What did you drive in the 80s?

[coppice]

ian2144 said:

coppice said:

2CV 6 - wonderful
Suzuki SC 100 - appalling
AlfaSud Ti - sublime
Golf GTi 1.6 - faster than a Sud , but worse in every other respect
Citroen Visa Super E - a long striding , high geared , roly poly hoot , mais oui
Alfa Sud Ti - see above
Fiat Uno 70 SX -much nicer than an XR2
Fiat Uno Turbo ie - f****ing ballistic . shame about the ride and traction
Fiat Uno Turbo ie - even more of the same
Golf GTi Mk 2 - grown up, rock solid gem

What didn't you like about the little Suzuki SC100 whiz kid ?

I bought a new one, late 79 and loved it, a bit like the Imp in many ways.
the only issue I had ...... it required a regular spray with WD40 as it didn't like water.

I was beguiled by the glowing road test in Motor and bought a new one March 1980 . I liked the compact package ,and a rear engine was different but -

- the dealers were dreadful
- the bloody thing went out of tune about 1500miles after each service
- the engine cut out at any attempt at spirited cornering
- it had no boot space to speak of in front
- it was, by a massive margin, the car worst affected by sidewinds I have ever driven.

Setright liked them , lots of classic mags do but I'd rather walk !

[Gary C]

coppice said:

Setright liked them ,

That's enough to tell me they are crap.

[daqinggregg]

Started with a glimmer of promise and went downhill from there.

Daimler Fleetline SDA 757S, no, I wasn’t a bus driver

Fiesta 1.1L necessitated by 105 miles each way, commute
BMW 2002, for Friday’s
Triumph GT 6 MKIII, something for the weekend Sir
Owned Simultaneously.

Ford Orion 1.6i Ghia
Austin Montego 1.6L
Vauxhall Cavalier SR
MG Montego
Austin Montego Vanden Plas EFi

[coppice]

Gary C said:

coppice said:

Setright liked them ,

That's enough to tell me they are crap.

Philistine ! Not everyone was a fan , but I certainly was. The fact that he had quirky opinions, but so eloquently and lucidly expressed, made him all the more appealing to me .

[Pothole]

1979 Ford LTD Coupe (which belonged to some Mexican teenagers and had US embassy plates on it...in Budapest)
Chevette Saloon
Renault 5 (very occasionally)
Morris Minor
Morris Traveller

[Mellow Yellow]

Veesix75 said:

Excuse the poor photos.

17 yrs old and a Fiat 131 Mirafiori, embarrassed to say I crashed it on L plates, but replaced by the green Alfasud below 6 weeks later. The 4 below from 86 to early 90 when a scirocco replaced the red Alfasud ti.

Edited by Veesix75 on Thursday 25th February 18:32

Amazing how, despite their faults, these turn into a habit:




Sprint looked great but Isopon wheel arches needed rebuilding every Spring! Would have been replaced by a GTV had I not got a job with a company car.

[daqinggregg]

Sorry missed one Simultaneously.section
Started with a glimmer of promise and went downhill from there.

Daimler Fleetline SDA 757S, no, I wasn’t a bus driver

Fiesta 1.1L necessitated by 105 miles each way, commute
BMW 2002, for Friday’s
Triumph GT 6 MKIII, something for the weekend Sir
Triumph Dolomite Sprint, because I couldn't afford a fast Ford
Owned Simultaneously.

Ford Orion 1.6i Ghia
Austin Montego 1.6L
Vauxhall Cavalier SR
MG Montego
Austin Montego Vanden Plas EFi

[politeperson]

Clifford Chambers said:

politeperson said:

1973 Cortina 1.6L when I was 17. It was Daytona Yellow.

I got bored with it so painted it like the Bluesmoblile for a year or so.

Then I welded the doors up and cut the roof off, having attached ford Anglia rear tail-fins with pop rivets at the back. Painted in red. I dont know why.

I remember spending ages changing the black vinyl interior for a brown vinyl interior. I dont know why either.

Home made tarpaulin/hood.

Difficult to get the hood up, so it spent 3 years like that in central London with the hood down when I lived there.

Was very good at collecting peoples smoked cigarette buts. Got pulled by the police and checked every week.

Insured as having a large sunroof.

