Volksy

Being lucky enough to grow up partially in Spain, Seats have always been part of our extended family. 
My dad bought a new 1988 Ibiza 1.2L in black (E185PUG) from AMG Porsche in Leeds. We kept it about three years, with it not missing a beat. It did plenty of trips down to the east coast of Spain, It was a rocker switchgear early model and he loved it. It got me kudos on the school pick up as it had systemPORSCHE stickers on the lower parts of the doors (in the correct Porsche font too..).
It was replaced with a 1990 1.2XL in metallic blue (G998KWX) bought new from a garage in York. This was after VW had started to take control, so had the VW Polo/Golf switchgear.  This one was not so good, it overheated a few times, had autochoke issues and bits of trim were dropping off left right and centre, it was traded in for a Peugeot 106.
On the subject of Malagas, I think N.Bickle has a 5dr (Malaga/Ronda) but I think the last UK one expired several years ago (a grey XL facelift). I spotted it in a battered state at my local Morrisons, I assume to the owner it was just an car, and didn't know it's unicorn status. I spotted a few weeks later at CoPart York, having had an attempted theft and what looked like a carb fire. It was for sale complete, but I think it was thrown in the frag due to lack of interest. 
 
 

Being lucky enough to grow up partially in Spain, Seats have always been part of our extended family. 
My dad bought a new 1988 Ibiza 1.2L in black (E185PUG) from AMG Porsche in Leeds. We kept it about three years, with it not missing a beat. It did plenty of trips down to the east coast of Spain, It was a rocker switchgear early model and he loved it. It got me kudos on the school pick up as it had systemPORSCHE stickers on the lower parts of the doors (in the correct Porsche font too..).
It was replaced with a 1990 1.2XL in metallic blue (G998KWX) bought new from a garage in York. This was after VW had started to take control, so had the VW Polo/Golf switchgear.  This one was not so good, it overheated a few times, had autochoke issues and bits of trim were dropping off left right and centre, it was traded in for a Peugeot 106.
On the subject of Malagas, I think N.Bickle has a 5dr (Malaga/Ronda) but I think the last UK one expired several years ago (a grey XL facelift). I spotted it in a battered state at my local Morrisons, I assume to the owner it was just an car, and didn't know it's unicorn status. I spotted a few weeks later at CoPart York, having had an attempted theft and what looked like a carb fire. It was for sale complete, but I think it was thrown in the frag due to lack of interest. 
 
 

My blower fuse was blowing on the S Class. The motor was trying to seize up. 
I've replaced it with a new one from AutoDoc. Was about £100 for the unit. Mine was supplied in LHD format but you can swap the motor out to the old housing. 

Nope. That was defo the one I'm afraid, I must be getting my dates mixed up.

I remember commenting to H.Imp (who also wants a Malaga) at the time. I was living where I do now, so must have been around 2019.
In hindsight I should have left a note/spoken to the owner who IIRC was a old bloke with string for a belt type. 
 

This one was spotted in a Copart yard many years ago, probably the one your referring to. 
These Ibiza didn't half come with some cool asf graphics back in the day! 

Being lucky enough to grow up partially in Spain, Seats have always been part of our extended family. 
My dad bought a new 1988 Ibiza 1.2L in black (E185PUG) from AMG Porsche in Leeds. We kept it about three years, with it not missing a beat. It did plenty of trips down to the east coast of Spain, It was a rocker switchgear early model and he loved it. It got me kudos on the school pick up as it had systemPORSCHE stickers on the lower parts of the doors (in the correct Porsche font too..).
It was replaced with a 1990 1.2XL in metallic blue (G998KWX) bought new from a garage in York. This was after VW had started to take control, so had the VW Polo/Golf switchgear.  This one was not so good, it overheated a few times, had autochoke issues and bits of trim were dropping off left right and centre, it was traded in for a Peugeot 106.
On the subject of Malagas, I think N.Bickle has a 5dr (Malaga/Ronda) but I think the last UK one expired several years ago (a grey XL facelift). I spotted it in a battered state at my local Morrisons, I assume to the owner it was just an car, and didn't know it's unicorn status. I spotted a few weeks later at CoPart York, having had an attempted theft and what looked like a carb fire. It was for sale complete, but I think it was thrown in the frag due to lack of interest. 
 
 

My blower fuse was blowing on the S Class. The motor was trying to seize up. 
I've replaced it with a new one from AutoDoc. Was about £100 for the unit. Mine was supplied in LHD format but you can swap the motor out to the old housing. 

More a dash change, as it was a carry over from the 4/6. 

More a dash change, as it was a carry over from the 4/6. 

More a dash change, as it was a carry over from the 4/6. 

More a dash change, as it was a carry over from the 4/6. 

imagine having two of them on your drive, increasing the chances you have a working Lancia Dedra, ooh, by about 5%!

Someone will know the actual answer, but I suspect the last car to be fitted with a manual column change was the Nissan Cedric Japanese taxi.  The taxi  was based on the 1987-debuting Nissan Cedric private car and remained in production until, unbelievably, 2015!  It was sold only to commercial clients, of course, and was equipped with various oddities to suit the Japanese taxi driver - including, until some point in the production run, a column-change manual gearbox:
 

Quite when that feature was dropped I don't know, but other things about that photo suggest it's a fairly recent car.  The radio is certainly nineties, if not early 2000s.  
Toyota's Crown Comfort taxi seems to have gone over to floor change for the manual somewhat earlier than the Nissan, so perhaps doesn't count.  

