1972 Datsun 1600. Modifications by the previous owner. Said modifications caught fire on Canning Highway. Saved the board, not the car.

72 Renault 16TS - aka The wide-mouth Frog
Most comfortable cruising car!

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Buster fin said..

firiebob said..
Hillman Imp GT
Got it as a no goer and did it up in our workshop when I was 16, got my licence on my 17th birthday and was off and running. It was a rocket at the time, 12:1 compression but after a year and a couple of gearboxes the old man got me to trade it in on a new corolla.

Just as well as not long after I was hit head on by a drunk on a bend, it would have been all over in the Imp.

That's not Teddies' speedway car in the background?

Can't remember Buster but it was parked at John Day panel shop in Welshpool.

If anyone's interested the 73 model was $2,364, I got full insurance payout so bought a 74 model for $2,374, gone up $10 in a year. I did go close to getting a V8 HQ panel van for $2,900 something, also looked at a mint XY GT for $3,000 .

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airsail said..
Bloody hell, are we showing our age or what. I feel ashamed saying mine was a 77 Celica, modern compared to you lot. Actually pretty cool that we are still actively participating in water activities we love rather than being lounge lizards.

What, I think I'm still 18

1971 Holden HQ Wagon - still regret the day I sold it.

Ha! I haven't had a car that I regretted selling. Motorbikes on the other hand...

Xr3 tweeted
Mk1 gti
Rs 2000

Mazda 1500 twin carb, manual on tree, fun car never got rwc not sure if counts as first car, so 1980 Ford Cortina 2L auto (vinyl roof) boring as bat*** but did well over 300ks until engine went.

Anyone ever own a Fuego?

MY97 WRX, limited edition. I bought it about 17 or 18 years ago, getting old

First car was an 850cc[??] mini, still remember the smell of burnt oil and frying ferodo's.
followed by - [not necessarily in order] minus a few that slipped between the brain cells
1977 corolla wagon,
1972 V6 Capri,
Fiat 124 sedan,
Fiat 2300,
Fiat 125 sedan,
Fiat 124 coupe,
Fiat 125S,
Datsun 1600 wagon,
HQ tonner,
Niva no.1 [EFI],
Moke no.1,
Moke no.2,
Niva no.2,
AMF DJ5 Jeep,
Suzuki hatch,
Hyundai excel [most uninspiring car ever, but one of the most reliable]
Mazda 121 jellybean,
Mahindra CJ340 jeep,
Proton S16 [surprisingly very reliable and refuses to die],
I-30 wagon,

Isuzu Bellett 1966 model; had a couple of good points and many many "not so good".

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Ben 555 said..

rune said..
1963 falcon panel van, the one with the flat roof and rear side windows. How much do you think I would like one now?

Sedan delivery - fetching almost as much as hardtops

Sedan Delivery is a job I know I'll keep, it sure was hard to find !

$100 Fb Holden Panel Van brought in 1969. Not this pic. Full of sand, hardly washed it , big stain down drivers door where I barfed out the windw & didnt clean off. had posters of Hendrix, Cream & surf shots in the back. Check the petrol & fill up the oil & down the coast we'd go. Absolutely ****in great times.

56 Vdub with dicky seat. If those seats could talk!!!!!!!!!!!!

First car I had was a hand-me-down -- 1967 Toyota Corona. This model, dark green, far less ratty. I still have a soft-spot for bench seats and column shift...



First one I bought was a 1980 Toyota Corona... (picture came from a website selling it for AU$9,500 :o maybe I should have held onto it...)

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ka43 said..
56 Vdub with dicky seat. If those seats could talk!!!!!!!!!!!!

The old Morris Minor front seats hinged forward at the front edge -- there was then huge amounts of room in the back seat.

...I'd love another one of them too

75 HJ panelvan, 202, 3 on the tree converted to speco floor shift, ah the memories

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cauncy said..
Xr3 tweeted
Mk1 gti
Rs 2000

At one stage tricked one of those was my Martin Luther King car... "I had a dream...but did g8 out of dad's company cars... With a gung-ho elder brother teaching me how to skid thru power turns drive..."

Peahi.. One of company cars was a Fuego nice. But not an XR3..
Cheers
AP

I remember the steering wheel of my Holden HQ was an oval shape, not round. As you turned the wheel, you would see the top of the steering wheel rising and falling as the oval was rotating on the steering column. Never sure if this was to let people with big legs get into the car easier, or to give you better leverage over the steering wheel when turning. Maybe a bit of both.

1956 Morris Oxford Series Two side valve. Column shift. The challenge was to change out of 2nd. before you got up Tyrrell St. Newcastle. BBC555 Should have kept the plates. Lounge chair for a back seat.

