02-10-2021, 08:35 AM
Hi.
I passed my test in 1971 in a Ford Escort Estate. My first vehicle was a clapped out 1960 1200cc VW Beetle. Everything was wrong with it, rust rust and more rust, oil burner, knackered layshft bearings in the gearbox etc. My welder neighbour sorted out the metalwork and eventually it looked rather good. The 6v lights were grim and travelling to Motherwell college from Irvine was no fun, it wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding, it cost £75 to buy but nearly £250 in parts and repair within 6 months I sold it 7 months later for £35. Next was a Mini MK1 848 cc. Reliable enough but also not that quick although the roadholding made up for the straight line performance, it never broke down in all the time I owned it.
I had a string of bangers till 1974 when I bought a very expensive Skoda 1000MB for £250, because of its reliability and excellent engineering I stuck with Skoda till 1997, by that time I didn't like the VW influence and moved away. I did though have many project cars in the Skoda years from BMW 2002 Tii, DAF 66. Citroen Dyane, GS, GSA, Yugo 45, Lada 1200 Estate, Ford Anglia 100E most were projects and real fun.
I passed my test in 1971 in a Ford Escort Estate. My first vehicle was a clapped out 1960 1200cc VW Beetle. Everything was wrong with it, rust rust and more rust, oil burner, knackered layshft bearings in the gearbox etc. My welder neighbour sorted out the metalwork and eventually it looked rather good. The 6v lights were grim and travelling to Motherwell college from Irvine was no fun, it wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding, it cost £75 to buy but nearly £250 in parts and repair within 6 months I sold it 7 months later for £35. Next was a Mini MK1 848 cc. Reliable enough but also not that quick although the roadholding made up for the straight line performance, it never broke down in all the time I owned it.
I had a string of bangers till 1974 when I bought a very expensive Skoda 1000MB for £250, because of its reliability and excellent engineering I stuck with Skoda till 1997, by that time I didn't like the VW influence and moved away. I did though have many project cars in the Skoda years from BMW 2002 Tii, DAF 66. Citroen Dyane, GS, GSA, Yugo 45, Lada 1200 Estate, Ford Anglia 100E most were projects and real fun.
