OP
OP
I just knew someone would pick up on that!! Trust me, I wasn't allowed to even THINK about driving it, let alone get up to any funny business in the back!!
General Car History
- Thread starter TDMB
- Start date
Currently reading:
General Car History
OP
OP
That's awful! Poor bloke
Glad my Dad survived to tell another tale . . . probably because he had me out there helping him half the time!
That's awful! Poor bloke
Not sure if he ever figured out that a 6 ft man could lie across the rear seat - probably a better way to go.................
Probably found out that a 6 ft bloke could lie accross the back of a black estate
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2008
- Messages
- 4
- Points
- 0
Okay, okay. Here goes.....
1988 and in anticipation of passing my test (and my dad having pension rights in the local Ford dealership) I bought a brand new lilac Fiesta Festival 1.1 which to be fair was a lovely car. Then, after failing my first test and having to walk back to work all dejected I walked over the suspension bridge in Bedford and hurled the keys to it into the River Ouse.:bang: My parents were, how can I put it, slightly peeved at my manic teenage tendencies and were hugely relieved when I passed my second test a couple of weeks later (thanks to a cancellation).
Their relief was short lived however because within a week of passing my test I promptly drove down to Mill Hill in London and traded it in for a Vermillion Red MGB GT and £1500 cash-back which paid for my insurance! If they were a little peeved before they were bloody fuming now and I was seriously close to having to look for somewhere else to live!
As much as I loved that car (and I did as it got me into car shows, meets etc.) it would not have handled the daily commute to London after a promotion at work, and I didn't do trains. So I traded it in for possibly the bestest car ever made, a Daihatsu Charade GTti. How they ever made something so small go so fast is still a revelation to me now, nearly twenty years on. The best line was from my brother when I took him out for a spin saying "It's a shame they didn't think about putting disc brakes on it" while his fingernails were sinking deeper into the dashboard.
After a year, I simply could not afford the insurance any more so it had to go to be replaced by a Ford Capri 1.6 Laser. It was like going from a hot rod to a fishing rod. It was quite ironic when I woke one morning, went to go to work and opened the front door and it wasn't there, some thieving gits had nicked it and torched it with all my stuff in it. I was even more hacked off that they managed to get the bag of bolts to start, because it used to take me ten sodding minutes to get it to fire every morning!
With an imminent house purchase around the corner the insurance payout went towards a three piece suite, with £500 reserved for an old T Reg Mini (with no chassis plate, so the guy bought a blank, hammered some letters and numbers on it and handed it to me with a "there you go pal" and recommended a rivet gun) which I played with, cut the front off and replaced it with a fibreglass removable one, repainted in Marlboro red 'n white ala Ayrton of the early nineties and took it to Italy on 'The Italian Job' which is a charity event for Mini's. Bearing in mind that the thermostat went at Junction 10 of the M1 on the way we had an absolute, if rather chilly, riot.
After the mini came an X1/9, a proper modded Mini , a Sierra Ghia , a Metro City , an Audi Coupe (old Quattro shape) , an MX-5 , an XR3i , a Mondeo estate (for Staples 2 Naples), a Cobra Replica , a 206 GTi 180 , a Racing Puma , a BMW Z3 2.8 , a Freelander and finally a gorgeous Rover Sterling Coupe (which is going to the auction tomorrow).
Think that's it!
Oh, and my car claim to fame I think is pretty cool tho....
Remember when Schumacher had that accident at Silverstone and broke his legs, well his Fiat-supplied Maserati was abandoned at the circuit and poor little ol' me had to pick it up the next day and return it to it's rightful owners. I was hoping that there would be a load of nickable souvenirs in there (Alex Wurz had left a load of stuff in his car the previous year) but they must have cleared the bloody thing out because there was absolutely nothing at all in there, not even a bloody Ferrari pen!
1988 and in anticipation of passing my test (and my dad having pension rights in the local Ford dealership) I bought a brand new lilac Fiesta Festival 1.1 which to be fair was a lovely car.
