What was your first car?

[deecee]

Nova 1.3 you lucky lucky ******. How we could only dream of a Nova 1.3.

 

Mine was an Astra 1.3 Merit in Mexico Red. Same engine as the Nova. Uglier than a bulldog licking **** of a nettle.

Hard to find any pictures of it (not GTEs) since it was so pigging ugly.

 

Doors were conveniently easy to open with a brick and a screwdriver. Not convenient to me but to the guys that broke into it twice

 

Poverty spec, you don't know poverty until you've driven the Astra merit, the clock was an optional extra. It did come with and AM radio though. No tape deck.

 

However since it was just an engine, 4 wheels and a few seats there wasn't much to go wrong, it cost pennies to run and was epic in the snow on the cheap skinny rubber I had fitted.

Best thing about it was that it was quite roomy for when out and about or more specifically parked in the dark with the lass

 

Here is a 5 door. I couldn't afford such luxury.

 

 

That was luxurious to my Hillman Imp , on that car even the heater fan was an optional extra and the only ICE was your own singing accompanied by the various crunches and whines coming from the gearbox

[Laurie61]

A Chrysler alpine 1.3, reg NFK 418 P. Bought about four months before passing my test in Jan 81. Same as this one.

 

  

 

 

[Aspman]

this thread reminds me of this :p

 

Edited 12 May, 2015 by Aspman

[kit]

Mine was a two tone blue ford fiesta 1.3GL (later added a XR 2 engine), reg OSA 345W, was ten years old with 80k on it when I bought it for £1000.....Drove the 'ollocks off it for over a year then sold it for £1200

 

Happy days

 

K:)

[Baffles1982]

A 1988 (I think was an E reg) Austin Metro 1275 Sport that I brought for £50 in 1999

[nbJubilee]

A 1964 Ford Anglia 998 105e bought for £35 in 1972 , this very soon morphed into a 1200 cc after buying a scrap Anglia 1200 , shortly after this I decided to rebuild the 1200 body shell as the headlights on mine had started to point skywards and I discovered the guy who sold it to me had filled both front wings with WALL filler which the rain had  stated to soften .

 

At the time I worked for Fodens the lorry manufacturer in Sandbach so had access to crackle black sheets (remember crackle black anyone) , I decided to cut all the rust out and weld in new bits , manufacture a dash that Boeing would have been proud of , respray and re trim . The finished shell was sprayed in black hammered enamel , and the interior was painted with black upholstery paint to make it look like new , the seats had slip over rally style covers with big side bolsters .

 

For the dash I scoured scrapyards and eventually found a set of Lotus Cortina main instruments which gave me a 120mph speedo , I then also fitted numerous gauges down a centre console feeding me all sorts of useless info , so many in fact you could have a crash whilst scanning them .

 

The ICE was taken care of by a battery driven cassette player which dropped into a frame I made and attached to the drivers arm rest , coool .

 

At this point after pouring over loads of Car and Car conversion articles (best ever motoring mag) I decided no way was I going to stay a lowly 1200 so back to the scrap yards and got my self a 1500 engine and 2000e short shift gearbox which I duly fitted .

 

I then discovered why tripple c recommended fitting Cortina GT back axle and front strutts with disc brakes , with std diff the rear wheels just spun up at the slightest touch of the throttle and once moving it was a long wait before the front DRUM brakes decided to try and slow the car , so back to the scrap yards to find a rear axle and strutts which I fitted , the car now stopped ok but still spun up the tyres fairly easy , this was partially solved by the fitting of wide wheels with equally wide radial tyres , 175s no less , whoo hooo she looked the dogs doodas .

 

My final project on her was to enlarge the engine , the Ford pre crossflow engines allowed you to mix and match parts and end up with various capacities , mine ended up at 1725cc If i remember correctly and was fed by a sidedraft Webber Carb , realistically I would have got better mpg with a bucket and funnel but petrol was so cheap then , she was my last Ford I was into Imps after that .

I also had an Anglia to which I fitted Lotus Twincam engine, front struts and disk brakes from a Classic 109e. Painted Red, Black with big gold stripe over bonnet,roof and down the back. 4 Cibie rally lamps and a through the roof swivel spot lamp. You could see it from miles away and I was followed by police everywhere.

A Mexico was a better rally car.

[HJM12]

No way the citigo was your first car! That's so cool haha. I love mine

I love mine too! 

