APOLLO Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 Well, 1970's Leyland cars !!! What can I say I learned to drive in my Dad's 1961 3.8 Litre 6 Cyl Daimler Majestic back in 1970 - What a great car. He gave it to me when he retired. "Big D" was it's nickname. However in 1974 I needed a car for work, so sold (gave away) the Daimler (no classic cars back then) for a 1973 1.8 Marina - what a comedown !!. However the Marina wasn't so bad, roadholding excepted, traded it in late 75 (and got the same price I paid for it) for a brand new 1800HL Princess. Now THAT was a good car, did over 90000 miles in 7 years. Reynard (copper) metallic paint, vinyl roof, however no power steering though I was young daft & strong back then. Not a lot went wrong with it, though it got a bit moth eaten towards the end. I had a great car change in 1982, sold the Princess for £600 along with my old 1970 VW 1303S Beetle for £600, bought the Rover which I still have for £600, and got a brand new Ford Capri 1600 Cabaret for work. Remember getting the Capri home, putting her in the garage and the aerial caught the suspended lawnmower which fell onto the roof, badly scratching it. No problem, again I was thinking of a black vinyl roof - the decision was made for me !! Those were the days - I dare not sell the Rover, (she is still a cracker - always garaged) - and I wish I had a Princess & Capri again - Grand cars but different. I could rant on about the two unreliable and bl**dy expensive to repair Audi's I have had, plus some other foreign shyte, but I wont. However the 5 years before I retired I had a selection of Peugot 405's and Citroen Xzantia, Synergy & Piccaso, all company cars, was I lucky or what, nowt went wrong with any of them, all nice cars to drive !!. Now if I won the lottery, my classic car collection would include Princess 2200 6 cyl auto with power steering this time !!! 2.8 Capri Nice old Jag - any jag - never had a Jag, my dad had a MK7 so perhaps one of those. Triumph Stag Wolseley 6 - bit like a land crab again with the 2200 6 cyl engine - mate had one, what a superbly smooth car (hydrolastic suspension) Poor old British Leyland, often scorned but fondly missed. We are all closet BL admirers, aren't we ??? Brit15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted April 5, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 5, 2014 Vinyl roofs, now this is a trip down memory lane!! The only classic car I'd genuinely like to buy and run is a Citroen DS, a gorgeous car and still one of the most innovative cars of them all in relative terms. BL have had a terrible press, for all the quality let them down the designs were often very good for their day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Unlike you, I've never had a problem with an Audi. I had the use of an '85 Audi 90 saloon, the basic 2-litre, 5-cyl engine. Very good car, that one. The boot was a bit small, though.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium TheQ Posted April 5, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 5, 2014 And the Moscvich ,now maybe my spelling is wrong but a mechanic friend of mine claimed that they wouldn't pass the MOT from new. Anyone remember them?I remember them, the officer in charge of Motor transport on one of the RAF stations i was on had one, if you put it on full lock, and let go they stayed that way. And rubbed the brake hoses at the same time.Oh and that officer tried to have me done for speeding, '..... I was driving a land rover fire engine with blue lights going!! I miss my old wolsley 6 to loved that car, only had it six months then some prat pulled out on me and I Tboned at 50. The other old car I'd like to have again would be a triumph 2000/2.5pi very relaxed cruising but they'd crack the body between the back wheels if you towed a lot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Vinyl roofs-an expensive extra. I worked with a chap who had been a paint inspector at Vauxhalls. The roof was the most difficult bit to get right, and it was often easier/cheaper to fit a vinyl roof than to correct faults. He didn't know whether the customer was charged for his surprise "extra". He also said that it was a pain having the painted dashboards on the base models, because by the time faults were picked up the windscreen was in, and usually had to come out again. Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
