My life in cars - XR3i & MK2 Escort Ghia Double the Escorts, Double the pussy

[trigger]

Now i know this is a little bit self indulgent of me but i thought it be interesting (and hopefully not too boring) to share as i haven't posted much in recent times and newer shitters would have missed my project threads in the past.

I've been into cars as long as i can remember, my childhood mostly involved me playing with my matchbox cars on floor mats (as I'm sure many of you also did) and collecting old car magazines, my dad and his brothers were also into cars so weekends were spent fixing old Cortinas or Maxis on the drive, this is me in 1983 helping dad fit some Rostyles to his VX2300

The Marina van was his works van at the time, the back axle fell of that apparently in 1985 when it got stuck in some mud and promptly got chopped in for a B reg Transit, and here's one of my uncles old Cortina, god knows what year it was though but you can see the Transit in front of it.

The years went by and i got a job at a local bodyshop when i left school in 1996 which is were my love for cars got even better, there was only me and my boss there and we covered several garages in Colchester so i was incredibly lucky to be able to collect the cars to work on them giving me the opportunity to drive many 100's of different cars, brand new Subaru Impreza Turbos, Mitsubishi 3000 GT's Honda NSX's and Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbos being a few that stick in mind at the age of 17-21! although most the stuff really was just mundane stuff like Montegos and Honda Civics.

It was in 1997 that i passed my test first time and bought my first car, a 1984 Vauxhall Nova 1.2 Swing is shit brown, affectionally known as the flying turd.

Notice had the reg plates were different, i didn't even notice until after i sold it and was looking at these photos! I paid £500 for it off a family friend and absolutely ragged the arse out of it, the wheel arch got pulled off at college so i replaced that but at 120000 miles the valve stem seals were knackered and the car was on it's last legs, i still miss it!

[Eyersey1234]

My dad had a brown B reg Nova when I was small.

[trigger]

A year after buying the Nova i decided it was time to upgrade and buy a real pussymagnet as the Nova wasn't working for me so i spend £2500 on this 1990 Escort 1.3 Eclipse

I already had the clear indicators in preparation for it so fitted them, as i was working at the bodyshop i also primed and painted the bumpers, took the Eclipse badges off and fitted a set of Orion Ghia alloys i bought of a friend as well as fitting some 6x9s in the parcel shelf. 

I loved that car, i was going around town every night in it, picking up girls, doing loads of finger blasting, good times.

We then had this late Nova 1.2 SX come into work for some paint as a trade in and for some god unknown reason that even to this day i can't explain i sold the Escort and bought it...

The only reasoning i can give is that i was desperate for a Nova 1.4 SRi at the time and the insurance was too much and i got offered it at a good trade in cash price so i thought this would be the best second option, i was wrong.

I soon sold that back on again and bought myself a L reg Fiesta 1.3 Ghia, sadly no photos but whilst that was a improvement on the Nova it was still no Escort so a year or so later that got sold and io bought this 1994 Escort 1.6 Si for £2500, around 2001 time.

Again i loved this car, i went to Halfords and spent £500 on a set of alloys and tyres for it and bought a nice new stereo for it too.

I met the now Mrs Trigger whilst had it and really had fond memories with the car until one shit day, By this point i had just got a job working for a motor factors and the manager told me to do a delivery in the car as the vans were all out, i said no, he then threatened me with the sack if i didn't do it so i did it and inviable happened...

bollocks! someone pulled out in front of me and hit them, all shit went off at work, the manager and deputy manager had a scrap, 3 computers ended up on the office floor, the area manager had to come down from Ipswich to split them up and i got given one of the works vans to use as a private car instead, with free fuel for a while.

[trigger]

Whilst my Escort went through a huge saga with the insurance company one of the guys in the garage next door who did banger racing said i could have a old Sierra he was going to race for £100, it even had a long mot on it for me so i bought it.

