What was your first car?

PauloMN

... or rather how embarrassing was your first car?

Mine... '88 Charade, white, Jap import. 1 litre, 3 cylinders. Think it had 12" wheels. Engine was so lacking in power that the air con had to be turned off before attempting an overtake. :eek:

Definitely NOT :cool: !

peasant

with camping gear in the back (bed table etc) and all

hi_im_fil

99 opel astra, took a good year of saving,

Stephen

'00 Fiesta 1.25 zetec, 5 years old at the time
I learned to drive in my mother's 800cc Daewoo Matiz :eek:

Anan1

Mine was a 1968 Lancia Fulvia 1.3 Sport, with bodywork by Zagato. Cost me £800, did 110mph.:)

PauloMN

Well if we're talking about what we learned to drive in:

'81 Datsun Cherry, 1171cc. Absolute rust bucket.

commited

92 Mini

PauloMN

Anan1 wrote:

Mine was a 1968 Lancia Fulvia 1.3 Sport, with bodywork by Zagato. Cost me £800, did 110mph.:)

That's a cool motor, I presume it's long gone?

Anan1

PauloMN wrote:

That's a cool motor, I presume it's long gone?

Unfortunately so, the crazy neighbour ended up setting fire to it. I do still have a load of brand new spare parts for it, maybe one day i'll buy another and fit them to that.

Alun

In or around 1976, a 1962 mark I Ford Cortina, originally grey, I think, but had been painted a disgusting purple colour with a white flash along the side (apparently with a paintbrush!) by the previous owner. Cost me ₤100 to buy and ₤125 to insure, TPFT only

Doodee

00 1.4 Polo

Nippy but cramped

Max_Damage

The first car I learned to drive in was my parent's 1993 Ford Sierra diesel.

And the first car I owned (which I still have) is my 1990 Nissan Micra.

bucks

'92 Honda Civic, Jap import, 1.5, that was around 9 years ago...

barryfitz

First car (and current car) is a 1.3 Litre 95 maroon corolla saloon. Just like this but with black plastic bumpers.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/93-95_Toyota_Corolla_Sedan.jpg

Learned to drive in one of these. (loved it) 1.6
http://www.automarket.bg/wallpaper/hyundai_Lantra_3.jpg

prospect

A 1985 red 1.9 Diesel Citroen BX:



No power steering meant strong arms....

juke

me too bucks - a 91 civic saloon, with air con! I thought i was soooo cool. Doubt i was:rolleyes:

cjt156

Renault 5 1.1L
couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding.

On the Renault 4 above; was in France last month & saw a few. Remarked that you never see them at home. Remember all the orange P+T vans. Since we came home I've seen 2 on the road - oddness in the extreme.

alias no.9

1990 ford fiesta van 1118cc. Bought it for £800 in january 2000. Sold it for £500 in august 2000 after covering 10k miles. Cheap motoring but my back used to be broken after long journeys.

alias no.9

cjt156 wrote:

Renault 5 1.1L
couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding.

On the Renault 4 above; was in France last month & saw a few. Remarked that you never see them at home. Remember all the orange P+T vans. Since we came home I've seen 2 on the road - oddness in the extreme.

Oddness in the extreme indeed. Both the R4 and R5 had a slightly different wheelbase on either side of the car to allow for the wierd independent suspension.

R.O.R

1983 Toyota Starlet 1.3GL (5 Speed) 5dr. Originally my Grandad's, then my Sisters.

Mettalic Brown with Beige interior - at least the copious amount of rust didn't show through too much. Painted the sills and around the wheel arches with Black Hammerite (using a paintbrush) to try to stop further rust.

About 56hp, running on 135/65/13 tyres and rear wheel drive. Quite interesting in the wet.

farva

My first car was an 88' VW Golf 1.6 with 160,000 miles bought from my aunt in 2000 for a £50 chinese when I was 14! I had it for a year and a half to go arounnd my uncle's fields.

My first actual car was / is a 97' 2.8 Pajero commercial that I bought when I was 18. I've had for nearly 3 and 1/2 years now. And the turbo has just blown!:mad:

damonjewel

Austin Metro, crap car but done the job. It fell apart after 18months, mind you I did put a fair few dings in it myself

ambro25

Citroën C35 (not mine in the pix)

RWD, Pug 504 engine, tranny, etc.

