The Good old days.

The place to discuss everything else..
Col Lamb
Posts: 9323
Joined: Fri Oct 30, 2015 8:38 pm
Location: Lancashire

Post by Col Lamb »

As an Apprentice Engineer cash was very short but I developed the mechanical skills to do any job on a car.
First there was Hillman Husky 1700cc and about 17mpg the way I drove it
Then a Mini 850 and wrung the neck of that, it is still the only car I made profit on
Next a Hillman Hunter, nough said
A Sunbeam Rapier followed, I loved that car, but eventually the car and engine parted company on the outside lane of the M6 amid a cloud of smoke and noise as components bouncied down the Mway behind the car. A noted weakness in the 1725cc engines in number two cylinder often resulted in block failure as happened to me.
A couple of boring Honda’s followed then on to Company Cars for the next fifteen years.

I count my blessings that I have lived so long without a major accident for before the national speed limits came into force it was A to B as fast as possible, but with age come a sort of wisdom and the cold chill runs down the spine of what might have been.
Col
Macan Turbo
Air, 20” wheels, ACC, Pano, SurCam, 14w, LEDs, PS+, Int Light Pack, Heated seats and Steering, spare wheel, SC, Privacy glass, PDK gear, SD mirrors, Met Black, rear airbags

Cheshire Cat
Posts: 505
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2018 9:17 pm

Post by Cheshire Cat »

Jonnyw wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 6:03 pm Started driving in 1967 and they definitely were not the good old days. First car an MG Magnet 0 to 60 in 18 seconds( google it).bought for £20 so I could get to work during UNI holidays. Like many of that era were not that fast which was good because drum brakes were scary. Many cars such as Mini Cooper , Cortina, Viva all needed weekends spent keeping them on the road. The positive was I learnt how to change an engine and do my own servicing and by the time the first company car arrived I had a good appreciation of how cars worked.
One car had a starting handle and no heater or radio as they were extras .
Even today’s worst cars are a hundred times better.
That just reminded me of stuff like Hazard Flashers as they were called back then. You could buy a kit from Halfrauds along with a reversing light kit. Anyone used to squirt Redex into the petrol tank and were convinced you were going faster? I had some radial tyres fitted to the Escort after performing a ballet on some black ice in the early hours of one cold winter Sunday morning when the cross ply tyres gave up the ghost.
Dolomite Silver 'S' with red leather 14 way seats, Pano roof, Bose, Air suspension with pasm, Chrono pack, PDLS, Surround view, 911 turbo wheels, heated screen, spare wheel, ioniser,75 lt tank, black tail pipes, black roof rails.
Col Lamb
Posts: 9323
Joined: Fri Oct 30, 2015 8:38 pm
Location: Lancashire

Post by Col Lamb »

Cheshire Cat wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 6:42 pm
Jonnyw wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 6:03 pm Started driving in 1967 and they definitely were not the good old days. First car an MG Magnet 0 to 60 in 18 seconds( google it).bought for £20 so I could get to work during UNI holidays. Like many of that era were not that fast which was good because drum brakes were scary. Many cars such as Mini Cooper , Cortina, Viva all needed weekends spent keeping them on the road. The positive was I learnt how to change an engine and do my own servicing and by the time the first company car arrived I had a good appreciation of how cars worked.
One car had a starting handle and no heater or radio as they were extras .
Even today’s worst cars are a hundred times better.
That just reminded me of stuff like Hazard Flashers as they were called back then. You could buy a kit from Halfrauds along with a reversing light kit. Anyone used to squirt Redex into the petrol tank and were convinced you were going faster? I had some radial tyres fitted to the Escort after performing a ballet on some black ice in the early hours of one cold winter Sunday morning when the cross ply tyres gave up the ghost.
The black ice you wrote about reminded me of an incident in 1974.

I was commuting to Manchester and drove onto the service station of the M61 early one morning to find the large car park empty and covered in ice.

I spent a great 20 minutes going sideways, spinning and having fun before moving off to work.

It was the most fun I had driving any car until I was on the PEC skid pan in a Boxster.
Col
Macan Turbo
Air, 20” wheels, ACC, Pano, SurCam, 14w, LEDs, PS+, Int Light Pack, Heated seats and Steering, spare wheel, SC, Privacy glass, PDK gear, SD mirrors, Met Black, rear airbags
Rashg60
Posts: 82
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2021 1:00 am

Post by Rashg60 »

I passed my test at 18 years of age in the mid 90s and my first car was a mk2 Golf GTI. Absolute rust bucket and plenty of oil leaks. But very fast for an 18 year old lad!
Own:
19 Porsche Macan 2.0
15 Audi RS3
15 Audi A1 1.4 TFSI
Ex:
19 Jag E-Pace R-Dynamic S
15 RR Evoque Dynamic
06 VW Golf GTI
05 Audi TT 3.2 V6
00 Audi TT 1.8T
91 VW Corrado G60
86 Pug 205 1.9 GTI
84 VW Golf GTI
Tracky
Posts: 4233
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2019 10:26 pm

Post by Tracky »

OmniCognateSnr wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 4:35 pm

BTW, just found out my boss has just taken delivery of a brand new Volcano Grey 911 S, so clearly he's not thinking big enough either :)
they don't do the boring grey on the 911...
On order

