Thread: Great Cars that you've owned

pawnhead,
mate,
Eeek, you did a good job of the poor old charger.

Have been looking for a pic, but I learnt to drive in a metallic gold and vinyl '77 Chrysler Valiant, (and used to drive a '78 till someone wrote me off )

A Fiat 500. There's nothing like a car that has a starter motor with more torque than the actual engine.

But I'm currently happy with a new-ish Subaru Impreza.

And if anyone wants to buy a Toyota Supra (late '86) cheap, let me know (drives well, engine rebuilt professionally 60,000k ago but probably needs new exhaust to get past rego).

show my age... first car '47 Ford coupe what Id give for that now.
few R10s
number of minis immagine Mini traveller van towing trailer with supercharged cooper show winner all in matching red candyapple paint.One of these was 2nd fastest road registered mini in NZ. Bought it from some dingbat who carried her kids around and didnt know what color carpet or upholstery was supposed to be cost $600. sold 3 yeears later $2.5k
Best car Fiat 1800 convert. European version not pansied Yank model BRIGHT yellow left hand drive. Best trip;through southern alps south Isl New Zealand, late winter midnight, hood down heater going full bore, body nice and warm top of head like an ice block but the exhust reverberating through those mountain passes Ahhh dreams

Best car I owned was a red 1972 Datsun 240z.

I bought the car in about 1993 and did a ground up restoration of it. It never was even close to concourse standard but the engine and suspension were better than new.

It had it's foibles the horrible brittle plastic trim springs to mind, but boy could it move, a 2.4 ltr straight 6 with dual carbs in a car that weighed practically nothing was very entertaining. it managed 60 mph in sub 6 seconds, not that quick by todays standards but blistering in 1972.

Can't imagine why I sold it really, but I think I fell in love with a landrover defender or something in 2000. Best thing about that car was you could literally hose it out.

Cheers


Dave

My first car was a Hillman Minx. It was the most
economical car on the road ... I pushed it everywhere.

Then I lashed out and bought two 1934 Vauxhall Velox
cars for a total of thirty quid. With assistance from a
mate we made one good car out of the two.
I drove up the bum of a truck making a turn in Sydney
Road Brunswick (he had no indicators and I had no
real brakes) and shattered his tailgate into pieces.

It was a week before we noticed just a chip of enamel
missing from the paintwork on the guard. They made
them tough in those days.

Allan

_____________________________________________

I am not at all worried about dying
... but just hope I am not there at the time.

I had multiple Renault 750's, Dauphines a Caravelle (horrible) and an R10. I went onto a Mk 2 Cortina and it was absolutely impossible to drive from Melbourne to Sydney, as I did often in those days, without the generator either falling off or simply seizing. A mate had the same car with an alternator and it did the same thing. The best car I ever had was a PI Triumph which I put a lot of money into and it could do obscene speeds even by todays standards, unfortunately someone T boned it and I now drive boring Japanese cars and a Statesman, but it sits in the yard mostly as it is only used to tow the kart trailer when we go away racing. The good part about Japanese cars is you don't have to work on them which is a plus. Reading through here it is amazing the number of us who drove Renaults.

Originally Posted by pawnhead

I drove a few R 10s way back when. Fun cars to get sideways with the rear engine helping out. A mate of mine was a Renault tragic, and had a Gordini that was in pieces more often than not. Legend of a car, but very temperamental maintenance wise.

Yep, they broke sungears, gearboxes, rocker arms and if that all worked they rolled and that is only what I can remember. No 1155 ever looked like that in Oz.

Originally Posted by Master Splinter

A Fiat 500. There's nothing like a car that has a starter motor with more torque than the actual engine.

Saw this on a dealers forecourt in Rennes (France). It seems they are making a new Fiat 500. looked really nice too.

