Worst buy and why

[lozcb]

Like one does when having far too much time to do absolutely nothing , I found myself reflecting on past purchases , quite a few ( of what the helll was i thinking of moments ) in there i can tell you , one in particular stands out a tall mile above the rest was back in 1974 at the tender age of 18, I swapped my pride and joy a 1968 british racing green MGB GT with wire wheels for ( and hangs head in shame whilst whipping ones back side ) a 1972 Morris 1800 land crab in black, complete with gold pinstripe ex fleet British Telecom/GPO ...............turned out i burnt the clutch out withing a couple of weeks .......................and all because I';d got frustrated not being able to ferry my mates about grrrr

 

[Guy]

It must be something about being 18, though I may have been 19 when I swapped my respectable Opel Ascona 2.0S for a Dutton Phaeton (someone else's home build!). I did a track day at Goodwood and then one of the wheels fell off the next day. I couldn't believe my luck when a relative who had his own business swapped his 2 year old company XR3 for it! What an escape with hindsight. His CFO refused to take the Dutton on the books to allow depreciation as he saw its value as close to zero already.....

 

[Tallman]

Yes 18 is not known as the best age for decision making for boys at least - too many things fogging the mind…I somehow ended up selling my red Alfasud 1.5 Ti and got stuck with my gran‘s old green Peugeot 104 that she’d put in the Armco on 1 side.

 

[lozcb]

It must be something about being 18, though I may have been 19 when I swapped my respectable Opel Ascona 2.0S for a Dutton Phaeton (someone else's home build!). I did a track day at Goodwood and then one of the wheels fell off the next day. I couldn't believe my luck when a relative who had his own business swapped his 2 year old company XR3 for it! What an escape with hindsight. His CFO refused to take the Dutton on the books to allow depreciation as he saw its value as close to zero already.....

Actually Tim is an old personal friend of mine Worthing days , though to be fair he would probably agree with you lol, I believe he is still operating Dutton cars out of premises in L/ton harbour side

 

[lozcb]

It must be something about being 18, though I may have been 19 when I swapped my respectable Opel Ascona 2.0S for a Dutton Phaeton (someone else's home build!). I did a track day at Goodwood and then one of the wheels fell off the next day. I couldn't believe my luck when a relative who had his own business swapped his 2 year old company XR3 for it! What an escape with hindsight. His CFO refused to take the Dutton on the books to allow depreciation as he saw its value as close to zero already.....

Just to jog your memory Guy , these were quite a common sight along the south coast , I believe at one time he was the largest kit car producer in Europe and the Phaeton itself held the brighton speed trials record for a number of years

 

[Burf22]

Actually Tim is an old personal friend of mine Worthing days , though to be fair he would probably agree with you lol, I believe he is still operating Dutton cars out of premises in L/ton harbour side

Didn't know him (I was only about 8 at the time!) but his Porsche 928 used to carry the memorable personalised plate: TOO 510W. Had a nice Corniche too if I remember correctly.

 

[HTAFC4200]

Jaguar X-type ... Friday afternoon shift finished her production. Numerous problems, sold to WBAC.

Alfa Giulia Veloce - Friday afternoon shift in Italy lol Handed back half way through lease.

The Alfa was the most wonderful, yet most frustrating car I've ever had.

 

[lozcb]

Didn't know him (I was only about 8 at the time!) but his Porsche 928 used to carry the memorable personalised plate: TOO 510W. Had a nice Corniche too if I remember correctly.

Yeah thats our Tim , lived for a few in years in the house down by the plantation (cliff richards old house ) few parties there lol

 

[Guy]

Didn't know him (I was only about 8 at the time!) but his Porsche 928 used to carry the memorable personalised plate: TOO 510W. Had a nice Corniche too if I remember correctly.

That plate went on his Countach too. Said it was rubbish and the side window so small he said it was chatting up a girl through a letterbox!

 

[Guy]

Just to jog your memory Guy , these were quite a common sight along the south coast , I believe at one time he was the largest kit car producer in Europe and the Phaeton itself held the brighton speed trials record for a number of years View attachment 113590

Thanks for the memory. I was living in Chichester and the my relative in Selsey so it was definitely a south coast thing. Mine was bright yellow with a 1600 x-flow ford motor with two twin webers.

 

[Burf22]

Yeah thats our Tim , lived for a few in years in the house down by the plantation (cliff richards old house ) few parties there lol

If we're talking about the same pad, and I'm pretty sure we are, I never knew that was Cliff Richard's old house! My older sister lived on the same street years later, but remembers Tim from those days in the 80s.

 

[Geo]

Undoubtedly the worst car I ever purchased at the grand old age of eighteen was an old Rochdale GT fitted with a Ford side valve engine. The faults were too many to list!

 

[DLax69]

Wives 2, 4, 3, and 1 in that order.

 

[Ebenezer]

So the first one was less bad than the next 3! That must have sucked!
Eb

 

[MikeyMaser]

A 2000 Alfa Romeo GTV 3.0 V6 I bought off eBay. Picked it up from Wales and it overheated on the motorway on the journey back. Radiator had leaked, no coolant and head gasket gone!

It went to a garage and all got fixed but never was right and continually lost coolant and overheated in traffic. Put it back on eBay (with faults declared) and sold for more than I paid for it!

 

[DLax69]

So the first one was less bad than the next 3! That must have sucked!
Eb

More than you know. Especially since #1 tried to run me down in the driveway with my own car. Friends, remember that you want to turn sideways and lean into that, and then roll off the hood...

See? Told you my marriage advice was always spot-on!

 

[DLax69]

A Geo Metro I bought from a girlfriend's mom. The mom was going through a divorce and needed some cash, and had that car in addition to a better daily. If I recall correctly, this was around 1993 and the car had a three speed transmission. I literally gave the car away...

 

[zagatoes30]

Mk3 2.0 GL Ford Capri, swapped my Opel Ascona 2.0 SR with my Dad after it trying to kill me multiple times in 3 weeks I swapped back

 

[Ebenezer]

More than you know. Especially since #1 tried to run me down in the driveway with my own car. Friends, remember that you want to turn sideways and lean into that, and then roll off the hood...

See? Told you my marriage advice was always spot-on!

So if #1 was the least bad of the first 4, and she tried to kill you, the mind boggles!

Eb

 

[zagatoes30]

We need to know what 2, 3 & 4 did to be so low on the scale - or maybe we don't