For £150 I had it 5 years! I fitted 3 engines (cross flow) and 3 gearboxes.

Chelsea cruise?

I dont think they would have had me at that point in my life!

After that car I did become a bit of a "hot rodder" in Colchester, into Ford Model Bs and A2 flying jackets etc. The Cruise became a more regular event at that point. One of our group had a 1960 Cadillac Coupe as a daily. That was really something. My next car was a fantastic 850cc Renault 4 (me on the right next to the Renault. "Darren" on the left. The Renault got the full hot rod engine treatment and then blew up a year later (the beginning of a theme developing).

Edited by politeperson on Friday 26th February 16:35

[Gary C]

coppice said:

Gary C said:

coppice said:

Setright liked them ,

That's enough to tell me they are crap.

Philistine ! Not everyone was a fan , but I certainly was. The fact that he had quirky opinions, but so eloquently and lucidly expressed, made him all the more appealing to me .

He offended me with his pseudo engineering opinions and his deliberately archaic writing style.

He was a bit of a knob, but then again he always intended to be

[AC43]

Mellow Yellow said:

Veesix75 said:

Excuse the poor photos.

17 yrs old and a Fiat 131 Mirafiori, embarrassed to say I crashed it on L plates, but replaced by the green Alfasud below 6 weeks later. The 4 below from 86 to early 90 when a scirocco replaced the red Alfasud ti.

Edited by Veesix75 on Thursday 25th February 18:32

Amazing how, despite their faults, these turn into a habit:




Sprint looked great but Isopon wheel arches needed rebuilding every Spring! Would have been replaced by a GTV had I not got a job with a company car.

Sounds like me - I went Sud => Sprint => 33 GC with a side helping of Spider.

The Spider was just a project though and was rotten so I passed it on.

The three flat fours, though, did sterling service.

[Clifford Chambers]

politeperson said:

Clifford Chambers said:

politeperson said:

1973 Cortina 1.6L when I was 17. It was Daytona Yellow.

I got bored with it so painted it like the Bluesmoblile for a year or so.

Then I welded the doors up and cut the roof off, having attached ford Anglia rear tail-fins with pop rivets at the back. Painted in red. I dont know why.

I remember spending ages changing the black vinyl interior for a brown vinyl interior. I dont know why either.

Home made tarpaulin/hood.

Difficult to get the hood up, so it spent 3 years like that in central London with the hood down when I lived there.

Was very good at collecting peoples smoked cigarette buts. Got pulled by the police and checked every week.

Insured as having a large sunroof.

For £150 I had it 5 years! I fitted 3 engines (cross flow) and 3 gearboxes.

Chelsea cruise?

I dont think they would have had me at that point in my life!

After that car I did become a bit of a "hot rodder" in Colchester, into Ford Model Bs and A2 flying jackets etc. The Cruise became a more regular event at that point. One of our group had a 1960 Cadillac Coupe as a daily. That was really something. My next car was a fantastic 850cc Renault 4 (me on the right next to the Renault. "Darren" on the left. The Renault got the full hot rod engine treatment and then blew up a year later (the beginning of a theme developing).

Edited by politeperson on Friday 26th February 16:35

Very rock and roll!
I don't remember any cruise rules, flamed Anglias on wobbly Jack up kits alongside Plymouth Barracudas. Once the police blocked it off the ' cruise' turned into the Battersea Park, and lost its appeal.

Custom Car the magazine, American Graffiti the film, and happy days on TV, and The Pod for a weekend fix.

[monkfish1]

Dolomite 1500HL

After that, Dolomite Sprint.

Then it was the 90's

Still got the sprint

[M4cruiser]

Mellow Yellow said:

Amazing how, despite their faults, these turn into a habit:



Sprint looked great but Isopon wheel arches needed rebuilding every Spring! Would have been replaced by a GTV had I not got a job with a company car.

Just being a nerd for a minute ... I looked in the Alfasud's engine bay when they were new and saw the camshafts being driven by the exposed elastic bands, and thought oh dear .. but I now realise they can be replaced in seconds, instead of the 3 to 4 hours labour like on some cars now.