[AlanRHB]

My first road legal car was a 1938 Morris 10/4 in which I passed my driving test in 1966. A more modern car than the 10HP cars of that era as ohv and four speed gearbox rather than the sidevalve engine and three speeds of the small Fords even those new in 1966 (the 100E), though the prototype Anglia OHV engine and four speed box was fitted to the 100E a couple of years later and called the 107E

Due to limited production after WW2 and low wages of the average working man, there were still many pre-war cars on the road during the 1960's... my Morris cost me £15-00 and was taxed.

 

Although apprenticed on heavier plant, cars were a hobby, and I became in demand during the 1970s as I became proficient overhauling and setting up twin and triple SUs on classic sports cars as they became scarce then gained popularity.

 

I also had an Anglia to which I fitted Lotus Twincam engine, front struts and disk brakes from a Classic 109e. Painted Red, Black with big gold stripe over bonnet,roof and down the back. 4 Cibie rally lamps

 

 

Very popular with club rally enthusiasts, but the Mk 1 Cortina GT 1500 pushrod engine with twin 40 DCOE webers replacing the 28/36 progressive choke was a more available engine than the twin cam, (Lotus Cortinas far less likely to be scrapped than the GT) and bored out to 1650cc could give a twin cam a run for it's money... I pepared quite a few club Anglias for night navs and club rallys as a sideline to my day job, and a well prepared Anglia was a very respectable club level rally car... I could never afford to own one though, so had to settle for navigation duties in the "suicide seat" ...

 

Alan.

[lesmond]

Sunbeam Rapier Fastback coupé

 

the Rapier used the Rootes four-cylinder, five-bearing 1725 cc engine, which was tilted slightly to the right to enable a lower bonnet line, in common with the other Arrow models. With its twin Stromberg 150CD carburettors the engine produced 88 hp (66 kW; 89 PS)at 5200 rpm. Overdrive was standard with the manual gearbox.

Lasted me 24hrs, a cop ran the red lights in an unmarked car and no sirens or light!!

 

Looked almost like this...

 

[Richf]

My uncle had one of those, blue with vinyl roof , cool car

[ninjacj]

As I'm still 17 this is my first and current vehicle , couldn't have imagined having anything much better that is still reasonable to insure!! Almost came across it by accident, was originally after a focus estate for boot space and then saw a felicia fun somewhere and had a eureka moment. Soon realised the 1.6 would be a bit of a pain to insure and then this popped up

[BJM]

1956 Hillman Minx.

 

Followed by  Mk I Cotina, Mk II Cortina, Vauxhall Chevette, then an endless succession of Company Cars - Astras, Cavaliers and Vectras.

[MickA]

My first car was a 1972 VW Beetle, just like the one below, same colour too. It was around 2 years old and I paid £835 for it.

 

It's still taxed and going strong today.

 

I came across it in a car park in Staffordshire around 4-5 years ago if I remember correctly, it looked immaculate. I wonder what it's worth now?

 

 

[keystonedriving]

A 1956 Wolseley 4/44 with the registration TFJ 445 (very near miss there!).  This was the last model manufactured with the old MG XPAG engine, 1250 cc of moderate apathy with a column change and an umbrella handbrake.  For its day it went reasonably well, trouble was I got it in 1968 so its day had passed.  It did me six months, though.

 

Then I moved up to a Sunbeam Rapier Series 3 (747 SPC), I'm not sure exactly what had been done to it.  It didn't tick over, it lumped over!  I assume that the cam had been changed and perhaps the flywheel lightened?  Certainly the carbs (Zenith if I remember rightly) had Alpine air filters.  What ever had been done certainly worked, this was the 1500cc engine but not even a 1725cc Rapier could live with it.  In the wet it was somewhat tail happy, on one occasion I performed a complete 360 on the A30 roundabout at Weyhill (Andover) - there was one of Hampshire's finest sitting in a gateway looking on to the roundabout and as I slid past I was facing him!  I thought 'oh dear' (or something like that) and trickled off in the direction of Thruxton expecting to have company quite soon.  He didn't bother, I guess he just thought 'That'll learn him'.  Happy days!

[Nikinak]

My first car was a C reg snot green micra, had many a grumpy afternoon outing with dad learning to drive, even did the back roads from warrington to Blackpool for my driving course! We bought the car for £100 and managed to sell for £150 a year later! I cherished the car I nicknamed Heffer (last letters of reg was HFR) constantly cleaning on weekends etc!

