Previous cars?

The place to discuss everything else..
TAX
Posts: 66
Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 3:02 pm

Post by TAX »

Mini ........ student car.

VW Beetle ....... student car.

Fiat 128 ..... lovely thing.

E Type Jaguar .... dangerous monster.

Triumph TR6 .... always in the repair shop.

Peugeot 304 Convertible..... remembered for its comfortable ride.

Audi 80 GT .... not bad.

BMW 320i ... unreliable.

BMW 520i ....stately.

VW Golf Driver.... overated, awful dealers and servicing.

BMW 320i .... rusty.

Toyota Rav-4 2 Door ..... No more German cars for me, long live Japanese cars.

Toyota 4WD 4 door Pick Up Truck .... no superlative can do this wonderful tough machine justice.... still owned after 14 years, never let me down,
it just keeps on going. Best car ever.

Nissan Note ... dull, but useful and practical.

Mazda CX3........ too soon to comment, drives nice, love the shape, but could do with a more practical interior though.
SEPT 2017
CX3GT AUTO PETROL. CERAMIC METALLIC. 39 MPG
YORKSHIRE.

zoylander
Posts: 236
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 2:10 pm
Location: Somerset

Post by zoylander »

Firstly my everyday cars, starting in 1966 :

1956 Ford Popular......Learned to drive on it.
1953 Riley RME......Lovely but troublesome.
1955 Rover 60......Smooth and silent.
1959 Morris 1000 Convertible......Open air motoring was not for me.
1955 Ford Zodiac......Fast and loud. It was yellow!
1955 MG Magnette......My wife hated it.
1967 Hillman Imp......A foul little car.
1964 Wolseley 6/110......Luxurious but thirsty.
1962 Rover 100......My second Rover P4.
1965 Vauxhall VX4/90......We all make mistakes.
1968 Austin 1800......Drove like a big Mini.
1973 Morris 2200......As above but faster.
1978 Princess 1800......Wish it had power steering.
1981 Princess 2000......As above but with power steering.
1985 Audi 100CD Avant......A superb motorway cruiser and tow car.
1998 Rover 400......A Honda in disguise.
2009 Daihatsu Sirion......The best super-mini you have never heard of.
2016 Mazda CX-3

Many of the above are now classics. In 1973 I caught the classic car bug and it bit hard :

1947 Morris Eight......Crawled along but always made it.
1937 Vauxhall Fourteen......Cable brakes made driving exciting.
1952 Daimler Consort......Smooth, comfortable, flexible and sluggish.
1956 Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire......A magnificent money pit.
1970 Rover 3.5 Litre Coupe......This one is a keeper. I love it.

There we are. The CX-3 for every day, the Rover for rallies and shows.
CX-3 SE 2.0L 2WD Auto. 43.5mpg.
santa
Posts: 296
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2015 5:54 pm
Location: Denmark

Post by santa »

1992 Fiat Tipo 2.0 GT i.e.
2000 Fiat Punto 1.9 JTD ELX
2005 Fiat Stlio 1.9 16V Multijet
2007 Fiat Panda 100HP
2005 Lancia Ypsilon 1.3 16V Multijet Platinum DFN
2009 Fiat Bravo 1.4 16V T-Jet Dynamic

And now a CX-3 2.0-G FWD automatic Optimum
Mazda CX-30 2.0 150HP Aut. Cosmo w. Tech Pack in Arctic White, 2023.
Bobc
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Feb 22, 2018 11:59 am
Location: Shropshire UK

Post by Bobc »

Previous cars (plus 2 motorcycles).

Velocette Venom
BSA Gold Star
Jowett Javelin (fine if you don't mind taking off front wheels to change spark plugs)
Singer 9 Roadster (good fun, until the wood frame - ash I think- rotted to the point of dangerous, and my woodwork skills were not enough)
Sunbeam Talbot 90 ( with the suicide rear doors, which did open at speed a couple of times )
MGA 1600 - probably my favourite so far. Not fast by todays standards of course, but good at the time.
Triumph Herald
Triumph Vitesse
Various very boring company cars
Ford Probe ( really a Mazda MX6 of course)
Land Rover Freelander
Rover 75 Tourer ( a good example of what British cars can do if they try)
Mazda CX-3 - only had it for 3 weeks so far, but very happy with it.

Just shows how easy it was to waste money and have fun. If I had kept all these over the years I would be very much wealthier now !!

Bob.
CX-3 Sport Nav, May 2017, 1.5d, manual , AWD, jet black pearl.
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AndyRen
Posts: 660
Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2018 12:28 pm
Location: Down a bit, down a bit more, right a bit, down a bit.... Right there - Kent

Post by AndyRen »

Bobc wrote: Sun Mar 18, 2018 3:30 pm If I had kept all these over the years I would be very much wealthier now !!

Bob.
Or a gert big pile of rust.... and a few woodworm larva perhaps? :lol: :shock:
16 plate 2L Petrol, 120bhp Soul Red Sport Nav...
st3v3cx-3
Posts: 707
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 7:56 pm
Location: South East UK

Post by st3v3cx-3 »

I thought I'd write a short book on mine. I enjoyed writing it on a freezing cold Sunday afternoon, if nothing else :lol:

By sequence of ownership - not necessarily when I bought them re used cars!

1959 Austin Mini (used)
Was a rust bucket in places e.g. front wings were patched up with paper it seemed! One was subsequently slightly better repaired by a girl’s boyfriend once she had decided to crash into it. During my ownership, I had the enjoyable experience (!) of :-

a) Failed brakes – pedal hitting the floor - when heading towards a line of cars stopped at a red traffic light on a dual carriageway. Managed to slow down a little and then turn off through the entrance to an old style petrol station and stop using the handbrake a few feet into a field between the pumps and the petrol station owner’s bungalow. Luckily the gate to the field was open! Turned out to be caused by the master cylinder lever coming detached from the the master cylinder because a previous owner had omitted to fit a washer and thus the split pin eventually wore away on the bracket and popped out allowing the connecting pin to work loose and eventually drop out :(

b) Lots of smoke entering the interior through a hole in the floor where the original gear lever went – it had a remote system crudely fitted by previous owner again :) Turned out to be the rubber oil pipe to the oil pressure gauge accessory (no electronic sensor versions in those days, just one using oil itself going into the back of the gauge) had rubbed against the exhaust manifold / pipe and eventually made a hole allowing oil to spill onto the hot pipe!

Eventually sold it for £50 to a guy wanting a cheap car for his daughter to use to get to and fro from a local college – despite me pointing out all the problems with the car, she was smitten by a green mini with single bore central exhaust. I felt ok as I’d tried to put them off :)

1967 Cortina Mk2 (used)
My first car with proper ventilation via the new style eyeball vents. Had a problem with the car veering to the left if the steering wheel was held in a straight ahead position but lack of funds meant no fix - I just held the wheel turned slightly right on bad cambers :)

I managed to hit the back of a car at low speed when I turned left at the exit to a slip road and hadn’t noticed the guy in front had stopped after he’d initially moved. Turned out he worked at the same factory as me and he was most agreeable to just settling for £50 iirc to replace the bent overrider on his car whilst he would pull out his bumper and touch up some scratched paint on the rear bodywork. Nice guy indeed.

1974 MG Midget (new)
In bronze yellow too. Great little old style sports car, my first new car as well. Fun and games when a stone completely cracked the toughened windscreen – no laminated ones in those days – and a replacement windscreen took a week to be ordered, delivered and fitted by a windscreen company. So had an awkward time driving to work with a Halfords temporary plastic screen (one with a number of vertical rods) fitted and hoping for no rain.

