"Good" Old days motoring.

[DUNKS]

Just having a think on this horrible morning about our first motor car. The Ford  perpendicular range,

However did we manage? 30bhp, manual choke. no heater no screen wash and the dreaded vacuum wipers which stopped working going uphill. Oh and only three gears with no syncro on first.

Remember when we bought our first one, went to fetch it on my motor bike. Wife was to drive the car home. I think it cost us £15.

Got home and wife was sat out un the car sobbing her little heart out. the king pins were shot so half way round a corner the car changed direction. The manual choke would not lock in the pulled out position so had to be held out and every time she took her foot off the accelerator it jumped out of gear, Lovely motor! Bit of TLC  "to the car" and wifey got to love it. Two clothes pegs on the choke cable to hold it out and keep your knuckles away from the gear knob when it jumped out of gear. 

I look at our 156bhp Jag with all the bells and whistles and think just how far we have come.

[ditchman]

ford anglia van.0-60 in 4 weeks........for me with a mattress in the back....and deep pile carpet stuck to the insides roof and sides...........best passion wagon ever

[DUNKS]

7 minutes ago, ditchman said:

ford anglia van.0-60 in 4 weeks........for me with a mattress in the back....and deep pile carpet stuck to the insides roof and sides...........best passion wagon ever

Please explain why you needed a mattress. In detail please!

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Oh please, it's lunchtime!

[amateur]

35 minutes ago, DUNKS said:

Please explain why you needed a mattress. In detail please!

Fat Sarah, say no more 😁

[Walker570]

41 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Oh please, it's lunchtime!

TOO LATE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Walker570]

Our transport everywhere was the milk van, a 10cwt Fordson with just a drivers seat as tax in those days for busines use did not allow a passenger seat, so every time we used it for going to parties or a Sunday evening at a local pub we would throw cushions on the floor but no matter how well my mother cleaned the wooden fllor it always smelled of sour milk.  It also had a rack down one side my grandfather made to hang rabbits on for delivery with the milk on Saturday mornings and then for turkeys, cockrells and geese at Christmas in the fur and feather.  My father then purchased the car version of the 5cwt van, the sit up and beg version. Same engine/gearbox and we ventured to the Welsh coast and far afield in that litle motor and it never let us down. If a fuse blew my dad wouls imply take a bit of silver paper from his fag packet and use that instead.  My X Type Jag estate is now sitting at my local garage waiitng a computer treatment because the engine management light has come on .... progress.

Hah !!!  forgot to mention but uring the war and shortly after there where regulations regarding use of vans and they had to be used for transporting goods, so often we would have a calf in the back which went back and forth between our farm and others so as to comply should the local B|obby stop us which was unlikely because he always called for his eggs and potatoes.

Edited December 23, 2020 by Walker570

[Farmboy91]

While my first car doesn't go as far back as some of yours, I do miss being able to fix things on the drive.

M reg Rover 214 sei, 101,000 on the clock with a blown head gasket. Would and did drive that car anywhere without a moment's hesitation, no breakdown cover, just a set of jump leads in the boot. 

Wouldn't dream of buying a car without warranty now, nor would I be without full breakdown with parts and labour. 

[figgy]

You can still fix them on the drive if parts break or wear out. You just can't start the thing without it being plugged into a computer first.

[Farmboy91]

Just now, figgy said:

You can still fix them on the drive if parts break or wear out. You just can't start the thing without it being plugged into a computer first.

It's ok if you can get at what you want, which without stripping most of the plastic off the engine you can't 😂

I changed the alternator on that rover on my own,no prior experience, basic tools, no Haynes manual etc, just the old man pointing it out and saying make sure you adjust the belt properly lol. 

I wouldn't even bother trying on the golf I've got now. 

[amateur]

Mum had a 1931 Austin 7 with the 3 speed crash gear box. Double declutching for each down change and a dipstick to check the petrol level in the under-bonnet tank.

It was great fun taking impressionable young ladies out in it.

It had to go though, the cable brakes were rather iffy in 1970s traffic

[ditchman]

2 hours ago, Walker570 said:

Our transport everywhere was the milk van, a 10cwt Fordson with just a drivers seat as tax in those days for busines use did not allow a passenger seat, so every time we used it for going to parties or a Sunday evening at a local pub we would throw cushions on the floor but no matter how well my mother cleaned the wooden fllor it always smelled of sour milk.  It also had a rack down one side my grandfather made to hang rabbits on for delivery with the milk on Saturday mornings and then for turkeys, cockrells and geese at Christmas in the fur and feather.  My father then purchased the car version of the 5cwt van, the sit up and beg version. Same engine/gearbox and we ventured to the Welsh coast and far afield in that litle motor and it never let us down. If a fuse blew my dad wouls imply take a bit of silver paper from his fag packet and use that instead.  My X Type Jag estate is now sitting at my local garage waiitng a computer treatment because the engine management light has come on .... progress.

