1970s cars

[JeremyB]

I forgot the Chrysler Avenger,gulp,another mistake

Who could forget Victor Meldrew walking into the garage to collect his car and announcing 'I'm the Crimson Avenger'. Still makes me chuckle.

[thirdcrank]

I'll raise your Avenger: Austin All Aggro. THE rubbish car of the 70's.

[Mick F]

When my Triumph Herald was damaged at at the body shop in Portsmouth ..........
(I must add that it was someone who ran into me!)

.......... we drove up to Lancashire in a hire car. Hillman Avenger.
TBH, it was a good car, or at least the one we hired was. Ran well all the way and back. Never put a foot wrong, and I must have driven it 600 or 700 miles.

The Allegro was ok IME. The engines were tried and tested BL engines. The basic one was a 1275cc A+ engine, and then there was a 1500 and the 1750 like in the Maxi.

Main issue was rust.
I bought a 1275 A+ engine and gearbox from a scrap Allegro. Perfect engine and box and only 55,000miles on the clock. The car was at a scrappy because it was rusted out and was only a four years old.

[pete75]

Something else I've remembered about cars from that era is plastic seats: leave a car out on the sun and the seats would be too hot to sit on. Somebody must think that was a good idea because some posh cars now have heated seats.

Some cars back then had heated seats - my Mercedes 380SL from that era has them, along with ABS , electric windows, auto gearbox, power steering fuel injection etc. In many ways it's as good as or better than a lot of modern cars, particularly where built quality is concerned, getting on for forty years old and no rattles, squeaks or shakes. Certainly the body is very rigid with none of the flex or scuttle shake you get on some modern convertibles.

[francovendee]

First car, 1972 Datsun 240z, bought S/H in 1979, front wings fell off on the drive home from Newark, rusted out. Fitted pattern replacement fibre glass wings. Ran it, blew the head gasket, repaired it. Drove through a puddle one evening and got soaked from head to toe, it was like a tidal wave in the car, the water came up through the floor, new girlfriend was not impressed. Ended up writing it off.

Moved on to a Mini Clubman, fitted with a 1300gt engine and box, went like hell, swapped it for a Singer Vogue and some cash. Singer was good car.

Next, Daimler V8, got it cheap, had to replace a burnt out exhaust valve. Another good car, but rust was a problem.

Had lots of VW beetles through the 90's, great cars, but you had to look after them and watch out for rust.

I can't remember any of the above being particularly challenging to drive.

However my latest drive is a challenge, 1935 engineering, preselect gearbox, cable brakes, hand throttle and advance and retard lever. And breaks down every time I drive it...

Wow! Beautiful car (I know it's a bike forum )
In my yoof I owned a Riley RME. It was also a pretty car but knackered. I ran it for 3 years and sold it for £50. Wish i still had it.

[Si]

I'll raise your Avenger: Austin All Aggro. THE rubbish car of the 70's.

i remeber a friend with one of those proudly pointing out that whereas other cars came with gear boxes, his allegro came with a gear sack......he was right too.

Another classic..... The datsun cherry coupe....never have i been so car sick as in this thing.

[al_yrpal]

I had two Austin Maxis. The first one was a company car. It was great with a young family, the hatchback and split rear seat, the fifth gear. I was doing about 25000 miles per annum driving all around the country. I then got a couple of company Cortinas a Mk 3 and Mk 4 which were great. But when I moved job there was no car at first so I got myself another Maxi. We often towed dinghy's full of camping gear and it was a great car for that. Never rusted, never broke down, brilliant...

Al

[Mick F]

Yes, plastic seats, and yes, they get hot in the sun.

We have a posh Renault Clio Initiale. Had it since brand new in 2001. Leather seats.
TBH, I would never have leather seats in a car again. They get roasting hot in the sun, just like the old plastic seats did.

[thirdcrank]

One interesting feature of this thread is that I've driven hundreds - and I do mean hundreds - of cars over the years. Most were panda cars - basic saloons - all pretty new but quickly hammered and some were things like stolen cars, cars whose driver had been arrested and the car needed recovery.

Since my first four-wheeler bought in 1972 - a van to save purchase tax - I've had a total of eleven vehicles, all bought new except the Land Rover. We still have a Toyota Rav4 '55 reg.

There are some posters on here who seem to have owned more totally reliable cars in that time than I've driven pandas.

[tatanab]

Cars I've owned built in the 70s, all second hand at least
Reliant Regal - 5 years old when I bought it. Perfectly fine, but it had a ladder chassis and fibreglass body so rust was not going to be a problem.
Renault 6 - 7 years old when purchased. A rust bucket that I took back to the dealer and threatened him about falsifying an MOT.
Renault 16 - 7 years old when purchased. Fine for one year but would need considerable underfloor welding for another MOT so it was scrapped.
Triumph 2500 PI - 12 years old when I got it. A big wallowing barge. Owned by an enthusiast. Carried a spare half shaft because they had a reputation for breaking. Power steering (a first for me) leaked badly.
Morris 1000 van - 16 years old when purchased. Too slow and lack of braking for modern daily use. Sold to an enthusiast to whom I demonstrated that the engine would start from cold using the handle, only one swing required.

As rental cars for work I drove a first generation Astra - horrible because it felt as if the steering wheel was way too close. There must have been others as well, but I don't recall them.

[al_yrpal]

I think my Stags power steering rack was the same as the Triumph 2500 PI. Its leaked continuously for a long time so I just replaced it with a refurbed one. The steering has much less feel now which is a bit wierd.. You have to remove the steering pump to get the battery out!

Al

[pete75]

One interesting feature of this thread is that I've driven hundreds - and I do mean hundreds - of cars over the years. Most were panda cars - basic saloons - all pretty new but quickly hammered and some were things like stolen cars, cars whose driver had been arrested and the car needed recovery.

Since my first four-wheeler bought in 1972 - a van to save purchase tax - I've had a total of eleven vehicles, all bought new except the Land Rover. We still have a Toyota Rav4 '55 reg.

There are some posters on here who seem to have owned more totally reliable cars in that time than I've driven pandas.

TBH I've never had an unreliable car. I've had some old bangers years ago but never had anything stopping me from going where I wanted to go. Sure things used to wear out and need replacing but that's not unreliability, it's use. The key to me seemed to be keeping the ignition in tip top condition and adjusting the carburetor(s) correctly. When I bought an ancient vehicle I always replaced points, condenser, distributor cap , plug leads and plugs. They took less than half an hour to fit and didn't cost much.

[pete75]

I think my Stags power steering rack was the same as the Triumph 2500 PI. Its leaked continuously for a long time so I just replaced it with a refurbed one. The steering has much less feel now which is a bit wierd.. You have to remove the steering pump to get the battery out!

Al

Bloody hell - where do they put the battery ?

[kwackers]

There are some posters on here who seem to have owned more totally reliable cars in that time than I've driven pandas.

I blame their aging memories. People always look back fondly - never understood it myself.

[pete75]

There are some posters on here who seem to have owned more totally reliable cars in that time than I've driven pandas.

I blame their aging memories. People always look back fondly - never understood it myself.

Some people can't accept that others experiences may have differed from their own. I blame their self centered attitude.