Dont mention the Toyota Crown!
December 21st 2011 13:59
Where have all the good cheap cars gone?
Maybe faded memories have got the better of Autoloud but I think that fifteen-twenty years ago you could buy a better class of car for under $1000 than you can now.
Back when I changed cars more than I changed socks, you were spoiled for choice.
I remember buying a one owner Holden UC Torana with 120,000kms for $600. It only needed some cosmetic touch ups and registration but for under a grand I had a bullet proof Aussie car that, if pressed, I could fix myself. Sadly, Mrs Autoloud hated driving it (bench seats, you see) so it was sold and replaced with an $800 Ford XD Fairmont Ghia with a 351 V8 under the bonnet.
I loved the Ghia, it made all the right noises, it went like a ... well let’s just say it was quick! As I had company cars this became Mrs Autoloud’s drive car and she liked it because the air was cold and it was comfortable to drive.
Then came the fateful morning when she was running late and she made the mistake of putting her foot to floor and turning the steering wheel to do a u-turn with the inevitable result that the poor old V8 went drifting across the road with smoke pouring off the back tyres like a scene from the “Dukes of Hazzard” Sadly the Fairmont had to go too!
I think a Nissan Bluebird came next. It was a sedan with an automatic transmission and to be honest Nissan had forgotten to fit any acceleration at all! If you really wanted a 0-60 time it would have marginally quicker than say ... an Icelandic ice flow sliding down the side of the mountain. All I know is if you went out to buy milk you came home with yoghurt. It was that S-L-O-W!
Mrs Autoloud adored that car and then I bought her the Toyota Crown.
But that is another story!
Maybe faded memories have got the better of Autoloud but I think that fifteen-twenty years ago you could buy a better class of car for under $1000 than you can now.
Back when I changed cars more than I changed socks, you were spoiled for choice.
I remember buying a one owner Holden UC Torana with 120,000kms for $600. It only needed some cosmetic touch ups and registration but for under a grand I had a bullet proof Aussie car that, if pressed, I could fix myself. Sadly, Mrs Autoloud hated driving it (bench seats, you see) so it was sold and replaced with an $800 Ford XD Fairmont Ghia with a 351 V8 under the bonnet.
I loved the Ghia, it made all the right noises, it went like a ... well let’s just say it was quick! As I had company cars this became Mrs Autoloud’s drive car and she liked it because the air was cold and it was comfortable to drive.
Then came the fateful morning when she was running late and she made the mistake of putting her foot to floor and turning the steering wheel to do a u-turn with the inevitable result that the poor old V8 went drifting across the road with smoke pouring off the back tyres like a scene from the “Dukes of Hazzard” Sadly the Fairmont had to go too!
I think a Nissan Bluebird came next. It was a sedan with an automatic transmission and to be honest Nissan had forgotten to fit any acceleration at all! If you really wanted a 0-60 time it would have marginally quicker than say ... an Icelandic ice flow sliding down the side of the mountain. All I know is if you went out to buy milk you came home with yoghurt. It was that S-L-O-W!
Mrs Autoloud adored that car and then I bought her the Toyota Crown.
But that is another story!
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