So what did your parents embarass you with by driving when you were a kid?

Back in the 1970s and early '80s in addition to some half-decent cars (Honda S800, MG Midgets, MGB GT's, Mini 1275GT, Capri) we had a few spectacular horrors:

Datsun 120A (same colour as this one)





Austin Allegro (bright blue)



Talbot Solara (bright blue one and BRG one)



TR7 (brown 5 sp and a red auto)



Beat that!

Taking the bus would have been less embarassing!

 

Cant beat that. But they did have 2 talbot Alpines, first one written off when so oldie came round corner on wrong side of road, the car was parked BTW. So they replaced with another.

 

theres two that horrify me to this day.

my dads was exactly the same, used to lean to one side on roundabouts


my dads one of these was in Citreon gold, that had faded a little.

 

You win!!

 

*hangs head in shame*

2 BL montego's!!!!

 

Probably an old Escort van or an Austin Metro - both were terrible.

Mum and Dad had mostly decent cars when I grew up, then got skint so had a couple of shockers.

My introduction to petrol included a Lancia Beta Turbo, a new BMW 323i, mk1 Golf GTi no.7 in the UK, three Porsches, three uR Quattros, a 400bhp Ford P100 pickup, a 300bhp Mitsi Shogun and loads more!

My grandad had one of those Datsuns though - in beige...

 

All of them were bad!!!

 

Been pretty lucky with my Dad. Always had decent cars. Growing up, he always had Capri's. The only 2 I remember were the 3.0S & 2.8i. The 3.0S was knicked after 3 years, so he bought a new 2.8i. That got knicked after 4 weeks.

P!ssed off, he bought a brand new Sierra 1.6L. The slowest car he'd ever had, or would ever have again. Quickly realising it was ****, he got rid and bought a XR4i.

From there went XR4x4, Sierra Cosworth 4x4, then moved marques to Audi. Had 2.8 Quattro, S4's, RS4, to present R8.

 

Most of them to be honest (many Volvo boxes over the years)

Earliest I remember:

MkII Escort Estate (not bad I suppose)



Citroen DS Safari (getting better)



Mk4 Cortina (shockingly bad)



Volvo 145 (in this very hideous Orange colour)



Volvo 240 (think we had a couple of these )



Current is a Volvo 940



and a Peugeot Motorhome



So as you can see apart from the Citroen, all pretty bad

 

My parents didn't have too many car's over the years.

When I was born my mum had a mk1 fiesta van [sold]
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...t_20071023.jpg

My dad had a Gold Escort Estate [sold]
http://img1.abload.de/img/imagen24u3dm.jpg

things improved a touch, my mum bought a 1982 brown Cavalier 1.6 L [sold]
http://imcdb.org/images/046/433.jpg

My dad bought a new black Porsche 924 in 1983 [sold]
http://www.allsportauto.com/photoaut...e_924_05_m.jpg

The 924 was then replaced with a 1986 black 924 [sold]
http://www.356-911.com/post1974/mode...24slemans1.jpg

We moved house to the country side, and a 4x4 was deemed necessary for poor weather driving.

My mum then bought a 1987 Shogun 2.5D SWB [sold]
http://www.rearviewed.com/wp-content...generation.jpg

In 1989 my dad bought a golf mk2 syncro and my mum bought a 1989 Shogun 2.4 petrol SWB in the same colour? [sold]
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...2052005001.jpg
http://www.autobild.de/ir_img/57794704_06dce25789.jpg

He thought the golf was ****e and bought a facelift Audi quattro coupe 2.2 n/a after driving the turbo [ex demo late ‘98] and decided it looked dated <cry>
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...rofileside.jpg

In 1995 my mum bought a Disco TDI S. [sold]
http://cdn.motors.co.uk/d/used-photo.../9/M937CWK.jpg

In 1996 my mum bought a Range Rover 2.5 DSE [sold]
http://www.mycarwallpapers.com/image...-dse-26605.jpg

In 2001 my mum bought a Ranger Rover 2.5 DHSE [sold]
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...s/DSC_0045.jpg

In 2002 my dad bought a 1998 Porsche 996 C4 cab. [sold]
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...y2006003-5.jpg

In 2004 my mum bought a Range Rover 4.4 Vogue
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...10-04_1740.jpg

In 2006 my mum bought a ‘03 Smart 4-2 passion cabriolet.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...g?t=1250264694

They are retired now so use the Range between them.

 

Not the best







Biggest pile of CRAP EVER:


Actually really good car nothing ever went wrong with:


And again, not great, but nothings ever gone wrong with it!:

 

My dad had a mint MK1 1600 GT XLR Capri, overbored, quite quick, then I had that and he had the Golf GTI I won off the daily mirror, now has a MG ZT which I have to say is a really nice motor, not for a Rover but just a really nice car, better than my Saab 9-3.

My mum started off with a Marina TC in Purple, with red Vinyl seats covered with ratty seat covers, a peg on the choke to keep it at the right level, then my Grandads Princess 1.8 HL, brown with beige interior, ok not a great car but the ride was superb and the space in the back like a limo, have to say as well, it wasnt flat "Turd" brown but a mettalic which had red flecks in it and it was a lovely colour, I have fond memories of all the cars however crap or not.

