New member and his cars ... (picture heavy!)

[Rhythm Thief]

Hello folks. Here are some of my cars, past and present ...

 

 

This is what I'm driving at the moment. It's rusty in places, the front wheels rub on the inner wheelarches on corners and there's a blind spot the size of Sweden since the previous owner plated the windows over. On the other hand, there's a monster stereo in it and it looks really cool.

 

It replaced this, which I bought to tow the Ami home from Kent.

 

 

That was bought when this died, entirely expectedly. it was made largely of rust and filler, for the last two months before the MOT expired it had no windscreen ( I accidentally threw a block of wood through it) and I ran it for most of the time I had it with no doors. It was brilliant ...

 

 

Before that I had an efficient but dull Saab 900, and some Volvos, including this ...

 

 

... which, ridiculously, I bought unseen from Reading and drove home to Wolverhampton with (I discovered after selling it) a cracked cylinder head and fucked brakes. And an MOT.

 

There have been others, mostly 2CVs, including this

 

 

and this, which was my first car.

 

 

Love the site.

[tonedepear]

*dribbles*

[eddyramrod]

Oh you're going to fit right in!

 

Dollywobbler to the front desk please...

[Angrydicky]

What lovely old Citroens

 

Welcome to Autoshite

[pogweasel]

C'EST VRAI!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CreepingJesus]

Welcomez-vous a l'Automerde!

[michiel]

Allez, très bien etc. Marvellous Ami. Bienvenu!

[scooters]

I've just spluffed my love custard all over my keyboard..,.what a collection - love the Ami 8 - my dad had one in the early 30's and said it was one of the best cars he EVA OWND - the folks would make a bed for us in the boot/back seat at bedtime and we'd leave Inverness to drive to Bournemouth to see my grandad- arriving late morning. This would have been in 1973/4 so before the new A9 was built - he reckoned he'd get 75mpg on a run abck in the day

 

a fourtrak AND an AMAZON - AWSUM MOTAZ

[skattrd]

Awesome old citroens there, nice to see an Ami being used as a daily

[trigger]

Cor! That Ami is a bit of alright!

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Nice selection, not too shabby!

[dollywobbler]

Hi John. I think you're going to fit in nicely here...

 

I didn't know you owned an Amazon! It may have been knackered, but that's a beautiful looking thing. Quite early.

[Rhythm Thief]

Thanks for the welcome, people.

The Amazon really was a bit shagged, but you're right it was an early one - 1962, I think. It had the 1600 engine, rather than the 1800 which later cars had. It was a one owner from new car and came with the original green logbook: the owner had died in the 1980s and it'd been stuck in a garage and forgotten about until someone bought the garage and put the car on ebay. I ran it as a daily motor for a bit, before realising that it was unreliable even by my standards ...

[Pete-M]

Top Shiteing! Welcome!

[Inspector Morose]

Rythm Thief. Hmm, where have I seen this name before? AH! Do all on Cycle Chat know you're moonlighting on a car forum?

 

Superb cars you've had there chap. And welcome to the shite side....

[dollywobbler]

That's make sense. He once cycled to a 2CV camp in Lincolnshire. From Wolverhampton.

[seth]

Ami is wonderful and I also love the early Amazons.

[kevin 900]

Wow & welcome.

Your old Amazon is for sale here btw;

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C213677/

[Shep Shepherd]

The Ami and Amazon are GR9

[Rhythm Thief]

Wow & welcome.

Your old Amazon is for sale here btw;

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C213677/

 

Blimey, I was wondering what had happened to it. After I sold it (entirely in good faith and for roughly the Practical Classics guide price for a condition 2/3 Amazon) I had a rather cross phone call from the chap who'd bought it, complaining that the head was cracked and the brakes were knackered and he'd broken down on his way from Wolverhampton to Brighton. I'm glad to see it's still around, but at £2 495 I'm starting to wish I'd kept it.

[scooters]

Wow & welcome.