I fitted the original alloys off my Escort on it and the stereo and 6x9s from it and smoked it, now this car is were my love for cheap old cars comes from, it was bloody fantastic, It started life as a 1.6 GL but I'm convinced it had a 2.0 fitted as it flew and skidded everywhere!, I had some great laughs with it, the 6x9s were held in with 6" screws and i went clubbing in it 7 up with a mate in the boot who got stabbed by the screws, oh how we laughed, him not so much!

I can't remember why but my dad bought it off me and i bought this really tidy Fiesta 1.1 L for £150 instead

this was a fab little car and i had it for months until a boy racer ploughed into the back of it writing it off, by this point my insurance money had come through from the Escort so i this 1996 Escort 1.6 LX instead.

Those are the alloys of the green one, it was ok but it wasn't the same as the last one, it was a bit disappointing really so that got sold, I can't remember what i had after it but cars got a bit boring for a while and there aren't many photos.

I bought a brand new Renault Clio 1,2 Dynamique in 2004 on finance that i sold a year later to buy a house, i had my first ebay car purchase a 1993 Peugeot 306 XLD for £800, there was a K reg Astra 1.4 Si for £350,  a mint H reg Fiesta 1.0 Bonus for £400, this Mondeo 1.8 Verona for £250 which had been of the road for two years that i done up.

 

This Corsa 1.2 Arizona that was about £500

and this 306 1.8 Meridian that was as quick a hell, incredibly good looking i thought but a the build quality was a bit shit.

[HMC]

I remember that grassy bit opposite your  old house- prime Trig photoshoot location 

[trigger]

Hopefully these aren't too boring! I'll get to the more interesting stuff soon, i promise!.

I had this Audi A4 1.8 SE for a about a year in 2006, It was up privately for £2000 which was a utter bargain as it really was a nice car, at the time probably the best all round car i had.

That got traded in for £2600 against a 2004 Focus 1.8 TDCi Ghia, i won't bore you with that, it was a unreliable turd, this was 2007, I can't remember why i sold it but i ended up with this 1999 Mondeo ST24, i bought it from a garage in Southend in 2008 for £2000, it was immaculate, I'd have another nice one tomorrow.

God that was pretty! I also bought my wife this 1999 Puma 1.4 at the same time, this was a nice car, handled well and was nippy for a 1.4 but i kept banging my head on the A post and the boot would fill with water when i opened it in the wet.

Once the novelty of a 2.5 V6 that does 25 mpg wore off i sold that for this Passat 1.9 TDi Sport which was a brilliant car

Unfortunately things didn't end well for it in 2010 (older members of the forum might remember this) but i was going to view a Mitsubishi Celeste In Nottingham and ended up in a 4 car pile up on the M11, bollocks, again.

Devastated! We also had a 2004 Nissan Micra 1,5 DCi at the same time but that's a very forgetful car and doesn't warrant photos.

Now just before this in 2009 i actually bought my first proper classic car toy thing, Mrs Trigger had saved £1600 up for me as a 30th birthday present and i found what looked like a very nice 1975 BMW 1602 Lux for sale up on Brigg, so we took the gamble and went and took a look.

This was the sight when i arrived, the old boy was a bit of BMW fan, money was paid and the car drove home perfectly.

I look awful there! I done a lot of little jobs on the car, kept it a year and then decided that i wanted to experience other classic cars so sold it for about £2000, bit silly of me looking back now!

#

 

[loserone]

I've spent a long time wishing I'd bought that over the years!

[Matty]

This. Is. Fuckin. Ace. Cheers Trig for giving me summat to do tonight than talk to the missus about clothes 😄

Keep it coming pal

[hairnet]

so its the missus fault the 1602 happened lmao

any time you chop in a mk3 or mk4 escort is ftw

are the smol triggers telling you how shit your cars are yet

 

 

[HMC]

I’m having flashbacks to a small blue  car and trigger wearing a jester’s hat.

[trigger]

56 minutes ago, HMC said:

I’m having flashbacks to a small blue  car and trigger wearing a jester’s hat.

That's coming!

59 minutes ago, hairnet said:

so its the missus fault the 1602 happened lmao

any time you chop in a mk3 or mk4 escort is ftw

are the smol triggers telling you how shit your cars are yet

 

 I've got her to thank for actually getting me to buy what i had been talking about doing for years! Girls like the cars but I'm sure that will fade off as they get older and more embarrassed by me!

[trigger]

After the Passat accident i quickly went out a bought this Bora 1.9TDi Sport, again a nice car but i didn't keep it long.

Bonus shit Micra included, i then sold that and bought this brilliant Mondeo ST TDCi

I loved this car, it's probably been my favourite modern car I've owned and i was a complete bellend to sell it but that's another story.

Now this photo brings us into the next classic, this 1972 Opel Kadett 1200, I saw this for sale on carsandclassic in 2010 for £2200, i had just sold the BMW so was looking for something different and this looks amazing so drove to Hertfordshire to take a look.

This was the sight we was graced with! i remember the owner opening the barn and pulling this sheet off and the whole barn just glowed orange!

This was such a nice car, 60000 miles, a genuine UK car from South Wales, I even took it to a Shitefest at the now gone Stondon Transport Museum in 2010  were Dollywobber did a magazine feature on it

It was around this time that i got shot of the ungrateful piece of crap Nissan Micra and upgraded it to this 1988 Ford Escort 1.6 GL that i found through Spottedlaurel, It was £300 i believe and had one elderly owner who was giving up driving.

It done 40k and drove like new, I fitted new rear arches and a battery tray and Mrs Trigger had it as a daily for about a year

[schonker]

Keep them em coming Trig!

[Shedking]

That grass car park where the BMW is parked, it's not Bridlington is it?

[stuboy]

2 hours ago, trigger said:

phwoar

[RoverFolkUs]

1 hour ago, trigger said:

It was £300 i believe and had one elderly owner who was giving up driving.

Looks like that only happened at point of sale! 🤣

[trigger]

Next up in 2011 was this 1984 Ford Escort 1.3L, i was at a car show in Clacton when i saw it with a sign simply saying "For Sale" in the window.

I asked the owner how much he was after and he said he'd be happy with £500 for it, the car was near immaculate and only done 40000 miles, I took it for a run around the field.

and decided I'd be a right plum not to buy it so the deal was done at it because car number 31

I sold the blue Escort and Mrs Trig used it for a while but realistically it wasn't as nice to drive as the blue one and after hearing Mrs T moan about the clutch a millionth time i decided to sell the car on, I think i got £800 for it and it went off to Ireland

After all this fuss i felt guilty so thought I'd better treat the wife to something a bit nicer so bought her this locally registered Golf 1.8 Cabriolet for £800

It was a nice car, i fitted a set of alloys, new stereo and replaced a rotten wing and it done well for a year.

[trigger]

Meanwhile early 2012 i decided i need a old Ford in my life and whilst trawling Ebay i came across this 1974 Cortina 2000 XL in Evesham, the photos we are shite as you'd expect

but i decided to bid anyway and won it for £2100, the next weekend we drove down and collected it.

It made it home fine apart from one seized caliper that made me pull into oncoming traffic traffic whenever i braked!

I had this car for 4 years and done a LOT of work on it, It's been to a Shitefest in Wales too which was brilliant.

the interior was a mess, the front seats had been replaced with Alfa 156 seats and the rear seats painted with sticky cream paint, i had the original front seats repaired and cleaned all the paint of the rears.

I also bite the bullet and had the car resprayed too and a pair of front wings fitted 

and when all finished it looked like this.

What a nice car! When my wife got pregnant in 2015 i got a wobble on and decided that i had to sell all my cars so my dad bought it off me and still owns it, but there's still a lot of cars before that happened!

[DoverShark]

If it’s any consolation I worked at a Jayar branch for about 2 weeks circa 2001 and put one of their escort vans in a ditch.

[Matty]

2 hours ago, trigger said:

That's coming!

 I've got her to thank for actually getting me to buy what i had been talking about doing for years! Girls like the cars but I'm sure that will fade off as they get older and more embarrassed by me!

