Faults:

This was a very reliable family car. Main problems were the cooling system, namely the radiator used to get blocked & had to be replaced, plus the water pump had to be replaced.

Some rust appeared in the bonnet and the bottom of the driver's door.

General Comments:

This was a reliable family car with only modest performance, but could cruise all day at 60mph on the highway provided there were not too many hills. It began as my parents' car, then my first car which I unfortunately wrote off after driving it for 2 years.

I remember the disc brakes were quite good for a car of this vintage. Fuel economy was good at 30 MPG. You could do a lot of maintenance on the car yourself; they were mechanically fairly simple. This car was fairly comfortable with front bucket seats; I remember you sat fairly high in the back seat. The car was softly sprung and felt heavy in corners, but at least it did have anti sway bars at the front.

It could be an annoying car to buy spare parts for; there were often minor changes from year to year, and this could cause problems. I remember Dad buying a replacement exhaust pipe, and it was not quite right as he was given a 1962 model exhaust rather than a 64, and they were very similar.

This car was far superior to my next car, a 1972 1.1 litre Ford Escort.

Faults:

It was a great runner. The disc brakes at the front always seemed to wear out very quickly.

Also prone to rust, in my case particularly the front drivers door.

General Comments:

My first car, Pale blue body with a white roof. Synchromesh gearbox (apart from first) 5 Bearing crankshaft.

It was comfortable, not fast, but classy looking for the time.

It had a proper heater and good styling in the interior.

One particular thing I liked which would still work today and that is a main beam/Dipped headlight switch in the footwell.

All my mates were driving crummy Ford populars or riding Scooters. I worked for a bank and I had a better car than the manager.

Also it had a starting handle. Oh how I wished for that on some of my later cars!

Faults:

Nothing really, except I didn't look after it and the radial tires were worn through to the canvas, I left it parked in the road and was forced to scrap it because the tax was out of date, the battery dead and I couldn't afford to get it back on the road! The Police were on to it, so I had no choice.

General Comments:

I bought this car for £25 and drove it for a year until the tires were shot and the tax ran out!

I drove it around for a year or so and spent next to nothing on it, the bits I needed were easily obtainable from breakers yards, such as light bulbs etc.

It had a little rust and was thirsty on the juice, but it did about 60-70 MPH in reasonable comfort.

I was 19 when I got the car and the bench seat was cool, my girlfriend (s) could snuggle right up and steer the car while I lit a cigarette etc.

It had a good few dials and I managed to get an artificial horizon gauge from a scrapped military jet, which moved quite a bit when this heavy old car lumbered around corners, it was a scream.

The fake leather seats could be slippery and bouncy, they were horsehair and springs I think, it was too easy to slide across the bench seat when turning right too sharply, but that was all the more fun.

Where I lived at the time, near Malmsebury, there was a country road with a bridge over it, with a deep inverted hump under it, if I could get the car up to 60 MPH, it would leap over the hump and everyone in the car would fly off the seats, a real thrill.

The back seats meant I could travel around and two people could sleep in comfort in the car, great for those wet nights when camping out at the Cotswolds windsurfing lake.

Don't ask about performance and cornering, this car was bad in every way, it was however a car with real character, solid, heavy and fun!