Richard (OldStager) Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 38 minutes ago, Man On The Clapham Omnibus said: My Dad bought his only brand new car in 1962 and by chance it came with an interesting registration mark. He kept this car until he died in 1987 and it passed to me. Having had two disastrous Heralds in my car-owning life to that point and the fact that its MoT had expired, I made the unwise decision to sell it since I had nowhere to store it and cherished numbers cannot be transferred from an untested car. One makes odd choices in these sorts of circumstances and I regret not storing and getting it through the MoT even though I may still have sold it because that registration was probably worth twice the value of the car. Ho hum... Well needless to say the reg did indeed end up on the obvious marque, although it's not on an old a car ( 1996) the last time it was MOT'd (2010) . A two tone 1200 very smart, we have all parted with cars , that we wished we hadn't... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 22 minutes ago, joolz said: I think if it were me I'd be leaving it as it is and trying to keep this condition as long as possible, so no wet drives out if it can be avoided. If you want to restore a car, sell this one and buy a different car ? Though the more owners it has the less attractive it is to someone else .. its value is in its low owner / originality status as it stands. On the MOT note, if any car is unroadworthy that's an offence, whether it's had / needs an MOT or not. MOT exempt cars should not be run on the road if they are unroadworthy .. it's not a get out of jail free card though I admit some owners of 40 plus year old cars won't be maintaining them as they should. My other half has an MOT exempt Midget but still chooses to put it through its annual test, and the test centre enjoys seeing it. Makes a change from the characterless repmobiles and SUVs... Yes, the more I think about this the more I will resist my OCD and leave as is. There is no way I would ever embark on another full restoration, health is the main reason but cash isn't far behind, lol ( I know full well that budgets go way out of the window very quickly) Regarding the MOT, I agree with "some" owners just playing the game as it were, and using this as simply a way to either save money or ( more increasingly ) to make money, classics have been rising in price steadily for quite some time now, these scoundrels have cottoned on to that and now just dragging them out of anywhere and getting them going, selling and walking away to buy another one and so it goes on. I would like to know what the governments rational was when they decided this was a good idea?. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 1 minute ago, Richard (OldStager) said: Well needless to say the reg did indeed end up on the obvious marque, although it's not on an old a car ( 1996) the last time it was MOT'd (2010) . A two tone 1200 very smart, we have all parted with cars , that we wished we hadn't... It wasn't simply for the number plate Richard, I'd still have that now probably on my Z3, it was a sentimental value of the car which I'd known since my teens. Apart from the usual outrigger rust which was the main deterrent to trying to MoT it, it was in pretty good nick, and a sub-80,000 mileage. The whole burden of dealing with Dad's estate (he was widowed in 1974) in conjunction with my sister who lived on the south coast was overwhelming when I was working long hours anyway. As you say Richard, we've all done similar things no doubt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 28 minutes ago, Man On The Clapham Omnibus said: It wasn't simply for the number plate Richard, I'd still have that now probably on my Z3, it was a sentimental value of the car which I'd known since my teens. Apart from the usual outrigger rust which was the main deterrent to trying to MoT it, it was in pretty good nick, and a sub-80,000 mileage. The whole burden of dealing with Dad's estate (he was widowed in 1974) in conjunction with my sister who lived on the south coast was overwhelming when I was working long hours anyway. As you say Richard, we've all done similar things no doubt. Some years ago, I tried to see if my fathers car was still around from the year I was born, it was a two seater, so with 3 in the family now the car had to go. It took me some time but eventually I did find it, I ended up on the owners forum with phots to prove my claims, and he offered me a drive in it, at the time transport to the South was not possible , but these days it is, so I may just see if his offer still stands. Car has been repainted from bright red to this maroon colour. ETA I have tried to find all the other cars from my childhood, but sadly they are most likely sat in a house now posing as a fridge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joolz Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 I used to sit down with a cuppa at work and open all the yellow triumph stags up on ebay in separate windows. Of all my dad's old cars the stag was the one most likely to have survived. It had, and was just a