My missus is the same. Totally encourages me as she knows it's been an affliction since a young age. Difference is she won't drive or be seen in them 😁my kids like the stuff i like though

[trigger]

in late 2012 I got offered this 1985 Suzuki Alto FX on Flickr, the owner, at the time saw a photo I'd took of it outside his house and said that the head gasket had gone and wondered if i wanted it for £120, obviously i said yes and he bought it round mine with a trail of smoke behind and i set about replacing the head gasket and skimming the head.

 

but once all finished at turned out pretty well, I'm not sure why but i sold the Golf and Mrs Trigger then took the Alto as her daily driver, i think she liked it as she only worked a few miles away from home and it was easy to park at her work.

I didn't really like it though, it was woefully slow and felt like a stone was enough to write the car off and when a lorry pulled out in front of her one day i decided it was probably time to sell it so i think i got about £600 to it, i ended up selling it to a friend who broke the oil pump and it spend years sitting behind a local garage until recently when i saw it on ebay for about £3000

[trigger]

This made a quick appearance in 2013, a workmate needed to sell it quick and offered it to me for £250, he dropped it off on the Friday, i spent the next couple of days polishing it to a inch of it's life, fixed a couple of things and sold it to another friend for £500 on the Sunday

the Mondeo ST also got traded in for this grey Focus which was a utter piece of unreliable crap, i don't get on with grey Focus's.

but back to shite in 2013 whilst on ebay i saw this 1976 Honda Civic locally to me and decided it was worth a look, i went to the owners house and this is how it looked.

He had inherited it of his auntie but only wanted the number plate, we agreed on £1000 for it and i took it home.

I spent months going right through the car, had the rusty bits repaired and polished it up, it was a lovely car, miles ahead of anything we built in the UK at the time, the engine was nippy and fairly refined, i like my BL stuff but god knows why you would buy a Allegro over one of these but Japanese cars weren't so popular back then

I then got asked to display it on behalf of Honda at the BTCC at Brands Hatch in 2014 and got to meet these too

This was one of them cars that if i had a massive barn and loads of money I'd still have it now

[trigger]

So next up we're back to the Alto, that sold in 2013 and i needed something to replace it so i bought this 1984 Triumph Acclaim HLS of another Autoshite member for £800

It had done around 440000 miles and drove well on the way home but sadly the head gasket had gone so the first top was to replace that and get the head skimmed, i then got the valance painted

and after that it wasn't too bad

I even took it to Shitefest  in Wales in 2015, 700 miles there and back with a boot full of car magazines and it didn't miss a beat, it was a lovely car to drive

Check out that wheel arch repair!

I then sold that in 2014 and replaced it with this 1991 Merc 190E 2.0 that i saw for sale on a road in Colchester for £600

this was a revelation compared to the Acclaim, it was beaut to drive and was in fantastic condition.

Mrs Trigger took over my Focus and i used for work for ages but the fuel costs and the automatic gearbox started to annoy me as it was always in the wrong gear for the corner, does it still belong to someone on here?

[trigger]

After the Merc went i wanted something a bit cheaper to run but still fun so back on ebay again and i found this rare 1998 Toyota Starlet SR for sale in Norfolk for £600

It was a bit tatty and needed some love but had potential, again i spent a few months sorting the little jobs, fitting new stickers and tyres etc, Mrs Trigger had it as her daily as she liked it but annoyingly some bell in a Audi A6 backed into whilst in traffic and stuff the lights and bonnet.

Rattlecan man came to rescue and fixed it though

It looked ok from a distance!

I ended up selling that for £950

Next was this 1966 Cortina 1500 Super, i wasn't planning on buying it but someone at work was selling it for £4000 and at 26000 miles it seemed to good a deal to turn down so went to view it.

again obviously i bought it!

it was was part of a messy separation and the owner just wanted it gone, It was such a pretty car

I didn't keep it long sadly as it wasn't long after buying it that Mrs T got pregnant and i sold both this and the Mk3 to my dad, he's still got both cars although the Mk1's not been out the garage a few years now.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Loving the car history, Trigger. Weird one with your Acclaim. A year later it ran out of mot, wasn't taken for a retest and hasn't been retested since. Tax was chopped in partway through the month and it's not been sorned either. 

