Cars Thread

Loves, Hates, Haves, Annoyances, and general car chat.

What do you have or have had; experiences etc

Maybe any pictures posted should have the reg digitised out.

Love cars. Have a silver BMW 325i coupe for the last six months that i like a lot. Petrol, tax, insurance and maintenance are very expensive but don't mind sacrificing taking the wife out for it

Had a grey Alfa GT 1.8 before that and would have kept that forever if i could but had to get rid of it because it starting to turn into a big ball of rust.

I hate leaving cars in to get fixed or serviced. It's either they weren't able to fix everything or they've fecked up something.

First car was a Mk2 Cortina,bought in 1990. Was a marvellous vehicle,took it up tracks in the bush people would be afraid to take a 4wd up! Four speed,1.6,column change,bench seats. Was white,and in great nick(bought it off my mother),and guys in the Cortina club wanted it,until some twat turned across my path.

Replaced it with a Mk5 Ghia,goldish colour with black vinyl roof,again a 4 speed,2.0ltr. Low geared and very powerful,if a little thirsty. Had louvres on the back 'til some scrote pinched em. Ended up in ditches a couple of times,but you get that at high speed on back country gravel roads.

Good solid cars,and am often found browsing Cortinas for sale here!

I like to think of myself as a bit of a hippy of the planet and not into anything shallow........until it comes to fast cars.
Then I am mega shallow.

In recent years. I'm being more considerate of things and have not stepped past the 2 litre engine (super-charged 2 litre german engined that is ) although I often also drive a 2.2litre belonging to the Boss.

I do stop at European cars only, never owned anything not European and probably won't either.

At heart I am a great fan of the old classic 60s British Cars (Triumphs, Rovers, Jag sports, and a few fond likens of the earlier column-change classic Fords).

The Sweeney has to be THE best car-lovers programme ever on TV. You can guess the make of every car by just seeing a corner of the car (not like nowadays all-look-the-same things).

My first car after passing my driving test was a Triumph 2000; then a few months later I got a 1967 Mk1 Triumph GT6 with a customised 2.5litre engine and customised gear-box (nearly killed myself during a welding accident on that thing....but I loved it, and the welding was worth it in the end).

I will proudly admit that I have owned 2 Ford Capris (a Red Mk1 and a White Mk2).....there is no other car worthy of doing a wheel spin when driving off from a filling station (and no other car looks right when you roll over the bottom to get to the other side either ).

Love the 80s BMWs (mine did a quarter of million miles, 160 miles per day, before blowing the head).

Since then, I've settled down with a Peugeot 406 (in a sorry state in the garage after 160,000 miles and tough wear) and the Merc CLK Kompressor.

AC Cobra, XK120 Jag and D-Type Jag???......one day. One day Justine may win the lottery and buy me a second-hand car (I don't like any new cars at all).

ian

am quite ignorant towards modern cars myself, most supercars look muck, but the reincarnation of some classics like the mini, beetle or fiat 500 into their more modern monstrocities realy gets my goat!!

i am a classic's man at heart and have owned to date mini's, 87 bmw, pulsar gtir's... good solid cars but now hoping to get my hands on a beetle, if not then i'd love a granada with an sr20det or 2jz engine conversion for some serious traffic light action

davey_c wrote:

am quite ignorant towards modern cars myself, most supercars look muck, but the reincarnation of some classics like the mini, beetle or fiat 500 into their more modern monstrocities realy gets my goat!!

i am a classic's man at heart and have owned to date mini's, 87 bmw, pulsar gtir's... good solid cars but now hoping to get my hands on a beetle, if not then i'd love a granada with an sr20det or 2jz engine conversion for some serious traffic light action

A Granada with the Sweeney theme tune blasting out the windows at traffic lights.......heaven, and you'd probably gain a small fan-club as well.

I found that cars seem to last a lot longer on NZ roads than they do over this end of the World,obviously due there being so much salt on the roads in winter. As result of this,when I was starting out driving,there was a lot of older cars around,Cortinas,Capris,Triumph 2000(and 2500?),Morris Minor,minis,Beetles,Vauxhall Vivas and Victors,RX3,RX4,Wollesleys,Humbers(loved Grandads Humber 80),Triumph Stag and Spitfire,my great aunt had an Austin 35 for years,etc,etc.

We also had a lot of V8's,especially American and Australian. I loved the 1971 Falcon XY GT Shaker. My brother went through a phase of buying worked V8 muscle cars when he was about 19,I got to take a few for a spin,and when driving along in 3rd gear,just put your foot down and it would spin.

Still think the most amazing sounding engine is the Rolls Royce Merlin.

How did I forget the Zephyr!

@Acara....the Triumph Stag is one of the best looking cars ever built IMO. Beautiful and what a pity so many were left to rot away.

yep. Triumph 2500 and 2.5PI (THE cop car of the day along with the Rover 3500 V8).

and to the Zephyr...Ford Zodiac as well (not much difference).

I remember the Vauxhall victor (a bit of a rot box though).

My father was a mad car fan and bought cars just to do them up as a hobby, so all them classic cars you mention are well known to me.

I remember us having a Standard Vanguard and an Issetta (for my mother to learn to drive....not the car to learn to drive in though).

Thought there would've been more hoons on here...

Acara wrote:

Thought there would've been more hoons on here...

