embarrassed by your car??

Fiona · 17-02-2012 8:31am

Tell your kids to stop being ungrateful brats and make them walk to school! Keep the car!

inagoodway · 17-02-2012 8:41am

mrs crilly wrote: »

Tell your kids to stop being ungrateful brats and make them walk to school! Keep the car!

I KNOW what u mean, mrs c when i was young my ould lad had a pink hillman avenger with a blue bonnet and a screeching belt that would frighten rats, and after that a hi-ace rescued from the scrap-yard, but when u get older you look back at that and laugh about it:)

Fiona · 17-02-2012 9:05am

inagoodway wrote: »

I KNOW what u mean, mrs c when i was young my ould lad had a pink hillman avenger with a blue bonnet and a screeching belt that would frighten rats, and after that a hi-ace rescued from the scrap-yard, but when u get older you look back at that and laugh about it:)

My Dad has been in the car trade all his life, his garage used to be beside the house, junk park in the garden was an everyday occurance

Although he he did get me a white Austin Montego for my communuion day and for my confirmation my dream car at the time, a black Mazda 323F with the pop up lights

:o:o

inagoodway · 17-02-2012 9:09am

mrs crilly wrote: »

My Dad has been in the car trade all his life, his garage used to be beside the house, junk park in the garden was an everyday occurance

Although he he did get me a white Austin Montego for my communuion day and for my confirmation my dream car at the time, a black Mazda 323F with the pop up lights :o:o

not too shabby, my first car was a peugeot 309

, mother's car, then got myself a '79 mini, then an '83 escort estate:rolleyes:.

the good old days:)

run_Forrest_run · 17-02-2012 10:30am

Octavia 1.6 Petrol '00 - ugly as sin and despite the random screech from the starter (it never seems to get worse, just intermittent) it's been a reliable thing...great boot too;)

inagoodway · 17-02-2012 10:34am

this thread reminds me, i have a '96 Lancer out the back, been parked for 3 years, but engine purring like a kitten, might be worth a run at the nct, ?

Anan1 · 17-02-2012 10:40am

When I was a kid my dad brought myself and my brother to see an old SAAB 95 (95, not a 9-5) estate in orange. We arrived outside the house just in time to see this thing come around the corner trailing smoke behind it. I heard a noise beside me and looked down to see my younger brother softly crying. OP, keep the Corolla. We didn't buy the SAAB, but it would have been character building stuff.

Zubeneschamali · 17-02-2012 10:40am

I'm unembarrassable - I had a Multipla for 7 years, and a 1.1l petrol Kangoo Kar for 3.

Big Nasty · 17-02-2012 10:46am

inagoodway wrote: »

i have a '96 Lancer out the back, been parked for 3 years, but engine purring like a kitten

Must be a miser on juice!

inagoodway · 17-02-2012 10:48am

last time i put juice in it petrol was cheap:)

edit; ya it runs on the smell of diesel of the ould lite-ace parked beside it:D

dar83 · 17-02-2012 10:50am

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

I'm unembarrassable - I had a Multipla for 7 years, and a 1.1l petrol Kangoo Kar for 3.

Dear lord...

My dad is the complete opposite of a car person, when I was in my most embarassable years we had a Lada 1600 Riva Estate. I have to admit I got slagged for it, but it never really bothered me. My two older sisters on the other hand used to make him park around the corner from their school to get picked up in it. haha.

Anan1 · 17-02-2012 10:59am

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

I'm unembarrassable - I had a Multipla for 7 years, and a 1.1l petrol Kangoo Kar for 3.

Only the dull are embarrassed my Multiplas.:)

TrailerBob · 17-02-2012 11:07am

Not even a teeny bit embarrassed by the 'Cruiser... But have to drive the fiancee's red 06 Beetle the odd time, its a cracking car, but I look like a complete hairdresser in it!!

run_Forrest_run · 17-02-2012 11:18am

I remember the day my old man came home with a Mercedes E-Class, it was back in the early 90's but the model was older again, around '85 I'd say (W123??), it was one with the horizontal headlights.

