Cars from the 60's / 70's.

[Gunk]

A family friend had one of those. I seem to remember it as a good car. Was the gear stick mounted so it protruded from the dash?

it was a stalk off the steering column

 

[Accy cyclist]

I give you the Morris Maxi.

Hey, don't mock it!! I had a 1972 K reg' one, bought about 1979, maybe '80. I worked at a local hospital at the time, hanging out quite often in the hospital's social club. We'd do 3 days on, 3 off, 12 hour shifts. If I fancied a few pints after work and was back on at 7am I wouldn't drive home, I'd just put the back seats down in my Maxi and take out my constantly onboard sleeping bag and pillow, then head to the social club, knowing my bed awaited. It was long enough for my 6ft frame...but I couldn't do it now! Sadly the car was wiped out on the day Prince William was born (without looking it up it was in June 1982....if I remember rightly). I'll always remember it for that event. There I was driving home on the country lane leading from the hospital when I met a very big lorry as I turned a blind bend. The car was badly damaged and insurance wise written off. The original colour was British Leyland Harvest Gold which was a miserable looking kind of dull mustard. As I did with quite a few cars in the late 1970's early 1980's I had it sprayed in fluorescent orange!

 

[Accy cyclist]

Watch on 18 minutes 40 seconds @Slick to see the whole of the seats turn into a double bed!!

 

[FrankCrank]

First car was an 'L' reg Hillman Hunter, and I must say it was a complete bag of sh**e. Had to rebuild the engine, new clutch, replacement gearbox - just when it was all sorted It got T-boned. Still usable, so bought it back off the insurance company, as you could back then, and straightened it out mostly, slapped some undercoat on to cover the scars. All this during my engineering apprenticeship, so easy enough to rope others in at the factory to help out - great bunch of lads they were. All in all, a 'crash' course in car repair and bodging all just from that one car.

 

[raleighnut]

Saab 96 two stroke and v4's

I worked on them starting in 76 (Saturday lad and then worked full time in summer hols)

Most were the V4's but there were 2 of the older 2 strokes 1 the standard car and the other an 850 Monte Carlo Sport

 

[antnee]

My dad had one for awhile. It was eventful when the brakes failed

So did my sister though best memories of any car/ van was an old Morris 1000 van which I had for years bought it off a mate in the Seventys for a £ 5.00 note I think I put one recon engine and two gear boxes

 

[Slick]

Hey, don't mock it!! I had a 1972 K reg' one, bought about 1979, maybe '80. I worked at a local hospital at the time, hanging out quite often in the hospital's social club. We'd do 3 days on, 3 off, 12 hour shifts. If I fancied a few pints after work and was back on at 7am I wouldn't drive home, I'd just put the back seats down in my Maxi and take out my constantly onboard sleeping bag and pillow, then head to the social club, knowing my bed awaited. It was long enough for my 6ft frame...but I couldn't do it now! Sadly the car was wiped out on the day Prince William was born (without looking it up it was in June 1982....if I remember rightly). I'll always remember it for that event. There I was driving home on the country lane leading from the hospital when I met a very big lorry as I turned a blind bend. The car was badly damaged and insurance wise written off. The original colour was British Leyland Harvest Gold which was a miserable looking kind of dull mustard. As I did with quite a few cars in the late 1970's early 1980's I had it sprayed in fluorescent orange!

Yeah, it was a big car to be fair and I can see why my old man bought it as there were 5 of us.

Ours was a T reg which was 78 but we didn't have it long as it had a very low sump that kept getting ripped off on farm roads which was a problem as my dad was a butcher.

 

[dicko]

Owned four of these two Singer Chamois Sports and two Hillman Imps. Totally reliable, easy to maintain, cheap to buy and insure a great small family car too.

 

[steveindenmark]

My first car was a VW beetle in Germany. I was in the army in Germany and we had a huge hanger. When someone was posted they just gave their beetle to someone else. We had lots of them in the hanger. The Germans could not sell them so we just went out and collected them and either drive them or used them for spares. We must have had about 30 lined up.

 

[Jameshow]

I learned to drive in a Peugeot 404. I was on the way back from somewhere with my dad. He just stopped on the side of the road and said to me. I think it is time for you to learn to drive. No 'L' plates then or provisional licence. I wasn't even 18 (the legal age in France) but loved it and looked forward to going for a drive. I passed my test 2 months after my 18th birthday and that was 54 years ago!!.

Peugeot 504 and 505 were family fare in our house before they got a Toyota town ace horrid thing!

 

[Jameshow]

The Rover 3.5 was pure class, or at least they were to a young lad who didn't know any better.

My parents had a P6 3.5 lovely car!

Wouldn't mind a p4/5 the P6 was a bit weird!

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

My father didn't pass his test until into his early 30s
Primarily that was so he could use the works van (Bedford HA), & a bit later, a Land-Rover Series 3 109" Hard-Top
Which is undoubtedly, where I get my love of them from...... well...... anything that predates the (real) Defender), or the L322 Range Rover; anything after that has no appeal at all
His boss had a Range Rover, a 2-door!!!

His first car was an Austin Cambridge, the 'tail-fin' model (A60?)
1982-1983, I learnt the basics of driving in his Vauxhall Cavalier (2-door saloon), passing my test around Easter '83



It must have influenced me to some extent, as my first car was a Chevette!!


As for cars that I remember/wanted as a teenager, various neighbours had
Ford Escort 1600 Sport, in a rather vibrant metallic green (not the 'peppermint')
Triumph Dolomite Sprint (in green, but oddly on chrome 8-spokes, not the standard alloys)
Alan, another neighbour, was a fan of Wartburgs!, but he bought a Skoda S110? (the coupe), that was nice


Another neighbour had a Marina, in (LR called it 'SandGlow', the Camel Trophy colour), as a 4-door saloon
His father-in-law had an estate, his brother-in-law, the coupe (both were also in Sandglow!)

In the village, someone had a Mustang!!!
A late 60's model, from a distant memory, the same as the GT390 of 'Bullitt', but a booted version, in red, with a white stripe fully infilling the concave body pressing (on Wolfrace 'slotted' alloys)

 

[Slick]

My parents had a P6 3.5 lovely car!

Wouldn't mind a p4/5 the P6 was a bit weird!

You would have instantly promoted to cool as in my world.

 

[oldwheels]

Did your bond bug have fake bullet holes . I guess not many people remember those stickers lol

I think the bond bug came later. This was an early model but no bullet holes.

 

[oldwheels]

Forgot earlier that I also had a Commer camper in the 1960's. This was the one with the 1600cc engine and was a bit slow and rolled like a boat but we had it until about 1973 when the guy doing the MOT said he would give me one this time but do not bring it back for another.