Kept it for 3 years – the only reason I sold it was the lack of synchro on 1st gear which became a damn pain on a very busy road to work on my 40 mile return journey with far too much low speed crawling. It meant stopping to get into 1st or slipping the clutch in 2nd. I didn’t know about double de-clutching then if it would have helped.

1972 Morris Marina TC (used)
My twin carb car and also my first automatic. Was told by the selling dealer it was a rare combination. Never did find out if true or just salesman spiel. Probably zero, or close too, left on the road now. Often had fun at the traffic light GP on my drive to work. Very useful when 3 lanes reduced to 2 the other side of the lights.

During my ownership the automatic started jumping / clonking a bit going from N to D or P – a far far away from the silky smoothness of my current CX-3. Tried to get the automatic repaired but it was going to be too expensive. Was also always a fight keeping the rust at bay on the front of the rear wings.

1980 VW Polo (new)
First time with a car with decent mpg. So easy on weekday drives to work in busy traffic.

1983 VW Polo (new)
Decided to go for another new Polo, this time the new bread van style. Sold eventually to a small local company who wanted a van style car for delivering paper. Saw it many times locally after that, think the last time it had done over 80,000 miles.

1985 VW Golf GTI (used)
Was tempted after chats with a early 20’s IT guy at work, who’d owned first an 8v one and then a 16v one both on “business” use lol. Before he traded in his 8v he offered me a drive of it. Enjoyable rather quick run round a section of dual carriageway and motorway – no speed cameras in those days - convinced me I had to have one. Found an 18mth old one being sold fairly locally. Joined the Beasty Boys affected club one day when the VW badge was prized from the front grill. VW were offering free replacements at that point because of all the fury so I couldn’t refuse :)

1992 Renault Clio (new)
GTI was getting old by then and insurance was getting more expensive. Liked the new style hatch Renault had bought out. Only problems I can recollect during my ownership was a snapped clutch cable and faulty cat, latter replaced free by Renault under the 3 year warranty.

1995 Toyota RAV4 (new)
I fancied a full time 4WD and was taken by the 2 dr style. Was great for collecting a big new CRT style TV and stand at one point. The 4WD made driving onto off-road parking areas at car race meetings a cinch. Only thing I came to detest was the seat covering, like plastic with bead covering which was awful in hot summer weather!

1998 Mitsubishi Galant (new)
Decided a change was needed and the return to a saloon after a number of years break beckoned. Test drive sold it to me. My first car with air con – heaven lol. Automatic was super smooth, matches the CX-3.

2000 Nissan 2000SX (new)
I drove daily past a Nissan dealer on the way to and fro from work. My eyes were opened wide one day by their big window advert for the pre-reg models at £17k instead of £26k. Air con, full leather interior and 6 CD auto-changer were nice standard features – there was no iPod or USB then! I did some checks on my old pre-Broadband Netscape browser at home before called in there soon afterwards to ask about the deal. When I was told there were some brand new ones coming in at the same price that sold it to me on the spot :) Best ever car I’ve owned or driven by far. Fastest too.

Only reason I “sold” it and don’t own it now is it was written off by a dealer’s ***%%%***%%% young mechanic who’d taken it for a test drive (quite normal) as part of an annual service. It had rained that day and on the course they used there was a slip road from a roundabout on to a dual carriageway. He’d not known about the LSD which was a standard fit to the car and when he opened up the throttle a bit heavily on the upwards curve of the slip road it had careered sideways off the road edge with the front into some bushes before he braked enough!! It needed a new steering rack, new oil cooler and pipes, new wheel and tyre, repairs to front spoiler and lower wing plus some spraying. Dealer tried for 4 weeks to organise the insurance assessment and repairs - whilst I was using a brand new loaned hatchback car - but there were no spares in the UK and great problems getting hold of them from Japan. In the end a write off ensued and the dealership were most apologetic – they hardly had any option really – and I got paid about 25% over the top of the normal second hand value, split between them and their insurance company. Not sure if the mechanic got sacked or just a serious warning.

