Cars    

Back to Family

I've owned a few cars, nothing spectacular, but as with most Brit males, they were enjoyed and cosseted etc...

I'll try and put some of my photos with these ramblings, in time, - but for now its other people's pics.....

1-Mar-641-Oct-67VW Beetle (first car) - registration 977 TKL - red - Purchase Price ?465.

this is me and mine!!

Bought from Colnbrook Motors near Heathrow, Paul Tucker was with me for the test drive - the demonstrator "ran out of petrol" on the M4 and thumbed a lift back to the garage - meanwhile we just sat there until another Beetle came up behind us - a guy in overalls (one of Colnbrook Motors' mechanics) jumped out to ask if we needed help - we explained and he said......." running out of petrol..... that's the only thing that'll stop a Beetle!!" - and off he went... I was sold!! I enjoyed waving to other Beetle drivers, and can remember going to Paul Tucker's house early on (he had an Austin A30) and we were discussing cars with his dad (Ern - who had a yellow Ford Anglia - the one with the backward slanting rear window) and he asked where the battery was? I knew the engine was in the boot, but had never seen a battery, so I told him it didn't have one. We eventually found it under the rear seat!!

Brilliant car - drove it from 40,000 to 100,000 miles, sold it to Andy Roland.

1-Oct-6724-Dec-68Lotus Elan - convertible - yellow

mine had black bumpers and no roll-over cage - thanks to http://www.lotuselan.net/uploads/troberds_side.jpg

Bought from Mike Spence (he used to be a Formula One driver, but sadly died at Indianapolis (I think)) Racing in Maidenhead. Bassy was with me on first inspection - and he had a relative working there - very unreliable car - remember driving along a quiet country road and feeling the right rear wheel run over something large. Thought "I didn't see anything ahead, and if I missed seeing it - why didn't the front right bump too?" - it was my alternator - had come unglued, fell out, and I ran over the blooming thing!! Christmas Eve I heard on the Radio that cops were going to be tough on drink/driving this year - and because I was so "obvious", I decided to drink no alcohol that day - went to a couple of parties, and driving home was congratulating myself on my sobriety, snow was falling - about midnight, coming along the M4 near Heathrow turnoff, middle lane, 50mph, Mini ahead I was catching it at about 3 mph - and stupidly decided to overtake it using the outside lane - which had freshly fallen snow, both right-side tyres skidded as they went into the snow - I waltzed around two or three 360's, whilst overtaking the mini, careened across all three lanes and smashed into a lamp-post. Just scratches, undid seat belt, heard hissing sound, thought it was going to blow up, stood straight up on my seat - don't know where the hood had gone, and stepped out of the passenger door - which also wasn't there... my poor car.... fibre-glass in collision with a lamp-post leaves smaller bits of fibre-glass - everywhere. I last saw that car (written-off) in a big plastic bag at Mike Spence's garage.

15-Jan-691-Oct-69Lotus Elan BRM - convertible - yellow with green go-faster stripes GPR 665E

this is mine, in Switzerland, with Aileen on way to Italy!!

Also bought from Mike Spence, also very unreliable. I got so fed up with it breaking down - most often in my garage overnight!! I'd arrive home, next morning the clutch didn't work - the clutch-fluid pipe was plastic and came into contact with something hot, burnt a hole and - no cluch!! The Mike Spence people were Joe Cool though - they just started it up (in my garage) and without a clutch, selected reverse gear, drove out, and 15 miles to their garage - all without a left pedal!!

On one holiday I had proof of 140mph average speed over about 20+ miles of French Autoroute - IBM punched card at Toll-Booth at start gave time and distance - then the End Booth provided its time and distance - hood off - Aileen (we'd been on holiday to Italy - where it had broken down again - clutch problems fixed by a Ford dealer) slept through most of it - 140mph average!! Crazy!!

In the end, I traded it in for a Fiat 500 - which felt like a roller skate in comparison!!

1-Oct-691-Mar-70Fiat 500 - dark blue - ?500

this isn't mine, but it was exactly the same - thanks to http://www.fiat500club.org.uk/gallery/marie/aaf, for the pic..

Max speed was 55mph, my head touched the roof - that's why I nearly always had the sun-roof open. At 1900 Programming we got 9 old pence per mile when traveling on company business - this car cost about 3 pence per mile to run - and I was thinking of getting a second one (pair of roller skates) to make twice the killing (silly!) Lots of fun with the boys at 1900, 7 or 8 of us trying to get into it to go to Paradiso et Inferno - Geoff Whittam getting in - putting his file of papers on the roof, we drive off, get to restaurant Jeff realises he's lost his file - I flop closed the Sun-Roof - there's his file - all intact. Also Polatch in his Triumph Herald pushing me out into oncoming traffic, I standing on the brakes, also revving in reverse gear - but still getting pushed into the traffic - silly times!!

Great little car - totally reliable - left it behind when I went to South Africa.

