Newbie from Dundee

[Corranga]

Hi, i'm Chris. Live in Dundee, have a Punto HGT and a Lotus Elise.

A bit about me and fiats...

Just found this site when doing some google searches, my Punto HGT is for sale (in traders forum) as i'm considering either a Panda 100HP or (if I think I can live with the badge...) and old Fabia VRS. Test drove both, the Panda was a hoot to drive, but the VRS was a particularly quick car (I think it may have been modified actually) - might need some convincing that the Panda is the way to go...!

I've always liked the styling of Italian cars, though my Punto is the first i've had. I think the mk2 is the best looking Punto, possibly except the Grande.

I headed down to a dealership to view an old Fiat 124 Spider, and ended up buying an Elise.

My girlfriends first car was a 1 litre K reg Panda, bought for 50 quid back in 2001, plus 25 for a bonnet, headlight and rear light cluster. MOT'd for 5 or 6 months at the time too! I have some fond memories of being terrified in it as we hit the motorway, and over driving it, playing with the understeer, it was cheap, fun motoring and a great place for her to start, not like all these kids now that insist on hire purchase Corsas and Clios as first cars - no damn character!

That's me!

Chris

 

[M21MFS]

Hiya Chris, welcome to Fiat Scotland!

Some nice Fiat history there - any pics of the old Panda?

We've had a couple of folk on here with the new ones (And 100HP's) - would be good to see another!

Enjoy the site anyway - good luck shifting the HGT (though Im sure it'll sell itself)

 

[Stuart]

welcome to fs bud, any pics o the lotus?

 

[Corranga]

No pics of the old Panda on my computer (pre digi-cam days for me

It was a white LE, Fizz I reckon. Had some funky green and purple seats. We took the LE decals off as they were fading. The paint was matt white when we bought it, but some T cut sorted that out.

We ended up getting a years MOT on it for about 45 quid, then selling it on for 150 quid with about 6 months remaining.

The Lotus is a series 1, in the car colour I like the least (no really!) but does get used as it should... (Sorry for big pic!)
It was the obvious choice, moving on from my previous 1.3 litre classic Mini

 

[Stuart]

is it a toyota engine in that? i know lotus use 1.8 toyota lumps in the newer elise's

 

[Corranga]

Na Rover K Series...

The Toyota lump is in the 2005> cars (mines an old 98)

Actually, mine is on it's 2nd K series following head gasket failure

If you know Dundee at all, imagine the scene:

The kingsway, morning rush hour, just between the 2 over passes (opposite Tesco call centre) heading in the Perth direction.
Lotus Elise in the outside lane
Lots of steam, engulfs the carriageway

Followed by:
Man pushes sports car up slip road on his own, then attempts to push it up the kerb on his own.

I bet there were some VERY smug people driving to work that day!

Chris

 

[Stuart]

i bet there was a Very embarrased lotus owner heading home too lol

 

[Corranga]

It wasn't the best day of my life

Tbh, I was heading to Edinburgh to take my car in for HGT replacement as I feared it was about to go / already leaking.

The day ended with my father and I towing the Elise from Dundee to Edinburgh with my girlfriends 95 Audi A4 and a rigid towing bar. Now that is an experience I hope none of you ever have :shock:

Chris

 

[Venters]

If you know Dundee at all, imagine the scene:

The kingsway, morning rush hour, just between the 2 over passes (opposite Tesco call centre) heading in the Perth direction.
Lotus Elise in the outside lane
Lots of steam, engulfs the carriageway

Followed by:
Man pushes sports car up slip road on his own, then attempts to push it up the kerb on his own.

Oh mate I know Dundee just well enough to know that would have been nasty.

Welcome to FS by the way.

Oh reason one for the Panda. Just look at them.

 

[mrcinquecento]

welcome to fiat scotland!

good to see another from dundee on here

 

[imported_abyss113]

ha more like central fiat now getting more and more of the dundee users here
welcome to the site i also see you on dundeecruise

oh and some good news on my front anyway its still early stages yet wont happen till maybe febuary or march yet but i may be getting a fiat again

 

[steve119]

welcome to our forum!!

enjoy, and hope you get to some of the events planned for 2009!! (especially if you get the 100HP!)

 

[Corranga]

welcome to the site i also see you on dundeecruise

Yeah, I'm over there too, though I'm still not sure if it's a place I'll spend a lot of time. Every few threads appears one that's way too car-chav for me. I'm the guy that laughs and shakes my head at purple Corsas with bodykits... actually most corsas with body kits tbh, so i've tried to keep myself away from the massive car mod threads and gallery sections.

I used to pop along to the big cruise nights back in 05 and 06, just for a look, there is always something that I like, but 30 grand civics with lambo doors don't get me going at all.

