First car

[mr bachmann]

My first car was a Hillman Imp bought from next door before they emigrated. My brother and I spent a good while fixing it up and fitting a rather sexy (in 1979) front air-dam, it was then repainted metallic blue!

We rebuilt the engine too, I passed my test in it and it was loads of fun even if it had the annoying habit (like many Imps) of blowing the cylinder-head/gasket, meaning water in the cylinders. As I understand it a big problem with the Imp's all aluminium engine being in the back and getting too hot. We had fixing it down to a fine art, could have the engine out, head off, reground the head flat (grinding paste and a big bit of plate glass) new gasket and back together in about three hours!

Next car was a Mini Clubman followed by a couple of Ford Escorts (A Mk2 and Mk3). Favoured choice from 1987 to last year were various incarnations of VW Golf and Polo (three of each) and my current car is a Seat (so same family).

Roy

as you say the Hillman Limp problems is rear engine - but the problem is the car is moving forward , and the radiator and water pump with cooling fan attached is pushing the air forward to ! , this along with the shape of the car whilst on the move creates a vacuum of a few inch's , and the poor fan is then deemed useless .  Hence the engine over heats then inside the cylinder block the bores (steel linings) expand and move under vibration and cant move further for the cylinder head (aluminium) is bolted down and unfortunately the gasket is the week spot .

I still run my be-loved Imp engine , now sporting a front mounted radiator   ....
[smg id=24401 type=preview align=center caption="IMG 2208 Copy"] 

[Roy L S]

as you say the Hillman Limp problems is rear engine - but the problem is the car is moving forward , and the radiator and water pump with cooling fan attached is pushing the air forward to ! , this along with the shape of the car whilst on the move creates a vacuum of a few inch's , and the poor fan is then deemed useless .  Hence the engine over heats then inside the cylinder block the bores (steel linings) expand and move under vibration and cant move further for the cylinder head (aluminium) is bolted down and unfortunately the gasket is the week spot .

I still run my be-loved Imp engine , now sporting a front mounted radiator   ....
[smg id=24401 type=preview align=center caption="IMG 2208 Copy"]

Wow, what is that? I feel I should recognise it but don't.

Regarding the Imp, it was innovative in so many ways, including that light aluminium engine which we used to detach from stub axles (rubber "donught" CV joints) and a few other places and wheel out on a trolley-jack, but I never could figure how the radiator and fan tucked out the way as it was could possibly be effective in keeping the engine cool. I had so much fun in the car, but it was nowhere near as nice as my mum's Singer Chamois from a few years earlier, my dad reckoned it's engine was a 998cc and it certainly did go well and never had the engine problems my Imp did.

Regards

Roy

[Sprintex]

My first car was a Daf 66.

One thing I remember about it, it was belt driven. The belt went between 2 cones and as you got faster, the cones moved apart on springs. A bit like an automatic. The same design was later used in the Volvo 340 I think.

Correct on all counts
It's called a 'Continuously Variable Transmission' (CVT) and yes the Volvo 340 used it too. The cones one end move apart while the pair at the other end move together to take up the slack in the belt. Ford fitted it to some models of Fiesta in later years as well

. . . and then an Austin Maestro - Lovely car

I've had three Montegos in the past at various times - a 1.6L, a 2.0 Vanden Plas, and an MG Turbo - great cars, much maligned without good reason, never had a problem with any of them. The Turbo was a fantastic car, faster and better handling than the Escort RS Turbo, as  many of the local boy-racers found out


Paul

[chub1]

Passed my test at 17(50 years ago ) and for the princly sum of £45 i brought a 1948 Ford Prefect, the sit up and beg variety as some called em, very similar to the Pop but four doors and with a three speed crash gearbox . Got a good deal of use out of it before it finally gave up the ghost.
Great when you slung it into a bend and the a##e drifted out . One problem was in the rain, the wipers were on a vacum so the faster you drove the slower they went  and pretty damn cold in the winter with no heater., however you could open the windscreen slightly via a screww mechanism on the dash which was good in the summer

[Bad Raven]

I've had three Montegos in the past at various times - a 1.6L, a 2.0 Vanden Plas, and an MG Turbo - great cars, much maligned without good reason, never had a problem with any of them. The Turbo was a fantastic car, faster and better handling than the Escort RS Turbo, as  many of the local boy-racers found out


Paul

For a while I was put onto work hire cars rather than be provided. At that period Group "C" was Sierra/Cavalier/Montego territory.

