Autocar - First for car news and reviews

Ubizzle July 23, 2010 4:36 PM

I've got an Alfa Mito and don't want to sell it. This car's weaned its way into my heart.

I've decided it'll only be worth £5k or so when I come to sell it (most probably less), so I want to keep it and purchase the new Spider when that comes out - but then I'm also planning on eventually buying a Series 2 Spider, which may throw a spanner in the works with regards to keeping the Mito.

I'll try my hardest to make it work.

Lanciaman July 23, 2010 5:08 PM

Nostalgia is a terrible thing. How many people have spent loads on their dream classic only to realise what a horrible thing it is when they take their rose tinted specs off.

Don`t get me wrong, I like older cars; I`ve run 60`s cars most of my life, (and have now progressed to the heady heights of the 80`s!), but too many people who haven`t run old cars since they were current forget just what they were really like. Heaters were quite often an option for God`s sake!

Curmudgeon July 23, 2010 6:07 PM

No, not at all.

It was an A40 Farina.  It was OK - I was glad to get rid of it and replace it with a Mk 1 Cortina complete with Lotus stripes (but sadly only a fairly ordinary 1500cc lump)

Brian1946 July 23, 2010 6:25 PM

I left university in 1970 and got a bank loan to buy a 7 year old Ford Anglia.  I had it for 18 months and it cost me a fortune to keep going.  Windscreen leaks, burnt out valves, replacement starter motor, expensive MOT failure - just some of the problems that ensured that I was still broke after 18 months in a reasonably paid job.

Nights out would frequently be rounded off with a jammed starter motor.  I learnt from bitter experience to always park facing downhill to allow an easy push start.

Looking back with rose tinted glasses is all well and good but give me the comfort and reliability of a modern car anytime.

Phinehas July 23, 2010 6:30 PM

I didn't actually own a car until many years after I passed my test. My first owned vehicle was a VW type 2a bus. It rarely travelled more than a few kms before I had problems but it was good for drawing the curtains and smoking certain er, herbal remedies. The East German Polizei took it after the engine blew up on the Autobahn to Berlin. I think some friends eventually went to recover it.

The first car I eventually bought in the UK was a VW 411 Variant. It also was Krap. The car had multiple dents in the rear panel because it wouldn't start on a coolish morning -and I kicked it with toe-tectors on. I took it to the scrap yard after the front fell off from rust. Never bought another VW.

Uncle Mellow July 23, 2010 7:08 PM

I scrapped my first car , after I'd sold the engine (which I had re-built) and the special front suspension. I have no desire to have another car with blue-oval badges.

PhilM4000 July 23, 2010 7:29 PM

I had an F reg Rover 216 EFi Vanden Plas with I think optional 14" alloys.  I paid £800 for it and 2 years and 19,000 miles later after a massive MOT failure with no heater, electric windows, sunroof, seat mechanism or radio working I gave it to my cousin and he raced it round his farm for a year till it was truly wrecked.  I would love a go in a mint example but don't think I would want to live with it long term.  I did love the very well worn leather interior.  It was definitely more chesterfield like than the current rubbish leather in modern cars (even expensive ones), or maybe that is nostalgia.

Simon July 23, 2010 8:36 PM

My first car was an 1984 Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1.6 (Tipo 116), I can still remember the registration number - A825 CPL (!) which was only 5 years old and cost the heady of sum of £2,000.  

It was lovely and I'd dearly have it back but two things get in the way; I had the first of my two RTA's (both in reardrive Alfa's) only a few months after buying it, driving into a brick wall on a greasy road, after that I sold it for scrap - £400 I think.

Extraordinarily a couple of years later I saw it again, obviously repaired and sold on but begining to suffer from tinworm at the base of the screen.

Been keen to get one again ever since but can't find any reason to justify it and in a nod to our present abs, asc, airbag'd times I'm not sure I want to deal with locking brakes and hopeless wet weather grip.

theonlydt July 23, 2010 9:02 PM

I was devastated when I parted with my first car - I sold it for £500 as it needed a leak on the power steering fixed, I'd been quoted £1300 and had no time to get a better deal elsewhere. My next car was bigger, more comfortable, rode and handled better - everything you'd want, but it wasn't "Cyril". He was the best car in the world - 175,000 miles without missing a beat and he was a boy car, which is very rare (it was a grumpy old car, no doubt about that, but always started).

Dan McNeil v2 July 23, 2010 9:06 PM

Curmudgeon July 23, 2010 6:07 PM

No, not at all.

It was an A40 Farina.

+++++++

Snap - my first car as well.   Well, not the Countryman, but a Mark 2 saloon with 1098 motor.   Pale blue body, black roof.  Crossplies, so fantastic tyre squeals at pedestrian speeds.    I loved it, despite it being terrifyingly rusty.    I died a little the day it was lifted onto the scrap lorry.  