APOLLO Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 Strangely one of my Audis was the same as Horsetan's, a B reg (84) Audi 90 5 cyl Auto. Nice, fast car to drive, good looker too, but the trouble I had - !!!!. The other was a 78 Audi 100 GL5E Auto, again a flying machine. great to drive, both were good on MPG - but the 100 one ate CV joints, 3 of 'em (all different - car had 4) !! Guess I was unlucky with these two. Agree the Audi 5 cyl engines were superb - both mine had no engine issues, Lad at work had a Quattro, like the rally cars of the time, what a great engine howl, unfortunately he trashed it !! Brit15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 30801 Posted April 5, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 5, 2014 Vinyl roofs, now this is a trip down memory lane!!A vinyl roof and an Allegro Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Strangely one of my Audis was the same as Horsetan's, a B reg (84) Audi 90 5 cyl Auto. Nice, fast car to drive, good looker too, but the trouble I had - !!!!.... Mine was a 5-speed manual, but registered on the B-prefix in 1985. B766 TNG, bought secondhand from the boss of Stevens VW Dismantlers. Now that I look back on that car, I remember something else about it: at some point, it had been shunted at the rear, and then repaired on a jig. You could still see a slight crease in the n/s/r three-quarter panel where it had been pulled back out, and there was a bit of play in the boot lid/rear panel when shut. That 5-cylinder engine, though..... Marvellous. It was Audi's trademark for so many years. Trivia: did you know that Rover had a go at making a 5-cylinder engine? They put it in a P6 saloon, and came close to making it reliable, but had to give up in the end. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted April 5, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 5, 2014 A lot of Ladas, even rough ones, were bought up and shipped back to Russia for sale or for parts. Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 The worrying thing is, my own classic "car" a 1958 EastLancs bodied Leyland Titan PD3/5 bus no longer needs an MOT. This, along with the free road tax means that all I have to buy is some insurance to get my free tax disc and legally be on the road! The fact that I haven't yet finished restoring it is neither here nor there.....! JF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
APOLLO Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 Back in the 70's, when most of my mates had cars, Saturday was "car mauling with day" when we would get together and help each other sort out problems (there were always problems - though usually simple & cheap to fix), service em etc. This usually entailed visits to local scrapyards, of which there were many, a happy occasion in summer. My Rover has a superb set of 4 air large horns from one of these forays, off a scrap lorry complete with compressor for a fiver, they don't play a tune but boy do you know they work !! Not many scrapyards left, complete with angry, oily, one eyed three legged Alsatian, they are now Recycling centres and you can't climb all over piled up cars anymore with your spanners, bl**dy dangerous but what the hell, we were young & daft back then !! Yes modern cars are a lot more reliable and efficient - but you can't "maul about" with them anymore. Brit15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
37114 Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 My mum's MGB missed the old cut off by 10 days so has had nearly 15 years of road tax to pay since 1998. That said it was her every day car and probably did more miles a year than any other cars on the road so not entirely unjust. I for one will be keeping the fingers crossed that the rolling exemption continues, only 3 years till my 1977 Series 3 Land Rover is tax exempt,it does less than 2000 miles a year so road tax is a significant cost I can't wait to be free of especially when it only does 15 mpg. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 A lot of Ladas, even rough ones, were bought up and shipped back to Russia for sale or for parts. Pete Oh yes - I remember the Soviet ships with every spare bit of deck space covered in Ladas - the crews used to buy them in the UK & Europe, get them on board by any means possible & take them back to the USSR - as you say, Pete, for sale or parts. Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
APOLLO Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 Wife's first runabout car was a 1988 Rover 213S (decent car - not good, not bad) in Beige - The local garage called it Leyland "hearing aid" beige !!!!!!!!!!!!! I remember my dads old Mk7 Jag was "Sable over Sand" No Beige for Jaguar. Brit15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted April 5, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 5, 2014 Coincidence or what? After reading this thread I went shopping; coming home I was passed by an Allegro, it looked to be in good nick. Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 30801 Posted April 5, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 5, 2014 Wife's first runabout car was a 1988 Rover 213S (decent car - not good, not bad) in Beige - The local garage called it Leyland "hearing aid" beige !!!!!!!!!!!!! I remember my dads old Mk7 Jag was "Sable over Sand" No Beige for Jaguar. I recently ordered a Honda Jazz (made in Swindon where all proper things are made). According to the brochure the colour is 'Urban Titanium Metallic' According to the registration document the colour is 'brown' Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 30801 Posted April 6, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 6, 2014 I also owned a second Allegro. A proper one with a Quartic steering wheel. I had it as a daily driver while I did things with a mig welder to a Mk1 Mini. With hindsight I should had kept the