Everyday cars which are already starting to disappear
Discussion
talksthetorque said:
cpjitservices said:
Volvo,
The old 240's, 340's, 440's, Dont see many of those about these days ?
What killed them apart from age of course ? The 240 was a solid car!
I still see a couple of 240s near me.The old 240's, 340's, 440's, Dont see many of those about these days ?
What killed them apart from age of course ? The 240 was a solid car!
1 is a 240 Estate, in a
The other is a white GLT Saloon, just like my dad had when I was about 10. Go all misty eyed when I see it.
I remember there used to be a Red 440 next door to my great grans house in Darlington, Owned by a chap called Frank. Every time I saw him he used to talk about his 440, he loved it. I think at that time it was one of the newest cars in the street. - Never parked it on his drive as the car was too long lol.
sosidge said:
Tempest_5 said:
Saw an R reg Calibra on the way home last night. Looked in quite good condition.
Haven't seen a Mercedes W123 for ages. Always fancied the estate one.
I have a Cortina based kitcar. I've started to find some bits needing a bit of ringing around to find. Ford don't have them on their computer system now, so no chance of NOS gathering dust on a shelf out the back at the dealers. I'm sure it wasn't that way when it was on Microfilm (showing how old & knackered I am).
I had to convert the BL/Mini sealed beam headlights when one blew to replaceable bulb ones as I wanted the car fixed in a hurry. No auto factors in the area had any and I could not wait for a specialist to supply them. Though the new ones are much better lights, it is a sign of how it's going.
Ah, when I were a lad even Halfords stocked a decent amount of spares !
Your Cortina mechanicals are c. 40 years old. That is the equivalent of expecting Halfords to have the parts for a 1930/40s era car on the shelf in the era the Cortina was current.Haven't seen a Mercedes W123 for ages. Always fancied the estate one.
I have a Cortina based kitcar. I've started to find some bits needing a bit of ringing around to find. Ford don't have them on their computer system now, so no chance of NOS gathering dust on a shelf out the back at the dealers. I'm sure it wasn't that way when it was on Microfilm (showing how old & knackered I am).
I had to convert the BL/Mini sealed beam headlights when one blew to replaceable bulb ones as I wanted the car fixed in a hurry. No auto factors in the area had any and I could not wait for a specialist to supply them. Though the new ones are much better lights, it is a sign of how it's going.
Ah, when I were a lad even Halfords stocked a decent amount of spares !
It's not a case of how it is going - it never was that way!
glazbagun said:
440's seemed to vanish overnight The facelift ones were quite good looking IMO. I think a lot of 340's got used up as cheap RWD track cars. IIRC the Renualt 2.0 16V from the 19/Clio could fit with minimal work.
Come on, let’s not get misty eyed about the Volvo 440. They have hardly disappeared from view before their time, the newest now would be about 20 years old. I had one in 2002-5, a red 1994 model that I ran as a banger, took to France and didn’t bother bringing home. They never were the last word in luxury, performance or handling, and the Dutch built ones have never lasted as long as the Swedish ones. Even 15 years ago the car mags rated them as below average and it says a lot that I got a 90k mile 8 yr old example, albeit with scabby bodywork from living by the sea, for (iirc) £300. It was a good banger, but that’s all it was. The biggest hazard was when I drove the Caterham to work for a few days and then stepped into the Volvo, especially if it was raining, because I’d stroll into a corner at what I thought was a modest speed only to find the thing heading sideways for the hedge bottom. It gave me a few hairy moments like that before I learned to be far more careful. Other than that it was best described as “competent”. It consumed some oil and the gearbox whined away quietly for years without ever getting worse. There is one in good condition near a friend’s house, they look very old these days and other than making me nostalgic for my youth the thing has few charms. Another friend has an 850 from about 1992 that parks nearby, now that is a far superior car.Early 440s were shocking for their build quality. I think rust killed some too.
We had one New in 1989. It had a huge number of parts replaced in the year we had it. From badly made rear light clusters to a poorly fitting front grille. Sunroof seals, electric window motors. Door cards, engine management, brakes. A new radio.....the list went on.
Volvo gave us a very generous deal on a 740 to keep our custom.
Checking online, I was surprised to see the car made it into the 21st Century. It lasted something like 15 years. I pity the misery it must have to get subsequent owners.
I guess the same goes for 480s though I know of a pretty tidy 460 turbo near me.
I wonder if banger Racing did for a lot of 340s and larger Volvos.
