Cars, cars, cars...

briantrumpet

Since you lot seem to have a lot to say about them... fire away!

pblakeney

I'm done now. 🤣🤣🤣

pblakeney

oxoman said:

What cars real ones or toy ones.

Probably toy ones that you drive for fun. 😉

briantrumpet

FTR, mine's a Nissan Almera, which gets me from A to B (or any other letters I choose). I reckon I'll need to put some petrol in the tank maybe December or January. I prefer bikes.

pblakeney

Both. Extend fun opportunities.

First.Aspect

briantrumpet said:

FTR, mine's a Nissan Almera, which gets me from A to B (or any other letters I choose). I reckon I'll need to put some petrol in the tank maybe December or January. I prefer bikes.

If I didn't know better I'd guess you were a history teacher. Proper leather elbow pads car, that.

I guess you would get tortured by the kids if you turned up in an old Porsche.

briantrumpet

First.Aspect said:

briantrumpet said:

FTR, mine's a Nissan Almera, which gets me from A to B (or any other letters I choose). I reckon I'll need to put some petrol in the tank maybe December or January. I prefer bikes.

If I didn't know better I'd guess you were a history teacher. Proper leather elbow pads car, that.

I guess you would get tortured by the kids if you turned up in an old Porsche.

I got it because

a) My old Renault Clio (190k miles on the clock) died (well was going to cost far more than it was worth to get it through the MOT)

b) When I put a post of Facebook asking if anyone had a car they wanted to sell me, the Almera was offered

c) A friend who knows his cars back to front said that it's one of the most reliable models he knows

I run cars until they eventually die on me. All I ask is reliability and reasonable comfort. And I never drive into school. If the kids laugh at me, it's because of the lycra, not the car or leather elbow pads. In any case, I'm a rebel, and never wear a jacket (even though I'm supposed to).

First.Aspect

Ah, just stick with the brown cloth neck tie then. I see.

I do miss having a crap car sometimes, but we need something reliable where we live.

Some of the best fun I had in a car was in a Toyota Camry that had 2/3 of the electrics still working, a mismatched wing, bald tyres and brakes that never wore out because they'd already worn out. I was great at engine braking. Got to love countries that don't have an MOT.

That car was ideal for parking illegally while looking like it had been abandoned.

lesfirth

oxoman said:

I had an Almera about 05 and have to say it did everything it should do faultlessly, sadly it was as boring as fuxx. Most fun was my mini clubman with a vauxhall nova engine shoehorned in. I'd be lynched for that nowadays. The guy that helped me shoehorned an Astra GTE engine in, both pretty rapid and reliable.

Those were the days when cars were fun. I can feel a bout of nostalgia coming on.
High lift cams, gas flowed heads ,weber carbs and no speed cameras.

veronese68

lesfirth said:

oxoman said:

I had an Almera about 05 and have to say it did everything it should do faultlessly, sadly it was as boring as fuxx. Most fun was my mini clubman with a vauxhall nova engine shoehorned in. I'd be lynched for that nowadays. The guy that helped me shoehorned an Astra GTE engine in, both pretty rapid and reliable.

Those were the days when cars were fun. I can feel a bout of nostalgia coming on.
High lift cams, gas flowed heads ,weber carbs and no speed cameras.

Indeed, a peaky power band seemed to make them feel faster. Two stroke motorbikes were hilarious for similar reasons. I once borrowed a GT380 after a few years on big British twins, it felt slow until I remembered to wring it's neck mercilessly.

elbowloh

Currently have a Suzuki Vitara.

Before that had 330e hybrid BMW, C220 Merc and a Prius, all company cars.

Best car I ever had was an Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf. Vroom vroom

pblakeney

oxoman said:

I had an Almera about 05 and have to say it did everything it should do faultlessly, sadly it was as boring as fuxx. Most fun was my mini clubman with a vauxhall nova engine shoehorned in. I'd be lynched for that nowadays. The guy that helped me shoehorned an Astra GTE engine in, both pretty rapid and reliable.

My first car was a modified Mini 1100. It was modified when I got it so I don't know what was done but it was definitely quick, had a Webber carb and a heavy duty clutch.
My Dad who was a sales rep couldn't drive it, kept stalling. I had it fully loaded with 3 adults on a camping trip and roof rack when the speedo showed 100mph while the maximum was supposed to be 85mph. Now, I know that wouldn't be accurate but I was flying past everything else on the road.
Another memory was a richboy showing off his BMW 5 at a cafe after which I dropped him on a twisty road including a 4 wheel drift while keeping in the correct lane on a dry road. Great car the original Mini.
There is a statute of limitations in this country, right?

MattFalle

Toyota Aygo.

Utterly hilarious but utterly wonderful.

#joy

Stevo_666

Thoroughly enjoying The Panzer still. I think I will be keeping it for quite a while longer.

First.Aspect

How about anyone's worst car?

Mine's easy. Talbot Solara. Or a Mini Metro. Possibly the Ford Escort. Mmm.

No, the Talbot.

Pross

First.Aspect said:

How about anyone's worst car?

Mine's easy. Talbot Solara. Or a Mini Metro. Possibly the Ford Escort. Mmm.

No, the Talbot.

My first car, a 1.1 litre 1982 Escort MK3. I had it a year and it must have spent much of that in a garage despite buying it from my sister's friend whose mechanic brother had allegedly completely overhauled it. It would cut out at lights and at one point the bonnet release capable had snapped so I remember being stuck at the one set of traffic lights in my town lying under the car in pouring rain to release the bonnet so I could give it a spray and smack the starter motor whilst hoping no-one ran into the back of the car.