I love column gear shift on a manual transmission and this is one of those things that should never have gone away.
But which cars in Europe after 1970 could you still get this?
I was surprised when a diesel 1971 W115 Merc came up for sale and it had this, all the ones I've seen so far have been floor shift so it must have been a choice between these.

Opel Rekord C still had them and think i have seen a Rekord D with them also. Those are the car models I know about. But I know that the 1st generation Fiat/Citroen/Peugeot/Talbot vans had this, which was probably the last in Europe?

My W211 E320 nearly cut out twice earlier today. Both times coming to a complete halt braking quite hard. Second time the dash lit up like a Xmas tree. Cars you can't trust and cut out suddenly really aren't any fun to own are they?  
No codes and I don't think mine will be as simple a fix as disconnecting a potentiometer. 

Mine has been getting steadily worse. I took it on a run to Sheffield and back early Sunday morning, runs like a dream on the motorway, but then has been an absolute pigdog in traffic so far this week. 
This morning I pulled the ECU, which technically should cut out the 'E' part of the injection system, leaving it to run just on the mechanical system. Theory is that if it still is up to mischeif then it's something more basic than electronic scorcery at fault. Would you agree?
So, sans ECU it's grumbly when cold, as it doesn't know to engage the cold start injector. but once warmed up, it seemed to go ok.....
Famous last words..
Once it reaches operating temperature (just over 80°) the idle starts to get a little erratic. It'll hunt a couple of times then die. Like it's been switched off. It'll always restart, and provided that i keep it a little bit 'over idle' speed (normally idles around 550rpm) it'll keep running. But in an auto, heel and towing or two feet driving isn't the best, especially that it will only restart in Park, not Neutral. 
I've checked the (new) dizzy cap, and no sign of any moisture in there. re routed the coil lead away from anywhere hot. I'll check a load of earths on Saturday when I get a bit of daylight. 
I have booked it into a Merc Specialist nearby on the 6th March, who are going to run a smoke test to check for any vacuum leaks, they have a couple of 'old boys' apparently who know these. I assume it's going to be expensive though. 
So this weekend I'm going go put all the old parts back on, and send it in 'Virgin'
My freind has a theory that it has some kind of self destruct system, probably installed by the NSA, given it may have  a dubious history - I quote her logic...
"I love the idea that somewhere, below ground, in a tiny room (not the main bunker, more like a side cupboard, shared with the mop) someone has noticed a little red light flashing and is frantically pressing the button next to it. However, as the electronics are as old as the car, all it does is make it cut out. And cause minor traffic disruption in the Horsforth area."
 
 

We have an equivalent for Land Rovers already;
"Jeep"
 

Bring back funny special editions 
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202307260099678?sort=relevance&advertising-location=at_cars&make=&page=6&postcode=SN15 4NZ&year-from=1990&year-to=1995&fromsra

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/212208558630928/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A99768711-5d5e-4cd0-a5da-c97d3f310c8c

This was number 1. Also they were not a Mercedes at that time. Originally built by Boehringer until 1951, when Daimler Benz took over production.

1946–1955 | The Unimog – the initial years and the first successful models. (mercedes-benz-trucks.com)

PS- as we know im a fickle fucker with cars, so to clarify the last post, the more powerful replacement is the starter motor, not a whole different car 😂

More done on the D today.   
Here’s how it started.

 
I’ve shortened the chassis a tiny bit more. Then made up some plastic sections to both fill the void in the middle of the chassis sections and join the two firmly together. 
I used impact adhesive to glue it all together then fitted a spare BA nut and bolt through the whole thing just to hold it tight and secure. 
The nut & bolt won’t be seen after it’s finished.

   
I’ll hide the back one underneath by filling the area with chemical metal putty shaped to look like the gearbox!

    
Next I cut out a T shaped piece to hold the front end of the cab and act as a floor to support the front end.

        
This area is where the little pony engine for the mixer will sit - covering the screws.

   
Inside the new floor piece sits on a ridge under the cab behind the front bumper which holds the height perfect. Then the original front body mount was reused by drilling a hole through the new floor and screwing together.

   

  
I decided to double check the original Dinky interior would still fit. Which it didn’t! 
I’ve obviously cut the front panel down so the interior is now also too big. Luckily though there’s a few strengthening ribs on the interior which can be cut off and sanded down to make it fit. 
It also sits nicely onto the new floor.

   
So here it is as of now.


Tomorrow I’ll build the pony engine and fit that in place. 
It also needs the back half of the front mud guards making. 
Id like to try to alter the design of the front wheels too as they don’t look particularly ‘British’ in appearance. 
Some of these D’s also had a skid plate fitted under the cab to protect the underside from damage on construction sites etc, which might look the part on this one. 
Also needs a pipe adding from the water tank down to the back of the truck for a wash out hose. 
Door mirrors need making and fitting. 
Then paint!

Sorry to disappoint. That's just a CD storage thingy

Oddly as I got the notification that you had posted this, I was in the middle of this....




Mine doesnt look that worn, I replaced it with a £75 one I got from Autodoc a while back. Any change. Nope. Still randomly cuts out when idling.