Kiltox’s 1994 Vauxhall Astra Cabriolet! 09/06 - notDITCHFINDERS

[Longbridge Apologist]

3 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Eeeh.... where have you been for the last 6 months man 😅

 

This thread is 5 stars would buy again A1++, @Kiltox!

It’s also a definite “I want a Saab 9-3 TurboZ ragtop next” now for me.

[Alan_Green]

I've had a '93 Mahindra, a '92 LWB Suzuki SJ13, a '96 Saab 900 (currently with @twosmoke300) and right now I have a '02 MX5 on loan from @Andyrew  They're great fun on B roads, but I kind of think the best experience is in the city late at night.  But you feel a bit self conscious and vulnerable to attacks from drunks and homeless nutters.  So probably the best choice for me would be a open roof Polo or  a Pluriel.  Yeah, think I want to try a cheap petrol (so ULEZ OK) Pluriel soon. 

[motorpunk]

Another one of my favourites... 80 bhp from a three pot Suzuki, shit roof, not very fast.... shite, but expensive shite?

[catsinthewelder]

None, nearest I've even driven is @Six-cylinder's 2CV.

Despite this, 4 of the 6 vehicles I own leak.  At least the British made ones leak through the floors as well so I only have to bail out the Dacia.

[Aston Martin]

A Mercedes for £3k. 

[Asimo]

29 minutes ago, Alan_Green said:

They're great fun on B roads, but I kind of think the best experience is in the city late at night.  But you feel a bit self conscious and vulnerable to attacks from drunks and homeless nutters. 

I completely concur with this. Especially if the convertible is a rented Mustang and the city is Los Angeles. (No need to feel self conscious in L.A.)

[DVee8]

Mrs V8 bought one of these new.

As mentioned in the News 24 thread, I bought this from Station, once of this parish.

[Bear]

1 hour ago, Aston Martin said:

A Mercedes for £3k. 

But you can get the equivalent Mercedes for £2K...

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, Asimo said:

I completely concur with this. Especially if the convertible is a rented Mustang and the city is Los Angeles. (No need to feel self conscious in L.A.)

I felt self conscious when I was in a rented Mustang convertible in LA, but that's because I was crammed in the back (met up with friends who'd driven down from SF in the car) and felt a bit of a twat.

[motorpunk]

1 hour ago, Asimo said:

I completely concur with this. Especially if the convertible is a rented Mustang and the city is Los Angeles. (No need to feel self conscious in L.A.)

Done that, felt like a hero, even though I got sunstroke then got done for speeding...

 

Anyway... can we have more MGF content on this thread, please?

[grogee]

20 hours ago, Kiltox said:

 

Thats not to say owning an old Porsche isn’t fucking ruinous though - these really are expensive cars to keep well. The roof stopped folding one day - £130 later a new relay was procured and it was sorted - one hundred and thirty pounds for a fucking relay. This was minor compared with a lot of other Porsche parts!

My semi-employer has just bought a washer pump for his 911 Snail Tail. A pattern one was £45. Genuine Porsche? £95. 

I did offer to bodge fabricate a cheapo £10 Chinese one onto the existing bracket, but his OCD wouldn't allow it. 

I've had 2 convertibles. A MK1 MX5 1.8 which I paid a lot for in 2001. Nobody tells you that, as a hay-fever sufferer, a soft-top is probably not the best form of transport. Whisper it, but I didn't find it that great to drive. Bit baggy and I could feel the body flexing. The cat would recommend 14/10 though as he liked to sleep on the warm soft top on a sunny day. 

More recently I inherited a NG900 vert in terrible condition. Managed to fix the roof and other things, then sold it even though I'd made a dreadful mess of the paint. I didn't like it much but it had promise and would've been ok if it wasn't bASe 2.0 Manuel. Too many blanking switches and Saabs should have heated cow. 

[Six-cylinder]

14 minutes ago, motorpunk said:

Anyway... can we have more MGF content on this thread, please?

MG TF is the best I can do.

[hairnet]

47 minutes ago, RichardK said:

But you can get the equivalent Mercedes for £2K...

ask the chap with the black one that did the scotland charidee thing

change from a bag

 

[DVee8]

26 minutes ago, motorpunk said:

 

 

 

Anyway... can we have more MGF content on this thread, please?

 

[tul66]

I had 4 Strada Cabrios in the past. This was the last but one pictured after I'd sold it.

 

Then had this Alfa Spider S4 which I sold around 5 years ago. I do miss a convertible though.☹️

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Our first convertible, a 92 Eunos which we owned from 2005-8. We had masses of fun with this brilliant little car and it paved the way for other floppytops since. I did try and track it down and buy it back as a surprise for my fiancée's 40th but it transpires it was scrapped around six months previous. I guess it would never have been quite the same though. 

A lasting memory is being parked looking out over the sea in Weymouth eating fish and chips with the roof down.

In winter. 

In the dark. 

Great times! 

I also owned the Hilux at the time - both were excellent vehicles for very different reasons! 

