Owned a classic when it wasn't.

[GORDON STREETER]

Looking back at the vehicles my old man (RIP) had in his time would (if he had kept them) be worth a few bob !
Pre war he had an assortment of English Motorbikes that have shot up to ridiculous levels over the years, as for cars he had a Fordson E04C van a couple of E93A prefects then a Ford V8 Pilot "Woody" a 1959 Mini/ MK 1 Escort and finishing up with another "proper" Mini when he stopped driving in 1992. However in their day they were all "cheapo" runabouts that were just scrapped for next to nothing, Also I remember one of the E93As had a number plate NKP 1 that we took to the car breakers !

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by LDM

Now that is a classic - it tells you something when you can describe the 105e as "modern"!

In it's day it was the car to have, good performance/MPG compared with what was on the market, and of course the engine went on to be the engine to tune in different CCs and is still in demand 55 years later !

[LDM]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

When we were building our first rally car we had a Mk2 Escort Mexico shell that was a bit rotten - so we stripped it and scrapped it and used another shell. A few years later when we built the second Escort the shell we started with was far worse than the Mexico had been. If only we'd kept it as a spare!

You only have to look at the price that people are prepared to pay for any 2 door (mk1 or mk2) shell these days.

even some of the exotics were little more than throw away cars at times.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by LDM

You only have to look at the price that people are prepared to pay for any 2 door (mk1 or mk2) shell these days.

Yep - we were lucky to get our current shell cheap (the owner thought it was beyond repair). We also have a spare shell tucked away that we picked up for sensible money too - in a lovely shade of green with a black vinyl roof

[Tim Falce]

Here's my 3.0 S Capri I owned around 1978

[LDM]

Originally Posted by Tim Falce

Here's my 3.0 S Capri I owned around 1978

A very nice looking car!

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Tim Falce

Here's my 3.0 S Capri I owned around 1978

hardly any parked cars Tim ... had you driven all the neighbours away with your supercar purchase?

I sometimes had to drive a 3.0 S Auto - notably not as exciting as the earlier Mk1 3000Es.

Sitting at some lights on a rural dual carriageway one day next to a Spridget I thought I would show him what acceleration was about. Of course he blew me away ... very embarrassing.

The 3000Es were a different game. Rather raw in many ways. Grip was, for the day, astonishing in the dry and non-existent in the wet at the back. Any thought of perhaps touching the accelerator would have the back sideways. The other interesting feature was the braking system. From speed the brakes were pretty good ... for about half the amount of time you needed them to be very good.

Fun times.

[Tim Falce]

Yeah, the Mk1 3000 was a totally different car driving wise for some reason, my brother had a Mk1 1600GT, they came with tubular headers as standard and boy that was fast, probably every bit as fast and a lot more nimble than the 3 ltr more than likely due to not carrying all the weight of the Essex lump up front.

As for the cars, occasionally it's the same nowadays although most of the time you can't move down the road but that may have been at the weekend or on a day when parking was the other side of the road, we used to have alternate day parking until our council cottoned on to the permit scam.

[garcon]

I desperately wanted a 3.0S Capri in 1978.

But I was only ten.

[BudLightJaguar]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Foot pump. Had a '72 GTXLR.

This is the first time I actually hear about the foot pump. I had a '70 1600L in 2003-2005 and it had a diy-pushbutton on the dash. Nice car anyway, but mine wasn't in such a great shape. It looked nice if you were standing a few meters away, but closer look revealed that primer/filler part wasn't done properly before respraying the car.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by BudLightJaguar

This is the first time I actually hear about the foot pump. I had a '70 1600L in 2003-2005 and it had a diy-pushbutton on the dash. Nice car anyway, but mine wasn't in such a great shape. It looked nice if you were standing a few meters away, but closer look revealed that primer/filler part wasn't done properly before respraying the car.

Yes! The good old Ford foot operates screenwashers. A bulb on the floor next to the clutch pedal. Some had a metal ring switch around them that if you pressed that too, it operated the wipers as well. The first wash/wipe!

[Paulaweybridge]

I bought my 1990 Rover Metro Gti 16v spi in 1992 when she wasn't a classic.

She is now and is 25 years old ...

http://www.metroownersclub.org/forum...p?f=48&t=11543

[Nial McCabe]

I had a Mk2 Cortina here in the US (below). I'm sure it had electric washers (but I've seen the foot pump type in something....can't recall what). That Cortina was a nice car that become too rusted too quickly. I should have put the 1600 + gearbox from it in one of my Spridgets.....that's a great swap.


Later, I raced this Cortina Mk 2 seen here at Lime Rock. (below)


My first "classic" was merely an old car I bought for $20....an Austin A40 (below)


Some others included an early, blue Datsun pickup, rear wheel drive Toyota Corolla wagon and "mid-engine" Dodge van. (below)


I owned both of these (TR3 + MGA) when I was a teenager. Just keeping them both running kept me out of trouble....there was no time for anything else. (below)


This Corvair was supposed to be a "repectable, grown-up car" I drove to college. I took it rallying and killed the engine. (below)




As a 19 year old with a 2 year old Sprite. (below)


There were lots of other "classics". I just didn't realize they were classic at the time.....