Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 22]

[Crook]

Just because some people like them:

Also six gears & three litres. Have your own Autocar shootout.



£3.5k

[Rusty Old-Banger]

Crook said:

Just because some people like them:

Also six gears & three litres. Have your own Autocar shootout.



£3.5k

Rear end looks very low.

Wheels look way too small, although I guess that's how they came.



Starting to appreciate price-wise, I think. This or a Vectra V6, I know what I'd choose (this).

[Crook]

Now you've pointed that out the angled photo I've posted makes the car look like a bad toy

[carinaman]

A4 B6 3 litre quattro £4K, non Xenons. Drinks as much as the V8. Someone posted a link to an Avant in South Wales for £1500 with 160K. Not sure what's happened with formatting for link in crook's post:

https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C2026443


Regarding the ST220, photos look good, a bit of filtering or contrast tweaking going on? Not a barge and I wouldn't say the A4 B6 quattro is either.

I avoid sunroofs if at all possible. More to go wrong.

Edited by carinaman on Tuesday 10th March 16:59

[W00DY]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/147196015960

Handsome car.

[donkmeister]

QBee said:

anotherswifty said:

TommoAE86 said:

Agree the usage case is out of the oridinary, however the Avantime has been there the same amount of time as the Mk1 Mondeo and mk2 Cavalier which have both faired much better

Cheers, didn t realise that. Sounds like a fair comparison.

Hold on chaps - if you were faced with the above three cars and asked to choose one to get into to examine, out of those three which would you choose??

For me it would be the Avantime. For someone who needs reliable transport, I'd suggest a Mondeo or Vectra for the same money.

The Mondeos and Vectras that have survived are generally well-maintained examples of several million. There are many, many parts cars and possibly new old stock, not to mention parts being reused on several related models.

The Avantimes, much rarer.

Also my prejudice showing here but my idea of the early owners is more artsy, less technically minded. Whereas the Ford/Vauxhall there's a good chance it was owned by someone less likely to treat it as disposable.

[donkmeister]

Rusty Old-Banger said:

Crook said:

Just because some people like them:

Also six gears & three litres. Have your own Autocar shootout.



£3.5k

Rear end looks very low.

Wheels look way too small, although I guess that's how they came.



Starting to appreciate price-wise, I think. This or a Vectra V6, I know what I'd choose (this).

I've owned an ST220 (from one year old) and a Vectra V6T (from six years old). They're both good cars. Equally bad on fuel, neither corners like a Lotus (they're both fine for what they are. Don't believe anything you saw on Top Gear, the Mondeo behaves the same way in the same situation). Both have a high percentage of odd people in the owners groups.

Both are great cars for long trips, but the Vectra is faster. So it wins.

[MightyBadger]

That Mondeo needs more sidewall

[MightyBadger]

Vectras.........Manual 2.5
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/317948728833?_skw=vectr...

This is what non modded decent low milage examples go for, way out of thread range..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/298084569049?_skw=vectr...

Edited by MightyBadger on Tuesday 10th March 19:18

Edited by MightyBadger on Wednesday 11th March 07:17

[Mr Tidy]

carinaman said:

A4 B6 3 litre quattro £4K, non Xenons. Drinks as much as the V8. Someone posted a link to an Avant in South Wales for £1500 with 160K. Not sure what's happened with formatting for link in crook's post:

https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C2026443


Regarding the ST220, photos look good, a bit of filtering or contrast tweaking going on? Not a barge and I wouldn't say the A4 B6 quattro is either.

I avoid sunroofs if at all possible. More to go wrong.

Edited by carinaman on Tuesday 10th March 16:59

It's a shame so many smaller V6 engined cars like Mondeos, Vertras, Lagunas, etc. disappeared years ago.

My daily is a 2005 sheddy manual E90 BMW 330iSE.

[golfer19]

https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C2028015



£2500

[speciald]

Spotted this while browsing marketplace.

https://www.facebook.com/share/19huPSnXvW/

I do want an estate car but not sure an old, slow Volvo is the one

[Crook]

carinaman said:

A4 B6 3 litre quattro £4K, non Xenons. Drinks as much as the V8. Someone posted a link to an Avant in South Wales for £1500 with 160K. Not sure what's happened with formatting for link in crook's post:

https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C2026443

Not a barge and I wouldn't say the A4 B6 quattro is either

Edited by carinaman on Tuesday 10th March 16:59

I'm not sure I'd agree with that, I had the use of the diesel V6 version when they were new and it definitely had sufficient mini-bargeness about it to propel with enough Vorsprung and relative frugality to the SoF in a day without a moment of feeling like I had been under-barged.
Lovely dash / interior too.