Hah !!!  forgot to mention but uring the war and shortly after there where regulations regarding use of vans and they had to be used for transporting goods, so often we would have a calf in the back which went back and forth between our farm and others so as to comply should the local B|obby stop us which was unlikely because he always called for his eggs and potatoes.

what war are we talking about nev...Boer war or 1st world war...........

[Walker570]

Seven years

[ditchman]

36 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

Seven years

not the "100 years war "...surely !!!!!

[TIGHTCHOKE]

42 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

Seven years

Which started in 1756

My you're doing well!

[Blackpowder]

5 hours ago, DUNKS said:

Just having a think on this horrible morning about our first motor car. The Ford  perpendicular range,

However did we manage? 30bhp, manual choke. no heater no screen wash and the dreaded vacuum wipers which stopped working going uphill. Oh and only three gears with no syncro on first.

Remember when we bought our first one, went to fetch it on my motor bike. Wife was to drive the car home. I think it cost us £15.

Got home and wife was sat out un the car sobbing her little heart out. the king pins were shot so half way round a corner the car changed direction. The manual choke would not lock in the pulled out position so had to be held out and every time she took her foot off the accelerator it jumped out of gear, Lovely motor! Bit of TLC  "to the car" and wifey got to love it. Two clothes pegs on the choke cable to hold it out and keep your knuckles away from the gear knob when it jumped out of gear. 

I look at our 156bhp Jag with all the bells and whistles and think just how far we have come.

Sounds the same as my first wheels , side valve engine and familiar with the windscreen wipe problem semaphore  turn signal no heater in 63 winter, though mine sounds in pristine condition compared to yours.

Blackpowder

[amateur]

I bought my wife a 100e in the late 70s. After she had driven it in the rain, it was sold very quickly and replaced by a rust-box Simca

[figgy]

I thought my first car a MK11 ford escort was rough. 

Manual choke little power no servo brakes, carp in wet and better off walking when it snowed. No radio a heater that blew warm air at best.  Clutch so fierce it didn't have a bit g point so much as on and off. Four gears.

Then there was the guessing game of what star petrol does it use, can I use two star it's cheaper 🤔

[London Best]

My first car was given to me because his toddler had finished playing with it (in a pile of sand and gravel).It was a prewar 1938 Fiat 500 Topolino. Gravity feed tank with dip stick, 2 seater, canvas roof, can’t remember whether it was 14 or 18 bhp but it did have a 4 speed box. Drove it from Derbyshire with a mate and then all over S. Lincolnshire pigeon shooting with ‘Kenzie Thorpe in the passenger seat and mate in the boot. Happy days. I kept it about six months and sold it for six quid. Wish I had it now.

[enfieldspares]

I was unfortunate enough to have a Morris Traveller. It's the only car I've ever owned that failed its MoT because of dry rot. Awful, awful car. When new and "factory fresh" I guess they were a very good vehicle indeed. But put some years on them and the the underneath rusted and the wood frame rotted.

I later had a Triumph Vitesse 6 that got so much yellow chalking on its underside each MoT that it looked like a map of the Circle Line on the London Underground! Now that...rust aside...was a cracking little car. Factory made with a straight six, inline, 1.6 litre daft really but a cracking little car.

What folk today don't realise is that 1960s and 1970s cars when made weren't galvanised. So usually within three years they had rotted through or, usually, the "sills" had gone. The worst rot boxes were likely IMHO...unless others know better...the BLMC 1100/1300 series cars. Notorious for rust.

 

Edited December 23, 2020 by enfieldspares

[islandgun]

10 hours ago, ditchman said:

ford anglia van.0-60 in 4 weeks........for me with a mattress in the back....and deep pile carpet stuck to the insides roof and sides...........best passion wagon ever

My first as well, farm vehicle, no passion.. hang on....... there was that horsey lady that worked on the farm...and....oo..err

[figgy]

Let's not forget the engines, 80k it was done, blue smoke galore diff knackered the lot.

I replaced full boot floors wings sills the on cars that were only 8 years old. 

These days you expect the paint to still be pristine at 8 years old.

 

[adzyvilla]

Was looking at some old family photos a few weeks ago after my parents had a sort out. Grandad had cars since the early 30s. Got my dad to try and list a few that he could identify, and some that he could remember.

Wolesley hornet

Austin 10 (2 different ones)

Austin 8

MG magnette

Ford popular.

He worked for Aston Martin in Newport pagnell after the ww2 until he retired, and I have loads of pics of him at the factory and driving Astons. They were a bit different from his own cars. I will scan a few in and see if I can post them later.