Ordinary Cars That Have Disappeared Off The Radar
Discussion
Ploiesti has a good share of old motors kicking around.
Many many Dacia 1300s (renault 12s). A few tatty renault 25s, saw a Datsun sunny estate being pushed up the road yesterday, there's a first generation Prisma 1500 in my street, citroen bxs, You see a lot of old cars. That's what they are here, old cars not classics.
I've entrusted a local guy to restore my integrale here, he's running an old dacia 1300, dropped a renault alpine engine into it with 2x twin choke carbs and very rare alpine alloys. It looks stunning and pretty quick.
Many many Dacia 1300s (renault 12s). A few tatty renault 25s, saw a Datsun sunny estate being pushed up the road yesterday, there's a first generation Prisma 1500 in my street, citroen bxs, You see a lot of old cars. That's what they are here, old cars not classics.
I've entrusted a local guy to restore my integrale here, he's running an old dacia 1300, dropped a renault alpine engine into it with 2x twin choke carbs and very rare alpine alloys. It looks stunning and pretty quick.
So between yesterday evening and this afternoon I've seen the following:
Y plate red Ford Cortina looking very straight - my local gym in Southampton;
E plate light blue Rover SD1 - same gym car park on same day
M plate light blue Vauxhall Cavalier GLS - about 300 yards from said gym!
F plate red Vauxhall Senator going westbound on the M27 - sooooooo much glass, must be such a light and airy interior compared with todays moving letterboxes!
private plate mk1 white with stripe Ford escort just off the seafront in Bognor.
Of all of them it's the Senator that got my attention the most as to me it's the rarest of the lot, so few were sold in the first place so it's a real rarity to see on the road!
Y plate red Ford Cortina looking very straight - my local gym in Southampton;
E plate light blue Rover SD1 - same gym car park on same day
M plate light blue Vauxhall Cavalier GLS - about 300 yards from said gym!
F plate red Vauxhall Senator going westbound on the M27 - sooooooo much glass, must be such a light and airy interior compared with todays moving letterboxes!
private plate mk1 white with stripe Ford escort just off the seafront in Bognor.
Of all of them it's the Senator that got my attention the most as to me it's the rarest of the lot, so few were sold in the first place so it's a real rarity to see on the road!
Lowtimer said:
Once in a while think I've spotted a Thema in the mirror and it boringly turns out to be a late 90s Skoda Octavia. They're quite similar from the front.
Ha! Me too, only I spot the Octavia in the mirror and think it's a Rover 800. (Used to have an 800 like the one in the photo).
Tim16V said:
I sold these in the late 1980's - believe it or not there was a waiting list for the black Rapid! Customers used to like the spotlight grille conversion too.
We had one of the sport versions in. A white saloon, as you say it was pretty good for the time. Looked good lowered with decent wheels and a bodykit.
One of my Dad's customers had a black one ... With gold John Player Special stickers on it! ... I so wanted that carWe had one of the sport versions in. A white saloon, as you say it was pretty good for the time. Looked good lowered with decent wheels and a bodykit.
Tim16V said:
I sold these in the late 1980's - believe it or not there was a waiting list for the black Rapid! Customers used to like the spotlight grille conversion too.
We had one of the sport versions in. A white saloon, as you say it was pretty good for the time. Looked good lowered with decent wheels and a bodykit.
I bought a new 136 rapid in August 1989. Despite going to the local Skoda dealer mid May to enquire about a Rapid in black they couldn't get one for the August registration. We had one of the sport versions in. A white saloon, as you say it was pretty good for the time. Looked good lowered with decent wheels and a bodykit.
Forgetting about the problems the car had it was great fun.
I ended up visiting the importers at Kings Lynn for a promotion day and to this day the white Rapid 136 sport they had being demo'd on that day still brings back a smile. It was so different in character to the rapid I owned that I looked into getting mine worked on.
Sadly a car pulling out of a side street put paid to that idea just as I had the problems sorted out with the car.
My car was Pennine Grey, the colour looked ok in the brochure but was very brown. Luckily it sort of suited the car.
Funny how you never see that many old cars, then BOOM, they're everywhere. Pottering around over the weekend and saw, in no particular order:
A half beige/half Jewish Racing Gold Marina Coupe on an N plate
A very tidy V plate Mk4/5? V6 Cortina
An absolute shed of an Astra GTE 16v
A very rusty 3.0 24V Senator
A faded blue Renault 19
And the best of them all.............................a Mercedes 450 SEL 6.9!
