Unknowing Autoshite owners..

[retro80sboy]

There are so many people out there whos cars would be perfect for this site - and they don't even know it.

 

Ive been with my current girlfriend a year now and the first time I went around to her house was greeted with a double whammy of complete chod.

 

2 K reg Mondeos on the drive! One belongs to her stepdad, its blue and almost immaculate. Done 40k and still has the original wheeltrims, unmarked. The other is her brothers car. silver and must have been to the moon and back. Has the customary taped up cracked rear bumper to boot.

 

Both cars are good solid autoshite motors, yet their owners don't even realise it!. To them, they are just cars to get them from a to b.

 

I always remember my sisters boyfriend a few years ago driving around in a battered old F plate Peugeot 205. The car really was a dump. Always admired it myself though in a 'shite' kind of way. Her next boyfriend - now her husband, had a D reg Vauxhall Nova Antibes. A rare car that I would have bought off him but at the time he was selling it I was living back at my parents house and already had 5 cars!! I think he was shocked that I was so interested in the car - to him it was just an old motor he bought because it was cheap - to me, it was autoshite gold.

[RoadworkUK]

My girlfriend has a Heinz Green, 3-Door, Peugeot 306 XN, 1.4, on an N, with 85k, ripped seats and no rust.

 

We've done the Stelvio Pass in it 'cos we are WINNARZ.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

My uncle in Athens is a true shite hero. He drives a beige Samara, his wife has a W124, and he earns part of his living repairing old motorcycles. I should convince him to join- although his English isn't perfect.

[theorganist]

There is a family of five at church who have rather tatty white C reg Mercedes G Wagon diesel as their one and only car!

 

The dad is a bit of a home mechanic and is often working on it himself! In fact he has helped with my car and offers very useful advice.

[Shep Shepherd]

My next door neighbour (who looks a lot like Twiggy) has a 1998 Rover 416 saloon. Before that, she had a 1990 Sierra Sapphire GLS

[mattblack]

A women at work has a scabby 'F' plate Metro, usualy full of junk. Someone else has a scruffy facelift Rover 200 R8. The gaffer of the grounds maintenance company we use and one of the lads that work for him both had Rover R8 200s, both recently scrapped...

[BMC Dan]

My old primary school caretaker runs a 1960 Wolseley 1500 as a daily- hand painted two tone green, around 150k on the clock and has various modifications to make it suitable for everyday use including front seats out of an 80's Mini and the front wings being re-sculptured with filler to use indicator units from a Moggy.

[eddyramrod]

In the Stupid Questions thread I mentioned a neighbour with a 1998 Daewoo Leganza... his other car is a 20-year-old Mitsubishi L200 double-cab, in lovely condition. Absolutely certain he's not among us, but with a fleet like that, he should be!

[Lord Sterling]

Met a bloke today in the Sainsbury's carpark, a rather posh bloke who drives a tatty Red mk2 Rover 827SLi which is never seen without its Halfords tat box on the roof. He told me the car was given to him sometime back by a friend. He also mentioned that he'd always had 2nd-hand cars and likes to keep them running for as long as possible.

 

[Pete-M]

Leeds: 49 cars in 50 years for petrolhead pensioner

editorial image

 

ALL YOURS: Billy Muir, sales executive for Benfield Hyundai, hands over the keys to Royston and Irenes latest car.

 

 

Published on Friday 9 September 2011 04:00

 

He’s the petrolhead pensioner with enough motoring memories to fill a car museum – and he could give the boys from Top Gear a real run for their money!

 

Royston Smith, 75, has been driving for 50 years, and he’s had a different car, on average, every year.

 

He picked up his 49th motor, a brand new Hyundai i40, from the Benfield Hyundai showroom in Kirkstall Road yesterday.

 

Mr Smith’s first car was a yellow Mini Cooper which he bought second-hand for just £320. Over the years, the retired engineer, who worked at GEC Farsley, has driven 20 Hyundais, half-a-dozen Ford Cortinas, as many Minis, and a brace of Skoda 1100s. Among his favourites was a blue Daewoo Espero which he won in a local newspaper competition and was allowed to drive for free for a year. Also in the motoring mix have been a yellow Datsun coupé and an orange Triumph estate, which was his first brand new purchase.