No power steering, column gearshift, isolated cabin (so no RV mirror)

Taught me all I'll ever need to know about : using side mirrors, checking blindspots, parking, anticipating (0-100 kph in...mmm... about 15 mins, if empty :rolleyes:).

All new drivers should be made to drive something big and ungainly like this - would teach them patience and road awareness in spades

(Oh, but the day the driver side wheel bearing gave up the ghost at 120km/h on the motorway... cars are just too comfortable and reliable these days, there's no 'war stories' left to tell )

Howzat in the "embarassment" stakes so far ?

SouperComputer

First car was a 1979 Fiat Ritmo given to me by my uncle to toy about with IIRC I was about 13/14 at the time. It was presented in hand-painted black

Lamb-of-jasus did I learn how to fix cars from that $hitheap. The electrics were so fooked up that the speedo jumped when you hit the horn. Was an absolute bitch to start, if it wasn't cranked at the right speed it just would point blank refuse to fire. Had to do all kinds to things to keep it going, rebuilt master cylinder and calipers, replaced brake pipes (one failed at an unopportune time), wheel bearing and all kinds of fun stuff.

Then when I was 15, a Gard of all people gave me a 1978 Audi 80. Dampers were dead but other than that it just needed plugs, points and a bit of cleaning up. I sold it for 200 quid and managed to get the good (IE almost new) tyres off it.

First "legal" car was a '93 Sunny 1.4 import. Got me from A to B and could just about crack triple digits with 3 passengers.

JoeySully

Well i learned to drive in a 1972 Mercedes Denz 220D LHD
It had power steering it would want to when the steering wheel was huge and i was only 10. the merk symbol on the bonnet was the only thing i could see out the front even with a pillow. The pedal handbrake was soo nice for take offs. Think i only stalled it once. drove it around a field with my dad a few times then he told me to take it on my own up and down the road (yes the joys of growing up in the country) . it was later sold and the engine was transplanted into an escort and the shell to rot i belive
Mercedes-Benz_220D (Small).JPG
After that was the exact opposite - a 1975 Fiat 133
lovely little car 750cc engine rear wheel drive and the engine in the back

oh and no im not 40

RobbieMc

Hi,

My first Car was a 1976 Fiat 126 "Bambino" Hand painted red & black.
Bought from a scrap yard for £50 irish pounds with only one cylinder running.
Kept it for a couple of years before rust took over and she was scrapped.
2nd and 3rd cars were also Bambinos.
Learnt a lot from those babies.

Rob

Churchy

'88 Nissan Bluebird 2.0D

PauloMN

ambro25 wrote:

Howzat in the "embarassment" stakes so far ?

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! Mind you, the hand-painted Bambino and Cortina take runner-up prizes!

biko

dudara

My Dad bought me a little old 1984 Polo when I was in college and working at home for the summer (1997). The next summer, I was given my mother's old car, a 1990 Lancia Prisma 1.6i. What a step up

Thinking back though, I actually learned to drive in a Toyota Dyna flatbed jeep that my Dad used for hauling things around.

Bluefoam

1978 Ford Fiesta, in 1997, it was nearly as old as me. Had leatherette on the door panels, brushed aluminium dash & brown cloth seats - was so retro cool. I put in a pioneer head unit & 8 speakers- the sound system was worth more than the car. In fact I sold the sounds a couple of years later for a couple of hundred pounds, the car was scrapped..

macco66

1990 Opel Corsa, complete with clothes hanger aerial. S?*t box, but loved it all the same!

cantdecide

'93 Fiat Tipo 1.4, grey (bought in 2000). Surprisingly nice to drive. £800 to buy, almost £4,000 to insure:rolleyes: - those were the days. I'd love some of that money back.

PauloMN

JoeySully wrote:

After that was the exact opposite - a 1975 Fiat 133
lovely little car 750cc engine rear wheel drive and the engine in the back

oh and no im not 40

Never seen/heard of a 133 before, looks like a cross between a 127 and a 126. Maybe I did see them and assumed they were 126/7s.

