1123 replies to this topic

[Spottedlaurel]

More stuff, before and after my spot-fest holiday.

1988 Chevrolet Blazer K5 6.2 diesel by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

1996 Toyota Paseo by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Was for sale at £500-odd a week or two later.

1987 Renault 5 1.4 automatic by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

1974 Citroen DS23 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

1970 Austin A55 camper by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Same age as me, within a few weeks. Also spotted by Trigger, I think.

1968 Volvo Amazon estate by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Think this has cropped up before with me and/or Trigger as well.

1990 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.8GL 5dr by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

1990 Mazda MX5 'Frogeye' + Mini custom by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

1990 Mazda MX5 'Frogeye' + Mini custom by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Odd pair.

Toyota Hilux 2.2 petrol by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Was for sale at £3000.

1986 Chevrolet Camaro 2.6 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

DVLA says only a 2.6 in this.

1988 VW Passat GL5 Estate by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Spotted in Triggerland.

1983 Smiths Dairy Crest electric milk float, Ipswich by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

[keef]

Citroen looks tasty.

[Spottedlaurel]

P1060598 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

'98 Schnitzer-spec 540i, for sale just shy of £3k.

P1060561 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

DVLA says this is a Rover. Seems late though, one of those Ledbury jobs maybe?

P1060508 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Working shite.

P1060517 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

For Baz. And me, as I like them too.

P1060506 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Triumph Renown in at my local garage.

P1060511 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

P1060515 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Charming little Hondamatic Civic.

P1060401 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Another oddity at the garage.

1982 BMW 316 1.8 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

P1060334 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

This was appealingly honest looking.

[Mr Lobster]

The MX5 Frogeye conversion doesn't quite look right. Makes the front look far too long.

[Baz]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4154/5057...P1060517 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

For Baz. And me, as I like them too.

Ahhh....Cheers S.L. you can't beat a bit of BG! There's a red example on Ebay at the mo with MX-5 rims for £595....Quite tempted, but it's in Kent....Which is where my last BG came from....Hate that journey....

The MX5 Frogeye conversion doesn't quite look right. Makes the front look far too long.

I love 'em....Nearly bought one myself....Ugly, but lovable!

[trigger]

There's a few familiar looking cars there, I was looking at the boggliy eyed MX-5 yesterday whilst sitting in traffic, I can't decide if i like it or not but it's certainly different.

[Spottedlaurel]

Holiday spot time. In August we went to stay with Utterpiffle (aka Scrapman/ScrapingScrap) in Dusseldorf, before heading to France for a week. Obviously I had my camera with me, I took A Lot Of Photos. Here's the start of a selection:

Toyota Starlet 1.3XLi & Chrysler Voyager by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Dutch and Belgian stuff, representing our drive across Belgium and Holland.

1965-73 Opel Kadett B estate by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Opel Kadett B estate by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Took this before I knew Trigger had bought one. Lucky find, as I'd seen it on the move the previous evening then managed to catch up with just round the corner from Chris's flat.

1967-71 Ford Taunus 17M/20M P7.2 estate by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Hmm, doesn't look like it says Ford on the bonnet...

1970s VW Transporter van by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Mercifully unscened Bay Window.

1980s Mercedes Benz SL by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

SL regularly parked outside Chris's flat. Apparently the chap has a couple of them. No real evidence of them here, but trams run down the middle of this main road into the city and very comprehensively elsewhere in Dusseldorf. They do an excellent job, my son loved them.

VW Jetta and Golf Mk2 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Didn't see too much '80s bilge.

Fiat 500 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Saw an estate one of these too, sadly no photo.

Opel Kadett GLS D by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Don't know if these wheels would have been original for this. Who cares?

1997-99 Toyota Camry (V6?) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Yay.

Volvo 740 saloon by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Mouldy old Volvo.

Opel Kadett Cabriolet by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Tidy. Was parked up at some kind of body repair place.

Chevrolets at Mielenwerk, Dusseldorf by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Ooh, can't beat a 4dr hardtop. These were parked up at the Mielenwerk Museum. Lots of photos to come from there another day, suffice to say for now it's a very special place.

Mazda 323 3dr (BG) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

A few '90s J-mobiles around.

1984 Dodge 5.2l camper "Roger" by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Roger, enjoying life in Germany.

[eddyramrod]

I'm a BIG fan of the 4-door hardtop look myself, so thanks for posting! No other country did that, as far as I know, and to me it's the most glamorous American body type. You remember my green Cadillac? I chose that deliberately because it was a hardtop.

[Spottedlaurel]

Japan did a few hardtop saloons as they became more affluent, many for home consumption only and doubtless inspired by American stuff. My last Laurel was one, very amusing.

And onwards...

Chevrolet Corvette C2 in Dusseldorf by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Last spot for Germany, after our brilliant stay with the Piffle family. Think we'd seen this earlier in the day at the museum.

Rover 213SE by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Polish reg'd, heading across Belgium.

Lada 112, Belgium by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Unusual Lada seen in the inevitable wet queue on a Belgian motorway.

Belgian autoroute driving conditions by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Surprised we only encountered one serious accident when the roads were like this in Belgium.

Friday 13th accident queue, France by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

French fire truck + helicopters by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

This accident, however, was in France. At least three helicopters landed on the road, after the fireman stopped the traffic with us as the very, very first car. Mrs SL cursed me for just having flashed to let a truck move across... Turned out a coach went off the road, not nice. Sat here for three hours.

Citroen BX TRD by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

First French spot, Lithuanian-registered TuRD outside our overnight stop hotel.

BMW 6-series resto project by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Caged?

Nissan Maxima (J30) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Used to see a fair few diesel Cedrics in France in years gone by, but I wouldn't have thought they'd have taken to these with their petrol-only V6. This one doubtless due to suffer transmission failure at some point.

French D-road driving by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Proper roads, after a day of queues as we battled our way across country towards Normandy in the height of holiday season.

Many, many rural spots to come.

[Spottedlaurel]

Renault 11GTL by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Lots of these still about. Old lady owner of this one.

VW Golf Mk1 5dr diesel by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Don't know if black plates signify anything, perhaps just that they've never had to be replaced? I think a car retains its registration for life in France, perhaps Wuvvum or Mr_Bo11ox can confirm?

Renault 21 courtesy car at Garage Crapart by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Dead cars at Garage Crapart #2 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Even main dealerships in France seemed to keep hold of old/dead stuff for longer. Excellent name for this one.

Ford Escort Mk4 1.6 diesel by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Lots more diesel variants.

Tractors at Pirou Plage, Normandy by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

McCormick International Harvester diesel tractor by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

I took far too many photos of these old tractors used for hauling boats on the beach.

Mazda 323 1.5GLX 5dr by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

An Autoshite favourite, this was in great condition.

More to come soon.

[Gompo]

Great pics, did you spend much time specifically spotting or were they just random finds while doing other stuff?

Mrs SL cursed me for just having flashed to let a truck move across

I've read in the past that 'flashing' abroad is different to over here. Apparently 'flashing' abroad would mean 'look out I'm coming through' or whatever, as opposed to 'I'm letting you out'. However, I've never been abroad let alone driven, so I dont know if that's true??

Cheers, Greg.

[wuvvum]

With the old-style plates, cars would retain their registration unless they were sold out of their département of origin, in which case they would need to be re-registered in the new département, car registrations being administered at regional rather than national level in France. As long as a car stayed within its original département it would retain its original reg. The change from black plates to yellow rear and white front came in about 1993, and then in about 2008 rear plates went white too. Then a few months later they introduced a new Euro style of registration - from what I can gather this style stays with the car permanently.

[Spottedlaurel]

Great pics, did you spend much time specifically spotting or were they just random finds while doing other stuff?

Mrs SL cursed me for just having flashed to let a truck move across

I've read in the past that 'flashing' abroad is different to over here. Apparently 'flashing' abroad would mean 'look out I'm coming through' or whatever, as opposed to 'I'm letting you out'. However, I've never been abroad let alone driven, so I dont know if that's true??

Cheers, Greg.

These were all just (mostly) 'accidental' spots. Though I do tend to take the longer/circular route to and from places, wander off in car parks, etc - my family were very patient!

Don't know about the flashing thing, though strictly speaking the 'look out' thing is what it means here in the UK too.

Few more...


1999 Ledbury Maestro 1.3 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Good old Ledbury Maestro, this one with a family of five on board and the exhaust blowing. Bizarrely listed as "PPG Maestro 13L" under make on DVLA.


Citroen Dyane 6 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr


Citroen Dyane 6 Autoshite interior by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Autoshite interior colour scheme.


Lada Niva 5-speed by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Saw several Nivas, this one probably the oldest.


Peugeot 505GTD by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Didn't see too many 505s, this GTD looked a bit tired.


Opel Ascona 1.6 saloon by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

I like the facelift versions, especially in metallic like this.


Renault 4 vans by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Compare and contrast F4 and F6 vans (I now know the difference thanks to Mr Lobster's comments on Flickr).


Renault 4TL by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Proper-looking old French man got into this. Note new Dacia Duster across the road.


Fanny Coiffure, Remilly-sur-Lozon by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

My son being a bit too curious about what they do here...

[Lord Sterling]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4930...Nissan Maxima (J30) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Used to see a fair few diesel Cedrics in France in years gone by, but I wouldn't have thought they'd have taken to these with their petrol-only V6. This one doubtless due to suffer transmission failure at some point.

Thats why its for sale judging by the generic French 'A Vendre' sign in the back window. I though they only only used the Black 'n' Orange 'A Vendre' sign in Belgium?

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4931...French D-road driving by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Proper roads, after a day of queues as we battled our way across country towards Normandy in the height of holiday season.

Reminds me of the roads near my uncles house near Namur. My dad used to love blasting his Volvo 340GL/Ford Escort and other associated shite through these roads on the way to my uncles house while listening to Pink Floyd. Those were the days

[Spottedlaurel]

A few more:


Restoration workshop - Peugoet 403/404, Daf etc by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr


Daf 66 estate + Peugeot 404 saloons by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr


Peugeot 403 estate by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr


Renault 11 + Peugeot 404 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr


Citroen DS by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr


Peugeot 404 resto in progress by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Great little garage not too far from where we were staying. I saw it first on another day and couldn’t really stop then, but managed to plan a route that passed it again later in the week. Friendly chap let me take a few photos and we had a very limited conversation of some sort, though I think I may have said I loved him rather than the old cars...

More 403, 404 and DS content to come.


Peugeot 305 S5 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Didn’t see many 305s. Did we get S5 trim in the UK?


Peugeot 104GLS 5dr by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Have another Peugeot. I think all the 104s I saw were this colour.


Renault 9GTL Louisiane by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

This Louisiane is probably about as attractive as a 9 gets. Full complement of yellow bulbs.


1994-95 Chrysler Saratoga V6 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Finally for now, a bit of export-market American stuff. I don’t think they got a Chrysler Saratoga in the USA, and the V6 in this is apparently a Mitsubishi engine.

[brammy777]

Like I said on flickr, a great batch of spots you managed to find on your holiday. Im glad that there appears to be a steady source of shite still around in France. The 104 and 305 are particularly nice examples.

[eddyramrod]

Tis indeed a Mitsubishi V6, in 3.0 size, as per the Shogun/Pajero, and a bloody lovely engine it is to drive. Except it's mounted across the car (FWD sadly), so just try and change the cam belts (I had the convertible Le Baron). Nice spots there, well done!

[Spottedlaurel]

A few more, probably not many, on my rather slow connection tonight:


Renault 30 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Just caught a glimpse of the roof of this, had to stop for a closer look.


Peugeot 305GR by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Pre-facelift model, I think.


Bedford CF2 custom van by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

A bit Chrome & Flames.


Renault 5 Laureate 5dr by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Late original 5. Was disappointed not to see more 5s.


Peugeot 104 and Seat Marbella by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

See, another 104 on that dark green colour.


Peugeot 404 saloon by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Still more 404's to come. Great patina on this one. It's interesting to see how they differ from the Oxbridge Farina family.


Renault 12TL by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr


Renault 12TL by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Think this was the only decent '70s Renault I saw.


Audi 200 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

I think the 200 looks great.


Citroen Visa 11RE by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Old chap who owned this shuffled across the road just after I'd taken the photos, leant against his car in the manner of someone not in the best of health then had a wee up the wall alongside the footpath...

[reallyloud]

Bloody hell people! A R12, R30 and a 404 in a spotted thread? Are you all dead? Top grade material sir. That 104 looks like a late one - I have a French Peugeot brochure from 1987 and it was still available then.

[barrett]

You're right RL, this thread hasn't got enough love. Everyone is in a bad mood tis'all.

I think the black 404 w/ roofrack is my favourite, it just looks totally perfect. Would totally roll in that.

[seth]

I'm most impressed by the Bedford! I guess I'd expect to see old French toss in France whereas if it were spotted here its more unusual.

[barrett]

I'm most impressed by the Bedford!

What's the French for 'Rebel Vanner'??

[seth]

What's the French for 'Rebel Vanner'??

Rebbul Voner

[Mr Lobster]

Mk1 R5, R12, Peugeot 404, Seat Marbella

I am overcome by a wave of ZOMGs.

What was that place, back of a garage or something? Excellent spottage though. I noticed that there weren't many Mk1 R5s about whilst I was in France too.

[Spottedlaurel]

Mk1 R5, R12, Peugeot 404, Seat Marbella

I am overcome by a wave of ZOMGs.

What was that place, back of a garage or something? Excellent spottage though. I noticed that there weren't many Mk1 R5s about whilst I was in France too.

Front of a garage more like:


Garage in Normandy - Renault 30 & Peugeot 305 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

The 12 was at a different place.

Anyway, thanks for the comments. It's good to know that people are still looking at these photos (and there are many more to come).

Here's another garage that came up trumps:


Garage Roger, Normandy by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr


Chrysler Simca 1308GT + Matra Simca Bagheera by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr


Yard at Garage Roger by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr


Fiat Croma + Yard at Garage Roger by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Stuff in the yard was surprisingly modern for the most part. Did see a Mk1 R5 though.


Citroen Dyane 6 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Tidy.


Opel Corsa 1.3GT by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr


Opel Kadett C estate by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Opel fruits.


Bellier 50 XLD100 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr


Bellier 50 XLD100 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Probably the most appalling vehicle I saw on my holiday. Got into a rather one-sided conversation with a lady about this car, nut sure if she was ticking me off for taking photos or trying to sell it to me. I just smiled and said Je suis Anglais and pointed at my camera, which seemed to satisfy her.


Ford Sierra Sapphire 1.8TD Ghia by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Booted Sierra next to it was a TD Ghia, an odd combo which we didn't get.


Mercedes W123, Renault 25 (V6?) & other miscellany by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

More dead stuff behind a new car dealership. Would the 25 be a V6 with that grille?


Citroen LNA 11RE by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Don't recall seeing any more of these around.


Citroen 2CV6 pickup conversion by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Advertising a brocante place, not sure if it was the one where we saw this...


Peugeot 403 estate by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr


Peugeot 403 estate by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Rather splendidly tatty 403 estate.

Horizon and other delights to come.

[Mr Lobster]

Stuff in the yard was surprisingly modern for the most part. Did see a Mk1 R5 though.

I was just thinking that myself. Unusual to see dead Twingos there. Although the oldest are 17 years old now.

If I ever have the money, I'd rather like a collection of old cars just sat in a field, slowly decomposing.

[Mr Lobster]

[http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4087/4974...
Citroen 2CV6 pickup conversion by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Advertising a brocante place, not sure if it was the one where we saw this...

Think I saw that on my hols a couple of years back. Will have to see if I have a picture...

[Volksy]

I miss living in rural france...

[VWPowered]

rare those 403 estates, saw one myself the other week, have to say i rather fancy that CF great pics dude

[pogweasel]

Wow, that microcar thing looks amazingly miserable transport, and appears to be a "who's who" of french parts-bin raiding.
R5 front end is a given, I am sure the rear lights are R21, and the bit between is 205, but what is the tailgate robbed from??