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Worst car of the 1960's

I started out driving in 1964 with an Austin A35 followed by an Austin Cambridge and subsequently an Austin A40 Farina. All had rust problems but were reliable mechanically. During my years of driving I've had experiences of most popular makes with differing results but I can only remember having to enlist roadside assistance on 3 occasions.

In 2008 I was encouraged to try Toyota and I haven't looked back. I'm on my 3rd one now and I've been impressed with the products and the service back-up.

My conclusion is that we're now experiencing the benefits of well over 100 years of development. I declare I am a dinosaur but it's petrol and manual for me. When electric becomes mandatory, I'll surrender my licence.
 
Clive. my first car was a 1 year old Austin A40 Farina bought in 1960, and like you I found it mechanically sound but after 3 years rust took over. Eric
 
Clive F said:
I started out driving in 1964 with an Austin A35 followed by an Austin Cambridge and subsequently an Austin A40 Farina. All had rust problems but were reliable mechanically. During my years of driving I've had experiences of most popular makes with differing results but I can only remember having to enlist roadside assistance on 3 occasions.

In 2008 I was encouraged to try Toyota and I haven't looked back. I'm on my 3rd one now and I've been impressed with the products and the service back-up.

My conclusion is that we're now experiencing the benefits of well over 100 years of development. I declare I am a dinosaur but it's petrol and manual for me. When electric becomes mandatory, I'll surrender my licence.
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Clive, in the early 60’s in the US the Japanese cars were rust buckets which really hurt them. Having said that by the mid 70’s they were well on the way to fix that. Since the early 2000’s we have driven only Toyota and Honda products (mostly Acura), they just run and run, don’t rust and are reliable. We keep our cars and having just purchased a new Acura we gave our 2008 Acura to our new driver granddaughter who has the car looking like new!
 
Richard Dye said:
Clive, in the early 60’s in the US the Japanese cars were rust buckets which really hurt them. Having said that by the mid 70’s they were well on the way to fix that. Since the early 2000’s we have driven only Toyota and Honda products (mostly Acura), they just run and run, don’t rust and are reliable. We keep our cars and having just purchased a new Acura we gave our 2008 Acura to our new driver granddaughter who has the car looking like new!
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I worked as a storeman at Coles on Coventry Road in 1971. Coles was a Reliant and Toyota agency. Even in 1971 the Toyotas (I remember the Corolla and the Crown) were superb cars. The spares supply (rarely needed) was excellent. Toyota had a 'shed' in Dover for spares. I still remember the phone number Shepherdswell 266. The writing was on the wall for the British car industry unfortunately!
 
vicfarlowe said:
I worked as a storeman at Coles on Coventry Road in 1971. Coles was a Reliant and Toyota agency. Even in 1971 the Toyotas (I remember the Corolla and the Crown) were superb cars. The spares supply (rarely needed) was excellent. Toyota had a 'shed' in Dover for spares. I still remember the phone number Shepherdswell 266. The writing was on the wall for the British car industry unfortunately!
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for a few months i worked in the repair section underneath the arches (sound like a song) repairing corolla and the reliant piggy.
 
My first car was a 100E Anglia, thank goodness for the local scrappie for spares. I stopped using gaffer tape and isopon filler after my Zephyr crumbled. Now also on the Toyota train. I never had an early Jap car, by the time I could afford one, it was usually ready to carry away to the scrapyard in a bag. Anyone remember the bottles of rust cure that turned the rust black (black rust) ?

Andrew.
 
Clive F said:
My conclusion is that we're now experiencing the benefits of well over 100 years of development. I declare I am a dinosaur but it's petrol and manual for me. When electric becomes mandatory, I'll surrender my licence.
Click to expand...
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At least you admit to being a Dinosaur! personally I've never understood the desire for manual cars, having to repeatedly shove one lever with the foot and another with your hand goes back to the dawn of motoring, all that's missing is the handbrake on the outside of the car :p

I first drove an automatic in 1999 on holiday in the USA, back then they were the horrible fluid type that made you think there was a slipping clutch. When I got my first automatic it was a Fiat Panda that had a robotised electronic gearbox, it just did the gear/clutch work for you.
I've been driving Toyota Prius for the last 10 years, the transmission is via sun & planets gearing so it's 100% totally smooth from a standing start to full speed. So relaxing to drive and a boon in stop start heavy traffic with no clutch to hold down and the engine off.
 
