My first car

[DonW]

Apologies if there is already a thread on this - I have a feeling there is but I can't find it.

But an old friend (we were at school together in the seventies) sent this photo from those days recently so I thought I'd share it.

It's a bunch of us, mainly 6th formers at our school. We decided to dress as gangsters and took a few photos on the driveway of one of our homes.

The car is my 1953 RME Riley, all leather and wood inside. The Riley and a Ford Corsair where our chief transport in those days and we had many happy times in the old Riley.

1500cc twin cam (operating the valves via short pushrods). Handled like a dream, often sideways! and good for 80 mph with the help of polished inlet manfolding and a free-flow air filter.  

I passed my driving test in that car, and kept it for several years before getting into BMWs. I sold it for more than I'd paid, and got the same amount again by selling the number plate (MEW11) seperately to a guy called Dave Mew!   

This shot captures something of the essence of it all. I'm top left. Thankfully I adopted a centre parting shortly afterwards.

 

Here's a couple of pictures of the RME (these aren't mine):

 

[DonW]

Sorry this got posted twice, not sure what I did!

Please can one of the Mods delete one of them?

Thanks,

-Don.

[Oldcarfan27]

On 5/3/2020 at 5:17 AM, DonW said:

Love the vintage look. 

Reminds me of an old 60s rock band album cover.

I'm expecting to see a psychedelic band name across the top.

Any ideas for a group name?

Perhaps the "Teddy Boys"? 

[Snake45]

4 minutes ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

Love the vintage look. 

Reminds me of an old 60s rock band album cover.

I'm expecting to see a psychedelic band name across the top.

Any ideas for a group name?

Perhaps the "Teddy Boys"? 

My nomination: Fine Young Criminals. 

[Oldcarfan27]

1 minute ago, Snake45 said:

My nomination: Fine Young Criminals. 

Good one!

[RichCostello]

4 hours ago, Snake45 said:

My nomination: Fine Young Criminals. 

Album title: 7 HOODS

[DonW]

4 hours ago, RichCostello said:

Album title: 7 HOODS

?

Thanks all for your comments! Made my day.

Edited May 7, 2020 by DonW

[peekay]

Great photo! I had a black 54 Wolseley 4/44 in 1972, would much rather have had the Riley though.

[DonW]

Thanks Peter. The Wolseley was a good car by all accounts, did yours have the illuminated badge?

What colour was it - have you got any photos?

Cheers,

-Don.

[stavanzer]

This was my first car. 1953 Dodge M-43 Ambulance.

I stole this photo from the net, but mine was a similar colour and condition. even had the winch and a 12' A Frame welded to the front bumper. I paid $600.00 for it in 1980.

[misterNNL]

On 5/3/2020 at 8:17 AM, DonW said:

Apologies if there is already a thread on this - I have a feeling there is but I can't find it.

But an old friend (we were at school together in the seventies) sent this photo from those days recently so I thought I'd share it.

It's a bunch of us, mainly 6th formers at our school. We decided to dress as gangsters and took a few photos on the driveway of one of our homes.

The car is my 1953 RME Riley, all leather and wood inside. The Riley and a Ford Corsair where our chief transport in those days and we had many happy times in the old Riley.

1500cc twin cam (operating the valves via short pushrods). Handled like a dream, often sideways! and good for 80 mph with the help of polished inlet manfolding and a free-flow air filter.  

I passed my driving test in that car, and kept it for several years before getting into BMWs. I sold it for more than I'd paid, and got the same amount again by selling the number plate (MEW11) seperately to a guy called Dave Mew!   

This shot captures something of the essence of it all. I'm top left. Thankfully I adopted a centre parting shortly afterwards.

 

Here's a couple of pictures of the RME (these aren't mine):

 

Can we assume that the town you listed is somewhere in the UK?

[DonW]

53 minutes ago, misterNNL said:

Can we assume that the town you listed is somewhere in the UK?

Your assumption is correct, sir!

I now live in Aberdare, in Wales - between Cardiff and the Brecon Beacons.

The picture was taken near Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire and the school we were at (all except the girl in the photo) was/is in Solihull, West Midlands. 

And I just noticed a shocking typo in my original post - I put 'where' instead of 'were'!

Cheers,

-Don.

