NorfolkNWeigh

Obviously very easy to create, due to the Meccano nature of small Triumphs , but some were actually sold by Triumph, albeit not from Coventry . A few were created at the London Service and Parts depot in Park Royal, so we’re known as Park Royal Vitesse Estates. This is allegedly a genuine Park Royal. But as it would be so easy to recreate, who knows?

Eating my breakfast watching Godfather 3 on Sky, Don Corleone goes to Italy and travels in a convoy of ; Quattroporte, Gamma and Alfa 6 . My new dream lottery fleet.

The XC90 has proper forward facing seats , but yes the V70 and XC70 had the traditional 140,240, 740 style. As did the MK1 Laguna and 406. The most modern car I can think of, so equipped is the Tesla Model S. I owned a c reg Audi 100 Avant with the factory rear facing seat and the well was so deep , I could comfortably sit there, the next 100/A6 was also available with areas facing seat too. Audi 100 Laguna 406 Tesla. Can you tell I’ve got 4 kids ? My kids hated sitting in the back of Montegos looking at the caravan for 800 miles, but they were company cars with company fuel, so that’s what we went on holiday in. When I left to start my own business , I bought a 505 Family then a 21 Savanah, which they much preferred, then a whole series of MPVs.

As someone thanks to get somebody to find my calculator on my phone for me , I’m in awe of the likes of @tobydand @Slartibartfastfor keeping this place on the straight and narrow technically. it seems ironic that after the days of the 999 site and regular threads on Retrorides and Pistonheads for people asking if Autoshite was up and running today or no. That now it’s been running perfectly for a couple of years, it’s the politics not the mechanics that cause the disruption and threaten it’s long term ability to thrive.

Yes the rear trims and possibly the complete doors judging by the red pinstripe in the rubber side mouldings are off a later Rover Montego as are the seats judging by the shape of the front ones. But even the first Limited Edition Countryman didn’t get leather, it got a unique Tweed and Velour material, also the Headrests were the Austin facelift but pre Rover design- more oval shaped with piping rather than the later rounder softer ones. When the Countryman reappeared as a regular trim level they had cheapened regular velour- I had two of these as company cars and leather definitely wasn’t an option.

Look what I got with my £3 Meal Deal lunch. A Merc W124 ! I’ve never seen Hot Wheels in little Tesco’s before

That’s even better than I thought it was going to be. It looks like somebody has paid good money to have that interior recovered in leather. The factory leather in both VdPs and later GSi Executives was nothing like that , I’m pretty sure you could never get leather in an estate anyway. I suppose the interior might have been taken from a higher spec scrapper that had been re-trimmed when it was much newer, seems more likely than a person so tight they had 1.3 estate , decided to spend hundreds on a ra-trim. As for the bodywork , couple of hours and I’d happily send that in for a Taxi Plate test- I have done with worse!

As a reader of every Ford Cars issued from April 1975 until sometime in summer 1995 , I can assure you there was never such a beast promoted or sold in the United Kingdom. As other’s have mentioned 1.3/ 1.6 and maybe 2.3 diesel was your lot. The MK1 2.0iS was quite a rarity anyway , the only one I’ve ever owned gave up it’s engine and box for my Dad’s Spartan in around 1998, he might even get round to fitting it soon. I might dig it out of the brambles it lives in and sell for thousands due to RWD Ford tax.

BL didn’t fail. The Mini range, plus the Jaguar and Land Rover ranges are big sellers and big exporters . They span almost every market segment from under £16,000 to over £160,000. Why does it matter who’s name is above the door ? Tata, BMW, British Aerospace, BL, BMH, BMC, Leyland, None of it means anything , it’s all temporary.

I think both Ford and Chrysler had quite a back catalogue from their Transatlantic parents to choose from and if you look at any 60’s prototype pics from them and Vauxhall , they’ve all got American looking full wheel trims. Apart from the Corsair/Zodiac trims previously posted ( available in 13” &14”) I can only think of 3 other full wheel covers, before the Granada came along These 2 alternatives in 13” on the Corsair 2000e. Both pretty rare and these are the only pics I could find. In Europe Escort XL and possibly GT often came with these in 12” Can anyone think of any others ?

I had a company 740 GLE (G170 UTM ) for a few months that had been specc’d with a bigger petrol tank by the first user chooser, just because he had a budget and price list. It also had 5 spoke wheels so looked like a Turbo. There was a lump in the boot floor, I liked it because I could thrash it to my Dad’s house in Wales and back to MK without having to refuel. Mercedes w212 e classes have smaller tanks on e220’s than e350’s( and probably other bigger engines) . This is why I have a 220- you can’t get 2 big cases in a 350 boot.

About 15 yeas ago we went on holiday to Florida and as I’ve got loads of kids and had a Grand Voyager at home upgraded the rental to an Econoline minibus thing. It was so much fun leaving black lines at every set of lights and doing big smoky u-turns when I got lost. I was amazed how economical it was , it was a week before I had to put fuel in… After about 18 gallons I started looking underneath in case it was leaking straight out the bottom, the fecker took about 30 gallons . Not quite as economical as I thought then ! Luckily it was 50p to the Dollar so was still cheaper than filling up at home

Re the GLi /GTi thing. The engine in all GLis is the same as GTis , VW just didn’t badge the convertibles as GTi much the same as early Escort cab.s we’re not XR3i, rather 1.6i. Probably an insurance thing. I had a hire one for a couple months in 1984 and loved it, even new it creaked and rattled a bit if you abused it( I was 20, it was a rental) but it was still drove better than my new XR3i when that finally got delivered. Bought a Clipper a couple of years ago that never ran right because of a shit carb, obviously not an issue with this.

Exactly. I see old car ownership becoming similar to horse ownership during the 20th Century. There will be the multi million pound thoroughbreds at Goodwood and the knackered old donkeys at Autoshite.

As you suspect, they were only available on Mini 1275 GT, Rover P6 ( possibly only 3500 and 3500S) the Princess , or more correctly the Leyland 18-22 Series and the SD1. No other BL cars had them as an option. Even the ESV series of safety cars only featured them on the Mini, the Marina had Avon Safety Wheels. The only other company to market them in the U.K., was, I think, Fiat. I knew they were available on 126s, but have only just discovered you could get them in 131s too. I’ve never seen such a thing.