Bullseye TV Ford Fiesta Top Prize
Discussion
Watching Bullseye on Challenge and their Top Prize of a car brought to mind those absolute basic spec of cars in the 1970/80s.
Ford were the masters of the game of penny-pinch.
In the market for a Fiesta and on a tight budget?
How about: foot-operated windscreen washers? A rubber bulb screenwash which was from memory was next to the clutch pedal, but the single retaining self-tapping screw quickly sheared off, leaving the driver to find it by feel as it bounced around the footwell. It was a much like a miniature version of the foot-pump which you inflated one's 1976 mail order rubber dinghy.
Those needing an even cheaper Fiesta could have an electric cooling fan that operated continuously, saving the company the price of a sensor & relay.
Then there was the 850cc engine with tiny cylinder head ports and 1950s style three-bearing crankshaft (it was intended for the German market's strict insurance laws for younger drivers, also for some reason brand new engines had oversize crankshaft bearings, as though they cocked up, but couldn't bear to scrap the mismachined parts?) which drove from new like a Mk2 Escort 1100 with broken piston rings.
Finally, carpets: the rock bottom model made do with rubber mats which didn't even try to look tailored and showing a sparsely painted floorpan.
Vauxhall did quite well in being cheap, when they allowed the OHV Viva engine - or at least a version of it - to power their entry level Nova.
And VAG fitting the 1950s Skoda Estelle OHV motor in their quite brilliant Fabia must have been some sort of politically driven agreement to appease the Czech government when they bought the company?
Remarkably, the modern engine management made this one drive fairly okay.
One of the most crazy examples I have come across was from Mazda. A company I usually have high regard, but...
The clutch release mechanism on their RWD small hatch was designed to be done hydraulically. On one of their base models, they had the genius idea to save 38million Yen/car and substituted a thick clutch cable as a direct replacement for the master and slave cylinder.
The cable pushed the release arm on the gearbox as did the slave cylinder. As cables are very good at 'pulling' and rubbish when required to 'push' this design really beggars belief. I had a lovelly low mileage example in my workshop in 1984. The car was grinding gears when selecting reverse. I ordered a genuine cable as the old one was flexing, rather the pushing - as you would imagine would be the case and one would never, ever design this setup - the new cable was only a marginal improvement. It was almost an unfixable fault. As the clutch assy aged, the system was unable to cope with anything but new parts.
So, Mazda you tentatively win my award for Top Bean Counter of the World. Until I remember some more egrigious ones.
Does anyone else have other examples of car makers going the extra Km/Mls to be, well, very cheap?
Ford were the masters of the game of penny-pinch.
In the market for a Fiesta and on a tight budget?
How about: foot-operated windscreen washers? A rubber bulb screenwash which was from memory was next to the clutch pedal, but the single retaining self-tapping screw quickly sheared off, leaving the driver to find it by feel as it bounced around the footwell. It was a much like a miniature version of the foot-pump which you inflated one's 1976 mail order rubber dinghy.
Those needing an even cheaper Fiesta could have an electric cooling fan that operated continuously, saving the company the price of a sensor & relay.
Then there was the 850cc engine with tiny cylinder head ports and 1950s style three-bearing crankshaft (it was intended for the German market's strict insurance laws for younger drivers, also for some reason brand new engines had oversize crankshaft bearings, as though they cocked up, but couldn't bear to scrap the mismachined parts?) which drove from new like a Mk2 Escort 1100 with broken piston rings.
Finally, carpets: the rock bottom model made do with rubber mats which didn't even try to look tailored and showing a sparsely painted floorpan.
Vauxhall did quite well in being cheap, when they allowed the OHV Viva engine - or at least a version of it - to power their entry level Nova.
And VAG fitting the 1950s Skoda Estelle OHV motor in their quite brilliant Fabia must have been some sort of politically driven agreement to appease the Czech government when they bought the company?
Remarkably, the modern engine management made this one drive fairly okay.
One of the most crazy examples I have come across was from Mazda. A company I usually have high regard, but...
The clutch release mechanism on their RWD small hatch was designed to be done hydraulically. On one of their base models, they had the genius idea to save 38million Yen/car and substituted a thick clutch cable as a direct replacement for the master and slave cylinder.