[Rusty Old-Banger]

golfer19 said:

https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C2028015



£2500

A grand on tyres and a wheel refurb, couple of hundred on new discs and pads up front at the very least. Looks like shocks and rust will need addressing soon too. Still, for maybe 5 grand all in, you'd have a nice wafter.

[TommoAE86]

QBee said:

anotherswifty said:

TommoAE86 said:

Agree the usage case is out of the oridinary, however the Avantime has been there the same amount of time as the Mk1 Mondeo and mk2 Cavalier which have both faired much better

Cheers, didn t realise that. Sounds like a fair comparison.

Hold on chaps - if you were faced with the above three cars and asked to choose one to get into to examine, out of those three which would you choose??

Mondeo, I remember getting a promotional VHS back in the day with Jackie Stewart extolling the virtues of the new car and how it was designed and built.

[GeniusOfLove]

TommoAE86 said:

QBee said:

anotherswifty said:

TommoAE86 said:

Agree the usage case is out of the oridinary, however the Avantime has been there the same amount of time as the Mk1 Mondeo and mk2 Cavalier which have both faired much better

Cheers, didn t realise that. Sounds like a fair comparison.

Hold on chaps - if you were faced with the above three cars and asked to choose one to get into to examine, out of those three which would you choose??

Mondeo, I remember getting a promotional VHS back in the day with Jackie Stewart extolling the virtues of the new car and how it was designed and built.

The Mondeo will be comfortably the best driving of the three, the Mk1 and Mk2 still had a somewhat Amstrad-y feel to their interior but they lasted well so actually quality was very good. That and the Focus blew me away in the 90s, that such excellent cars had come from Ford of all places.

It would have been no less shocking if FSO had launched the E39 5 series.

[Crook]

GeniusOfLove said:

TommoAE86 said:

QBee said:

anotherswifty said:

TommoAE86 said:

Agree the usage case is out of the oridinary, however the Avantime has been there the same amount of time as the Mk1 Mondeo and mk2 Cavalier which have both faired much better

Cheers, didn t realise that. Sounds like a fair comparison.

Hold on chaps - if you were faced with the above three cars and asked to choose one to get into to examine, out of those three which would you choose??

Mondeo, I remember getting a promotional VHS back in the day with Jackie Stewart extolling the virtues of the new car and how it was designed and built.

The Mondeo will be comfortably the best driving of the three, the Mk1 and Mk2 still had a somewhat Amstrad-y feel to their interior but they lasted well so actually quality was very good. That and the Focus blew me away in the 90s, that such excellent cars had come from Ford of all places.

It would have been no less shocking if FSO had launched the E39 5 series.

I remember renting a Focus, the one with the high level well designed lights and thinking that this was pretty much the only car that anyone would reasonably need.
I was disgusted at how good it was.

[Rusty Old-Banger]

Crook said:

GeniusOfLove said:

TommoAE86 said:

QBee said:

anotherswifty said:

TommoAE86 said:

Agree the usage case is out of the oridinary, however the Avantime has been there the same amount of time as the Mk1 Mondeo and mk2 Cavalier which have both faired much better

Cheers, didn t realise that. Sounds like a fair comparison.

Hold on chaps - if you were faced with the above three cars and asked to choose one to get into to examine, out of those three which would you choose??

Mondeo, I remember getting a promotional VHS back in the day with Jackie Stewart extolling the virtues of the new car and how it was designed and built.

The Mondeo will be comfortably the best driving of the three, the Mk1 and Mk2 still had a somewhat Amstrad-y feel to their interior but they lasted well so actually quality was very good. That and the Focus blew me away in the 90s, that such excellent cars had come from Ford of all places.

It would have been no less shocking if FSO had launched the E39 5 series.

I remember renting a Focus, the one with the high level well designed lights and thinking that this was pretty much the only car that anyone would reasonably need.
I was disgusted at how good it was.

I would LOVE a 2 litre Mk1 Mondeo hatchback, with the blue fabric interior.

[Skodillac]

This lady and gentleman need to be given the Freedom of this Thread:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cge8vln5pp5o

Beat that.

[GeniusOfLove]

Crook said:

I remember renting a Focus, the one with the high level well designed lights and thinking that this was pretty much the only car that anyone would reasonably need.
I was disgusted at how good it was.

A lot of them are a bit sluggish and torque shy by modern standards, but if you use a Mk1 Focus in 2026 it's still a very decent car.