"My Old Classics"

These are some of the motors that I have owned in the past.

Cars that have come my way, used for a while and then got rid of, for one reason or another.

I have owned many cars and vans, but haven't got photo's of them all.

These are the few that I found to have photo's of.

First on the list is a Triumph 2000 of 1972 vintage. My dad brought me this car when I came back from living in Germany in 1983. He paid £400 for it and I went everywhere in it. It was Taxed and MOT'ed and I loved this motor. I even went to the trouble of cleaning up the engine bay and painting the engine.

This really was my first ever attempt at tarting up an engine bay. I didn't take the engine out to do it, I just got in there with cleaning stuff and a paint brush. Some bits, I did take off to either clean or paint and then replaced them.

The photos you see here were taken at Brickhill Woods near Milton Keynes.

I went there just to take these photos.

I did buy another one of these Triumph's many years later, but never took any photo's of it.

Here's my 2000 next to a Scooter I got for my wife, Paula. (She was my girlfriend then)

She run it into a lamppost and bent the front forks.

Next to the bike was a great little mini. It had a push on the floor button starter and a clubman flip-front. I didn't own the mini long and I can't remember who I sold it on too.

The bike went to a "Mark Kendell", who was an old school friend and he had set up his own car repair business on Tavistock Street in Bletchley, Milton Keynes. Mark had done a bit of welding for the MOT on the Triumph and I got talking to him about the bike and he took it off our hands.

Next up is a A40 Farina. I brought this motor to do up and never did anything with it. It sat in the car park of my Mum & Dads chip shop in Fenny Stratford for a few months and then I sold it on. The body was well rotten, but the engine was a really good engine. It started first time everytime, even after being left for weeks on end. Clutch was good and it drove really nice. I bet the number plate would be worth a bob or two today.

Next up is a Cortina MK4 that my dad brought me after I had a bit of an accident with the Cortina MK1. The MK1 went up in smoke after it caught light when I was cleaning the fuel filter, whilst having a parrafin fire on in the garage.

Paula also did a bit of learning to drive in the Cortina MK4 and also took a test in it. The examiner came round just a couple of hours before her test was due and told us that a previous pupil had smashed his car up and if Paula was still wanting to take her test, it had to be done in my Cortina. She failed that test, as she hadn't had enough experiance in driving it.

I did a straight swop with the Cortina for a MK1 Granada. This was done at an MOT station in Northampton. A bloke was in there with the Granada and I was there with the Cortina. We got chating and before you knew it, we had swopped motors.

The Granada was a great car and I loved driving Granada's. A fantastic sound was had from the V6 engine, once I had fitted straight through exhuast pipes with big "Cherry Bomb" silencers to it. I took this motor to Santa Pod on a regular basis and loved thrashing it up the track. I can't remember who I sold this motor too, but I'm sure it went to a good Granada looking home.

Behind the Granada, you can see a Mini with a Ford Anglia flip-front on it. This was a weekend creation and I did it, just to be differant. I only owned this for a short while before a mate (Pete) wanted to buy it from me. Once he got his hands on it, he painted flames on it. I think he liked the Mini Anglia more than I did. It looked good, but not quite right, if you know what I mean.

The next one is a Ford Anglia and it's this Anglia that I originally brought the flip front for. I choose not to use the Fibre-glass front end and opted for an all metal one instead.

The Anglia was a runner and I brought it for £50 of a couple of lads I see just in passing. I stopped and asked them, what they were going to do with it. They gave a blank look and asked if I wanted to buy it. A deal wa done and away I went with the Anglia.

I soon found that it was as rotten as a ripe pear. The wings were full of filler and I found more rot all over it. It didn't take me long to decied to rebuild it and Hot-Rod it a little. A Rover V8 engine was sorced and in it went.

 I still have the original reciept.

 The wings were full of filler.

It had a crappy bonnet scoop, which was rippped off.

Wings off

 Inner wing rot

The dash from a P6 Rover

Inner wing welded up and strenthened up with a tube welded to extra box section chassis.

A Ford Capri tank fitted into the boot.

The whole body was rubed down to bare metal and filled and primed.

A rebuilt front end with Rover V8 in place.

I ditched the fibre glass flip-front and opted for an all steel one.

Bulkhead and tunnel was built from tubuler steel and plated over.

The tunnel and bulkhead was really solid and strong.

How it looked from inside the engine compartment.

The Rover P6 V8 Engine.

I never did actually finish this motor, as I sold it on to Mark Slaughter. He and a couple of friends finished it off, but never got it road legal. I think they sold it on to someone who did get it on the road, but where it finished up, I don't know.