Dave

Yamaha RZ250 2 stroke road bike, 82 model, power valves. Much more fun than any car and very unlikely to un-live anyone other than me

My first car was an 62 S model Valiant, had it for a few years and sold it to buy a 64 EH Holden sedan. Only being 19 and earning good money in a refinery and no girlfriend at the time I spent all my time and money on it. I had a friend next door who raced holden engined speedway cars and with his help we built a 192, with stage three head, Bert Jones cam, solid lifters , 350 Holley and lightened flywheel. I was still running the Holden three speed with a Speco floor shift (bloody horrible thing) it used to fly and not much could disgrace it moving away from the lights even against some warm V8s, but still having the drum brakes at the time was a bit hard to stop! I finally got round to putting a HR disk front end in it, and after finaly meeting a lady friend and told to change my ways I put a Celica 5 speed in it. Un fortunately someone else liked it too and decided to permanantly borrow it without asking me! I never saw it again. I bought a couple more EH's but it was never the same and I still had a nagging feeling they would go the same way as the first one so I sold it and found a car for my girlfriend a 65 VW Beetle, this started an affection for these little odditys that continues to this day, I just love em! This is my current and last car, I will never part with it. (although I would love to add a Porsche 356) I call her "Pige" (her colour is Pigeon Blue)
Rob...

2.0 GT Ford Capri was my first car in 1986. Couldn't corner but great in a straight line. Went through two engines due to a heavy right foot.

Onto a Golf MKIII 8v GTi 5 Door in deep red. Eventually died due to a cooling problem. Great car.

Mazda Xedos 6 with full leather and a lovely smooth 2.0 Mazda motor with a manual change. Failed its MOT (when I lived in the UK) but I still got £800 for her from a dealer.

SWMBO and 2 kids so onto a VW Sharan 1.9 TDI red badge. Why they dont sell the Sharan in OZ I don't know. In my opinion the best People Carrier on the market.

Need some 'quiet' time so I picked up a convertible TVRS3. 2.8 Ford Motor and a tuned exhaust. NICE. Like being in the bath when it rained though.

I now have a Scooby Forester MY06 Luxury model. Nice sensible car. Great around town and down at the beach. Fits the dog and the family with ease and very reliable. Got my eye on the XT model for next year or perhaps (if I'm a really good boy) a V8 'Cruiser!

71 Ford XY GT...that I spent $20,000 on a full restoration ....it thumped 410horsepower and continually spat out clutch plates until I took the centres out and welded a plate of stainless steel in........well someone liked it more than me and stole it ....even with the "then" state of the art cobra alarm fitted to it .....when the police finally found it 6 weeks later ...it was not even worth taking to the wreckers .....I cried for weeks ......the amount of labour and love that went into that car you cant buy .....so now I drive a Toyota Echo ....thieves dont have much interest in them .....

Know the feeling, you work your guts out to get the money to do all that stuff and some lazy scum lifts it. I still feel sick every time I think about mine.
Rob...

Hi All
It looks like there is plenty of petrol flumes with the sawdust......

Cars and wood, can we add wine as well then that is my 3 loves

but back to Cars

1st leant to dirve morris 1956 803 side valve a real power machine

then 1967 hillman super minx wagon first use more oil that petrol
about a quart every 100miles until new engine....

then came Vans

1976 corolla Panel Van ( got in a mag )
1976 Beford Van ( won a few prizes at shows )

then

1981 simga peter wherrett special bought 1982 sold 2002
6 point cage, mod engine, suspenion etc cruised at 88mph

now into the real power

1976 LJ50 suzuki 4 X 4 bought 1989 sold 1997
great little machine went to the simpson, round most of SA outback

1991 suzuki across nice 250cc bike until 1997

until trip to kangaroo island with trailer and other half ( she doesn't drive )
40 km max on the open road that was 1997

ungraded to 1997 suzuki sierra, outback, perth, queensland, etc
great little workhorse ( my daily drive today )

finally decided to buy a nice car for long trips
2001 statesman super V6 ... very nice for the over 50's
still only has 50,000km on the clock ( come out once a week )

well that my wheels over the years

cheers Don