few miles down the road according to the ebay advert, I had almsot been driving past it every day on my commute. The owner offered me and my mum a drive in it for old times' sake .. then the killer blow .. the owner brought out all the old paperwork including going back to when my dad owned it .. and his signature. Well .. I was in tears and my mum (God bless her) gifted me the money to buy it .. so it is now back in the family and will be as long as I can drive .. It even still has the hole in the hardtop headlining I did when I was 10 ... that's 47 years ago now. If you ever get the chance to buy these former family owned cars again please take it 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 What a touching story, wow. Yes the owner of the Jowett said he had it's history as well, another reason that helped prove my association to it. Not sure if any signatures existed though. He was open to selling it when I made contact the first time, and if I recall selling this house was the only way I could get that cash together, strangely, almost mirroring my own old car experiences the Jowett enters car rallies and events now, there is even Youtube footage of it at a sprint event. The price will have only risen since then, so I doubt very much that car will be sat in my garage any time soon - sadly. ETA Found it... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 Last one on the Jowett, but here it is sat in my dads back garden awaiting sale in 1965, was replaced with a Citroen DS. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvd8n Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 I think that it looks great just the way it is. I'd just do maintenance to keep it running (and stopping) well, and sort any bad rust spots. I'm actually jealous looking at it. David 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvd8n Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 double Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euan Hoosearmy Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 We've a Capri that has been in my wife's family since new (1984). We've had an external restoration done as otherwise it was going to fall to pieces. So yes we've lost some of the originality but at least we still have the car and should continue to do so for years to come. The other thing for us, was that my mother-in-law (serial Capri owner) got to enjoy the car again in her final years, she couldn't drive it, but loved being taken out in it. Internally we have kept it fairly untouched, there's even stuff like some ancient sweet wrappers and a (IIRC) Blockbuster Video membership card in the ashtrays. The car has been "MOT exempt" since April this year. It's still had an MOT - absolute no-brainer. Why would we want to risk the safety of the entire family by pretending that old cars don't decay? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 I love the Jowett! My sister's husband (my BiL) had a Bradford van and it, like many of its kin, broke its crankshaft. He also had a Brough Superior which does still exist in a motorcycle museum in Norfolk somewhere. I had two Capri 2.8i on my employer - a 1983 and a 1985. I could have bought either from the company but they had each recorded >78,000 miles by that time and I had really had my fill of them by then too. I know, I know, worth a packet now etc... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 2 minutes ago, Euan Hoosearmy said: The car has been "MOT exempt" since April this year. It's still had an MOT - absolute no-brainer. Why would we want to risk the safety of the entire family by pretending that old cars don't decay? Couldn't agree more there, I do hope the Gov withdraw that legislation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 1 minute ago, Man On The Clapham Omnibus said: I love the Jowett! My sister's husband (my BiL) had a Bradford van and it, like many of its kin, broke its crankshaft. He also had a Brough Superior which does still exist in a motorcycle museum in Norfolk somewhere. I have no memories of the Jowett - far too young, I do just about recall the DS which was sold in 1970 upon my fathers death, mum got a Beetle instead - and I do remember that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 My boss at the time (1974) had a DS Estate top of the range with swivelling headlights. He's now a KC in the £multi million salary class as a corporate tax barrister. I have travel sickness and declined to be driven in it as vomiting in one's boss's personal car is not a guaranteed route to promotion! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 13 minutes ago, dvd8n said: I think that it looks great just the way it is. I'd just do maintenance to keep it running (and stopping) well, and sort any bad rust spots. I'm actually jealous looking at it. David Yes, If I were to do anything to it , the brakes would be the area, fortunately the system from either the GT6 or Vitesse are a straight swap albeit with an upright and stub axle upgrade. Been here before 30 years ago with a Spitfire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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