Voitures Anciennes

[curtis]

Interesting. My wife bought one new, before I met her, and it was still going strong many years later. It was only when the rusted sills became less attractive for the CT that it went for scrap; It was not treated too kindly over the years but performed well.

[DominicBest]

My father bought a Citröen AX 1.5 diesel and loved it. It was only about 2 years old when he bought it but had done 90,000 miles and had an interesting history. It had belonged to a man who collected the money paid into telescopes at tourist locations around SouthWest England. The high mileage was due to him having to be on the road most of the time. It was a good little car but it’s USP was that it would average about 90 mpg.

[Niftyons]

‘ The worst car I ever owned ‘

Where do I begin ?

A fFord. Both the 100 E and the Zephyr Executive.

Then, there was the Bond that broke down half an our after I drove it out of Frimly Auctions.
By the time I went back for it it had gone.

But, I have had some great wrecks in my time.

[RobertArthur]

@ Curtis, a Fiat 500 as a nice birthday present, toys for boys and girls.

[Hotrodder]

The new "retro" version (in my humble opinion) of the 500 is the best of the "retros". The VW beetle comes second, and the new Mini is the poorest of the lot.

[RobertArthur]

Last week I walked around a new retro mini. Did I like it? No, only the logo reminded me vaguely of the sixties. Headlights also more modern than really retro. Not the real thing, tiny as it may be in today's traffic.

[Wilbro]

I loved my little 60's Mini Cooper. Great fun and parking? Ace.

[DominicBest]

The new "retro" version (in my humble opinion) of the 500 is the best of the "retros". The VW beetle comes second, and the new Mini is the poorest of the lot.

I think that this photo says it all. The yellow one is a first generation BMW Mini, they’ve grown even more since then.

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[DominicBest]

‘ The worst car I ever owned ‘

Where do I begin ?

A fFord. Both the 100 E and the Zephyr Executive.

Then, there was the Bond that broke down half an our after I drove it out of Frimly Auctions.
By the time I went back for it it had gone.

But, I have had some great wrecks in my time.

The worst cars that I owned were far from wrecks in fact they were both brand new. The first was a mid 1990s SAAB 900s, it was so awful dynamically. It was far too heavy and cornered like a 2CV. It lurched into corners then the poor suspension and heavy body took over. It was also very thirsty, I rarely saw 20 mpg and for a car with a 2 litre 16 valve engine producing 140BHP it was slow. On top of that it was a bit like travelling in a coal mine, the interior was dark and cramped. The other was even more surprising. In 2003 I bought an Audi A4 Cabriolet with a 2.5 litre V6 engine. It was awful to drive and it lasted a year.
Some of the bangers I've owned have been brilliant. I bought an elderly Opel Frontera to use as a tow car and expected very little from it. It cost €500, was metallic blue and looked like a Tonka toy. It gave me six years of trouble free motoring, was brilliant on the snow through German winters and my children loved it. A old Daihatsu Charade that I bought from a neighbour when I needed a car at very short notice was a pleasant surprise as well. You didn't have to rev it to its 8000 rpm red line but having done so it became a bit of an addiction. It too was trouble free and surprisingly nice to drive.
PS My father had a Mk 4 Ford Executive. It was awful.

[Hotrodder]

Interesting comment about the old bangers that turned out to be surprisingly good.
I have had similar experiences with several 105e Anglias. I never paid more than about £50 for one. Usually MOT failures on brakes and rotten cills. A day or two on my back with a welder and the "job's a good'un". Many miles of useful (if gutless) travel until another MOT took them off the road for good. I even rented one to a neighbour for about 6 months. He wanted to keep his Rover 2000 safe from the building sites he was having to negotiate in his trade as a painter.
The other car was an Austin Allegro. Bought it for the mrs. to use while I her Fiesta Ghia was repaired after being involved in a motorway pileup. Truthfully I couldn't fault it for reliability but I must admit, it could induce seasickness on winding roads.