Omega Owners Forum

Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: 78bex on 26 September 2012, 23:13:34

Title: first drives
Post by: 78bex on 26 September 2012, 23:13:34
As a kid I used to follow my big bro. around the breakers yards
While he was getting stuck into removing bits for his mini`s, I could wonder off & sit in the luxury motors . I remember always seeking out the other versions of my dads westminster or jags.  My first driving lesson was in that westminster with it`s silky smooth straight 6.   
My mum passed her test in a ford Consul & didn`t like dad`s wezzy.
I went with him to the vauxhall dealership in the seventies as he traded the old girl in for a Viva. I could tell he wasn`t happy, he called it a tin can. I passed my test driving that viva.
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: 05omegav6 on 27 September 2012, 00:42:55
Had a week of lessons in a 1.1 Citroen AX, followed almost immediately by a four week/3000 mile trip up to and around Orkney in Dads 1.6 Sierra ::) passed my test in that 8)

First car was a 2.3 V6 Granada LX 8) only owned 5 cars with less than 2 litres, and most of the rest have been V6s...
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: Andy B on 27 September 2012, 00:46:35
.....

First car was a 2.3 V6 Granada LX 8) only  ......

Like this?  ;)

(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k17/Tiff4327/DadsGrandaII.jpg)
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: 05omegav6 on 27 September 2012, 00:52:39
Yup :y except it was Nimbus Grey, and by the time I'd finished with it, had a blue GhiaX velour interior, TRX wheels and Ghia X bumpers, and of course the obligatory rusty bits ;D




Oh and it was a saloon ::)
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: Andy B on 27 September 2012, 00:56:50
Yup :y except it was Nimbus Grey, and by the time I'd finished with it, had a blue GhiaX velour interior, TRX wheels and Ghia X bumpers, and of course the obligatory rusty bits ;D




Oh and it was a saloon ::)

Funnily enough, that has a blue Ghia interior too.  ;) ;)
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: 05omegav6 on 27 September 2012, 01:03:19
Still have a soft spot for them  :-\ had 4 over the years, never an estate though...

That black one looks smart  :y those wheels suit the car :y Is it yours?
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: Andy B on 27 September 2012, 01:21:01
Still have a soft spot for them  :-\ had 4 over the years, never an estate though...

That black one looks smart  :y those wheels suit the car :y Is it yours?

It belongs to  my Dad ..... the car's been in the funeral trade all it's 'life'  ::) ::)
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: 05omegav6 on 27 September 2012, 02:02:48
Nice 8) only one question, why bother with the R class?
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: omega3000 on 27 September 2012, 05:23:06
As a kid I used to follow my big bro. around the breakers yards
While he was getting stuck into removing bits for his mini`s, I could wonder off & sit in the luxury motors . I remember always seeking out the other versions of my dads westminster or jags.  My first driving lesson was in that westminster with it`s silky smooth straight 6.   
My mum passed her test in a ford Consul & didn`t like dad`s wezzy.
I went with him to the vauxhall dealership in the seventies as he traded the old girl in for a Viva. I could tell he wasn`t happy, he called it a tin can. I passed my test driving that viva.

My dad traded his racing green viva in for a datsun cherry  ::) it had a few more toys and remember him saying how well it pulled up a steep hill in 4th compaired to the gutless viva  :( sadly the cherry didnt get on too well with the salt of a few british winters and rusted away  ;D another plus was the reliability of the cherries engine and not having to jump start it whenever there was a frost like the viva  :( ;D
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: Andy B on 27 September 2012, 08:58:14
Nice 8) only one question, why bother with the R class?

Cos the R Class is mine & the Granny belongs to my Dad .....  ??? and after owning my Omega for almost 9 years I felt I deserved a change of car, but after always regretting selling my Senator ....... the Omega is stopping (for the moment ::))  :y
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: 05omegav6 on 27 September 2012, 10:21:38
I already knew the first bit ::) the point I was making, was that the Granny was and (from the pic still is) a very capable estate :y perhaps not in the same league for refinement, but plenty worse places to be... and £6-800 a month buys you an awful lot of petrol/maintainance :y

The Omega is, in my humblest opinion, the exact car that the Scorpio should have been. But times move on I suppose. :-\
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: Andy B on 27 September 2012, 11:21:09
I already knew the first bit ::) ... 
sorry!  :-[  ;)  ;)

.
. and £6-800 a month buys you an awful lot of petrol/maintainance :y

 .......
  :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o:o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o HOW MUCH!?  ;D  ;D  ;D
The car was £15k and my 3 year loan for part of that is around £280 a month ......... though thinking about that - it's £100+ each to fill the bugger, and a tank doesn't last that much different from the Omega.  ::)
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: 05omegav6 on 27 September 2012, 15:49:21
 ::) silly me :-[  I thought that you had bought new ::) I mean someone must have...  :P Alot of car for 15k, but still another expense :-\
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: Andy B on 27 September 2012, 15:55:30
::) silly me :-[  I thought that you had bought new ::) I mean someone must have...   .....

Not a chance me buying one new ......... you're looking at the best part of £50k  :o :o
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: 2boxerdogs on 27 September 2012, 17:12:27
Passed my test in a 1968 mk1 Escort , then bought a 3.3 litre Vauxhall velox hydramatic £256.00 to insure in 1971!! Since then had granadas, jags, rovers, mercs & several other makes lost count of them in over 40 years my 2.6 CDX is still the best of the bunch.
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: albitz on 27 September 2012, 18:05:50
The only thing I can remember is that it was black,but then I was only six at the time. ;D
My first car (other than the twoc when I was six) was a dark green  (and just as much brown rust)HB Viva.
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: aaronjb on 27 September 2012, 18:06:08
My first ever drive, at about age 13, was one of these, up and down my granddad's drive (he was an instructor at the time):

(http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f353/ttstom/My%20old%20cars/Allegro.jpg)

Same colour and it was a 1978 1100S. Years later it became mine.. it did not help me achieve this:

(http://autocade.net/images/d/df/Austin_Allegro_Equipe.jpg)
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: Aundie on 27 September 2012, 18:35:19
I had a Austin egg roll was a terrible thing in a terrible beige colour.
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: BazaJT on 27 September 2012, 19:15:11
Had driving lessons in a Renault 8,passed test in dads "landcrab"Wolsley 18/85.First car a 1959 Ford Consul bought from a trader for £38,second car a 1964 Ford Zephyr 4 MK3.Once turned down a Fiat 130 coupe[the one with the v6 in it]they wanted £100 for it!
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: Andy B on 27 September 2012, 19:19:08
Passed my test in a 1968 mk1 Escort ,  ....

So did I, a yellow one YTC 144L   :y ......... why can I remember sh1t like that but not what I had for breakfast  ??? ??? ???
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: TheBoy on 27 September 2012, 20:01:18
First car I legally drove was a Metro.
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: SteveAvfc. on 27 September 2012, 20:14:35
Passed my test in a Fiat not sure what model only know it was square like a Lada, Then the first car i owned was a maroon coloured Vauxhall Magnum went like the proverbial most of the time, the other times i spent waiting for a tow still happy days.  :y :y 
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: Manual Elite V6 on 27 September 2012, 21:17:31
Had my driving lessons and passed my test in a mk6 diesel Fiesta, first car of my own was a 12v Corsa b.
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: dbug on 28 September 2012, 02:19:08
3 tonne Bedford army truck - crash box (off road)
Legally Morris Minor 1000
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: OOMV6 on 28 September 2012, 07:16:10
Legally on the road a Ford Orion 1.3. Passed test in a Peugeot 205 diesel.
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: Andy B on 28 September 2012, 11:26:20
3 tonne Bedford army truck - crash box (off road)
.......

Surely it would have been a 3 ton truck if it was old enough to be a working Bedford ......  ::)  ::)
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 28 September 2012, 12:20:46
My driving instructors car was a Belmont Tiffany which I passed my test in......which was a big car for a driving school in the days of Nova's, Micra's and Fiestas

First drive was an old Chevette on a friends farm (they had an old air strip with side taxi ways!).

