Which Car Do You Remember with Affection from your Youth?

[mickle]

I bet it didnt have an 80 hp six cylinder lump?

It was one of the first of the 'Compacts', so it had a 'small' motor. It was one of John DeLorean's bright ideas to take a V8 and chop a bank off to make a 'slant' 4. They called it the 'Trophy Four' after the Trophy 8 from which it derived. Just over 3 litres if I remember. The slush box and 3 speed gearbox were on the rear axle - so it had independent rear suspension because no live axle. No transmission tunnel/gearbox hump either and the skinny driveshaft spun at engine speed just under the floor. Column shifter, bench seat - as was the style for the period.

 

[mikeymustard]

During the 60s my dad was a "Rootes" man, earliest I can remember was a Hillman Husky, then a Minx, a 1964 Singer Gazelle V and finally a Singer Vogue from 1968.
The Gazelle was my favourite: it was sort of ivory white with a red side flash - very swanky! It also had red vinyl seats which instantly cured my car sickness. Buying it also coincided with the opening of the Severn Bridge which cut our six-weekly trips to Wales from about 4 hours to 2

Trying to find a pic of the colour, I've just discovered that the body style of the family of cars was known as "Audax"

 

[glasgowcyclist]

As a youth I always coveted the Lancia Stratos, such a beautiful design and looked 100mph when it was stationary.

My mate's dad had a silver Ford Zephyr Zodiac which had "Silver Lady" on the boot as the David Soul song of the same name was current at that time.
It was super comfy with a bench front seat and column shift.

Then there was another pal's older brother who drove a VW Karmann Ghia in bright yellow. For a council scheme where cars were few and far between, this was regarded as exotic.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

As a youth I always coveted the Lancia Stratos, such a beautiful design and looked 100mph when it was stationary.

View attachment 443134

My mate's dad had a silver Ford Zephyr Zodiac which had "Silver Lady" on the boot as the David Soul song of the same name was current at that time.
It was super comfy with a bench front seat and column shift.

View attachment 443135

Then there was another pal's older brother who drove a VW Karmann Ghia in bright yellow. For a council scheme where cars were few and far between, this was regarded as exotic.

View attachment 443136

My boss has a Karmann in ivory. It's a lovely thing although temperamental.

 

[slowwww]

Very happy memories of my Ford Puma. Only 1.7litres and so not quick in a straight line, but such a great chassis that on a twisty road it was more than a match for cars many times its price.

A favourite trick on an empty roundabout was to go in fast, wrench the steering wheel over to the right to get the tail out, and then steer it round the roundabout on the throttle only without any more steering input. I was never able to do that as well with any other front-wheel drive car.

(Yes, I've grown up now!!)

 

[mickle]

During the 60s my dad was a "Rootes" man, earliest I can remember was a Hillman Husky, then a Minx, a 1964 Singer Gazelle V and finally a Singer Vogue from 1968.
The Gazelle was my favourite: it was sort of ivory white with a red side flash - very swanky! It also had red vinyl seats which instantly cured my car sickness. Buying it also coincided with the opening of the Severn Bridge which cut our six-weekly trips to Wales from about 4 hours to 2
View attachment 443123
Trying to find a pic of the colour, I've just discovered that the body style of the family of cars was known as "Audax"

We had the estate. I remember sitting in the boot. I was very glad when he traded it up for the Alfa.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Very happy memories of my Ford Puma. Only 1.7litres and so not quick in a straight line, but such a great chassis that on a twisty road it was more than a match for cars many times its price.

A favourite trick on an empty roundabout was to go in fast, wrench the steering wheel over to the right to get the tail out, and then steer it round the roundabout on the throttle only without any more steering input. I was never able to do that as well with any other front-wheel drive car.

(Yes, I've grown up now!!)

Agree that was a lovely chassis as the wife had one. She 'upgraded' to a mark I Audi TT which was dull as dishwater to drive but looked nice... 19 inch alloys and all that stuff but the Puma was twice the drivers car.

 

[Drago]

The Puma was beautifully poised. Proof you don't need to go fast to have a grin.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

Not so much youth, but early midlife crisis. Astra Coupe Turbo Edition.
Z20LET turbocharged 2 litre with handling breathed on by Lotus.
A thing of beauty that went like stink, and ladies liked the heated seats.
In the end though life got in the way. It never did track days or went round the Nurburgring. The crankshaft decided to being removing itself, it was valued at minus £6000, so I traded it in for the most unreliable car BMW ever produced.

I actually prefer the memories of overnight holiday drives with the family when I was little, in an Avenger or Hunter, falling asleep watching all those little twinkly dashboard lights.

 

[EltonFrog]

Very happy memories of my Ford Puma. Only 1.7litres and so not quick in a straight line, but such a great chassis that on a twisty road it was more than a match for cars many times its price.

A favourite trick on an empty roundabout was to go in fast, wrench the steering wheel over to the right to get the tail out, and then steer it round the roundabout on the throttle only without any more steering input. I was never able to do that as well with any other front-wheel drive car.

(Yes, I've grown up now!!)

Agree that was a lovely chassis as the wife had one. She 'upgraded' to a mark I Audi TT which was dull as dishwater to drive but looked nice... 19 inch alloys and all that stuff but the Puma was twice the drivers car.

The Puma was beautifully poised. Proof you don't need to go fast to have a grin.

I had a Puma too, an ex demo, one of the first in the country the number plate registered by the dealer was P9 UMA . Great fun to drive as stated above, like a go-cart but bloody uncomfortable on long journeys, and the hatch lid when opened poured water into the back when it rained.

Still a nice looking car today, I loved it.

 

[Drago]

Not so much youth, but early midlife crisis. Astra Coupe Turbo Edition.
Z20LET turbocharged 2 litre with handling breathed on by Lotus.
A thing of beauty that went like stink, and ladies liked the heated seats.
In the end though life got in the way. It never did track days or went round the Nurburgring. The crankshaft decided to being removing itself, it was valued at minus £6000, so I traded it in for the most unreliable car BMW ever produced.

I actually prefer the memories of overnight holiday drives with the family when I was little, in an Avenger or Hunter, falling asleep watching all those little twinkly dashboard lights.

The ex Mrs D had the Astra turbo, one of the first off the line. The handling was better than previous generations, but still not up the the job of containing the engine. Even she, who was a dire driver, couldnt live with the chassis so she bought a Boxster S, and to my knowledge shed had Poxsters ever since.

 

[slowwww]

I had a Puma too, an ex demo, one of the first in the country the number plate registered by the dealer was P9 UMA . Great fun to drive as stated above, like a go-cart but bloody uncomfortable on long journeys, and the hatch lid when opened poured water into the back when it rained. .

Aah yes, I'd completely forgotten about that! That was a pain.

 

[SteCenturion]

Audi Quattro *the early ones*, Ford Capri 2.8i/Brooklands/3.0 S, Porsche 911, Ford Escort RS, Pontiac Trans Am .....

Never owned any of these & closest I got was an XR3i which was a) hideously expensive to insure b) a bag of cack & c) slow by comparison with any modern family car !

 

[Reynard]

The submarine version was immortalised in the Bond film 'the spy who loved me', and while cycling down the Mall towards Buck Pal recently I saw this:
View attachment 442948
I knew it was a Lotus Esprit, but had never seen a black and gold one. I looked it up when I got home, the 'T' plate makes it from 1978, and its a special edition to commemorate Lotus winning the F1 world championship in 1978, which they did in the famous black and gold colours of their ciggie sponsor at the time, John Player Special. Less than 300 were made, making it pretty rare, and I have to say for a 40 year old car it still looks pretty damn cool. @Reynard will like this I suspect.

Yeah, very much so

They released a run of Esprits in Essex Petroleum colours as well (blue, white & red), when the F1 cars ran in that livery rather than the JPS one.

 

[Smokin Joe]

[QUOTE 5479335, member: 9609"]Always wanted a Lotus Elan Sprint (amazing power to weight ratio) but never got round to owning one [/QUOTE]
One of my favourites too, fantastic cars let down by poor build quality. Mazda got it right with the MX5.