[Misc] How many cars have you owned ?

[studio150]

13.

 

[maffew]

Like your style Maty........the Mrs drives everywhere in her motor

Yeah my trusty 1984 Mistubish Colt. Picked it up in 96 for 100 GBP with 40k on the clock, been in an old ladies garage for 7 years or something. It was on a mates dads forecourt and he wanted shot of it. 4 years later, a ton of festivals, camping trips and 80k more miles I let her go before I went abroad and moved to Brighton. I changed a pair of tires and the windscreen blades in that time. 4 gears and I could push over a ton out of it. Great motor

I've not owned a car since, either used public transport, rented a car, lived walking distance to work/beach, and had a private driver in South Africa. Now back in the UK, just use the bus, car is a hassle I dont really need at the moment

 

[Vankleek Hill Seagull]

I am impressed........................that you mentioned you owned a Rover Montego.

It wasn't a bad car actually, ex Rover company vehicle so came with a full service history and loaded with all the optional extras, e.g. sunroof, fog lamps, etc.

 

[OzMike]

12 and only 1 of them from new, which my daughter killed last year.

 

[boik]

Not many since 78.

Given an old Renault 8 to start.
Renault 16 which I ran on 3 cylinders for a while.
Then got a loan for a nearly new Citroen GS. What a fabulous car.
That inspired me to get 2 CXs in a row.
They inspired me to get my dream car, a classic DS. Ran it for a few years but hidden rust killed it.
Then for a complete change bought a cheap and cheerful Marlin kit car for the summer
Ended up keeping it for years during which time I researched found a completely restored another Citroen DS. Completely perfect. Kept it for 11 years but had to sell when I retired. Now got a Previa which I’ve converted to a stealth camper for our retirement adventures.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

In 47 years..Lambretta SX150, VW Beetle, Morris 1300, loads of company cars, Mazda ex Co. VW Estate ex Co. Land Rover SWB, Kia Sorrento, XK8 Coupe 70% garage 30% drive! see WatfordZero#19

 

[drew]

Triumph Toledo
Ford Capri
Rover 200
Suzuki Swift GTi
Suzuki Swift GTi
Vauxhall Cavalier SRi
Rover 216/Rover 214
Ciroen Picasso/Suzuki Grand Vitara 2.5
Ford Fiesta/Vauxhall Zafira SRi
Toyota Yaris


The swifts were company cars, the second of which was written off when only 3 months old!!!

You can tell I can't really be described as a petrol head.

 

[pearl]

none, passed driving test in 1979, God knows how. Drove my friend's car Jimi (after Hendrix) into a tree stump, then nearly drove a hired car over a cliff. Decided driving wasn't for me after that

 

[BN9 BHA]

Reading the thread on 2nd hand cars got me thinking about how many cars I've had.

Been driving 37 years and been married 27 years (so including wife's cars) and I've always tended to drive a fair bit.

From memory, I think I have had 29 cars.

You ?

Sometimes do you wish you didn't ask a question?

Hmm where to start?

My Dad was a Mazda dealer so I bought several cars from him (Minis, Hillman Imps etc.) which were part-ex and had no chance of making their next MOT. Typically £50 back in 1980-1. Did a bit of wheeling & dealing 1982-86 before I got a proper job so must have had dozens of cars through my hands although didn't have my name on the Docs.

Once I started a proper job:

Renault 5
Ford Escort 1.3L
Mazda 323
Fiat 2000 Abarth rot box
Ford Escort 1.6 Ghia
Peugeot 205 GTi 1600 - lovely and still my favourite car to drive
Company car - Escort 1.4GL - horrible
Second Peugot 205GTi - in retrospect I think it was clocked, nowhere near a good as the first one.
Ford Fiesta 1.4 Ghia
Second Company Car - Citroen Xantia bizarre up & down suspension
Third Company Car - Ford Mondeo
Fourth Company Car (New Firm) - Honda Accord - very reliable and comfy
Fifth Company Car - Vauxhall Vectra - a bit shit
BMW 2.0 320DSE Saloon - used allowance from company rather than having another f*cking Vectra
BMW 2.0 320DSE Touring - lovely car low miles 1 owner followed by
BMW 2.0 320DSE Touring - ex company car and couldn't you tell, ran into ground with around 180K on clock before getting
BMW 3.0 330DSE Touring - just about to go back from lease


Bikes is a different matter. From 1981:

Honda CB125S (PFK 70R where are you now?)
Honda CB250N Superdream (KTU 573T) - horrible, overweight & underpowered
Honda CB250RS - single cylinder much lighter than the Superdream, nicked from outside my Student Digs in Coventry
Yamaha DT125 Trail - no front brake hence hello Fiesta hatchback and then over the roof and bouncing off the bonnet with a broken wrist.
Yamaha 250B (utter Rat Bike fitted with a 250E engine, ignition key didn't work so used kill switch to turn it on & off, dropped it loads of times, was quicker than standard 250E's don't ask me why, was used as hack while my Dad and I rebuilt ....
Norton Norvil Commando 750, ex production racer written off at Cadwell Park so came as a new frame and traditional 3 tea chests. Bloody quick but totally unreliable. As I needed something to hack about on and they seemed bit of fun (plus with learners only being able to run 125's not 250's)...
Kawasaki KH250 triple - soon had Allspeeds on it.

