Aaah, memories...

[michiel]

Great thread - love the Toyota 1000 (and Novaquatre, Minx etc...)! I should grow some balls and swap/buy more.

[wuvvum]

 

This was my second Marea. It was a 155HLX with the 2-litre 20v 5-pot - went like shit off a shovel and sounded gorgeous.

 

 

Renault 5 GTL. This was hopelessly overgeared for its 1.1-litre engine, but it was in good nick and drove nicely enough - was my daily for about three months, doing the 30-mile round trip to work without a hitch.

 

 

Saab 900 T16S. I still own this car, although the head gasket has recently gone.

 

 

Cresta rally car. Another one I should probably have kept, although its prodigious thirst and lack of a heater (I bought it in November) didn't help. It went like the clappers though. I'd have another PB in a flash, although I'd probably go for a standard one.

 

 

Skoda 130LSE. This was a one-old-biddy-from-new car which my mate was offered and he passed it on to me knowing I like these things. It was a lot slower than the 120 though, and I eventually sold it to a chap who came down from Scotland and drove it home.

 

 

Subaru Legacy. This was only a 2-litre GL, but acquitted itself remarkably well at Marham.

 

 

Toyota MR2. Brilliant little car - I loved this thing.

 

 

Innocenti. Those of you who were at Stondon in September will have seen this in the metal (what little there is of it).

 

 

9000 Carlsson. This was by far the best handling 9000 I've ever owned. It was a bit down on power though unfortunately, although still pretty quick.

 

 

Colt. This really was a gorgeous little car. Paid £250 for it with a year's test, drove it back from Sussex in the snow and used it as my daily for months. It wasn't particularly economical, being a 1.4 auto, but it was nippy enough, drove beautifully and had a great heater.

[worldofceri]

How is it folk on here always look approx 0% like you imagine them?

LOL! How did you imagine me then?

 

erm... Like your avatar?

 

Srsly, if someone posts a picture featuring themselves I always think 'nah, that can't be right'. But then I'm such a misanthrope I tend to know what car a person drives long before I've even remembered their name.

[dollywobbler]

Interesting about the Marea. I'm drawn to the Coupe mainly for its engine. Maybe I actually need a Marea!

[wuvvum]

 

300ZX. This had some issues (note the angle of the rear wheel) but was bloody quick. I'll have another one one day, although I'll try to go for a manual next time.

 

 

Rover 620 SLDi. This was actually a surprisingly good car. Quite quick for a diesel too.

 

 

Astra TD. I paid £150 for this with loads of T&T. It was a low-blow GM engine but managed better than I'd expected, and did 60mpg.

 

 

Rover 3500 auto. Made the mistake of picking this up in the dark and wet and couldn't be arsed to check it over before handing over the cash - turned out the sills were mostly made of underseal. A mate welded it all up for me but then it lost reverse gear. Eventually sold to a German chap.

 

 

Honda Accord. This was a top-of-the-range 2-litre 16 valve job with all the toys (aircon, cruise control, four electric windows, ABS, electric sunroof etc) and being a Honda they all worked. It was bloody fast too (0-60 in 8.2 sec according to the Autocar road test of the time) and enormous fun at Marham. Unfortunately it developed major ABS issues which were going to preclude it getting an MoT without serious expenditure, so I sold it to another chap who was going to use it for track days. I often think I should have kept this one though - I'm sure I could have shoehorned it in somewhere.

 

 

Magentis. This was a 2.5 V6 with a 4-speed tiptronic 'box, and was a seriously impressive car - comfy, well equipped (even if the interior plastics were a bit tacky), handled superbly and was bloody fast - to the point of giving an Impreza WRX a hard time down my favourite local B-road. If a manual one of these came up at the right money I'd go for it.

 

 

Slightly later Colt. This was a 1.5 manual and was a pleasant enough thing, but didn't have the character of the older car.

 

 

Galant. This was lovely to drive but had the usual gearbox whine. I'd have another one of these though, preferably a V6.

 

 

The Yiben Warrior. This is a 125 and I actually used it to buzz to work and back on for a couple of months. It's now stood up with a broken throttle cable.

 

 

A trio of shite - Citroën CX Pallas, Morris Minor and Rover 2600. The 2600 was local, the CX came from London and the Minor I drove home from Buckinghamshire (losing most of the exhaust just north of Cambridge). I bought all three of these the same weekend.

[Mr Lobster]

Fuggin 'ell. GR7987659 thread, you've owned some proper old shite there.

 

My hat is duly raised to you.

[Alexg]

Christ, on and on and on! Geezer you've owned some motors, and some brilliant ones too I might add. Thanks for sharing

[wuvvum]

 

Humber Hawk. This was a lovely old thing, and I wish I'd kept it and forked out for the necessary work. It was a 4-speed column shift manual with overdrive, which meant that 75mph was about 3000rpm, so it was an amazingly relaxed motorway cruiser for a 50-year-old car, and it wasn't overly thirsty either for what it was. Didn't handle though.

 

 

406 1.9 TD. Not particularly fast, but utterly reliable (cost me £1.49 in maintenance in 7 months). Was a bargain as was advertised on the Bay as a non-runner but the seller got it running again shortly before the end of the listing - appears most people didn't look further than the big red "THIS CAR IS A NON-RUNNER" to see the small black "the car now runs fine" at the bottom of the page. So £155 with plenty of T&T, and a thoroughly pleasant car to drive as well, as long as one wasn't in a hurry.

 

 

My first QX. This was a 2-litre V6 auto, and its bark was very much worse than its bite.

 

 

Saab 9000. This was a 2.3 full pressure turbo which had been mildly tweaked, and went like hell despite its 270K miles. Didn't cope with Marham too well though - handling wasn't that great.

 

 

Dolomite 1850, fitted with a Sprint engine. Was very solid but I never could get it running right, and the clutch was on the way out too so I sold it on to a chap from RR.

 

 

Another Fourtrak - this one was a 2-litre petrol.

 

 

The Austin Ten - bought this as a non-runner, did the head gasket and got it running reasonably smoothly again, but it was never 100% right. It was also rather unpleasant to drive (not that I went very far in it) so I sold it.

 

 

Talbot Alpine Minx. Another car I probably should have kept, and would have if I'd had more space available at the time. Really very nice to drive, comfortable, quick and handled well, and the best headlights of any '80s car I've owned.

 

 

Toyota Townace. Drove this back from Sheffield in the OMGSNOKAOS at the end of 2009. It was 4-wheel-drive so brilliant in the snow, went OK for what it was and didn't overheat. It was also very easy to drive. I'd have another of these.

 

 

104. Drove this back from near Oxford on New Year's Eve 2009. It drove fine apart from a binding NSF brake, and I used it as a daily for a few weeks, but then it started to become a royal PITA, with one thing after another going wrong. Not unexpected really from a car which had stood for several years, but still annoying. Once I got it running properly again I sold it to a RR-er.

[ProgRocker]

 

 

My baby. This was one of the few cars that I decided from the moment I first saw it on the Bay that I was going to own it no matter what, and nothing - not even a bidding war with Pog - was going to stop me. I probably paid too much for it - it appeared fairly solid, but on closer inspection a lot of the repairs had been done with metal of a similar gauge to tin foil, and the repair to the NSR trailing arm mount soon failed - but I don't regret a penny. It drove back from Kent when I bought it, and made it up to the bubble car museum at Newark and back without missing a beat. It still starts every time, even after sitting in the garage for a couple of months. I pulled it out a couple of weeks ago after Bo11ox posted the Gazoline article and gave it a good going over, which involved removing various bits of trim and used the best part of a bottle of Kurust. But that wasn't unexpected...

 

Fuggin' hell! I think I may have passed you last summer/autumn on Wroxham Rd near Tesco's? Think I was in my old shite white Escrote diseasal saloon.

[Timewaster]

[wuvvum]

 

Scirocco. This was a 1.8 auto, but surprisingly good to drive despite that.

 

 

Colt. This was a 1.5 auto, pleasant enough to drive but hopelessly thirsty (22mpg). It was also quite rusty. It got nicked about two days before the MoT ran out - it would only have got weighed in anyway.

 

 

Carlton 2.6i CDX. I bought this needing a few jobs doing to get it useable. Did said jobs, then sold it on to Garycox of this parish. It eventually failed its MoT on rust - seems to be a bit of a theme with Carltons...

 

 

My faithful old diesel Espace - paid £185 for this with loads of tax, used it as a daily / van / motorbike transporter etc. for several months and it never missed a beat. Heater didn't work though, which was a pain.

 

 

The CZ180, bought off a mate of Spottedlaurel's. This is actually surprisingly good to ride.

 

 

Dodge 50 camper. I bought this from Cardiff. Cardiff is a long way from Norwich when you're in a Dodge 50.

 

Appear to have missed a few off an earlier page, so here they are now:

 

 

Transit 2.0 twin cam. Scruffy as hell but bloody quick - the only large van I've ever owned that would do the ton.

