What made you like shite?

[ladalout69]

I have always liked cars nobody else liked. It started off as a case of seeing if these so called clunkers were as bad as What car? said. I have had 24 Lada's in total and even spent seven years working on them, they were great!. A friend of mine at the time worked for the local BMW agent, they were rebuilding engines and had endless recalls.... some for serious safety related issues!. Lada had almost none. I then branched out into Volvo 240 ownership, great cars with a poor image. I then moved onto Rovers and have stayed with them for years. I have always liked the fact that the cars I like very few others do, which equals cheaper!.I do seem to go for cars that old people like!. I work on modern cars all day and the vast majority are given an excellent review by the press, but dear reader it is Renault Clios and its like are true shite...... I was for a time an AA patrolman, when someones Mondeo etc had broken down my favourite saying was 'Should have bought a Lada'....strangely I don't ever think I converted one person!.

[Pete-M]

I can't actually think of a hopeless car that I adore, other than a Mk4 Zodiac Executive Estate. I'd rock one of those.

 

I suppose my taste in shite is pretty well summed up by the current fleet.

 

The Jag because I've always lusted after one and it's at the cheap spot.

The Jeep because it is ideal for towing random shite about, has LPG and a decent stereo. Also at the cheap spot.

The 604 because my dad had one, I've always wanted one, and there are close to none left in the UK.

The Escort because it reminds me of being 18, of watching numerous rally videos as a teen, and because nothing I've driven is as much fun as a tweaked one. Which is what it'll end up being once it's actually been finished as a 1.3...

[shite_meister]

Like many here its because I was car-mad when I was a child and the thought of owning cars that I once day-dreamt of is pretty awesome (I've done it a couple of times with Rover SD1 Vitesses that 'back in the day' were a nice bit of kit then ended up owning several) I seem to have got stuck in a certain era as I just have no interest whatsoever in most cars made in the last 10-15 years.

 

Also I hate depreciation and over-complicated electronics.

[nigel bickle]

1st car was a Riley Elf bought with my Dad -aged 12. I paid for it (I was already earning..) he paid the running costs. Learnt to drive on that

 

Age 15, I moved onto a Hillman Imp -sadly damaged a year later.

 

First 'proper' car was a 1964 Cadillac. Not any old Caddy -but a stretch. 6 doors, around 20ft long, laid up on the driveway of the Chilean ambassador ( lived next door to my Dad). It had one wheel off -broken spring -so for £50 it was mine -if i could get it off the drive within 2 days. 4 of us towed/hauled/pushed it next door -trolley jack under the front suspension.

Spring was quickly replaced -dangerous, none of us had a clue what we were doing ,and no manuals for a car like that.

 

Legal, it was painted candy apple green, 4 of us used to hoon around Surrey - at 8mpg.

Sanity eventually prevaled -and it was quickly sold on -new owner stuffed it through MacDopnalds window in Epsom when he failed to negotiate a roundabout 2 days later. I had warned him about the ageing crossplies ,and the handling....

 

And it all went downhill from there....

[Jon]

Nigel, I really think a wuvvum-esque thread on your past shite would make the most fascinating read! Obviously not too much mention of current stuff though, since it's nice that your property remains yours.

 

No idea where my passion for chod came, though every toy I had was car related - no action figures etc for me. However, I remember this book being a big influence:

 

 

Was my dads from his childhood and I remember seeing it occasionally at a young age and pouring through all the photos, especially the Dunlop tyre range on the back pages! Is now here with me in NZ. We lost a few things from our shipping container but thankfully this wasn't one of them.

[steve austin]

I was born into shite! The first vehicle I remember travelling in was a ford anglia sit up and beg. Then my dad bought a twin wheel transit RRU754H which we went to France in and toured all over one summer. A procession of Mini's Marina, Consul (mk1 granny), Acty van and worse was to follw so its in my blood!

[nigel bickle]

Cav -thanks for the thought.

 

Right now times a bit limited -contract work is keeping me busy, wife overseas, elderly rellys dying and a HUGE barn midbuild (built to 1st floor -kin normous)

 

Perhaps when things cool, & i can properly reorganise what I've currently got.

[r.welfare]

My dad had company chod (Marinas, Avengers, Sierras, Cavaliers through to a Vectra) between 1978 and 2003 so it was the nostalgia factor originally. That said, my first car was a Volvo 340 1.4 that I only chose because it was cheap to buy and insure. After that, finances dictated I ran old crappers for a bit, then I got bitten by a rogue Rover 214 that snapped it's cambelt within 20 miles of purchase (the bill for fixing it equalled the £750 purchase price) so I took out finance and bought a 2-year old Honda Civic in 2000.

 

However, once I'd passed my accountancy exams and was earning decent coin a year later, I sold the Civic for £4,300 and bought a 17-year-old Audi 80 quattro for £300, and haven't looked back since...I used to chop and change every 6 months or 10,000 miles (whichever came sooner), never spending more than a grand, although I did weaken once again in 2003 and bought a 4-year-old Accord for £5k (paid cash), but wouldn't do so again. I'd say £1500 is the ceiling I'd impose on myself nowadays.

 

It wasn't until 2004 that I started picking up spanners in anger and while I'm not always confident enough to do say a cambelt change on a complicated FWD lump, I'll do most things myself now - but have the backup of a very good local independent to cover the stuff I'm not able, or have time, to do.

 

While my fleet is boring Japanese-designed, British-assembled grey porridge, I know it's going to start in the morning and not have irritating ailments which is a bonus when myself and my wife do at least 15,000 miles a year each. The lack of depreciation is a bonus, and the prestige factor I'm lacking I really couldn't give a monkeys about - I'd rather have the spare cash to buy a bigger house at the end of the day.

[RoadworkUK]

.... I remember this book being a big influence....

 

My old Uncle had a copy and i used to look at it every time I visited his house. I used to turn the pages very carefully lest they fell out.

 

Sadly he died year ago and the book disappeared somewhere into the family. I hadn't read it for at least a decade, until curiosity got the better of me and I stuck "dumpy motors" into eBay. There is now a well thumbed copy of this fabulous book gracing my bookshelf. I particularly enjoy the commercial vehicles section.