What is the absolute worst car YOUR DAD ever owned ?

Neill

Kilgore said:

Fretwired said:

Austin 1100. It looked exactly like this ..

Tend to forget how small cars were back then. My kid has a Go Kart bigger than that.

Nah, the 1100 was HUGE - this is a small car...



Our woodwork teacher at school had one of these.  And he must have been 17 stone, didn't so much drive the car, he wore it.

EricTheWeary

ICBM said:

VimFuego said:

makes you wonder if there were any decent cars in the 60's and 70's.

Mercedes. It’s when they got their reputation for quality.

As soon as my dad retired he bought himself one and hasn’t driven anything else since.


In the late 70s the Meera's, who lived around the corner from where I grew up, got a Merc and kept that car for a seriously long time. Personalised plate and looked after the car - I'm not sure when I last saw it but it certainly made it into the 21st century. They don't live there anymore, Mr and Mrs Meera would be in their 80s now so it seems possible that the car outlasted them.

Dominic

Stuckfast said:

My Dad was an early classic car enthusiast, and had some lovely sports cars that he bought for a song in the 60s. But the one he chose to use as a runaround was something called a Gilbern Invader, primarily known for being the only car ever (at the time) designed and manufactured in Wales. The body was made of purple fibreglass, and for some reason, the owner who'd originally bought it had decided not to opt for the standard walnut trim, and had instead had the entire interior fitted out in black vinyl.

It was probably a great car if you were not a child crammed into the minute back seat on a July afternoon. The only question was whether the car itself would overheat in a cloud of steam before we lost the skin on our legs.

I drove a Gilbert Invader for about 3 months lent by a friend who went to work in Hong Kong.
It was very quick ........they had a 3 litre Ford Capri V6 in them ...........handled quite well but had a walnut interior dash like an old Rover P100

VimFuego

EricTheWeary said:

ICBM said:

VimFuego said:

makes you wonder if there were any decent cars in the 60's and 70's.

Mercedes. It’s when they got their reputation for quality.

As soon as my dad retired he bought himself one and hasn’t driven anything else since.


In the late 70s the Meera's, who lived around the corner from where I grew up, got a Merc and kept that car for a seriously long time. Personalised plate and looked after the car - I'm not sure when I last saw it but it certainly made it into the 21st century. They don't live there anymore, Mr and Mrs Meera would be in their 80s now so it seems possible that the car outlasted them.

yeah, those mercs were solid cars. If it weren't for the huge road tax I'd love an older merc estate. I don't do huge mileage so economy is less of an issue, but the tax is pretty hard. 

boogieman

VimFuego said:

makes you wonder if there were any decent cars in the 60's and 70's. Rovers always seemed to be quite "cool", and I always thought the cortina (the one before the last mark cortina, oops no it wasn't, the mark 3 is the one I'm thinking of) was a good looking car.

There were a few cool looking cars from the 70s. The Capri, mk111 Cortina, Stag and Vauxhall VX were all decent looking. The build quality though........ 

I had a 70s Rover at one time, a 3.5 P6. It was a very comfortable car and nice to drive, in a straight line. No PAS on a two ton car though, so parking the thing was a nightmare. Also I don’t know what drugs the design department were on at the time but the colour scheme was vile. White paintwork, brown vinyl roof, mustard carpets, luminous orange seats and door cards, black vinyl dash and trim, plastic mock wood door cappings. 

ICBM

VimFuego said:

yeah, those mercs were solid cars. If it weren't for the huge road tax I'd love an older merc estate. I don't do huge mileage so economy is less of an issue, but the tax is pretty hard. 

How much is it, a few hundred a year? Peanuts compared to everything else in the cost of ownership - especially depreciation. 

My dad recently replaced his 80s one... with a 1991 one with half the mileage, that if you didn’t know that it was a 25 year old design you would think was almost new. He expects to never need another car, and he’s quite likely right. (He’s 80.)

Neil

Funny, a lot of the cars that are marked down here as unreliable etc are ones I have owned over the years with no problems.

I think the problem is that many were old knackered examples when bought and the owners/repairers didn't really have much of a clue on how to service/look after these most basic of cars. 

That aside the Eastern European stuff was generally a load of cheaply made crap. 

VimFuego

ICBM said:

VimFuego said:

yeah, those mercs were solid cars. If it weren't for the huge road tax I'd love an older merc estate. I don't do huge mileage so economy is less of an issue, but the tax is pretty hard. 

How much is it, a few hundred a year? Peanuts compared to everything else in the cost of ownership - especially depreciation. 

My dad recently replaced his 80s one... with a 1991 one with half the mileage, that if you didn’t know that it was a 25 year old design you would think was almost new. He expects to never need another car, and he’s quite likely right. (He’s 80.)

yeah, about that. But for me, that difference between a merc and my little focus is probably 2 months fuel. It's kinda hard for a tightwad like me to give that up.

ICBM

Neil said:

Funny, a lot of the cars that are marked down here as unreliable etc are ones I have owned over the years with no problems.

I think the problem is that many were old knackered examples when bought and the owners/repairers didn't really have much of a clue on how to service/look after these most basic of cars. 

That aside the Eastern European stuff was generally a load of cheaply made crap. 

I've only ever owned French cars - I started because after the always-boiling Riley Kestrel, my mum bought a Citroën Dyane brand new on the basis that it was air cooled so couldn't have the same fault! And it didn't, it was a fantastic car, very reliable. So my first car was one as well, because we had the right tools (in those days Citroën used odd sizes for everything) and I was familiar with it. After that I stuck to them because of the huge depreciation - you can get a decent car for peanuts if you're careful what you buy.

The Renault which I'm just replacing - because it got bashed and is an insurance write-off - I've had for nine years and it has broken down (as in not being drivable, and not counting when I stupidly let the battery get too old and didn't replace it when I should have) only twice, once for a seized brake caliper and once for a faulty electrical connection. It's been by far the most reliable and cheapest car to own I've ever had. But the reputation from the 1970s and 80s has stuck, and used values are still much lower than other comparable cars... so I'm getting another one.

munckee

revsorg said:

A VW Variant coloured teal. 

It was a fine car in most respects but we ended every journey with terrible headaches and bright red faces. We gradually realised that the exhaust was leaking into the ventilation system in the rear passenger footwell. The best thing I can say about it is that it didn't end up killing us. 

My dad had a variant fastback in the 1970s twinned with his burgundy leather jacket he thought he was Lewis Collins...  as someone else said earlier the smell of heated vinyl ensured vomit on every long trip, didn't have halogen headlamps either so he had to follow people in the dark or he couldn't see.  Replaced it with a mustard coloured datsun sunny which had to have rust repaired every week, engine would not die though.

Neill

boogieman said:

VimFuego said:

makes you wonder if there were any decent cars in the 60's and 70's. Rovers always seemed to be quite "cool", and I always thought the cortina (the one before the last mark cortina, oops no it wasn't, the mark 3 is the one I'm thinking of) was a good looking car.

There were a few cool looking cars from the 70s. The Capri, mk111 Cortina, Stag and Vauxhall VX were all decent looking. The build quality though........ 

I had a 70s Rover at one time, a 3.5 P6. It was a very comfortable car and nice to drive, in a straight line. No PAS on a two ton car though, so parking the thing was a nightmare. Also I don’t know what drugs the design department were on at the time but the colour scheme was vile. White paintwork, brown vinyl roof, mustard carpets, luminous orange seats and door cards, black vinyl dash and trim, plastic mock wood door cappings. 

I had one of these from the 1970's, the design has aged quite well I think



Porsche 924, terrific to drive but a total nightmare to look after, stuffed with unnecessary electrics. 

Telejester

A friend of my dads had a cortina v6, so tail happy it was driving on an ice rink

VimFuego

Telejester said:

A friend of my dads had a cortina v6, so tail happy it was driving on an ice rink

but cool as fuck.

Neill

This was the height of cool back in the 1970's  Sweeeenaaaay!!!  

Jaguar S type Vs Consul 3000GT 

Complete with cardboard boxes!

Axe_meister

My dad has had some real howlers, Lada  Riva estate, Wartburg, Peugeot 305

Foster

VimFuego said:

EricTheWeary said:

ICBM said:

VimFuego said:

makes you wonder if there were any decent cars in the 60's and 70's.

Mercedes. It’s when they got their reputation for quality.

As soon as my dad retired he bought himself one and hasn’t driven anything else since.


In the late 70s the Meera's, who lived around the corner from where I grew up, got a Merc and kept that car for a seriously long time. Personalised plate and looked after the car - I'm not sure when I last saw it but it certainly made it into the 21st century. They don't live there anymore, Mr and Mrs Meera would be in their 80s now so it seems possible that the car outlasted them.

yeah, those mercs were solid cars. If it weren't for the huge road tax I'd love an older merc estate. I don't do huge mileage so economy is less of an issue, but the tax is pretty hard. 

Depends on how old you mean - anything pre 2001 is based on engine size, either below 1.6 or above. Costs me £230 a year tax for my van (being a 1.9).

freakboy1610

My Dad was the king of bad cars. The best (worst) run as far as I recall went;
Morris 1800
Mini Clubman Estate (non wood version)
Austin Allegro
Skoda Estelle
I learned to drive in the Allegro but it rusted apart prior to my driving test which I took in the Skoda. I still remember the look on the driving test guys face when I pointed out my car! Good times.

ESBlonde

Given the level of technical advancement in those days we did reasonably.

A sit up and beg Ford Popular (Black of course)
An Austin A35 (Black)
An Austin 1100 (Bottle Green)
An Austin Cambridge (Red) + a grey mini for mum.
An Austin Maxi (his first ever new car) (Black tulip/purple)
An Austin Princess (Orange)
Then he went all Nissan after the early 90s.

fields5069

Austin Allegro "LE". The best bit about the car was the colour, a rather fetching metallic blue.

Alnico

An XR3.

I still haven't forgiven him.