 

His last car, a Citroen C4 Exclusive, lasted just EIGHT weeks until he set eyes on the new Hyundai and just HAD to have it. He paid £19,000 to trade in the Citroen, making an £8,000 loss, but he doesn’t care.

 

“I only drive five or six thousand miles a year but I love driving, it’s my life,†Mr Smith told the YEP. “I don’t know what gave me the passion. I learnt to drive in three months when I was in the Army and passed my test first time. “When I came out of the Army I bought a scooter first, then a mini van, then a car.â€Â

 

Married Mr Smith, from Bradford, says wife Irene, who has been with him for 51 years, is “not bothered†about his car passion.

 

“As long as I am happy, she is happy,†he said. “She has been with me through every car but this new one is her favourite.â€Â

 

He said he loves the techno-wizardry of newer models, but he appreciates the classics too. Among his favourite cars was a 1936 Standard 10.

 

Speaking of his latest purchase he said he loves “everything on itâ€Â.

 

“I had only had the Citroen for two months,†he said. “I just went in [to the showroom] for a casual call last Monday, and they said they had an i40, so I bought it!â€Â

 

Benfield Hyundai general manager Jon Campbell said: “Mr Smith is a great customer of ours and we are happy to change his car any time he likes but as long as he sticks to Benfield Hyundai we’ll be happy.â€Â

 

Hmm, if he bought a secondhand Cooper in '61 it must have only been a few months old at most...

[scooters]

That giffer sounds like a fool. It is one thing to do this with 300 quid maestros quite another to do it with brand new shit cars.

 

49 in 50 years.....wimp...im only a 3rd division shitter compared to Nige or Vek but even I have had 40 cars in 5 years!

[ProgRocker]

Eep! He's lost £8k on the Citroen C4. Couldn't he have kept the C4 for a lot longer and spent the extra cash on something else/other people? The guy must be absolutely loaded.

 

Having said that, the new Hyundai i40 is very nice so I don't blame him for buying one.

[eddyramrod]

That giffer sounds like a fool. It is one thing to do this with 300 quid maestros quite another to do it with brand new shit cars.

 

49 in 50 years.....wimp...im only a 3rd division shitter compared to Nige or Vek but even I have had 40 cars in 5 years!

 

+1. OK, it's his money and he can do what he likes with it, but that's just insane. My list runs to something like 100 (from memory) in 33 years, and only ONE was bought new. The rest: bottom of the market, and usually last owner. Until we came here that is, where nothing is cheap.

[Justin Case]

ALL YOURS: Billy Muir, sales executive for Benfield Hyundai, hands over the keys to Royston and Irenes latest car.

 

Published on Friday 9 September 2011 04:00

 

His last car, a Citroen C4 Exclusive, lasted just EIGHT weeks until he set eyes on the new Hyundai and just HAD to have it. He paid £19,000 to trade in the Citroen, making an £8,000 loss, but he doesn’t care.

 

Benfield Hyundai general manager Jon Campbell said: “Mr Smith is a great customer of ours and we are happy to change his car any time he likes but as long as he sticks to Benfield Hyundai we’ll be happy.â€Â

 

This month's award for Statement of the Bleeding Obvious

 

Not just your church, theorganist, our Minister runs a scruffy H reg Volvo 740 Turbo

[R9UKE]

 

2 K reg Mondeos on the drive! One belongs to her stepdad, its blue and almost immaculate. Done 40k and still has the original wheeltrims, unmarked. The other is her brothers car. silver and must have been to the moon and back. Has the customary taped up cracked rear bumper to boot.

 

Both cars are good solid autoshite motors, yet their owners don't even realise it!. To them, they are just cars to get them from a to b.

 

The best kind of shite! I really want a K, L or M reg Mondeo. Preferably a 1.6 LX. I grew up with my Dad having one. L52 CJW was the reg - if anyone sees it I'll gladly swap you a Renault Avantime for it. Most that appear on ebay are on their last legs, ALL have cracked bumpers and virtually none have the excellent original wheeltrims. God I remember them being EVERYWHERE. I used to be prime Mondeo spotter. At 6 years old I was the kid who screamed when a 2.0 Si with winter pack drove past

 

There's an old woman who lives up the street with a J reg Peugeot 205 Junior in White. It only comes out for church on a Sunday and has 21k on the clock. Then there's the old doll I see driving around in her MINT Mark 1 Citroen BX. Original mudflaps, dealer stickers etc.

