First car was a Peugeot 504 second hand 7 years old, kept it going for another 18 years.
What no insulation Jonathan?????
I didn't think about insulation back in the late 70s but had noticed the car had a lot of felt insulation as I had stripped out the inside of the car. I did add a bit around the front speakers. The rear speakers were fully enclosed. That reminded me, I put new carpet in the car.
Friends who travelled in the car always commented how quiet & comfortable the car was. I just took it for granted.
The 504 came to Australia as a "flat pack" & were assembled locally, as were a number of previous models.
In the early 80s the cleaner at work had a 505!
I do remember as a kid my parents had a Beetle, us kids used to sit in the area behind the seats sometimes when driving. How is was back then.
They bought it second hand but it turned out there was still money owing on the car. The finance company broke into our garage & stole the car. We got it back eventually.
First car was a Ford Prefect Ute. Un-Killarney. No water pump so boiled most of the time which it didn't seem to mind for 10 years.
Neil
Ah, the cars were known as "Defect". Had one for my "work car" when working in the bush, but had to change it to 12 volt because on cold mornings it wouldn't start. Gutless as all getout, not helped by 3 speed gearbox, but I knew a family of 6 that used to squeeze into theirs for regular 200km trips, about 3 hours of torture, each way. Cheers
Was fun in a different sort of way....even that great long gear lever with the humungous throw. I nearly hit a roo one night ....thought I was gunna go straight under him....or at least trip him up .
Cheers Keith
-- Edited by Keith P on Wednesday 14th of December 2022 06:32:08 PM
IanSch said
06:28 AM Dec 15, 2022
My first car in 1968 was a 1965 Falcon 2 Door Hard Top.
Wannabe nomad said
05:48 PM Dec 15, 2022
I used to drive the kids in the Morris Mini (850 engine) from Adelaide to Middleton to go camping and there was a certain spot along the way where the road had a hump and the kids would say faster mummy faster we want to fly, and we did for all off 2 seconds.
Tony Bev said
09:46 PM Dec 21, 2022
My first car, was a Austin A40 van, similar to the one below, but without the side windows
My first new car, direct from the showroom, was a 1969 Austin 1800 MK2, similar to the one below
And up to date, it was the best car I have ever owned, a wheel on each corner, and hydrolastic suspension
yobarr said
10:24 PM Dec 21, 2022
Tony Bev wrote:
My first car, was a Austin A40 van, similar to the one below, but without the side windows
My first new car, direct from the showroom, was a 1969 Austin 1800 MK2, similar to the one below
And up to date, it was the best car I have ever owned, a wheel on each corner, and hydrolastic suspension
Here's your van Tony. At one stage we had a MK1 Austin 1800, referred to as The Bullfrog. Miles of interior space with no driveshaft tunnel. Cheers
1951 Citroen, right hand drive, black. Chick magnet for some reason. File photo.
Was that not called the "Traction Avant",with the gear lever sticking out of the dashboard? Cheers
rgren2 said
12:50 AM Dec 22, 2022
Sure was. Very nice car, leather seats and a plush lining. The people I was with used to refer to it as the Mafia staff car, only thing, it was French not Italian.
Magnarc said
02:18 PM Dec 23, 2022
Ours was a Singer Gazelle. Beaut little car never let us down in five years. Before that we had a 650cc Matchless/AJS sports twin with a Steib chair attached. Nearly killed me three times till I put the chair on when we had our daughter. Pehaps I should say nearly killed myself, can't really blame the bike!
They were happy days.
Ivan 01 said
02:29 PM Dec 23, 2022
rgren2 wrote:
1951 Citroen, right hand drive, black. Chick magnet for some reason. File photo.
I saw a bloke race one of those at Liverpool Speedway many years ago.
Yes Yobarr, you are correct, the gearstick did in fact emerge from the dashboard. I went to school with a guy that had one and yes I recon it was a *chick magnet*
yobarr said
04:16 PM Dec 23, 2022
Ivan 01 wrote:
I saw a bloke race one of those at Liverpool Speedway many years ago.
Yes Yobarr, you are correct, the gearstick did in fact emerge from the dashboard. I went to school with a guy that had one and yes I recon it was a *chick magnet*
My first car was a Singer SM sports, paid 10 quid for it around 1956, not a bad motor, aluminium body over a wood frame, brakes were almost non existent but it was pretty quick.