It was also the 'economy' model where an amber or red light came on depending on how heavy you were being with your foot. Problem was it needed the amber on just to move as it was so under-powered and I remember driving eastbound along the M4 approaching junction 18 with three of us plus bikes heading to Castle Combe. My foot was on the floor and I couldn't hold 50mph.

pblakeney

Worst car? Easy. A base model Fiesta bought new as I needed reliability over everything else for commuting long distance. Wonderful in the snow. Shit the other 99%.
Best part was I got a good deal and managed to sell it at only a £250 loss after a year.

First.Aspect

There's a Ford theme here....

ddraver

"Worst" Car I've come across was a BMW X5 I used to drive in CH. I've no idea how such a big car on the outside could have so little space inside (oh, you have skis? lol nope!) and the 4x4 was utterly woeful in anything other than bone dry weather.

The company literally stopped using it if there was a risk of snow. We'd far rather have one of the old FWD Caravelles and use the chains.

briantrumpet

BTW, if anyone's taking a car to France for skiing this year, it's now a legal requirement to have either winter tyres fitted or snowchains with you in many areas. Well, it's sensible anyway, but now it can be policed.

Worst car: Chrysler Sunbeam 1300 (about 54bhp), but the 1600 engine made it a bit less like a slug. Still rusted out though, whatever speed it went.

Pross

briantrumpet said:

BTW, if anyone's taking a car to France for skiing this year, it's now a legal requirement to have either winter tyres fitted or snowchains with you in many areas. Well, it's sensible anyway, but now it can be policed.

Worst car: Chrysler Sunbeam 1300 (about 54bhp), but the 1600 engine made it a bit less like a slug. Still rusted out though, whatever speed it went.

I've never been there skiing but thought that had always been the case (or at least for quite a while).

orraloon

Petrolheads we iz now. I blame Dominic Raab.

Worst? Excluding any old bangers had as student and / or recent grad, worst piece of junk was a Morris Marina I had as temp rental replacement for 3-4 weeks when I totalled my company Cavalier. Absolute garbage, underpowered, terrible road grip, uncomfortable to drive and lots more. British Leyland eh, you just gotta luv 'em. Or not.

briantrumpet

Pross said:

briantrumpet said:

BTW, if anyone's taking a car to France for skiing this year, it's now a legal requirement to have either winter tyres fitted or snowchains with you in many areas. Well, it's sensible anyway, but now it can be policed.

Worst car: Chrysler Sunbeam 1300 (about 54bhp), but the 1600 engine made it a bit less like a slug. Still rusted out though, whatever speed it went.

I've never been there skiing but thought that had always been the case (or at least for quite a while).

Maybe it's just my area then that's brought in a load of new legal stuff... but there's certainly been quite a lot of publicity about the change there. I very much doubt if any of you would book a holiday there, as it's probably only a 50/50 chance of getting decent snow. Anyway, if you want some practice in reading legal French, here's the link: https://mairie-romeyer.fr/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EQUIPEMENT-HIVERNAL.pdf

briantrumpet

oxoman said:

Looks like worst car is between me and first aspect. I had a solara as a courtesy vehicle after my Austin allagro (allegro) decided it wanted to be a reliant Robin 3 wheeler. Happened on the M1 below geordie land and the AA man took one look at it and called a contract recovery company out as he didn't want to attempt loading it.
Worst car after these was a renault 9 with a dodgy clutch.

The farmer whose cottage I rented for six years had an Austin Maestro... developed a habit of the plastic gear linkage popping off every now and again. So you had to remember to put a rubber band over it now and again, as it's rather embarrassing when it pops off on one of the busiest roundabouts in Exeter.

If we're going back to the 70's, let's bring back the 'glories' of British Leyland, and Quartic steering wheels.

focuszing723

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69_iKArvJBk

This is interesting in terms of the future.

Stevo_666

The Top Gear British Leyland Challenge is good for a laugh, especially the last bit where they have to drive round the track with the cars filled with water.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf7q8lWEd-o

shirley_basso

3 car history.

Defender 90
2011 polo
2018 Skoda superb (current)

Old Porsche will be the second car next year as I do some work driving now out to clients and want something fun. Next year is the plan.

Dorset_Boy

Worst car I 'had' was a yellow austin Metro - brakes would regularly not work, so it was engine and hand braking only.
A friend learnt to drive in an Allegro. He was going down a steep hill, tried to change gear, and the gear stick came away in his hand.

Utterly shite 1970s maufacturing quality. Probably too busy going on strike.

First.Aspect

Okay so the worst is done. What about most fun? Not necessarily the best.

For me, best is the current car, a 440 CG. Fast, good tech, comfortable, good looking.

Most fun, MGB GT. Rudimentary suspension, rwd and not a lot of power. Good combo. Pity it was made of soluble material.

Stevo_666

For me it's a toss up between my old 205 GTI 1.9 - road legal go kart - and my Mitsubishi Evo 6 - just a superb track day car and supercar slayer on a wet track due to the 4wd and being so easy to drive at 9/10ths

elbowloh

Someone gave me al old Ford Sierra as a run about between cars. It was awful and leaked oil. Every few days I had to take the spark plugs put and clean oil off them with a wire brush.