Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 21]

[Xpander]

Mammasaid said:

The Escort Cosworth was a cut down Sierra chassis with an Escort body on top, I believe.

Yep

[wpa1975]

Mammasaid said:

maxwellwd said:

The mk6 escort was so rubbish, I remember when the focus came out, you could still buy new escorts, heavily discounted too.

So rubbish, this is why I never really understand the love for the escort Cosworth which was based on the mk5 escort which was even more crap, it wasn't even that fast. Early to mid 90s Ford were building awful stuff (mondeo was good though)

The Escort Cosworth was a cut down Sierra chassis with an Escort body on top, I believe.

Correct, they were built by Karmann the only panels shared with the mk5 Escort were the front doors and roof.

They had a longer wheelbase as well, hence when you see replicas the front wheels do not line up in the arches.

[21st Century Man]

I'm not a Ford fan, but the mk3 was ok, particularly in 5dr 1.6 Ghia spec in a nice colour, the Mk4 was ok too, I had a 1.6L for a while and it was pretty quick. The engines were awful though, cementing Ford's unknown reputation as the world's worst engine maker, even behind Lada, as Car magazine put it.

[Derventio]

21st Century Man said:

I'm not a Ford fan, but the mk3 was ok, particularly in 5dr 1.6 Ghia spec in a nice colour, the Mk4 was ok too, I had a 1.6L for a while and it was pretty quick. The engines were awful though, cementing Ford's unknown reputation as the world's worst engine maker, even behind Lada, as Car magazine put it.

I also owned a nice MK3 1.6 Ghia. It was actually quite peppy for the time. It was the first car I owned with a (manual) sunroof. What luxury. I also owned an 1100cc MK3 but it was an odd 1100cc CVH. It revved like a ruddy motorbike and was actually quicker than it had any right to be. I also had an Orion 1.6 Ghia injection which was great right up until the point it threw a rod!

[21st Century Man]

I quite liked the Orion 1.6i Ghia, but as an Austin Rover fanboy I'd much rather have the 216VdP Efi equivalent. I ran a 216 Vitesse for a while, a real shame the injection 1.6 S series was never put into Maestro/Montego.

[anonymous-user]

21st Century Man said:

I quite liked the Orion 1.6i Ghia, but as an Austin Rover fanboy I'd much rather have the 216VdP Efi equivalent. I ran a 216 Vitesse for a while, a real shame the injection 1.6 S series was never put into Maestro/Montego.

Good cars those, I thought the 1.6 S series was a much nicer engine for a micro barge than the rather frentic Honda 1.3. Can't remember the last time I saw a Hyacinth Bucket 200.

[21st Century Man]

The S series was a good engine. LJK wrote quite a long and flattering article about it in Car magazine entitled "Iron and chips", it was actually fairly high tech for the time, before injection and 16v became the norm. That triple valve Honda 1.3 was a peach.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

I see that mentions of Ford, Rover and Honda have killed the thread.

[ferrisbueller]

I note with some regret that Harry, when asked what the absolute worst car he's ever experienced is, immediately named the SC430.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Yes, that was rather gleefully pointed out by a number of people. Philistines, all of 'em.

[ferrisbueller]

Maybe it was the pre-facelift model?

I'm sure the post-facelift was much better.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

I'm sure you're right. Thank you.

[Nicks90]

21st Century Man said:

The S series was a good engine. LJK wrote quite a long and flattering article about it in Car magazine entitled "Iron and chips", it was actually fairly high tech for the time, before injection and 16v became the norm. That triple valve Honda 1.3 was a peach.

My second car - after a 1983 custard yellow mk3 Escort - was a baby blue rover 213 that I bought off my mum

18 years old driving what is essentially a grandad Honda, made even more grandad by rover. Bloody loved that car. The gearbox was ace and the engine rev'd really well.

[dscam]

Xpander said:

dscam said:

No, well aware of that beauty. it was a blue one which had a lot of work done by an enthusiast. Price was very decent IIRC.

Tried to search the thread but not finding it easily…

Here you go. The quote nesting is buggering up when I try to repost it for some reason. Page 64 of thread

Excellent work - thank you!

That’s the fella. Wonder if anyone on thread snapped it up?

[dscam]

21st Century Man said:

I quite liked the Orion 1.6i Ghia, but as an Austin Rover fanboy I'd much rather have the 216VdP Efi equivalent. I ran a 216 Vitesse for a while, a real shame the injection 1.6 S series was never put into Maestro/Montego.

Orion Ghia was the thinking man’s XR3i. I always thought they looked great on pepper-pot alloys. See also the ‘limited edition’ 1600E.

[B'stard Child]

Nicks90 said:

21st Century Man said:

The S series was a good engine. LJK wrote quite a long and flattering article about it in Car magazine entitled "Iron and chips", it was actually fairly high tech for the time, before injection and 16v became the norm. That triple valve Honda 1.3 was a peach.

My second car - after a 1983 custard yellow mk3 Escort - was a baby blue rover 213 that I bought off my mum

18 years old driving what is essentially a grandad Honda, made even more grandad by rover. Bloody loved that car. The gearbox was ace and the engine rev'd really well.

Ahh that brings back memories - firm I worked for had a 213 Rover as a pool car - if you needed it you used it - I did several long trips cross country roads - was always impressed with the sweet gearbox and rev happy engine - plus the pedals were positioned nicely for heel and toe activities. I was always an Opel fruit but I warmed to the Rover. It was replaced with a Vectra 2.0 that was horrid to drive

[dscam]

Ad is a bit sketchy but this could be much cheapness:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394130937999?mkcid=16&a...

[TyrannosauRoss Lex]

dscam said:

Ad is a bit sketchy but this could be much cheapness:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394130937999?mkcid=16&a...

It would be cheap if you can get it for £1500, but I reckon it'll fetch a fair bit more!

[Mr-B]

All the talk of Rovers reminded me of a 216 Gti twin cam I had, the engine on that was so good for a 4 pot, best one I have owned. It just revved and revved and even near the red line felt smooth and felt like it had another 2000 rpm up it's sleeve.

[ferrisbueller]

Mr-B said:

All the talk of Rovers reminded me of a 216 Gti twin cam I had, the engine on that was so good for a 4 pot, best one I have owned. It just revved and revved and even near the red line felt smooth and felt like it had another 2000 rpm up it's sleeve.

Honda, innit?