No passenger seat, recall losing a girl friend over the very low door, whilst showing off doing wheelies on an oval somewhere, she was perched on a box, fortunately no serious damage done
My first car was a Singer SM sports, paid 10 quid for it around 1956, not a bad motor, aluminium body over a wood frame, brakes were almost non existent but it was pretty quick.
No passenger seat, recall losing a girl friend over the very low door, whilst showing off doing wheelies on an oval somewhere, she was perched on a box, fortunately no serious damage done
Not the car, stock photo.
Singer SM Sports eh. They certainly were powerhouses, were they not, with a neck-breaking 48hp (36 kw) from their 1497 cc engine.
Ahh, things certainly have changed. Probably a good thing that they had little power, considering that good brakes were not even an option.
By comparison,,MG TD had a massive 54hp. Cheers
AndyCap100 said
10:40 AM Dec 24, 2022
First car back in the distant past in the UK was a MG 1300. Racy at the time despite the shape as it had twin carbs !! Nice british racing green colour with a grey /cream interior Even remember the plate fbd737.
luvly comfy wide back seat too ,but thats a story for another time .lol. Its strange how you can remember details from 50+yrs ago ,but not what you had for tea yesterday .
Rock on people .Andy .
Santa said
04:26 PM Dec 24, 2022
AndyCap100 wrote:
First car back in the distant past in the UK was a MG 1300. Racy at the time despite the shape as it had twin carbs !! Nice british racing green colour with a grey /cream interior Even remember the plate fbd737. luvly comfy wide back seat too ,but thats a story for another time .lol. Its strange how you can remember details from 50+yrs ago ,but not what you had for tea yesterday . Rock on people .Andy .
Not a lot of 1300's seen in Aust Andy, nice looking car, twin carby;s were the thing back then, bit of a bugger to keep in tune as I recall.
The Singer motor boasted an over head cam life was certainly simpler before the computer age.
Australia had the Morris 1100S, 1275cc, basically the Cooper S motor.
Keith P said
10:35 PM Dec 24, 2022
Yep...My Ex had one .....went pretty well from memory
Cheers Keith
yobarr said
11:05 PM Dec 24, 2022
rgren2 wrote:
Australia had the Morris 1100S, 1275cc, basically the Cooper S motor.
Was effectively the same motor, but was well down on power, about 20% less than a standard Cooper S. Amazing that today's cars have so much more power than older models. The first Falcon GT was very powerful for its day, at 230hp (about 175kw), but now there are many cars with greater power. Cheers
StewG said
12:41 PM Dec 29, 2022
My first car in 1968 was an EH Holden panel van (after an earlier vehicle which will remain un-named because it died shortly after purchase). The EH was RACV tested before purchase and deemed to probably need a new engine. It had done 108,000 miles and over the next eight years, that went up to 220,000 miles before I sold it with still the original engine. I loved that car because it was so quiet, reliable and versatile. It did a half lap of Oz and many other long trips. Two extra fuel tanks were fitted under the floor to boost capacity to 27 gallons (123 litres) which gave a range of 800 plus miles (1,300+ km). The best fun was when we filled the tanks for the first time and watched the service station attendant's (remember those) puzzlement as to where all the fuel was going. It was a great vehicle, but time and rust works its magic and it is only a memory now, sadly replaced by more vehicles than I can now recall.
yobarr said
08:48 PM Dec 31, 2022
StewG wrote:
My first car in 1968 was an EH Holden panel van (after an earlier vehicle which will remain un-named because it died shortly after purchase). The EH was RACV tested before purchase and deemed to probably need a new engine. It had done 108,000 miles and over the next eight years, that went up to 220,000 miles before I sold it with still the original engine. I loved that car because it was so quiet, reliable and versatile. It did a half lap of Oz and many other long trips. Two extra fuel tanks were fitted under the floor to boost capacity to 27 gallons (123 litres) which gave a range of 800 plus miles (1,300+ km). The best fun was when we filled the tanks for the first time and watched the service station attendant's (remember those) puzzlement as to where all the fuel was going. It was a great vehicle, but time and rust works its magic and it is only a memory now, sadly replaced by more vehicles than I can now recall.
I didn't think about insulation back in the late 70s but had noticed the car had a lot of felt insulation as I had stripped out the inside of the car. I did add a bit around the front speakers. The rear speakers were fully enclosed. That reminded me, I put new carpet in the car.
Friends who travelled in the car always commented how quiet & comfortable the car was. I just took it for granted.
