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It's great to see folks after a bargain but I reckon my old pal had us all beat. All his adult life he ran Citroen 2CVs (he is in his 60's now) He rarely paid more than £100 for one and got them two at a time. He then cannibalised the cars and got one decent one fron the two! He reckoned the engines were about unbreakable and any bodywork welding was done with baked bean tin metal, apparently this was the right gauge. In the holidays he would tour France going into the alps- and probably causing huge tailbacks-but the cars served him well for decades. Anyone beat that for cheap motoring?
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Financially perhaps, but what about the spiritual cost - the damage caused to his soul by driving such joyless heaps?
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Financially perhaps, but what about the spiritual cost - the damage caused to his soul by driving such joyless heaps?
have you ever driven one , they really are fun , not the same as something sporty kind of fun but still fun try it if you ever get the chance . i wouldn't want one mind but can remember the fun i had in one many years ago with 8 people on board on private land hilarious
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Years ago my friend's dad ran a small import parts supply shop in New York and became well known as somewhat of a Peugeot specialist. Peugeots in the US have no resale value, so when owners came to change their cars, not even Peugeot main dealers wanted them as part-exs. Of course a private sale was unheard of so very often he would have former customers turn up at his shop, just leave him the keys and the car and walk away. As a result, everyone in the family drove Peugeots that they got for free. My friend's mum had a diesel 504 automatic which was so slow that entering a motorway took careful timing, but nothing could beat that comfortable drive...for free.
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not even Peugeot main dealers wanted them as part-exs
So what did the customers say to the Peugot dealers about the likelihood of buying another one when they were told that their old one was worth tuppence? (sorry - two cents)
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I don't think the dealers were too worried about what customers would say as Peugeot's presence in the US was in a rapid decline by that point and dealers were probably more worried about how they could wash their hands of the marque rather than selling another car which would only be another warranty headache. I haven't seen an operational US Peugeot main dealer since about 1988, the last new Peugeot model being the 405.
BTW, I figured out the tuppence...its the shillings and f***hings that have me baffled 8-).
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Hey my first ever auto-censor!!!!, I certainly hope everyone understands what I was trying to write... f a r things
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Joyless heaps? I agree, they are lousy in town. But as a holiday car somewhere very hot they\'re fun, and very good on unmade roads that would tear the chin spoiler straight off a Midlife Crisis Roadster and make the driver look even more stupid than he did already.
HJ
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Sorry, I've never really thought about them as anything other than the horrible wreck driven by my hippy biology teacher. Apparently a symbol of her green outlook, while ironically throwing out plumes of black smoke whenever it was started.
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Talking of hippies, when I ran my London to Nepal buses, we used to see many 2CV's loaded to the gunwales full of freaks (equally loaded to the gunwales on Afghanistan's finest!) These things would traverse the tooth-shaking corrugated desert roads of Iran, negotiate floods in Turkey, climb steep mountain passes (at excruciatingly slow speeds, mind) and go all day in temperatures in the mid 40's C without missing a beat. If they got stuck let's say in a sand drift, the occupants and a couple of locals would just lift them out. There were thousands of locally made ones running around Iran, so no problem with spares and if anything broke there was always Ahmed's Welding and Denting Shop along the road somewhere to fix it for about fourpence.
The only other vehicle which came close for versatility on that trip was the VW camper (the old split screen one).
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The cheapest motoring I ever had was the purchase, in the early 1960s of a Ford "Tudor" saloon for £45. I spent 7s 6d on it for a new starter switch and sold it after a year for £21.
These cars were, I believe made in North America and shipped to the UK in CKD form.It had a biggish flat-top engine rated at 14.9 HP. Went OK (65 mph down the then brand new M1 but couldn't stop in under a mile!).
The passenger space was so big that it could double as a bedroom - Say no more:) !
Roger.
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Cheapest motoring ever I ever managed.
I had a '71 2000TC for six months last year. Bought it for £500, got limited miles insurance for £80, free road tax. Got 30mpg from it. Did 3000 miles and then sold it for........ £500.
Nothing broke, nothing went wrong, sipped oil.
Total cost per mile... 14p a mile.
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In 1996 I bought a Morris Oxford Series 6 for £675.
The only major problem I had was when the only brake cylinder not to be replaced by the previous owner failed and I hit my garage wall. My 2 year old daughter asked me "why did you drive into the wall daddy?".
The total repair cost me £85 (excess minus discount from bodyshop).
Insurance £75 per year and Road Tax - erm nil.
I drove it for pleasure really. It was not a long distance car by todays standards. I covered just over 1000 miles in it whilst I had it.
I sold it to an Irish chap who flew over to Bristol Airport to pick it up. The drive up to Bristol was the longest journey it had ever done, but it went well. I did overheat it but simply pulled over to let it cool down then refilled with water and carried on.
The sale price - £995!
In addition, my first car was a Mini 850. 42,000 miles on a 15 year old car. Purchase price £175.
6 months later sold it for £350. I put in new water pump and cheap stereo system, and did a bit of bodywork to it. It seems a long time ago when an 18 year old could get insurance for £200!
H
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In 1966 as a student I bought a 1929 Riley 9 Monaco fabric coovered saloon for £30 from the estate of an artist who had died. He had owned it since 1935 iirc.
9 months later and no repairs to pay for (yes I had some but foc spares with car) I sold it for £65 and a non running MG TA which I broke up and sold for £30..
So that paid for all my running costs for 2 years of cars at university (2x Austin A30s and 1x Austin A35). Then I bought a 1946 Rover 16 in 1968 ,.. and sold it after starting work for £250
madf
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My cheapest motor was a 1938 Morris 8 bought for the massive sum of £2.50 which I ran for over 12 months & 15k miles without costing me a penny other than fuel and not too much oil. It`s demise came through no fault of the car but the driver had too much "pop" one evening and wrote the thing off. I had more fun in this vehicle than any I have ever owned, as much of the time was spent "racing" mates on muddy cross country tracks. I must add that this was long before the advent of M.O.T`s.!!!!
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And before "Blow in this bag, Sir"I bet!
When I think of the risks we used to take in our younger days thru XS booze I shudder! I had, as my first "proper" car an Austin A35 in "gorgeous" black. This was in the days of real club saloon car racing and in an attempt to be "with it" I had fitted front anti-roll bars and a minute woodrim steering wheel. I was living in Nottinham in those days and early one Sunday morning I was due to pick up a pal in Nottingham market square for a trip to Mallory Park. Down past the Council House I drove, swung the wheel hard left and ever so gently it rolled, first on its side and then on its roof!
We pushed it on its wheels again, replaced the oil it had shed & drove off to our race meeting!
I had it repainted in BRG with yellow wheels á la Lotus and six weeks later put it into a country hedge while less than compos mentis!
O foolish youth!
Roger.
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I have just received my fathers 93 vauxhall cavalier for free !!
it has 1/2 tank of petrol, four good tyres, regular service history (98k miles) and tax and mot for another two months.
I have just run the insurance company and I am getting £38 back for the punto that I just sold. So I think that I am now £38 in profit.
Beat that....
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cheap mtotring - well here is my attempt.
Got my lady a K plate, Citreon AX 1.4 diesel with quater tank petrol, 3 good tyres, 5 doors, sunroof, and 44k on clock (previous owner female)and MOT till late may for £320 quid out the auction today.
thats gotta be cheap potential motoring.
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