 

 

Rover 825D. 2.5 litres of VM powah. Brilliant tow car, used it to tow home...

 

 

My second Sud. This was a 5M and was a bit of a bargain, as the seller had listed it in the normal cars section of eBay rather than Classics, and had also forgotten to mention that it was still MoT'd for three months. It was a lovely little thing to drive, very nippy for a 1.2, although it did need the clutch bleeding every few weeks.

[wuvvum]

Fuggin' hell! I think I may have passed you last summer/autumn on Wroxham Rd near Tesco's? Think I was in my old shite white Escrote diseasal saloon.

Yup, sounds likely - I was probably bringing it back from having the rear suspension welded up.

[Guest]

Was the Austin the one that you sold on and the bloke who bought it tried to get a respray and engine rebuild out of you?

 

Top shite nevertheless. How tragic are the 2 litre V6 QXs? There's a really quite disgusting one in Widnes for not a lot of notes, and I'm quarter tempted.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

'NOBEL SHITE PRIZE' WINNER 2008/9/10/11

[wuvvum]

 

My second QX. This was a 3-litre and went rather better than the other one. Sold it to a mate, who wrote it off in a 60mph head-on with a Transit van.

 

 

Toyota Enema. I was actually quite impressed with this, other than the fuel consumption. It was quicker than I thought it would be - why do these always seem to be driven everywhere at 40mph? Actually, see my comment above re fuel consumption. This one would do the ton though, and it was 4 wheel drive.

 

 

Marea 2.4 JTD. The fastest diesel I have ever driven, and the best sounding too.

 

 

Hyundai Coupe. Another surprisingly pleasant car to drive. Bargain too at £150, although the rear arches were rather scabby.

 

 

Rover 3500 auto. Should probably have kept this a bit longer, but just couldn't afford to run it at the time.

 

 

Honda CBR600. This was quite an early one and wasn't actually that nice to ride, so I sold it and bought a Suzuki GS500 instead.

 

 

The 21 Turbo at Marham. This was an epically fast car but needed a lot of work to get it roadworthy again. Should probably still have kept it though.

 

 

Subaru Justy - my current daily. Bought for £71 having failed the MoT on four tyres, a missing sidelight and a burst brake pipe. I had four tyres to go on so just had to pay to get them swapped over and balanced. £7.99 for a roll of brake pipe and £3.18 for two trailer sidelights and it went straight through a test. It was GR16 in the OMGSNOKAOS as well.

 

 

Merc 190E manual. Bought cheap, didn't particularly like it, sold on cheap.

 

 

And that is pretty much the contents of my Photobucket account, at least the photos that would be of any interest on here - I've left out the boring modern crap that I've owned. I'm sure I've got more photos of cars somewhere (the Mk1 Espace is one that springs to mind) but I'm not sure where they are. If they were on my phone I'm screwed as I lost that on the way home from France after Christmas.

 

Anyway, hope you enjoyed my moment of self-indulgence. I know I did - I've been sat here doing this for four hours now.

[wuvvum]

Was the Austin the one that you sold on and the bloke who bought it tried to get a respray and engine rebuild out of you?

Yup, that's the one. The bloke was obviously expecting a concours 1940s car for little more than a grand. Interestingly he had it up for sale again shortly afterwards, and the advert didn't mention any of the supposed faults he was so upset about.

 

Top shite nevertheless. How tragic are the 2 litre V6 QXs? There's a really quite disgusting one in Widnes for not a lot of notes, and I'm quarter tempted.

They're not actually all that bad TBH, they're just not as fast as they sound like they should be. Slightly thirstier than the average 2-litre car too, but they're a pleasant enough thing to potter around in.

[Tayne]

Top thread.

[trigger]

THIS THREAD IS THE BO11OX, Will you be my new best friend?

 

I knew you had owned a few cars but not to that extreme, for a guy so young (what are you 30-33?) you have owned a epic amount of grade A shite!

 

That burger van is amazing, and your right about that Alfasud a while back that was for sale near me, it was your old one, Think it might have been scrapped now though.

 

Alfa Romeo Alfasud 1.2 5M by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

[Pete-M]

Norwich? All going well, myself and the Waternator will be not too far from there on Sunday on a shite collection mission...

[Anglevan]

chuff me how many cars i've probably had about the equivelent of page one in total cars and non so shite. Cheers for sharing

[Split_Pin]

Hat duly tipped

 

Thats an epic amount of cars you have owned! I am very envious of you! Not that many people will be as truly qualified as you to say what so many types of car are like to own and drive.

 

I enjoyed the wee story that went with each of them too.

