The king of Autoshite

[trigger]

A few of you might remember some of these cars from before, A few days ago i put an advert on Freecycle asking for anyone with old car magazines cluttering up there lofts if they would like to donated them to me.

 

I got an email from Bob this morning saying he had a 1ft pile i could have if i pop round, It turned out It was the same guy i meet a year before.

 

1983 Austin Metro 1.3L by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

This was the view i saw as i pulled up to his house, Bob is your old school kind of guy, he likes to make do with cast offs and repair things, He's the type with a grey bread, a pair of glasses, high waisted jeans and a Ipswich Council issued shirted covered in oil.

 

This Metro he told me was a ebay purchase 5 years ago, It cost him £77 and he had to travel to Brimingham to collect it, It had been of the road for 15 years and needed a bit of work but he got it road legal and his young daughter used it for Bristol college for 4 years. I'd Imagine it would be Pog's dream lady.

 

1983 Austin Metro 1.3L by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

1983 Austin Metro 1.3L by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

1983 Austin Metro 1.3L by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

1983 Austin Metro 1.3L by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

(No comments on the badly parked Kadett, I haven't got round to changing the plates yet before any smart arsed comments from Len as well )

 

This looks better in the photos then it does in the flesh, The scuttles rotten, the interiors worn and it's covered 101000 miles, But it's pure awesomeness.

 

But this is not all, These are his other cars.

 

1962 Morris Traveller by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

This Traveller he's had since the early 70's, He paid £30 for it at the time and it's done him well, All his cars are taxed and mot'ed, He was a bit annoyed by the quality of varnish these day's, he said it lets the car down.

 

1955 Morris Minor 1000 by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

This is his best car, He's owned it many, many years but is a bet embarrassed now by it due to the rusty bumpers.

 

1955 Austin A30 by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

The last time i saw this he was fitting an engine to it after it had been sat in the garden for near on 20 years, It's now up and running with a mot.

 

1938 Morris Minor Post Office Van by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

1938 Morris Minor Post office Van by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

And this old girl is his current daily driver!, he's owned it since 1963, he rebuilt it all himself, The suspension had collapsed so he adapted a Minor rear suspension to fit it, He is now struggling to driving it though due to the low seated position sadly.

 

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1938 Morris Minor Post Office Van by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

I spend a very enjoyable hour here with him talking about cars, It's just a shame knowledgeable people like him are now a dying breed.

[Station]

Certainly a nobleman of the shite realm.

It's good people like that exist, the country could do with a lot more of them.

[Lord Sterling]

Great stuff there Trig. I seem to rememer you putting some pics of these cars and the bloke in question. It is a shame such knowledgeable eccentric people like this are a dying breed.

 

I seem to remember my Dad visiting a bloke with a similar set-up of cars and house near Wolverhampton years back.

[catsinthewelder]

Thanks for that Trigger

 

Reminds me of my own hero of shite from when I was a kid. I was best friends with his son who didn't really share my respect for his dads make do and mend approach to vehicles. This may have had something to do with occasional issues like complete brake failure and collapsing floorpans on his mums car but was based more on the embarrassment of arriving everywhere in such old cars. He used to look forwards to his grandad collecting us from school in his nice new Yugo

 

Central to the fleet were a pair of 1970 J plated Morris 1000's. He usually drove a green traveller that he'd fitted with a 1275 lump while his wife ran a grey/brown saloon. He had an orange MZ250 motorbike as well. His wife eventually upgraded to a brown mk1 Fiesta which she inherited from her mother in the late 90s. Once the kids had left home (about 10 years ago) they acquired a smart caravan. A new car was required that would command respect on the caravan sites so an A plate Mercedes diesel estate (in mint condition)joined the fleet. They still live just round the corner from my dad in Durham so I'll try and grab some pics at some point

[ashmicro]

Winnar! The Metro is surely a new class of "Scene" - Budget Ratlook.