Then, after failing my first test and having to walk back to work all dejected I walked over the suspension bridge in Bedford and hurled the keys to it into the River Ouse.:bang: My parents were, how can I put it, slightly peeved at my manic teenage tendencies and were hugely relieved when I passed my second test a couple of weeks later (thanks to a cancellation).Their relief was short lived however because within a week of passing my test I promptly drove down to Mill Hill in London and traded it in for a Vermillion Red MGB GT and £1500 cash-back which paid for my insurance!
If they were a little peeved before they were bloody fuming now and I was seriously close to having to look for somewhere else to live!As much as I loved that car (and I did as it got me into car shows, meets etc.) it would not have handled the daily commute to London after a promotion at work, and I didn't do trains. So I traded it in for possibly the bestest car ever made, a Daihatsu Charade GTti.
How they ever made something so small go so fast is still a revelation to me now, nearly twenty years on. The best line was from my brother when I took him out for a spin saying "It's a shame they didn't think about putting disc brakes on it" while his fingernails were sinking deeper into the dashboard. After a year, I simply could not afford the insurance any more so it had to go
to be replaced by a Ford Capri 1.6 Laser. It was like going from a hot rod to a fishing rod. It was quite ironic when I woke one morning, went to go to work and opened the front door and it wasn't there, some thieving gits had nicked it and torched it with all my stuff in it. I was even more hacked off that they managed to get the bag of bolts to start, because it used to take me ten sodding minutes to get it to fire every morning! With an imminent house purchase around the corner the insurance payout went towards a three piece suite, with £500 reserved for an old T Reg Mini (with no chassis plate, so the guy bought a blank, hammered some letters and numbers on it and handed it to me with a "there you go pal" and recommended a rivet gun) which I played with, cut the front off and replaced it with a fibreglass removable one, repainted in Marlboro red 'n white ala Ayrton of the early nineties and took it to Italy on 'The Italian Job' which is a charity event for Mini's. Bearing in mind that the thermostat went at Junction 10 of the M1 on the way we had an absolute, if rather chilly, riot.
After the mini came an X1/9
, a proper modded Mini , a Sierra Ghia , a Metro City , an Audi Coupe (old Quattro shape) , an MX-5 , an XR3i , a Mondeo estate (for Staples 2 Naples), a Cobra Replica , a 206 GTi 180 , a Racing Puma , a BMW Z3 2.8 , a Freelander and finally a gorgeous Rover Sterling Coupe (which is going to the auction tomorrow).Think that's it!
Oh, and my car claim to fame I think is pretty cool tho....
Remember when Schumacher had that accident at Silverstone and broke his legs, well his Fiat-supplied Maserati was abandoned at the circuit and poor little ol' me had to pick it up the next day and return it to it's rightful owners. I was hoping that there would be a load of nickable souvenirs in there (Alex Wurz had left a load of stuff in his car the previous year) but they must have cleared the bloody thing out because there was absolutely nothing at all in there, not even a bloody Ferrari pen!
Last edited:
OP
OP
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2008
- Messages
- 4
- Points
- 0
That's rich, coming from a girl who actually owned up to not only owning an All-agro estate, but a Marina Coupe too......
Bet she has dodgy dreams over the Morris Ital!
Bet she has dodgy dreams over the Morris Ital!
OP
OP
Last edited:
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2008
- Messages
- 4
- Points
- 0
Just where is the spare room????
Oi! I've got enough domestics to deal with.....
BTW the daihatsu charade gti was it a turbo? I had an 85 charade turbo and it was
doolahrock
Member
I was on that boat to NI in my Stilo on my way to film my best friends brothers wedding in Belfast. May I think. Saw a D and thought bloody hell! Then another 10-15 pulled up in the boat loading bay. Thought it was too much of a co-incidence
doolahrock
Member
Ok, I know my car history is very short but I think I may be the only FIAT exclusive person here
Unclechuchu
Member
Ok, I know my car history is very short but I think I may be the only FIAT exclusive person here
Me as well.
I can't imagine I'll ever own anything non-italian!barchetta_97
New member
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2007
- Messages
- 357
- Points
- 46
Me as well.
Add me to the list. only italians so far..
my parents have had italians over 40years, maybe that has something to do with it..
Last edited:
My dad's was impressive, did not learn to drive until his 30's and only ever owned a Morris Marina! - sadly passed away when I was younger so never managed to build up a portfolio of other equally dull cars!! I think he would have liked the b!
