Yeti owner's previous 'cars with character'

[Prezafab]

Most of us love the Yeti and also think it has some 'character'.

 

Which cars have you owned in the past do you also think had something about them ? 

I'm going to nominate 3 that weren't particularly great on paper but I remember them fondly.

 

1. Toyota Tercel 4wd estate. (Slow but totally dependable in all weathers including deep snow)

2. Chrysler Crossfire (Slated at the time, but great sounding, fun to drive and now a cheap bargain).

3. Subaru Legacy Turbo (Wolf in sheep's clothing Q-car with flat four burble)

 

How about you ?

 

Edited 16 January by Prezafab

[Carlodiesel]

Volvo 740

Riley 1.5

MG Magnet

Done loads of miles in those cars with no problems.

I did like my Bond too. No reverse gear, drove it on a motorcycle licence. Wish I still had it.

Those were the days.

Edited 16 January by Carlodiesel

[Stubod]

..I had an Allegro ????

.

.

.

...I'll see myself out....

 

[Frenchtone]

Singer Chamois (Imp) with a Paul Emery front end suspension upgrade and half a hundred weight of sand in the front bonnet boot, a great drive, like **** to a blanket!

[Servicepoint3]

Well I’m now on my second Yeti so I’m going to include my first one. In order.

 

Mercedes W123 230ce

Subaru Impreza RB5

Skoda Yeti 170 Elegance 

 

 

[gumdrop]

I liked my 1.6 turbo diesel Fiesta Ghia and the other very quick Fiestas, The Ford Focus 2L diesel,

my two Deux Chevaux, Clubmen, fitted with front air dams, my two Yeti which I adored 

the Fabia 1L Monte Carlo estate, and my current Kamiq Monte Carlo 

[Prezafab]

Some interesting cars ! 

 

What do you think gives them character?

 

I think it's sometimes the sound they make (not the Yeti!) and how connected you feel to what they do on the road - there's a predictability and trust, almost.

Edited 16 January by Prezafab

[Expatman]

Morris Minor convertible - Ah driving with wind in my hair (had some then) King of the road!!

Triumph Herald convertible - I was so cool man ...😎

[Warrior193]

16 hours ago, Stubod said:

..I had an Allegro ????

.

.

.

...I'll see myself out....

 

Well, the question was 'character' - didn't specify whether good or bad 🤣 

[J.R.]

My sister had one of those (Herald convertible), a complete shed with the soft top in tatters with opaque yellowed split windows but drop the hood on a sunny day and it felt like the coolest car in the world.

 

When my Honda SS50 mopeds engine siezed we carried wedged into the tiny space behind the front seats intended for small children, well part of it, the rest was hanging outside!

[J.R.]

There used to be a really tatty Allegro parked outside my hôtel back in the days when the Airbus employees would park on the pavements, probably 2007/8, it was just cheap transport to the owner who knew nothing of its reputation, I photocopied and enlarged a Viz comic Sid the Sexist cartoon where the storyline revolved around his Allegro and put it on his windscreen, he thought it was hilarious.

[J.R.]

Hard to believe that they managed to export LHD examples of Allegros but I guess when the competition was Renault, Citroen, Peugeot etc anything would have sold.

[skomaz]

We had an Allegro and its predecessors the Austin 1100 and 1300s - they rusted faster than we could repair them but they never let us down and were great in the snow / bad weather.

 

I know they had a bad reputation but our experience was somewhat different.

Edited 17 January by skomaz

[Prezafab]

I saw a TV programme last night where it had a crime reconstruction.

 

They kept talking about a brown Rover , but the car they used was a Morris Ital.

Now that was a terrible car - but it did have character...?

[skomaz]

6 hours ago, Prezafab said:

I saw a TV programme last night where it had a crime reconstruction.

 

They kept talking about a brown Rover , but the car they used was a Morris Ital.

Now that was a terrible car - but it did have character...?

 

We had a Morris Marina too (predecessor to the Ital) - now that WAS crap!

 

That was in addition to a succession of Ford Cortina's - one of which regularly needed the spark plugs drying out on the kitchen hob after it failed to start due to the variable venturi carburettor flooding the engine... 

[Expatman]

4 hours ago, skomaz said:

 

We had a Morris Marina too (predecessor to the Ital) - now that WAS crap!

