Those where the days.....

[barney]

first car i legally drove on the road was a fiat 124 specialt, belonging to my oul fella.car was a 1975 with a 1600cc engine and a 5speed box. what a car, magnificent engine but bodies lasted no time. saw one on net recently at £6500 with only 38000 certified miles and garaged since new . ours ended up scrapped and dumped in a bog in mayo.

[Stig]

fresh veedub Steve, Mexican?

[Steve]

Yup, via Germany (the original owner won it in a competition run by a supermarket chain there), great fun!

[voomvoom]

first car i legally drove on the road was a fiat 124 specialt, belonging to my oul fella.car was a 1975 with a 1600cc engine and a 5speed box. what a car, magnificent engine but bodies lasted no time. saw one on net recently at £6500 with only 38000 certified miles and garaged since new . ours ended up scrapped and dumped in a bog in mayo.

Reminds me of an english couple we know who bought a cottage near Athea west Limerick. Well they were having a bit of bother in the loo department and got someone with a digger to suss out the septic tank. Guess what they found....All the sewer was being piped in the back window of a buried fiat 127 what that the greenies go on about ...reduce reuse recycle.

[penelopepitstop]

This was the first love of my life! It may aswell have been a rolls royce but it was butchered by a robbing mechanic and it was never the same again Then I grew up But I have thought about getting a Morris Traveller instead of the Terios for the transportation of dogs and Mother ! Think I might miss the air con though?

[voomvoom]

With me it was fiat x-19. I had two of em (I was called Fix It Again Tony). We had great adventures and I sometimes hanker when I see a clean one for sale but like Ivan says not the same goin back to one coz as cool and handsome as they were ultimately they were tormenting slow and rubbish. I was fortunate to get a day in a boxer in 97 (buddy hired it for his wedding..git couldn't use it coz the vino so we did ) lovely got 135 out of it on b road. But without doubt the car most missed in this gaff was our beloved black 87 honda prelude . It was an imported 2 litre twin cam 4 wheel steer with a bit of mugen engine fettling and I swear I haven't had anything close since. she was able to run with cossies but pass them when they broke. In 3 years only tyres & oil.l Sold her at a barely run 13 years and the next buyer had 4 more trouble free ones before selling.. I'm getting teary just blah blubber

[johnc55]

Hmmm...


morris minor traveller - starting handle most useful feature and never had to get a jump start....

Did you manage to avoid breaking your wrist with the crank handle???

Yep! Learned the technique of not wrapping your thumb around the handle... the hard way!

[TeenaG]

With me it was fiat x-19. I had two of em (I was called Fix It Again Tony)....

Finally, after all this time I now almost know someone who drove a Fiat X1.9...!! When other gals were pinning up posters of Chips on their bedroom walls (motorcycle cops, not greasy treats) I was pinning up the X...!

My first car on the road was a thing called a Sunbeam Rapier (dad's). It was dull gunmetal grey, had a walnut dash, windows that closed diagonally, and a starting handle - which meant I usually couldn't get it going unless there was a passing boy.... Went modern a bit later with a Ford Fiesta that felt like it was doing 120mph @ 40. (also dad's). Pranged a wing behind dad's back, and some local lads spent three days hiding the car and trying to match the very peculiar shade of blue it was painted! Can't remember their names now, but at the time I loved them dearly!

[Stig]

Good thread this.........

The x-19 ehhhhhhhhh, my brother bought one of those donkeys ago and partically restored it in the shed @ home - its was rotten as a pear! Still, he was a 16year old apprentice mechanic at the time so it made for a good "learner" fixer up'er. He then got in motorbikes and burds , so he sold the x19.

My first car was a Citroen AX GTI (but not the best), in Red with a Donegal reg. Bought it for £840. It was a 1.4 with a sporty interior and nice bucket seats......I drove the SHITE out of it for 1 year, and traded it for a mk2 golf GTI and got £1200 on a trade in It never really gave me any trouble, the gearbox did go, but was easily sourced and replaced.........
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, those were the days............

[jaybond]

It got me from point A to point B.

[Ivan]

The fiat x19 I was a big fan of that myself but then the mr2
came along in 1985 86. They where out of my price range when I started
driving so it was either the AXGT or the R5 gt turbo.
Ended up with the Renault 5 mad car but broke my heart
couldn't gt more than a few miles without a water leak
or clutch cable breaking. I'm dissapponted to hear the ax was so
reliable Ollie.

[Medic5]

SNAP...... My first car was a Renault 5 GTi Look a like, bodykit, alloys the works. Had a 1.1 engine and a massive hole in the roof.... I mean a sun roof!!!!

Swopped it after a few months for a Renault Clio RX 1.4!
Had a few more in between but when I built up my NCB with insurance and bought a Mazda Mx3 1.6, 16V, DOHC............ 'cos I could not afford the Mx5!!!! But that's when I got the BUG!!!!!

Could not wait to buy a 5......................and years later finally got it, in BRG THE BEST COLOUR!!!!!

[robmx5]

First car was a Mini 850 in a beautiful brown colour - took me and the missus all over the country - great car - remember driving between Clifden and Westport in this type of weather with a large hole in the floor - funny watching puddles from the inside of your car - then had a Renault 9 - crap car - moved onto a Suzuki Swift - japimport - good car and had extra lights in the indicators so that when you went around a corner at nighttime it lit up the corner - very useful idea - surprised it never caught on - then had the best car - an '84 Honda Civic 1.6 - fabulous car - took us all over Europe camping - stuck to the road like a train on tracks - also drove fathers old Ford Cortina E's, Ford Granadas, Ford Capris - now he has a Yaris !!
My father always wanted a 2-seater sports car so he has all the brochues for the X1/9 and Triumph TR7 etc.. but he never got to live his dream

Spideog

[leamyj]

Seems to be a pattern here because my first car was a bog-standard renault 5, way back in 1983...showing my vintage here.
Obviously we have a liking for the number 5

[TeenaG]

SNAP......and years later finally got it, in BRG THE BEST COLOUR!!!!!

BEHAVE......