For some reason I decided I also wanted a big Trail bike so had a Yamaha DT250 and then XT500, the DT was rubbish, wish I had kept the XT though.

As mentioned was wheeling & dealing cars but also bikes so had a multitude of 250's and 400's through my hands, the most notable being a 12 month old RD250LC retrieved from a Farm Barn. Farmers son had done a couple of hundred miles only, stacked it and decided biking wasn't for him. Aside from an indicator, clutch lever and a big session cleaning chicken shit off it was as showroom. I should never have sold it.

Uprated the KH250 for a KH400, then got an 500 H1, the latter was a money pit and wouldn't go around bends so had to go. Seem to recall a Ducati 250 at some point - was as small as a Jap 125, clattered but was very fast.

Should have kept hold an immaculate and original condition RD400F, white & red. They were discounted to nothing in 1980 as the RD350LC had arrived and I think it cost me less than £150 in 1985. Would it pull wheelies!

Decided to sell the Commando as after 5 years had finally got it reliable and not leaking oil so a bit boring plus polishing all that alloy was getting a bit much but liked Nortons so got:

A tired Norton Dominator 99 (600) but with the legendary Featherbed frame and thankfully someone had put a Commando TLS front brake so it could stop. Wasn't very fast but you simply didn't slow down for bends - never got this one oil tight!

Had some funds by now so thought I would try a Japanese 4 cylinder so got a Z650, a nice bike but a bit bland so then got a GPz750.

Found a 650 BSA A10 Super Rocket and decided to make it into a Rocket Gold Star replica complete with clip ons and rear sets, found a genuine 220mm front brake, RRT2 gearbox and Lyta Tank. Took to the TT Big mistake, about 40 MPH slower than everyone else! In retrospect had I taken the GPz I might well not be typing this.

Briefly had a Laverda 3CL which had been 'Jotarised' - bloody quick but handled worse than the Z650 so no future in that.

Flogged both BSA and GPz as I was buying house but needed a Bike so got a very late RD350F2 Power Valve with the full fairing. Nice bike but didn't have the character of the early LCs. Got a GPz600 instead. By this time was married and not doing anything like the miles I used to so it went to someone in Fittleworth.

Took a break from bikes for 3-4 year but final treat to myself for putting up with going offshore was my latest and possibly last bike a Honda CBR600F2 (my avatar).

140 MPH stops and handles nicely will do for me as I'm a very slow rider these days...

 

[dazzer6666]

Garelli moped at 16
Suzuki 125 at 17
Mini (84/5) - heap of junk but loved it
Ford Cortina (85/6) - same
Toyota Corolla (86/8) - heap of junk but reliable
Fiesta XR2 (88/90) - bought nearly new (tax free), brilliant car at the time
Mini Metro (in Guernsey, not much need for anything else - 90/91)
Ford Escort (91/94) - bang average
Ford Mondeo x 2 (company cars - 94/2000) - bang average but got both from new so were alright
Ford Focus (2000/04) - did a job
Vauxhall Zafira (2004/12) - kid transporter, bought new, did what it was supposed to do
BMW 3 series touring (2012/17) - bought new, nice
BMW 530se (2017) - bought new, nicer

 

[jakarta]

Sometimes do you wish you didn't ask a question?

Oops, well there was nothing decent on the TV and I love thinking through the bikes I have had over the past 37 years...

You will find bikers can spend whole evenings talking about their old bikes. Wonder where my RD250 Rat Bike ended up?

 

[Originunknown]

Oops, well there was nothing decent on the TV and I love thinking through the bikes I have had over the past 37 years...

You will find bikers can spend whole evenings talking about their old bikes. Wonder where my RD250 Rat Bike ended up?

Absolutely.

Even the more exciting cars I've had are vanilla compared to the bikes.

 

[ozzygull]

Austin metro 1.0 (first car)
Mk2 fiesta 1.1
2x mk4 fiesta 1.2 zetec
Ford puma 1.7 zetec
Mx5 2.0 sport tech coupe (current car)

Bikes
Kawasaki kh 125
Kawasaki zxr400
Honda cb400 (import)