The cable pushed the release arm on the gearbox as did the slave cylinder. As cables are very good at 'pulling' and rubbish when required to 'push' this design really beggars belief. I had a lovelly low mileage example in my workshop in 1984. The car was grinding gears when selecting reverse. I ordered a genuine cable as the old one was flexing, rather the pushing - as you would imagine would be the case and one would never, ever design this setup - the new cable was only a marginal improvement. It was almost an unfixable fault. As the clutch assy aged, the system was unable to cope with anything but new parts.
So, Mazda you tentatively win my award for Top Bean Counter of the World. Until I remember some more egrigious ones.
Does anyone else have other examples of car makers going the extra Km/Mls to be, well, very cheap?
Southerner said:
Not quite in the same league, but I've always thought French cars being fitted with 'wrong way round' wipers was a sh*te bit of design cheapness, my sister had an 03-ish Clio like that.
Mercedes did that too with the W124. Admittedly it was a single wiper blade and the swept area was symmetrical, but it 'parked' on the right regardless of whether it was a LHD or RHD model. Wouldn't have taken much at all to fix that compared to the French problem!Southerner said:
Not quite in the same league, but I've always thought French cars being fitted with 'wrong way round' wipers was a sh*te bit of design cheapness, my sister had an 03-ish Clio like that.
Same as BMW on the e39 and e60 5 series, but not any of the other BMWs at the time. I always think it’s a bit cheap of manufacturers to go to the effort of making a LED light unit, sidelights, high beam, dipped but then put a halogen indicator in. Loads of them do it! (Mercedes on the 2012 E class, dipped and high beam xenon, led inductors and DRL, facelift came as standard with halogen high beam and indicators and then they sold a LED upgrade which was full led
BMW for fitting halogen indicators at new model release and then changing tjem to led at LCI.
Vans - even the cheapest Dacia Sandero comes with air con, but if you spend £35k on a base spec transit you don’t get aircon. Or a passenger airbag, or electric mirrors, or parking sensors, or colour coded bumpers, and halogen DRLS (do any new cars still have halogen DRLS?) no touch screen.
Edited by Nickbrapp on Wednesday 29th March 08:10
Edited by Nickbrapp on Wednesday 29th March 08:30
The original Ford Ka came with an ancient engine.
Perhaps the reverse was the Rover 100 having a fancy modern K-series engine in an ancient Metro bodyshell.
When was the last car sold with only one side mirror? Was common on base models in the '80s.
In more modern times, I leased a new Volvo V60 R-Design in 2012 where I didn't spec parking sensors.
Perhaps the reverse was the Rover 100 having a fancy modern K-series engine in an ancient Metro bodyshell.
When was the last car sold with only one side mirror? Was common on base models in the '80s.
In more modern times, I leased a new Volvo V60 R-Design in 2012 where I didn't spec parking sensors.
tobytronicstereophonic said:
Those needing an even cheaper Fiesta could have an electric cooling fan that operated continuously, saving the company the price of a sensor & relay.
Then there was the 850cc engine with tiny cylinder head ports and 1950s style three-bearing crankshaft (it was intended for the German market's strict insurance laws for younger drivers, also for some reason brand new engines had oversize crankshaft bearings, as though they cocked up, but couldn't bear to scrap the mismachined parts?) which drove from new like a Mk2 Escort 1100 with broken piston rings.
From memory, the most basic Fiesta came with a 957cc engine. Then there was the 850cc engine with tiny cylinder head ports and 1950s style three-bearing crankshaft (it was intended for the German market's strict insurance laws for younger drivers, also for some reason brand new engines had oversize crankshaft bearings, as though they cocked up, but couldn't bear to scrap the mismachined parts?) which drove from new like a Mk2 Escort 1100 with broken piston rings.
I had one of the last of the 850 Minis - a 1979 City. It had thin rubber flooring and non-reclining seats. It lacked a radio, reversing light, passenger rear view mirror and air vents. Not sure it had a heated rear screen. Loved it.
In the 70s BL would sell you a Marina van with an 1100 engine and no passenger seat!
In the 70s BL would sell you a Marina van with an 1100 engine and no passenger seat!
