What car do you wish you could have kept.

[Gra]

Shedland started a thread, that I hijacked tonight, and got me thinking I had better start my own thread, and the big question;

What car do you wish you had either kept, or were allowed to buy.

In my case it was my fathers MK 5 Jaguar. Tell us about the car that got away from you.

PS. the little kid standing next to the front wheel..... its me in 1970

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

All of them.

My ol' mans Mk IX Jag and his late 70's SS Mini Cooper would do for a start.

Then there was my '67 4-door pillarless hardtop conv. Parisienne, my '68 GTO, the '55 Mainline with blown 390ci, the '38 sloper, the...

[sigh] I'm depressing myself now. I wonder if any of my babies are still intact?

(So, I'm not in the Roller or Bugatti league... but I don't care! )

[Driver]

When we got married in 1973 I had two cars. One of them was a 1961 bog-standard Mini. I bought it from my Dad several years earlier and I had done a lot of repair work on it over time. It wasn't in great nick but it ran well enough.

My new wife didn't drive back then and we didn't need two cars. Furthermore, we were really short of cash. Although Bel tried to talk me out of it, I reluctantly sold the Mini to a bloke who gave me £40 for it. As I watched him drive away, I regretted selling that car and I have never shaken off that feeling of regret.

It was an ordinary car, right enough. Nothing noteworthy about it. Except that I had put a lot of time and effort into it and I had driven a lot of miles in it. It was mine and I hated parting with it. Since then I have owned and driven a great many different cars, some of which I have liked very much. But none of them have ever felt as special as that old Mini. Ah well.

Col

[Daddles]

My first MG probably. I've had three since.

That first was a Camino Gold (okay, baby poo brown), 1971 Aussie assembled job. Chrome bumpers, wire wheels and overdrive. British Leyland but before they started stuffing with the design so it was a genuine Mk2 with the Leyland badge. Had to sell her because I'd been unemployed for eight months (this was during Fraser's year's of enlightenment - thanks Johnny) and she'd just blown her second clutch in that time (the first at a hillclimb, the second because I was one of those proving that that new ballrace thrust bearings were a really stupid idea).

She was sold, at 5pm on a work day to the same sports car dealer that I bought her from. He gave me a fair price and I drove away in the cheapest car he had in the back lot - a purple CHARGER Dead set, I drove up Paramatta Road in peak hour traffic with tears pouring down my cheeks.

Since then, I've had ...

a Magnette which I failed to restore and get going again

a '74 MGBGT that I bought straight out of the container from America and converted to RHD. She came complete with no brakes (literally), suspension that had no bushings left and shockers that fell under their own weight, no interior to speak of, but a passable paint job and a completely unknown motor. As it turned out, the motor seemed to have been recently rebuilt and un-run since I learnt about how worn SU carbies can get on that car - a carby rebuild took the mileage from 8 mpg (I kid you not) to 30 mpg. A few years after I sold her, she wound up in a local car yard, grew a V8 motor and competed in the Classic Adelaide Rally.

and there's the Little Red Rollerskate, a '76 rubbernose. Steel wheels. No overdrive (how could the yanks imagine that was a good idea?). Soon after I bought her, I tossed the single downdraft webber and fitted a pair of SUs, then gave her a darned good caning ... so, of course, the motor let go. Actually, it didn't break as such, I just burnt off all the carbon which was all that was keeping it working - the mechanic, when he rebuilt her, said it was the most worn motor that actually worked that he'd ever worked on. The bearings were running on copper. There was no contact between valves and valve guides. She was pouring out smoke from every orifice, yet not a thing was broken, not a ring nor a valve spring. Just badly worn. She's now got a Stage One (MG motors specs) rally motor in her and grumbles quite happily at idle. She's been lowered to chrome bumber height so the handling has been restored. BUT, she's red and a bloody rubbernose with some oddball fibreglass dashboard in her. Talk about the poor relation as far as MGBs goes. It's funny, I need money now but not enough to sell her. If I did have to sell her, it'd be sad, but not a disaster as I'd really like one of those Mk2s again. But you watch, this'll be the car I die with

Richard
nuts, but you knew that

For piccies, go here

[Daddles]

I've owned three Minis - a red ex-PMG van that drove from Adelaide to Squidley more times than any other car I've owned, and two bog standard Clubmans. Lovely little boxes

Richard

[graemet]

The car I learnt to drive in - a 1948 Humber Hawk. Huge bullet shaped headlights sitting above the high arched mudguards, a 4 cylinder 2 litre motor that gave it a top speed of about 60mph but enough torque that it pulled itself, a box trailer, my clapped out A40 with a boat railer and VJ behind up Bumble hill near Wyong before the Newcastle expressway was built. Thems were the days - the constabulary would have a fit if we tried it now!