 

The couple across the road have an S reg Renault Laguna 2.0 RTi that they've had since new. Just shows there's still a good supply of shite hidden in almost every postcode!

[ashmicro]

I had quite a few shitemobiles in my young day, mainly from Ballyclare Car Auction. I had a nice mark 2 Cavalier CD, which I swapped for an almost new Peugeot 50cc scooter, which in turn I got £200 and a Mazda 626 2 door saloon for. My parent's next door neighbour is an Autoshite king, though. He's had an unintentioanlly ratty Mark 2 Goof, a white Lada Riva which he never washed in 5 years, a white Proton 1.3 hatch that the alternator fell off, and a gold Proton 1.5 saloon with a huge dent in the back door. I offered to take the dent out with a puller, and he just shrugged and said "Well, if you like". He now has a totally fucked Kia Rio. The man isn't short of money, he just prefers shite cars.

[R9UKE]

I'm having trouble getting lucky at Ballyclare auction recently. The last true shiter I wanted up there was a Volvo 440 Automatic.

 

Then again, it is where my Espace V6 and Peugeot 306 Sedan came from

[Pete-M]

There used to be a splendid old chap lived by me. Died a few years ago, well in his '90s.

 

He only ever owned four cars, all Fords, all blue. Used to keep them for 15ish years then trade 'em to with the dealer he bought 'em from (J.Blakes). When he retired, he bought a new Escort Mexico to replace his '58 Anglia. The Anglia had 22,000 miles on, garaged every night, maintained immaculately.

 

The Mexico was bull-buggeringly mint. Totally, totally original and immaculate. 24k on the clock. Serviced by Blakes. I doubt it had ever been hoovered as it had never been dirty. 1988 he went to Blakes, and came back with a new E reg Fiesta 950 Mk2. Proper poverty model it was. That Mexico was probably worth more than a new Fiesta even then. The thing was minty mint mint.

 

That picked up a few scrapes as he'd had a stroke or two over the years (but kept driving). When he died it had 24,000 miles on the clock. His nephew scrapped it. It was ultimate Autoshite fodder. Even had the shite little centre caps that look like they're off an aerosol tin.

[Quintus]

There used to be two pensioners near me that had some prime autoshite. One was an old dear with a black Nova saloon that had the most eye-watering interior that was a sort of brick colour, the other was an old chap a short distance away who had a MkIII B reg Escort in plain, non-metallic blue. Both cars were garaged and driven about once per week.

 

I'm fairly certain they're both long dead now and the cars have doubtless been scrapped.

[eddyramrod]

I can't believe I haven't nominated my late parents for this. Their cars are included in my aforementioned total, as I used to drive them all the time...

Example: in 1988 they had a 1975 Dolomite 1850 (bought a couple of years before, for about 55 quid IIRC) and I had a 1982 Lada 1500 estate (Fiat shape, not Riva, bought for 40 quid plus a couple of scrappers). We swopped. That was the first of their Ladas, eventually running to 3 estates and 2 Riva saloons, plus a Polonez.

Their last few cars, before they died, were two Sierras (mk1 and 2, both 2.0GL hatchbacks), two Rivas, the Polonez and a 1975 Mini. Last of the lot was the mk2 Sierra. I kept the number plates (G529 SND) when it went to scrap, and they decorate my balcony here, along with a bunch of others I brought over.

When I was little we had a new car at intervals, always Fords, plus usually a secondhand van. My dad was ill for some time in 1968 and the family finances never recovered, so it was pure Autoshite all the way from then on. I was 9... my childhood is filled with 100Es, A35, A60, mk1 Cortinas and so on. Therefore my car CV is stuffed with Autoshite too: Anglia, 3 Rootes Arrows, FE Victor, Maxi, 2 Princess wedges, Ladas, Polonez and so on and so on. Easy to see where I get it from...

[Volksy]

My sister, in fact most of my family -

 

Currently:

 

Sister - Megane Scenic Auto

Bro1 - Micra K11

Bro2 - Cherokee

Bro3 - Mk2 Mondeo

Bro4 - Anceint Transit

Bro5 - Saxo

Bro6 - Changes weekly

Bro7 - Camero, battered Corvette, Dodge Caravan + about 15 other heaps littered around his property.

Niece - Corsa B 1.0 12v

 

And god knows what else....

[ashmicro]

You have EIGHT siblings? Cool as. I'd love a whole lot of kids. Kate is less enthusiastic!

[CreepingJesus]

There's a load of shite in the few streets of our little hamlet.

The couple along the road, who have a P-plate 106 diesel, and an S-plate Rover 200 diesel; fastidiously maintained, and not even allowed to get dirty.

Our neighbour with the P-plate Civic, which has less and less bonnet and n/s/r wing every time you look at it.

The scrapman, who unsurprisingly, finds nice old rubbish for peanuts, and changes them every 10 mins. Recent runners include two Astra IV's and an Almera Tino.

There's a 960 24v estate, a proper luxury gas-guzzling tank, whose owner traded his crusty Nissan Vanette for a tidy Escort van recently.

There's the Stag and M100 Elan, which are safely tucked up now the weather's gone bad(der?). The owner's back to his W-plate Civic instead.

[ashmicro]

My tame scrapman always drivers Rovers. He'll gather up two or three non-runners, and build a going concern from them. He's currently on a 97 Rover 400 HHR 2 litre pez, and is rebuilding a panel-only damaged MG ZR 160 for his brother. When I pointed out that the 420 was "Pure shite", he said "I think it's not too bad Andy." Cue me explaining the difference between "shit" and "shite"

[Lord Sterling]

The best kind of shite! I really want a K, L or M reg Mondeo. Preferably a 1.6 LX. I grew up with my Dad having one. L52 CJW was the reg - if anyone sees it I'll gladly swap you a Renault Avantime for it. Most that appear on ebay are on their last legs, ALL have cracked bumpers and virtually none have the excellent original wheeltrims. God I remember them being EVERYWHERE. I used to be prime Mondeo spotter. At 6 years old I was the kid who screamed when a 2.0 Si with winter pack drove past

 

There are no details to be found on the DVLA for L52CJW, so its more than likely been turned into bean cans.

 

Funny you should say about 1st gen Mondeos. When I was about 15, myself and a mate got talking about what cars we wanted, he wanted an original VW Bettle and I said at the time that I wanted a Ford Mondeo. I really do like them. I'd love to buy a dogged uncared for 1st gen Mondeo and restore its wheel trims/missing trim/add original or fitted floor mats etc....... Really make it look like its actually been cared for.

[R9UKE]

 

There are no details to be found on the DVLA for L52CJW, so its more than likely been turned into bean cans.

 

I'd love to buy a dogged uncared for 1st gen Mondeo and restore its wheel trims/missing trim/add original or fitted floor mats etc....... Really make it look like its actually been cared for.

 

That was painful to hear. Any chance it could be SORN and waiting to be discovered somewhere?

 

Yeh that'd be a great project! The Mondeo was my first favourite car and remained there until the Laguna II arrived in '01. Remember the whirlpool style wheel trims put on the GLX models? Pure 90s class! We had another, a 2.0 Ghia (L331 THT) but I'd say it's long gone as the auto box started playing up in 2006 and it was put through Moseley Car Auction.

[AnthonyG]

Sorry Luke if it was SORNED it would be showing up on the DVLA website as a 'current' vehicle.

[R9UKE]

Shite. Thanks though

[Lord Sterling]

That was painful to hear. Any chance it could be SORN and waiting to be discovered somewhere?

 

As has been said, if it was on a SORN or left unlicenced somewhere it would still show up on the DVLA system as either SORN or Unlicenced. The DVLA usually delete cars that are scrapped properly through treatment centres, the DVLA are notified and a certificate of destruction is issued.

 

Some yards still dont do that, cars are usually stripped for bits and crushed hence mostly why you'd still see them as 'unlicenced'.

 

We had another, a 2.0 Ghia (L331 THT) but I'd say it's long gone as the auto box started playing up in 2006 and it was put through Moseley Car Auction.

 

Moseley Car Auction, just up the road from me!

 

This what the DVLA have for L331THT:

 

The vehicle details for L331 THT are:

 

Date of Liability 01 09 2007

Date of First Registration 20 10 1993

Year of Manufacture 1993

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1988CC

Fuel Type Petrol

Export Marker Not Applicable

Vehicle Status Unlicensed

Vehicle Colour BLUE

[Volksy]

You have EIGHT siblings? Cool as. I'd love a whole lot of kids. Kate is less enthusiastic!

 

10 in total. But from various marriages, I'm the youngest at 35, The oldest is 53.