Anyway, the thing used to be petrol but was converted to diesel (I don't know why!) and you could hear it coming from about 5 miles away! Imagine the embarrassment as a teenager waiting for a lift home etc!
It spent more time in the repair shop than it did on the road...ah the memories.
Looks wise, it was stunning but really it was a bad egg:D

Big Nasty · 17-02-2012 11:23am

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

I remember the day my old man came home with a Mercedes E-Class, it was back in the early 90's but the model was older again, around '85 I'd say (W123??), it was one with the horizontal headlights.

Anyway, the thing used to be petrol but was converted to diesel (I don't know why!) and you could hear it coming from about 5 miles away! Imagine the embarrassment as a teenager waiting for a lift home etc!
It spent more time in the repair shop than it did on the road...ah the memories.
Looks wise, it was stunning but really it was a bad egg:D

Loads of that went on in the late 80's / early 90's, i.e. Mercs and Bimmers with Nissan Vanette engine transplants.

piston · 17-02-2012 11:23am

95 Peugeot 205 here. A one owner from new with FSH and 60,000 miles, bought for €100 a few years after it failed the NCT on few minor details but the owner was presented with an outrageous quotation to fix it. Fixed it myself for peanuts and am still driving it and now showing 160,000 miles. It's needed very little apart from a few brake pipes and a few anti-roll bar bushes (it is a 205 after all!) and the boot lid is the wrong colour after I got rear-ended at traffic lights and couldn't be bothered re-spraying the replacement.

I may be in a minority but I have always loved 205s, fun to drive in the way only a lightweight car can be, seriously easy on juice and they run forever if you don't mind a few unidentified clunks and knocks on a rough road and non-essential parts like ashtrays self destructing. People are welcome to laugh but I've pumped it full of Waxoyl to try and get a few more years out if it.

Having drove a 206 recently, it is the best reason I can think of for preserving a 205. Did Peugeot really consider this progress?

Zubeneschamali · 17-02-2012 11:27am

piston wrote: »

Having drove a 206 recently, it is the best reason I can think of for preserving a 205. Did Peugeot really consider this progress?

The 207 is worse again. A new 208 will be along, and Peugeot are trying to link it to the 205, ignoring all the cars they made since.

run_Forrest_run · 17-02-2012 11:30am

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Loads of that went on in the late 80's / early 90's, i.e. Mercs and Bimmers with Nissan Vanette engine transplants.

why was it so popular to transplant an engine? Cost reasons? I can't imagine the relative cost of fuel to be any higher back then to what it is today. Mad.

In order to start the car he had to pull a lever/knob out (looked like a stop on an church organ:D) and wait until the elements heated up. Of course that mechanism then failed so he basically used to hot-wire the thing for months...mortified I was

dgt · 17-02-2012 11:36am

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Loads of that went on in the late 80's / early 90's, i.e. Mercs and Bimmers with Nissan Vanette engine transplants.

Don't forget some Range Rovers got that treatment too

Boscoirl · 17-02-2012 11:39am

Currently driving a 03 Megane 5dr, that is as slow as a tug boat, the front left indicator works randomly so I feel like an obnoxious d**k at every junction when I turn left.

I miss my old car, 98 Polo classic(1.4) it went like a rocket, much more fun to drive than the girlfriend 2.0TDi A3, I had to get rid of it when it started needing work every few months, its still alive though, have seen it a few times in Clonmel after getting rid of it in Limerick

Anan1 · 17-02-2012 11:52am

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

why was it so popular to transplant an engine? Cost reasons? I can't imagine the relative cost of fuel to be any higher back then to what it is today. Mad.

Cost. Fuel wasn't dearer, but people were poorer.

Crooked Jack · 17-02-2012 11:55am

My Astra is scratched to ****, the paint's peeling, its constantly covered in muck (I live up a country lane) the inside is perpetually filled with discarded red bull bottles, old newspapers and half eaten sandwich wrappers,one of the wing mirrors is held on with duct tape, My granda superglued a Padre Pio thing to the dash 'for safety' but he put it over the check enging and oil lights so im constantly having to lean over whilst driving to see the ****in things, i have to start it in the mornings by rolling it down the lane and a while ago a friend wrote "Matt cardle on tour" in the dirt on the side of it and no matter how much it's washed that is still visible...but i love my ****in car. I'd proudly roll up anywhere in it.

run_Forrest_run · 17-02-2012 11:55am

Anan1 wrote: »

Cost. Fuel wasn't dearer, but people were poorer.

well off enough to afford a Merc I would have thought. In relative terms I would have thought the affordability of fuel would be less today but I was only a kid in the '80s so maybe I missed a lot.

Anan1 · 17-02-2012 12:01pm

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

well off enough to afford a Merc I would have thought. In relative terms I would have thought the affordability of fuel would be less today but I was only a kid in the '80s so maybe I missed a lot.

Even in the current economic downturn we're wealthy out of all proportion to where we were in the '80s. Fuel was relatively cheap, but nobody had any money.

Dudess · 17-02-2012 12:12pm

OP, afraid people will think you're a traveller? People have more important things to think about in fairness.

My mum drove some right heaps of sh1t when we were kids - and too bad if we were embarrassed by them.

Captain Slow IRL · 17-02-2012 12:14pm

I had a white e34 that used to belong to RoverJames and this was probably the most embarassing car I had, no thanks to the OH. It was a big white estate and the missus was always jibing it was what the ghostbusters drove around in!

Having said it was the most embarassing, I still wouldn't not drive it, coiuldn't really give a toss what the neighbours or people in general thought!

piston · 17-02-2012 12:16pm

I'm just about old enough to remember but people went to extraordinary lengths to save fuel in the 1980s.

I remember two elderly neighbours in particular, one who had a Suzuki Swift and coasted everywhere, if the car was moving at all, even if it was walking speed, he wouldn't put it in gear at all. It was normal to have drive up hills at about 15mph in top gear. He could get about 5 months from a tank of petrol.

The other had a 1970s Sunbeam Rapier coupe which had been fitted with a forklift diesel engine for many years. It took two people to start it from cold(one to hold the bonnet up and spray easy start into the air intake), rattled the teeth out of your head and probably had about 40mph top speed as the agricultural/industrial spec engine was governed to a low RPM. His son was a haulage contractor and he always filled the Sunbeam from the tank for the lorries so he hadn't bought anything at the pumps for many years. When the Sunbeam finally gave up the battle against rust, he bought a rather nice Cortina 2.0 Ghia and was forever sitting along the road out of petrol as he still thought petrol was about 20p a gallon and was putting in a few litres at time! He then converted the Cortina to diesel using the engine from the Sunbeam...

17-02-2012 12:20pm

Captain Slow IRL wrote: »

I had a white e34 that used to belong to RoverJames and this was probably the most embarassing car I had, no thanks to the OH. It was a big white estate and the missus was always jibing it was what the ghostbusters drove around in!...........

I used to like that

(except for the blue interior)
Two or three people approached me when I had it saying it was great to see one of them about :cool:
........... is she still alive do you know?

barura · 17-02-2012 1:40pm

When I was a kid, I was a fool and didn't know how cool my dads ford sierra was... What a tosser I was!

Driving a rusting white VW Polo is quite humbling. Then again, it is nice and has 5 doors. I wonder what a pig of a car is? I think I see too much "character" in small cars to hate them.

Big Nasty · 17-02-2012 1:47pm

Anan1 wrote: »

Even in the current economic downturn we're wealthy out of all proportion to where we were in the '80s. Fuel was relatively cheap, but nobody had any money.

Yet the pubs were jammers!

embarrassed by your car??

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