2110 / "TWOT" Tom's World Of Tat - A topic of hopes and broken dreams

[2110]

I've been here a few years now and aside from odd posts here and an introduction which only included my more modern cars that I had at the time of joining I have seen many people keep a running diary/blog/thread about their cars so I figured I might as well since I am currently not active on Instagram for over a year under the user name of "Tom's World Of Tat" which was where I used to post snippets of my cars.

Many cars have come and gone over the past couple of years, some from and to fellow members here, so to start things going I'm going to just give a cursory overview here and then update as-and-when things develop. It's not the complete "collection" but these are the most likely candidates for using and living with.

If there is some love for the cars below I will endeavour to keep this thread alive!

In age order:

1976 Austin Allegro 1300 Super De Luxe
Oldest car I've ever owned and puts the biggest smile on my face of the fleet when driving it!

1988 Austin Maestro 1.3 City X
Known forum car here, still with me now running on all 4 cylinders and slowly getting more useable month-after-month

1988 Zastava Yugo Koral 55
Yugoslavia domestic market, not a decadent luxury export to the evil West. A one-owner car until it came to me in 2024, drove all the way from Hungary without faults and then dumped it's oil a week later! I've been lapse with this one, struggling to get it an MOT to be registered on UK so still on Hungarian export plates.

1999 Ford Laser GLXi (Australian Import)
Started it's life in Australia from McInerney Ford dealership in Western Australia. Came to the UK in 2014 when the owner came to live in the UK. In a nutshell it's a Mazda 323 with some Ford bits stuck on.

1999/2000 some Ford Pumas
I think the only Puma fitting the title of this site (also including a Racing Puma and track Puma) is the Millennium. It's a proper early 00's Ford with rust in all the right places. Long term project to give it a second life to sort out the rust and paint and engine bits that need sorting.

2004 Lada 111 1.5 GTE
Another one owner car prior to my ownership, formerly on Estonian plates I brought the car to the UK because my 112 coupe was unregisterable, and it's nice to drive something rarer than a Bugatti Veyron on the UK roads, believed to be the only UK registered Lada 2111.

2010 Ford Fusion SE (ex-US Govt)
Started life working for Department of Defense in North Carolina on US Government plates for 3 years, then spent 10 years on a US Air Force base in Germany. 2 years ago it was surplus to requirement but without registration papers (not provided with cars on US Gov plates) it was impossible to register in Germany or the EU. I rescued it and gave it a new life on UK plates.

[LightBulbFun]

I love the eclectic mix of "cars no would normally bother to import" but yet have been imported, especially the Lada  

[2110]

8 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

I love the eclectic mix of "cars no would normally bother to import" but yet have been imported, especially the Lada  

Absolutely, I've always loved to drive something a little different - they kind of blend in to the background but don't really fit in. Cars like the Fusion are largely unknown to most people but you can tell they know it's something different, most people will ask "what is it" and my reply of "It's like the American Mondeo" satisfies 99% of casual enquiries but the 1% who actually know what it is usually follows that they've never seen one and didnt expect to see one and know how it was the forerunner to the Mondeo being sold as the Fusion in the Americas. The Lada gets less attention generally but again when someone does know what it is it gets mega attention and questions, photos being taken and all sorts. I haven't owned the Laser long enough to guage people's reactions, I am however imagining it will be like the Lada.

I'm always on the lookout for something different but as I am sadly selling off a lot of stuff (not from this topic) as I need the space I doubt there will be anything new joining the ranks in the near future - but you never know...

[loserone]

What a class fleet.    Lovely

[Dick Cheeseburger]

What a cracking collection. I've not seen that Maestro for a few years - it used to be a regular on here, owned by the fella with the pink Princess. 

My favourite for some unfathomable reason is the Ford Laser. It looks like you should recognise what it is, only to  realise you've never actually seen one in the metal before! Does it have that lovely bombproof Mazda feel to the interior? 

[Rightnider]

What a lovely collection! Well done for taking care of them. 

