Chronological – more or less (I’ll try and and find more photos as well). Does not include hire cars and cars only driven once:

Ford Anglia 105E
My first one. Bought with mum’s football pool winnings for £75. A rusty, light grey thing that I drove on L plates as I only had a bike licence. This old car didn’t last long as it soon failed the MOT with the rust. I spent six months though repairing  it with fibreglass until I got to the floor under the backseat. There was no floor! All you could see was ground!! I gave up. The  car was scrapped. Mother was not best pleased that her one and only pools win was spent so badly.

Ford Popular 100E x 2
I had two of these and my full car driving  licence by now.  The first one was wrapped around a lamp post, but then it was blue (unlucky) although painted maroon.  The engine was ok so I took this out and put it in a green one. I can now take one of these 1172 side valve engines out in 40 mins. The bell housing bolts are the tricky bit. Three gears, first and reverse are above a below each other, great when parking and fun to get the passenger to change gear.The handling on cross ply tyres was not so good and the electrics to the rear lights gave up on the green one. I rewired with less wire. I was pleased with that.

Ford Thames 400E 15 cwt van – Piglet
Not too sure how I acquired this one – no one else wanted it I think. Not surprising —  it was a dodgy, medium matt blue box. the steering was useless and the brakes failed while carrying a ton of light show through Catford. A ceramic stop light terminal had popped out  – good job the handbrake worked! The rear wooden floor moved when traversing undulating surfaces and the battery was practically dead. He/she had to be bump started if not used for two hours or more – and the starter button was under the engine cover. Lovely engine though –  Consul 375. I even gave mother a lift in it once…

Ford Cortina Mark I
Again this was one no one wanted – a dirty white with extra bonnet catches. It also jumped out of second gear and if the flywheel starter ring was incorrectly positioned (i.e. it had missing teeth) the starter wouldn’t engage. So I left it running a lot of the time. As the handbrake didn’t work too well it ran away once in my bosses garage colliding with the cars for sale. Not much damage done luckily – I think. It went well though – otherwise.

Morris Minor 1955 Splittie
Split windscreen but with 998cc engine upgrade. An interesting vehicle that I had for quite a while by my standards at the time. The front offside wing was quite rusty and a  bit bent which was frowned on somewhat by the local constabulary.  There was trouble with the clutch or brake master cylinder. As the car had floor hinged pedals both aforementioned cylinders were under the floor – tricky to repair…. The wipers had to be operated by hand. The driver’s door would fly open so I fitted a small draw bolt. The heater became detached so I spent a weekend fashioning a new bracket. Second gear would jump out. I did travel at great speed (by moggy standards) to my friend Dave’s wedding. I was still late – as usual… She needed £10 worth of welding to get through an MOT. Dad wouldn’t cough up…

MGB
Light blue soft top. A bit tatty.  Similar ownership status as the 15 cwt van and the Cortina i.e. I didn’t really… I didn’t have this long, but I definitely remember driving to work in this the day after my 23rd birthday. Therein lies another story…

Hillman Series VI Minx.
My heavy old British racing green 1725cc Minx. Incredibly sluggish acceleration, whining gearbox and a rust hole in the floor by the accelerator pedal. You had to be careful how you drove through puddles or you’d get a jet of water straight up the trouser leg! You could break in through the quarter light with a table knife (no need to remember keys) and it blew a piston but Dad put it back together bless him.  I still found plenty of ladies willing to ride in it though.

Black Vauxhall HB Viva 1600cc estate.
A dad cast off. This went like hot ****. Coke bottle shaped rear quarters, red plastic interior. Never sure how fast it really went as the speedometer didn’t go high enough. The world would go by very quickly though. I blew it up on the way to a football match in Mansfield. We got there for the second half. We must have been going fast – the front tyres melted as well. Dad put this one back together as well bless him again. I found plenty of ladies willing to ride in this one as well.

Morris Oxford
Also a purple colour. Drove this to work for many months from Wigmore near  Gillingham, Kent to Reigate. She would often blow a cooling jacket plug on the then incomplete M25. I just got out and hammered it back in each time. Cars of this era were not up to motorway speeds… I also managed to roll into the back of a Mark III Ford Cortina while in a traffic queue. No damage to the Oxford. Again I’m not sure of the exact ownership – another one I think I borrowed…

Vauxhall Velox with big six, 2300cc,
This one I bought for a fiver and used it to take my NHS colleagues to pubs on Fridays.  The rear wheels would spin in the wet and the whole rusty grey green boot flapped up and down at 100mph! The rear wing was repaired with “see through” fibreglass and the spring tension on the three speed column change gave up. Sold for three quid and a drink to a friend in a pub. Last seen upside down in a scrapyard.

