Wibble’s Wittering - Cortina, Senator & occasional Skoda & family ramblings, soz!

[EyesWeldedShut]

On 22/11/2025 at 19:05, Wibble said:

Largs

Multiple school trips from Ayr went through Largs over to Millport where we (always) got bundled off to the Marine Research place and the teachers may* have waited for us to return in the confines of a local hostelry. 
Before leaping with joy* onto the ferry we'd also get treated to the Battle of Largs tales (i.e. the barefoot, tiptoeing, nasty, underhand, moving at night Vikings wandered into a thistle thicket. The Nordic curses then arsing alerted the Scots who (of course) then banished the Vikings forever and adopted the thistle as their national emblem. 55 feckin' years later I can still recall that bit of cultural indoctrination).

Largs (and Arran) were also the main base for the early WW2 Commando training before they shifted up to Achnacarry - my GrandDad ended up there in 1944 and some of his (no  longer with us) literature had a few tales from the Largs era which seemed to be, pretty much, anything goes as regards methods, training and so on.

Not been back there since 1974.

[Boycie]

Also famous for this ..... I live 6 miles off Largs however only really visit for the dentist 

 

[AnnoyingPentium]

8 minutes ago, Boycie said:

It's won a lot of awards , however the best chippy in Ayrshire is The Wee Hurrie at Troon , it's at the harbour right next to the fishing boats .... fair to say theres a good choice , and it's always got a queue 

https://www.zmenu.com/the-wee-hurrie-troon-online-menu/

 

Marcos in Ayr is pretty decent as well, not quite to the standards of The Wee Hurrie though.

[Boycie]

1 minute ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Marcos in Ayr is pretty decent as well, not quite to the standards of The Wee Hurrie though.

Never tried it , I'll need to , often in Ayr for the racing , normally stop in at The Red Squirrel on way home , late dad's fav so I tend to stop in

[AnnoyingPentium]

Just now, Boycie said:

Never tried it , I'll need to , often in Ayr for the racing , normally stop in at The Red Squirrel on way home , late dad's fav so I tend to stop in

Its on Fort Street, just around the corner from where the now-closed Wellington Café was. Last time I was in, it was still decent value.

[Wibble]

2 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Its on Fort Street, just around the corner from where the now-closed Wellington Café was. Last time I was in, it was still decent value.

Wish I’d known this before. We stopped in Ayr, on our way back from Maybole and I really fancied a bag of chips. They just don’t seem the same down here. Although they might be, I’m sure they don’t cook them the same as in 1978.

[Boycie]

5 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Its on Fort Street, just around the corner from where the now-closed Wellington Café was. Last time I was in, it was still decent value.

Know where u are , Ayr was my stomping ground when younger , Club De Mar ...... I was 18 in 95 , those were the days , worked in Ayr and we,d cruise the high st in the company 205 van .... With alpine ice as we were the local supplier 

[Matty]

@Wibble its not nice to see you still havent had the luck jobs wise. I know its easy for me to say but unless the senator and cortina are costing you in storage fees then whatever you do dont sell. Once theyre gone thats that. SORN them, cancel the insurance for a bit if you must till thing s are better financially. But dont let them out of your hands.

[EyesWeldedShut]

25 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Its on Fort Street, just around the corner from where the now-closed Wellington Café was. Last time I was in, it was still decent value.

Fort Street - all my aunts, uncles + my own parents got married down the bottom there in Cathcart Church, most of them also went to Ayr Academy next door. 
My Mum worked in the County Buildings and we'd, sometimes, have something in The Wellington* or a smaller Italian place just around the corner in the Sandgate when it was the school holidays and she had to be in work.
Place to get a proper fish supper back then was another Italian one down the bottom of the Sandgate (north of Academy Street - kind of opposite the Town Hall iirc) - GoogleFoo is failing to find it - but we'd cycle down from Belmont to pick them up then 'race' back home before they got cold (they always did so had to go into the oven to get crisped back up).

Kind of a DIY Deliveroo I guess?  

* Found this 1930s record via https://maps.nls.uk/projects/italians/  The Scottish National Library gets eleventy out of ten for their mahoosive amounts of online record conversions.

[comfortablynumb]

Agree totally with @Matty, that's why I've had my 1600e for so long. I'm fortunate that it's in one of my garages so not costing me storage ( unless you count the mortgage) but I know if it goes, with the scene tax I'll never get another.