[Back_For_More]

MG Roadster - which I swapped for a BGT after the hood frame left me fucked and drenched in Norwich one night......

Spirfire 1500 I rebuilt - spent more time in the garage being 'sorted' than driving after I found the sills were all paper and chickenwire etc...

Horrible 2 seater kitcar monstrosity I bought 4hrs before RR and then spanked the living daylights out of on the hill over the weekend. It had a mid mounted MR2 engine and no weather protection - I loved it....... best piece of open crap I ever had. Miss it even now.

Cheapest Boxster on EBay ...... had it for 4yrs with only brake pads everneeded - loved it on full blat and my son loved it too..... Drove it like I stole it each and every day. Stolen - got it back with the infamous IMS rattle plus others which meant the death knell  for it.

I'd have the kitcar or boxster again in a heartbeat.

Not sure what'll be next - but I'm currently without a soft top and that must be remedied...... I haven't owned a MX5 yet I suppose.

[mk2_craig]

You haven't experienced a shite convertible until you've lived with a Vibrant Orange MG TF.

This actual one in fact, though the Guernsey plates indicate that this photo was taken some time after my wife sold it, and before it went onto a UK registration. Number 21 of the LE500 run when MG restarted production in 2008, but apparently only 75 in the colour.

The paint was comically bad at staying on the panels (I fitted the mudflaps to try and preserve the sills from stone rash) and the cheap shit rear light seals let water into the boot, just like her previous and ten years older MGF had done.

Screenwash pump worked when it felt like it, hardtop fit was terrible and every unpainted bolt on the car was totally brown at three years of age.

Verdict: total pile of crap. I loved it!

Would quite like to know where it is now, either been exported yet again or encountered a further plate change. 

[eddyramrod]

11 hours ago, RichardK said:

There's a £2K MOTd red LeBaron on Facebook locally. 

Linky, in case it's my old one?

[Bear]

3 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

Linky, in case it's my old one?

LeBaroney

[Bear]

4 hours ago, hairnet said:

ask the chap with the black one that did the scotland charidee thing

change from a bag

 

That's a fourpot though - used to be V6 SLKs were more than Chrysler Rotfires

[eddyramrod]

8 minutes ago, RichardK said:

LeBaroney

Thank you; it's not my old car.

[motorpunk]

13 hours ago, mk2_craig said:

You haven't experienced a shite convertible until you've lived with a Vibrant Orange MG TF.

Verdict: total pile of crap. I loved it!

Love this! Chinese assembled for bonus shite points. 

[Rocket88]

On 5/3/2022 at 8:40 AM, eddyramrod said:

 

Chrysler Le Baron

 

I had the 4 pot version… the most unpleasant car I’ve ever owned

[GeordieInExile]

On 5/3/2022 at 11:26 AM, RichardK said:

The thing is, aside from the reinforcement brace under the seats meaning rear passengers need detachable feet, they're not awful at all. Proper hydragas, fizzy 1.4 8v, precise (for a Metro) gearshift, decent pedal placement (R6 > Metro), and a well engineered electric roof. For the size of car they're very refined and nice to drive.

Comical boot and folded top appearance but where else would it go?

The idea that they pitched a convertible based on a fifteen year old shopping trolley, with that interior and that spec, as a premium addition to the range is hilarious to me. But that's the last few years of Rover all over.

[Bear]

But they'd done the original Mini the same way - what is hilarious is that the floor strengthening would have sorted the 100's crash performance to a degree...

Remember R6 wouldn't have seemed that old to them, either - just 3 years old maybe - new front structure, heavily revised suspension, new engines... it really isn't that different from how close the Peugeot 508 and DS9 are to the Citroen C5 II, for example (rename the platform all you want). 

There was a gap in the market - but because of the way the Rover 100/Metro convertible panned out the cars missed the window. I think they must have marketed it badly though, as had I tried one I'd have had a new one. At the time I thought it would be much cruder and less refined than it really was - more like an old Metro Rapport or Fiesta Fly sort of setup.

[Sheefag]

£6375, a trip to Hungary and this could be yours...

https://www.hasznaltauto.hu/szemelyauto/x/x/x-18075305

 

[DSdriver]

I'm on my first convertible, but then again I'm on my first wife and I've had her for nigh on 50 years.

The convertible is a Saab 9-3 SE of 2002 vintage. The newest car in our fleet. 

Liking my comfort, being a serial Citroen licker I was not impressed by the hard ride of the Saab, it is far worse even than my 9-5 estate, so I purchased a set of NOS 14" genuine Saab alloys and put some higher profile tyres on. Not only do they fill the wheel arches better they have also made an improvement to the ride which is now just jarring rather than shaking our teeth fillings out.

It has been a summer only car taxed for 6 months each May and this year I am blowing my maintenance budget on having the aircon sorted. It was disconnected and a shorter drive belt fitted just after we bought the car because the compressor bearings were fucked and we weren't sure if we were only keeping it for that summer. Its definitely a keeper!

[500tops]

[DSdriver]

1 hour ago, 500tops said:

I imagine you could leave that anywhere and not get it stolen