Bright yellow Triumph Dolomite sprint
Overhead cam, alloy head, 2000cc, walnut dash, pie dish warning lights, auto gearbox, black vinyl roof. it was necessary to be careful with the cooling system, but was very quick. My dentist friend had one. I was so impressed I jacked in my Saab 99 for it. The Sprint had almost the same engine as the Saab oddly and a very lively back end –  it once slid through 180 degrees accelerating away from traffic lights in Gillingham. Luckily I managed to “park it” going backwards at speed.  Heavy people in the back made the rear wheel arches graunch. The ladies liked this one as well.

Vanden Plas Princess 1300 auto.
This one took two years out of my life. Dark green with a light beige vinyl roof it had many luxury items including rear picnic tables, but…The crankshaft broke soon after purchase. Six months were spent removing the engine outside my flat in Tooting – using a tripod engine lift  – and replacing the crankshaft in the kitchen. This refit proved to be seized as I had probably mixed up the main bearing shells. An engineering firm sorted that out. We put the engine back, 4000 miles later the crankshaft broke again – 1275 A series  – who’d have ’em! An engineering firm sorted that out as well. Some miles later the torque converter bush needed replacing. An engineering firm made that up  – phosphor bronze… The front  passenger door was dented by a minor altercation with another car on the Blackwall tunnel approach… got one from a scrappy although not an exact match.  Not sure I want to remember this one!

Volkswagen Beetle
I had this one a long time. A 1960 vintage 1200cc of slogging power.  It could rev so slow the generator light would flicker on. The clutch cable often broke which was hard to replace – so I usually didn’t bother.. I could still drive it around though. A Studebaker ran into the back one day. No damage to the Beetle, but you should have seen the other car. Sold it to me mum. She called it the Broomstick!

Hillman Avenger 1600
Also a dad cast off. A sluggish, thirsty, pale yellow estate. The gear lever was miles away- definitely a third order reach. Leant to a colleague to help him move house – I didn’t really enjoy this one – so didn’t keep it long.

Citroen GS 1000
Another yellow dad cast off. I quite liked this one. It was sophisticated by my standards although a bit rusty. The only memorable journey was an incident driving between Canterbury and Ashford where we were almost clobbered by an out of control Rover SD1 – Luckily he missed…

Citroen BX 1.9
Another good one if a bit tatty. Metallic grey and similar sophistication to the GS but with a much bigger engine. It managed great speed (I’m not saying how much) between Witton le Wear and a theatre in Sunderland. We  got there in time – just… I got rid as the hydraulics needed replacing!!

Opel Ascona
A light metallic green, W reg, heavy, solid device similar to a Vauxhall Cavalier with a blunter front end. I thought it was better looking than the Cavalier. Only 1600cc so a bit sluggish but I still used it as a tow car including towing my Libelle glider from Sutton Veny after my successful silver distance (50K) flight from North Hill. I kept this car for sometime as is was solid and reliable even though it was sometimes called a Kadett.

Renault 16
I bought this from my boss at Lloyd’s at the time. It was a rusty, silver 1.6 front wheel drive machine with a column gear change that I liked. It was big and comfortable if a bit thirsty on fuel. No major expeditions with this although I did manage to lose my licence for a year driving it back from the gliding club! I won’t go into detail….

Saab 99
This was a good ‘un although a strange purple colour and generally quite quirky. For instance the ignition lock was by the gear lever, it had front wheel drive with the Triumph engine back to front so the the gearbox was in front. The bonnet was clamshell and hinged in front as well – there seems to be a lot of front… I drove through Europe four up with luggage. One of our number lost their credit card so we were escorted by the police from the outskirts into the centre of Rome in the rush hour – quite exciting!!  The brakes struggled going over the Grande Massif as we returned. A rear suspension arm broke on return though – rust. Good job it didn’t break earlier. It collapsed driving up Station road in Rainham. I got it repaired eventually…

Rover Sterling
Big, black Honda based fwd Rover with 2.5 litre V6 engine that I bought through a colleague while working on contract at JP Morgan (there hangs a tale in its’ own right…).  It had a towball so I used it to pick up the LS7 (see My Aeroplanes) from Germany. The beast would go really quickly for such a big car. So much so I managed to bend it badly in London while working for JP Morgan. In my defence I had been working hard on some long late shifts and the one way system had been altered overnight. I thought the insurers would write it off but they put her back together! It was then stolen out of my garage in Headcorn. They still didn’t write it off!  I eventually sold it for the SD1 below as it was rusting and the engine was starting to tick. The Sterling had a checkered history in my care and I didn’t like the droopy exhaust tail pipes, but it was probably the nicest car I’ve ever owned although I do like my latest BM.