Badgercentral July 23, 2010 10:09 PM

I saw my first car yesterday, a 51 reg Clio in bright blue, still looking great. I bought it brand new soon after graduation. Kept it for 4 years, then my brother had it. He sold it two years ago. Turns out I still have a soft spot for it.

pl1988@yahoo.com July 23, 2010 10:45 PM

My first was a 1937 Morris 8, I had the engine rebuilt. I learnt how to drift through metal road corners on roads the WRC now uses in NZ

Front engine, rear wheel drive great ingredient to master driving skills I still use today. Would I want Lucas electrics, and no heater today? No Way, The girls I courted yes.

I sold the car after 6 years to emigrate to Canada

www.flickr.com/.../4447872084

Today, 53 years later,  I still drive the same basic layout, 600 cc more engine, a 5 speed instead of 3, a top that opens instead of a front window that hinges from the top, starter, wipers, and fuel pump that work. Fuel injection and heater and a boot / trunk

www.flickr.com/.../4713378202

Autostrada July 23, 2010 11:04 PM

I'll always have a soft-spot for my first car(s) - but remember at the time dreaming of when I was older/richer and so could afford the new(er) cars with dazzling performance/style/features I dreamt of back then.

I think most people are the same - love your first car, but more than happy to move-on to something you think as being better...

Straight Six Man July 24, 2010 12:27 AM

Yep. I want every car I've ever owned back, I've loved the lot. My old 1602 was such fun - most of the time it had no back seats, it was light, revvy, tail-happy... just a simple, honest, fun car. The E21 323i that replaced it was a big step up, but it still had that lightweight, lairy feel, as did the E30 325i that replaced it... subsequent BMWs have been a bit heavier and more civilised, but still fun.

Also, my wife's Alfa 1750GTV and Fiat Twin-cam Mini were rusty horrors but had bags of character, were loads of fun, etc. I want them both back too.

Whoever invented iron oxide ought to have been drowned at birth...

Mini1 July 24, 2010 12:54 AM

I'm on my first car at the moment - Aygo. Very simple little car by today's standards, and I absolutely adore it. Astonishingly economical, eager little engine, great engine note, nippy - all the right ingredients for a first car. And right now, I'm not sure when I'm going to sell it. But at the back of my mind, I'm thinking I want to keep it for a good while yet. It depreciates so slowly, anyway!

beachland2 July 24, 2010 2:34 AM

old cars are rubbish.

but old cars can be pieces of art or of emotional worth.

as the years go by, the more i miss my first car, but i know i can never get it back as it has an ocean burial from a great height, almost top gear style, although completely illegal.

even if i was rich, would i want to recreate it from another similar rare model of mk1 fiesta 1.3 ghia with shiny chrome bits, chocolate interior and fake wood trim, with sunroof and green mist metallic bodywork, with fitted front spot/fog lights, original alloys wheels.

i suppose i would.

sportwagon July 24, 2010 8:27 AM

No thanks, it would still be older than me :)

sotw July 24, 2010 10:04 AM

First car was an original Polo bought back in 1984. Don't want that back but loved my Metro 1.1s, yes really, bought with 30000m on and sold with 105000m all done in two years. It was extraordinary reliable.

But the one car I would have back like a shot was my first REAL car, a BMW 518i Touring. It wasn't the fastest thing in the world but it was a revelation from my usual Ford and Vauxhall fodder. Thanks to that car I was sold on Beemers and I am on my third BM since I sold the car in 04.

artill July 24, 2010 10:31 AM

My first car was a 1983 MG Metro in black. It was followed by a 1978 Dolomite Sprint. I dont want either back, but would still like to be able to drive one every now and again.

oldnail July 24, 2010 9:19 PM

Mine was a 1984 Metro 1.3HLE (complete with 3+E gearbox and rear spoiler :-) ).  Bought in 1987 for £2400, sold 4 years and 40000 miles later for £1000.  Never missed a beat and always averaged in or around 45mpg.  It was completely care-free motoring ... just keep replacing the front wings and wheel bearings.  I wouldn't want to drive one today as I would miss all the creature comforts!

roverfan1984 July 25, 2010 12:08 PM

my first car was a 1989 Nova 1.2 "Star", with 4 gears, manual choke etc. I agree I probably wouldnt want it as an everyday car but I do kinda miss it. It was useful as well as it taught me a lot about car maintenence (I changed brake pads & a rocker cover gasket all by myself when I was 17), & I even learnt how to do a push start by myself, pushing it along by the doorframe then jumping in haha :D this was required on several occasions when there were no friends/helpful passers by around.

jch July 25, 2010 4:29 PM

My first car was a Cortina Mk.III, a  2.0 litre GT in two door, a rare beast even then (it was a '73, I bought it in '80).  It went well and was good to drive, albeit with rather "wallowy" suspension, though the bloomin thing leaked like a sieve, damp carpets when it did.  It would be nice to have kept it, but it's not a patch on a modern car.