360 GLTs had a charm. I've not seen one in a decade. I'd happily have one as a weekend car.
We had one New in 1989. It had a huge number of parts replaced in the year we had it. From badly made rear light clusters to a poorly fitting front grille. Sunroof seals, electric window motors. Door cards, engine management, brakes. A new radio.....the list went on.
Volvo gave us a very generous deal on a 740 to keep our custom.
Checking online, I was surprised to see the car made it into the 21st Century. It lasted something like 15 years. I pity the misery it must have to get subsequent owners.
I guess the same goes for 480s though I know of a pretty tidy 460 turbo near me.
I wonder if banger Racing did for a lot of 340s and larger Volvos.
360 GLTs had a charm. I've not seen one in a decade. I'd happily have one as a weekend car.
Hopefully, I will have the luxury saloon analysis posted tomorrow, but in the meantime I thought I would share some final information on family hatchbacks with you: details of first registrations. But first a word of caution, these numbers should be a little lower than claimed/official registrations, as a result of stripping out non-hatchback variants, as described in my last post.
Firstly the numbers of each of the six models analysed from 2001-2015:
As you can see there has been a sharp decline of sales for all bar the Golf, over the period, the Golf's fall being appreciably smaller. Overall the sales of the six (in the way that I have measured them) has declined from 393k in 2001 to 234k in 2015, a decrease of a shade over 40%. This is pretty substantial.
To an extent this can be attributed to increased competition in this market segment, the fiercest part of the market. However, I would suggest that this is mainly attributable to changes in car buying habits: it will be interesting to compare these to sales for SUVs and people movers, when we get around to these.
So in a few years we are likely to be talking about types of car that have vanished rather than particular models. Although I guess that we can already say this about small saloons.
The second graph looks at the relative sales performance of the six cars in question. (Please be aware that the percentage shown is NOT the market share in the segment as a whole, but merely the relative share of the total sales of the six):
I believe this to be self-explanatory.
Firstly the numbers of each of the six models analysed from 2001-2015:
As you can see there has been a sharp decline of sales for all bar the Golf, over the period, the Golf's fall being appreciably smaller. Overall the sales of the six (in the way that I have measured them) has declined from 393k in 2001 to 234k in 2015, a decrease of a shade over 40%. This is pretty substantial.
To an extent this can be attributed to increased competition in this market segment, the fiercest part of the market. However, I would suggest that this is mainly attributable to changes in car buying habits: it will be interesting to compare these to sales for SUVs and people movers, when we get around to these.
So in a few years we are likely to be talking about types of car that have vanished rather than particular models. Although I guess that we can already say this about small saloons.
The second graph looks at the relative sales performance of the six cars in question. (Please be aware that the percentage shown is NOT the market share in the segment as a whole, but merely the relative share of the total sales of the six):
I believe this to be self-explanatory.
Fascinating analysis, Car_Nut.
Car_Nut said:
To an extent this can be attributed to increased competition in this market segment, the fiercest part of the market. However, I would suggest that this is mainly attributable to changes in car buying habits: it will be interesting to compare these to sales for SUVs and people movers, when we get around to these.
It will be interesting to see the overlay of the increase in SUV and people movers, as you say, but I would imagine that the A3 and 1 Series have also taken a very substantial bite out of those numbers now that more first registrations in the later years of your analysis are in respect of sales on the 3+23 or 3+35 basis.S10GTA said:
Saw a Vauxhall Cavalier today. Was a bit of a rare sight. Couldn't move for them a few years ago. It was a fetching shade of faded red on an F plate.
Apologies if already discussed.
That's nearly 30 years old now! The Cav was a great car, much better than the Vectra that replaced it. Every other taxi in Leeds was a 2L petrol Cav in the 90s, I had en ex fleet one that was utterly indestructible. Reliable, economical, and, until the suspension went floppy, good to drive. The seat was crap though, no support at all. Ford seats are much better.Apologies if already discussed.
cpjitservices said:
There will come a time soon when we look back and the cars we have now have gone to the same place as all the Volvos, Cavs etc from yesteryear...Amusing.
Which will disappear first?
I predict the heaviest depreciating cars will go first, so maybe the Korean ones. Build quLity is only half the story of scrapping cars Which will disappear first?
Any car that turns out to rust more than you'd expect - mk5 Golfs seem pretty bad
Any car that's reasonably prone to engine failure. I don't know the failure rates but VW TSI engined cars? Ford EcoBoost 1.0?
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