Saturday, 18 July 2015

Gone but not forgotten.


There are certain cars that should NEVER have gone out of production, and would be as popular today as they were at the time.

Here are just a few.

                              Image search result for "mehari"

                              Résultat de recherche d'images pour "morris 1000"

                              Image search result for "2CV"

                              Image search result for "VW Beetle"

                              Image search result for "renault 4"

All these cars have one thing in common; they are very simple, and can usually be repaired with a piece of string and some chewing gum.

I've owned 3 of the above, and LOVED each of them.


Posted by at

26 comments:

  1. The Cranky18 July 2015 at 07:37

    I recognised all but the second one; have to agree, some are retired for all the wrong reasons.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jacqueline @ HOME18 July 2015 at 08:56

    Classics !! …. and, you've done it again with the memories Cro. We had a turquoise { yes, turquoise } Standard 8 ….. leather seats, wooden dashboard and even a blind in the back window. We went to the coast one day and there was a hole in the radiator …… we all sat there, chewing gum like mad so that it could bung up the hole.
    …. and, another time, we went to Cornwall and the fan belt went. We used my mum's tights { it was probably stockings in those days } for the repair !!!! Those were the days !!! XXXX

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cro Magnon18 July 2015 at 09:33

      I once went to a local garage because my Renault 4 had a brake problem. The garage man opened the lid, moved something inside, and that was it. No charge, no fuss, no computer chip.

      Delete
  3. The Weaver of Grass18 July 2015 at 09:22

    I am not very well up on cars Cro but we did have a Morris which I loved and I once owned a Beetle, which was my favourite car of all time. We now have Vauxhalls - good service I must say but I agree that these old classics were timeless.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Susan Heather18 July 2015 at 09:33

    A neighbour has a Deux Chevaux and I my foirst car was a Morris Minor.

    ReplyDelete
  5. gz18 July 2015 at 10:54

    We've had a Morris Minor....Used to have a Peugeot 505 familiale...marvellous! Had 305 estates, now I'm running my 405 estate as long as possible....over 360,000 miles and still economical, carries masses of stuff, 21 years old and the trim is just being deleted from stock!

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    Replies
    1. Cro Magnon18 July 2015 at 13:51

      The compact Royce has a Peugeot badge on the front... They go on for ever.

      Delete
  6. Rachel Phillips18 July 2015 at 11:00

    It was nice to open the bonnet and know what was what and usually what was up.. Seems all wrong to me having to engage a man with a lap top to diagnose.



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cro Magnon19 July 2015 at 04:30

      I always kept a hammer and piece of wire in the car.... it would fix most things.

      Delete
  7. Tom Stephenson18 July 2015 at 11:49

    Thanks to my recently deceased mate, Charlie Ware, Morris Minors never did really go out of production, or at least the parts didn't. Charlie was also responsible for Roxy Music, so you can blame him for Brian Ferry. He was booked in to do H.I.'s Summer School next week as he always did, but his wake is to be held at The Bell Inn this Tuesday.

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    Replies
    1. thelma18 July 2015 at 12:50

      I remember the firm in Bath, it has moved to Bristol now. This Youtube video shows Charlie Ware.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=61&v=qIFRr71Z7OI

      My first father-in-law had a morris minor out in Africa, with wooden wheels? he said that he had to pee on them when the wheels got too
      hot.... not sure if I ever believed that story.

      Delete
    2. Cro Magnon18 July 2015 at 13:21

      CW was a friend of my mate Juliet's. Juliet originally asked him to help out with RM's transport; which he did. He also later lent them some dosh. He gets a couple of mentions in the huge RM tome 'Re-Make, Re-Model' in which Juliet calls him a 'property tycoon'. If Juliet (Mann) should come to his wake, please say hello from me.

      Delete
    3. Tom Stephenson18 July 2015 at 14:41

      He was a sort of pretend property tycoon, but I don't believe he had any real hard cash. Mainly, he used it to halt the destruction of Bath in the 70s. He went bankrupt during the property crash and everything was taken away from him - including 2 houses in the Royal Crescent. He was a painter and teacher of painting for a long while, and when he went bust, he set up the Morris Minor centre in a matter of months. Very energetic.

      Delete
    4. Tom Stephenson18 July 2015 at 14:43

      Oh, and if I see Juliet I will say hello.

      Delete
  8. Andi's English Attic18 July 2015 at 14:26

    My kind of car. All of them.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Vintage Maison18 July 2015 at 17:43

    I once had a 2CV (Citroen Dyane actually, dead posh) with its own air conditioning - lots of holes in the floorpan! It also had a rather odd accelerator pedal which regularly fell off.

    I was driving down the A4 through Berkshire when a pheasant hit my windscreen, neatly taking the wiper with it. The next day, the windscreen shattered, so that was that.

    The following week I took delivery of my favourite car EVER which was a turquoise Fiat Uno - perfect colour for finding amongst thousands of other cars in the supermarket carpark, and with the back seats down, I could fit a small chest of drawers in it, together with dog strapped in the front...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cro Magnon19 July 2015 at 04:29

      The seats in my 2CV eventually died (as they do) and were replaced by an Orange Box.

      Delete
  10. crafty cat corner18 July 2015 at 18:17

    The Morris Minor brings back memories for us, we used to travel all over Sussex in one of these in the 60's and hardly any cars on the road.
    Briony
    x

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    Replies
    1. Cro Magnon19 July 2015 at 04:27

      If you saw someone going in the other direction in a white VW Beetle... that was me!

      Delete
  11. Le Pré de la Forge18 July 2015 at 18:27

    All excellent vehicles....
    we have two 2CVs... a 1956 "ripple" made in Paris...
    and an '86 Special... made in Portugal for the UK market.
    And I would add to your list the Sunbeam Talbot Mk3 Supreme... mine was a '57.
    Like the 2CV, the seats came out for picnics...
    and for working on the overdrive solenoid!!
    The difference being that ONLY the front seats came out... but the boot lid opened down to form a perfect table for two!!

    Oh... and a good condition Mehari Azure would cost you 12K€s now...
    But I was thinking that it would be the perfect alternative to the Defender [R.I.P]

    Tim

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    Replies
    1. Cro Magnon19 July 2015 at 04:23

      I had a blue 2CV, like the one above. I've wanted a Mehari for years; I should have bought one when they were still €12.

      Delete
  12. megan blogs19 July 2015 at 02:21

    My first car was a VW Beetle; I loved that car.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Bea19 July 2015 at 04:06

    I owned a '66 VW 1300 Beetle (red interior, black exterior) for ten years. It was a dream to drive. -no blind spots, a bit of motorly 'umph', build-in AC in the form of wing windows, etc. It was mostly still stock--a previous owner tried to put a radio into the dash. I covered the hole with a plate. Sadly, I felt I should sell it when moving abroad. -couldn't take it with me, really.

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    Replies
    1. Cro Magnon19 July 2015 at 04:26

      You covered the hole with a plate? That reminds me of Lady Magnon who covered a rust hole in her Renault 4 (not my one) with the skin off the top of an old tin of white gloss paint. Beat that!

      Delete
  14. cumbrian20 July 2015 at 04:41

    Memories indeed, I've also owned 3 of these models.

    ReplyDelete

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