl seats. Bought brand new in 1968, this was faithful family transport all the way through to 1985. Only had 50k on the clock then, I remember the frequent applications of red oxide paint around MOT times, but it took us on family holidays for donkeys years.

This was replaced in 1985 with a brand new Sierra 1.6 Laser 5dr in Nimbus Grey metallic, (B823 RDH) purchased from James Edwards Ford in Dudley in Feb 85. I was 12 at this point so i was knees deep into cars, perfect times. We felt a million dollars with a tilt and slide sunroof, 5 speed gearbox and a radio cassette with 4 speakers.  My dad suffered with Angina around this time so i undertook the regular cleaning and looking after the car for him, spending my pocket money on Autoglym poilsh and stockinette polishing cloth, it always looked amazing for its age.  He taught me to drive in this, passed my test in it 6 weeks after my 17th Birthday. The first car i ever drove above 100mph.

This was replaced with a new Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 Comfort easytronic in 2001, the Sierra sold locally with 58k miles on and fell into disrepair very quickly, a lifetime of being kept in a warm, dry, heated garage for 16 years was swapped with living outside in all weathers and it didn't last long i believe. The Corsa was an absolute pig of a car, gearbox issues from day one, he hung onto it for a miserable 3 years before off loading it for his current brand new car.

2004 saw him buying a Skoda Fabia 1.9TDI 100pd Ambiente from the Skoda Dealer i was working for at the time. Still got this now and only done 40k miles in it. 

Dad's getting on a bit now, nearly 80 so i look after all of the car based stuff for him, Servicing it, MOT'ing it and giving it a yearly deep clean and detail. Only used locally its picking up the odd tiny giffer marks from parking, but it's his freedom and i now see similar traits in myself that he had, long term ownership etc, mechanical sympathy etc.

A lot to thank him for, in many ways.

[Bren]

Some of it was actually quite poignant.

The cortina was my favourite.

My dad had cortinas - fiesta was too small and a BMW was far, far too expensive.

He only had povo spec ones that were well past their best. But in those days it wasn't as easy to have stuff on the never.

He is in his mid 70's now - and he bought a brand new ford eco sport. He always wanted a brand new car.

 

[DVee8]

My dad died when I was 4, but I remember/was told about a MK1 Ford Escort estate and a Austin Maxi.

My mother met someone else a few years later, he had a  1973 Opel Kaddet,

followed by a 1977 Opel Kaddet

followed by a 1980 Opel Kadett

Then a 1982 Nissan Bluebird

His last car that he had, he gave to me was a Austin Maestro VP

All bought from the same garage

[R1152]

I've just watched the episode: I could feel myself getting emotional along with Harris and his reminiscences. When I was in my late teens/early twenties those of my peers who did well at the big local factories all bought themselves a 323i.

On a programme note, it was nice to hear the opening of Twentieth Century Boy not involving a squashable little maggot driving a Dolly Sprint full of water.

[Noel Tidybeard]

from whin i was borned

Fiat Nuova 500- blue

Zephyr 4 -blue(bought from a mr. Chipperfield no less)

Daf 44- white F reg

1800 landcrab- grey H***AMG

Corsair v4 automatic- blue (MHV293D)

Fiat 500 giardiniera- blue C***ELK "elkie"

Austin 1300- red SOF***H

Renner 12 estate- green (EXC956L)

Allegro 1500 super- orange (flamenco red (POE408R))

Transit motorhome- reg was LOF***T so was obviously known as lofty!

renner 5 automatic 5dr- silver W reg

Citroen BX 1.9d- silver C reg

Citroen BX 1.4 flight- silver F reg

Honda Integra- red G reg

Nissan Sunny ZX 16v 5dr- grey H reg

Nissan Micra 1.3 ls- red-... his last car when he died L reg

[wesacosa]

according to some of the Eastern bloc forums on FB , Top gear have been at it again with this not too long since restored RHD 1200 

A LHD Mk1 Polonez also met the same fate too

 

I remember seeing it on eBay a few years ago (some dealer had restored it for promotional purposes) and then was for sale early this year for about £3k

[St.Jude]

4 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

according to some of the Eastern bloc forums on FB , Top gear have been at it again with this not too long since restored RHD 1200 

A LHD Mk1 Polonez also met the same fate too

 

I remember seeing it on eBay a few years ago (some dealer had restored it for promotional purposes) and then was for sale early this year for about £3k

Don't get me started on this.

Some tosser from the BBC came on to the Lada group asking if anyone had a Lada for sale. The majority (if not all) of the responses were negative to them. Rightly so given their fetish for pianos falling on Marinas. 

Then about a month ago, someone shared a screenshot of the Plymouth newspaper, with the 3 guys somewhere and there being a Lada Niva. So I thought OK, that must've been what it was for.

Then last week, we get this. By all accounts it was a very straight RHD 2101. So that's great, thanks for that BBC.

Then, Ed Hughes (I think the day later), posted his 2101 estate as he was enjoying the drive. Someone then comments asking if it was still for sale, to which Ed (rightly) tells him to fuck off as he's the fucking clown who sold that Lada to the BBC. 

I'm glad I'm not on Twitter now because I would be giving the lot of them a round of fucks. Daily. I'd been enjoying the "new new" Top Gear with them 3, but if they're resorting back to this bullshit then they can fuck right off. 

I'm not mad. I'm fucking zen.