However when I went on to pass my test it was in Ernie (last letters of reg was ERN), my N reg Corsa!

Upgraded then to a 2001 1.4 Polo, lovely in Red, not nicknamed really as my private plate went straight on! This was great to me/us for 7 yrs then due to a few running issues and needing something efficient and reliable I opted for a change to my gorgeous Fabia and never looked back! Loving my SE, wouldn't change for the world!

Great to read others first cars!

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

Reading through this, the various cars could be either gangsta cars or piles of ****e depending on when it was, the era lol. I passed in 2006.

 

Nova 1.3 you lucky lucky ******. How we could only dream of a Nova 1.3.

 

I was very lucky, not only to find one that had survived the max power stage but also to insure it. I passed in 2006 so must have managed to get in before the insurance went through the roof, I remember looking for my brother 2 years later and the prices were mental. 

 

I was stupid enough to leave it on my dads drive needing some tlc, he scrapped it. I've looked for another SR recently, they're going/gone up it value now. I'll have another one day.

[MattFromWarks]

My first car was a Peugeot 106 XR 1.4

Obviously being the first car it changed a bit over time!

[Aspman]

Reading through this, the various cars could be either gangsta cars or piles of ****e depending on when it was, the era lol. I passed in 2006.

 

 

I was very lucky, not only to find one that had survived the max power stage but also to insure it. I passed in 2006 so must have managed to get in before the insurance went through the roof, I remember looking for my brother 2 years later and the prices were mental. 

 

I was stupid enough to leave it on my dads drive needing some tlc, he scrapped it. I've looked for another SR recently, they're going/gone up it value now. I'll have another one day.

 

1.3 was getting on when I passed in 94.

 

I paid £1700 for a G reg astra in 96, Novas were £2300 or more.

[robt100]

Passed my test in 2008 aged 20 (no money before that!) First car, which I still have:  1986 Ford Capri 2Litre Laser. Bought it a year before I passed my test, Wasn't even having lessons at the time but saw a bargain and bought it! 72k on the clock, garaged and not used for last 10 years.
I then set it in a field for another year, then replaced rear brake cylinders and drove it to the MOT station 30 miles away.......Passed first time no advisories! And has done each year since
So to reward it I've sent it off to have a 2.9 24v cosworth engine fitted

[Jrjg]

Passed my test in 2008 aged 20 (no money before that!) First car, which I still have: 1986 Ford Capri 2Litre Laser. Bought it a year before I passed my test, Wasn't even having lessons at the time but saw a bargain and bought it! 72k on the clock, garaged and not used for last 10 years.

I then set it in a field for another year, then replaced rear brake cylinders and drove it to the MOT station 30 miles away.......Passed first time no advisories! And has done each year since

So to reward it I've sent it off to have a 2.9 24v cosworth engine fitted

YES

My favourite car right there. You lucky sod !

JRJG

[KangarooReviews2014]

No way the citigo was your first car! That's so cool haha. I love mine

 

In can't believe that either! Also they are expensive new or second hand!

[KangarooReviews2014]

My first car which I have now, A Skoda Fabia 1.2 HTP 2006 12V 64Bhp! I love it! Quicker than a Citygo, I think, However maybe not?

 

I paid £850.00 for my car, However did have a lot of work done to it and overall costed £1,100 to get it running normally.

 

Kangaroo

Edited 13 May, 2015 by KangarooReviews2014

[KangarooReviews2014]

My first car was a 1972 VW Beetle, just like the one below, same colour too. It was around 2 years old and I paid £835 for it.

 

It's still taxed and going strong today.

 

I came across it in a car park in Staffordshire around 4-5 years ago if I remember correctly, it looked immaculate. I wonder what it's worth now?

 

 

 

A lot, Remember Wheeler Dealers doing one up! They are very rare now and can go for £20,000 or more and can be less!

[KangarooReviews2014]

2014-09-10 20.30.40.jpeg

As I'm still 17 this is my first and current vehicle , couldn't have imagined having anything much better that is still reasonable to insure!! Almost came across it by accident, was originally after a focus estate for boot space and then saw a felicia fun somewhere and had a eureka moment. Soon realised the 1.6 would be a bit of a pain to insure and then this popped up

 

What a great first car!

[Jonny5ive]

I had a 1.0l FIAT Uno with a manual choke. Overfuelled like a good'un with the choke out but didn't half go some.