Owned a classic when it wasn't.

[Pure Fiater]

My 1973 3ltr GXL pictue taken in1980 Who can tell me how the windscreen washer worked

[Peter Mallett]

Foot pump. Had a '72 GTXLR. Loved it. Sorted the dampers and ran it on Pirelli Cints. Great car.

I recall a trip to Lydden from London, raced a Mk2 Jag all the way.

[Aysedasi]

I had a foot pump on my old Cortina. Never understood why they weren't used more.....

[Pure Fiater]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Foot pump. Had a '72 GTXLR. Loved it. Sorted the dampers and ran it on Pirelli Cints. Great car.

I recall a trip to Lydden from London, raced a Mk2 Jag all the way.

Got a picture ? I went to Calpe in Spain and it got us back (1981). Took it on the Musslane straight at Le mans on the way. Renault 5 Gordina Turbo was the race of choice.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by Pure Fiater

Got a picture ?

Sadly no. It was white though. Owned it 1980 to 82.

[John Turner]

Never had one but did own a few of the plastic bodied versions - Scimitar Coupe and Scimitar GTE. Probably upset aficionados of both Capri and Scimitar now!

Not forgetting the Gilbern versions either!

[Peter Mallett]

The Scimitar GTE was a great car but having a separate chassis, the dynamics weren't as good. The Capri just did what it said on the tin.

No pics of mine sadly.

[Pure Fiater]

Here's my 1969 Scimitar GT 3ltr V6 just after a body off rebuild. Picture taken 1989. I also had a 1966 2.5ltr straight 6 Scimitar GT sadly no pictures of that but it did have 10" wide wheels all round which caused the front King Pins to break because of to much grip..

[Dave Brand]

Originally Posted by Pure Fiater

My 1973 3ltr GXL pictue taken in1980 Who can tell me how the windscreen washer worked

Did it have a foot-operated wiper switch as well as foot-operated washers?

My Escort Mexico had a metal ring around the washer bulb which operated the wipers. Just tapping the ring would give one sweep of the wipers, very useful as the car had no flick wipe facility, just the switch on the dash.

I gave one of my colleagues a lift to work on a dampish day; he was totally baffled by the random operation of the wipers with no apparent input from me. . . I think he almost believed my "telepathy" explanation for a few brief seconds!

Now I can do the same job without touching anything - not telepathy, electronics!

[MartinSmith]

Originally Posted by John Turner

Never had one but did own a few of the plastic bodied versions - Scimitar Coupe and Scimitar GTE. Probably upset aficionados of both Capri and Scimitar now!

Not forgetting the Gilbern versions either!

I always wanted a Scimitar Coupe (as per pic by Pure)......but then again, as we both know....there were always a few round where I lived (wonder how ole NNG is nowadays)

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by Dave Brand

Did it have a foot-operated wiper switch as well as foot-operated washers?

Yup it was a steel ring encompassing the rubber tit.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Yup it was a steel ring encompassing the rubber tit.

Much better than the clutch for a rapid gear change too ... noisy though.

Owned a '73 Mexico from '76 for about a year. Sadly changed jobs not long after I got it, lumbered with a company car and nowhere nearby to keep the Mex. Couldn't justify keeping on the tax and insurance so sold it about a year after I bought it.

I think the chap that bought it had in mind prepping it for Road Rallying.

The company car I took on was a leggy (fot its day) MkIII Cortina. Quite an interesting comparison to drive it back to back with the Mex. Some might say that would be a classic these days ... but I doubt it. Not many left? The rust on the body was dreadful and that was on the top surfaces!

Full independent suspension though. By which I mean it seemed to be independent from the body.

[LDM]

Never had a Mk1 or a Scimitar, although I always liked both. My first car was a Mk2 Capri (the unloved one) which I still have to this day.

[Tim Falce]

Every car I've owned before the late eighties is now a classic, as for washers, my Jeep didn't have any and the wipers were hand operated.