[High Jetter]

Lovely assortment there, thanks for sharing. I'm sure pics of the other Pumas will be appreciated too.

[2110]

6 hours ago, Dick Cheeseburger said:

What a cracking collection. I've not seen that Maestro for a few years - it used to be a regular on here, owned by the fella with the pink Princess. 

My favourite for some unfathomable reason is the Ford Laser. It looks like you should recognise what it is, only to  realise you've never actually seen one in the metal before! Does it have that lovely bombproof Mazda feel to the interior? 

Yes, I know he was hoping to do more with the car but circumstances forced a change of ownership for the car. I too was hoping to have done more with it by now but it is with an MOT and tax so that's more than most of my cars!

The Laser is quite cool, you're absolutely right about the familiarity of the car and the realisation it's not a car you have actually seen around. I can't say I've ever been in a Mazda from this period aside from an MX5 but here's a photo of the interior, the seats are soft and spongey and it's terribly 90s inside. I absolutely love the carpet on the dash, no windscreen reflections or cracked dash in the Australian sun for this car!

[2110]

4 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Lovely assortment there, thanks for sharing. I'm sure pics of the other Pumas will be appreciated too.

Ask and ye shall receive  

Ford Puma Racing by Tickford, number 351 of 500 (less than) , has been in my ownership since 2006 and is the longest running ownership of a car for me, I got it not long after my 19th birthday. Currently a little worse for wear but on it's own road to recovery it is with an MOT which is nice

Puma trackday setup. I bought a trailer and this was part of the deal. The trailer is long gone but I kept the car, it's rotting in the typical Ford places but that's all it needs for an MOT. Plan was to get back into trackdays but haven't had the time (kids seem to take it all up!)

Puma 1.6, from this forum. I bought it thinking parts car but mechanically it's too nice to break apart so when I can find a cheap enough place to get it welded up, I plan to get it back on the road...

[2110]

6 hours ago, Rightnider said:

What a lovely collection! Well done for taking care of them. 

Thanks! I've not been the best I could have been at looking after them to be honest but we are getting there slowly!

[WillCarter]

This is an incredible selection.

I might be in love with the Lada.

[yes oui si]

LADA WANT 

[2110]

3 hours ago, WillCarter said:

This is an incredible selection.

I might be in love with the Lada.

 

3 hours ago, yes oui si said:

LADA WANT 

Lada dump:

The day it arrived in the UK:

The last time it wore Estonian plates (bonus points for who picks up why that plate is great for the car!)

Perfect winter car, this isn't cold for a car built for Siberia:

Earning it's keep as a workhorse:

[yes oui si]

Phwoar etc.

[Sigmund Fraud]

57 minutes ago, 2110 said:

The last time it wore Estonian plates (bonus points for who picks up why that plate is great for the car!)

VAZ, innit :

[2110]

10 minutes ago, Sigmund Fraud said:

VAZ, innit :

Nailed it!

[Tommyboy12]

Thats is one hell of a mix of cars! I love it! If you ever fancy selling any of them then let me know 😅

[2110]

Last week I finally got around to sorting the tracking on the Maestro, which involved a blast down the A3. Previously I hadn't taken it above a very brief stint to 60 MPH since being back on 4 cylinders as anything over 50 MPH sounded like I was murdering the engine and it wanted to explode. But I dared to push it and it sat happily at 70 albeit a bit screamy and according my partner following (she was backup incase it didn't like a high speed run) a little smokey under acceleration at motorway speeds but otherwise even she was surprised (she hates my tat cars). I've attached the tracking as it was before they corrected it, needless to say it can now drive in a straight line and go around corners above 30 MPH without feeling like it's about to spin out!

There was a bit of a surprise when I went to collect the car as a much better condition much more powerful cousin was parked in the same car park!

And today's job, trying to work out why it's making so much rough and tappy noise compared to the 12-year older Allegro of the same 1300 (A/A+) engine style:

[GeorgeB]

Have you ever changed the oil?

