Ordinary Cars That Have Disappeared Off The Radar

[E24man]

Darren390 said:

mrpenks said:

Ford Orion 1.6i Ghia

Had a couple of 1.6i Ghia's when I was in my late teens, loved them! I actually preferred them to an XR3i, which looking back as seems a bit strange now! I have been 'browsing' eBay looking at 1.6i Ghia's for a while now, just waiting for the right time to mention it to the wife!

I had an identical 1990 white 1.6i ghia with a previous girlfriend for a couple of years; fond memories of both......

[Jimmy Recard]

TonyRPH said:

I feel the same way about the Sierra / Sapphire - I much prefer the Sapphire.

I pushed one up an icy and snowy hill today. After a Focus and Astra I took a double take!

[Horsetan]

mickyveloce said:

I had a lowly 1.4 GL Orion (1987) at one point.

It was a competent little car, but why did anyone need a boot that big?!

At the end of the day, it was an Escort with a boot, in the same way that the Jetta/Vento/Bora are Golfs with boots.

[anonymous-user]

I went to an event for affordable classics this summer, and saw many of the above models in this thread. "Festival of the Unexceptional". A tastefully eccentric event. Think they even had an award for the best period dresser of the day. Free to attend, amazingly. Even parking was free. I think a classic car insurer picked up the tab. Ironically, the day's proceedings got cut short by a torrential downpour. As the brave souls were driving away in the rain in a Lancia Beta Saloon and some 60s/70s Renaults and Fiats, you could almost hear the tin worm munching away. A nice day out, and some cars I honestly thought must be extinct by now turned up in great nick. Late 60s to late 80s ish, I think.

Link to picture gallery: https://www.hagertyinsurance.co.uk/articles-and-re...

[Horsetan]

Johnny5hoods said:

I went to an event for affordable classics this summer, and saw many of the above models in this thread. "Festival of the Unexceptional". A tastefully eccentric event. Think they even had an award for the best period dresser of the day. Free to attend, amazingly. Even parking was free.....

That's more or less how Harpenden's Classics On The Common began. It rapidly grew like Topsy with each year. Nowadays, it's a nightmare to get into (and get out of) and it costs you £20 to get your car in. They start bookings in Spring now.

[TooMany2cvs]

TonyRPH said:

Darren390 said:

Had a couple of 1.6i Ghia's when I was in my late teens, loved them! I actually preferred them to an XR3i, which looking back as seems a bit strange now! I have been 'browsing' eBay looking at 1.6i Ghia's for a while now, just waiting for the right time to mention it to the wife!

I feel the same way about the Sierra / Sapphire - I much prefer the Sapphire.

The place I did my sandwich year from Uni had both Sierras and Sapphs as pool cars - perfectly OK, but there really wasn't that much between them, the minor issue of tailgate-vs-bootlid apart.

I borrowed a manager's Orion 1.6i Ghia a few times, too. Thoroughly meh - if there was a choice, I'd delay the journey until a Sierra was available, or borrow somebody else's.

I've really never, ever got the Ford thing.

[TonyRPH]

mickyveloce said:

I had a lowly 1.4 GL Orion (1987) at one point.

It was a competent little car, but why did anyone need a boot that big?!

I seem to recall a lot was made of boot size back then - the first VW Jetta (MK1 Golf with a boot) had a huge boot!

[Gunk]

TooMany2cvs said:

TonyRPH said:

Darren390 said:

Had a couple of 1.6i Ghia's when I was in my late teens, loved them! I actually preferred them to an XR3i, which looking back as seems a bit strange now! I have been 'browsing' eBay looking at 1.6i Ghia's for a while now, just waiting for the right time to mention it to the wife!

I feel the same way about the Sierra / Sapphire - I much prefer the Sapphire.

The place I did my sandwich year from Uni had both Sierras and Sapphs as pool cars - perfectly OK, but there really wasn't that much between them, the minor issue of tailgate-vs-bootlid apart.

I borrowed a manager's Orion 1.6i Ghia a few times, too. Thoroughly meh - if there was a choice, I'd delay the journey until a Sierra was available, or borrow somebody else's.

I've really never, ever got the Ford thing.

Me neither, I remember having my Mk 2 Golf GTi off the road due to an accident and borrowing an Orion 16i Ghia and thinking how crude it felt compared with the Golf. The image was also very different, Fords always seemed a bit more "blue collar"

[talksthetorque]

And then Vauxhall brought out the Belmont.
Here's a picture of it from the outside:








And here's a picture of the inside of the boot:












Unfortunately just after Vauxhall brought out the Belmont, everyone went "Nah, not that bothered about boot space any more"

[Plinth]

talksthetorque said:

And then Vauxhall brought out the Belmont.

