adw1977

I'll start this month's thread by nominating @vulgalour in the news 24 thread:

In the unlikely event that you haven't already seen it, this popped up on the Facebook group British Saloons from the Thirties to the Eighties.

I quite like the rear lights in the middle pic. Oh dear.

Also, if it's the furthest table from all the others it may be a good way to get away from other humans and their behaviour.

Less than a year old must be under warranty, surely?

I think the Stag already had quite a loyal following in 1982. The survival rate is nearly 50%, which must be unsurpassed by any mass (ish) production car. The Stag Owners Club was founded in 1979.

And Opel Monza

Successive governments seem to have acted as if the viability and profitability of the British car industry could be taken for granted, allowing them to use the industry as a vehicle for their economic and employment policies.

The idea of the Stag being in production in 1982 isn't entirely fantasy. The following is from Chris Cowin's book British Leyland Chronicle of a Car Crash 1968 -1978 : "The decision to drop the Stag then began to look a little premature, especially after the 1978 cancellation of the Lynx and its V8 variant, once intended as a substitute. Investigations were made into re-starting Stag assembly, but key tooling had already been destroyed."

I suppose there's a difference between making it fit on an individual car that you're prepared to spend a lot of time on and making it fit in a way that can be done on a production line. Even so, the suspicion is that Triumph v Rover rivalry is what really sunk the idea.

Supposedly the Buick/Rover V8 wouldn't fit, but as the attempt to make it fit was made by Triumph engineers there is a suspicion that they didn't try very hard!

I don't know, Farinas are a bit too modern and stylish, didn't they mark a move away from stodge for BMC?

550. 1988 Volkswagen Golf Cabrio GTI Seen in Horley, Surrey on 29th January. F769 RYH ✓ Taxed - Tax due: 1 July 2023 ✓ MOT Expires: 1 July 2023 Vehicle make VOLKSWAGEN Date of first registration 12 October 1988 Year of manufacture 1988 Cylinder capacity 1781 cc Fuel type PETROL Export marker No Vehicle status Taxed Vehicle colour WHITE Number of previous owners: 10 Current owner since Jan 2013 Mileage at last MOT: 119,236 Mileage since previous MOT: 97 Almost a year elapsed between the expiry of the previous MOT and the latest test.

If the Stag had still been in production in 1982, it would probably have looked something like that.

Well they eventually stopped texting me every day about non-existent injuries but I today found out, only by chasing it myself, that the earliest I can get the car repaired through Esure's approved repairer is in four weeks time, which will be six weeks after the accident. According to Esure that's totally normal. Oh, and because I didn't pay extra for legal cover I have to somehow chase the at fault party to recover my excess of £150. Marvellous.

Are they definitely issuing numbers that have already been issued, as opposed to unissued numbers within a series that was only partly used in period?

549. 1981 Bedford CF camper Seen in Morden, south London on 6th January. The artificial grass on the back is an unusual touch, now getting smothered in real vegetation. KYU 665X ✓ SORN MOT Expired 8 August 2014 Vehicle make BEDFORD Date of first registration 16 November 1981 Year of manufacture 1981 Cylinder capacity 2279 cc Fuel typePETROL Export marker No Vehicle status SORN Vehicle colour WHITE Number of previous owners: 9 Current owner since July 2005 Mileage at last MOT: 76,578 The last MOT in August 2014 was a fail. Reason(s) for failure: Offside Headlamp not working on main beam (1.7.5a) Rear fog lamp not working (1.3.2b) Rear fog lamp tell tale not working (1.3.1b) Offside Lower Brake pipe kinked (3.6.B.2b)

Yes, a bit strange!

Fiesta Mark 3 launch brochure

548. 1991 Volkswagen Golf GTi Seen in Trentham, Staffordshire on 8th December. H103 LJO ✓ Taxed - Tax due: 1 May 2023 ✓ MOT Expires: 9 September 2023 Vehicle make VOLKSWAGEN Date of first registration 4 July 1991 Year of manufacture 1991 Cylinder capacity 1781 cc Fuel typePETROL Export marker No Vehicle status Taxed Vehicle colour WHITE Number of previous owners: 5 Current owner since April 2012 Mileage at last MOT: 230,736 Mileage since previous MOT: 5,844

547. 1965 Jensen C-V8 MkIII Seen in Merstham, Surrey on 28th October 2022. Apparently only 500 (of all marks) of this model were built. Last keeper change in 1986 and untaxed since shortly after. Looks like its engine may be sitting behind it on the trailer! GLL 35C ✗ Untaxed - Tax due: 1 October 1986 MOT - No results returned Vehicle make JENSEN Date of first registration 25 November 1965 Year of manufacture 1965 Cylinder capacity 6276 cc Fuel type PETROL Export marker No Vehicle status Untaxed Vehicle colour GREEN (?)

IIRC the very first foreign police cars were Volvo Amazons in Hampshire.

546. 1995 Ford Escort Solar Seen in north London on 23rd October. Also current keeper since 1996. M382 VME ✓ Taxed - Tax due: 1 October 2023 ✓ MOT Expires: 28 September 2023 Vehicle make FORD Date of first registration 1 February 1995 Year of manufacture 1995 Cylinder capacity 1597 cc Fuel type PETROL Export marker No Vehicle status Taxed Vehicle colour YELLOW Number of previous owners: 1 Current owner since April 1996 Mileage at last MOT: 59,350 Mileage since previous MOT: 547

545. 1994 Nissan Sunny SLX auto saloon Seen in south London on 9th October 2022. Current keeper since 1996. M655 NTF ✓ Taxed - Tax due: 1 April 2023 ✓ MOT Expires: 24 September 2023 Vehicle make NISSAN Date of first registration 1 October 1994 Year of manufacture 1994 Cylinder capacity 1597 cc Fuel typePETROL Export marker No Vehicle status Taxed Vehicle colour SILVER Number of previous owners: 1 Current owner since Sep 1996 Mileage at last MOT: 71,787 Mileage since previous MOT: 1,421

@HMCin the HMC - Rover P4 80 thread: