What local exotic classics did you know about as a kid?
Discussion
Used to see all sorts of stuff being used daily in Swindon during the late 1970s - before all the price hikes and the "elevated" classic status. Highlights were a silvery blue Jensen (Healey) GT, the estate model, that was used to pick up kids from a local school; several E-types, Interceptors, MGAs and the like; one of those square(ish) Dino(ish) Ferraris that the owner, a self employed builder, told me he bought cheap as it was unreliable and rusty but made a great daily (a relatively new car at the time); plenty of lovely old big barges used as limo's by a local firm; a Citroen SM that sat for years, was still sitting years later when the owner refused my offer on the grounds that it was worth serious money and let it remain there... a Dove TR and my favourite for a very long time, an M Type Allard that I saw again recently no more than a couple of miles from where I used to drool over it on my paper round thirty five years ago... I would still love to own it. A mate's dad (entrepreneur type) had a Corniche convertible and another (retired test pilot) had a Mk1 Lotus Esprit but neither rivalled the Allard for my affections...
As a young(er) lad tho', whilst in retrospect it was a bit naff, the creme de la creme of exotica had to be the lime green Nova... so what if it was based on a VW Beetle it had huge Wolfrace wheels, a fur interior and an electric elevating roof - beat that for exotic!
I also used to see all sorts of interesting vehicles in the back alleys and gardens slowly rotting out - Armstrong Siddeley, Daimler, Lanchester and the more common Moggies and A35s before the huge clearouts of the 1980s.
As a young(er) lad tho', whilst in retrospect it was a bit naff, the creme de la creme of exotica had to be the lime green Nova... so what if it was based on a VW Beetle it had huge Wolfrace wheels, a fur interior and an electric elevating roof - beat that for exotic!
I also used to see all sorts of interesting vehicles in the back alleys and gardens slowly rotting out - Armstrong Siddeley, Daimler, Lanchester and the more common Moggies and A35s before the huge clearouts of the 1980s.
Growing up in the countryside south of Bristol I recall a Jensen 541 or CV8 on one the hills out of Bath. Another Jensen (Interceptor) on the road out of Blagdon. My Dads Series 1 E-Type languished in the garage for many years and was so rotten I remember being able to stand on the garage floor through the hole in the floor plan and pretend I was driving. We also spent our summers in North Cornwall and I recall my Dad mentioning a local farmer who won the premium bonds and then bought a Miura that he never drove. It just sat in a barn for years and years gradually rusting away until one year it was gone. One of my Dads friends had several 911's, a 356 and a 914 just up the road from our house.
Late '60s to early '70s, our family doctor had a Bond Equipe. Not exactly an exotic classic, I know, but it impressed me as a kid.
I also remember visiting a breaker's yard in the back of Blackpool that had several old TVR body moulds scattered around - I bet they'd be worth some money now!
I also remember visiting a breaker's yard in the back of Blackpool that had several old TVR body moulds scattered around - I bet they'd be worth some money now!
I grew up in Caterham, early 70's. My best mate's older brother was a mechanic at Caterham Cars when it was at Town End, building Lotus 7's from kits among other stuff.
We would spend our school hols and spare time hanging around the sales office and showroom, surrounded by Lotus 7s, Elans, Europas, Marcos 3 litres etc, all really exciting stuff for us teenage petrolheads! To us these were real exotic cars with things like electric windows, and stereos with balance control so you could switch the sounds from side to side. And the stubby little gear levers in them!
One afternoon the salesman, Peter Mitchell, asked me if I'd ever been over 100mph; when I said no he took me out in a Lotus 7 S4, along Hayes Lane around Kenley airfield, which was NSL in those days. 100+ no problem! I can still remember the reg plate, it was SRO744J, a red 7 with black noseband.
My mates brother then left but was asked back to do evening work assembling a 7 for a customer, so we had the run of the showroom in the evenings while he was working, playing in the cars. We could push them about and get a tyre squeal by letting the clutch up when in gear!
It was all very relaxed, even when the boss saw us, he'd just say 'don't press the accelerators lads' but that was it. I think that would have been Graham Nearn, but can't be sure. Great days! H&S would never allow it now.
We would spend our school hols and spare time hanging around the sales office and showroom, surrounded by Lotus 7s, Elans, Europas, Marcos 3 litres etc, all really exciting stuff for us teenage petrolheads! To us these were real exotic cars with things like electric windows, and stereos with balance control so you could switch the sounds from side to side. And the stubby little gear levers in them!
One afternoon the salesman, Peter Mitchell, asked me if I'd ever been over 100mph; when I said no he took me out in a Lotus 7 S4, along Hayes Lane around Kenley airfield, which was NSL in those days. 100+ no problem! I can still remember the reg plate, it was SRO744J, a red 7 with black noseband.
My mates brother then left but was asked back to do evening work assembling a 7 for a customer, so we had the run of the showroom in the evenings while he was working, playing in the cars. We could push them about and get a tyre squeal by letting the clutch up when in gear!
It was all very relaxed, even when the boss saw us, he'd just say 'don't press the accelerators lads' but that was it. I think that would have been Graham Nearn, but can't be sure. Great days! H&S would never allow it now.
40 to 50 years ago in a little rural village in Surrey, the one major memory was the big detatched house on the edge of the village with a Bentley 6 ½ Tourer in BRG complete with union jack decals. Also remember an Aston DBS, Corvette L82 454, a Bristol (very round shape no idea of model) and a Maserati Bora.
I will deviate somewhat from the intention of the OP. I grew up in a small seaside village in the South of Ireland in the '90s and early '00s.
It is a quaint, scenic part of the world which was bleak in Winter and enjoyed a relaxed bustle in Summer when city folk would arrive for a day at the beach.
The village offered a peaceful and romantic setting for those who visited. In daytime, chat and laughter filled the air and the aroma of fish and chips and the occasional BBQ was present.
As night fell, the laughter and talk was replaced by dump valves and tyre screech. The smells turned to burning rubber and the carpark where beach goers occupied would be transformed in to an arena where young men would show off to an onlooking crowd.
The Jap scene was monumental at this time in Ireland. Boat loads of imports would arrive from the far east through Rosslare and Dublin daily. There were numerous import dealers in the nearby city and a booming Celtic Tiger fueled the cruise scene. Vtec Hondas and GT Starlets were nice. Toyota Levins and Mitsubishi Mivecs were a little more unusual but the king was always RWD.
Nissan S-bodies were very much in demand and RX-7s were the leftfield choice. AE86s were much sought after. However, what everyone aspired to was a GTR Skyline or a Supra. These were the exotics of the scene. Of course, they are not exotics in the true sense of the word but making their way from Japan to our rural village seemed incredible.
It is a quaint, scenic part of the world which was bleak in Winter and enjoyed a relaxed bustle in Summer when city folk would arrive for a day at the beach.
The village offered a peaceful and romantic setting for those who visited. In daytime, chat and laughter filled the air and the aroma of fish and chips and the occasional BBQ was present.
As night fell, the laughter and talk was replaced by dump valves and tyre screech. The smells turned to burning rubber and the carpark where beach goers occupied would be transformed in to an arena where young men would show off to an onlooking crowd.
The Jap scene was monumental at this time in Ireland. Boat loads of imports would arrive from the far east through Rosslare and Dublin daily. There were numerous import dealers in the nearby city and a booming Celtic Tiger fueled the cruise scene. Vtec Hondas and GT Starlets were nice. Toyota Levins and Mitsubishi Mivecs were a little more unusual but the king was always RWD.
Nissan S-bodies were very much in demand and RX-7s were the leftfield choice. AE86s were much sought after. However, what everyone aspired to was a GTR Skyline or a Supra. These were the exotics of the scene. Of course, they are not exotics in the true sense of the word but making their way from Japan to our rural village seemed incredible.
spoodler said:
Johnny 89 - you're obviously younger than a lot of the posters on this forum... Interesting to get a different take on things.
Thanks spoodler,I guess it is as much a part of car culture as any era. Essentially, it was all about young men and women buying affordable cars, modifying them and having fun. I was certainly entertaining as a youngster to see these cars and although my first couple of cars were Japanese (mazdas), I never really got in to the scene.
Bloke round our way had a large collection of cars, a white Countach, the one used in the Guinness book of Records for fastest production car at the time, a Purple Countach with cerise interior and a Cerise Countach with purple interior, also owned the Aston martin Bulldog as well as a Lagonda I seem to remember. He had an RS500 Cosworth his then missus used as a daily, proper ratty thing it ended up. He also had a building stuffed full of old motorbikes.
Friend of the family, Harry Chandler who started The Travel Club of Upminster regularly bought a new Jensen Interceptor, plate was HC1111 from memory. there was also an old Dino 246GT around, always thought the plate was 100 ONE, was gutted when I found out it was 1000 NE and was a badly spaced "chavplate" lol.
Friend of the family, Harry Chandler who started The Travel Club of Upminster regularly bought a new Jensen Interceptor, plate was HC1111 from memory. there was also an old Dino 246GT around, always thought the plate was 100 ONE, was gutted when I found out it was 1000 NE and was a badly spaced "chavplate" lol.
Very little exotic on a NE housing estate growing up, though there was a bloke in the back street had a succession of what would be termed "proper" sporting cars of the period, i.e. Elans, droopsnoot Firenzas, Scimitars etc. Walked past on the way home from school one day and he had the body off the Elan and dumped on the lawn while he worked on the chassis in the drive! As a kid this was the first time I'd seen such a thing.
All changed when a bloke up the road bought a brand new Lotus Elite, it was like a spaceship had landed. Like most neighbours who seemed to come across wealth and flash cars (Aston V8, XJS etc) he soon fecked off somewhere nicer!
There was an all-black AC428 coupe with knock-off minilites smoked about town in the 80s, always wondered what happened to that.
Holiday jaunts to the British seaside used to yield some nice regular spots, like a JPS Europa and Interceptor in Bamburgh, and a blue Jensen FF with silver roof in Scarborough, a serious bit of kit in the 70s.
All changed when a bloke up the road bought a brand new Lotus Elite, it was like a spaceship had landed. Like most neighbours who seemed to come across wealth and flash cars (Aston V8, XJS etc) he soon fecked off somewhere nicer!
There was an all-black AC428 coupe with knock-off minilites smoked about town in the 80s, always wondered what happened to that.
Holiday jaunts to the British seaside used to yield some nice regular spots, like a JPS Europa and Interceptor in Bamburgh, and a blue Jensen FF with silver roof in Scarborough, a serious bit of kit in the 70s.
Bloke who used to drink in the pub in our little town - Wiveliscombe in West Somerset - in about 1960 had an Aston Martin DB2-4. The local coach proprietor had a D-back RR limo from about 1930. If you were lucky you got a lift home from Sunday School in it.
One of the local garage proprietors used to do taxi work in about 1970 with an Armstrong Siddeley Star Sapphire - lovely bit of kit, that. But mouldering away on his forecourt was a fantastic Delage D8 coupe with a body by someone like Chapron. We used to peer through the bonnet slats at that ginormous straight-eight engine.
Dave Pipe, the Taunton bookie and father of now-famous Martin Pipe, sold his business to William Hill (I think) and was reckoned to be the area's first millionaire. He went straight out and bought an Aston Martin DBS.
One of the local garage proprietors used to do taxi work in about 1970 with an Armstrong Siddeley Star Sapphire - lovely bit of kit, that. But mouldering away on his forecourt was a fantastic Delage D8 coupe with a body by someone like Chapron. We used to peer through the bonnet slats at that ginormous straight-eight engine.
Dave Pipe, the Taunton bookie and father of now-famous Martin Pipe, sold his business to William Hill (I think) and was reckoned to be the area's first millionaire. He went straight out and bought an Aston Martin DBS.
When I lived in NE Derbyshire I remember a neighbour having a maroon Ogle Aston Martin V8 on his drive in the late '70s. It had rather a lot of rear lights IIRC. It looked bloody amazing!
There was a local Ford dealership who had a nice collection of historic Ferraris, including no less than two 250 GTOs and a 250TR. I used to seem them being 'exercised' occasionally.
There was a local Ford dealership who had a nice collection of historic Ferraris, including no less than two 250 GTOs and a 250TR. I used to seem them being 'exercised' occasionally.
My parent's owned a petrol station & workshop in a small town when I was a child.
I remember seeing something like this arrive on the forecourt and asking my Dad's mate what it was
"That's a Stutz" he replied. Lovely old thing - never seen one since though. Probably worth a fortune now.
I remember seeing something like this arrive on the forecourt and asking my Dad's mate what it was
"That's a Stutz" he replied. Lovely old thing - never seen one since though. Probably worth a fortune now.
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