My First Car (inspired by Tikay)

[outragous76]

I thought I would start this thread as I am sure that there will be some beauties

The great thing about first cars, is that they are usually terrible, but held in such high esteem by their owners.

Your first freedom, first nearmiss, for some their first crash and a sorry ending (for the car).

So here is mine (i don't have digital photos of it, so had to download an image)

Citroen Visa 1.7D

Oh yes, the much sough after diesel engine. Quite pokey at the top end with plenty or torque for motorway driving. I seem to remember it didn't go too well at the low end (no turbo), infact it drove like a van < 30mph.

The main highlight of the car was its suspension. It felt like something of a design after thought. The first 2 seconds of making a turn where taken up in the lolling of the suspension before any other type of movement took place. Preempting corners was a must. Something of a ride i can assure you.

However  - I <3 my Visa

[roscopiko]

600cc Citreon 2CV for me bought it for £100 in 1995 and sold it to a collector for £300 in 1998 lol.

Possibly the craziest cars in the world with the dashboard gear stick, seats that could all slide out completely, flapping windows that wouldnt lock, and a bonnet that had a tendancy to unlock itself mid journey and wrap itself around the windscreen.

All in a all a classic car.

[gatso]

from wikipedia

In 1996, Jeremy Clarkson (of Top Gear fame) declared the Nissan Sunny to be the "worst car in the world, ever" and destroyed one by flinging it from a trebuchet pulled by a tractor. In 2003, on Top Gear, presenter Richard Hammond also proclaimed the Sunny to be the worst car ever, and had a Sunny incinerated by the exhaust fumes of a rocket car. Their main motivation being the mediocre design and driving experience of the Sunny making it a car of "no character".

and tbh they were probably right. but it was a car and that was better than no car and infinitely better than one of my sisters who was driving a lada riva at the time

it got me to school, it got me to the pub and it managed to spin dramatically out of control across a busy road and nearly kill 3 of my best mates. somehow we all walked away from the spin without a scratch and have a great story that we still talk about today



while it may have given me freedom I wasn't sad to switch it for a mkII fiesta, the greatest car ever

[ACE2M]

What a peice of junk my vauxhall nova saloon was. The day after i bought it for £150 not including tax disc it blew all the spark plugs out of their sockets somehow (scared the sh1t out of me, seriously loud bangs), it never saw the road again, i got a refund out of the garage bloke but forgot the tax disc so it cost me £50 for about an hours driving.

(not a picture of my actual nova)

[byronkincaid]

Fiat 127, used to break down every week, usually seriously, rust everywhere including the roof that I filled in with bubblegum. wide wheels, bucket seats, sporty backbox and expensive stereo stuck into the dash with tape cos the hole was too big for it

[The Sweeney]

'The women loved me.  The men wanted to be me.'

[kinboshi]

Mine was a Daihatsu Mira.  All 550cc of it.  Felt as though it was made from tin, and it struggled with four people in the car.  Was cheap though and seemed to do thousands of miles on a single tank, but maybe it just felt like that.

Here's a cracking video of one (a little older than the one I had though, but just as beautiful):

[Somerled]

This was mine. Not the exact car but same year. Mine didn't have the extra funky headlights but was the same attractive colour. For the youngsters it's an Austin Maxi. Groundbreaking in it's day. Mostly however just broken.

[TheChipPrince]

This was mine. Not the exact car but same year. Mine didn't have the extra funky headlights but was the same attractive colour. For the youngsters it's an Austin Maxi. Groundbreaking in it's day. Mostly however just broken.

That car looks older than half the forum members!

[dik9]

This was mine. Not the exact car but same year. Mine didn't have the extra funky headlights but was the same attractive colour. For the youngsters it's an Austin Maxi. Groundbreaking in it's day. Mostly however just broken.

I had a Maxi for my second car, fantastic passion wagon lol seats folded down into a double bed ......... ah the memories.

Unfortunately my first car was a Talbot Samba and it took a while to get any street cred back.

[EvilPie]

Ford Escort 1.3 bonus.

This isn't the exact one but same colour and year.

[RED-DOG]

I didn't have a car until I had been driving for years, but my first motor was an ex gas boad single wheel Transit van. one of the really early ones (1968) It had had more hits than the beatles, you couldn't find a panel without half a dozen dents, but it had a 2ltr V4 engine and it went like shit of a shovel.



My bro Tracy and I bought a Morris 1000 van (ex GPO) as a passion waggon. Who ever pulled first got to use the van. we brush painted it bright yellow. The head gasket was gone and the coolant used to leak through into the exaust ports. at top speed (about 50mph) the cylinder head used to get so hot you could see it glowing in the dark, it used to melt the plug leads. One of the sides had rotted away from the sill at the bottom and used to flap up and down as we drove along. It looked like a giant wounded canary.

Click to see full-size image.

Transit twin wheel diesel, f reg. Clutch went, fitted new one. Next day, clutch went again. Fitted new one, and so on. After about 6 clutches, I found out that the input shaft was bent, so I replaced the clutch one last time and towed it to Leeds commercial vehicle auction where a milkman bought it. As he drove it away, the clutch went...






Bedford TK 7.5 tonne 16ft dropside. 330 full flow engine, 5 speed overdive box.





Bedford TK 6.5 tonne 14ft dropside tipper, 220 "Coffee Grinder" engine, 4 speed box. reg WNN337G.  No governors on engine, speed gradually increased intill you came to a hill, best effort, 92 mph with following wind on A1 nr Scotch Corner.

Click to see full-size image.

Transit twin wheel truck, V4 petrol. Ex hire firm, had more hits than the Beatles. Hated it. Engine stuck a leg out of bed as we topped Hagg hill in Sheffield. Pistons, liners, con rods etc all fell into sump. Fitted Re-con engine but forgot to fit oil gauge sender, spewed oil out and ruined replacement engine in process.




During this time I had a Mini 950 to which I fitted a 1300 engine and box. It did about 7mpg and would pass anything except a garage.

I also had an Escort van called WUG. It had so much back pressure that the cab used to fill with smoke. I drilled a hole in the oil filler cap, inserted a pipe and fed it through the bulkhead and out beneath the drivers door. It worked great until a policeman stopped me and came to my window for a chat. The fumes almost gassed him. He told me to feck off so I revved her up and left him looking like a black and white minstrel.

Click to see full-size image.

That takes us from about 1974 to 1976.

[Graham C]

Fiat 127, used to break down every week, usually seriously, rust everywhere including the roof that I filled in with bubblegum. wide wheels, bucket seats, sporty backbox and expensive stereo stuck into the dash with tape cos the hole was too big for it

I had one of these too as my first car, didn't break down much though and I used it loads.  Used to go to gigs all across the country when I was younger, and the fiat took us everywhere.   We even used to sleep in her, not very comfortable, but it did the job.

[Colchester Kev]

My first car was a Vauxhall Chevette hatchback... the one at the back of the pic.

The colour was the same as the green one at the front with brown seats LOL it looked like a chocolate lime on wheels.

[LeedsRhodesy]

I was 28 when I passed my test and had some money in the bank so thought I would buy a mini one as my 1st car, paid £9k for it and I know I was ripped of, anyway I called its my little go kart and I loved it but it lost its life on the m62 early one morning while it raining, I still miss the little chap plus I left my city shirt in the boot