Simonsays July 25, 2010 7:03 PM

The first car I bought myself was 1980 Datsun Cherry 2 dr coupe - it cost £180 of my student grant in 1991, the tight git trader didn't even put enough fuel in it to get to the petrol station so my first 'breakdown' happened within 3 miles of driving it!

The car was a right shed, but I affectionally grew to love it, it had some dangerous quirks including a petrol tank with a hole somewhere near its top so it leaked if you brimmed it - fortunately that didn't happen often, being skint most of the time. The left rear suspension had rusted and was loose so vibrated badly at 60mph (- I avoided this by driving through it as it became ok at 65mph instead - OMG, the ignorance of youth eh?!!!!). Still the car was better than my student mate's who had a mini which had sills filled with concrete and a homemade dash panel with more switches than a 747.

I still have the rear numberplate of my first car as it went to the scrappys - would I want the rest of it back? errrr..... No!

Lee23404 July 25, 2010 7:16 PM

My first car was a Peugeot 405 1.6GR. I loved that car, when it worked.

It was brilliant to drive but was very unreliable. It was only 4 years old at the time so I dread to think what sort of state it's in now. Crushed probably.

cimardinius July 26, 2010 9:37 AM

Actually, old cars are for the most part rubbish. I keep my old Zagato Fulvia just because of its rarity. I do sometimes think warmly of my first car (a Fiat 127), but I know that I am really thinking of how much fun I had when I was 18 - the car is just an association.

Anyway, nostalgia is not what it used to be either.

marktobin July 26, 2010 9:49 AM

hahaha, no way, my first car was an '84 Micra, God it was junk!!! Glad to see the back of it!!! later on i had a Alfa 164, now thats a car i always regretting selling!!

polodriver July 26, 2010 10:13 AM

@sotw

> First car was an original Polo bought back in 1984. Don't want that back but loved my Metro 1.1s

Really? Was the other round for me. Learnt to drive in a Metro and hated it, but would love to have my Mk 1 1977 Polo back now. A small-bumpered model with metal bumpers, it's still one of the prettiest cars Volkswagen has produced. And if I knew it would be a rare thing now, I would have fixed the rotting floor and body rather than sell it, have it badly resprayed British Racing Green and then no doubt go to the scrappy...

I'm another who's still got the original numberplates and the service history including the original order form...

Would be very contemporary at the moment with the arrival of the 2009 Polo-based Audi A1, as the Polo was based on the 1970s Audi 50.

EastEnder July 26, 2010 11:30 PM

First car was a bright green Fiat 900e campervan with a pop-top, like a VW camper that had shrunk in the wash. The interior layout was fantastic, it was amazing how they squeezed one single and one double bed, a fridge, cooker, sink, and swivelling front seats into it.

It only had 903cc but when it was feeling in a good mood, it would bowl along at 65 on the motorway. Just don't show it a hill...

Had an annoying tendency to blow headgaskets though, the engine was at the back and relied on some underfloor tinware making sure air flowed the right way to assist the rad. The whole system was marginal at best.

I'd have another one, but only if the cooling system was properly sorted.

macaroni July 27, 2010 12:33 PM

Datsun 120Y - not likely!

40summat July 27, 2010 2:09 PM

My first was a N reg'd Audi 100LS I bought in 1980 on an impoverished apprentice's wage, hence I kept running out of petrol.  The exhaust dropped off, the alternator gave up and it rusted through the rear wings from the inside out.  It was very comfortable though, and the ladies seemed to prefer it to the stape Escort and Mini diet at the time.  I do miss it, but probably only by association of the great times I had with it.

230SL July 27, 2010 3:49 PM

Had an early Panda it was phkchyt, rusted through at the bottom of the windscreen (it was 3 years old), remember when my mum passed her test, she got a GS Estate, I'd like one of those.

Mr_H July 31, 2010 11:15 AM

No. My first car was a dark blue Renault 5. I wanted a FIAT Uno (don't ask!). It was utter crap, to the extent that I wouldn't touch another Renault with a barge-pole.

The only car I've ever wanted back (or similar) was my Alfa 145. Can't justify having one, so I'm buying a Sportwagon instead! :-D

tony2x August 4, 2010 1:40 AM

In short, no.  My first car was a V-reg Morris Ital in hearing aid beige with a brown vinyl roof.  I paid £25 for it and it dumped it's core plug on the drive home.  I left it at the side of the road in Wigan, hopped on a bus and never gave it another thought.

There are lots of cars in my early days that I do miss especially my 1990 Saab 9000 Aero.  Red with those fantastic winged black leather seats.  Now that was a car.