 

That was in addition to a succession of Ford Cortina's - one of which regularly needed the spark plugs drying out on the kitchen hob after it failed to start due to the variable venturi carburettor flooding the engine... 

The Morris Marina was a terrible car. I still have shivers thinking about it and the gamble everytime we went out as to whether we would get back. Probably the most cynical car hoisted on the public by the dying English motor trade.

[Prezafab]

I remember having a lift in a 3 door Marina, which I'm sure was called a coupe.

There's marketing for you!

[daviemck2006]

On 16/01/2024 at 18:18, Stubod said:

..I had an Allegro ????

.

.

.

...I'll see myself out....

 

My first car was an allegro, a basic 1.1. If you call breakdowns, rust and more rust characterful then count it. Followed bt 2 x vauxhall astra mk1, a 1.3gl then a 1.6sr. Loved them.

[J.R.]

I bought a 3 year old Marina Coupe at auction, it would have been around 1979, it was a very modern looking car for very little money - £280 which was my aim, turned out that it drank as much oil as petrol it was great for laying smoke bombs though once I had perfected the art!

 

Sold it for £600 after having resprayed it, it was definitely not a memorable vehicle but was at a memorable time of my life though.

 

I dont know how you can say it was not worthy of the moniker "Coupé" though, it was as much of a coupé as anything since, 2 doors a sloping back and no hatchback same as the MK1 Capri just nowhere near as well executed.

[gumdrop]

Other cars were, a Hillman Hunter that I fitted with electronic ignition. It was at that stage in its life where everything was frictionless

and it went like sh1te off a shovel (R/H Handbrake, why?) A couple of Avenger 'coupes' one of which turned into a sail car as the

breeze caught the two big open doors. The other had a petrol tank that started to leak at the seam (that was halfway up the tank)

after we got into the wilds of Wales. We finished the trip with three oil cans filled with petrol in the boot that were replenished

as the tank ran dry and was refilled.

[Prezafab]

On 17/01/2024 at 11:25, J.R. said:

Hard to believe that they managed to export LHD examples of Allegros but I guess when the competition was Renault, Citroen, Peugeot etc anything would have sold.

 

13 hours ago, Expatman said:

The Morris Marina was a terrible car. I still have shivers thinking about it and the gamble everytime we went out as to whether we would get back. Probably the most cynical car hoisted on the public by the dying English motor trade.

 

58 minutes ago, J.R. said:

I bought a 3 year old Marina Coupe at auction, it would have been around 1979, it was a very modern looking car for very little money - £280 which was my aim, turned out that it drank as much oil as petrol it was great for laying smoke bombs though once I had perfected the art!

 

Sold it for £600 after having resprayed it, it was definitely not a memorable vehicle but was at a memorable time of my life though.

 

I dont know how you can say it was not worthy of the moniker "Coupé" though, it was as much of a coupé as anything since, 2 doors a sloping back and no hatchback same as the MK1 Capri just nowhere near as well executed.

Only in the same way that I wouldn't have called a 2 door Chevette or Avenger a coupe !

I would have called the Crossfire a coupe, but the Celicas you could argue were hatch or liftbacks?

[Prezafab]

Only in the same way that I wouldn't have called a 2 door Chevette or Avenger a coupe !

I would have called the Crossfire a coupe, but the Celicas you could argue were hatch or liftbacks?

[J.R.]

But there was a 4 door Chevette which shared the same back end so arguably they were both coupés or both saloons according to your viewpoint.

 

The Marina Coupé had a different sloping back end, a very different style to the 4 door, what would it have needed to have to conform to your definition of coupé? Maybe a shorter wheelbase and either no rear seats or only small ones for children.

 

TBH the meaning has been corrupted from the original carosse coupé  which meant a cut down horse drawn carriage without the rear facing seats.

 

I think nowadays its a styling description and for me the Ford Capri defines coupé, other manufacturers call them fastback.

 

I cannot picture a Crossfire so will have to look. OK have seen it now, like an Audi T(osser) T(ransporter), I would define those as 2 door coupes, the Marina Coupé was a visual insult by comparison!

[Carlodiesel]

Here's a picture of a coupe with a tow bar fitted on the wrong end of the car.

 

 

[daviemck2006]

The 2 door marina would have looked better if the doors were about 6 inches longer.