Practically Classics Forum

LOVELY car John, mine had been my Great Uncles and then my Dads first, we fetched a rusty 490 back from Manchester to Leyland, no MOT etc straight down the Mway cause it didn't matter then did it? Axles, brakes, engine all swapped over then said 490 chopped into 4 pieces. Oh, and he put the best sounding klaxon on it for me.

No log book changes, engineers reports, insurance changes etc either back then, my dad had a hell of a knack for removing engine markings and capacities with an angle grinder and file......such innocent days , it was also surprising how a set of plates and tax disc from say one escort mark two would fit another just so.... I had a few slightly improved motors and bikes with various bits of file marks around cylinders and blocks , (of course if any officers of the law should read that I of course made it up in a walter Mitty fashion and deny all)and now I always inform the appropriate bodies nowadays of any changes

I never kept a car or bike above a couple of months back then, except for the VX which went in storage when I felt a need for change, when I finally did sell it I even bought it back before finally selling it back to the mate I originally sold (and bought it back from). It went to the scrappers with an awkward hole above the axle after that, I was offered it back for free first but was too busy loving my eighteen year old wife at the time to take it on........she'd have no chance now, must rue the day we had enough to get homes with garages

VFJ573, a Sage green Morris Minor 1000 4 door of 1958 vintage.

In my mispent youth, it got rattle canned white, but that looked pants so a 'mate' got me some Jenolite paint from work, so the mortal sin of brushpainting it took place It suffered the indignity of a jack up kit I found on a Moggy in the local scrappy fitted, and the front dropped on the torsion bars for that 70s look. Was lethal though, accelerate and the hangers would twist so it'd rear wheel steer one one, let off, and they'd twist the other. Needless to say, they didn't last long.

Thankfully, sanity returned, and it was repainted yet again in BL Tahiti blue professionally, fitted with SD1 seats and tasteful* Weller 8 spokes, before eventually being sold for a bloody bmw!

mach1rob wrote: so a 'mate' got me some Jenolite paint from work, so the mortal sin of brushpainting it took place

Reminds me a story my parents recall, of the late Peter Cottrell, painting his Lotus Bristol (NOY 1), in the paddock at Shelsley Walsh. The Shelsley paddock was prone to be a bit dusty and with Peter's ever present fag, the paint didn't stand much chance. Nevertheless, after practice, Peter opened a tin of yellow Valspar and with 4 inch brush in one hand and a fag in the other, he set to work

Just for Martin,

One rusty Moggie 4 door



One fully welded moggie, roller and tip painted (vapormatic tractor paint), lowered front torsion bars, with cut down range rover grill and obligatory sunvisor ( and I only got rid of it last year)




No rear jack up kit though, that would have been too scary with a lightly tuned marina engine

I will try and dig out some photos, but being a 16/17 year old yoof with a small collection of Street Machine and Custom Car mags, what would you expect???

I had a 1968 Morris Mini Deluxe. Aussie-made spec with factory windup window doors and 998cc engine. White with dark red vynil trim, it was NSW registration AJR413. I fitted reverse offset rims, a Cooper S rear badge (of course!!) temp gauge and and a silly ten inch steering wheel. I learnt to drive in this car, but then I only had it about 18 months before selling it to buy a Holden Gemini.

That Mini survives to this day, although it's now pretty much a Cooper S replica on a different numberplate.

A 1977 Triumph Titfireite 1400 ('Cos it's a Spitfire 1500 with a Tolomite 1300 engine...). You can read all about it in the cars section of this forum!

It was a 1975 MK2 Ford escort 1100 popular in sahara beige. I got this in 1982 with about 70,000 miles on the clock, evil body work and tired engine. Still had lots of fun in it.

First car aged 18 BMW Isetta
Second car BMW Isetta
Third Car Messerschmitt Kr200 - I still own this

First sensible car - Citroen BX17RD D328 PUS

About 1978 I bought a Fiat 850 Sport as a non runner. I kept it in my sisters garage and after a few youthful attempts to get it running left it alone. There it stayed for a couple of years until eventually the scrap man took it away. I think I had to pay for it to be taken as well! How times have changed. The Fiat would probably be worth a small fortune now and the scrap man would be paying me. A couple of motorbikes later I bought a Sunbeam Rapier fastback. It always overheated due to head gasket problems and despite having the head skimmed and rebuilt I never cured it. I'm fairly confident that even now I could take the head off a Rapier blindfolded. I think this was a fairly common problem and maybe it would have been easier if Rootes had put their cylinder heads on with Velcro. The Rapier cleaned me out for a few years and my next car was a Mark 1V Cortina.