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Harrow said..
I remember the steering wheel of my Holden HQ was an oval shape, not round. As you turned the wheel, you would see the top of the steering wheel rising and falling as the oval was rotating on the steering column. Never sure if this was to let people with big legs get into the car easier, or to give you better leverage over the steering wheel when turning. Maybe a bit of both.

My old man's was the same. I assumed it was built quality.

79 Corolla
78 Corona
90 camry
1956 Plymouth Belvedere with a solidly worked 360 V8. Wasn't running properly when I bought it, but was nothing more than a leaking float (ie not floating) in the carb. Sadly sold it in a rush 'cause I was moving overseas for not much more than I paid for it. Learnt so much with that car re: mechanics etc.
Now have a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere II, swapped the 318 for another 318 with oil pressure, then a low compression (ie smog era) 440 with a 650 carter carb (loved that set up), now a bored and stroked 440 (to 505") running a 1050 Holley Dominator carb. PITA to drive now. Goes like a bat outta hell with a firecraker up its date, but is so temperamental. Need to change the intake and drop back to a simple 950 double pumper to make it more street friendly.
Bought the '67 while living in the US. Had a 95 (?) pontiac bonneville while there that had a head-up display. Head-up display should be compulsory on all vehicles. Also had a 90 (?) Ford Crown Vic wagon that had the 5.0 V8, that I paid $500 for. that car goes down in the history books as one of the best I've owned, particularly relative to price paid! 5.0L V8, leather interior, fake wood panelling, seats everywhere. Gave it away when we left to come back to Oz to a mates son that had just come back from afghanistan.

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Buster fin said..My old man's was the same. I assumed it was built quality.

LOL, it was VERY oval shaped. If that was a quality issue, then lucky the wheels weren't square.

First car was a two tone ( Puke Green and Ageing Rust ) 1968 HK Holden Belmont wagon,
Bought from Christy's auctions in Melbourne 1976 for $750 plus extras...
Three on the tree, 161 oh so underpowered 6,
Camping/shagging wagon,

Almost wrecked it on a wet black soil track out the back of Lithgow somewhere,

Did wreck it 2 weeks later when some middle eastern gentleman went through a stop sign in Sydney Rd Coburg,
Got paid out $ 1450.
WINNER!!
Wasted it all on the replacement...
1974 Holden 202 Kingswood Wagon,
4 yrs old att,
Without a doubt the WORST vehicle l have ever owned in my life.
" we " WERE a Holden family then...up to that car.
I get uncontrollable shakes and can't breathe when someone says HQ in my presence now...

It's a DUD from me

Probably worth a kabillion $ now though

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ka43 said..
56 Vdub with dicky seat. If those seats could talk!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Trying" to overtake a truck up a steep hill I managed to pull the gear stick completely out in a 63 model. That information became handy. Cheers

1980 Escort Panel Van, 1600. I could put my wave board in the back with the front seat folded forward. Could sleep in it too. Handy car and like all these old cars worth a **** load now!

1964 Hillman Minx Station Wagon grey body with white roof, replaced column shift with a 4 on the floor shift, went much faster till my brother blew the engine up. Sold for scrap.
1966 VW 1600 Station Wagon which was slowly gassing me to sleep from the fumes coming up through the rear floor engine hatch cover. Wrote it off in a crash going to my gals.
1977 VW Passat S/W lovely orange colour. Wrote it off in a crash going to the snow one year. Very lucky not to be hurt. Other guys fault.
1982 Ford Falcon XD Sports Wagon with big 250 engine & 4 on the floor, aftermarket exhaust, a great driving car let down by poor body rust proofing. Sold it to a youngster who drove it till it died.
2002 Holden Commodore S sedan which I still have, very good to drive on a trip but not great for a days sailing as I couldn't carry as much gear as the wagons.
So if I can I use the wife's 2003 Subaru Liberty Wagon when I sail as it doubles the carrying capacity.
Never really had a bad car except for the fumey VW.

Bikes are another story.
BSA 175 Bantam blew the engine up over revving it
Triumph 650 raced at a few club days in the 1970s traded in on
Yamaha RD 350 (a scary bike to ride in the wet) sold it to someone with more guts than me
Suzuki GT 750 a great bike sorry I sold it
Kawasaki 900 a very fast machine that got me booked for speeding so decided to buy
Honda XLR 250 my dirt phase had some great rides on some lovely bush tracks
BMW K100 had for 30 years a truly great bike had to sell as it was getting too big for me
Suzuki 650 V-Strom my latest and a very sweet ride
There you go.