I remember reading an article by Quentin Willson in the early 1990's describing the Belmont as "a monument to the hideous".
A bit harsh IMHO - not a good looking car, but as basic and fairly practical family transport it was not significantly worse than others at the time.

(I will point out that I have never driven one - so I am prepared to be corrected on this!)

[FiF]

I had a Belmont company car for a while, not my choice, it was a temporary job supplied by the leasing company. It was the CDi with the 1.8 petrol engine out of the GTE. Agreed the boot was like an aircraft hanger, the gearing in top was, for the utterly ridiculous, which made for extremely relaxed cruising. I used it to tow my Laser dinghy all over the country.

The vehicle which replaced it, a Mk3 Cavalier was the most ridiculous example of a Friday afternoon car ever built. The only redeeming enjoyable moment in that vehicle's 3 years and 100,000 miles with me, was the Friday evening when the AA flashing beacons on full welly towed me into the forecourt of the local VX dealer just as a customer evening was in full swing and disconnected the tow right in front of the showroom windows. Sales bods looked happy with us, not.

[john2443]

Stiggolas said:

Nobody has mentioned the Vauxhall Chevette yet. Had a couple of these and Opel Kadett Coupes. The Chevettes were a bit underpowered with the 1256cc engines. We put a 1600 pinto in one and it seemed perfect

I always thought it was odd that the only choice was 1256 or 2300! I guess they didn't do a 1600 as it would have been competition for the Viva?

[TooMany2cvs]

john2443 said:

Stiggolas said:

Nobody has mentioned the Vauxhall Chevette yet. Had a couple of these and Opel Kadett Coupes. The Chevettes were a bit underpowered with the 1256cc engines. We put a 1600 pinto in one and it seemed perfect

I always thought it was odd that the only choice was 1256 or 2300! I guess they didn't do a 1600 as it would have been competition for the Viva?

But the Chevette replaced the Viva (although the Viva staggered on for a few years, gawd knows why) - and there had been an 1800 Viva

[Dr Jekyll]

VW Type 3. The Beetles and campers are almost more popular now than then, but the 'Variant' etc are very rare.

[droopsnoot]

john2443 said:

Stiggolas said:

Nobody has mentioned the Vauxhall Chevette yet. Had a couple of these and Opel Kadett Coupes. The Chevettes were a bit underpowered with the 1256cc engines. We put a 1600 pinto in one and it seemed perfect

I always thought it was odd that the only choice was 1256 or 2300! I guess they didn't do a 1600 as it would have been competition for the Viva?

Well, in terms of normal production there wasn't really even that choice, the 2300HS was more a competition/homologation special rather than the larger-engined range-topper, whereas on the Viva HC range they produced 1159, 1256, 1600, 1800, 2000 and 2300 versions in one form or another, albeit at different times. The range was 1159, 1599 and 1975, then 1256, 1795 and 2279, with probably some overlaps.

[Gunk]

Daihatsu Fourtrak, I can’t remember the last time I saw one of these cart sprung beauties.

[TooMany2cvs]

Gunk said:

Daihatsu Fourtrak, I can’t remember the last time I saw one of these cart sprung beauties.

Every other farmer around these parts.

[Marlin45]

Gunk said:

Daihatsu Fourtrak, I can’t remember the last time I saw one of these cart sprung beauties.

We still have a few of those soldiering on around this neck of the woods!

I had a Viva 1256 SL 3 door as my first car. Would never win a standing 1/4 but the fluffy seat covers were outstanding. A few years later an Orion 1.6 Ghia (twin choke carb model) which I held onto for a couple of years. Had every option bar the injection, was a good car to be frank.

Now Sierras. I had one. Briefly. 1986 2.0 GL. Found out it had been very damage repaired (creased boot floor etc.) but a mate wanted it none the less so I lost nothing. A few months down the road he called me after getting a knock at the door from the police. The previous owner of the Sierra wasn't very bright and used some spare licence plates he still had in the shed from the Sierra on a stolen car he used for an armed post office robbery. He was arrested at the scene but the police wanted to check any leads anyway. Not that the Sierra looked anything like a Nova?

[Gunk]

TooMany2cvs said:

Gunk said:

Daihatsu Fourtrak, I can’t remember the last time I saw one of these cart sprung beauties.

Every other farmer around these parts.

They used to be a school run special in Surburban Oxfordshire 25 years ago, I haven’t seen one in regular use for donkeys years.

[Gunk]

Vauxhall Monterey, rebadged Isuzu Trooper, haven’t seen one for years.