Cars You Never See Anymore

[not-bono-ever]

View attachment 137762

I am really starting to appreciate the lines of 70s vauxhalls recently- about a tenth of the cost of a ford as well

 

[DownwardDog]

Portugal delivering the goods again. Convertible Cosworth with pepper pots. Appears just about unloved enough to be cool. The convertible roof looks a bit homemade.

View attachment 140804

The ebay Cosworth badge is a nice finishing touch.

 

[dessiato]

I am really starting to appreciate the lines of 70s vauxhalls recently- about a tenth of the cost of a ford as well

If you can find a good one...

 

[OzT]

I haven't seen a Saab 900 Turbo in ages. I used to think of that as my dream car.

Never seen the appeal of Saabs. To me they were just Dolimite engines in a strange but nothing special body shell with a lack of toys interior.

Though I know they do have their fans.

If you can find a good one...

Always prefered Vauxhalls to Fords from the 60s to mid 80s, probably cause I'm a Holden man, and the Vauxhalls here are just smaller versions of our Holdens.

But saying that when I was older and had the cash, I brought Falcons rather than Kingswoods! I know, traitor!!! lol!!

 

[Poi E]

Always liked the way Holden took European styling and added a bit of swagger. When I first arrived in the UK I was saddened to discover the Vauxhall Omega and find out there was no V8 option.

 

[dessiato]

Never seen the appeal of Saabs. To me they were just Dolimite engines in a strange but nothing special body shell with a lack of toys interior.

Though I know they do have their fans.



Always prefered Vauxhalls to Fords from the 60s to mid 80s, probably cause I'm a Holden man, and the Vauxhalls here are just smaller versions of our Holdens.

But saying that when I was older and had the cash, I brought Falcons rather than Kingswoods! I know, traitor!!! lol!!

I'm a fan of SAAB. I regret selling mine and would buy another any time. They were solid, reliable, comfortable, and different. A lot of the parts were GM with a twist. Few parts are interchangeable. There is the story, maybe apocryphal, that when they were doing a joint development with Lancia the Italians were very pleased with the results, but SAAB said that passing the legal requirements wasn't good enough. It is this mind set that makes me a fan.

 

[OzT]

Always liked the way Holden took European styling and added a bit of swagger. When I first arrived in the UK I was saddened to discover the Vauxhall Omega and find out there was no V8 option.

That was when I fell out of love with Holdens, to me the Commodores were never as stylish as the Kingswoods, whereas Fords kept the Falcons going from the 70s onwards, just more refinements.

ETA: ps I, being aussie, always thought the Europeans took their styling cues from us, just smaller and more basic and slower/less powerful!!!! lol!!

My 2c worth

 

[Poi E]

Had a HQ Monaro (had some steel left in the unibody) and my mate has an HJ Kingswood with 30k kilometres sitting in his garage in NZ rotting away while he works in HK. His dad's car and will never part with it. Love the smell of the vinyl. Not like Jap, Yank or Euro vinyl...something else in the mixture.

 

[OzT]

Wow the Monaro would be worth something now, speciallly with a black vinyl roof!! lol!!

Though for me personally I would prefer the HJ, never liked 2 doors, plus getting near a Statesman there as well!

 

[Dr. Furface]

How about this one I saw at the end of our street this morning. I've seen only one before, but that was the BTTF one on display about 30 years ago - never thought I'd ever see a privately owned one still in everyday use!

 

[Saul Goodman]

View attachment 142350 How about this one I saw at the end of our street this morning. I've seen only one before, but that was the BTTF one on display about 30 years ago - never thought I'd ever see a privately owned one still in everyday use!

They were an absolute heap of crap. That's why you don't see them anymore. They were built using parts from mini metros and other such crap.

 

[Dr. Furface]

They were an absolute heap of crap. That's why you don't see them anymore. They were built using parts from mini metros and other such crap.

Thread is about cars you never see anymore. Not why. Thanks anyway.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Thread is about cars you never see anymore. Not why. Thanks anyway.

Apologies. I didn't realise you'd made up your own set of rules for the thread. You should have posted them earlier, so I could casually disregard them.
People have a right to know why these cars are no longer on the road, even if it does upset you.

 

[Grump]

Sometimes see one near me that is used regularly by the owner. I believe there are a few still about as despite being terrible, they have a cult status.

 

[Idris2002]

Apologies. I didn't realise you'd made up your own set of rules for the thread. You should have posted them earlier, so I could casually disregard them.
People have a right to know why these cars are no longer on the road, even if it does upset you.

Um. . . that's what it says in the thread title?

 

[Saul Goodman]

Um. . . that's what it says in the thread title?

It says I'm not allowed to reply saying why? Really? Where?
You don't own the thread, so get fucked!

 

[Poi E]

Jesus, it's like mumsnet in here.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Jesus, it's like mumsnet in here.

Isn't it!

 

[Poi E]

Funny thing, the Delorean. Some decent input from Lotus, uninspiring but reliable enough engine and transaxle and of course all the quality control issues etc. But you can buy virtually everything new for the car as it has such a following.

 

[a_chap]

Pram Toys
<< ... >>

 

[Saul Goodman]

Funny thing, the Delorean. Some decent input from Lotus, uninspiring but reliable enough engine and transaxle and of course all the quality control issues etc. But you can buy virtually everything new for the car as it has such a following.

I nearly bought one at an auction in 1990 ish (it went for £10k), until I looked inside and all the switches were mini metro, and all of the interior had fallen to pieces.

 

[Poi E]

After a few weeks work here's one car you don't see anymore coming back from the dead.

 

[Saul Goodman]

After a few weeks work here's one car you don't see anymore coming back from the dead.View attachment 142364

Is that a Datsun 120Y?
Clean if it is.

 

[Poi E]

Yeah on the outside. MX5/Ford for other oily bits.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Yeah on the outside. MX5/Ford for other oily bits.

Nice job, well done

Any pics of the important bits?

 

[Poi E]

1.8 and box from a 2003 MX5 with a modified intake plenum, headers, EGR delete, decat, custom prop shaft to a shortened Ford rear axle with Ford 9 inch brakes, Quaife half shafts and a 3.54 plated diff, 280zx struts and brakes up front with adjustable shocks. 850 kilos of yee hah.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Very nice, and a nice menagerie of upgrades. The engine fits in a lot better than I thought it would, too.
Good job!

 

[Dogsauce]

This week’s selection of underwhelming motors of yesteryear from my current neighbourhood, where stuff doesn’t rot away as they don’t need to grit the roads. First three are all everyday runabouts, the last one someone’s actually put a bit of effort into making it nice.


(Nissan bluebird, old style Fiat Panda, an early Micra and some well loved 70s fiat thing)

Still plenty of the more rounded later version of the Micra knocking about in the UK.

 

[weltweit]

I had a Nissan Stanza which was perhaps the model before the Bluebird in your photo.

It was super reliable, it basically just worked as intended.

 

[weltweit]

And I can remember my Mum had one of those old shape Micra which I used on more than one occasion to tow my motorbike around, for some reason the brakes on that Micra were really good.