E30 325i Rag-Top 2956 Report post Posted January 31, 2010 Great thread idea Dan-o. Here's my 3 in no particular order... 1) My mate Jim's family hand me down mid-70s Orange Allegro apart from the colour this car truly lived up to the all-aggro nickname. When still at school you just wanted to drive, any time, any place and if your mate offered you the keys to his car you jumped at the chance.... except Jim's Allegro after you had tried it once! The choke (remember those?) had three settings: two clothes pegs holding it out, one peg holding it or off. The main beam headlights, which were dim at the best of times, had a habit of not working, or worse still all the lights going out. Worst of all were the brakes, which seemed to have a mind of their own, sometimes the pedal going to the floor and not slowing at all, other times locking all four wheels by just looking at the pedal??? 2) The same mate Jim's family hand me down mid-70s yellow Vauxhall Viva Estate, a bit more room and a bit more go than the Allegro, but let down in other areas. Used to randomly conk out and refuse to start, needing to be bump started to get going - always used to impress the girls that one, especially when they were pushing! Once failed an MoT (UK WoF equivalent) so badly the tester had filled in an extra sheet of paper to list all the faults found. I also got pulled over by the Police while driving this car, in response to the standard question "Is this your car sir?" I was relieved to say "Good god no, it belongs to him!" and pointed to the passenger seat 3) Kia Pride 1.0l, courtesy car while wife's car was being fixed. No go, no handling, sounded like it was going to blow up over 50mph, seats that turned you into a cripple after only 10 minutes. Tape player didn't work to drown out the engine noise, fan vents only blew hot air even when set to fully cold. The slightest of cross winds would have you wandering over the road like a drunken uni-cyclist due to the incredibly vague steering. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites