Nicknames for the best version

[67Dino]

PHers know there’s invariably a version of every classic that is just that bit more desirable than the rest, and it’s given a nickname by those in the know: ‘flat floor’, ‘quad light’, ‘coke bottle’, etc.

So, marque experts, what nicknames do you know for the best version of a classic, and can you explain why it is called that (ideally with pics)?

I’ll start... the Ferrari 328 GTS you want is the “pre-ABS”. Reason is that to incorporate ABS into the wheels, the later models of Ferrari 328 had to use convex alloys. Whilst they may stop better, they don’t look nearly as nice as the earlier ones with concave alloys. So those in the know want the “pre-ABS” model. Over to you...

“Pre-ABS”:


“ABS”:

[67Dino]

generationx said:

Cossie

Twink

Care to explain and/or add a pic?

[67Dino]

lowdrag said:

Probably twin cam?

What I was rather hoping for was interesting stories about specific cars. Ah well.

[67Dino]

Skyedriver said:

67Dino said:

generationx said:

Cossie

Twink

Care to explain and/or add a pic?

Hell, they were obvious weren't they?

how about
Crappie
Ashtray
Grandad
Can o'beer


Or Ban the bomb
Round light
Pre cat

Thanks Skyedriver, great words, but you’re not quite answering the question I’m afraid.

The aim of the thread wasn’t to get a long list of jargon words that the poster knows but others don’t, as that wouldn’t make for very interesting reading. The aim was to get the word along with an explanation, a story, an insight into a specific car, so that others can learn something they didn’t about why that one is the one to have.

Care to share a more detailed explanation for the specific car you had in mind for any of yours?

[67Dino]

generationx said:

OK, I don't want to be seen to be trying to preach to the educated, the examples I gave (I would have thought) are fairly self-explanatory to a PH crowd. But if not...

The Mk1 Escort was launched to replace the aging Ford Anglia ....

Thanks for expanding, generationx. Personally I didn’t know about the Twink. Every day is a school day...

[67Dino]

Squirrelofwoe said:

67Dino said:

“Pre-ABS”:

Not particularly relevant to the topic but I was having a good look around this exact car on Saturday afternoon, an absolute beauty (also now apparently sold)

Most impressive though was that my wife not only declared it her favorite car in their collection, but also insisted that we really ought to get one at some point in the future- we then drove home and walked over to our local to peruse the 308/328 pistonheads classifieds whilst enjoying a beer next to the log burner. It was a very good Saturday!

Nice story! When I was a student my local HR Owen let me have a look around the showroom, and I fell in love with the 328. Took me 15 years, but I eventually got one (pre-ABS, of course), back when they were pretty cheap. Lovely to drive, and still one of the prettiest cars ever made IMHO. You won’t regret it...

Edited by 67Dino on Friday 7th February 11:57

[67Dino]

Skyedriver said:

67Dino said:

Thanks Skyedriver, great words, but you’re not quite answering the question I’m afraid.

I'd make a good MP then?


Ban the bomb - the Cortina rear lights used on a certain range of TVR identifying a particular model

Round light - The more desirable earlier rear light used on the BMW 2002, superseded around 1974 by a rectangular rear light now considered less desirable

Pre cat - Referring to the TVR Griffith made in the early 1990's and considered by some to be preferable to the later versions made after around 1992, when catalytic converters became mandatory.

OP and the the Norfolk poster: I did answer your original post. Just added a few generic nicknames at the beginning.
Ego and bell-end comments refuted.

Edited by Skyedriver on Friday 7th February 15:19

Thanks for the extra info Skyedriver, you’re a scholar and a gentleman. Didn’t know the 3-part Cortina lights were referred to as ‘ban the bomb’, like that insight. Remember them on an early TVR and can’t help thinking they were on something else too but can’t think what.

[67Dino]

CanAm said:

JxJ Jr. said:

67Dino said:

Didn’t know the 3-part Cortina lights were referred to as ‘ban the bomb’, like that insight. Remember them on an early TVR and can’t help thinking they were on something else too but can’t think what.

Also used on the Lola Mk 6.

And in the Howmet TX gas turbine powered sports prototype of 1968.....and others.

The level of knowledge on this forum is crazy sometimes. You’re absolutely right, here are pics of those other “Ban the Bomb/CND” lights.

Lola Mk6:


Howmet TX:

[67Dino]

epicfail said:

Busso

Flat Floor - early E Type

Would you be able to explain what ‘Busso’ is and why the first gen E-type was called (or perhaps more interestingly , why it had) a flat floor?

Edited by 67Dino on Saturday 8th February 10:08

[67Dino]

Dazaa said:

The Corvette C3’s evolution from 1968 to 1982 pretty much sums up everything that went wrong with the US car industry in the 70’s......

Interesting stuff. At the risk of policing the thread a little too firmly, don’t suppose there’s any chance of holding you to the title of the thread and asking the nickname for the preferred variant?

[67Dino]

Dapster said:

After less than a year of production, the mk 1 Golf rear panel stamping was changed and now had a horizontal crease all the way across. The previous ones with the dip at the lower edge of the number plate were nicknamed "Swallowtail" and are the holy grail of mk1s.

Swallow tail


Normal

Totally love knowing about this kind of tiny difference. Won’t be able to see a Mk 1 without checking for it now!

[67Dino]

The MG Midget you want are the “round wheel arch” ones.

From their start in the mid-1960s Midgets had square rear wheel arches, but these were revised with rounded ones in January 1972. Subsequently in 1974, the Midget gained rubber bumpers for US crash legislation (nicknamed "Sabrinas" after a 1950s glamour model) and returned to square wheel arches. The Midgets for the two years when they had chrome bumpers and round wheel arches are therefore the sought after ones, and can command crazy prices, sometimes over £10k.

Round wheel arch:


Square wheel arch:

Edited by 67Dino on Sunday 9th February 14:53

[67Dino]

The original Porsche 996 Carrera from launch in 1997 to 2002 shared its headlamps with the Boxster, and is known as the ‘fried egg’ due to their shape/colour. In 2002 these were changed to a unique design for the Carrera.

Porsche 996 Carrera ‘Fried Egg’


Porsche 996 Carrera (from 2002)


A fried egg

[67Dino]

Never knew that about Oscar India. Interesting.

Thought of another: the Bentley “Chinese Eye”, referring to the S3 Continental Coupe and Drophead of the early 1960s. Unlike the previous Bentley models and others of the same era, the twin headlights are rather elegantly slanted, hence the (these days rather un-PC) name.

Bentley S3 Flying Spur


Bentley S3 “Chinese Eye” Coupe