dollywobbler

So awful and basic that they had ABS, air conditioning, four electric windows and a lovely sunroof? I think Daewoo Motor was defeated mostly by its ridiculously over-optimistic expansion plans. They went from nothing to global factories all over the world (including the former Oltcit factory in Romania, and the FSO factory in Poland) but ended up biting off more than they could chew. Ultimately, when they stopped reskinning Vauxhalls, the end products weren't really interesting enough. The Lanos, Nubira and Leganza just never quite cut it in a tough market.

It's always hard to get a long-term test vibe in a quick hour behind the wheel, but plenty of them were used as minicabs, so I've no reason to doubt they were hardy in service. Maybe outdated for their time in terms of underpinnings, but plenty good enough nonetheless.

Sadly, this event has always suffered from a lack of clarity and confusion over tickets. I guess because they're an insurance company, not an events company. Fortunately, I've always enjoyed the event itself very much.

No, 10am is the earliest anyone can get in. Remember, there is no public, so it's a closed event made up purely of those who are attending. Yes, there will be some folk in moderns, but the majority of people there will be taking part, whether in the Concours (only about 20 cars IIRC) or the main older car parking area.

Thankfully not. Kids are at their dad's, dogs will be staying with a friend. So just the two of us experiencing the 'joy' of long-distance Matiz action. Can't really believe we're leaving the distance machine at home... 93,000.

No, the engine is a conventional end-on gearbox layout using the A-Series as featured in the Marina and Ital, but mounted transversely. With 70bhp and good torque characteristics, they're nowhere near as sluggish as you might expect.

Yes, a change to the scheduled programming, but a very good change. I was trying to rush today, edited the earlier video and the Daewoo because we're away this weekend. Don't think I made such a mess of the Daewoo thankfully...

I utterly ballsed up the edit, so badly I decided the only thing to do was take it down and try again. It'll take a while to reformat and upload, but there you are. It all went HubNut. Something else that went HubNut is the Matiz. The idle has been intermittenly iffy for the whole time I've had it second time around. Got a replacement idle control valve, fitted it and it began revving and blipping on idle in a most unsatisfactory manner. Put the old one in and it's much better, if not perfect. Oddly the old one has the plunger fully out, the new one has it fully in. Bit annoying.

As long as the heater blower fan works on max, you'll be reet. You might be uncomfortably hot, but the engine will be ok.

Sorry chaps. Here's the pic. There is, but then you just get an embarrassing one tyre fire and everyone turns around expecting to see a barried Saxo.

Yeah, it'll take a while to re-adjust after the thrifty C5. Gosh it's relaxing though. Had a lovely run out this afternoon to do some filming. MAJOR BOX TICKING! I may have to get the tyres changed though. I know it's rain after a long dry period, so the roads are greasy, but it's practically impossible to pull away in the wet without wheelspin, which kicks the traction control in, which is dim-witted and basically just shut the throttle off entirely.

It measures litres per 100km, so a bigger number is worse than a smaller one. Showing 15 at the moment, which is 18mpg. Probably not too dissimilar to the Mitsubishi Delica, but it has smoothness and performance.

Dropping from the 50 plus mpg of the C5 is a bit of a shock though. I'll get used to it. After all, the Fairmont delivers the same economy as a Rover 45 V6 but actually has torque.

I need to stop looking at the economy readout. Local pottering has her down to 20mpg. Still can't really believe she's here, even though cars get imported from far flung places all the time. Just feels weird, but lovely.

Whatever the story, this is great to see! 1.3 is fine unladen, but would be a struggle with a full family on board...