2005 Mitsubishi Outlander (new)
I bought this while I still had the 200SX and became a 2 car owner for the first and only time. Was taken by the really quirky looks and the full time 4WD, plus full leather interior and very smooth automatic.

2007 Honda Civic (used)
Just owned for 6 months before getting the next new car. Lovely VTEC engine and slick manual gearbox.

2007 Mitsubishi Colt (new)
Decided a small hatchback and good mpg was the way to go at that point. So easy to drive and park. No need for parking sensors or rear view camera – they weren’t available anyway. Ended up keeping it 9 years.

2016 Mazda CX-3 (new)
Time for a change. A short test drive almost made up my mind and a 2nd longer test drive a week or so later made me go for it. The silky smooth automatic and paddle shift facility (hardly used since I’ve owned one mind lol) were excellent. Just then spent a few months getting the best deal I could along with a wait for the build and delivery from Japan. Not had any regrets, despite the nuisance of air con faults and dealer fitted what to me are over-sensitive front parking sensors.
Sport Nav Petrol Automatic FWD Arctic White plus options April 2016
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HouseSpider
Posts: 545
Joined: Thu Jan 11, 2018 11:47 am
Location: New Forest

Post by HouseSpider »

Ford Anglia (13th birthday present to drive around fields)
Austin Maxi
Yamaha RD125LC
MG Midget B
Opel Manta
Porsche 924
Ford XR2
Numerous company cars
Audi A2
Vauxhall Corsa
Mazda CX-3
Sports Nav Auto Petrol 2017, 131bhp (chipped), Soul Red, Half Stone Leather, Safety Pack, Arm Rest, Auto Folding Mirror Kit, Detachable Tow Bar, HatchBag Boot Liner, Stebel Nautilus Compact horn. Space saver.
Handy Andy
Posts: 283
Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2017 9:46 pm
Location: Crowborough, East Sussex

Post by Handy Andy »

This is what I can remember in rough order

Triumph Herald 12/50
Triumph 1300
Ford Capri 1.6 GT XLR
Triumph Dolomite 1850
Rover P6 3500 series 1
Ford Escort 1300E
Ford Capri 3000E
Vauxhall Viscount
Vauxhall VX490
Rover P6 3500 series 2
Land Rover series 3 – 109
Jaguar E-Type 4.2 FHC
Land Rover 110 V8
Bentley T1 (the Shadow lookalike but less flashy)
Suzuki SJ413 VJX
Land Rover Defender 90 hard top
Jensen Interceptor Convertible
Saab 96 V4
Saab 95 V4
Saab 900 T16 Turbo
Saab 9000 Ecopower
Land Rover Discovery
Saab 93 2.3 Convertible
Mazda Demio
Mazda Premacy Sport
plus lots of cheap wreckers along the way.

and the last decade all at the same time
Suzuki Jimny
Nissan 370Z 40th anniversay model
Skoda Superb 2.0 TSI estate

and now

Mazda CX-3 Sport Nav Auto (Nov 2017)
Mini Cooper Countryman Auto (Oct 2017)
Car sold - but still following Mazda.
TAX
Posts: 66
Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 3:02 pm

Post by TAX »

from a
Bentley T1 (the Shadow lookalike but less flashy)
to a
Suzuki SJ413 VJX

Must have been an expensive divorce !
SEPT 2017
CX3GT AUTO PETROL. CERAMIC METALLIC. 39 MPG
YORKSHIRE.
Handy Andy
Posts: 283
Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2017 9:46 pm
Location: Crowborough, East Sussex

Post by Handy Andy »

TAX wrote: Mon Mar 19, 2018 11:41 am from a
Bentley T1 (the Shadow lookalike but less flashy)
to a
Suzuki SJ413 VJX

Must have been an expensive divorce !
I seem to have always had more than one car at a time. The problem is if I fancied a car I bought it, even if others were still around.

As for divorce, as I say - it's cheaper to keep her.
Car sold - but still following Mazda.
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