The cars we used to own

Steve

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I'm sure between us and our ancestors, we've owned a lot of interesting vehicles. Some that would have been seen as ordinary at the time but now might be classics. So lets see your film shots of family transport from years gone by.

I'll start with a few of my Mum, who seemed to own a few different cars in the 50s and 60s, but this was apparently because they were all so unreliable she got rid of them. I don't know much about cars so would love to know what make/models they are if anyone can tell.

And one of my uncle on a cool looking but I imagine not very comfortable motorbike in 1930.


1957 (4)
by SteveGam, on Flickr

1957 Jersey (11)
by SteveGam, on Flickr

1959
by SteveGam, on Flickr

1961 Brighton (3)
by SteveGam, on Flickr

Mum's brown album (71)
by SteveGam, on Flickr
 
Wow, you look young in that last image Steve.....:lol: What kind of Douglas is that? My granddad had a Douglas A10 with a sidecar and he rode it from West Bromwich to Crewe to knock on the gates of the newly opened Rolls Royce factory to ask for a job ; "Hello, I'm a self-trained engineer and I'd like a job please" "Certainly sir come on in you can start straight away", things were a lot simpler in those days.

Andy
 
What a great selection of shots, I'll have to dig some of mine out.
 
Great pics! Here's a couple of my very first two cars - a Reliant Regal from around 1960 (which you could drive at 16 in 1970 provided you took the relevant driving test) and a 1961 Ford Anglia which was slightly modified as I was mad about rallying at the time! I have a lot more but these are my earliest cars. Sorry about the picture quality. Enjoy!

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wot ,no carlos fandango super wide wheels on the angleboxes ??? :lol::lol:

better add for those young whipper snappers amongst us ( mr Snap )


 
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We all knew a Carlos Fandango :lol:
 
This was my pride and joy,Photo taken under the M4 overpass by my Girlfriend with a Halina Paulette, Agfa slide film,bless her,Jan is now my wife of over 42 years.


 
I'm only a young'un :( This corsa was my first car and was rather lairy :lol: but being 18 i wanted to make alot of noise :o



And i replaced it with this, a 98 Honda Integra. It is probably the only thing i've ever sold and still miss :(

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My dad once had a car that i wish i had a picture of, a Fiesta Supersport back in the 80s. The only reason he sold it was it wasn't big enough, if it wasn't for my sister being born he may have kept it!
 
This was my pride and joy,Photo taken under the M4 overpass by my Girlfriend with a Halina Paulette, Agfa slide film,bless her,Jan is now my wife of over 42 years.


Is that a Frogeye Sprite?? I am now 46 but when I was in my teens and started driving I loved the look of those cars.

I was the only one of my friends who liked the older cars. Some of the cars I had in the mid eighties included, a Rover P5 & 6, Mrk 2 Cortina GT, A couple of Renault 5 Gordinis (sp) Triumph Spitfire, TR7 x2 One a convertable, Ford capri 280 Brooklands, and finally my pride of joy, but not to old at the time was Ford Escort RS1600i, I seen one of these fetch 18k recently.
Unfortunately l have no photos of any of these cars.
 
This was my pride and joy,Photo taken under the M4 overpass by my Girlfriend with a Halina Paulette, Agfa slide film,bless her,Jan is now my wife of over 42 years.


The 'frog eye' Sprite was a super little car. I always dreamt of owning one but, so far, never have. I did have a 1974 MG Midget which I completely rebuilt. That had character but not as much, I assume, as a frog eye.
 
Is that a Frogeye Sprite?? I am now 46 but when I was in my teens and started driving I loved the look of those cars.

I was the only one of my friends who liked the older cars. Some of the cars I had in the mid eighties included, a Rover P5 & 6, Mrk 2 Cortina GT, A couple of Renault 5 Gordinis (sp) Triumph Spitfire, TR7 x2 One a convertable, Ford capri 280 Brooklands, and finally my pride of joy, but not to old at the time was Ford Escort RS1600i, I seen one of these fetch 18k recently.
Unfortunately l have no photos of any of these cars.

Yes 1959/60 Austin Healy frog eyed sprite,wish I still had the little beauty.
 
At one point we had 3 old Escorts in the field, I can only find a pic of one of them, the one that didn't become a Rally Car:

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That's me and Dad washing one of the Minis we had later:

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The other Mini, parked in much the same place but perhaps a year later:

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In answer to Steve's original question, I think the first is a Ford Prefect, second a Morris Minor, third Austin A40 Mk1, and last a Ford Anglia.
 
Dad's first car a Ford 8, taken on Portsdown hill 1961, with my younger brother.



Mum on a B.S.A. something. 1948.

 
My first car was an Austin Healey Sprite, the one after the bug-eye. Slidy windows and no external door handles (fine except in severe frosts when the windows would freeze and not slide), but it did have a lockable boot. Mine had a gearbox lock, which I've never seen again. Indicator via a switch in the middle of the dash, IIRC. Cost me £200!

Camping by the shores of a sea-loch on Skye:



The controls!



After a couple of years I sold it and bought a Ginetta G15 kit car... second hand, already-built, I hasten to add. Hillman Imp Sport engine hanging out the back, which meant 70% of the weight on the back wheels, but the disc brakes were on the front... use the brakes with care or you'll lock them!



Here's a colour version that I think I've shared before...

 
Grandad Ernie's Triumph Herald alongside the caravan on Mrs Jones farm in Llanrwst


TH-and-caravan
by andysnapper1, on Flickr

Grandad removed the original dashboard and made an oak one with some added dials and widgets, he was like that, loved making and adapting things.

