boobydoo Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 Ahhh....1979! The Winter Of Discontent...Maggie Thatcher becomes PM...USSR invades Afghanistan...the Yorkshire Ripper is on the loose...To The Manor Born is top telly prog... ...but on a more positive note, you can go out and buy a new Chrysler Alpine for £3500!! Some of you may be interested in this list of the Top 30 best selling cars from that year with total UK registrations per model. I cadged it from an old 'Motor' magazine from early 1980. 1. FORD CORTINA 193,784 2. FORD ESCORT 131,6673. MINI 82,9384. MORRIS MARINA 62,410 5. AUSTIN ALLEGRO 59,985 6. FORD FIESTA 58,681 7. FORD GRANADA 52,0918. FORD CAPRI 49,1479. VAUXHALL CAVALIER 46,51710. VAUXHALL CHEVETTE 44,197 Weren't we Brits a loyal lot!! Not a 'Johnny Foreigner' in sight!! However, although considered British, over 80% of Fiestas bought were built abroad and 36% of Cortinas. ALL Capri and Granada were German built.Amazing that all BLs top sellers are quite old designs! The Mini is 20 years old and the Marina pushing its tenth birthday! 11. DATSUN SUNNY 31,66512. AUSTIN PRINCESS 31,25313. AUSTIN MAXI 30,16914. CHRYSLER ALPINE 29,93615. ROVER SD 29,75616. DATSUN CHERRY 29,37117. CHRYSLER HORIZON 29,01418. *MYSTERY CAR* 28,72419. CHRYSLER SUNBEAM 27,75920. CHRYSLER AVENGER 27,219 Another aged BL product still selling well at number 13 and the Avenger is also pushing 10 years old. The Horizon is not yet built in Britain so is missing out on all important 'BUY BRITISH' fleet sales. 21. RENAULT 5 22,85922. LADA 21,80623. VOLVO 240 21,04324. VW GOLF 19,90325. VW POLO 18,03626. RENAULT 14 17,81827. CITROEN GS 17,73828. TRIUMPH DOLOMITE 17,23629. FIAT 127 17,18630. DATSUN BLUEBIRD 16,610 Errr....another ancient BL product at 28. Shock horror!....Lada outsell Golfs!! The list goes on and on and covers nearly every car sold in the UK in '79. Interesting is that this:98 DATSUN SKYLINE 1,684 outsold this!100 TRIUMPH TR7 1,646 Some other 'no-hopers' languishing near the bottom of the sales league are: 103 FSO POLONEZ 1,427110 LANCIA GAMMA 958111 SKODA S110R 955116 MATRA RANCHO 789121 TOYOTA CROWN 502132 LOTUS ECLAT 239140 RELIANT KITTEN 127 For those who aren't sure, there wasn't actually a Mystery Car make and model on sale in the UK in 1979, but would anyone care to guess the number 18 best seller?CLUE: Its a new entry for '79 and it's not a CITROEN VISA. Thats way down at 123 with 447 registrations. Answers in picture form only please and first prize is a romantic dinner for two with the lovely Marina bird from earlier threads!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warren t claim Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 I suppose I should post a pic of a Renner 18. Do I win a night with Marina? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boobydoo Posted September 23, 2010 Author Share Posted September 23, 2010 Bah! Was it that easy? Yes, you do win...and she doesn't have to be back til VERY late!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 I didn't see any reference to a Viva in there, though I did only look quickly. So, is it it's replacement, the Vauxhall Astra? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 ^^^Buggerations!^^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warren t claim Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 I suppose I'd better stock up on some Tesco Value Viagra this weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boobydoo Posted September 23, 2010 Author Share Posted September 23, 2010 OOh, I just noticed... Renault 18 at Number 18!! Spooky!! I would change the thread title to '..with NOT VERY exciting Mystery car competition....but gawd knows where the 'edit' button has disappeared to! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autofive Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 116 MATRA RANCHO 789 thats a lot of ranchos i wonder how many ranchos are still on the road Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaseracer Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 10 Ranchos left in the UK, I think was the figure printed by Craptical Plastics a while back. My much-missed GS1220 would have been one of the 17000-odd sold in 1979... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 Where did the info come from - is there a list of other years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negative Creep Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 Out of those top 10 I wonder which has the highest proprotion of survivors? I'd guess the Mini has the most and the Cortina the least Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spottedlaurel Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 Interesting to see how high the Capri is. Datsun Sunny regularly crept into the top 10, certainly on monthly figures that the magazines used to publish every so often. I’ve not seen a full list like that before. The 240K did remarkably well to sell 1600-odd, as I think it was launched a few months into the year. It would only go on to sell another 900-ish over the next couple of years however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.welfare Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 What a fantastic list! I'm no expert, but my creaking memory seems to think that '79 might have been the transfer year between Speke (or Canley?) and Solihull for the TR7, which might explain the shabby sales figures. Roll back 4 years or so and I'm pretty sure the Datsun 120Y was well within the Top Ten - wasn't that one of the catalysts for the voluntary import restriction agreements with Japan? I'm pretty sure '79 was the last year for the Capri and the Granada in the Top Ten. Fast forward another 10 years and the muttering rotters would voice continuing disbelief that the Volvo 340/360 had a