[misterNNL]

9 hours ago, DonW said:

Your assumption is correct, sir!

I now live in Aberdare, in Wales - between Cardiff and the Brecon Beacons.

The picture was taken near Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire and the school we were at (all except the girl in the photo) was/is in Solihull, West Midlands. 

And I just noticed a shocking typo in my original post - I put 'where' instead of 'were'!

Cheers,

-Don.

Naturally I looked up what the Brecon Beacons is and what a beautiful natural wonder it is.

[DonW]

15 hours ago, misterNNL said:

Naturally I looked up what the Brecon Beacons is and what a beautiful natural wonder it is.

Thanks, Tom.

We are very lucky to live so close to the Beacons, it beats South London where we had been living for many years.

What's it like where you live? Is OH Ohio?

Cheers,

-Don.

[The Junkman]

Mom and Dad divorced, Mom got the van but never had a driver license.  I just got my license about 6 months prior to the split so this is what I got.  No spot lights or running lights but everything else is the same including the color.  170ci straight six, manual choke, auto, a/c was "how fast can you go with the wind wing windows reversed".   (You kids can Google "manual choke" and "wing windows")  15-17mpg but gas was 30 cents a gallon in 1970 and used a quart of oil every other gas fillup.  I never noticed the "goggle-eyed" look of the front end but it was wheels so who cares?

Second car was a VW Bug that I bought in Portsmouth NH just after I got stationed at Pease AFB.  White, manual choke, manual transmission (like shifting in oatmeal), wing windows (theme developing?) $2222 out the door.

Edited May 9, 2020 by The Junkman

[Snake45]

On 5/8/2020 at 9:39 AM, DonW said:

I now live in Aberdare, in Wales - between Cardiff and the Brecon Beacons.

Only think I know about Cardiff is that I have an obscure album by a band from there called  Budgee.  Pretty good stuff. 

[DonW]

3 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Only think I know about Cardiff is that I have an obscure album by a band from there called  Budgee.  Pretty good stuff. 

Oh yeah, I remember them. They had some great album covers but I never really heard much of  their music. I'll be sure to remedy that now!

[misterNNL]

5 hours ago, DonW said:

Thanks, Tom.

We are very lucky to live so close to the Beacons, it beats South London where we had been living for many years.

What's it like where you live? Is OH Ohio?

Cheers,

-Don.

Yes,OH is the proper abbreviation for the state of Ohio. This part of the state is mostly flat and corn and soy bean farming is the main use for the ground. There is also a huge manufacturing Industrial base here as well for automobiles,and many other things as well as oil refining and believe it or not Army tanks. The Abrahams tank plant is only 30 miles north of our home.

Our climate is temperate with low temperatures in the winter of low teens and a few days in the 90's degrees Fahrenheit.

[DonW]

Thanks, Tom

So what was your first car?

 

[tsa375]

This was my first car . My Dad bought it for me in 1987 . Even though I had this car I still used public transportation because I’m based in the Philippines and parts are ordered in the USA . It takes more than a month for parts to come in . I also wanted to preserve the car because it’s rare here in South East Asia .

 

[DonW]

12 hours ago, tsa375 said:

This was my first car . My Dad bought it for me in 1987 . Even though I had this car I still used public transportation because I’m based in the Philippines and parts are ordered in the USA . It takes more than a month for parts to come in . I also wanted to preserve the car because it’s rare here in South East Asia .

Wow! Pretty good first car to have!

Do you still own it?

[Deuces ll]

Mine was a '68 Camaro convertible with the 275/327 and a glide... It was white with a white top and a red standard interior.... Sorry, no pictures... ?

[tsa375]

8 hours ago, DonW said:

Wow! Pretty good first car to have!

Do you still own it?

Thanks for the reply , unfortunately we traded it in to get a 1973 Mercedes 450SL back in 1995 . But I still wish we did not sell it , it’s a car that I miss more than the Mercedes . 

[DonW]

21 hours ago, Deuces ll said:

Mine was a '68 Camaro convertible with the 275/327 and a glide... It was white with a white top and a red standard interior.... Sorry, no pictures... ?

Nice! 

[Jon Cole]

My first car was a '63 Chevy Nova. Straight six, three on the tree.