CARS THAT HAVE PASSED MY WAY IN THE UK
DIPSTICK MIKE STONEY
As some of you may recall, I previously submitted ‘My First Car’ recollections on an Austin A30, which I hated with a vengeance, ‘Orrible thing! After ensuring its demise by way of a failed MOT, I moved on…
My next car was a Mk1 Ford Cortina, all 1,200cc of pulsating Ford power but it was my chariot of dreams. That poor car got thrashed all around the Scottish countryside of my then home town/village of Fochabers, and even ended up on its roof on one icy occasion. Its propensity to breakdowns was legendary, especially the exhaust system which would fall off at the most inconvenient moments.
Eventually the Cortina moved on, and was replaced by a Mini Cooper, an early 997cc one. That had a short stay due to insurance issues…
Then came a Ford Escort estate 1100cc and unable to pull the skin off a rice pudding… but reliable. For the life of me I can’t recall why I bought it!
The Escort was sold and the first of our (married by this time) Triumph Spitfires made its appearance in Mk2 guise. Our first convertible! Again, that was hammered around Aberdeen and the surrounding countryside. A second (damaged) Spitfire was acquired, repaired and then sold.
The next Spitfire was a Mk4. This was a very nice car and was treated with a bit more TLC than previous cars. At some point a set of twin 40 Webers found their way onto the engine and some wide wheels and tyres. The Spitfire eventually moved on and was replaced by an MGB GT. Again, a nice car and one of Christine’s favorites, but I still hankered after another convertible, so it was replaced by a Triumph TR6.
This was a quick car for the day, and once again it was chased around the countryside.
Around this time, we were thinking we might throw caution to the wind and emigrate to NZ but finally settled on Aus instead.In Oz we have had a run of company cars and personal wheels - one of which was a 1,275 Cooper S.
I decided to take the TR, so it was rebuilt mechanically, and some spares acquired to go with it. The TR arrived in Perth in a shocking condition; the body had sweated (condensation) in the shipping container causing extensive rust. I cleaned it up best I could, ran it for a short while and it was then sold.
So that’s a short potted history of my cars pre Oz. During this time, I had a procession of company cars, most of them lasting around 6 months or so, and all BL products as I worked for Coventry Climax, a BL company. Allegro, Marina and Princess variants all came and went with little fanfare.
In Oz we have had a run of company cars and personal wheels - one of which was a 1,275 Cooper S.
