Independent Leyton Orient Forum

What was your first car?
Mine was a 1964 HA Vauxhall Viva.

1957 Morris Minor

1963 Mini

Like RC I also had an HA Viva. Almost a daily occurrence to pop the distributor cap off and clean and adjust points.

2010 Hyundai i30. The steering column failed after 6 weeks and I had to effectively scrap it.

@ Milano and @ Ralphs Coate Morris Minor and HA Vauxhall Viva. Both nice little cars, worked on both of those models and briefly owned a Morris Minor Traveller ( the one one with the wood frame on the rear part. ) Unfortunately the Minor failed the mot due to a rusty floor, at the time, the welding repair would have cost far more money than the Morris Minor was worth. In those days, it cost a fortune to get car welding repairs done, so it ended getting scrapped ! Around 6 years after that, I had been on a government welding course and became a factory maintenance man e.g fitter welder, had purchased my own welder and started welding up cars at the weekends ! So what was a big and expensive welding job for me in around 1970, by 1976 had become a job I could do easily for myself and others ! I guess that to buy an old Morris Minor Traveller, well going by prices on the net, now would be around £10,000 give or take a few thousand pounds. As to an HA Vauxhall Viva well one going here ( I dont know if it got sold ? )
''1964 VAUXHALL VIVA HA DELUXE GREEN Sale price: £2,950.00'' http://car-from-uk.com/sale.php?id=38926&country=uk

Triumph Herald with sunroof i think 1960 model i passed test in 74. Paid £11 for it, put seats in from a scrapper, got body shop to paint it up and tidy body work. Sunroof had a winding handle mechanism with pull knobs on dash. First time i drove it was a lesson with my dad, we pulled up near allotments close to the Orient. The heavens opened up pi.sing down with rain and dad said "Put the Wipers on", i did and they both fell off lol!!
Absoloutely loved that car great memories.

1967 vauxhall viva with a furry dashboard.pile of crap

A Reliant Supervan ( absolutely nothing super about it ). This was Del Boy's car of choice- it was not a Reliant Robin. I had 2 of those, as I moved up in the the World. Now, while you are all sniggering, I drove it to Slovenia and got home again ( how many of you have done that in a 4 wheeler & that was 1973? ). Also managed to fit 8 maybe 9 girls in it ( we were all a lot slimmer in those days )!

1 litre white mini metro- with a large sticker of a woman dancing on the bonnet- the ultimate prat mobile.

Haven't got one yet in my forties and Haven't passed my test

Mk1 Ford Consul Cortina 1200

1949 side valve Morris Minor. The block was made of iron and one night the water hose sprung a leak, by the time I'd realised, I stopped
and raised the bonnet and the engine was glowing. Waited for a couple of hours for it to cool down, refilled the radiator and drove home.
No damage to the engine whatsoever.

1966 Austin 1100. British racing green, twin spots, new 1300 sport engine. Front wheel drive. Bought at Ally Pally car auctions for £160. Went well, until I had a smash. Got a fiver scrap for it.

I'm 68 now and never learned to drive , regret it now when I want to go fishing and have to lug my gear on the train and then get a taxi to the venue ☹

1985 Fiat Regata 85 'Super' Auto

Bright green, 1.5 I think. Looked decent enough, but was dogsh!t.
I knew nothing about cars, and when I sold it on, the dude took me to court as it was so terrible, though he lost.

A quick scan of howmanyleft.co.uk, reveals there a 2 left in the UK. I am staggered there are this many.

Suzuki Alto FX. I think it only had a 660cc engine. Can't remember the registration year, but it would have been late 80s/early 90s.

Despite being as uncool as it was possible to be, it was a great runner and very nippy due to its light weight. Sadly I ended its life after a night out at Labrynth in Dalston, when I decided to bounce it off several parked cars along Pembury Road in about 1995. We all walked away uninjured, so it did its job.

1963 Vauxhall Victor. Leather seats and a Walnut dash.

Ford cortina. White. 150 notes. Nearly killed myself on the way to dukes in Chelmsford coming off the motorway and didn’t see the roundabout. Still going at 80 mph and her 4 wheel drive system and navigation let me down.

VW Polo

Also a Vauxhall Viva, though a later model. Cost me £100.

Along Forest Rd in Hainault with a tail wind, I got her up to 59mph.

Story of O wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2020 3:18 pm 1963 Vauxhall Victor. Leather seats and a Walnut dash.

Not a bad car that, looked nice as well. The first Victor, eg the ''F Series Victor'' was made from 1957 to 1961 and typical of its era, its styling was based on American cars of that time. Problem was that it was a real rust bucket and its replacement the ''FB Series Victor and VX4/90 1960 to 1964'' was a far better car, nice looking as well and Vauxhall engines were quite good for that period in time. I really liked the VX4/90 model, a sporty version of the standard Victor. Externally the car was distinguished from the standard car by a coloured stripe down the side, revised grille and larger tail-light clusters and was capable of 90 MPH, wow ! Problem for nearly all makes of cars of those times was the demon rust that ate away the bodies of the cars, especially underneath the car, sills and under the wings. Now rust in modern cars is thankfully something that rarely happens.

Peugeot 106, in 2001 (can't remember what year it was). Engine was 966cc and only four gears, but nice sunroof. Sold it to my sister for a knock down rate when I got a new car only for her to be able to sell it for twice as much 18 months later.

Hillman Minx. Front bench seat so if you were a tall passenger your knees were up under you chin!
80 mph downhill maybe 40 uphill!

Vauxhall Viva
bought off a mate for £10
My Mum said it was two tone - Beige and Rust
My first babe magnet !!

Mini 1275 GT now worth a lot of money if you wanted to buy one now. Great little car, plenty of personality and drivability. I would love to have still owned it.