That said, I can't leave cars alone, my last car (old mini) was modified, more interior than anything else.
My girlfriends old Mini was a mk1 look alike, with similar dash, leather other interior mods, colour coded mirrors and arches,
and my Lotus might not be completely standard (black wheels, there might be a different head on it too, braided hoses, stainless exhaust and an iPod headunit. Visually though, you'll struggle to tell it from a standard car, and that's the way I like it

Chris

 

[Corranga]

This is the sort of thing I done with the Minis...

This is my girlfriends old interior

It began life (and later was sold on) as a standard Mini Tahiti. No dash (plastic binnacle for the speedo and fuel gauges plus lots of black cardboard - standard...), black cloth and a rubber steering wheel. Addition of coloured column, dash with rev counter, and (you cant see them for the steering wheel) time clock, amp gauge, volt meter, front speakers, full leather with custom door card (a bitch to make..) in leather, not vinyl, to match the seats. Full moulded carpet and lots of time...

Chris

 

[mrcinquecento]

same reason im not on dundeecruise then! , silly little neds in corsas and saxo's. every car ive seen with dundeecruise stickers has been absolutley revolting!!!! :lol:

im sure there are some cool cars on there, but for every nice one, youd get 20 corsas and 21 saxos with huge spoilers, pink bodykits and an exhaust the size of a boeing 747 engine, oh, and a stereo thats louder than any commercial jet aircraft at full throttle :lol:

if i ever attended a dundeecruise meet id be there 5 minutes before i started going around the cars pointing and saying "pile of s***", "yuck" or "wtf is that supposed to be???", give it another minute and id be smacking some neds round the chops when their attitude came through. :lol: , some people deserve a slap for crimes to vehicles!

no my cuppa tea tbh

i'll stick to the fiat sites ta

 

[Corranga]

Well... unofficially I signed up to advertise my Punto HGT on there

Dundee is great for car modifiers displaying they have perfected the act of taking what was probably a decent enough run around, and spending a couple of grand that actually ends up making it worth less!

The best ones imo are those who clearly spend thousands on a WIIIIIIIIIDE body kit and respray for a 1.1 or 1.2, then realise they can't quite afford the wide wheels to go with it...

Or, the beginners that fit lexus style lights, but keep their wheel trims...

I must admit though, we should all have respect for someone that can be bothered to drive around a 1.2 euro box with the weight of an entire halfords branch strapped to the dashboard

Chris

 

[imported_abyss113]

well forunatly im mates with a few of the more senior members who all understand their cars and we no longer want the name dundee cruise as its associated with twats and boy racers that is why we now attend meets under our secret alias which helps with a better reputation for us so you may think its all chavs and twats but the few of us who actually know each other its a a better scene than you think there is about 10 of us and you should come meet us if you want we dont bite and we usually have a bloody good laugh without actually going near our cars

 

[mrcinquecento]

well forunatly im mates with a few of the more senior members who all understand their cars and we no longer want the name dundee cruise as its associated with twats and boy racers that is why we now attend meets under our secret alias ]

that sounds alot more like it!!

i know its not all idiots in 1 litre corsas with jumbo jet wings on there, its just the ones that are on there ruin the reputation, and outnumber the true car fans greatly. its a shame, because i know there are alot of people put off car sites and clubs because of that chavvy nonsense culture of stereos, bodykits and exhausts that wouldn't look out of place on top of cruise ship! its a shame that sort of thing hurts the reputation of dundee cruise

theres nothing wrong with modifying cars hugely, i quite like the idea myself tbh , but it gets silly when you have a k reg corsa 1.2 or something, then add about £4000 worth of tasteless mods to it and make it look and sound totally ridiculous in the process. and then just end up with a pile of worthless bits strapped to a k reg 1.2! which is now also totally worthless because its so tastless :lol:

one i saw yesterday with dundeecruise stickers on it was a pink corsa with some vinyl thing scrawled across the back window, lexarse lights, HUGE exhaust, so loud it was rattling my parcel shelf mounts when i was at the lights behind it, and that was it just at idle!!, the exhaust noise was only beaten by the loudness of the bass from the stereo!, HUGE bodykit, just a shame it dwarfed the wheels! honestly, they were so far inside the car and hidden by the bodykit it was unreal! even side on they were almost invisible , you would need to stick your head under the arch with a torch in hand to try and find them!! :lol: . that one car sums up all thats wrong with the chav mod culture imo :lol:

its good to know the true car folk on there are wanting to distance themselves from the twats though , good thinking about the secret alias too, still an official club thing with meets and the like, but without the chavs/neds

always up for meeting car folk in dundee myself, they can point and laugh at my work in progress which in truth, probably isn't alot better than the chavs corsas and saxos at present :lol:

 

[simon_16vpunto1]

every car that tries to race my focus has a dc sticker on it and a couple of baseball caps in it.

never had that problem with the punto

 

[j3bnl]

Welcome to FS.
I dont think the bad taste modded car or chav is exclusive to Dundee though, I would bet that this is the same in every large town or city. I live in Forfar now (originally from Dundee) and there are loads of wee neds/nedettes driving around in shitty wee cars modded to the max of no taste with huge exhausts that add nothing but noise to there cars.