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Your first car?


Hjdary

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My dad also had a Wolseley, except that his was a Wolseley 1500.

Seen here being cleaned on the drive.

I used to love the Illuminated Wolseley sign in the middle of the radiator grille. you don't get such things on modern cars, come to think of it, you don't get radiator grilles either :mellow:

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Here are some pics of my two toys lol A 1970 MGB and a 1980 TR7

Update on this one a learner driver decided to make a left turn in front of me (we drive on the wrong side of the road over here) while i was going through an intersection and sadly wrote the TR7 off. I was beaten up but am still around but waiting for surgery on a torn shoulder ligament. I did not let the grass grow under my feet though and am now the proud owner of a1960 Sunbeam Alpine.

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Update on this one a learner driver decided to make a left turn in front of me (we drive on the wrong side of the road over here) while i was going through an intersection and sadly wrote the TR7 off. I was beaten up but am still around but waiting for surgery on a torn shoulder ligament. I did not let the grass grow under my feet though and am now the proud owner of a1960 Sunbeam Alpine.

Great stuff mickjj,

Classic British cars out in western Canada ;-)

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Update on this one a learner driver decided to make a left turn in front of me (we drive on the wrong side of the road over here) while i was going through an intersection and sadly wrote the TR7 off. I was beaten up but am still around but waiting for surgery on a torn shoulder ligament. I did not let the grass grow under my feet though and am now the proud owner of a1960 Sunbeam Alpine.

Oh how I always wanted a red Sunbeam Alpine :wub: Our firat car was a 1958 Prefect and it served us well as mentioned before they were easy to work on yourself. I can remember helping my other half take an engine out of one car and dropping it in another. He took the bonnet of put a big piece of wood across the wings and ropped the engine to the wood loosened all the bolts and with me at one side and him at the other we moved it from one car and into the other. He then bolted it all in place and it started 1st time hope we never have to do that again don't think my back would stand it. he he

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In the interest of brevity I didn't mention our wives and a trailer.

We'd left the trailer (along with a toolbox) at the campsite while we went out for the day.

We didn't even have the jack and wheel-brace.

But no! - - tights were not involved. :)

And here's my cousin, his wife, and mine, with the Datsun.

Cornwall, 1984

Forgot about this

Searching the roadside we found a fence post, some stones from a collapsed wall, and a piece of steel (a bit like a broken chisel blade if I remember rightly)

Lifted the front end with the fence post and supported on stones.

Repeated for other side.

Searched engine bay for anything which had the same size setscrews as the captive nuts in the sub-frame and enough screws that we could remove one without it coming off.

Shocked them all with the steel and a stone until we found a couple which came loose enough to remove.

From the front - maneuvered the fence-post under the engine. Used a stone as a fulcrum to raise the engine mounting up above the sub-frame.

Tediously shifted back and forth until we lined the holes up.

Fitted the screws finger tight.

The back up plan (if we couldn't find any removable setscrews was to use a couple of bits of wire from the fence post, threaded through the mounting holes and the sub-frame and twisted up tight.

Good enough to get us back to the campsite anyway.

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My first car which coincidentally I owned whilst I was living in sheffield in the early 80's was this marvelous Triumph Herald 1200 convertible.

It was a fantastic vehicle that used to get me between Sheff and Southport every couple of weekends without a hitch (apart from the time the rear axle came loose negotiating the Bramhall Lane roundabout on the way home from Granville College to the YMCA). I remember doing the ton downhill on the M62, a route I regularly drove even midwinter through snow and ice when Snake pass was closed, with no breakdown cover or owt daft like that. When I moved out of the YM I moved to a bedsit in Thompson Road (at the back of Yankees) which luckily was at the top of a small hill so I could bump start the Heraldic machine every morning as I couldn't afford a decent battery. Rotbox as it was, it was put to rest after I graduated to a BSA Lightning 650 on which I used to tear around the streets of Sheffield as I fancied myself as a bit of a greaser. That very quick bike met it's demise in May 1982 after an argument with a girlfriend in Jordanthorpe (Hi Liz, wonder what you're up to now). I decided to ride home half pissed up and thought I would see what the beast would do. The last time I looked at the speedo it was just touching 80 mph as I hurtled through Woodseats on my way back to my then home in Shirebrook Road, Heeley Bottom. Unfortunately I failed to make the bend a liitle further on and clipped the kerb sending me and the Beeza into orbit, the bike then proceeding to demolish a lamppost. I escaped with a broken femur and three months on traction in the Hallamshire. All that was left of the bike was the hubs, wiring and some engine bits but I did rebuild it after finding a frame at Leather and Simpsons on Penistone Road. The bike was never the same and I sold it in the mid 90's. Have had a 1977 Ironhead Harley since then but took it in for some repairs three years ago and haven't picked it up yet! Oh yeah, I got a bill for the lamppost!

Still miss Sheffield.

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My first car which coincidentally I owned whilst I was living in sheffield in the early 80's was this marvelous Triumph Herald 1200 convertible.

Rotbox as it was, it was put to rest after I graduated to a BSA Lightning 650

Our old neighbour Mr. Hunter had a Triumph Herald and yes it was a rotbox.