You're all babbies :) my first car was a 1938 Austin Cambridge bought as a non-runner for a fiver, second hand engine another fiver and a quick respray another fiver, on the road for eighteen quid all in, used for two years the sold on for £65.
I was an mot tester when the tests first came in some of the stuff on the road then was horrifying, brake cables with knots in them to shorten them, broken chassis patched up with wooden bedposts, steering wheels that turned eight inches before moving anything else, headlamps dimmer than cheap candles, tyres worn right through running on the inner tubes..........................:eek:
 
izzy eckerslike said:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

At least you admit to being a Dinosaur! personally I've never understood the desire for manual cars, having to repeatedly shove one lever with the foot and another with your hand goes back to the dawn of motoring, all that's missing is the handbrake on the outside of the car :p

I first drove an automatic in 1999 on holiday in the USA, back then they were the horrible fluid type that made you think there was a slipping clutch. When I got my first automatic it was a Fiat Panda that had a robotised electronic gearbox, it just did the gear/clutch work for you.
I've been driving Toyota Prius for the last 10 years, the transmission is via sun & planets gearing so it's 100% totally smooth from a standing start to full speed. So relaxing to drive and a boon in stop start heavy traffic with no clutch to hold down and the engine off.
Click to expand...
I recall the problem automatics was you did not want to take a test in one, otherwise you needed to take a manual gear box test if you changed.

They also needed a bigger engine, the smaller one’s felts quite underpowered. Of course the later technology has made smaller car nice to drive and quite efficient.
 
Clive F said:
My conclusion is that we're now experiencing the benefits of well over 100 years of development. I declare I am a dinosaur but it's petrol and manual for me. When electric becomes mandatory, I'll surrender my licence.
Click to expand...
Don't be daft Clive, I've driven every kind of car, diesels for the last forty years but I had a chance to buy an electric Renault Zoe at a bankruptcy auction last July and I love it, paid £3,200 for it had a charger installed at home for £599, range is a bit short at 82 miles but sufficient for my current usage and so far I haven't spent a penny on charging because the local Tesco does it for free while I do my weekly shop.
Of course the 'mandatory' isn't going to happen for a very long time, new petrol and diesel cars sold up the time the ban starts will with careful maintenance last another forty years.
 
Eric Gibson said:
You're all babbies :) my first car was a 1938 Austin Cambridge bought as a non-runner for a fiver, second hand engine another fiver and a quick respray another fiver, on the road for eighteen quid all in, used for two years the sold on for £65.
I was an mot tester when the tests first came in some of the stuff on the road then was horrifying, brake cables with knots in them to shorten them, broken chassis patched up with wooden bedposts, steering wheels that turned eight inches before moving anything else, headlamps dimmer than cheap candles, tyres worn right through running on the inner tubes..........................:eek:
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me too i saw some codge jobs 3/2 timber and jubbly clips holding a rear spring together. and concrete put in rotten chassis painted black..
ups
 
Eric Gibson said:
I was an mot tester when the tests first came in some of the stuff on the road then was horrifying, brake cables with knots in them to shorten them, broken chassis patched up with wooden bedposts, steering wheels that turned eight inches before moving anything else, headlamps dimmer than cheap candles, tyres worn right through running on the inner tubes..........................:eek:
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And in 1960 cars were 10 years old before testing. Luckily I was an impoverished student 10 years later than that and things had improved a bit. Eight inches was down to four. Tyres stopped at the canvas before hitting the tube. The third quarter of my career was involved in MOT equipment design, and although not a tester, I had to know the procedure. Saw a few hair raising things while working with real testers in garages. Had interesting meetings with the then Department of Transport regarding the feasibility of tests they wanted to introduce. (If you failed your MOT on headlamp alignment, or brakes on performance, then sorry about that. ;)).