As an aside this was his camera


Leica
by andysnapper1, on Flickr

Andy
 
Steve, this an excellent theme for a thread. I'm working on finding a shot of my first car but until then here's one of my Dad, he's the one driving in the 1959 Skegness MC Fenland Rally


dad
by Raglansurf, on Flickr
 
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I'll join in with a couple of pics, the first from 1963, my first vehicle, it cost £410.00 on the road including road tax, passenger seat, rear seat, heater, sun visors, seat belts and rear view mirror (all extras at the time of purchase) took me 3 years to pay off the HP. So so much fun in this van, and not only driving :whistling:


Trev van car A35 1.011Sep64
by Trev4 Photography, on Flickr

A few years and cars later I was playing with a mini, I'm more worried about showing a pic of the hair :gag:, thats me on the right.


Rally mini and me *** years ago.
by Trev4 Photography, on Flickr
 
good thread ,gonna have to get into the dreaded PHOTO box in the loft and start digging deeeeeep
 
First car I owned was an Austin Riley Kestrel 1300 twin carb with a walnut dash and leather seats, saved it from the scrap yard, subframe had gone. Loved that car unfortunately whenever it rained the front arched grill would let in water and knacker the electrics. Fixed it with a firm plastic sheet under the bonnet. Unfortunately no photos lost them all in a fire.

Steve
 
Thanks for the help in identifying my mum's cars.
Loving the old photos of our cars. We seem to have collectively owned a nice variety of cars ranging from the frankly tragic to some seriously cool cars.
 
Since we already have Mk 1 and 2 Sprites on here, we might as well have the next (MG this time) version:



Complete with windup windows. As it's a fairly recent photo I can also say Nikon F2 on Kodak Gold 200.
 
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I'm wondering, is this not the same type of van driven by Gromit to deliver bakery products :D

Yep, its the same model for sure, don't know if I'm Wallace or Gromit though, I like cheese so maybe its...... oh. I'll let you decide :D
 
This is an Excellent thread! shame i have no way of adding to it, well parents or grandparents cars anyway... great seeing everyone else's though :D
 
Since we already have Mk 1 and 2 Sprites on here, we might as well have the next (MG this time) version:



Complete with windup windows. As it's a fairly recent photo I can also say Nikon F2 on Kodak Gold 200.

Ah yes, you also got external door handles! I did test drive this version, but the wheelbase hadn't changed, the seatbacks got thicker and the steering wheel moved closer to allow indicator stalk behind it. As a result it was undrivable by me (might have been OK with cutaway doors to allow my elbow to stick out, like the MGA (?)), and I wasn't that tall! Nice example, though.

Forgot to say my pics above were taken on my Werra 1, exposure guessed from the info in the film box (essentially sunny 16, I suppose).
 
Another BMC A series engined car, this one's my first car in 1976, a 68 Mini 1000. Taken on Kodachrome with a Zenith E

Mini_zps23a53f94.jpg


I don't miss the car or the camera but I do miss Kodachrome.
 
After 20 years of not knowing what happend to my alpina 2.7L I found it earlier this year after been under a callapsed shed. Pump the tyers up cracked off the brakes and after 12 years of never been started 2nd turn of the key and drove her home.
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Loving these photos !

This is my mum (front middle, laughing) with other family members in Cornwall, 1948. The car is a 1938 Ford or Matford V8.


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After 20 years of not knowing what happend to my alpina 2.7L I found it earlier this year after been under a callapsed shed. Pump the tyers up cracked off the brakes and after 12 years of never been started 2nd turn of the key and drove her home.
922611_183377118483281_2116201_o.jpg

Love this story..
 
My first pride and joy was nowhere near as stylish as the others in this thread, but I loved it! Full Abarth kit (for what it's worth) and a subwoofer in the boot. Chavtastic.

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I had a Bond Equipe Convertable. Basically a Triumph Vitesse with a fibreglass body made by the Bond Motor Company.

Here is someones piccy on someone's flickr of a similar car to mine. (I do have a photie of the actual one , but the scanner is in the loft)...http://www.flickr.com/photos/8782469@N05/8717739349/

I owned several Spitfires, Heralds in my time but the Bond Equipe was my fave...It was so much more unique, and the peeps who thought it was amphibious, unbelievable! wISH i STILL HAD IT!
 
It's amazing how good the Avenger looks (Above)! Such a humdrum car in it's day but already looks like a classic.
Unbelievably, a brand spanking new (look-wise), Austin Princess I saw recently was to die for, but was summit we all slagged off when it was common on our roads.
 
Loving these photos !

This is my mum (front middle, laughing) with other family members in Cornwall, 1948. The car is a 1938 Ford or Matford V8.


View attachment 1273

What a wonderful family photo. I can remember as a child having picnics next to the car; brings back very fond memories of sunny days and hard bolied eggs :)
 
What a wonderful family photo. I can remember as a child having picnics next to the car; brings back very fond memories of sunny days and hard bolied eggs :)

Ah, picnics next to the car. And by the side of the road. The car is a Morris Oxford.
 
What a great thread, sadly I don't have any pics of my first car which was a vauxhall viva I paid £50 for it.
I drove it to north Wales and the brakes went on me so I used the handbrake to drive it all the way home.
 
great thread indeed :D

unfortunately most of my cars of interest were when I had no camera of interest so there are next to no photos of any of them, but I've had many bizarre creations I've built. This was one of my bigger projects

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and just for comparison, here is a really bad photoshop mock up of what I'm building at the moment. Going is slow as I'm building it on the drive and laying up carbon fibre in zero degrees is not exactly best practice. It's a very heavily modified LWB buggy, currently making the buck for the bodywork and building the cage whilst restoring the chassis:

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