Maybe one day.....🤞

 

[Matty]

8 minutes ago, comfortablynumb said:

Agree totally with @Matty, that's why I've had my 1600e for so long. I'm fortunate that it's in one of my garages so not costing me storage ( unless you count the mortgage) but I know if it goes, with the scene tax I'll never get another.

Maybe one day.....🤞

 

1600E. Another dream car. Just need the Gilbern, 3500s p6, gt6, 105e with harris crossflow, Imp, ginetta, manta is200, mk1 xr2 ......

[Wibble]

Thanks @Matty, @comfortablynumb, it’s not a storage cost issue, insurance is cheap and I only have to tax the Senator. It’s more an issue of funds. I still have a mortgage and a kid at school, with college next. I’m very conscious of the fact that I’m using what funds I have, that were intended to pay off the mortgage, for  daily life. 

[Matty]

11 minutes ago, Wibble said:

Thanks @Matty, @comfortablynumb, it’s not a storage cost issue, insurance is cheap and I only have to tax the Senator. It’s more an issue of funds. I still have a mortgage and a kid at school, with college next. I’m very conscious of the fact that I’m using what funds I have, that were intended to pay off the mortgage, for  daily life. 

Hundred percent agree. I knew thats where you were coming from. But realistically the money from the sale of those two cars isnt going to go very far. To be honest im amazed that the skills you have arent marketable and job oportunities arent forthcoming. I cant get decent skilled lads. Ive a lad on at the moment whose semi skilled at best. If ive to tell him how to do his job one more time ill shoot myself i swear. And we pay him a skilled mans wage. If in this time we find ourselves in you cant find a start then the jobs fucked.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

On 21/11/2025 at 23:45, Wibble said:

With employment proving so difficult, I have to approach the very hard consideration, of selling my cars. Pricing is a problem, I’ve no idea where to pitch them, so would welcome some thoughts.

The Senator is hard to sell, I’ve had it since 1998 but, it needs work on the rear arches(don’t they all?) and the head lining has dropped and currently held up by pins. It has a bit of lacquer peel too, to make it more appealing and a dent in the near side front wing. MOT is out on 1st December too. I’m really selling it here aren’t I!😆

How many left, which we all know should be taken with a pinch of salt, say this is the only 2.6 injection saloon left. It’s a rare base model. There may be some 2.6CDs, I don’t know. I fitted CD alloys 23 years ago but still have the original steels and wheel trims. Wheels probably fucked now, tbh.

Next is the Cortina. I paid £5.5k for this, some years ago and shouldn’t have. I was so desperate to have it, I ignored its problems. It is a really good car and worthy of the work it needs. Kelsey publishing like to use their photos of it a lot!

Its had a lot of paintwork, which looked great but is now blistering. I was gutted , obviously.

Paintwork aside, it now needs a bit of welding on the near side inner and outer sill, a fuel pipe and upper ball joints, to sort the crazy heavy steering. I also have a new clutch cable, which needs to be done. My local garage say it’s amazing underneath otherwise and I posted photos of this before.

My main reason for posting is to get an idea on values but I know that’s not easy. Hopefully things will change and they can both stay🙂

 

Sorry to hear that you're considering this, chap. I'm assuming the Senator has the greatest sentimental value to you? If so, get the Cortina tweaked, sell for the max in the spring when people are ready to pay fair ££ again and keep the Senator. You've owned it for almost 30 years man - it's part of you! Combine that with the fact the Cortina is going to net you some solid groats in contrast to the Vauxhall, I'd say your decision is made, should you have to make pull the plug on one of them. 

[Wibble]

31 minutes ago, Dick Cheeseburger said:

Sorry to hear that you're considering this, chap. I'm assuming the Senator has the greatest sentimental value to you? If so, get the Cortina tweaked, sell for the max in the spring when people are ready to pay fair ££ again and keep the Senator. You've owned it for almost 30 years man - it's part of you! Combine that with the fact the Cortina is going to net you some solid groats in contrast to the Vauxhall, I'd say your decision is made, should you have to make pull the plug on one of them. 

I know you’re right, I have had the Senny a long time. I also love the Mk4, had some good times in my Dad’s.

Reality is that I want to run into a corner and scream, “how has it come to this?” And then cry my eyes out.

Ignore me, I’m just a bit low.

[High Jetter]

54 minutes ago, Wibble said:

I know you’re right, I have had the Senny a long time. I also love the Mk4, had some good times in my Dad’s.

Reality is that I want to run into a corner and scream, “how has it come to this?” And then cry my eyes out.

Ignore me, I’m just a bit low.

Yea, been there, know how it feels. Hold on to real things.