How Many Granddads enjoy Classic Cars

Ah, Lescombes, are grannies not allowed to take an interest in classic cars?

We (note "we") have a classic MG.

We both enjoy classic cars be it just an occasional sighting or an organised show.
If you are in East Anglia at the beginning of August do visit the Helmingham Car show, last year there were over 700 cars on display. Have a look at the website http://www.helmingham.com/eventsasp2.asp?ID=14 a lot of money is raised for charity every year.

I always wanted and still do, a steam engine.
Non of this modern petrol driven rubbish, give me coal any day.

My DH (*Anthonygrumps*) has a 1933 J2 MG sitting in the garage waiting to be "done up". It has been waiting to be "done up" since 1977, and it's still waiting!! We used to drive it round London in the sixties and seventies but of course when the DCs came along things changed. I am trying to persuade him that it is time to sell it on to someone who would love and cherish it but haven't won that battle as yet!! We were stopped by the police in Oxford Street once as the policeman thought he was driving along with his hand on my knee. What it was was that the gear stick is very low. (That's my excuse and I am sticking to it!!) Actually he often used to get stopped by them just because they wanted to look at it. It was a beautiful car but not sure I could get out of it nowadays!!!

jeni, I used to live close to a field where they held an annual steam fair. I used to station myself at the front bedroom window to watch these beautifully cared-for giants rumbling past. I was in heaven, but the kids weren't too impressed.

I would have would have loved that. My father and I used to go to the steam weekends at Birmingham science museum. My mother and brother could not understand the fascination.

Mr glamma has always had a passion for owning a Morgan sports car,he knows a pal in West Kirby who has one and when they have been out together in it thats all I hear about for weeks,they go to shows locally but at best it keeps him out of the house for hours at a time and it is something that he enjoys,I once owned a split screen Morris Minor with pop out indicators years ago and I wish I still had it now.

My dream car! A white Morris Minor convertible, with a red leather interior!

Didn't they re make Morris 1000 Travellers a few years ago? [but this time with brakes that worked...]. I spent years wondering why other people left it so late before applying the brake when approaching islands, with my foot hammering down onto an imaginary brake pedal. I still have the dear car's number plate. It took us al over Europe during the summer holidays. Someone told me that Birmingham Science Museum had closed own. Surely not?

When single, I had a wonderful MG with chrome bumpers and wire wheels. My pride and joy for a long time, so please do not limit this interest to grandads. The grandad in this house prefers new cars!

I learnt to drive in a split-screen Morris Minor. When we were kids, my dad had a 1936 Morris 12, two doors with a fake sporty hood. It was battleship grey when we got it after the war, but dad must have had a romantic streak because he had it repainted sky blue at a time when nobody had a car anything like that colour. Amazing what you could get into that car - parents, 3 daughters and dog plus camping gear. My 'classic' was a 1968 VW Beetle 1300 - wonderful and reliable, would go anywhere a Landrover would go, through rivers, deep mud and wild-life reserves (in Africa).

Annobel You have just reminded me of the Landrover we had when DS2 was a baby 30 yrs ago now,we used to go camping ever week-end in Noth Wales and place DS2 in a high chair in the rear and chain the chair to the inside of the jeep with the back open and he had a view of all the traffic behind us,it was always a trouble free journey as he waved to the traffic behind him all the way.

Amazing the things we used to do that would be offences now. I used to cram at least six cubs into a VW Beetle (a different one) in my Norfolk days.

I am glad to see so many enjoy older cars and steam fairs.
I work with Classic cars and being Old School can fettle them properly,even rebuilding alternators and Dynamo's and the like... There are of course...dare I say it... Modern "classics", many very good cars were scrapped during the Govt scheme and we have lost some real good modernish cars from the 70/80 & 90's.
Just now I am almost finished an L plate Fiat Cinquecento....mmm you might say that's not old.....well it is 19 yrs old .... This was a great find by the owner and has needed about £400 to get it on the road, with a new radiator and heater rad etc and the owner said, do whatever it needs.....needless to say, he has not been ripped off and the radiator & matrix were changed due to the main rad splitting and the matrix was allied to that problem. It has been waxoyled and fully serviced and lubricated throughout even a new speedo cable was required......
So you see I love older cars..... Even Modern classics like the Cinq..... I can see in the future the Fiat Stilo and the low spec Citroen C2 as well as some others..... I run a Mazda Bongo converted into a Campervan, there are 40,000 of these grey imports in the UK.....yet only 3700 Cinquecento's and 100 Lada 4x4...bet you can think of many more that are now seldom seen like the Talbot Samba etc.......
I do play with A40/Herald/500 (the real ones)A35/A30/Oxford/RS1600 Mk3/Mini and more on a regular basis....... so much nicer than the modern rubbish....
I do service a few modern jobs for Classic customers.....did a Xsara Picasso Diesel yesterday..... plugged in the computer to check it out etc.... and they have gone away from the canister oil filters to the element types like on the old Mini etc.....but much much cleaner to change..... enough rambling.....

We used to have an MG TA then a TC but I wept when it went as DH wanted a more uptodate sports car(middle age hit hard)But I enjoy not having to take a hot water bottle out and spare wellies (there was a hole in the floorboards-yes floorboards of the TA)

One of the cars that I leant to drive on was a pale blue "bug eyed" Sprite. Don't see many of those these days

BTW - where have all the grandads gone - haven't heard from pompa or anyone else for simply AGES

I WANT an e-type. Just want one. Will probably never have one, but they are so sexy.

I LOVE classic cars! Own an 89 Daimler XJ40 and love her to bits! Ariadne - I also wanted an E-type - drove one and hated it!! Decided then to go for the next one down - a XK8 - beautiful, silver and convertible and guess what? Had it for about 6 months and hated that too!!
Have come to the conclusion that by the time I could afford my dream car I was too old to handle it - 4ltrs of pure Jaguar in a 70 year olds hand is a bit of a deadly combination, by the time I could remember what I was supposed to do next it had already done it - scared the s* out of me!!
I am the sedate old lady in the Mercedes convertible now - wave as you overtake me as I will be in the slow lane wondering if I have got enough vitamin D for the day and how far it is to the next service station to stretch my legs and have a wee!!!

I had an opportunity to buy a Sunbeam Tiger before I got married. I still lust after it, but it was twice as expensive as I had funds for then. My favourite car of all time is the '67 Lamborghini GT400: I own the sales brochure, but not the car. When I were a lad, a neighbour had one!

I drove a supercharged XK last year: v. exciting, would have made a great car to own but I would need a lock-up garage which I don't have. I wish I could find a 1954 XK120 in BRG - that would be another dream car!

I have always wanted a "stag*
Brother's lady friend drives a Morgan. She's a member of the owners club.

I bought a big American convertible which was running in 1977. It's been off the road since 1987 and is being sold for restoration to one of my colleagues from work. It is a green 1969 Plymouth Fury III and is big enough to seat seven or four in the front and a small motorcycle in the back seat!