Cars You Never See Anymore

[20Bees]

Great thread! First car I remember my father driving was a Standard (Vanguard?) estate with side-hinged double doors on the back. Grey with a red roof. It was followed by a Ford Consul, cream with a red roof, and briefly, another Consul, red with a cream roof. His first solid-coloured car was a dark grey Rover 2200. My first car was a Mk1 Escort in ‘Saluki bronze’, I thought it was the most beautiful colour when all my friends’ cars were red or blue.

Through the 1980s I had a few Volvos - 340, 360, 440 (then the estates, 740s, a 760 and 940). Haven’t seen any of the small ones for years. They certainly weren’t exciting but the 340 was the least troublesome car I ever had.

 

[Sprocket.]

Ford Corsair 1.7 V4 Essex engine. The first engine I ever stripped down and replaced the big end bearings, conn rods, pistons, valves, camshaft and rocker gear on. It was my brother in laws and was around 1970, I would have been 13ish. He taught me so much and set me up for a career in engineering maintenance. He supervised my work and I felt ten ton.
A good car, it had a cigarette lighter and radio, he ran it for another five years until the bodywork collapsed. His was dark blue.

 

[DownwardDog]

View attachment 221446
Ford Corsair 1.7 V4 Essex engine. The first engine I ever stripped down and replaced the big end bearings, conn rods, pistons, valves, camshaft and rocker gear on. It was my brother in laws and was around 1970, I would have been 13ish. He taught me so much and set me up for a career in engineering maintenance. He supervised my work and I felt ten ton.
A good car, it had a cigarette lighter and radio, he ran it for another five years until the bodywork collapsed. His was dark blue.

Peter Sutcliffe had two. He fucking loved them.

 

[Roadkill]

Through the 1980s I had a few Volvos - 340, 360, 440 (then the estates, 740s, a 760 and 940). Haven’t seen any of the small ones for years. They certainly weren’t exciting but the 340 was the least troublesome car I ever had.

The 300s and 400s were built at the factory in the Netherlands, and were never reckoned to be as bombproof as the ones made at Torslanda. The 400s, in particular, had a reputation for electrical gremlins. I always thought the 480 was a striking-looking thing, though:

Last time I looked on How Many Left there were only a few dozen still registered. My brother bought one for £100 to do the Scally Rally years ago with his fiancée and a few friends. They made it round the route, albeit with a lot of bodging and gaffer tape, but it went for scrap straight afterwards!

 

[Saul Goodman]

I was in town a couple of days ago and came across this 2CV.



I had to wait for the owner to return and start the engine, and it sounded exactly as I remembered. It gave me a big grin

I used to buy and sell these in the late 80s/early 90s, and my sister had one. I'd made new bumpers for it from 3" round steel tubing, and my party trick was to lift the back end of the car over my head, until the front bumper touched the floor. I can barely lift my arms over my head these days

 

[Roadkill]

Another now-rare sight went past me while I was taking a walk yesterday morning:

I still secretly covet a Capri.

 

[Dogsauce]

In Portugal for a couple of weeks so bound to see some nice oldies on the road. Yesterday when we were out driving I saw some ancient Citroen sat on a pillar outside a house, something that looked like a Datsun pickup, a curvaceous old Volvo saloon and what looked like some sort of 80s Talbot estate (with a for sale sign in the window). Slow on the phone camera so no pics at the moment. Seen a few Renault 4/5 around but they‘re pretty normal here. I’ll try to get some shots if I see anything good when I’m out on the bike this week.

 

[Dogsauce]

Found the Citroen(?) on streetview, looks like there might be other stuff of interest behind the fence just before this.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

goo.gl

 

[dessiato]

Found the Citroen(?) on streetview, looks like there might be other stuff of interest behind the fence just before this.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

goo.gl

View attachment 223214

There's a few cars on posts like this in both Portugal and Spain. I'm not sure what the point is, but I like it.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Another now-rare sight went past me while I was taking a walk yesterday morning:

I still secretly covet a Capri.

