Walter White

Rover 211i

Here is someone else driving the Lonsdale just for you. https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/anything-goes-throwback-thursday/throwback-thursday-1983-lonsdale-26-road-test Throwback Thursday: 1983 Lonsdale 2.6 road test | Autocar

Absolutely. Now the difference between trim levels probably revolves around connectivity and interior mood lighting. There are probably still give aways such as different patterns of alloys or base gets wheel trims and boring trim.

Winner🏆

Of course there was always an alternative for those who wanted more standard equipment for less than a base model. You know it makes sense. Escort Popular or...

I remember seeing a Sierra Classic, it was a gold colour Sapphire but only one. It belonged to the owner of a private hire taxi business who had bought Sierras from a refrigeration company when they were selling on their company cars.

Absolutely. Volkswagen and other German manufacturers didn't give much away in the 1980's. My best friend at school, his Dad, traded his S reg Princess 2200 for a Y reg Mercedes 200 in 1985. The Merc was £10,000, it was beige with green cloth trim and had PAS and central locking. He took the radio cassette out of the Princess and fitted it in the Mercedes as there wasn't a radio. Here is a lovely Volkswagen Polo mk2 dashboard. Ignore the woeful lack of content and drink in the quality on offer.

Now it seems laughable that to average 37mpg or thereabouts in a petrol car required that amount of sacrifice. Did Ford call it called a "sonic idle" carburettor or something similar? That carb and the low compression 1100 engine in the mk2 Escort or 957 in the Fiestas must have been an experience.

It has taken a while to find the images. My base model ownership experience was an Austin Ambassador 1.7 L, registered in 1983. It had PAS, which was an optional extra but no other options. No rear wash wipe so rear visibility in the wet was a bit hopeless. No door bins so nowhere for my A to Z or other bits, until I went to a scrap yard and bought some from an HL. Plenty of blanked off switches which would be for electric windows, front fog lights and rear wash wipe had they been there. Externally, no side rubbing strips, rear wash wipe as previously mentioned and small wheel trims covering the centre only. The lack of rear wash wipe and door bin were a pain. The side rubbing strip that the HL and above had would have come in handy when passangers opened the doors into street furniture otherwise base motoring was fine.

I remember a colleague having a Peugeot 309GE which went without a rear wiper, wheel trims and probably more that I didn't see. I never saw another GE.

Ford really have produced some truly basic base models. Does any manufacturer do base models better/worse?

I had this Sierra brochure from 1987. The Sierra L dashboard looks positively Luxurious in comparison to the Sierra dashboard.

On the theme of the base model stands out because... The Princess 1700L with no vinyl rear and chrome hubcaps.