 

If I had to pic a favourite it would be either the Commer Burger van, as its both interesting and bonkers, or the 204.

 

Keep up the good work!

[Doctormop]

Just read the entire thread and tongue is hanging out obscenely, surely a candidate for thread of the year even if we are only 3 weeks into January!

You seem to have had a lot of bad luck with things being stolen attracting the wrong kind of attention etc, I'm sure I'd have given up long before now and bought a 0% apr Kia and a Krooklock by now!!

[wuvvum]

You seem to have had a lot of bad luck with things being stolen attracting the wrong kind of attention etc.

Aye, well the area where I lived before wasn't particularly great, and I was having to park the fleet overflow on the public car park which wasn't ideal...

[wuvvum]

OK, found a few more hidden in the dark recesses of my hard drive.

 

 

Iveco 75E15 Eurocargo. I was surprised to be offered this as I'd only bid £500 on it and got comprehensively outbid, but a couple of weeks later I had a second chance offer through and thought that at that price it was too good to pass up. It was an interesting contrast to the Roadrunner - the build quality was abysmal and the gearbox was rather unpleasant, but it was even faster than the Leyland and handled far better.

 

 

Mk1 Espace. Bought for £80 out of a local scrappy. I never really did much with it (had several issues with the rest of the fleet at around that time and didn't have time for it) and eventually sold it on to a chap who drove it all the way back to Cambridge.

 

 

 

Two more pics of the Simca van, showing the front suspension issue - it's not as obvious on the other pic as the front wing is resting on the OSF tyre so the ride height hasn't dropped as much as it might.

 

 

A better pic of the Vauxhall Ten.

 

 

 

Two more pics of the early 99 - this was before I polished it so the paint is dull, but gives a better view of the car as a whole.

 

 

This was a fun thing - a Saab 99 GL with a 9000 Turbo engine and 5-speed box shoehorned in. It also had PAS and central locking, which 99s never got from the factory. It was a proper sleeper, but the home-made brackets for mounting some of the ancillaries left a lot to be desired so it ate fanbelts at a rate of knots.

 

 

 

My second Hunter on the back of the Daily recovery truck. This was a 1968 car which I bought from somewhere in Essex - had great fun racing (and beating) a chavved-up Clio away from several sets of traffic lights. I love Hunters - they're just such a useable car.

 

 

My first Hunter, a 1976 Topaz. Lovely car this was - it had overdrive which made it a brilliant long-distance car. Paid £50 for it with MoT and a genuine 75K on the clock - possibly the bargain of my car-buying life. It ended up as a victim of the scrappage scheme.

 

 

The interior of the Maserati - thought this was worth posting. Clock is missing in this pic for some reason, but I did have it.

 

 

Another Rover 825D - facelift model this time.

 

 

Honda CB400A - that's A for automatic. Very odd machine.

 

And finally (for now) - four more pics of the Toyota 1000 estate.

 

 

 

 

[Pillock]

You seem to have had a lot of bad luck with things being stolen attracting the wrong kind of attention etc.

Aye, well the area where I lived before wasn't particularly great, and I was having to park the fleet overflow on the public car park which wasn't ideal...

 

I'm astounded by how many of your pictures have one, two or even three other "featured" cars in the background.

QWAL.

[eddyramrod]

Toyota 1000 estate.

 

 

There's a derelict one of these in a field I pass every week... bit far to go for spares, I know, but at least you know another example exists!

[Lord Sterling]

Wow! Thats some epic shite you've had over the years - Cap duly doffed.

 

I must be near the same age as you and I've not even begun to realise soem of the shite you've had. Like Michel said, I should pull my finger out, grow some balls and start discovering these cars.

[wuvvum]

your right about that Alfasud a while back that was for sale near me, it was your old one, Think it might have been scrapped now though.

Really? Would be a shame if it had. I did want to go after that when you first mentioned about it, but at the time I had no spare cash, no spare parking spaces and no means of towing it home.

[wuvvum]

Norwich? All going well, myself and the Waternator will be not too far from there on Sunday on a shite collection mission...

Ooh, is this the famed 604? Whereabouts are you picking it up from exactly?

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Toyota 1000 estate.

 

There's a derelict one of these in a field I pass every week... bit far to go for spares, I know, but at least you know another example exists!

 

Toyota by zenithfivenine, on Flickr

 

There's another one farther east.

 

Heroic compulsive tat buying wuvvum.

 

How do you find the Justy in daily use? I wanted to put comfier seats in mine, the originals are pretty appalling, they aren't very fuel efficient either.