Fiat Strada
We’ve had a few crap cars in our time. But the Fiat Strada was not the worse of them. The original Strada had a very distinctive black plastic bumper front and back. Ours was different. It had been an insurance write-off and when they repaired it the whole body was sprayed the same silver colour in a style call colour-coded. It was a cool look and, where we led, other cars followed!
Prior to that we had a second-hand car from the same dealer which was the second worse car we ever had: a Fiat 128. It was a box-shape saloon like every other car at the time. We bought that because they took it in part-exchange for the worse car we ever had: a Fiat 126. The one with 650cc lawn-mower engine in the back. The ignition was a manual cable lever. It took us to Dorset and back to Deal in the days before the M20. M25 and M3. Cross-country in other words. It coped with Dorset’s rural roads and managed to get up Reigate Hill. Just. But it was a seriously crap car and used by millions of Italians from then to this day.
Mini Clubman Estate
This is just a glimpse of the best car we ever owned called Jimmy. We lived in the ground floor flat shown and the boat is a clue that it is on the seafront. This had two points of significance. First, in the summer it had to be moved from there by 10.00 in the morning as the road has double-yellow lines and active traffic wardens. Secondly, the car had a regular coating of salt-water spray which attacked the bodywork and electrics. But is was a great car.
As an estate car it was very useful, with the back-seats down, on our trips back from the north including the time it was stacked with wedding presents as this was our first home together. It was like that when we stayed over night at the Bedford Arms, Woburn and the battery was flat in the morning. The battery in a mini clubman estate is not by the engine. It is underneath the back-seats. Yes, the folded down back-seats covered with boxes, presents and our luggage.
The mini was very close to the ground and had rubber plugs in the bodywork. These perished and road water was force up into the carpets. The car smelled like wet dog.
Peugot 206 2 litre diesel
This is Marg’s first of two Peugot 206s. She did nearly one hundred thousands miles in this one and it ran pretty well. The second one was still going well until she changed to a Renault Clio.
The banana yellow Seat Ibiza
Rover 420 – a glimpse
Peugeot 206
Hillman Imp, Mini Clubman Estate, Fiat 106, Fiat 208, Fiat Strada, Ford Escort, Ford Escort, Ford Sierra, Rover 420, Rover 620 Gsi, Ford Escort xr2, Toyota Avensis 2.0D, Toyota Avensis, Ford Focus, Ford Focus. Ford Kuga.
The story of the current part-EV Ford Kuga will be in a future post.