[IJWS15]

My father’s 1978 Volvo 244 GL occasionally, 2.3l big bumper version. From the era when decent cars came with wiring for a radio but none fitted. Remember him drilling a hole in the roof for an aerial the day after he got it.
1971 Morris Minor Saloon - wife had it when we got married, sold for twice what she paid for it.
1981 Ford Fiesta 950 Popular Plus - enormous step up from the minor
1983 Ford Sierra 1.6LX - virtually faultless over 10 years. Lovely car in the snow but the 1.8 that replaced it was awful in snow.

Forgot about the Mazda pickup (P1800?) and Mazda 323 I drove in South Africa while out there for a summer job.

Edited by IJWS15 on Saturday 27th February 08:18

[Mr Ian]

[s m]

Mr Ian said:

HF Turbo

My friend had a red one then went to the later injection version

Really liked both of them
Skinny tyres for a hot hatch as well - used to 4-wheel drift in very fast bends

[Mr Tidy]

caley64 said:

Frozennorth said:

Rob 131 Sport said:

Slightly off thread as it’s into 1990. Having just turned 18 I bought a V Reg Fiat 131 Mirafiori Sport (JLA71V) finished in Racing Orange.

I’d always lusted after these since their launch in 1978 as my Dad had a 124 Sport Coupe.

The 131 was a fantastic car and I suspect mine had been slightly warmed over as it was noticeable quicker then a coupe of friends who also ran 131 Sports. The engine, gearbox, interior and looks were all top notch. However after 9 months I got fed up with the ever increasing rust, low 20’s petrol consumption and noise on motorway journeys.

Mine was racing orange too as you say engine etc were brilliant just let down by rusting I traded it for a fiat Uno turbo C308OCU which was much the same.

Mine was orange as well. Maybe that was the only colour they did ??
Loved the front, different sized round headlights and grille with all the cut outs. Pity about the crap metal !!
Do any still exist ? Haven't seen in since the 80's

I think Fiat also did them in black and a graphite metallic.

I quite fancied one as my 2nd car was a Fiat 125 and I later owned a 132 1800ES, but by the time I could afford one I bought a MK2 RS2000 instead!

And sadly I haven't seen a 131 Sport for years.

[Rob 131 Sport]

Mr Tidy said:

I think Fiat also did them in black and a graphite metallic.

I quite fancied one as my 2nd car was a Fiat 125 and I later owned a 132 1800ES, but by the time I could afford one I bought a MK2 RS2000 instead!

And sadly I haven't seen a 131 Sport for years.

The 131 Sport was a much more sophisticated car then the RS2000. It had a much fancier interior, the engine was the legendary 2.0 Twin Cam that was mated to a truly wonderful 5 Speed Gearbox. Excellent handling and ride also.

I’d say you chose the wrong car. I do like the RS 2000 with its quad headlights, nose cone and often fishnet headrests, it’s just the Fiat was the better car.

[66mpg]

I learned to drive in 1981 so I started with my instructor’s Mazda 323 (rwd hatchback). My first car was a very rusty Triumph Herald 13/60 estate, bought (and scrapped) in 1982.

After a spell at university without a car I worked for my parents, who owned a shop. We had a clapped out 1971 Ford Transit (1.7 V4). That was replaced with the hot rod, a 1972 Transit 125 (swb van with 2.0 V4, six stud hubs and Salisbury axle from lwb but with single wheels).

A lack of junk Transits for sale in the area resulted in buying a new van in 1985, a Renault Master T35, which was traded in two years later for another one.

I stopped working for my parents in 1988. My first vehicle after that was another Transit, bought for £10. This was a Kent-engined 1.6 swb box van with a knackered body. I scrapped the body and built a drop side on it. This was sold in 1990 for £350.

1989 saw me lose it slightly and buy a pretty dreadful, and overpriced 88in Land-Rover Diesel which I drove for two years, stored for a year, and loaned it to my brother for a year, but that takes us into the nineties.

[Mr Ian]

I loved that car , had it for years, it did obviously rust !
This was the final time I repaired the bodywork , I didn't replace the Martini stripes on this occasion.
Regarding the skinny wheels' it came with metric Cromodora TRX rims , tyres were hard come by, changed them for identical looking imperial , still skinny though !
I'm trying to find a photo of the dash, LED/Neon bar style gauges, before they changed to needles !