Allegro. It was much rarer and needed much less welding. I parked it at Heathrow once and thus it has the distinction of being the only car I've paid more to park than to buy. Here it is photo bombing the Mini Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGC Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Fair point!! Yet despite that I used to lust after the Dolomite Sprint and SD1 Vitesse, they were great looking cars and the Dolly Sprint was really very advanced in many ways. My first ever performance car, and how I miss it! I had 2 - the first was basically standard but still a very exciting drive, and with a walnut dash etc. Luxury performance. When the exhaust went I approached Dunham and Haines in Luton (who were, at that time, a Triumph specialist) for a replacement sports exhaust. They offered me a deal - a straight swap for a different Dolly Sprint out the back. This, it turned out, was a Ralph Broad ex circuit racer that had been road legalised. The performance was interesting - top speed of 90 mph but 0 - 60 in 4 seconds! Not luxury, but definitely performance! I will never forget the journey across the A68 from the A1 to Edinburgh in the company of a Peugeot 406 Mi16 with the driver obviously knowing the road.Happy days! Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 The worrying thing is, my own classic "car" a 1958 EastLancs bodied Leyland Titan PD3/5 bus no longer needs an MOT. This, along with the free road tax means that all I have to buy is some insurance to get my free tax disc and legally be on the road! Is that middle photo the Manchester Exchange bus station John, right by the Irwell? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Vinyl tops remind me of my old Sales Manager. Circa 1980, his pride and joy was his top spec., metallic brown, tan vinyl roofed, Marina. Nice enough bloke, but not the hardest worker. If meeting his reps, rather than drive to their territory, or meet half way, you were expected to meet him within 30 miles of his house. His car did all miles but he was, however, claiming far higher mileage and the petrol to go with it..... Come the time to change it, he had a bit of a problem. He found some dodgy garage to clock it forward and add those missing miles. Whoever bought it had a bit of a bargain, low mileage, car. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 30801 Posted April 6, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 6, 2014 If meeting his reps, rather than drive to their territory, or meet half way, you were expected to meet him within 30 miles of his house. Well, yeah. You just said he had a Marina Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 I for one will be keeping the fingers crossed that the rolling exemption continues, only 3 years till my 1977 Series 3 Land Rover is tax exempt,it does less than 2000 miles a year so road tax is a significant cost I can't wait to be free of especially when it only does 15 mpg. Keeping mine crossed too, my '76 Land Rover 101" Forward Control, does a similar mileage and even less mpg. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted April 6, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 6, 2014 I used to own a motorbike that only did 15mpg...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 .... The only classic car I'd genuinely like to buy and run is a Citroen DS, a gorgeous car and still one of the most innovative cars of them all in relative terms.... Thanks to the hydropneumatic suspension, the DS (and its successor, the CX) is one of the few cars that is virtually impossible to clamp if you've decided to leave it on a (double) yellow line for a while. A good DS saloon will set you back anywhere between seven and twenty grand. The last models, the DS23, benefitted from fuel injection and are thought to be more comfortable in keeping up with today's traffic flows. The Chapron-bodied Decapotible DS variant usually goes for over a hundred grand. I never understood why its values suddenly went mad about ten years ago. On its debut, at the Paris Motor Show back in the Fifties, the demand for the new DS was such that Citroen were caught napping when deluged by over 12,000 orders at the end of the first day of the show. A vinyl roof and an Allegro That's nothing. It's not a *Vanden Plas* Allegro..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Just thought I would bore you with an old family snap, I’ve always been a classic car fan and the 1949 Rover is the end of a long line (and hopefully a keeper) that has consisted of 4 classic Jags 2 x Mk 2s and 2 x Mk Xs one a 1963 3.8 and one a 4.2 a 1968 1600 E Cortina (First ever car) Triumph R6 (should have kept) dolly sprint (wish I hadn’t) Herald and Standard Ten (both cheeky little cars and great fun) and a few others that came and went and in my younger days served my time at a Leyland garage when most of the above were still “new” cars. But here’s a photo of me about 8 years old with my dads Mk X in the 1960s when they were still building them the car that started it all for me Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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