[Tommyboy12]

Changing oil is overrated on a A-series. The gunk keeps the tolerances tight 😂

[Surface Rust]

4 minutes ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Changing oil is overrated on a A-series. The gunk keeps the tolerances tight 😂

And the lumps help plug the leaks.

[vaughant]

Love that millennium Puma. 

Was working for Ford, in fact just out of my time in 1999 when these came out along with the Ka and focus all with full leather interior. 

My mate had one, much if I'm brutally honest, to the amusement of everyone who worked there as it was YELLOW 🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣.

He really liked it but the poor fucker fell for the salesman's patter that because it was for the "millennium" it would be worth loads when he bought it back in the future to part exchange it. 

He had a lovely silver one which I also seem to recall had full black leather or certainly a black interior. He part exed that falling again for the patter that " nobody wants these now, silver ones are everywhere, you're so lucky I'm giving you this price against the millennium version, I must have put 5 people off it today alone".

Of course his Mrs got pregnant and they decided to swap the Puma for a focus as it was a bit more practical.

Took it back to the dealer who then told him it wasn't worth that much as " everyone wants a silver one seeeeeeee".... Well it was 2001 🤣🤣🤣.

He gave me a lift to get my fiesta zetec s in imperial blue from Newbury in it and I thought it was a lovely place to be. 

That dealer experience must have hurt him as he still had that 51 plate 3dr focus when he left for Bridgend in 2008 which was unheard of in the world of Ford discounted cars😱😱.

Lives in NZ now.

Well he did last time I spoke to him on Facebook.

Lovely fella and hung like a horse 🤣🤣🤣.

[2110]

2 hours ago, GeorgeB said:

Have you ever changed the oil?

Yep, Had one less than 200 miles ago

[GeorgeB]

The top end looks filthy!

Does it smoke?

[Zelandeth]

On 18/05/2026 at 18:29, GeorgeB said:

Have you ever changed the oil?

Has *anyone* ever changed the oil?

[captain_70s]

The top end of the Doloshite's engine looked like that when I got it.

Had so little oil flow to the top end the rocker arms wore oval on the shaft, so thin one snapped, and the valve springs bored themselves into the cylinder head...

[Zelandeth]

37 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

The top end of the Doloshite's engine looked like that when I got it.

Had so little oil flow to the top end the rocker arms wore oval on the shaft, so thin one snapped, and the valve springs bored themselves into the cylinder head...

Ouch...that really belongs on a wall next to the camshaft from my Merc S123 (of which the innards of the engine looked basically the same as that A Series).

[2110]

23 hours ago, GeorgeB said:

The top end looks filthy!

Does it smoke?

Only under 100% acceleration at higher speeds like 55-60mph and above but it's only visible from the car behind, otherwise it's running clear.

As a total mechanical n00b as my son would call it, sounds like I should be cleaning it out?

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, 2110 said:

Only under 100% acceleration at higher speeds like 55-60mph and above but it's only visible from the car behind, otherwise it's running clear.

As a total mechanical n00b as my son would call it, sounds like I should be cleaning it out?

Aggressively?  No.  You're just likely to dislodge crap that is likely to block something critical.

Best bet I reckon would be to run a diesel spec oil for a while.  It has a higher detergent content so will help flush things out over time - but far more gradually than proprietary flush stuff in a can will.  Run shorter oil changes or just "whenever it turns black again" until it stops doing that between a normal service interval.

[Tommyboy12]

There's a risk with washing an old engine design out like the A-series with a modern detergent oil. I was not joking about keeping tolerances tight. You wash out all that gunk and it will open up the galleries and bearings leading to lower oil pressure which could easily prove terminal for it. The A-series needs a solid 60psi at high engine speed, anything less and the crank is scrap in no time.

A better bet would be to remove the head and degrease it separately and leave the bottom end as is.

If it's smoking then pulling the head and doing the valve stem seals is a good idea anyway.