I dreaded getting a Montego, as it was pretty much guaranteed that it would have bad faults (this with nearly new cars).

One was on the motorway and there was a loud clatter from under the dash and something hit my foot. Stopping was difficult as the throttle had jammed part open. The noise was several large screws which had fallen from somewhere in the steering column area. Two had stuck into the throttle pivot.

Another time I was delivered an Auto with less than 50 miles on it.  When out of Drive it had a massive scraping noise from the gearbox. After it running for a minute or so there were metal "filings" dropping onto the ground from it when off load. When rung, they said they were short of cars and I should "drive it till it broke". I went Bromley/Croydon/Harrow/Peterborough/Norwich/Bromley that day. At the end of that it had ground 1/4" away from the bell housing, visible through a presumably missing cover hole, and was quiet!!

Another one had a switch for a clutch, or that's how it felt. That one leaked around the windscreen like a sieve, too.

The door handles and locks were weak, and came loose, too. And that's only examples.

Sorry, but I think from bitter experience they deserved ALL the flak they got.  Poor design, assembled by untrained monkeys using only hammers. You must have been VERY lucky!!!

Cavaliers were not great either, esp ones with no power steering as the gearing was SO low after one roundabout you were knackered. Very little fell off though.

Sierra best to drive of a not very good bunch.  (and I'm not a Ford fan).

My first car was a 1960 Riley 1.5 with 8" steel rims, four spotlights, etc. 706 PPD.  Kept it nearly five years. Replaced by an Austin 1800 which was bored to 2.1 litre, Stage 3 tuned and London/Sydney Marathon specced out. KYO 813D.  (Rallied that a little)

[lil chris]

My First car was a Austin 7 mini, bought for me by my parents when I was 18. I had passed my test learning to drive my dads Morris Traveler and later a Mk1 Ford Escort 1300cc Estate.  I was a biker and was on my 3 rd bike a new 1968 Triumph Bonniville 650cc.
My dad had been giving me lessons then stopped because he wanted me to have my long hair cut. When he got the Escort I had my hair cut and then passed my test, they bought the mini hoping I would get rid of the bike, I run both for a while before buying a Ford Mk2 Cortina Estate, by then I was working for Ford too.

[Sprintex]

I dreaded getting a Montego, as it was pretty much guaranteed that it would have bad faults (this with nearly new cars).

You must have been VERY lucky!!!

Two of mine were a year old when bought and the third was three years old, and two of them were owned for over three years without any faults. My dad also had six Montegos in succession as company cars covering 40k miles a year as an Auditor - all faultless.

I counter that you must have been VERY unlucky


Paul

[Cutter]

My first was a Triumph a 1965 Herald 1200 estate bought after my first year at university in 1974. It was a great little car, especially at the begining and end of terms, but it had a serious rust problem and had to go in 1978. I still have the original black number plates and the black ball from the top of the gear stick! My next car was a Triumph Spitfire which didn't last very long at all. It was years before I bought another car--a VW Polo.

[johnlambert]

My first car was a Daf 66.

One thing I remember about it, it was belt driven. The belt went between 2 cones and as you got faster, the cones moved apart on springs. A bit like an automatic. The same design was later used in the Volvo 340 I think.

Correct on all counts
It's called a 'Continuously Variable Transmission' (CVT) and yes the Volvo 340 used it too. The cones one end move apart while the pair at the other end move together to take up the slack in the belt. Ford fitted it to some models of Fiesta in later years as well

DAF's system was called Variomatic; an interesting feature of the DAF transmission was the absence of a differential.  The pulleys automatically adjusted to compensate for different wheel speeds when cornering.  This meant no loss of drive if one wheel was on a slippery surface.