GT4 RS

Current

2019 992 S
2019 Macan S
2014 Modified Lotus Exige V6
2022 Seat Ibiza 1.0 (115ps) DSG Excellence Lux(dog’s!)
1987 928S4
1967 Jag Mk2 3.4

Ex

2012 Boxster S
User avatar
pmg
Posts: 2983
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2018 7:31 pm

Post by pmg »

Tracky wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 6:20 pm
OmniCognateSnr wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 4:35 pm

BTW, just found out my boss has just taken delivery of a brand new Volcano Grey 911 S, so clearly he's not thinking big enough either :)
they don't do the boring grey on the 911...
PTS ??
2019 Macan S Porsche code PKW8WKI8
Deleted User 4436

Post by Deleted User 4436 »

pmg wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 8:16 pm
Tracky wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 6:20 pm
OmniCognateSnr wrote: Fri Oct 01, 2021 4:35 pm

BTW, just found out my boss has just taken delivery of a brand new Volcano Grey 911 S, so clearly he's not thinking big enough either :)
they don't do the boring grey on the 911...
PTS ??
I suspect it’s probably agate rather than volcano. Think he just told me the wrong shade of grey.
On-Track
Posts: 2135
Joined: Sun May 03, 2015 12:59 pm
Location: Staffordshire

Post by On-Track »

I passed my test in 1963. My father's car was a Standard Super 10. The Good Old Days were tungsten headlights, smog around Port Talbot so thick that you couldn't see beyond the bonnet (that's around 4ft in a Standard) and petrol at four gallons a pound. Mind you it wasn't until the start of the 70s that I earned more than £1k a year.

I worked for British Rail so company cars were only provided if necessary for the job and were not insured for private use.

I'm enjoying the "Good Old Days" right now, having spent most of my life never dreaming I could afford a Porsche and now having owned three in a row.
Peter

Current: 2020 Carmine Red GTS http://www.porsche-code.com/PMST9ZI9
Gone- 2015 Sapphire Blue Diesel
Gone -2013 Cayenne Diesel
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SAC1
Posts: 3784
Joined: Wed May 24, 2017 8:24 pm
Location: near BATH

Post by SAC1 »

Learned to drive on dumper trucks and JCBs well before I was 17yrs. So was able to take and pass my driving test at 17 and 2 weeks using my dad's Singer Gazelle.

My first car was a Ford Bowden Special [Lotus 7 type kit car] bought at auction for £155. It blew the propshaft CV joints a few weeks later, taking most of the floor and gearbox with it !!

Then a Ford Anglia that I uprated by fitting a 1500 cc engine. That went well until I went straight across a new roundabout at Andover, in dense fog, causinging the nsf strut to pop through the bonnet! Drove on to London and back to Exeter like that. The next evening it failed and spun the car through 360 degrees wrapping around and taking out the main control street light on the Torquay to Newton Abbot main road. I was thrown out of the car! Plunging the entire road into darkness. I staggered back to it and my friend, who had been following me in his car, was shouting "don't just stand there, help me get my mate out of the wreck!" not realising what had happened to me!

Then on to an 850cc Mini, that I promptly fitted with a Cooper S engine & gearbox and uprated brakes. It was great fun and got me to appreciate the magic of good perfomance and handling. That Mini lasted the distance until I got a company car. Those brand new cars came every year, that extended to every 3 years when Ford reliability improved and could deal with 80,000 + mile change intervals.

Our second cars were mainly for family duty and ran the gambit of secondhand Minis, Polos and Golfs until our childrean had cars of their own. Then we had a succession of 2-seater convertibles - several brand new MX-5s, followed by two new SLK autos. Now with grandchildren duties and the need again for 4 seaters, it's been new SEAT Leon DSG FRs - a 1.8i and now a 2.0i. These are really great cars - well equipped and built, entirely reliable, fast, comfortable, handle well and good value-for-money.

Moving to senior management I had the heady free choice of company cars - Audi, BMW or Merecedes - for several years. The best of these was a BMW 525i and that started my move to, and from then on, preference of automatics. The Mercs were better engineerd for durability and proved bullit-proof in high mileage service. So when I retired, I chose Mercs - starting with a C-class 250 AMG estate, then an E-class AMG Coupe...and since....two Macans.
Steve

2020 GTS in Sapphire Blue
(sold) 2017 SD in Rhodium Silver
Dannyp
Posts: 159
Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2021 8:11 am

Post by Dannyp »

Agree! :-).
My first was a '68 mini which leaned to one side because the hydrolastic suspension was shot!
Then a '73 Triumph GT6 on which one of the wishbones collapsed (luckily while I was parking rather than on the motorway).
Then a '74 MGBGT on which I spent £9k on a restoration 30 years ago - only to see it rust away all over again!
An '81 Rover SD1 V8 which turned to dust quicker than Dracula on a sunbed ...
Best and most reliable cars I've had are my Mk1 MX5 and Gen 2 Boxster S.
Cars have improved massively over the years - with the exception of my Range Rover Sport - which is expensive, unreliable and poorly designed ...
... but I see that Range Rover are now sticking shiny black plastic fake vents on their latest designs - so that's alright then ....
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