My dad used to buy and sell cars so we used to go in everything from back then, was very fond of Viva's for some reason, especially the estate, Chevettes as well, my uncle had a bright orange Magnum 2.3 which was a bit of an animal, sooo torquey.

 

used tu get took tu school in a ford anglia in which it had a sunroof in the floorused to put my head down case any off my mates saw me being dropped off

 

Austin allegro in green
Lada Riva in blue
Lada Riva estate in blue

 

Vinyl seats in the summer


Rusty heap


Curious thing


MG was under-rated


Better than the V6


Smooth


Nik

 

My Dad had sh1te cars when I could first remember them, an Austin A40 was the first I only know this through old photo's, then I remember the odd Cortina, then a Lada that wasnt a Lada ( a Polski Fiat I think ).

We had long spells of no car, or broken car upthe path, or no Dad.

Then he went to work on the rigs, apparently. :suss:

When he came back I remember cars like 2000E Cortina, 3lt Capri, 3500SDi Rovers, 535csi BMW..... and now more recent a Focus, Fiesta, Fusion.

 

Numerous Skodas when they were neither any good or popular. Had them throughout my childhood and he still runs them today. I remember getting excited when he considered a diesel mk1 golf - again before anyone else was stupid enough

 

Oh the embarrassment my dad sold a 635Csi for a Talbot Rancho the shame of it all.

 

The Austin Princess was probably the worst looking car my Dad ever had. Weirdly, he liked it so much he bought another.

I can remember as a 6 year old boy, before rear seat belts, how I used to use the rear armrest as a booster seat which would have been the perfect launch position for me to head off through the windscreen if we ever came a cropper.......

Anyway, as far as I can remember, the history was

1976 P reg Cortina. Got scrapped because the spare wheel fell through the boot floor due to rust.
1978 T reg Austin Princess with vinyl roof.
1982 Austin Princess with vinyl roof £750
1984 Austin Maestro 1.6L Paid £3200 for it
1985 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6. It wasnt even an 'L' model. Didnt have a rear washwipe even though it was a hatchback. I can always remember him doing 110mph on the M6 in it. From this moment on, I was hooked on 'fast' cars. Paid £3200
1986 Vauxhall Carlton 1.8 GL. It had a radio cassette with digital readout. £3995
1989 F reg Rover Montego 1.6L Dad used to wheelspin this on gravel£4295

Then he had a mid-life crisis and bought.....

1990 H reg Ford Orion 1.6i Ghia. This car was the shnooks. An XR3i with 4 doors!! Leccy windows, amplifier, rear headrests. I turned 16 at this point so regularly took it for a drive when Mum and Dad were at the pub......till I crashed it. £5995
1992 K reg Volvo 460Li £5995
1995 M reg Volvo 440Li £6295

Then things went a bit lairy...

1994 L reg Rover 820 Vitesse turbo. £1000. Dont ask
1997 R reg Vitesse turbo £6995

V reg Vectra SRi 130 £7995
1996 P reg Jaguar XJ6 Sport £8995
55 plte Vectra 2.2diesel £10995
now a 57 plate BMW 320d


So in the space of 24 years, he has gone from a 4 speed Austin Princess to a 57 plate BMW 320d. Makes you wonder what we'll be driving in 2030?????

 

a car before its time -- a 4x4 without the 4x4

fantastic

probably the ******* father of the Frontera

 

That's another 4x4 i drove the Frontera ( L reg i think ), sooooo slooooow ( torque didn't exist in this ) didn't it have the 2.0ltr Cavalier engine in it ?.

 

Some did, saw one this morning, tragic old sh1tter.

 

just lie down on the couch ScooByer and tell me all about it

just let it all out -- you will feel better

 

I remember the heater matrix blowing in it and a puddle of water in the passenger footwell.

 

Fukc there's some proper daily sh1tters there. I can't compete with them.

 

I am sure there is more but these are the 2 that stick out for me

 

This was ours - in poo brown.

 

Every car my parents have ever had has been ****e. In order as best I can remember:

Ford Corsair V4: my Dad claims this was the worst car he's ever owned. I don't remember what was wrong with it but it must've been bad when you see the rest of the list.

Austin Allegro x 2. The wheel fell off one if them twice so it got replaced by the second one. The wheel fell off that.

Vauxhall Viva HC estate. I remember this car with great affection. It got scrapped when it was 8 years old because of rust. Imagine having to throw away a 51 plate Vectra...

Triumph Acclaim. Truly awful in every way. Beige.

Austin 1300 (bought for my mums business). Another car I loved as a kid. Quarterlight windows in the front and sliding windows in the back.

Austin Maxi HL. Used to cut out if you tried to overtake anything. Terrifying.

Austin Montego L. Sunroof and two-tone paintwork.

Austin Ambassador. Slowest. Car. Ever.

Citroën BX 1.4. Why, when the diesels were actually pretty good?

Vauxhall Corsa Sport. Not a bad motor, actually.

Vauxhall Meriva. Again, why?

 

Talbot Solara!

OMG i had forgotten all about the horror Solara that my dad had

Pops had a various assortment of Austin Princess cars for some reason, but the worst one ever, was the BROWN FIAT ARGENTA with brown everything, seats, dash, you name it, it was brown, and horrible.

I can remember my dad waffling on once about argentina, just before he drifted it around the corner in some snow

He looked more scared then me pmsl!