Modern CVTs replace the rubber belts with a steel belt in a much more compact package; only one belt with a conventional differential final drive so you no longer get the limited-slip differential benefit.

Back in the 1990s a Williams F1 car was fitted with an experimental CVT; it proved capable of lapping Silverstone much faster than an otherwise identical car with conventional sequential manual transmission.  In fact it was so effective the FIA promptly banned the CVT; so much for Formula 1 representing the pinnacle of automotive engineering...

[Toneeze]

My first car was a Morris Marina 1.3L estate -Say no more!.

[Tdm]

My first car was a Morris Marina 1.3L estate -Say no more!.

A 1.8 Morris Marina Super Coupe replaced a Spitfire I had that someone ran into and wrote off, and I had no problems with the car - the 1.8 engine being the same as fitted to the MGB but with only one carburretor.

It had great "torque" and would accellerate in top gear from low speed with no problems at all and leave other cars standing and without the need to change down a gear. After 3 years  it passed on to my father who then ran it for a good many more years without a problem.

[mr bachmann]

as you say the Hillman Limp problems is rear engine - but the problem is the car is moving forward , and the radiator and water pump with cooling fan attached is pushing the air forward to ! , this along with the shape of the car whilst on the move creates a vacuum of a few inch's , and the poor fan is then deemed useless .  Hence the engine over heats then inside the cylinder block the bores (steel linings) expand and move under vibration and cant move further for the cylinder head (aluminium) is bolted down and unfortunately the gasket is the week spot .

I still run my be-loved Imp engine , now sporting a front mounted radiator   ....
[smg id=24401 type=preview align=center caption="IMG 2208 Copy"]

Wow, what is that? I feel I should recognise it but don't.

Regarding the Imp, it was innovative in so many ways, including that light aluminium engine which we used to detach from stub axles (rubber "donught" CV joints) and a few other places and wheel out on a trolley-jack, but I never could figure how the radiator and fan tucked out the way as it was could possibly be effective in keeping the engine cool. I had so much fun in the car, but it was nowhere near as nice as my mum's Singer Chamois from a few years earlier, my dad reckoned it's engine was a 998cc and it certainly did go well and never had the engine problems my Imp did.

Regards

Roy

Hi Roy , and for the others , its a 1969 Bond 875 this one is the Mk 2 version , only les than 3500 made both Mk 1 & 2's , great design from prototype but been a three wheeler the goverment laws was under 8 cwt , the 875 weighed in at near 9 cwt - so Bonds had to loose 1 cwt , starting with the front end -grill/mudguard/headlight dish's/bronze stearing bearings/spare wheel/petrol tank filler spouting/and loosing 2 tank securing brackets . Then the doors winding gear/glass windows/inside door handles even lighter seat frames , and then its the motors turn down grade from 10 to 1 compresion to 8 to 1 ( Imp van engine) after all that the car was passed fit to use - but by this time those that had orderd the car got fed up and went for the other make .

Still with the low compresion engine the claim was 0-60 in 12 seconds - but this 8 was more the norm , top end could see the pointer hovering in the upper 90's .
Not very sought after to-day , easy £'s to get hold of - only a few on the club register .

[Mito]

I passed my test on a Triumph Herald. I would love to have one now.
My first car was a white Hillman Imp. A great car. It burnt a valve out but was still under warranty. I sold it and bought a 1949 MG TC for GBP220. I completely rebuilt the car from chassis upwards. I never had the top up, always just the tonneau cover, summer or winter. Sold it when I got married, should have stayed single
I now run a 10 year old Kia Sorento.

[gjhimages]

Bargain £99 pound Hillman imp van in 1975
Several cars later
Now Toyota aygo , doesn't seem as much fun
Prefer bike when weather not too inclement

[Portpatrick]

Austin A40  1100 engine.  Grey with cream roof.  FHX653B.  Learned on it and passed my test in it in Aug 1972.  TPFT insurance for a new learner in April 72 was just under £37.   Sold it Nov 73 and bought a Morris 1300 Estate car.  Better for carrying railways!!  Ands faster but not too expensive to insure.