Andrew.
 
i failed my first test driving up to a crossing too fast in a moggy traveler the brakes were a bit iffy and a bloke on the crossing shouted banged on the bonnet and called me a ()*(_)*&)&^^&P:&. i failed the test
 
Eric Gibson said:
isn't going to happen for a very long time, new petrol and diesel cars sold up the time the ban starts will with careful maintenance last another forty years.
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I'm not sure what will eventually happen to all the petrol stations, so many independent ones have gone in the last 10 years apart from supermarket ones, will they become fast charge stations with a small waiting area serving tea and coffee. Will petrol even be available in 20 -30 years time. Will batteries become smaller and smaller and end up as quick exchange slot in cassettes so you can drive away in a few minutes and hope you got a good one, o_O
 
vicfarlowe said:
I worked as a storeman at Coles on Coventry Road in 1971. Coles was a Reliant and Toyota agency. Even in 1971 the Toyotas (I remember the Corolla and the Crown) were superb cars. The spares supply (rarely needed) was excellent. Toyota had a 'shed' in Dover for spares. I still remember the phone number Shepherdswell 266. The writing was on the wall for the British car industry unfortunately!
Click to expand...
I think the writing was on the wall for all car industries. I think that Toyota & Honda forced everyone to make better cars, those that did not follow are now different companies or gone!
 
izzy eckerslike said:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

At least you admit to being a Dinosaur! personally I've never understood the desire for manual cars, having to repeatedly shove one lever with the foot and another with your hand goes back to the dawn of motoring, all that's missing is the handbrake on the outside of the car :p

I first drove an automatic in 1999 on holiday in the USA, back then they were the horrible fluid type that made you think there was a slipping clutch. When I got my first automatic it was a Fiat Panda that had a robotised electronic gearbox, it just did the gear/clutch work for you.
I've been driving Toyota Prius for the last 10 years, the transmission is via sun & planets gearing so it's 100% totally smooth from a standing start to full speed. So relaxing to drive and a boon in stop start heavy traffic with no clutch to hold down and the engine off.
Click to expand...
Izzy, I used to love driving a stick shift primarily because that’s what I grew up with. Ford tractor, Austin 7 MG TC, BMW, Triumph etc. Now we drive automatics Acura or Toyota with Jatco automatics (Japanese automatic transmission company) makes most automatics for Japanese cars. With two artificial knees and lots of arthritis I doubt I could drive very well in city traffic!
 
Richard Dye said:
I think the writing was on the wall for all car industries. I think that Toyota & Honda forced everyone to make better cars, those that did not follow are now different companies or gone!
Click to expand...
I think that was defiantly the case with the motorcycle industry. In the Uk, motorcycles had really become an enthusiast’s pastime, whereas in the developing counties of the far east, motorcycles were an essential form of travel. The manufacturers had to up the game with cost effective and reliable machines.

Here int he UK, a lot of people blame the trade unions for the demise of the car industry. My thoughts are that management get the trade unions they deserve.
 
People laughed at the DAF 66 with the rubber band variable transmission. Julie had one, and loved it, the first car of her own. It did what was expected of it. I was a bit unnerved by the engine noise not varying much as it went along. I was used to manual gears, and judging the change point by ear. Hers eventually shed a belt, and I was able to find a pair in a scrapyard. Back on the road in a day, I was surprised how easy they were to change. The Volvo 343 carried the system forward with success. I think Ford produced a version called CVT ?
My fairly recent lawn tractor still uses exactly the same system to get from engine to wheels.

Andrew.
 
got to be the worst
1960s the villiers engine from a bond mini car was used.
1970 the engine from the Austrian-built Fiat 500 was used, a Steyr-Puch air-cooled flat twin of 493cc and 20bhp.
propelling the contraption to 80 mph on test,

1655630037866.png
 
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