Had Both:-

 

1854 cc single cam single carb. Triumph Dolomite HL Mustard yellow. Can't remember the Reg.

 

35 minutes ago, Gaz said:

Did that make it a 'Sprint'?

 

Sprint was 1998 cc had single cam but 16 valves and twin carbs. WMY671S Blue with black vinyl roof.

 

Thanks,  AG Falco

2 hours ago, Gaz said:

 

Did that make it a 'Sprint'?

 

Mate had a 1500 when I had a Renault 16TL and I remember being dead envious.

 

G

Alas not. The Sprint had a 2.0ltr version of the engine with what I believe was the first 16 valve head in ‘normal’ cars; won some design award too.

1 hour ago, AGFalco said:

1854 cc single cam single carb. T

Interesting, my 1850 had twin SU carbs which I could never keep in balance - probably says more about my mechanical skills than the carbs 🙄

14 hours ago, sneal said:

Interesting, my 1850 had twin SU carbs which I could never keep in balance - probably says more about my mechanical skills than the carbs 🙄

When I was building my Cooper S rally car, I had to decide between twin SUs or Weber DCOE - I went with a Reece Fish carb - absolute breeze to set up. 

Edited 15 June, 20223 yr by Warrior193
correction

19 hours ago, sneal said:

Interesting, my 1850 had twin SU carbs

Maybe I can't remember. 😶 This was over 40 years ago and I replaced it with the Sprint after only a short time. ( months ).

 

The Sprint I do remember. 😊

 

Thanks, AG Falco

6 minutes ago, AGFalco said:

Maybe I can't remember. 😶 This was over 40 years ago and I replaced it with the Sprint after only a short time. ( months ).

 

The Sprint I do remember. 😊

 

Thanks, AG Falco

I’m thinking they may have changed it with the Dolomite HL designation. Mine predated that, and the 1500cc versions.

The car I'm fondest of was the red Peugeot 106 I inherited in 1993. It wasn't quick but once you made it up to speed you didn't need to slow down for bends as it cornered like it was on rails. Being more youthful back then I also drove it quite hard (as young 'uns do) and achieved some surprising speeds driving back over the M62 late one night...

 

It was also the car I was driving when I met the missus. We'd first started chatting via IRC (back in the day where it was all 14.4k dial-up; none of this nude selfies lark;  and people used LOL and ROFL) and I drove over to her house to dig out her car before we drove down to Wolverhampton for an IRC meet the next day.

 

It lasted up to the point where I gave one of her daughters her first driving lesson. She panicked and hit the accelerator instead of the brake and drove it into a wall 😬. I still have the repair invoice for that and I've threatened to frame it and give it to said daughter for her birthday one year 🙂

1973 GT Beetle. Learned to drive on it (in the late 80s).  1584cc (later 1776) engine with SU carburettors, synchromesh transmission, and steering so heavy I could feel my transverse abs bulking out every time I parked. 

My Dad’s Saab 900 Turbo. Not as pretty as the 99, but so incredibly smooth and balanced, and the driver’s seat was heated. Such luxury I had never previously encountered.

 

1973 Morgan +8. So very burbly and understated at tick over and pottering speed. So phenomenally organ-rearranging when you need to take off sharpish. 
 

VW TDI transporter, 2l or above, can’t remember exactly, it was a hire van for work. So much oomph. 
 

And I did get to drive a few 7.5t trucks. I enjoyed being that high up. Didn’t enjoy that I had to get out of the seat to get enough leverage to brake hard, cos everything was designed for someone considerably bigger than me. 

 

What does IRC stand for?

2 minutes ago, J.R. said:

What does IRC stand for?

 

I think it means Instant Relay Chat, in this case. So like an instant messenger or that.

I thought there was an International Rescue Committee meeting happening and maybe some vehicles from Thinderbirds would attend, or is that the David Miliband headed organisation.

9 hours ago, J.R. said:

What does IRC stand for?

 

9 hours ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

 

I think it means Instant Relay Chat, in this case. So like an instant messenger or that.

 

Well thanks for making me feel especially old now. You kids with your Myface and Spacebooks and Clock tocks....

 

IRC is Internet Relay Chat (Internet Relay Chat - Wikipedia) - a number of server networks that hosted chat rooms that people could join. It also had a reputation for sharing 'warez' (a precursor to torrents for sharing software etc.) through bots in dedicated rooms.

 

Here endeth the history lesson 

Best/favourite cars I've owned:

 

1985 Renault 5 GT Turbo - test drive the main competition (Peugeot 205 1.9GTI, Fiat Uno Turbo) but none match the excitement of a car lighter than a baked bean can with a tweakable engine and chassis (thanks Brodie Brittan Racing). If I could find a good cheap one (I know...) now I'd have it as a fun day car.

