For The Love of Cars

[GC8]

The first film, yes. The second film, no.

[PurpleTurtle]

Mike Brewer put a childish (and hastily rewritten) comment on the Wheelers Dealers FB page shortly after this aired tonight, about this being a 'copycat' show, then went on, without a moment of irony, to say they didn't account for the labour involved in the build! From his comments it seems one of the ex-WD producers has put this together, presumably with a bigger budget than he gets over at Discovery for WDs. A car dealer complaining of a stitch up, who'da thunk it!?

[Janesy B]

Brewer is a tit.

I haven't seen it yet but my old man enjoyed it so it must be tolerable.

[CooperD]

I quite enjoyed this but would liked to have seen more of the restoration process and a bit less of them hooning around the pub car park.

[S7Paul]

I see that there's a very similar car (fully restored, same colour scheme but with the standard Mexico engine) up for auction very soon. Guide price is £17-20K. This suggests that the car in the programme probably cost more to restore than it's worth (£8k for the shell, plus new engine, lots of new panels, 8 weeks labour, etc, etc). Still glad they did it though; looks a lot of fun to drive.

[moffspeed]

Looked forward to this as my first "proper" car was a Mk 1 Mexico. Plenty of good footage but the presenter grated on me - reminded me of James Martin's disastrous programme on the Mille Miglia - a bit too much about the man and not the car. A true petrolhead ? I don't think so.

Even after boring my Mexico out to 1660, adding bubble arches, fat Minilite (copies) and a brace of Super Oscars I had insight into the fact that the Mexico with its wheezy 711M motor was not the fire breather that this programme suggested.....one of my frustrations in life was (and probably still is) that I couldn't afford an RS 1600...

[e21Mark]

I think they were quickish cars for the day. Especially compared to your average Avenger or Maxi. I'm guessing they used that actor (questionable) / presenter because of the Quattro thing and that 70's related program he was in? I recall him being a SIARPC on Top Gear and being a bit of a tit then too.

I wish program makers would avoid the enforced, hurried deadlines. (not forgetting the unforeseen problem that threatens the whole process)

[strummerville]

I've said this before, but I struggled to get £2000 for a fully restored Mk2 RS2 (with new, genuine 7" RS alloys, group1 carbs etc) back in 1992. Mind you, 20 years on, I bet it would have been quite rusty again...

[aeropilot]

Lordbenny said:

4 spoke revolutions were a bit of a let down, I'd have stuck steelies with hub caps on it myself. Apart from that it was a nice car.

I agree. Revo's were popular back in the day, but yes, original steels would have been my choice as well, but whether plain with hub caps or later RS steels would depend on build date, as L reg could be right on the borderline between early and later spec car.

[Tony2or4]

e21Mark said:

I think they were quickish cars for the day. Especially compared to your average Avenger or Maxi.

Did I mishear, or did he say at one point that the Mexico's 0 to 60 time was 12 seconds?

Presumably impressive in its day - but that seems ludicrously slow by today's standards. Shows how far road car performance has progressed over the last 4 decades.

[e21Mark]

Minilites would have been my choice.

Just saw the bit where he had a go in the rally car. He's a bloody awful driver considering he's a supposed 'enthusiast'.

[aeropilot]

moffspeed said:

Even after boring my Mexico out to 1660, adding bubble arches, fat Minilite (copies) and a brace of Super Oscars I had insight into the fact that the Mexico with its wheezy 711M motor was not the fire breather that this programme suggested.....

They could certainly be that, I've been in/driven a fair few Mex's that were as quick/quicker than a lot of RS16's (outside of full house rally spec cars).....and 20 x times more reliable, and at a fraction of the cost.

You're number one mistake was adding the bubble arches, fat wheels and spots....... which was a sure fire way of massively slowing down a Mk1 Mex despite whatever you did to the x-flow under the bonnet

[XRS]

Cfnteabag said:

Does anyone know where it is filmed? Internet says the ant guys workshop is in wales but in the footage at the end of him apparently driving to the workshop, he is driving down Eastbourne seafront, my home town!

I noticed that too, but then they were in Wimbledon!

Brought back memories of my two Mexicos and the RS2000 I owned for 9 years. Great fun. Wish I had them all now

[e21Mark]

Tony2or4 said:

e21Mark said:

I think they were quickish cars for the day. Especially compared to your average Avenger or Maxi.

Did I mishear, or did he say at one point that the Mexico's 0 to 60 time was 12 seconds?

Presumably impressive in its day - but that seems ludicrously slow by today's standards. Shows how far road car performance has progressed over the last 4 decades.

You could buy a 2002tii and it would hit 60 in 8 seconds.

[Tony2or4]

This programme, Wheeler Dealer, Classic Car Rescue - there seems to be an unwritten rule that the presenters of this type of programme must have south or east London accents.

[hedgefinder]

Legacywr said:

What colour is that?

I'm going to stick my neck out and say - Ginger.....
oh wait...you mean the car..

[Fort Jefferson]

Legacywr said:

Fort Jefferson said:

This is my old Mexico, taken in 1976, the year before we got married

What colour is that?

Rolls Royce Regal Red, it was re-sprayed after a shunt.

It had loads of modifications to engine and suspension, and went very well.

[aeropilot]

Legacywr said:

Fort Jefferson said:

This is my old Mexico, taken in 1976, the year before we got married

What colour is that?

Not an original AVO colour given the J reg ......unless it's just the effect of scanning an old photo that has dramatically changed colour over the years.....????

[defblade]

S7Paul said:

This suggests that the car in the programme probably cost more to restore than it's worth

That's always the way.
Hence the usual idea that it's better to buy a tidy car that someone else has poured thousands of pounds into, than to buy the barnfind and do it yourself.

[Westy Pre-Lit]

strummerville said:

I've said this before, but I struggled to get £2000 for a fully restored Mk2 RS2 (with new, genuine 7" RS alloys, group1 carbs etc) back in 1992. Mind you, 20 years on, I bet it would have been quite rusty again...

Insurance costs killed them off over night and stopped all my fun . I struggled to get £750 for my RS2000 and it was in a good condition, gutting to still think about it really.

Went to see Jeff a while back to have some work done on my Westfield engine, the bloke couldn't have been more helpful if he tried, I couldn't recommend him enough.

moffspeed said:

Even after boring my Mexico out to 1660, adding bubble arches, fat Minilite (copies) and a brace of Super Oscars I had insight into the fact that the Mexico with its wheezy 711M motor was not the fire breather that this programme suggested

That all depends on the depth of your pockets and as Mr Chapman said "add lightness".

Edited by Westy Pre-Lit on Monday 21st April 12:49