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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsFound a pic of an old car I bought in '74
This is a Morris Minor 1000cc 3 speed car. It was a legacy car- I was stationed on an Air Force base in England, and this car was passed from Airman to Airman as they came and went. I snagged it for a couple hundred bucks, installed a cheap stereo cassette player in it (damned car's electric system was backwards- it had a positive ground system and I had to wire the player in reverse) and began tooling around the English back roads. Me and my buddies had some great times in this tired old beast- it topped out at maybe 45mph, but that was okay. It was good enough to get us to the pub that was just off base, and to the fish and chips shop just down the road in Shefford.
Funny- it was easier for me to learn how to drive "backwards" on their roads than it was for me to come home and relearn the "right" way.
Great times. Great memories.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,640 posts)I love this picture. I hadn't known you'd been in England all those years ago. I know you had some good times...
It IS good to remember those, esp. when things are tougher now.
Thank you for taking us along...
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)I even love the color...
Crewleader
(17,005 posts)1974 I was 20....the music was great back then along with the cars.
A HERETIC I AM
(24,370 posts)From what I understand, many manufacturers over the years did that.
Neat car though!
brush
(53,791 posts)Last edited Mon Oct 6, 2014, 04:35 PM - Edit history (1)
back in the '70s, beautiful car, and it had positive ground also.
eppur_se_muova
(36,269 posts)Was never in a wreck in it. But you know that, since I'm alive to type this.
Remember how the driver's seat tipped forward, with nothing to hold it in place but gravity ?
Prisoner_Number_Six
(15,676 posts)Wow. Just... wow.
OxQQme
(2,550 posts)Back in the mid 60's, a friend of mine had one of those. I had an Austin Mini. Both were positive ground. We got stoned one night and hooked up the battery backwards. We were convinced that the horn would suck, the headlights would put out black light, and the radio speakers would cause complete silence inside the car. And maybe the engine would run backwards and we'd have one forward gears and three reverse.
Prisoner_Number_Six
(15,676 posts)Whatever you were smoking, I want some!
I always thought it odd that the pedal placement was the same on their cars as ours- gas to the right foot and clutch to the left. It took me a few seconds to figure out how to shift smoothly using my left hand, and after that it was easy.
Driving that car gave me a safety habit I still use to this day- I always looked left, then right, then left again, then right again (or is that backwards? I can't see it anymore) before pulling out into traffic. Hell, I even do it while outdoors in my electric wheelchair!
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)A friend of mine who worked for the CIA in Vietnam during the early days of the war had his MG shipped there and that's how he traveled around the provinces (!).
The car I bought in the service was a '65 Pontiac LeMans convertible, white with red interior, that I bought from a used car dealer outside Ft. Benning.
After being wounded in VN and during a long hospitalization I bought a new '70 E-Type Jaguar roadster. All I can say is, I hope your car didn't have a Lucas electrical system--if you know what I mean...
Prisoner_Number_Six
(15,676 posts)But still- a Jag... How cool is that!
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)One of the psychological effects. Not a premonition, just a subconscious sense that life would be short and I wouldn't live to see 30. So the recklessness of getting a Jag made sense at the time, in a perverse sort of way.
And I cracked it up in short order. Took a wrong turn driving back to the hospital and ran of the road when I suddenly encountered a closed gate. Luckily, the MPs who responded were led by a sergeant who was a friend of mine, because I was drunk at the time after visiting The Camelot bar in San Francisco.
Replacing the bonnet alone cost $2,000 in 1971.
One disapaintment was that the '70 Jag no longer had the cool shaped glass over the headlights. But I made up for it by installing a quad 8-track with 4 speakers.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Lucas refrigeration!
And then there are the SU carbs on old Brit sports cars. A nightmare come to life.
mackerel
(4,412 posts)I can barely remember his name but I will never forget that car
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)mackerel
(4,412 posts)Lol...love how it handles
brush
(53,791 posts)back in the day was a sheep in wolf's clothing as it had a Cooper racing engine in it (Cooper was a racing car company in the '60s and the original Mini Coopers won quite often on the rally circuit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini#Mini_Cooper_and_Cooper_S:_1961.E2.80.932000
A friend of mine had one back in the '70s and it was screaming fast. he regularly beat unsuspecting American muscle cars in impromptu, red light drag races because of it's light weight and racing-tweaked engine.
mackerel
(4,412 posts)The Wizard
(12,545 posts)were never known for their electrical systems.