School Car - Which Car Did You Learn To Drive In?

[ruston]

Lol. I had a 63 Cresta 3 speed six cylinder with the full bench seat.
Flying machine in it's day. Pass anything but a filling station.

 

[R G]

My father in law had a vauxhall ventura , that had a 3 litre straight six engine , and it was fast but drank fuel like no other , other car I had which I really liked was the Triumph Mk 2 , the 2 litre one, I would have liked the 2.5PI , oh and a 1600 Corsair as well , all those old cars seem to rust well though...

I spent more time trying to treat and control rust than driving them though , especially as they were quite old when I got them ..

 

[Rpa07]

Makes you appreciate modern cars, bikes and vans. Less or no rust, efficient and clean engines and gadgets - saying that, I did see a bright red Mk1 escort today and had a little tingle!

 

[Rpa07]

Except for the Mercedes vito vans for rust - what's that all about?

 

[ruston]

Makes you appreciate modern cars, bikes and vans. Less or no rust, efficient and clean engines and gadgets - saying that, I did see a bright red Mk1 escort today and had a little tingle!

It's not the rust that put's them in the scrapyard now. It's because the become beyond economic repair when their sophisticated electronics are a fortune to replace.
Some of the higher marques ; if all the air bags are deployed in an accident , coupled with the damage makes most of them beyond economic repair.
In the day , most could look after their own car, a trained mechanic is unlikely to get home now if he/she were to break down. But yes the are on the whole more reliable and nicer to drive.

The rust with the Mercs, could they be made out of old Transits ?
There is always a cost.

 

[Rpa07]

You're always assured parts available on flea bay because of this reason alone - we truly are a throw away society but also a buy second hand and fix it ourself society - I'm definitely in that last catagory but saying that because of what we do as a trade, we probably all are.
My first car was the family Hillman imp, turquoise in colour. I knew every inch of that car. Stupidly scrapped it when it had such a bad oil leak that it came out faster than I could put it in - I strapped a baking tray underneath strained it and put the oil back in. The centre told me it wasn't worth repairing and then I found a white Peugeot 205 diesel and the rest was history - modern car took its place!

 

[ruston]

I liked the Hillman Imp. One of the ,I think, only car in it's day that you needed a micrometer to do the tappets. They were great in the snow too.
I still have an old 405 estate, it's been tucked away for a few years now , but one day...
I have a VW Sharan , I know there is an engine in there somewhere , one day I will find it , the next I might even be able to get at it.

 

[Rpa07]

It's like the unknown in a modern engine bay but so so pretty! Trouble is a man cannot open the bonnet and just look at the engine any more - it's like being castrated if you get the context!

 

[ruston]

Slave cylinders IN the clutch , Lovely. Dual mass lovely , £800 average for the kit. Unless as you say , Ebay,
Technology costs lol.

 

[Rpa07]

Sometimes you get a keeper and sometimes it's a lemon - 'you pays your money, you takes your chance' - always buy the extended warranty!

 

[ruston]

That' right, luck of the draw.

 

[telectrix]

Hi Ray, I once owned a Ford Zephyr mk11 low line. 3 speed bench seat.

i had a MkII zodiac. straight 6 2.9L.

 

[R G]

I did have a hillman imp after the minx , It had an ally engine , 875cc , and had rubber axle drive couplers , which I had to replace once , economical and fun to drive ,

The breakers yards were my second home when I had some of those old cars back in the 70s , you don't see many of those around anymore ....

 

[Rpa07]

I spent my time at the breaker yards and those were the days when you could go around the yard between all the cars - that was fun, used to take the bits off yourself and go to the counter for pricing up, boy those were the days - happy memories although trawling through eBay , finding, ordering and it being on your door step in two days makes up for it a little - ok, a lot!

 

[Dan]

We still have a scrap yard that you can walk around and take your own bits off.

 

[Rpa07]

Ooh, were do you live - I may holiday there! I'd be just walking around taking bits off and not needing them. I wonder if they do a risk assessment every hour of everyday - although the types of people going for bits are probably not the stupid types like the general public - no offence to the general public!

 

[R G]

Ooh, were do you live - I may holiday there! I'd be just walking around taking bits off and not needing them. I wonder if they do a risk assessment every hour of everyday - although the types of people going for bits are probably not the stupid types like the general public - no offence to the general public!

They wouldn't let you walk in and clamber over the cars these days , I used to climb 3 or 4 cars high to get the parts sometimes, there was one time a yard called chamberlains that I couldn't find the guy so i went in and started looking around to see if they had the right car , and got chased by a pack of alsatians and managed to jump into a car quick ....

 

[westward10]

Datsun Cherry for me as well.

Me too.

 

[Rpa07]

They wouldn't let you walk in and clamber over the cars these days , I used to climb 3 or 4 cars high to get the parts sometimes, there was one time a yard called chamberlains that I couldn't find the guy so i went in and started looking around to see if they had the right car , and got chased by a pack of alsatians and managed to jump into a car quick ....

Sounds like a scene from a movie - were you faster than the dogs? Love to see that on YouTube

 

[R G]

Sounds like a scene from a movie - were you faster than the dogs? Love to see that on YouTube

I was cursing my father in law
It was for parts for his car
Luckily I can afford new vehicles nowadays but I suppose when we're young and just past our Erving test we have to live with old bangers and resort to those ways