Part of its downfall was that fairly unique bonnet and wings which all opened together.

This gave brilliant access to the engine compartment and front wheels BUT the spray from the front wheels in wet weather frequently caused heavy rusting just behind them, - that is, right where those catches (clearly visible in your photo and in good condition) are that "close" the bonnet / wings.

Corrosion here, which was common, frequently caused those bonnets locks either to not open when you wanted them to or worse, to be unable to lock the "bonnet" down.

Apart from that I seem to remember it was a very nice car.

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Our old neighbour Mr. Hunter had a Triumph Herald and yes it was a rotbox.

Part of its downfall was that fairly unique bonnet and wings which all opened together.

This gave brilliant access to the engine compartment and front wheels BUT the spray from the front wheels in wet weather frequently caused heavy rusting just behind them, - that is, right where those catches (clearly visible in your photo and in good condition) are that "close" the bonnet / wings.

Corrosion here, which was common, frequently caused those bonnets locks either to not open when you wanted them to or worse, to be unable to lock the "bonnet" down.

Apart from that I seem to remember it was a very nice car.

Mr Hunter eh? Didn't he have a Hillman? sorry.

It was a really great car, but yes fell victim to rust and corrosion. OK I should have looked after it better. One good thing about cars then was that they were so easy to work on. You didn't need special tools and access to a computer running exclusive software. A good thing now though is that you hardly ever see a rusty, corroded car on the road so things have moved on for the better in some respects.

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Mr Hunter eh? Didn't he have a Hillman? sorry.

he hehe helol

He was an old man, older than my dad, who along with several other of our elderly neighbours who owned cars when I was young.

Some of them had never passed a driving test because they predated it and had been driving before there was a test.

They came from that generation which was the first to be able to own and use a motor vehicle and experience the freedom of movement around the country that motoring opened up.

Also, because of ther ages,they owned some really smart, nice cars, contemporary at the time but which would now be classic cars.

Almost all of them British cars, -

Austin, Morris, Rover, Hillman, Sunbeam, Riley, Wolsley, .....

Names that you hardly ever hear of now, and which some "young 'un's " probably have never heard of.

If these guys were still alive now wouldn't they have some great stories to tell to put in this thread!

By the way Mark, welcome to Sheffield History,

it's nice to have new members come along who have lots of interesting stuff to post and share with us.

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Thanks Dave, Sheffield is a great city and 79 - 83 was a great time to be there, especially music-wise (IMHO).

Yes I remember all those fine marques, cars then had such individuality, they all looked unique. OK in general

they weren't streamlined or fast but had character and personality. Who could forget the 'face' of a Ford Anglia!

There are still quite a few Moggy minors on the road though which is amazing.

My present car is a Rover 45 diesel with 120,000 on the clock. It is a damn fine car and I will be keeping it until

it is beyond repair. It is a crying shame that Rover was allowed to die like it did. We have nothing of any standing

now in this country, it is all non-productive (what I call parasitical) services like insurance, law firms 'consultancies' etc.

What little manufacturing industry there is is foreign owned. I think I was born at the wrong time.

Great forum, I will be spending a lot of time here.

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We have nothing of any standing

now in this country, it is all non-productive (what I call parasitical) services like insurance, law firms 'consultancies' etc.

What little manufacturing industry there is is foreign owned. I think I was born at the wrong time.

Great forum, I will be spending a lot of time here.

I have commented on here before about Meadowhall shopping centre, and a few people agreed with me even though I am not an economist, that.

When "Meadowhall" was a steel works it made stuff that could be sold for a profit and generated wealth in the local area.

Now "Meadowhall" is a load of shops people just spend money there and the profits go to mainly foreign companies that produced the stuff we buy, so we are losing wealth.

Economically that can't be good but people seem to think that if they have got money to spend everything must be OK.

I certainly have very mixed feelings about foreign cars, particularly the Japanese giants Nissan and Toyota who have absolutely hugh production facilities, manufacturing cars in this country. OK, they create some jobs for local people, but surely the majority of the profit from their car sales in this country goes into the Japanese economy and not ours.

Even more annoyingly, until a few weeks ago the present Government would have happily given me £2000 of British taxpayers money if I was to scrap my old, British car and go out and buy a brand new foreign car.

..and the logic behind this was, - it will help support OUR car industry at a time when they are struggling in the recession. <_<

No it won't :blink: , It will help out some foreign car industry depending upon which (foreign) car I choose as my new one.

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Who could forget the 'face' of a Ford Anglia!

Had one of those as well. Bought as a scrapper in the early 80's

Had it in my workshop for about 6 months and it emerged with:

Paint, new chrome, 1500 GT motor, Corsair struts, 1600E Rostyles ---- etc.

I never got round to changing the diff which made 1st gear redundant :o

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Had one of those as well. Bought as a scrapper in the early 80's

Had it in my workshop for about 6 months and it emerged with:

Paint, new chrome, 1500 GT motor, Corsair struts, 1600E Rostyles ---- etc.