 

2007 Audi RS4 Avant quattro - fast, fun and practical (rescued wife & friend from work where nobody else could reach due to snow and ice even on summer tyres). 420PS wasn't enough so had to visit MRC in Banbury for a non-resonated Milltek exhaust and a custom rolling road tune.

Edited 27 June, 20223 yr by PetrolDave

My best car was my late lamented Audi a6 2.5TDi quattro Avant...

 

 

...which I bought at 160k and, over the next 10 years, did 160k of my own. During that time it did an average of 42mpg. Held the road beautifully and took me all over the place. My Superb 4x4 estate is like an updated version of it.

 

My 'fun' car at the moment is a 2006 A4 Convertible TDi 140 - which I lavish far too much money and time on...

 

 

...but which has also taken me to some great places..

@gsmdoooh the Quattros were lovely. Somehow had one as a hire car once. I worked in TV back then, so got to drive a lot of different cars, but they were usually Peugeot 205 type level. They must have been busy and it was all they had that week! Made me want to go and throw it around the Forest of Dean though, thinking I was Hannu Mikkola. The Quattro wasn't built to be constrained by tailbacks on the A303 😆

1 hour ago, MijIsTired said:

@gsmdoooh the Quattros were lovely. 

I loved the Quattro (capital Q) as it was an iconic coupe, the more 'normal' quattros (lower case q) with Torsen centre diffs were great, it's taken a while for the Haldex software to catch up with the seamless transition between FWD and AWD that the Torsen provided.

 

My 1999 8L S3 had Haldex and you could really feel the delay and change in handling as it switched between FWD and AWD - a good car but not a great one even after I had it tuned to 285PS.

I had the FWD A6 2.5 just before I bought the quattro (which were/are like hens' teeth) and the difference in handing was striking. I still regret it is gone, but eventually the cost/reward ratio on an old premium car makes the decision for you.

 

The Superb does very well, but it doesn't have the feel of the quattro...😃

11 hours ago, PetrolDave said:

I loved the Quattro (capital Q) as it was an iconic coupe, the more 'normal' quattros (lower case q)

 

I stand happily corrected. I spent many hours watching the RAC Rally on TV and that's my primary Q/quattro reference! 

 

There's nothing quite like finding that car that feels... just right. My 1989 Golf Driver was like that. 

Interesting thread and some good stuff in here.

 

My answer would be:

 

- most enjoyment in a short time span - Caterham Supersport

- all rounder - 350Z

- fun - 2CV

- rose tinted (?) memories - Alfasud ti, Alfa 145 QV (the sold called flying bread van)

- reliability - 29 year old Toyota Corolla which I still have

That reminds me..

 

I guess my favourite would be the one I've kept longest...   My 1995 mk1 MX5 1.8is bought S/H in 1998.  I still love driving it and it's been 100% reliable bar a set of HT leads shortly after I got it, a clutch slave cylinder about 10 years ago and a sized rear caliper about 15 years ago.

The second and much missed Caterham.

1 hour ago, NeilMH said:

The second and much missed Caterham.

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Now you're making me jealous...   One day I'll have the time to build one. 

10 minutes ago, skomaz said:

 

Now you're making me jealous...   One day I'll have the time to build one. 

 I bought both of mine second hand after 10 years of thinking I'd find the time to build one. Started with a 2nd hand Westfield before that.

1 hour ago, NeilMH said:

 I bought both of mine second hand after 10 years of thinking I'd find the time to build one. Started with a 2nd hand Westfield before that.

Sounds about right...   Its been an itch I've yet to scratch for about a dozen years!  I remember when we bought the house we're in now 8 years ago looking for one with a double garage for that reason. 

 

I blame part of my need to have one at some stage in my life on a mate of mine who had a Westfield with a Mazda 13b rotary engine in it in the early 00s

10 hours ago, skomaz said:

Sounds about right...   Its been an itch I've yet to scratch for about a dozen years!  I remember when we bought the house we're in now 8 years ago looking for one with a double garage for that reason. 

 

I blame part of my need to have one at some stage in my life on a mate of mine who had a Westfield with a Mazda 13b rotary engine in it in the early 00s

My obsession started decades before when I read an article about a Lotus 7 with a twin cam lotus engine in it. For years I made regular trips to Caterham Cars when they were in their original building and tried to work out my budget. It turned out many years later that a close friend had a similar obsession - so a plan emerged that we would go halves on the purchase price and running costs - meeting early mornings at weekends for a quick blast and breakfast (or an event). Every 3 years or so we would swap for the next obsession - partying with maybe another £1500 each time having had 3 years of fun.

Edited 2 January, 20233 yr by NeilMH
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