Atomic Pineapple

learned to drive in a 98 1400cc escort

my first car was a 01 1.25zetec fiesta

mick.fr

PauloMN wrote:

Engine was so lacking in power that the air con had to be turned off before attempting an overtake.

WOA looooooooooooool funcking good.

JoeySully

PauloMN wrote:

Never seen/heard of a 133 before, looks like a cross between a 127 and a 126. Maybe I did see them and assumed they were 126/7s.

It was imported from holland - dont htink it was sopd in ireland

car was bought by someone a few years ago for retoration i think - hopefully its back to its former glory

fiat 133 history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_133

endplate

bought my first car in '95 an '89 1.3L toyota corolla h/b. I imported it myself from the north. It was a better speced car then it's southern buddies also the exchange rate was in my favour with the punt almost equal to the sterling made a great saving too. I kept it for 1.5 years and moved up to a '95 civic

JHMEG

1985 Civic 1.3, with electric nothing, and spots of primer everywhere that looked like polyfilla. Never gave an ounce of trouble, and was going strong 17 years later in the care of my brother when it was stolen and never seen again.

eamon234

A '92 Nissan Micra van (in 1995) I was in a band at the time and I drove all over the place you wouldn't believe the amount of crap I could fit in the back of it! I had two seats in the back as well lol you wouldn't get away with that these days. I remember getting stopped by a Gard one night driving through Salthill on the way to a gig - car full of gear arse hitting the ground - two lads in the front seat and another squashed under the gear in the back - he nearly wet himself laughing and just waved us on.. ah those were the days
I put about 100k up on her in two years and the only thing that went was the gearbox (and I can't blame it for that!)

-avey-

96 astra, really comfortable car n passed my test in it after failin in my instructors car :eek: have a megane now but prefer d astra :rolleyes:

Gatster

Long story, but at 17 I bought a Black E21 BMW 320i with an OEM Alpina bodykit/wheels and Factory Recaros, must dig out a picture. Wish I still had it, and had somewhere to put it. Had to sell it when I couldn't afford the insurance renewal...:(

In a way it scarred me for life, I can't ever buy a 'normal' car and be happy

Schism

Churchy wrote:

'88 Nissan Bluebird 2.0D

Legend of a car! There's still have an '86 one at home which will be refurbished sometime.

My first car was a '91 Toyota Corolla van, 1.8 Diesel. Made lots of noise (there was a hole in the exhaust) but didnt really move that fast...

colm_mcm

Punto Sporting

Fastest new car I could insure at the time

Barr

Renault 5 , roadholding was so good as I was driving round a sharp bend it turned 180 degrees so i finished up facing the wrong direction

tyney

Anan1 wrote:

Unfortunately so, the crazy neighbour ended up setting fire to it. I do still have a load of brand new spare parts for it, maybe one day i'll buy another and fit them to that.

Ahem,,,,, what sort of parts? I could find a good home for them.

Sorry, off topic..............1st car-mk 2 ford capri cringe cringe. was cool at the time, then it wasn't, now it's sort of cool again

sc4rf4ce

mine was a 92 honda civic ferio. looked like a banger, but drove like a dream.
as it was a jap import so had all the works.

skibum

Mine was a bright yellow MK1 Golf, bought for £400, my insurance was over £800. Great little car, I knew it was a little rusty but after just over a year of abuse the front suspension collapsed while going over a level crossing , lucky for me I had enough momentum to clear the crossing in a shower of sparks
Looking back I don't think it would have passed an nct

Esel

tyney wrote:

1st car-mk 2 ford capri cringe cringe. was cool at the time, then it wasn't, now it's sort of cool again

Capri was never cool, imo!

W115 Mercedes-Benz 200 (manual)

Speedway

well i got my licence when i was 17 and I always drove my dads cars. Then I lived in boston for 6 months and bought a 1993 chevy lumina for $1500 with some friends.That car broke our hearts, nearly killed us when the front left suspension collapsed coming off the highway!!

Then last year I bought my first proper car of my own - a 2004 fiat stilo coupe. LOVED it, then it broke my heart too.

dogmatix

Learned to drive in a late 80's Nissan Cherry. First car was a early 90's Rover 214 (with no power steering). The Rover was a lovely comfy car to drive - when it was working.