I never got round to changing the diff which made 1st gear redundant :o

The Ford Anglia has taken on many appearances over the years and the 1950's models didn't look even similar to this.

But this model from the 1960's, which I think was called the Anglia 105E was sheer class, it must be everyone who likes Ford cars favourite version of the Anglia.

It's not the face that does it though,

It's that almost unique reverse raked rear window.

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The Ford Anglia has taken on many appearances over the years and the 1950's models didn't look even similar to this.

But this model from the 1960's, which I think was called the Anglia 105E was sheer class, it must be everyone who likes Ford cars favourite version of the Anglia.

105E it is Dave - See the owners club badge on the grill.

Edit:

PS. I ought to change what's written below. At least for this topic. :rolleyes:

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I'm sure there was another Ford with a similar reverse-raked rear window. Was it the 'Classic' or the 'Classic Capri' or something like that? memory is failing me.

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I'm sure there was another Ford with a similar reverse-raked rear window. Was it the 'Classic' or the 'Classic Capri' or something like that? memory is failing me.

The Ford Consul Classic.

What a gorgeous car it was!

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The Ford Consul Classic.

What a gorgeous car it was!

Thanks yes, I didn't realise 'Consul' was in the name. Just put it into google images and got loads of results, including the Ford Consul Capri. Amazing looking cars.

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I'm sure there was another Ford with a similar reverse-raked rear window. Was it the 'Classic' or the 'Classic Capri' or something like that? memory is failing me.

I did say it was "almost unique" because I feel sure that the reverse rake rear window, along with lots of other "modern" looking features on British cars of the 1960's actually have a pedigree going back to classic American car styling of the 1950's.

..and of course Ford is an American car company but makes different models in each country.

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I did say it was "almost unique" because I feel sure that the reverse rake rear window, along with lots of other "modern" looking features on British cars of the 1960's actually have a pedigree going back to classic American car styling of the 1950's.

And I think the idea was that it wouldn't (or would have a tendency not to) become obscured when it rained.

That's what my dad said anyway. And as we all know, our dads knew everything. lol

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And I think the idea was that it wouldn't (or would have a tendency not to) become obscured when it rained.

That's what my dad said anyway. And as we all know, our dads knew everything. lol

Yes I've heard that as well.

To some extent it is probably true

But no one ever tells you what it was like for, -

1

Rear visibility using the interior mirror, because as rear windows go it wasn't a very big one, and the reverse raking made it seem even smaller

2

Reflections in strong sunlight. I imagine that, given its reverse rake angle, if there was strong sunlight on the rear of the car it would reflect on the rear window in such a way as to cause an image of the boot to be visible in the drivers rear view.

You had one vox, - what were they like?

I only had a couple of friends (one as recently as the mid 1990's) and a cousin who owned this particular car.

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Yes I've heard that as well.

To some extent it is probably true

But no one ever tells you what it was like for, -

1

Rear visibility using the interior mirror, because as rear windows go it wasn't a very big one, and the reverse raking made it seem even smaller

2

Reflections in strong sunlight. I imagine that, given its reverse rake angle, if there was strong sunlight on the rear of the car it would reflect on the rear window in such a way as to cause an image of the boot to be visible in the drivers rear view.

You had one vox, - what were they like?

I only had a couple of friends (one as recently as the mid 1990's) and a cousin who owned this particular car.

Well it was a smallish window but I think a lot of cars of that era had small rear windows. As for reflection -- I can't remember any problems. It was 20 years ago when I had it though.

Also, I'd spent years driving various large vans with only wing mirrors so any rear view at all would have been a bonus. lol

From almost the day I passed my test I was given my firm's Luton Transit to use as my personal transport. Luxury. :)

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Had one of those as well. Bought as a scrapper in the early 80's

Had it in my workshop for about 6 months and it emerged with:

Paint, new chrome, 1500 GT motor, Corsair struts, 1600E Rostyles ---- etc.

I never got round to changing the diff which made 1st gear redundant :o

I did the same with my mark1 cortina.which was a 1300. Got a 1600 engine had it rebored for bigger pistons,new cam,redid the head etc. plopped it in and the same the same thing with the diff. The car was always screaming at me for an extra gear. lol

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My first car was a 1959 Ford Prefect similar to the one here. It was a 100e side valve engine with 3 forward gears and the windscreen wipers were not electric but somehow worked off

a pressure system to do with the engine. This arrangement worked fine if you were travelling on level ground but if you went up a hill the engine took most of the pressure leaving the wipers to fend for themselves,

slowing to an almost stop. Of course the good news was that on reaching the summit of the hill and starting to descend the wipers took on a life of their own and went like the clappers !

It was for all that a good car which I sold in the late 60,s for £65. I wish I had kept it as now they are worth several thousand pounds. Hindsight is wonderful.

What was you first car and memories?

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I only had motorbikes in England, I learned to drive in Sydney in a HD Holden like this one. It was a 2.4 litre straight six with a 3 speed box. Back in the 70's when petrol was cheap this was your standard Australian saloon car. They were built to cover a lot of kilometres without breaking down, and it did. My second car was a Mini. It didn't!

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