[Honorary Bloke]

Several, really. A '56 Chevy that I bought (well-used but not used well) whilst in the Air Force. Blew the engine driving home for my (first) wedding. Ta ta.

A 1967 Renault Caravelle. Poor man's sports car. Removable hard top. Actually had a hand crank fitted in case the battery turned belly up.

More recently, my '89 BMW 525. Got itchy and swopped it for an X5 and regretted it since.

There were some others, as well. A '61 Ford Falcon remembered most for what occured whilst I owned it than for itself ( ).

Old memories--good thread.

[joe greiner]

1953 Studebaker. First car (I think) designed by Raymond Loewy, noted industrial designer. Bought used around 1962 for US$150. Never got around to customizing (body work, Cadillac engine, etc.) owing to distractions of education, work, wimmin, and such. Gave it to my lil brudder, but eventually wound up squished by the breakers while I was in the Army.

Currently, my 1976 Datsun 280Z is awaiting serious attention. Still buy tags each year (just in case I get a round tuit), but haven't driven it for several years.

Joe

[Clinton1]

My first car, an 1985 Toyota Corona CSI.... 4 cylinder 2.4 lt, EFI, 5 speed gearbox, independant rear suspension, all round disc brakes. I still regret that I sent it to the wreckers when I moved house.
Drove it for 8 years and learnt how to maintain it from a Gregory's. Reliable bugger and it proved the intercooler theory as you could tell the difference in the engine when you drove not a cold front! It was run down when I got it, but ....

[abitfishy]

Funny how everyone seems to regret selling fancier cars, but I regret getting rid of my 1978 Datsun 200B 11 years ago when I was 21 to buy a more modern 94 Holden Crapadore. Should have kept the Datsun - it was in great nic, genuine 1 elderly owner, spotless interior, auto/air/steer. But like most young people, I wanted something faster and newer, but you can't beat the traditional I reckon. Although the 200B's were called the 180B's with 20 more mistakes, it was a fantastic car and never let me down.

[tameriska]

I still have my first car, a 1970 Triumph 2000Mk2, but the car that I would have loved to have kept belonged to my father, a 1964 Vauxhaul Cresta.
I can only remember seeing it when I was a young kid, it had been sitting out on a mate's farm for years, it had front end damage, Dad had been trowelling off concrete and left it parked out the front, and some *#$@*&%%@ ran into it .
From what Dad told me, it came out with disk brakes, REAL leather seats (unlike my Triumph), and the speedo apparently uset to light up from green, to orange, to red with the speed limits.

[journeyman Mick]

I'm afraid that mine aren't in the same league. My second car, which was mostly my first car which was smashed when I rolled it three times after being run into by a drunk driver. It was a '70 Mazda 1800, body by Bertone, I rebuilt it and then put in a 3/4 race cam and twin webers which didn't actually fit under the bonnet so there was a largish hole in the bonnet with an air filter sticking out, until I covered it with an aluminium baking tray. In a fit of fun I hand painted it black one weekend and covered it with triangles of different sizes and colours (mostly red, green and yellow) It looked a scream but actually went seriously fast as besides the cam and carbies I'd done a complete rebuild of the engine and balanced and blueprinted it. I blew the doors off quite a few of the local lads in their 6 cylinder toranas.

Then not too long ago there was my 4wd Hilux with the V8, went like the clappers and I would regularly overtake people whilst going up the Kuranda range with a fully loaded tool trailer behind me. The fuel bill was crippling though, $500 a month when running on LPG versus about $150 a month for teh 4 cylinder diesel 4wd that replaced it.

I also put a warmed over falcon 4.1 motor in the wife's volvo. Was a really cofortable and well handling car when I was finished with it and went pretty well too as well as actually using less fuel than when it was a 4 cylinder.

But mostly I think I miss the Mazda, it had character in spades.

Mick

[martrix]

I am going to sell my baby in the next few months (only way I can get a deposit for a house ) and I know I will regret it.
Its a 1964 SS Impala hardtop coupe. No mufflers, just "Hot Dog" resonators Rebuilt mild 327 chevy with a lumpy cam and a 650 Holley double pumper and a turbo 350 auto.
Burbles along fairly quietly, but when you give it some curry..... it sings with the best Harley's .
Had some good road trips in it ..

[Daddles]

Now, what's that old song?
(to the tune of 'The Road to Gundagai' )

** cough cough**

There's an old fashioned Ford,
made of rubber tin and board,
along the road to Gundagai.

Well the radiator's hissing,
and half the engine's missing,
the oil tank's running dry,

There's water in the petrol,
and sand in the gears,
she hasn't seen a garage in more than forty years,

But oh hear her roar,
when the pedal hits the floor,
along the road to, Gundagai.



Richard

[DJ’s Timber]

Nice car Martrix, I have actually seen her on the road