I do see some hot cars at some of the LFSs

JohnH wrote:

igmillichip wrote:

Acara wrote:

Thought there would've been more hoons on here...

I do see some hot cars at some of the LFSs

Yes,
My car was around and about yesterday!

But the only way that would become 'Hot' was when I switch the (excellent) heater on!!! (Or, conversely, if someone set it alight!).



John

I must have missed you John yesterday.

As the roads were not too busy yesterday on the motorway, I decided to do a bit of experimenting with the different controls. (I could read the manual, but it is a bit long).

I found that I can accelerate and decelerate using a hand control lever and then when I let go it stays at that speed (a bit like a suped-up cruise-control, but more like a tractor.....I learned to drive in a tractor).
I like that.

I love American muscle cars, a 1960's charger like the one in the blade movie would be high on the wish list.

The car I have at the moment is a Lexus IS220d that I bought last year, very impressed with it and its very easy on the eye.

Before that I had an Audi A4 that I wasn't so impressed with and before that again a Suzuki vitara which was cool. I really like the look of the Jaguar XF, I'll definitely have a look at one of those in a couple of years when I'm changing the car again.

If I had the space and money I'd love to buy an old porsche 928 (the one out of the scarface movie).

I too have been noticing Jags lately,particularly the xf.

I think the fastest speed I've done in a car was in a Camaro back home in about 1990. A good few of those yank type muscle cars around back then.

The XF is hard not to notice isn't it. The American muscle cars are something else, you never see them here. They are completely impractical.. Maybe I should buy one before I'm too old to get away with it. 3 kids squashed into the back of a camero though... I think maybe I've missed the boat...

P.s. how fast did you go in the camero Dave?

I can't remember,think it was 230kph or thereabouts?

EDIT just thinking was prob nearer 205kph,he had to slow down as we were coming up to an intersection.

I hate cars, and i love cars!! Its quite a strange relationship i have!! Iv a habit of buying cars and doing stupid with them, for example, I bought a car as a bare shell and brought her back to life. I might not of done the best of jobs with it but sure i had the craic doing it



Swore id never do it again, but thats a pure lie!!!

Also i bought my dream car that iv wanted for the last 8 years, what a let down that turned out to be!!

Is the top one a Supra? They were a very cool car. Not sure what the second one is, is it a skyline?

@Acara, anything over 200kph (John about 160mph ) is pretty crazy alright

think bottom car if i'm right is a Levin

as for me not an exciting car history, first cat was a toyota starlet gt turbo, then escort rs, then a mazda 323f, moved from that onto a mondeo, a hynundai accent (i know its not the best but never let me down) after my mondeo eventually died and now a Passat

Top one is a 180sx and the second one is a R34 skyline

pole wrote:

Top one is a 180sx and the second one is a R34 skyline

very nice

Watched Wheeler Dealers the other.....doing up a kit-car version of a dream car: a Jag-based 6.3 litre chevvy engined A/C Cobra.......magic.

I would be happy with the small 6.3 litre engine, I don't need the original bigger engine to be honest as there are only so many nappies you need to change in a lifetime.

Surprised anyone has room for a car, a lot of the garages must be full of fish tanks surely

Very boring car history. If I knew one end of a spanner from the other a VW sirocco(the old one) would be great

I currently own a 1995 Honda Civi 1.3 DX it was my mom's Car with 40,000 original Miles on the Clock, Mint condition and an MGF 1996 Soft Top with 54,000 on the Clock, no rust and Head Gasket replaced by the Manufacturer in England, cost to me secondhand, €2,000 cost in Canada, 15,000 . Shipping to Canada for 40 foot Container, €4,000

The MGF had leaks around the Window which turned out to be a common fault, a stop in both Windows had broken and cost me €12 to buy Stainless Steel replacements, Both took 30 Mins to fix, dry as a bone.

The fastest I have driven on an Engine driven vehicle is 175 MPH on a Hayabusa, in a car, 169 KPH Honda Civic saloon 1.8 SI and in the States, 125 MPH in a 1968 T-bar Corvette.

I still love my MGF for it's nippiness and it's sexy rear wheel Mid engine.


I was looking at Dodge Chargers and Mustangs today and I have to say, I'm very tempted.

Kev.
.

stretnik wrote:

I currently own a 1995 Honda Civi 1.3 DX it was my mom's Car with 40,000 original Miles on the Clock, Mint condition and an MGF 1996 Soft Top with 54,000 on the Clock, no rust and Head Gasket replaced by the Manufacturer in England, cost to me secondhand, €2,000 cost in Canada, 15,000 . Shipping to Canada for 40 foot Container, €4,000

The MGF had leaks around the Window which turned out to be a common fault, a stop in both Windows had broken and cost me €12 to buy Stainless Steel replacements, Both took 30 Mins to fix, dry as a bone.

The fastest I have driven on an Engine driven vehicle is 175 MPH on a Hayabusa, in a car, 169 KPH Honda Civic saloon 1.8 SI and in the States, 125 MPH in a 1968 T-bar Corvette.

I still love my MGF for it's nippiness and it's sexy rear wheel Mid engine.


I was looking at Dodge Chargers and Mustangs today and I have to say, I'm very tempted.

Kev.
.

Imagine the amount of speeding tickets you would get with that Kev you speed demon you