8th May 2006, 10:19
I've owned my L-reg Campus Prima since February '06. It's a backflash to my first ever car, in 1978 - a 5GTL.
Classic design, brilliant little cars. This one cost me £500. Rust here and there, engine idle speed's a bit high, but it's still delivering at least 33mpg and goes like the clappers!
I absolutely love it. No power steering? Think of the gym subscription and boring workouts I'm avoiding. In fact, the steering is excellent, and I'm far happier driving the Shoebox than I was in the PT Cruiser, the Escort Estate, the THREE Espaces, or the Renault 18 that were its predecessors.
I just need to be a bit more confident about tackling the bodywork rust and holes in carpet... any tips?
4th Jul 2006, 06:54
Bodywork rust isn't too hard to sort out. If the rust is in the wings or the doors it can be fixed with sandpaper, fibreglass matting, fibreglass paste, standard car body filler and a can of matching spray paint. If the rust is in the sills, or around the windscreen that's more of an issue as these are structural areas and need to be properly welded.
Otherwise replacement parts aren't expensive from scrapyards - you might be lucky enough to get new panels the same colour as your car!
The fives I have had have usually rusted on the door bottoms and rear wheelarches, neither of which are structural so you can bodge these areas no problem. Luckily, the main structure seems pretty rust resistant.
16th Dec 2005, 11:33
The only problem with the light weight and light panels is you won't want to have an accident in it! However I'd rather have a light nimble car than a heavyweight lump with ABS, EBD, traction control and all the gadgets to go wrong and cost a packet to fix. After all, surely if you drive properly you won't need any of these things? Wheelspin? Lift off the throttle. Brakes locking? Lift off and reapply less sharply. Sliding sideways into a tree? DUCK!!!