consistent Top Ten finish for a number of years whilst in the twilight of it's life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollywobbler Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 What I found interesting is that Renault 14s outsold the Citroen GS! Not by much, but I suspect there are rather more of the latter surviving today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavcraft Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 What I found unbelievable was the Morris Marina outselling anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brammy777 Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 Well if those MOT records that were sent out a few months ago are truly factual, then the numbers of survivors from each year should be interesting, here goes:1) Cortina -812) Escort-2223) Mini-3444) Cant seem to find the Marina?5) Allegro-326) Fiesta-627) Granada-43 Capri- 1249) Cavalier-3610) Chevette-3511) Sunny-7 (Surely not?)12) Princess- 713) Maxi-714) Alpine-115) SD1- 1616) Cherry-217) Horizon-218) Renault 18- 319) Sunbeam-2420) Avenger- 7.Ouch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boobydoo Posted September 24, 2010 Author Share Posted September 24, 2010 I'm no expert, but my creaking memory seems to think that '79 might have been the transfer year between Speke (or Canley?) and Solihull for the TR7, which might explain the shabby sales figures. Production moved from Canley to Solihull in April-August 1980, so this wouldn't explain the poor figures. There was a long strike at Speke from October 1977 to Spring 1978 which they then closed, re-starting production in September 1978 at Canley. I would imagine a long waiting list built up by then so this may have something to do with it. Anyway, especially for mr welfare, here's numbers 31-60. 31 DATSUN VIOLET 15,59432 FIAT STRADA 15,57833 FIAT MIRAFIORI 14,80134 MAZDA 323 12,06835 PEUGEOT 504 12,02336 HONDA ACCORD 11,47137 VOLVO 340 10,87438 PEUGEOT 305 10,42939 PEUGEOT 104 10,00440 VAUXHALL VIVA 9,858 41 FIAT 126 9,62742 RENAULT 20 9,32143 SKODA ESTELLE 9,28644 ALFASUD 9,20945 TOYOTA COROLLA 9,11646 OPEL KADETT 8,80347 OPEL ASCONA 8,68448 VW DERBY 8,65549 VAUXHALL CARLTON 8,02950 LANCIA BETA 7,993 51TOYOTA STARLET 7,90652 AUDI 100 7,16753 CITROEN CX 6,96054 VW PASSAT 6,95855 JAGUAR SALOON 6,74656 FIAT 128 6,59357 VW SCIROCCO 6,49158 BMW 3 SERIES 6,48559 AUDI 80 6,33160 ????????? 5,710 Fancy your chances at whats at number 60 mr warren t claim? A 4 door saloon been around since '69! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warren t claim Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 Pug 304??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaseracer Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 60 ????????? 5,710 Fancy your chances at whats at number 60 mr warren t claim? A 4 door saloon been around since '69! Renault 12? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warren t claim Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 60 ????????? 5,710 Fancy your chances at whats at number 60 mr warren t claim? A 4 door saloon been around since '69! Renault 12? I'm sure it was placed higher than 60. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boobydoo Posted September 24, 2010 Author Share Posted September 24, 2010 Renault 12 it was! I'm surprised it was this high to be honest, as its end was nigh! Peugeot 304 was 95th with 2,064 registrations. There's quite a few 'old,end of lifers ' lurking at the bottom end actually.... such as Renault 6, Chrysler Hunter, Renault 16, Vauxhall VX, Chrysler 2litre, MGB etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaseracer Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 Renault 12 it was! I'm surprised it was this high to be honest, as its end was nigh! Peugeot 304 was 95th with 2,064 registrations. There's quite a few 'old,end of lifers ' lurking at the bottom end actually.... such as Renault 6, Chrysler Hunter, Renault 16, Vauxhall VX, Chrysler 2litre, MGB etc.When you have a mo, please can you list the 'lower 40'? Ta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boobydoo Posted September 24, 2010 Author Share Posted September 24, 2010 Aye. Here they are.... the cars nobody wanted. The unloved or the too expensive. The 'Agadoo's' of 1979 motoring! The ones that sold less than 1000. 110 LANCIA GAMMA 958111 SKODA S110R 955112 RENAULT 6 946113 COLT LANCER 915114 COLT CELESTE 869115 TOYOTA CORONA 805116 MATRA RANCHO 789117 RELIANT SCIMITAR 723118 BMW 6 SERIES 719119 PORSCHE 911 614120 MAZDA 929 ESTATE 509 121 TOYOTA CROWN 502122 LADA NIVA 464123 CITROEN VISA 447 (Nov 79-)124 RENAULT 15 441125 SUZUKI WHIZZKID 400 (Oct 79-)126 VAUXHALL VX 328127 FERRARI 309128 PORSCHE 928 304129 RENAULT 17 280130 LOTUS ESPRIT 250 131 MAZDA RX7 242 (Sept 79-)132 LOTUS ECLAT 239133 DAIHATSU CHARADE 226 (Oct 79-)134 LOTUS ELITE 208136 TVR 3000 200137 ASTON MARTIN V8 163138 MAZDA 2000 150139 PANTHER 144140 RELIANT KITTEN 127 141 SUBARU 4WD 118 (DEC 79-)142 TVR TURBO 50143 MASERATI 34144 ASTON MARTIN LAGONDA 13145 COLT LANCER(1980 model) 13 (Dec 79-) 146 DE TOMASO 5 Hmmmm...even I'm bored of this now....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Leonard Hatred Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 Where does the Contadini Lambrusco come in that list? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tayne Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavcraft Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 Where does the Contadini Lambrusco come in that list? Isn't that what council estate birds drink when they're being posh? Hey, must have been a fairly epic year for Reliant that one? I seem to recall one year they only sold one Scimitar in 12 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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