Rover SD1 2600
A big metallic grey, six cylinder with auto gearbox that I bought cheap as a trade down from the above Sterling.  An impressive beast with loads of room inside.  I used this machine for my earlier trips to Newcastle when I started work there. I also vaguely recall managing to hit something on a rainy evening in Gillingham, I don’t recall the outcome but I think it was repaired. I got rid when the the crankshaft started to rattle. The 2600 engine had a reputation for this. I was advised to sell!!

Ford Fiesta
I’m not sure of the exact age of this car, but it was quite new when purchased. Dark green with a 1.4 CVH engine. She did many motorway miles driving from Durham to my parents in New Romney, my Aunt in Essex and my contract job in Worthing. The engine wouldn’t pull the skin off a rice pudding. Indeed my Aunt and I nearly came a cropper trying to overtake someone who seemed to keep speeding up. It was broken into when there was a fair in town and the sump rusted away with all the motorway miles. But I quite liked this car nonetheless. It was cute.

Austin Metro
I’m not sure that this car should be included as it belonged to my mum after my dad died. Mum couldn’t drive it and no one else wanted it so I trundled around in it instead of the Fiesta on occasion. This smoke grey vehicle was getting a bit old, rusty and baggy but my brother in law still managed to find someone to buy it…

Rover 200
A small, silver modern Rover with a nice, nippy 1.4 K series. This was a nice little car that I leased nearly new (an ex demonstrator) from a Rover dealer in Worthing while I was working there (not for the dealer!). This car also spent most of its’ time driving between Durham, Worthing and my parents in New Romney. It started giving me gip while I was between contracts. Mainly due to faulty (dare I say cheap) ancillaries (e.g the starter motor) so I got rid while it was still worth something (the mileage was kept low by dint of extracting certain fuses) and traded down to the Scirroco below.

VW Scirroco
This was a very tatty black thing that I bought for £200 from a friend. He’d had it for years and worn it out by the time it got to me. Once I had the carburetor sorted at a VW specialist in Bath it went quite well and had brilliant headlights. I even drove to Sheringham one new year in the dark quite happily. It was just too rusty so I got rid (part exed!!) for the Saab below. If I’d repaired the rust it might be worth quite a bit by now.

Saab 9000
A nice big car in metallic beige (exciting?) with a 2 litre engine and auto gearbox. Quite a lumbering barge though given Saab’s reputation. It had a a tow bar which came in useful for the bike rack that you can just see in the picture below. My friend’s XR2 is also in the picture. Don’t recall many special or major journeys, but the autobox did fail me rather awkwardly, but I had that repaired by JamSAAB near Keynsham.  I finally had to let it go when the fuel pump failed near Fishponds in Bristol. It was almost impossible to remove to replace so I gave up. Not sure what happened but I think it was scrapped and I used City Car Club for a while.

Ford Escort GTI estate
Quite a nice Escort as Escorts go. It was a white, Mk IV, 1800cc  machine. She went well, if a bit heavy on fuel and front tyres, with brilliant handling and practicality. I used it to drive to my work quite happily with a bike in the back which I could ride from any one of the Bath Park and Rides to the office most mornings. Also handy as an ambulance when I did my ankle. The wheelchair would go in the back easily. I kept this car for quite a while, but I got rid when she started to rust and fall apart. I tried part exchanging for the BMW below, but the dealer didn’t want to know. I sold her to Webuyanycar for £150.

Talbot Alpine
Inherited from an aunt in North Weald although I only had a third share. In pristine condition the car had loads of mod cons for an X reg, including an automatic gearbox. Trouble is this made the car too heavy for its’ 1500cc engine. So we didn’t keep it. Indeed I managed to sell it by “remote control”  (I was still laid up with a bad ankle) to a Rootes Group enthusiast in Kent for £400.

BMW 116D
Arguably the best (and most expensive) acquisition. Purchased in 2012 with the aid of my inheritance money it had 36000 on the clock. Sold with 64000…
There were many great features (a quick yet economical diesel engine and cheap tax) but also some issues – awkward pedals, I worried about the timing chain and the clutch, Start /Stop and the parking sensors didn’t work. The boot was small but adequate for my purposes.

Hyundai Tucson 2008c (another two litre diesel)

Part exchanged the BMW in 2018 for this biggish, relatively cheap SUV. It goes surprisingly well, I can get in fairly easily with my bad joints and takes our big musical instruments, camping gear and the dog – not necessarily at the same time. Not many mod cons although I have added a few. Never let us down but I’ve spent a bit of money over the years keeping it going.