Also drove an Auto Granada Scorpio and an Escort Van around the hotel car park where I worked as a boy.

Title: Re: first drives
Post by: Entwood on 28 September 2012, 12:31:24
First vehicle I ever drove was an very old Fordson (Major ?), once I showed i could handle that I was allowed to use the Land Rover (series 1 ??). I well remember being allowed to use the landie to go back to the house to get the evening meals/drinks in the summer .. haymaking went on until it was too dark to see !!

Passed my test in an Austin 1100 5 weeks after my 17th Birthday, and purchased my first car a week later ... a 1950 Morris Minor,  918 cc sidevalve engine, cost me £50...  :), it was a year older than me !!!

Lost count of how many I've had since then ... perhaps I should try and work itout one day ...
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: henryd on 28 September 2012, 12:33:10
First vehicle I ever drove was an very old Fordson (Major ?), once I showed i could handle that I was allowed to use the Land Rover (series 1 ??). I well remember being allowed to use the landie to go back to the house to get the evening meals/drinks in the summer .. haymaking went on until it was too dark to see !!

Passed my test in an Austin 1100 5 weeks after my 17th Birthday, and purchased my first car a week later ... a 1950 Morris Minor,  918 cc sidevalve engine, cost me £50...  :), it was a year older than me !!!

Lost count of how many I've had since then ... perhaps I should try and work itout one day ...

Lol,I did mine in a Morris 1100 :y
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: YZ250 on 28 September 2012, 12:42:12
Passed my test in my Dads Austin Maxi but my first drives were in my mates brothers Mk 3 Cortina and Humber Sceptre.
In the village that I grew up in we had a disused airfield so I was lucky enough to be able to learn to drive and ride a motorbike way before I was of legal age without breaking any road laws, apart from riding them a few hundred yards home.  ::) ;D
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: bored bigyin54 on 28 September 2012, 13:49:54
As a kid I used to follow my big bro. around the breakers yards
While he was getting stuck into removing bits for his mini`s, I could wonder off & sit in the luxury motors . I remember always seeking out the other versions of my dads westminster or jags.  My first driving lesson was in that westminster with it`s silky smooth straight 6.   
My mum passed her test in a ford Consul & didn`t like dad`s wezzy.
I went with him to the vauxhall dealership in the seventies as he traded the old girl in for a Viva. I could tell he wasn`t happy, he called it a tin can. I passed my test driving that viva.
the sad thing is , you cant go in to the yard now ,gone to much health +safety now. :( :(
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: SIR Philbutt on 28 September 2012, 20:02:19
.....

First car was a 2.3 V6 Granada LX 8) only  ......

Like this?  ;)

(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k17/Tiff4327/DadsGrandaII.jpg)

Wow  :o Andy that has had some TLC since I last saw it  8) :y
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: Andy B on 28 September 2012, 20:10:34
....
Wow  :o Andy that has had some TLC since I last saw it  8) :y

Unfortunately Phil, it's not a recent photo  :( :( It was always like the photo when it was in regular use, but now he has the Kia it doesn't really get used. the Kia is so much cheaper to run.  :(
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: dbug on 28 September 2012, 22:21:57
3 tonne Bedford army truck - crash box (off road)
.......

Surely it would have been a 3 ton truck if it was old enough to be a working Bedford ......  ::)  ::)

Well spotted mate - so used to dealing in tonnes :y
Title: Re: first drives
Post by: Sir Tigger KC on 28 September 2012, 22:54:19
Little Grey Fergie tractor.  :)

I was about 9 or 10 years old in the field and once my Dad felt that I'd got the hang of it, off he went for a cuppa leaving strict instructions ringing in my ears about letting the clutch go gently and not to much throttle.  ::)  So of course once he'd gone, just  to see what happens, I did the complete opposite, opened the throttle wide, dropped the clutch and pulled a wheelie!! :o Only a small one, but enough to make me kak myself!!! (not literally)  :-[  ;D