[trigger]

Next up in 2015 was this 1991 Sierra 1.8 LX, I wasn't planning on buying it (Yeah that happens alot!) but a old friend of mine needed to sell it after it had sat in his barn about 7 years, i gave £250  for it and he delivered it for me.

 

A lot of work was done sorting out the fuel system and carb, genuine cossie alloys were bought for £25 so i refurbished them all and fitted new tyres and a wheel arch wa spainted and it looked quite smart

I used it for work for a while but i had a few issues with the carb that i couldn't get to the bottom off and sold it on here to a serial shitter for £900 i believe

Now i can't remember what happened here but i went from a nice pair of Cortinas to a knackered Dolomite 1500 SE...

A lady asked on Facebook if any would be interested in it and i was there the next morning! £800 was handed over and i drove it home and promptly broke down with a cooked wheel bearing and needed a tow from my dad

I spend ages doing this up, loads of welding on the front valance, loads of paintwork and went right through it mechanically, it was a real transformation once finished.

Here is the car in 1986 with the original owner

That car looked so nice once finished, I ended up selling to a enthusiast in 2017 who still takes it to shows, a week after selling it i saw it on display at the NEC classic car show on one of the main entrances 

 

[trigger]

15 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Loving the car history, Trigger. Weird one with your Acclaim. A year later it ran out of mot, wasn't taken for a retest and hasn't been retested since. Tax was chopped in partway through the month and it's not been sorned either. 

Thanks, I'm just glad someones reading it as it's taking hours! I sold it to a member on here who broke it and it ended up on Guernsey or Jersey and then it was crashed, i did see a photo of it on facebook a while back so i think its still about.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

3 minutes ago, trigger said:

Thanks, I'm just glad someones reading it as it's taking hours! I sold it to a member on here who broke it and it ended up on Guernsey or Jersey and then it was crashed, i did see a photo of it on facebook a while back so i think its still about.

It's a cracking thread! Looking again, that makes sense with the Acclaim - turns out it does have an export marker on it. 

[trigger]

Modern car wise i traded the shite grey Focus in and bought this Zetec S model, another car i should never had sold

Older car wise i sold the Sierra and bought this off a member on here, it was a proper weapon, 1.8t 20v so basically a Cupra with a boot and I'm sure it had been chipped too, probably the quickest car i've owned!.

Again i sold that back onto someone on here and i think i must have had some serious head injury around this point as i bought this to replace it...

Car number 46, a 1988 Audi 90 2.2i, It was £600 on ebay and in Nottingham so me and a mate drove to buy it, it was a bit shit but i'd driven all that way so decided to take a punt.

as you can see it tided up ok after a while but it would smoke under load and the exhaust manifold gasket was blowing, once the novelty of that beautiful sounding 5 cylinder engine with a constant tapping noise wore off i sold it for £700 to someone on the Orkey islands would, got a taxi, boat, plane and train to collect it and drove 800 miles home!

I then bought the ill-fated 1991 Astra 1.6L

1 owner from new and 64000 miles for £400, it drove lovely and i set about tidying the arches, changing the cambelt, new plates and making it nice.

but sadly one night whilst i was at work some local druggys decided they wanted it more and stole it of my driveway and spent 5 hours joyriding around Ipswich in it...

I was getting messages on facebook all night about it being seen ramming cars and racing around town, come the morning i got a call from a friend who saw smoke under the Orwell Bridge on the A14.

My disklok was still in the boot as well as a load of club money from the car club i co-run.

I was sick after this and truth be known it was the main reason i wanted to move house.

[Markeh]

Many years ago I used to read these pages but never had anything interesting to post, so never bothered signing up - this would've been around the time you had the Mk3 Cortina - I ended up with a particularly nice picture of it as my desktop wallpaper for a couple of months.

Also vaguely remember seeing the Alto around the Mansfield area a couple of years back as well so it's clearly travelled a bit!