Your old Amazon is for sale here btw;

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C213677/

 

Blimey, I was wondering what had happened to it. After I sold it (entirely in good faith and for roughly the Practical Classics guide price for a condition 2/3 Amazon) I had a rather cross phone call from the chap who'd bought it, complaining that the head was cracked and the brakes were knackered and he'd broken down on his way from Wolverhampton to Brighton. I'm glad to see it's still around, but at £2 495 I'm starting to wish I'd kept it.

 

 

obviously he was no shitter - I START each shite collection with the assumption I will be ending the journey on the back of an AA lorry - when it makes it without rescue you feel mildly proud.

 

Rescue has become such a part of my life that I have a seperate policy for the Sherpa!

[scooters]

nice amazon though - I love Amazons - seriously practical cars and very reliable when maintained.

 

mind you he wants big bucks for this baby!!

[Rhythm Thief]

obviously he was no shitter - I START each shite collection with the assumption I will be ending the journey on the back of an AA lorry - when it makes it without rescue you feel mildly proud.

 

 

Ah, the AA "fuelsave" scheme.

He emailed me before bidding on the car and asked "will it get to Brighton?" Well, how the naked arse do I know? It might, or it might get you as far as the end of the road. Still, at least he got an answer in the end ...

[scruff]

Ami is AWESOME

[Pete-M]

my dad had one in the early 30's

 

That'd be worth something now...

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Wow & welcome.

Your old Amazon is for sale here btw;

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C213677/

 

Blimey, I was wondering what had happened to it. After I sold it (entirely in good faith and for roughly the Practical Classics guide price for a condition 2/3 Amazon) I had a rather cross phone call from the chap who'd bought it, complaining that the head was cracked and the brakes were knackered and he'd broken down on his way from Wolverhampton to Brighton. I'm glad to see it's still around, but at £2 495 I'm starting to wish I'd kept it.

 

 

obviously he was no shitter - I START each shite collection with the assumption I will be ending the journey on the back of an AA lorry - when it makes it without rescue you feel mildly proud.

 

Rescue has become such a part of my life that I have a seperate policy for the Sherpa!

 

[Guest]

B16 Amazons are rather qual. I have a Ruddspeed RS2 head for one which everyone seems to want until they have to pay for it. The bloke is asking a bit much for it to be fair - although it has a nice patina it isn't £2.5ks worth. Did you know it was used in Volvo's UK advertising campaign? I'll get a scan done at some point.

 

Welcome t' forum.

[ProgRocker]

Welcome!

 

The Ami is lovely.

[Rhythm Thief]

B16 Amazons are rather qual. I have a Ruddspeed RS2 head for one which everyone seems to want until they have to pay for it. The bloke is asking a bit much for it to be fair - although it has a nice patina it isn't £2.5ks worth. Did you know it was used in Volvo's UK advertising campaign? I'll get a scan done at some point. Welcome t' forum.

 

Wow, I would like to see that. If only I'd known all this when I actually owned the thing.

[Rhythm Thief]

Here are a a few more of my past automotive adventures.

 

 

Another Volvo, so far my only turbocharged car. It was fast but crap, tried to pull itself in half under full throttle, wouldn't go round corners and shook itself to bits on every journey. Fun though.

 

 

Did I say the 480 was crap? Well, it was, but not as crap as my Volkswagen ... sorry, Porsche 924. I was given this and still nearly lost money when I sold it.

 

 

But neither of them cost me as much as this did. Bought off a friend who bought it on Ebay. It'd been used as a chicken shed on a French farm for years and the bulkhead below the seats was completely rotten. In addition, someone had replaced the piston rings with ones which were too small for the pistons, so they simply sawed each ring in half and stuck them in anyway, resulting in a groove up the full length of each cylinder. One new set of liners and pistons (and rings!) later, and a head rebuild, and a lot of welding, and a new roof ... I got it MOTd and registered. The idea was to convert this to a camper in time to drive it to Greece for my cousin's wedding, but I got half way through the conversion and ran out of steam. Sold for a thumping loss (expenditure around £2000, sale price, er, £550) a few years back. I liked this beastie but I don't regret getting rid of it.