A half beige/half Jewish Racing Gold Marina Coupe on an N plate
A very tidy V plate Mk4/5? V6 Cortina
An absolute shed of an Astra GTE 16v
A very rusty 3.0 24V Senator
A faded blue Renault 19
And the best of them all.............................a Mercedes 450 SEL 6.9!
laters said:
Pennine Grey, the colour looked ok in the brochure but was very brown.
Haha great colour naming by Skoda, very realistic. Named after drizzle and low cloud. As a product of the Pennines, I love this. Can join those other car colour name cliches; fade red, doom blue, recession white, hearse black and hearing aid biege. QuattroDave said:
LanceRS said:
Gunk said:
Here are some photos from 2010, Thurleigh airfield, all waiting to be crushed.
they don't exactly look like old bangers.
I'm sure I read recently that they are all still there!they don't exactly look like old bangers.
As an aside, I know the scrappage scheme requested that they all be crushed, how short sighted were the government not to request that the chassis only be scrapped, leaving the rest of the car to be salvaged for parts. It'd be a dismantlers wet dream breaking a car that isn't half knackered or covered in blood/glass.
Similar sites at the back of Bruntingthorpe, - https://goo.gl/maps/gKndxuhFoyR2
Corby - https://goo.gl/maps/DdU9EFBhuEP2
Sandtoft - https://goo.gl/maps/2w4SFwSejcN2
I believe most of the images above were debunked as "trade-in scrappage scheme" though.
Lowtimer said:
Once in a while think I've spotted a Thema in the mirror and it boringly turns out to be a late 90s Skoda Octavia. They're quite similar from the front.
Bloody fantastic motor car. Based on the SAAB 900 Turbo chassis but with so much power and a terrific sound.It's a real pity Lancia stopped manufacturing for the UK because some of their cars had real quality. Watched a repeat of Angels and Demons last night and the Carabinieri were howling around Rome in gorgeous black Lancia saloons. Don't know what they were or what engine is in them but they sounded great.
J
jith said:
Based on the SAAB 900 Turbo chassis
Not quite.The 9000, Croma, Thema and 164 were jointly developed - "tipo quatro"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_Four_platform
The original 900 was the 99 with a different nose, the '90s 900/9-3 was a Cavalier.
jith said:
Bloody fantastic motor car. Based on the SAAB 900 Turbo chassis but with so much power and a terrific sound.
It's a real pity Lancia stopped manufacturing for the UK because some of their cars had real quality. Watched a repeat of Angels and Demons last night and the Carabinieri were howling around Rome in gorgeous black Lancia saloons. Don't know what they were or what engine is in them but they sounded great.
J
Was it a Thesis? Never sold in the UK, not so much disappeared as...never appeared in the first place. (new thread perhaps)?). Im sure the diesel turbo would have been good for ploughing the autostradas.It's a real pity Lancia stopped manufacturing for the UK because some of their cars had real quality. Watched a repeat of Angels and Demons last night and the Carabinieri were howling around Rome in gorgeous black Lancia saloons. Don't know what they were or what engine is in them but they sounded great.
J
I Cadded up the rear seat for this. They kept deciding they wanted more headroom according to the new regs, so the rear seat cushion kept getting thinner. I chuckled to myself when it later became the popemobile. Papal cushion needed.
Hugh Jarse said:
Was it a Thesis? Never sold in the UK, not so much disappeared as...never appeared in the first place. (new thread perhaps)?). Im sure the diesel turbo would have been good for ploughing the autostradas.
I Cadded up the rear seat for this. They kept deciding they wanted more headroom according to the new regs, so the rear seat cushion kept getting thinner. I chuckled to myself when it later became the popemobile. Papal cushion needed.
There was a metallic sky blue one of these knocking around Glasgow a short while back. Had real presence and grace, kind of like a Jag S Type or Rover 75I Cadded up the rear seat for this. They kept deciding they wanted more headroom according to the new regs, so the rear seat cushion kept getting thinner. I chuckled to myself when it later became the popemobile. Papal cushion needed.
Hugh Jarse said:
I Cadded up the rear seat for this. They kept deciding they wanted more headroom according to the new regs, so the rear seat cushion kept getting thinner. I chuckled to myself when it later became the popemobile. Papal cushion needed.
Not as much as I'm chuckling at that comment coming from your user name.TooMany2cvs said:
jith said:
Based on the SAAB 900 Turbo chassis
Not quite.The 9000, Croma, Thema and 164 were jointly developed - "tipo quatro"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_Four_platform
The original 900 was the 99 with a different nose, the '90s 900/9-3 was a Cavalier.
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