A wise man once told me
See also, LCR tuning for radios still existing when electronic tuning was much cheaper to make but cost more to buy.
Wise Man said:
They only make the basic ones so they can charge more for the fancy ones.
Or something like that. He then went on to tell me how hard it was to get hold of the bottom model and that the top models didn't cost any more to make on a production line. Production line being the important part.See also, LCR tuning for radios still existing when electronic tuning was much cheaper to make but cost more to buy.
I love base spec cars! We had a mk1 Punto, 1.nothing engine, no power steering, plastic interior, etc. It's just a car, it's easy to fix and never left us unable to get home!
It's also why I like my Morris Minor so much, there's no extra stuff, it's just a car! But what is there is fairly well engineered - it will hopefully run forever
It's also why I like my Morris Minor so much, there's no extra stuff, it's just a car! But what is there is fairly well engineered - it will hopefully run forever
BrassMan said:
Or something like that. He then went on to tell me how hard it was to get hold of the bottom model and that the top models didn't cost any more to make on a production line. Production line being the important part.
Makes sense. Wouldn’t surprise me if there’s been loads of cars over the years with imaginary base specs just to be able to market them at a key price point… range ‘starts’ from £9995 or whatever… just to get the punters through the door. Then it’s oh sorry sir we can’t get you one of those at the moment but I can put you in the seat of the upgraded GL model with mudflaps and an ashtray for only the price of about 9.3 cups of coffee every 25.7 days or something, but only if you sign today sir. (Hands pen to baffled customer who buys the car).
Southerner said:
Not quite in the same league, but I've always thought French cars being fitted with 'wrong way round' wipers was a sh*te bit of design cheapness, my sister had an 03-ish Clio like that.
I had a ZX with a single wiper blade that parked on the left, meaning all the water it had swiped off the screen was dumped just below the drivers line of sight and then blew back up the screen. I assumed it was a cost saving thing until I was in France on holiday and looked at a LHD ZX to find its wiper blade parked on the right 
Southerner said:
Not quite in the same league, but I've always thought French cars being fitted with 'wrong way round' wipers was a sh*te bit of design cheapness, my sister had an 03-ish Clio like that.
In fairness, the Clio had that odd-but-efficient wiper mechanism that meant much more of the screen was covered by the wiper, reducing the dirty-corner issue. RizzoTheRat said:
Southerner said:
Not quite in the same league, but I've always thought French cars being fitted with 'wrong way round' wipers was a sh*te bit of design cheapness, my sister had an 03-ish Clio like that.
I had a ZX with a single wiper blade that parked on the left, meaning all the water it had swiped off the screen was dumped just below the drivers line of sight and then blew back up the screen. I assumed it was a cost saving thing until I was in France on holiday and looked at a LHD ZX to find its wiper blade parked on the right When I got my Skoda Fabia Mk2 I found that the headlights were shockingly poor. On further reading it turned out that on the base model the headlight unit only has a single halogen bulb and a 'flap' that drops down to partially obscure the bulb for 'dipped' beam and lifts for 'main' beam. Only on the base model so I am sure it was cost related.
(Mine isn't the base model, so just had crap lights).
(Mine isn't the base model, so just had crap lights).
Nothing that can compare with the OP's examples.
On a slight tangent I always thought Ford were quite clever with the Ka. Bonnet and wings that were raised slightly at the edges meaning alignment was much less of an issue and therefore cheaper to produce.
Similarly Aygo/107/C1 only a single string holding the parcel shelf up and identical drivers and passenger seats.
On a slight tangent I always thought Ford were quite clever with the Ka. Bonnet and wings that were raised slightly at the edges meaning alignment was much less of an issue and therefore cheaper to produce.
Similarly Aygo/107/C1 only a single string holding the parcel shelf up and identical drivers and passenger seats.
k all to get new ones from the scrapper. And it'll look just a sIn the Peugeot 309 (and I guess others too) if you didn't have a rev counter you just had a big Peugeot lion instead -
https://www.rfhclassics.co.uk/cars/peugeot/309/1.3...
https://www.rfhclassics.co.uk/cars/peugeot/309/1.3...
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