The 504 came to Australia as a "flat pack" & were assembled locally, as were a number of previous models.
In the early 80s the cleaner at work had a 505!
I do remember as a kid my parents had a Beetle, us kids used to sit in the area behind the seats sometimes when driving. How is was back then.
They bought it second hand but it turned out there was still money owing on the car. The finance company broke into our garage & stole the car. We got it back eventually.
1960 Austin A40 Farina
Ah, the old Vanguard! Good cars, sometimes colloquially known as "Guards Van", with earler models known as "Fergy Fastbacks". Cheers
Ah, the cars were known as "Defect". Had one for my "work car" when working in the bush, but had to change it to 12 volt because on cold mornings it wouldn't start. Gutless as all getout, not helped by 3 speed gearbox, but I knew a family of 6 that used to squeeze into theirs for regular 200km trips, about 3 hours of torture, each way. Cheers
My first cat was a Morris Z ute when I was 11 years old bashing it around Mum and Dads farm
Me too I bought my 1st car in 1977 and it was a 1963 Morris Mini with an 850 engine it ferried me and my 3 toddlers around no worries
My first car was a 1958 FC Holden Special sedan.
It was very similar to this picture but mine was a Special not a Standard or I think the designation might have been Business model for the base spec.
Mine was that lighter green colour. I believe the 1959 to 60 model was the darker green.
Was fun in a different sort of way....even that great long gear lever with the humungous throw. I nearly hit a roo one night ....thought I was gunna go straight under him....or at least trip him up .
Cheers Keith
-- Edited by Keith P on Wednesday 14th of December 2022 06:32:08 PM
I used to drive the kids in the Morris Mini (850 engine) from Adelaide to Middleton to go camping and there was a certain spot along the way where the road had a hump and the kids would say faster mummy faster we want to fly, and we did for all off 2 seconds.
My first car, was a Austin A40 van, similar to the one below, but without the side windows
My first new car, direct from the showroom, was a 1969 Austin 1800 MK2, similar to the one below
And up to date, it was the best car I have ever owned, a wheel on each corner, and hydrolastic suspension
Here's your van Tony. At one stage we had a MK1 Austin 1800, referred to as The Bullfrog. Miles of interior space with no driveshaft tunnel. Cheers
1951 Citroen, right hand drive, black. Chick magnet for some reason. File photo.
Was that not called the "Traction Avant",with the gear lever sticking out of the dashboard? Cheers
Ours was a Singer Gazelle. Beaut little car never let us down in five years. Before that we had a 650cc Matchless/AJS sports twin with a Steib chair attached. Nearly killed me three times till I put the chair on when we had our daughter. Pehaps I should say nearly killed myself, can't really blame the bike!
They were happy days.
I saw a bloke race one of those at Liverpool Speedway many years ago.
Yes Yobarr, you are correct, the gearstick did in fact emerge from the dashboard. I went to school with a guy that had one and yes I recon it was a *chick magnet*
Here 'tis! Cheers
My first car was a Singer SM sports, paid 10 quid for it around 1956, not a bad motor, aluminium body over a wood frame, brakes were almost non existent but it was pretty quick.
No passenger seat, recall losing a girl friend over the very low door, whilst showing off doing wheelies on an oval somewhere, she was perched on a box, fortunately no serious damage done
Not the car, stock photo.
Singer SM Sports eh. They certainly were powerhouses, were they not, with a neck-breaking 48hp (36 kw) from their 1497 cc engine.
Ahh, things certainly have changed. Probably a good thing that they had little power, considering that good brakes were not even an option.
By comparison,,MG TD had a massive 54hp. Cheers
luvly comfy wide back seat too ,but thats a story for another time .lol. Its strange how you can remember details from 50+yrs ago ,but not what you had for tea yesterday .
Rock on people .Andy .
Not a lot of 1300's seen in Aust Andy, nice looking car, twin carby;s were the thing back then, bit of a bugger to keep in tune as I recall.
The Singer motor boasted an over head cam
life was certainly simpler before the computer age.
Yep...My Ex had one .....went pretty well from memory
Cheers Keith
Was effectively the same motor, but was well down on power, about 20% less than a standard Cooper S. Amazing that today's cars have so much more power than older models. The first Falcon GT was very powerful for its day, at 230hp (about 175kw), but now there are many cars with greater power. Cheers
Magic Cars they were.
If only they have a 4wd version.