Memories

[Pops]

[yoshi]

Re: Memories

I wonder how much these are... want to drive for a while.
yoshi

[Pops]

Re: Memories

I wonder how much these are... want to drive for a while.
yoshi

I took them at a Old Ford Motor event locally yoshi. There were lots to see but the parking arrangements made photographing some of them very difficult.

[Mike Parr]

Re: Memories

Takes me back to my childhood........ all the well of people had one..........a car

[Ian]

Re: Memories

I passed my driving test in a 20 year old Austin Cambridge A55 Mark II - no syncro on first gear! That was in 1980...

Ian

[Mike Parr]

Re: Memories

I owned an Austin A35 found it in an old garage bought it, been stood for 5 years, 2 tyres, new flexible brake hoses for a mini, ran it for 3 years went through every Mot. the old crank handle was a godsend in winter!

[al_kaholik]

Re: Memories

Excellent. I love to see older cars around and running about

[Pops]

Re: Memories

Excellent. I love to see older cars around and running about

They were all in immaculate condition and in daily use.

[OlyPaul]

Re: Memories

Nice andI love the old Zephyr 6 it brings back memories.

[al_kaholik]

Re: Memories

That is what I like to see. I used to eeun a beetle as a daily. I will again soon

[Caz]

Re: Memories

It makes you wonder what your old car would have been worth today if you'd kept it... these are all beautiful examples.

However, all the early cars I can remember my father owning were problematical: my earliest "car" memory of him at the age of 8 (after he'd adopted me) was of him sitting in the engine compartment of a Ford Popular fiddling with something before putting the engine back... never did like that car as I either used to be sick or fall asleep. Nothing to do with travel sickness, just a leaky exhaust so I was suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Then there was the Triumph Herald which shed a wheel as we were returning from the Norfolk coast, the Cortina estate with the dodgy gearbox...

I did no better with my early cars: my first being a 1959 Morris Minor, originally post-office grey, which I hand painted pillar box red (no air cleaner, it went through a couple of pairs of tights a month); a 1965 Mini (gearbox splines went, drove round with tinfoil for a month till they found a replacement); a Renault Dauphine (choke had packed up, had to open the boot and hand prime it before I attempted to start it).

Oh yes, those were the days....

[al_kaholik]

Re: Memories

Dedication to me was being ridiculed be everyone at school for driving a rusty '72 beetle that I'd bought with my own money with doors from the beetle I'd bought before and cut my teeth dismantling.

No heat at all. Ice on the windscreen, inside that is(!) And no way to clear it except scrape it away! Some carbon monoxide leaked, bad oily smell too. I advanced from an 1972 L model to a poverty spec 1970A in 2005! I had a polo then went back to a '77 import with fuel injection and air con (yes I was amazed too that it had it all...) Before laying it up and having my polo now. The beetle is destined for greater things on a chassis I've been building for a number of years.

I drove the 72 and 70 daily then later the 77. Again I will drive my tax free 72 GT beetle but with significant upgrades! Modern luxury, classic styling , killer performance. What more could one want?

[al_kaholik]

Re: Memories

Forgot to say what happened to them...

GMB 538K - '72 beetle - scrapyard in the sky, probably became a beach buggy because was tax exempt
HDH 161H - '70 beetle - went to a collector in Ireland. Classic example of 'Cal look' without the big engine
H512 BHG - Polo saloon - probably stacked by new owner, a rare car and true workhorse
'77 beetle - currently in storage
'72 GT Beetle - currently in storage
'93 Polo - currently daily crapbox!..

[Mowgli]

Re: Memories

Nostalgia is a great thing, the problem is you look at all these old cars that have had a fortune spent on them to bring them back to "original" and yes I love to see them but like Caz says they weren't that reliable back then, damp mornings the engine wouldnt start, drum brakes where they pulled to one side on braking, batteries that went flat, manual chokes that were sometimes useless. My first car was a Hillman Imp (yes I can hear your laughter) and they were prone to overheating head gaskets blowing etc. I look at these oldies and admire the people who lovely restore them but I wouldnt like one on a permanent basis now.

Oh and the pictures are great Pop`s not a sign of rust anywhere.. oh and thats another thing.. ( I`ll shut up shall I?)
Mowgli

[al_kaholik]

Re: Memories

I would have driven my rusty '72 anywhere. I had planned a trip back to the factory with it which was only quashed by my mother, the old man was well up for coming with me! My '93 water pumper I don't trust to get me that far.

Reliability is an electro mechanical auto choke, simple single carburetor, a single dial on the dash with two 'idiot lights' and no heated rear windscreen.

Drum brakes were/are as efficient as discs if they aren't being stressed. With a beetle top speed of around 90mph with a 1600 50bhp engine and GT high ratio 'box and a tail wind the brakes would never fade.

Nearly always started on the key, if not was light enough to bump start with a slight push (mechanical fuel pump meant it was good to go when the engine started!) And points/carb made it even easier...

In comparison I'm building a beetle that steps up from two relays, three switches and an ignition, coil, condenser and rotor/dissy with air cooling to 11 relays, 6 switches plus ignition, oil pressure and temperature, water temperature, coil pack, ECU and water cooling and electric water pump.

Like I said, I honestly would drive an unknown air cooled anywhere over an unknown water cooled. Paris to Dakar? No problem, where do I sign up?