1-May-701-Jul-70GM Ranger - white - South Africa - rental,

Crashed it (total write off) on way back from Durban to Jo'burg - ran straight in the back of a car that had stopped in the middle of the road because he had run over a rabbit. I came over a hill, on the downslope, overtook another car, just as I'm pulling to the left to get back in my lane - this clown stops ahead!!

1-Jul-701-Jul-72Chrysler Valiant Rebel - White - company car, South Africa

mine was all white - thanks to http://www.dyna.co.za/cars/68-Valiant-f.jpg

Very good car - from brand new - 3.6 litre engine, automatic, drove everywhere - very reliable.

1-Jul-7231-Jan-73Ford Escort -  ex-Chiswell car, leaked oil, end of South Africa
5-Feb-731-Jan-74MGB GT - dark blue

    No its not me - but mine was dark blue - thaks to http://www.garage24.net/MGMain.htm

Bought this on our return from South Africa, rear-axle broke within a couple of weeks - rubbish!

15-Mar-731-Mar-75VW Beetle - Blue - alas this too was unreliable and had to go quite quickly
1-Feb-741-Mar-74Renault 4 - white

thanks to http://www.renault4.plus.com/gallery/peoplespics/PPi/PP82.htm for the pic - here's something not a lotta people know - the left side of the car was a different length to the right side, and the easiest way of identifying it was to measure the gap between the front of the rear wheel-arch to the back-edge of the rear door - it'd be something like1.5 inches on 1 side, and 2.5 inches on the other - a really enjoyable car except it had no floor (rusted away) and the clutch pedal broke off one day in the middle of a busy cross-roads!! This was my introduction to very adaptable cars.... hence the next one.....

1-Mar-741-Apr-81Citroen Dyane - red

also not mine - thanks to http://www.eurolab.at/~groebner/dyane/pics/dyane2E.htm

Registration TYX 465M - new - excellent car - so adaptable, 5 doors, roof comes off, seats come out easily etc.. - super car!!

1-Apr-773-Apr-78Chrysler Alpine - Beige

thanks to http://perso.wanadoo.es/chrysler150/england.html

This was a Bell & Howell company car, OK'ish - bit underpowered (1300cc) - and Wal and I wrote it off in a spectacular crash up the M1 one rainy morning - on our way to Dublin to give a course. I was driving, in the outside lane, saw lots of brake lights up ahead, slowed down, there was an accident ahead, Wal put on the hazzard warning lights, and I checked my rear-view mirror to see if the guys behind were paying attention, and thought I was communicating to Wal - something useful about the crazy idiot I had seen, all 4 wheels locked up and screaming into the back of us at about 70 mph. I tried to get into the middle lane (away from him) but he caught us, smashed us across the middle lane - into the front wheel of a big petrol tanker that was just about stationary, we pirouetted around the front of him and went spinning across the hard-shoulder and up the grass banking. The 5th door flew open and all our course material flew across the motorway. We came to rest and had to climb out of the windows, because the doors wouldn't open. Wal informed me - that I had imparted nothing of any value to him... my only utterance being ..."OOooooohhh... I don't like this..."

3-Apr-781-Apr-81VW Scirocco - gold

- sorry - don't know where I got this pic from..

- very good car - even with 3 adults and 2 small children - all the way from Northern Germany to Tuscany - very cramped!!

3-Apr-781-Oct-89VW Beetle - White - 1303 - kept this for years - very good car - had it resprayed red in remembrance of 977 TKL - sold it for ?10
1-Apr-8117-Dec-89BMW 320 - Charcoal Grey

thanks to http://www.auto.ee/autotest/autod/bmw_320i.html

bought this new in Brussels - cost there was about ?4,500, taxes at Dover were ?1,500 (rip off!!) - but to buy one new in England at that time would have cost ?9,000 - saved ?3,000!! Very good - exciting car.

1-Oct-891-May-91Citroen BX - Grey

thanks to http://bxhomepage.tripod.com/frame_bxpages.html

- goodish car - liked the ride and functionality (5 doors) - but underpowered (1300cc)

20-Apr-911-Mar-95Renault 25 - Dark Brown

  thanks to http://www.hut.fi/~minoru/renault/gen_gallery/niall-baccara/pages/baccara2.htm

RLK 776L - excellent luxurious car - 2.9 litre, automatic, 5 doors, great radio/hi-fi trips to Meribel, Spain/Monte Carlo, Italy/Austria

 That's it... living in Hong Kong and Singapore - don't need a car - and positively avoid owning one - because of costs... we'll see what happens in Philippines.....
  

Back to Family

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Visit my other sites.....

Go to:  Home Web-Site |Lived | Schooled | Worked | Pools | OddsnSods | Photos web-site | POWWEB-1 | POWWEB-2  | Christianz Interiors

Last update - May 20, 2009 - email to djmikecurley@gmail.com