Why Do You Drive That?

[mercrocker]

I only really drive BMW's. I find anything else a disappointment tbh. Modern ones are too needy though so I may have to look elsewhere for a reliable daily.

I've had a 1989 730i manual for 17 years. They will probably bury me in it. It's a fine example of what Germany used to make before the wall came down and they started making cars for peasants.

This is where I have got to with the Merc thing....w123/W116/W124/W201 all served me well for nigh-on a quarter of a century. The C Class was a disappointment when I tried one and don't cut it with me. Anything else is now stupid money with the added problem of ageing electronics in the fuel injection systems and unobtainable ignition parts. Add rust into the equation and it adds up to more than a retired bloke can stretch to.

I don't what the answer is for me, certainly not the wife's Focus. I might just go old Volvo shopping next time.....

[SiC]

I don't what the answer is for me, certainly not the wife's Focus. I might just go old Volvo shopping next time.....

Megasquirt conversion would solve most of the problems you've described.

[mercrocker]

I don't what the answer is for me, certainly not the wife's Focus. I might just go old Volvo shopping next time.....

Megasquirt conversion would solve most of the problems you've described.

I logged that before (I think it was your good self that recommended it) and I certainly would investigate that in the future but sadly the car in question had started to rot and a line had to be drawn. Ten years and 80,000 miles of use before getting back what I bought it for was a good time to do that!

[64A60]

a man round the corner from my grandparents had a late series V1 in Trafalgar blue, (NEV284J I think) which he had from new in 1971

Is this the car? It lives in Clacton and is still used as regular transport. Here it is holidaying on the Isle of Wight in 2016.

NEV824J-1.JPG (1.43 MiB) Viewed 3230 times

NEV824J-2.JPG (1.36 MiB) Viewed 3230 times

[AMCrebel]

Ten years and 80,000 miles of use before getting back what I bought it for was a good time to do that!

What time to (have been) alive!
I never managed that - but partly because my haggling skillz are useless, and I tend to buy shit nobody else wants.

[mercrocker]

My haggling is useless too....I bought that one as a part ex from a place that normally sold Rolls Royces to the gentry and chucked it in Poole Classics Auction last month! I did take a good time to find the car in the first place though - lot of shit around even then. This was the only trade seller who would let me run the car up to temperature from cold on his forecourt.....

[AMCrebel]

This is a great thread. Getting that book about early 60s cars that was recommended on here rekindled my interest in 6 cylinder Austins and Morris' . That Morris Isis is interesting. I got as far as googling A99s and the like for sale - then remembered I have no cash and too many dead cars already.
Also it really ought to live in a garage and I have no space left.

[slowanimals]

a man round the corner from my grandparents had a late series V1 in Trafalgar blue, (NEV284J I think) which he had from new in 1971

Is this the car? It lives in Clacton and is still used as regular transport. Here it is holidaying on the Isle of Wight in 2016.

NEV824J-1.JPG

NEV824J-2.JPG

Yes! Thank you, you've made my day to know that's still about!

[Nibblet]

A mixture of reasons; I don't do that many miles, 'old' cars are cheap, I normally run a 'modern' car (that means 20-30 years old to me) which I sell for what I bought it for or a bit less (I'm a soft touch)
I also have one or more 'old timers', I like that German expression far better than 'classic cars'.
The cars I like are all ones that would have been common in the 70s where I come from and which, of course is much better than today. I am a complete slag so many cars will do the trick, the caveats being price, complexity and of course commonality. I have no interest in exclusivity, the more workaday the car the better, so my current 120Y is ideal, it was common as muck, many had one as there first car, it is simple and well worth looking after as they are very few now. It is also a car that I remember well from the late 70s and early 80s.
My Saab 96 was again very popular in the 70s and is also easy to work on; it's also a humble machine but has qualities which endear it to me, including a type of construction more in keeping with the 1940s than the 70s. Both the cars I currently own have a kind of honesty about them which is entirely lacking in today's products, they were unpretentious goods, designed to do a job in a particular environment and they both did so admirably in their day.

[mercrocker]

I took my test in a 120Y. It doesn't make me necessarily want to own one but I am glad that other people continue to do so and it represents the level of car which interests me the most. I came close to owning a 96 once - a chap at work was given one by his dad but neglected it. We got it going again and I was poised to have it but the pater said No. That was dark green, too.....