>>Hillman Minx. ........ I disconnected the oil pressure warning light as it was irritating at night.!

Sounds just like the one I had. Consumed oil at 50MPP. Mates old engine oil kept it going until someone gave me their old Q20W/50 (remember that?). That old oil had done 3K miles already, but it solved the pressure and consumption problems.

The Minx had good quality oil in it as I gave it a basic service after I was given it. The worse oil I remember is BP VF7 that was meant to improve economy. I put it into a 1300 Escort and it left blue smoke behind. Totally cured by changing to a good 20/50 - it may even have been Duckhams!

It's all relative. The best transportation for least money was a Honda C50 that was almost new and had a minor paintwork scrape. 1/3 of new price and wonderful to own.

Always bought what car I could afford under the employment circumstances, without clearing out the bank book .Never looked for as cheap as possible. So not really possible to say. Cheapest was a 1961 Ford 100E at £50, but insurance was about 1/3 of that and got through my surplus cash as a uni student keeping it on the road. Most of the next series of British cars were ruinous in the DIY and repair costs.

Advice I was given, was to spend 1/2 annual salary on a new/almost new car when flush. Followed that because I could- generally. My £17,000 Skoda is a bit over that nowadays....but a bargain compared to the other OTT prices in the VW/Audi range. £20,000 for an A1 in this weeks Autocar.