[GORDON STREETER]

I may have told this before. In the 70s a bloke that lived near me had a Lotus Cortina that he idolized and was forever polishing it but hardly ever drove it.
One day someone nicked it and crashed it in a hedgerow, it was an easy repair (front wing and NS door) however the owner was heartbroken and stuck it in a lockup for about a year up the back of the council estate where I lived at the time.
I forgot about it until he approached me asking if I wanted it, I had loads of Escorts/Cortina's kicking about and wasn't realy interested but said ok and gave him less than £100 for it as he wanted it out of the way.
It sat down the side of the garage for ages and one day George Polley phoned me up and said had I got a running twincam for sale as he wanted to fit it in an Escort for stage rallies, so I flogged him the engine and as the car was now a non runner and taking up room I scrapped it !!!!
Hindsight

[MartinSmith]

When I think of cars from that period in my life....they are (as said before) all classics

My sister had a Mk 1 Escort 13 GT....my father owned a garage, bought it for her (it had been damaged) and rebuilt it for her (just a couple of wings that needed putting on) and painted it etc......it was beautiful, red with a vinyl roof...she loved it (I have a physical picture ...I will try and upload)

It was stolen from her driveway one night...they took it to Purfleet from Aveley and the police believed it was used to get home ....they set light to it and burnt it (the police said it was to get rid of finger prints).....she was heartbroken, so was I...but at the time, escorts were two to a penny.....

on the subject of wipers....my other sisters first car was a Ford Prefect ....now it had indicators that you turned on from the centre of the steering wheel...and the wipers were driven by......AIR!!!!

[grantp]

Originally Posted by ClaireSmith

When I think of cars from that period in my life....they are (as said before) all classics

My sister had a Mk 1 Escort 13 GT....

I think that probably means we are all classics Claire!

I had a Mk1 GT as well. Two tone - Blue Mink and grey undercoat. Sold it to buy the Mexico. I was amazed to see it on the local roads about 10 years later still looking much the same.

Most of my learner driving was in a Mk1 Cortina GT.

First "car" was a mini van. Ex AA though, so with the rear numberplate on the roof. Surely a classic now?

Riley Elf? Jag metallic grey, leather, full Webasto sun roof, twin tanks and lowered. Classic or not?

The Mexico would have been the one to keep though.

Does my Saab qualify as a future classic?

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by ClaireSmith

.....

on the subject of wipers....my other sisters first car was a Ford Prefect ....now it had indicators that you turned on from the centre of the steering wheel...and the wipers were driven by......AIR!!!!

I have a 107e Prefect in original condition complete with the "vacuum" wipers and they work fine as long as you are going down hill !
Fords used this on just about all their models up to the 60s then went all "modern" with the 105E Anglia

[GORDON STREETER]

And here it is !

[LDM]

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

[VIVA GT]

That looks nice Gordon, I'm loving the period fog (amber lens) and spot (clear lens) lamps.
Sadly, I suppose I'm at the age where most of my early cars would now be considered as classics:
Standard 10
Ford Corsair 1500 straight 4 (not V4)
123E Anglia Estate (1200cc, was supposed to get the Corsair engine fitted into it, but it never happened!)
1968 HB Viva 1159
1968 HB Viva GT
1974 Droopsnoot Firenza
MK II Astra GTE with the digital dashboard
(Yes, OK, I was a bit of a Vauxhall man in those days!)

[wolfhound]

I am wondering what of the current crop of ten year old cars are likely to become classics in 20 years time, to me there is nothing that stands out compared with 20 years ago with the likes of the Golf and 205 Gti's.

For me a future classic are had to be well liked in its prime and was a car a lot of people aspired to own. However they quite often become very affordable at between 10 and 15 years old when to car to have is something else.

[Tim Falce]

My beloved Corsa turns 20 this August, I've had it since it was 3. I was thinking of scrapping it but it's such a good little car I'm now considering repairing the damaged and wonkey front again and getting it resprayed and keeping it.

[MartinSmith]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

And here it is !

Thats the same colour that she had!!!!

[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!