The Cars Time Forgot...
Discussion
fredbrad said:
GT6 Jonsey said:
Renault Fuego
The model before the Fuego. Renault 17. I had 2 of them - wish I had photo's to submit. RNE 583R RIP
Edited by dartissimus on Tuesday 12th May 12:01
4rephill said:
The '84 Corvette might possibly have been a bit forgotten, but I don't believe it didn't get the credit it deserved! 
It was acknowledged as being a lot of car for the money at the time (and still is!), and a great straight line cruiser/bruiser, but it was also noted as being a bit on the heavy side, not built that well, and didn't handle as well as its looks suggested it would.
Added to that, the only place it really worked as a proper usable car was the USA!
It was just too big and bulky for the rest of the World (With a possible exception of Australia but then it needed an expensive RHD conversion carrying out to make it legal which bumped the price up massively).
Can't agree. Bought a 9 year old '85 Vette and ran it as a daily driver for 3 years and 30000 miles. It was a great car in the UK, very fast and very stable and not much could live with it, back in the day and many found that out the hard way. The '84 suffered from too hard suspension and a 205hp crossfire engine but the later '85-on Tuned Port engines were strong and they softened the suspension a bit. Came with Bilsteins and Girling brakes (made in Australia, ironically).It was acknowledged as being a lot of car for the money at the time (and still is!), and a great straight line cruiser/bruiser, but it was also noted as being a bit on the heavy side, not built that well, and didn't handle as well as its looks suggested it would.
Added to that, the only place it really worked as a proper usable car was the USA!
It was just too big and bulky for the rest of the World (With a possible exception of Australia but then it needed an expensive RHD conversion carrying out to make it legal which bumped the price up massively).
Not well made though but no worse than any other fibreglass sports car of that era.
boyse7en said:
This turned my head when I was about 10. Was probably the most exotic-looking car I'd ever seen at the time.
Virtually no one remembers them now.
for good reasonVirtually no one remembers them now.
brother had one , it was awfull, unreliable , steering was like someone had connected a rotary whisk to the pedals , it tramped all over the place , electrics , blew fuses like no tomorrow and abysmally slow
just don't
GT6 Jonsey said:
Just thought of another company that made a cool car that disappeared without trace. Anyone remember the Trident Clipper ?
TVR specialist have a nice one http://www.str8six.co.uk/blog/files/913a092ac3dbd5...
jith said:
droopsnoot said:
Dapster said:
Not so much a car, as a technology. Absolutely brilliantly simple and so cheap compared to Airbags. Consigned to the history books.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procon-ten
Wasn't there a "dislocating shoulders" issue with that, on the basis that people tend to hang on for dear life in the event of a crash rather than letting go of the steering wheel as the technology assumed? I can't remember whether that was a story I read, or just something I heard mentioned.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procon-ten
In the event of an accident, the rearward movement of the engine assembly deployed the system and pulled the steering wheel away from the driver into the dash, pulled the rear of the transmission and engine assembly down and under the car to prevent it penetrating the cabin, pulled the seat belts tight restraining body movement and pulled both front seats together away from the B posts, preventing skull damage. It did this of course, in a fraction of a second on impact.
It was so effective that Audis became very popular with the German traffic police, and at one time one of the larger Audis was in the Guinness book of records for being the only car in history that was never involved in a fatal crash.
It was a victim of its own success however, as it became so expensive to repair in the event of an accident that insurance companies started loading premiums on vehicles with this system; and this despite the fact that it saved lives!
Check out this seriously clever ad :- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-ooL3Afzx8
Vorsprung Durch Technik indeed!
J
It was replaced by a '96 P reg Audi A4 2.6E Avant which although a decent car in hindsight, they don't seem to recall with the same level of fondness they had for the 90 and it's lovely 5 cylinder warble when combined with third gear which went on forever.
The A4 did have a much more conventional and useable shape of boot compared to the 90 which was quite bizarre compared to most other cars in that regard.
Whilst Audi seem more capable than ever of producing a lovely interior, there seems to be a little more penny pinching elsewhere these days evident. They've just treated themselves to a new A3 1.4T for their retirement.
Dapster said:
Not so much a car, as a technology. Absolutely brilliantly simple and so cheap compared to Airbags. Consigned to the history books.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procon-ten
Surely its main obstacle was being a proprietary system unavailable to other manufacturers. Volvo's release of the patent for the three-point seatbelt is an illustration of what might have happened. Says a lot about the different philosophies of Audi and Volvo.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procon-ten
DBSV8 said:
boyse7en said:
This turned my head when I was about 10. Was probably the most exotic-looking car I'd ever seen at the time.
Virtually no one remembers them now.
for good reasonVirtually no one remembers them now.
brother had one , it was awfull, unreliable , steering was like someone had connected a rotary whisk to the pedals , it tramped all over the place , electrics , blew fuses like no tomorrow and abysmally slow
just don't
strummerville said:
DBSV8 said:
boyse7en said:
This turned my head when I was about 10. Was probably the most exotic-looking car I'd ever seen at the time.
Virtually no one remembers them now.
for good reasonVirtually no one remembers them now.
brother had one , it was awfull, unreliable , steering was like someone had connected a rotary whisk to the pedals , it tramped all over the place , electrics , blew fuses like no tomorrow and abysmally slow
just don't
While the F1 & rocket are great timeless designs and won hundreds of accolades The Bagheera is better known for winning the ADAC "Silver Lemon" award in 75 !!
Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff