One car you wished you still owned.

[alcazar]

For me, Ford Lotus Cortina MkII.

[Deereyme66]

None. Definitely not the Morris Marina. What a pile of rust!

[Northumbiron]

Hey, we had a Marina when we got married. It had been Mrs NI’s father’s so it had been lovingly cared for previously.

Needless to say by the time we got rid it had turned to rust!

Changed it for a shiny new red XR3. Enjoyed that one until we had the kids and had to go practical.

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Sanfran49

[Gurnelista]

Probably a Volvo P1800.
Turned out to be a pile of rust but a great usable classic.
No money to fix, and had to sell it at auction!

[Deereyme66]

I’ve never owned a no money to fix car but wish I had!

Quite liked a second hand Peugeot 406 saloon for comfort and pull but sadly the electrics went and it had to be scrapped. Got a few years out of it though.

[Gurnelista]

What happened to the Lotus Cortina, Alcy? Too slow for you??

[Sanfran49]

Can I go for a a car I nearly bought !

Johnsons at Gainsborough had a lovely Ford in British Racing Green, back in 1967 it was and only £500.
Needed a rewiring job on it to make it street legal ! But after the insurance realised a GT40 was not an economic runabout ! [It had been raced at Le Mans].

If anyone has one probably worth £5mill now .

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alcazar

[Iron-awe]

Only let it go a year ago had it for ten years a merc c class 2.2 diesel auto. Special edition thing which sat a little lower then a standard c class. Brilliant on fuel, really quick and just a pleasure to drive. Never used the paddles on the wheels ( why would you TBF ) never used sport mode because it was quick enough in eco, the mid range was phenomenal and I once got 57 to the gallon on a round trip to Bath. CPU started playing up so I reluctantly traded at 87000 miles, still miss it.

[64]

I had a 405 deer bloody good car.
Our last car had the paddles shift,felt stupid using it ,stayed in auto.
I miss my 98 Alfa Gtv the most and still look at them in the wantads.
Imagine owning a good Lotus Cortina now! Lovely,sadly too many plausible fakes out their nowadays muddying the water.

[alcazar]

Gurnelista wrote:

What happened to the Lotus Cortina, Alcy? Too slow for you??

I’d left uni first time around after missing a term with a bad bout of glandular fever, so went to work at a local chemical plant.
There, and once earning, I swapped my rust box 998cc Anglia for the Cortina.
Eighteen months later, the toss of a coin led me back to uni, where my insurers were no longer happy about insuring a student with a LC🙁
So it got swapped again for a MkI Escort, which became the subject of a few modifications.

[alcazar]

64 wrote:

I had a 405 deer bloody good car.
Our last car had the paddles shift,felt stupid using it ,stayed in auto.
I miss my 98 Alfa Gtv the most and still look at them in the wantads.
Imagine owning a good Lotus Cortina now! Lovely,sadly too many plausible fakes out their nowadays muddying the water.

Most of the fakes are MkI, which was a much more focussed car.
The MkII was more comfortable, nicer interior…basically it was the 1600E with the Lotus twin cam fitted.

[64]

Coincidently, I saw MK1 on Berkley Roundabout on Thursday ,clearly restored to a high standard from the outside anyway . Young girl I was with from our office didn’t get my excitement

[alcazar]

The car everyone wanted when I was in sixth form was a Twin Cam Escort.
I remember Dr Foxton’s daughter, Penny, passing her test… and her dad bought her a brand new one… about £1200 in 1969/70.
Most of us made do with very rusty minis, Austin 1100’s, Ford Anglia’s, Triumph Heralds etc

[Northumbiron]

Or a bike!

[64]

I had a MK1 xr2 which a previous owner had put a revvy cam in loved it I’d consider it a nightmare nowadays

[Gurnelista]

1600e was the one, no? Bit boxy, but a great engine.
Boxer engines? I had 3 Alfasud sprints and a 33 estate. 1300 felt underpowered tho’ the 15 and 1700 were lively reliable and bags of fun. Mind, they softened up like pasta when it rained. Often fancied a GTV, great looks and engines. Daily driver? Rust?

[64]

90s GTV ,Galvanised,good engine.Only issues were the switch gear had a strange rubber coat that got tacky ,nothing beyond consumables otherwise.

[Author]

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