NorfolkNWeigh

Life was so much easier with Local Licensing Offices, many years ago the lady that inspected cars in our area hadn’t got a clue . She’d pop round , you’d make her a cup of tea and tell her what details to fill in on the form. She’d walked past the car , why would she need to get cold again poking round. Its not like anybody ever put a set of Land Rover 8 spokes up against a MK1 Astra estate to get a Q Plate Frontera ( twice) that had had come straight out of the compound at Luton. “ Yes love , just put Vauxhall and Model 4x4, would you like another choccy biscuit while the lad washes your car?” If your going to ring an old Mini and put an electric motor in it, don’t tell the DVLA- Simples!

That pic reminds me of a Chevette Coupe that a bloke I knew had in the early 80’s . Came out of Luton via an employee apparently. It looked really good was a metallic green GLS spec with Rostyles and tartan velour . Don’t know why they never made them.

This one came on a CLK bought from this very boutique, courtesy of @Skcat as it’s a P1 number it’s nice and short and even though it means nothing to us Daughter No.1 transferred it when the CLk got scrapped. It’s also listed with some chancer company for a couple of thousand quid ! I once had a company called CTU ( yes around the time of 24 on telly) as I’m a Gobshite my Mrs had M5 with the 5 made to look like an S and I had R5 CTU. In about 6 years of this dodgy typeface we only got warned once by a copper and they never failed an MOT. I left R5 CTU on an Espace but she’s had M5 on most of her cars since. I bought N5 to hide the age of something and chose it because ; a. People think I’ve got 2 Cars on the same number b. It’s an anagram. The number I really want is RJH 5 as on a S2 Land Rover at a show, not 30 miles from me. My full initials are RJHS. Can’t find the pic, but someone put it on here earlier in the year.

I’ve yet to see any period telly programme or film that I’ve not noticed the vehicles are wrong. But I’ve accepted it’ll never change and wonder how many fashion, architecture, kitchen appliance, furniture, weapon etc etc anoraks are getting as angry as us.

I went to Lidl yesterday and they had 4 or 5 boxes of Siku , the only open ones seemed to contain mostly lorries, tractor unit and trailer with various loads- lots of missile trailers, a few with boats and a couple of 6 wheel campers .All priced at £4.99. If anyone has a catalogue and wants a specific one, let me know and I’ll go back and have a look. Not really a Siku fan but these seemed particularly weighty things which makes me think they’re good quality.

One, presumably that very car appeared on the EBay thread about 5 years ago, looks like a Hunter GLS but with a 504 engine and those funny taillights. Rootes had form for mixing up Marques and model names at will on Arrows seemingly on a whim.

Interesting that all the boxes even the Majorette stuff are in English.

I am so jealous of your Efi VdP, without doubt the best SD1 of all, I used one regularly when my work XJ40 was off the road , Marshall’s of Kempston had one as a courtesy car in 1987 and it was a flying machine. Years later I bought a black D reg Twin Plenum Vitesse manual from the MD of Wipac in Buckingham, it was about 7 years old at the time and he loved it so much he’d bought it from his previous company ,Unipart, when he left . It was a major disappointment , quite quick but not what I was expecting , didn’t keep it long as values were on the up and I sold it for a Grand more than I’d paid for it. I used half of that to buy a 3.5 carb VdP on a C plate( grey cloth with one rear headrest missing) My Mrs drove it for a year or more. Never did own an Efi. That was my last SD1.

My S reg , ex-Police 3500 was a bag of shit , the rustiest and cheapest SD1 anyone had ever seen at that point (1983) there were big scabs all over it , holes in the scuttle and rear panel meant gallons of water in gloveboxes and under the boot floor. A vinyl roof was all that was covering the holes in the roof , so passengers would poke their finger through and leave little lumps in the vinyl. When I got it, I removed the loose paint and rust and brushed red oxide on all of the paintwork, it stayed like that for a year or so in my ownership. The good points were the engine and manual box, which could be a little obstructive when cold, but as long as it was in a gear it would go. It had no PAS, which was not a problem then, but I’d probably whine about it now. It went like a bastard, sounded awesome as the exhaust was full of holes, as I was fucking idiot I remember one night on the Kilwendig 12 car night rally , spectating and hacking between vantage points with mates, we left a tiny coastal village called Cwmtudu, which had a narrow, short version of the Stelvio Pass to leave, the Escorts, Avengers and Chevettes were pretty impressive , but I decided to be more dramatic. With no LSD and dodgy tyres I did a good impression of a chip pan fire in a council flat, but just managed to keep it on the tarmac, although there was a lot of bracken in the back bumper and towbar. My mate Huw following in his Sunbeam Ti said a group of spectators fell off a wall backwards, presumably in admiration. That engine went in a never finished V8 Escort project then years later ended up in a Capri that a mate crashe d into a bridge support. The Met only seemed to modify the S1 2600 autos not the V8 traffic cars, mostly used as Area response cars, although some dark blue and green ones got Minilites- I got my first endorsements( speeding and due consideration,) from two traffic coppers in a green 2600 with Minilites, on the A406 in 1981 when riding my Honda RS250. I can still remember that feeling in the pit of my stomach when I moved out of the Rover’s way at 90 and the passenger held up a POLICE sign on a clipboard. My office overlooked Bow Street nick and there would often be prisoner escorts leaving the Court gates . They must have been the same cars ( possibly V8’s but with Minilites) used for Royal duties because they had the lettering on the tyres picked out in Gold, same as the bikes, there was often a Range Rover with one-piece tailgate open and two armed Coppers sitting in the back facing out.

Erm, I might be biased but the e30 ticks all the boxes you mention, ( including actually being the first diesel 3 ) plus the first 4x4 BMW and it’s underpinnings being used in the Z1,Z3 and even the e36 Compact. Sorry that’s the only pic I can find of the one on my drive.

The Police ones were aftermarket too, presumably Mota-Lita. I remember lots of Rovers having Police Minilites and 3 spoke round steering wheels in the 80’s/90’s, although I never owned an example amongst my 8 SD1’s, even my ex-Police one was a former Derbyshire 3500 with a square wheel and steels and stainless trims.

I think that steering wheel could be the same as the ones fitted to Met Police 2600 Area Cars, along with the Minilites and 4 pot front brakes .

Looks nice, but not for me I’m afraid. My ideal SD1 would have to be at least a 2600 auto, these days . Funny how getting old changes your perspective, years ago I was always chasing manuals, one of my favourites was a very rusty R reg manual V8 with no PAS ( ex Police) that you almost needed 3 hands to drive when it was cold due to one hand controlling the choke , one wrestling with the stiff gear change and two to turn the wheel! In 1992 I bought a 2000 manual , last car through the auction and I’d sold what I arrived in, it was a 4 speed in Moonraker , paid £80 plus the charges and it drove lovely. Gave it to my Dad as he was gong through a divorce and his only cars at the time ( Spartan Kit car and S1Land Rover, both of which he still has) were too flaky to get around between Kidwelly and Milton Keynes, he kept it for 3 years before trading it in at a classic dealer against a horrible Scimitar GTE.

In 1982 there was a What Car? group test that claimed to be of all the car anyone could possibly need, it was 2.0L Granada, Rover 2000 and , I think, a Renault 20 and a Saab 900. It could have been a CX or 505. But you get the idea, big enough, fast enough for everyday use but cheap enough to run.