Good looking "ordinary" cars.

[Johnspex]

How about a thread on "ordinary" but good looking cars? By that I mean no Ferrari GTO's or Lambo Muiras, just ordinary stuff that used to be reasonably common. Often it's the more upmarket or sporty versions that look much better than their cooking siblings, Escort Mexico or Rover 620Ti for instance. I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder and some won't be classics by any definition but they will be Yesterday's Heroes.

I always thought the Rover 620Ti looked handsome and won some award in France, the pre-facelift Omega MV6 and of course the Mexico all did it for me. The fact that I owned examples of all 3 clouds my judgement I guess. Late model XJ Jags and the Merc 500 (the one before the current one?) are other lookers . IMHO and all that nonsense.

[vixen1700]

From 1975.

[niagra]

vixen1700 said:

From 1975.

Very nice, I think I'd include the GS as well.

[Prof Beard]

I used to have a dark blue Fiat 125S in the 70s - an attractively understated car which had a good turn of speed for the time

[Travis Mcgee]

I had a 1970 Hillman Hunter GT. A very rare beast these days, if there are any at all out there.
Lovely red colour, high back seats, top of the dash pod type rev counter, rostyles etc. Loved it

[SebastienClement]

Same car, really, but these:

[vixen1700]

niagra said:

Very nice, I think I'd include the GS as well.

Agreed, the GS was the first car my dad bought in 1972 after winning a small amount on the pools and deciding that he wanted to drive. OME107L Was the number plate, a dark green 1220.

[completetangent]

Mercedes 190E (W201) - just about as perfect as you can get: a simple and boring 3-box-shape which is still full of design detail.

[gforceg]

niagra said:

Very nice, I think I'd include the GS as well.

I saw one driving near Totnes the other day. First one I've seen moving in yeeeeears.

[peteA]

Always thought the golf and 205 GTi's looked so much better than the cooking models.

[Johnspex]

All this proves the maxim " beauty is in the eye of the beholder" because in my opinon those Citroens are pig-ugly. However, the comment about 205 and Golf GTi's is perfectly true. The Hillman Avenger, despite it being very much a car of my era is hideous IMHO, whereas the Hunter, while being no oil painting, has a simple elegant understated style about it. Mark 4 Cortinas are simple and all the better for it. A Mark 1 Lotus Cortina has something about it that other cars of that era lack. I didn't ever have an LC but I did have a 1600E mark 2. Now that was a good looking car, until the paint fell off.

[rsv696]

Could be my age, but I think the 70's was the golden age of car design. I also love mark 1 Celica's, RS2000 mkII Escorts, 3.0S Capris, 240Z's, Alfa Gtv's, Lotus Europa's etc etc

[Cliftonite]

I've found a good picture of a Renault 16TX but have lost the person who asked for it!!



http://preview.tinyurl.com/c9mauj7

[PH lurker]

Throwing away (temporary measure) my tendency to promote the Marina and Maxi .

[PH lurker]

[Cliftonite]

At the time, this was considered to have been one of the prettiest little cars to have come out of France:



Considering its rivals, I guess it might well have been?

(My first three cars were Renault Dauphines, and I loved 'em)

[LordBretSinclair]

bodgerben said:

SD1 not a bad looking car, but the Vitesse is a real looker.

Lovely - I had a Vitesse for a while - went like stink but to be honest the build quality was pants

[Legacywr]

PH lurker said:

Throwing away (temporary measure) my tendency to promote the Marina and Maxi .

Stunning!

[v8250]

no apologies for continuing the french theme...always had a soft spot for these...

[Cliftonite]

v8250 said:

no apologies for continuing the French theme...always had a soft spot for these...

I can't see any beauty in the convertible. But, then, what is the opinion of a Dauphine lover worth?