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Profile for user stronghold - Country: United Kingdom / England

My name is Steven (call me Steve.!) ..born 1963 London.
From childhood ...have always been interested in/loved cars.
My first car ..being a Reliant Regal Supervan 700, followed very swiftly by a Reliant Robin 850 (3-wheeler..using my motorcycle licence.!)...Having my share of british cars ..amongst them ..Ford Cortina mk.4,Vauxhall Viva mk.2,Rover 820,Rover Metro 1.4 gti-16v twin-cam ...etc..
I was a member of the American Auto club UK (1989 to 2001)& have owned ..Chevrolet Monte-carlo (305ci)...Cadillac Seville(350ci)..Buick Electra park avenue(350ci)..Oldsmobile cutlass 442...Buick Regal coupe (305ci) ...+ others.!
Due to the vandalisation of my last american car (the Regal coupe)and the cost of repair.! ..I gave up having a decent car ..& opted for Cheap bangers.!!(..at least if it's damaged,it's no big worry/loss.!) ..I currently drive a 1995 Rover 218 SL TDi.
I have collected for many years(..too long.!) 1/64th scale cars (..well actually...anything from 1/50 to 1/100 ... from all makes/brands from around the world)(
..Also having a few(hundred..!!) 1/43 scale.! (Recent estimates (November 2009) around 40,000 cars in my collection .. & hopefully ...soon will have a website to show some of them)..my motto "...if I can't have the 'real thing' ..at least I can have a model of it.!"
I have contributed to Doug Breithaupts "Tales of Toy cars" website/webzine & have an acknowledgement for my contribution to Bill Manske's "Corgi Juniors & Husky" toy car book.
23rd February 2013:- My Website is Now Open - MOTORCADEUK.NET/
If I had to choose my favorite cars (a hard choice.!) ..it would have to include...Monteverdi Hai,Iso Grifo,Aston martin DBS-v8,Aston martin V8 vantage (1970's),Most..american late 60's/early '70's muscle cars + in fact most American powered supercars.!(Ac cobra,Facel-vega,Jensen,De-tomaso,Bizzarini..etc..)..Once you've driven a V8 ...you'll not like driving anything else.! (..you can tell..I miss them..alot.!!)
(10/1/10)Updated Pictures below.
Some of the cars & motorcycles I've owned:-

My first motorcycle, a brand new 1977 Derbi 50 GT4V
[Image: derbigt4v1977.th.jpg]

After passing my 50cc test, I upgraded to a MZ TS 250/5 (1980)
I also had a BSA bantam D7 (175cc) at the same time
[Image: mzts25051980.th.jpg] [Image: bsabantamd719810newtank.th.jpg] [Image: bsabantamd71981.th.jpg]

(1981) For a short time I had this BSA 650 Thunderbolt (which was a real ground shaker.!)
[Image: bsaa65thunderbolt1981.th.jpg]

(1982) The first of two BSA A50 Royal Stars I owned
[Image: bsaa50royalstar1982.th.jpg]

(1984)I wanted something bigger & faster, so traded in for a Moto Guzzi 850 T4 with Le Mans conversion.
[Image: motoguzzi850t41984.th.jpg]

(1984) my first car Reliant Regal Supervan & after being hit by a van on the Moto Guzzi I swapped it for this Norton Commando 750 fastback
[Image: nortoncommando750fastba.th.jpg]

(1986) I didn't really get on with the Norton, always preffered my BSA Royal Star... so ended up buying another (which is still my favorite of all my Motorcycles)
[Image: bsaa50royalstar1986.th.jpg]

I never took any photo's of my Reliant Robin (don't recall why not? too busy enjoying myself.!)
Behind my Dad's Fiat 126, you can see my first 4-wheeled car, Vauxhall Viva (Great car)
[Image: fiat126.th.jpg]

After some time the Viva was passed to my brother & I bought a Ford Cortina Mk.IV, another reliable & loved car.
[Image: fordcortinamkiv.th.jpg]

I'd always loved American car's & had posters up in my room. I especially recall a Plymouth Roadrunner 440 six-pack!
Unable to afford one of these, I settled for a Chevy Nova (Canadian built) & said to have had some handling/performance package (not that I ever had time to test it out!) The engine packed in after a couple of months.!
[Image: chevynovacoupecanadian.th.jpg]

My replacement for the Nova was this Monte Carlo
[Image: chevymontecarlo.th.jpg]

After some time, The Monte Carlo's transmission was giving trouble, so time for a change once more ...The largest of all my American cars, this Buick Electra Park Avenue
[Image: buickelectraparkavenue.th.jpg]

The Electra was very luxurious & comfortable (an ex-Sheiks car!), but was Not the easiest car to drive around London (being only a inch shorter than a Daimler Limousine.!) ...my thinking, I want something smaller & sportier, I went to have a look at a Firebird Trans-Am (with cracked windscreen) but turned it down.
My regular dealer offered me this 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 (the last of the original run of 442's)
This is my all time favorite car that i've owned.(seen here at the London to Brighton Classic car run)
[Image: olds442.th.jpg]

After my Dad had a stroke, he was unable to walk, so we had to physically lift my Dad in & out of the car...which was very difficult with the 442. So a reluctant change, This time getting a Cadillac Seville
[Image: cadseville.th.jpg]

Once again gearbox troubles. I couldn't afford to repair this after spending my money on the car, so ended up getting this Pontiac 6000 STE
[Image: pontiac6000ste.jpg]

The 6000 STE had a 'knightrider'-ish digital dashboard which after a year or so, decided it wasn't going to work anymore (I got qoutes of £600 to get it fixed) The car was still driving ok, but I had No speedo, No Fuel gauge or any other warning lights.!! ...I carried on driving it for a while longer, but eventually traded it in for another Cutlass (a 6 cylinder Sedan) which I used for my wedding.
[Image: oldscutlasssedan.th.jpg]

The 6 cylinder sedan was very smooth & quiet, which troubled me (I really wanted a V8 again!) so I decided to buy a Cutlass Brougham from a newspaper ad (all was okay on my testing it, but it broke down on the motorway on my way home!) ...I'm No mechanic & had went along with what the guy had told me (suckered in.!)
[Image: oldscutlassbrougham.th.jpg]

So I now had two Cutlass', one six cylinder sedan which I didn't really want & a V8 Cutlass Brougham which wasn't going anywhere (too much work needed doing on it).
I went to my regular dealer, who took both of them off my hands.
With the cash I went out & brought this, Buick Regal coupe (My choice for 2nd best car i've owned)
[Image: buickregalcoupe.jpg]

After owning this a couple of years, it was heavily vandalised (I was not working at this time & could not afford repairs) It was sitting outside rotting away for a long time, so I had to sell it (sad to see it go)
When I started working again, my regular American car dealer had closed down (retired) & there were no other dealers close by, so I opted for something 'cheap & reliable' a VW polo classic (sadly no photo's of it, although it lived up to expectations, good car), followed by Austin Maestro (broke down immediatley!), a Rover 820 (..gearbox troubles again!), Rover metro GTi (camshafts went) No photo's taken of any of these three cars.
Finally, still going (just about) my Rover 218 SL TDi (lots of little problems with it, but it's struggling on)
[Image: early20072.th.jpg] [Image: early20071.th.jpg]

As a tribute to my Dad (who passed away two years ago) here's some of the many cars he had owned in his 40 years of driving:-
[Image: fiattopolinomumdad.th.jpg] [Image: jagside1a.th.jpg] [Image: jaguarmkivdad.th.jpg] [Image: standard1a.th.jpg] [Image: reliantrebel.th.jpg]
[Image: vwcampermumdad.th.jpg] [Image: citroenami.th.jpg] [Image: wolseley1660.th.jpg] [Image: citroends23.th.jpg] [Image: reliantkittendad2.th.jpg]

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