It's been a little while since I did any proper thread, I just got a bit disillusioned with the whole thing, you know how it is...
In my case I was a little deflated after selling the mk2 cav, and was generally unhappy with my Astra mk3 auto, nothing really wrong with it it just bored me, it was used as an appliance rather than anything else, I tried with it I really did, but i just couldn't get enthusiastic with it.
Anyway, I was browsing ebay, as you do, specifically looking for an estate that would fit the bill. The boxes that needed ticking were: Retro, Reliable, Vauxhall, Estate, and a long mot.
And I found one.. a mk2 estate 3 door in white, ok so it had a short mot and had been around the clock twice but that didn't matter
So after asking a few questions of the seller, and reading the MOT history of the car, I put in my max bid, and did my usual trick of ignoring ebay until the auction was over. And I won! For a lot less than I was prepared to pay as well ( I'm supposing the 5 door estate with red top in it that was listed at the same time took all the mk2 astra interest away from this lowly 1.3 ).
So the friday after the auction I got my designated 'I've bought a car so i need a lift' driver to drive me down to Guildford to pick it up.
The seller was this great old guy who told me in great detail how much he loved the old girl and that they'd been all over the country in her, she even had a name 'Betsy-Anne', he'd got it 25 years ago and he and his wife went on their first date in it! He'd also had it serviced and repaired at the same garage in all that time and gave me a folder with all the receipts along with little notes n what had been done.
So after parting with a little over £600 I said my goodbyes and started the 130 miles or so journey back home.
I nearly killed it
Totally my fault, thee journey home consists of a good stretch of the M40, which on a friday is hell. I was stressed, tired and wanted to get off the motorway and I may have pushed the old girl that little too much, may have pushed her up to a speed she wasn't comfortable with...i.e. 70mph
As most of you probably know, coming off the M40 and getting onto the A43 there is a series of stupid little roundabouts, and negotiating them you can get a good 'swing' going on, especially in an older vehicle, and yes i was probably still going a little fast, faster than the estate wanted to go anyway, and coming off the last one there was an unholy clatter and the oil light came on!
I limped to a stop and turned off the engine. Doomed... buggered. I had a moment of upset where a few choice words were uttered ...mainly directed at myself, and lit a fag. What to do? I had breakdown cover, so I wasn't totally stuck, but i didn't want to bring my new purchase home on the back of a truck. So i let her cool down, put some fresh oil in and gingerly turned the key, she fired, oil light went out, and she ran just fine. So i continued my journey home......much more slowly and sheepishly.
Here's a pic of her at the services at Towcester.
So after finally getting home ( at a steady 50mph and no more motorway driving.... I had learned a valuable lesson) I took a few more pics and left her alone to recuperate
In my case I was a little deflated after selling the mk2 cav, and was generally unhappy with my Astra mk3 auto, nothing really wrong with it it just bored me, it was used as an appliance rather than anything else, I tried with it I really did, but i just couldn't get enthusiastic with it.
Anyway, I was browsing ebay, as you do, specifically looking for an estate that would fit the bill. The boxes that needed ticking were: Retro, Reliable, Vauxhall, Estate, and a long mot.
And I found one.. a mk2 estate 3 door in white, ok so it had a short mot and had been around the clock twice but that didn't matter
So after asking a few questions of the seller, and reading the MOT history of the car, I put in my max bid, and did my usual trick of ignoring ebay until the auction was over. And I won! For a lot less than I was prepared to pay as well ( I'm supposing the 5 door estate with red top in it that was listed at the same time took all the mk2 astra interest away from this lowly 1.3 ).
So the friday after the auction I got my designated 'I've bought a car so i need a lift' driver to drive me down to Guildford to pick it up.
The seller was this great old guy who told me in great detail how much he loved the old girl and that they'd been all over the country in her, she even had a name 'Betsy-Anne', he'd got it 25 years ago and he and his wife went on their first date in it! He'd also had it serviced and repaired at the same garage in all that time and gave me a folder with all the receipts along with little notes n what had been done.
So after parting with a little over £600 I said my goodbyes and started the 130 miles or so journey back home.
I nearly killed it
Totally my fault, thee journey home consists of a good stretch of the M40, which on a friday is hell. I was stressed, tired and wanted to get off the motorway and I may have pushed the old girl that little too much, may have pushed her up to a speed she wasn't comfortable with...i.e. 70mph As most of you probably know, coming off the M40 and getting onto the A43 there is a series of stupid little roundabouts, and negotiating them you can get a good 'swing' going on, especially in an older vehicle, and yes i was probably still going a little fast, faster than the estate wanted to go anyway, and coming off the last one there was an unholy clatter and the oil light came on!
I limped to a stop and turned off the engine. Doomed... buggered. I had a moment of upset where a few choice words were uttered ...mainly directed at myself, and lit a fag. What to do? I had breakdown cover, so I wasn't totally stuck, but i didn't want to bring my new purchase home on the back of a truck. So i let her cool down, put some fresh oil in and gingerly turned the key, she fired, oil light went out, and she ran just fine. So i continued my journey home......much more slowly and sheepishly.
Here's a pic of her at the services at Towcester.
So after finally getting home ( at a steady 50mph and no more motorway driving.... I had learned a valuable lesson) I took a few more pics and left her alone to recuperate
to me just lately.... 