The mobile chicane

When the cops had them, and we had cars that handled, we used to goad them into races through a local windy section of road. Even the lads in 1600 Mk2 Escorts used to beat the cops' 2.8 crapis. They handled like a new born giraffe

 

[Roadkill]

The mobile chicane

When the cops had them, and we had cars that handled, we used to goad them into races through a local windy section of road. Even the lads in 1600 Mk2 Escorts used to beat the cops' 2.8 crapis. They handled like a new born giraffe

Oh I'm not suggesting the Capri was a good car, but it is a cool one, especially now it's lost some of its Kev's-car image.

As for the plod who had Capris, I bet they still considered themselves better off than the ones who had to tool around in Austin Allegros. Right up to the point they wrapped them round trees.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Oh I'm not suggesting the Capri was a good car, but it is a cool one, especially now it's lost some of its Kev's-car image.

As for the plod who had Capris, I bet they still considered themselves better off than the ones who had to tool around in Austin Allegros. Right up to the point they wrapped them round trees.

In times of old in England, you wouldn't have to have been much of a criminal mastermind to get away with a bank job. All you'd have needed was a decent pair of trainers

 

[Roadkill]

In times of old in England, you wouldn't have to have been much of a criminal mastermind to get away with a bank job. All you'd have needed was a decent pair of trainers

Or just a Cosworth!

 

[Saul Goodman]

Or just a Cosworth!

I don't think there were many of them around in Allegro days

 

[Sprocket.]

Austin Allaggro, square steering wheel and reclining seats. Luxury.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Austin Allaggro, square steering wheel and reclining seats. Luxury.

They also had reclining suspension. Unfortunately it wasn't intentional.

 

[Dogsauce]

Volvo 340. Looks like someone’s pride and joy. Pleasingly uncool. Spanish plates, which is uncommon here (french and Swiss more usual). Corolla in the background also quite elderly but still see a fair few about even in the UK as quite resilient.

 

[Roadkill]

I don't think there were many of them around in Allegro days

Pedant. That said, I'm pretty sure I remember a few police Allegros still running into the second half of the 80s so perhaps they did just about cross over!

On the subject of old police cars:

 

[DownwardDog]

Is the exhaust falling off or is that how the trots at Solihull built them?

 

[Saul Goodman]

Is the exhaust falling off or is that how the trots at Solihull built them?

Oh they were built that way. English engineering at its finest.

 

[pseudonarcissus]

That moment when you think “wow, British Leyland are going to start making electric cars”

 

[DownwardDog]

Never building the SD1 estate was a huge mistake by BL but huge mistakes were very much standard operating procedure at the Plughole of Despair.

 

[not-bono-ever]

Oh they were built that way. English engineering at its finest.

The 6 was a nightmare of shims

 

[Roadkill]

Never building the SD1 estate was a huge mistake by BL but huge mistakes were very much standard operating procedure at the Plughole of Despair.

 

[Saul Goodman]

The 6 was a nightmare of shims

It was a nightmare on cams and cam carriers too. There was an oil flow reducer fitted to the head, but it didn't work too well, and camshafts seized in their carrier, resulting in shredded timing belts. Fortunately, they weren't an interference engine, but they were dog shit, like everything else that came out of BL's arse. I seem to remember some of the V8s had a similar issue with cams seizing, due to the gallery to the journal's getting blocked or something.

 

[A380]

Pedant. That said, I'm pretty sure I remember a few police Allegros still running into the second half of the 80s so perhaps they did just about cross over!

On the subject of old police cars:

Not bad, but proper cool rozzers would have one of these, complete with an electric bell for requesting people pull over.

 

[passenger]

Talbot Samba 1360cc Cabriolet /Convertible - Rare in this condition -


There really is only one Convertable and it also comes with

AM/FM Stereo, Cassette Player

 

[Roadkill]

Not bad, but proper cool rozzers would have one of these, complete with an electric bell for requesting people pull over.

View attachment 223845

Or for the full Miss Marple / Dixon of Dock Green effect...

 

[Roadkill]

Talbot Samba 1360cc Cabriolet /Convertible - Rare in this condition -


There really is only one Convertable and it also comes with

AM/FM Stereo, Cassette Player

View attachment 223852

Blimey. Only 11 Sambas currently on the road, according to How Many Left. When mine went for scrap in 1997 it was one of 8,000 still running!

 

[Dogsauce]

Don‘t know what this one was, rotting next to someone’s house up in the mountains. Anyone ID it? Some impressive corrosion. Every house in this small town seemed to have a dead car in the garden, mostly Mk1 golfs.