AnthonyG

Galaxy’s were made in a new factory (1990s) shared with VW Group. Ford never built cars in Portugal on their own.

Apparently IZH ones were better built, and were regarded as more robust than the original Moskvitch, certainly by those who lived way out in the Soviet sticks. Think I’m right in saying IZH, a massive engineering factory, is/was Ukrainian?

I think the Consumers Association thing about Moskvitch safety was more about the condition of the cars on delivery rather than any major defect in the design. Even some Western European cars, particularly volume British ones, were delivered to customers in a fairly shocking state by modern standards. The main reason the Moskvitch 1500 was binned by the importers was the launch of the Lada - suddenly they had a much more modern looking, sellable vehicle to offer. Ladas were also better quality due to the modern factory (packed full of up to date equipment) that Fiat had built for the Russians in the late 60s. Moskvitch imports over here had ceased by the time the facelift one with the square headlights came out.

Where did it originally come from? I’m assuming somewhere sunny and hot so Cyprus? Portugal? Greece? Malta? There were some Cortinas that made their way back from the Czech Republic a few years ago, I didn’t think they got exported to Warsaw Pact countries but apparently Ford sold a big batch (600 or so) to Czechoslovakia sometime in the late 60s, maybe they were rewards for ‘special’ people!

Looks like the passenger door might about 10 years older than the rest of the car! I think the colour is Limeflower, a popular early/mid 1970s choice.

OMFG. Still, on the bright side, it makes the Royale/Saab 95/Error 404/other random project look more or less mint. Re the Royale, a recent purchase of several 70s Autocar mags included one with a road test of the first Senator, and from this I discovered they had different engines! Another ‘I never knew that’ factoid. The Royale had a 2.5 whilst the Senator had a 3.0. Even this road test, whilst it loved the Senator, did wonder if the extra cost (£1544, a significant amount of money in 1978) over the Vauxhall was really worth it.

I love how HMC’s example looks exactly like how a slightly shabby one would have looked circa 1989. Including the Capri wheels bought off an unknown geezer in the pub for £40. Three streets away from said pub, there would be a Capri sitting on bricks.

I wouldn’t buy a £4k Jaguar XF unless you were hoping to run it for a while to enjoy the experience and then move on very quickly at the first sign of ominous faults/noises. A 2.2 diesel is the simplest less hassle one to get, but an example with 175k under its belt is always going to be a bit of a gamble. It would be better* to get a nice Rover 75 or MG ZT for £2.5-3k (I may be way out on what a really good example of either is worth these days) and put the rest in a contingency fund if you want something old school British. A 75 is still a lovely thing to sit in. S Types are a bit too fragile these days and X types too ‘meh’ IMHO.

Trumpcoin! Don’t give him ideas 😄! I like the second spaceport Ford, looks like a 2030s take on the Mk1 Ka that can also double as a moon buggy when required.

I have already started to prepare the Autoshite library for this year. Highlights of the total randomness so far are a 1934 ‘Autoencylopedia’, an early 1960s Czechoslovakian road atlas, an ex Mid Glamorgan library book on British Trolleybuses, and an owners handbook for a Honda Stream (not the MPV but a bizarre early 80s three wheeled scooter). Perhaps more logically, there will be many duplicates of 60/70s Motorsport and 90s Car up for grabs.

Fascinating how the vehicles are getting more and more accurate, almost week by week. I guess AI has more source material for the newer stuff like Nissan Juke or the ‘Nismo’ Bentley. Also it must have many more images of old American cars than others, which you’d expect from Microsoft. They are almost down to an exact rendering of each model year!

Wasn’t 5 star the UK version of the super premium stuff you used to get in the states before catalytic converters killed it off? Whatever ‘Hi-Test’ was? I have a vague memory of Jill StJohn asking for it for her Mustang Mach 1 in Diamonds are Forever. There was a Sunoco blend of this stuff which was fairly legendary amongst the muscle car crowd. Edit: looking at wiki, American super premium petrol, such as Sunoco’s ‘260’, was 102 Octane, so higher than British 5 star.

Short-lived competitor to the 407 Coupe. Launched 2009 and dropped 2011, over here anyway. I’m not sure even Renault know why they bothered, it’s a nice looking thing though. Definitely more attractive than a 407.

That just has to be an ex-cab, with something like 600k on the clock before it was 8 years old. Then BANG and it’s been parked there since before the pandemic.

Was going to nominate the Austin Seven until I read the first post. Then I reread the title - for the 20s/30s, not from! 😀

There’s probably something dubious going on, as they didn’t do Ital coupe's. Next time I see it I will try a grab a pic, or at least the reg so you can apply your ‘particular set of skills’ 😉.

That explains the circa 1975 Marina Coupe on an ‘A’ prefix plate running around Tewkesbury then! It was perplexing me, I was considering having @LightBulbFun investigate the situation…

X registered Mk2 Escort seems a bit unlikely. Maybe it’s living under the identity of a Mk3. The v5 doesn’t distinguish between FWD and RWD! The Zodiac is lovely though.

BASE spec. That is brilliant. I love the fact Ford even took the black plastic inserts out of the bumpers 😄, the shame of it. The blue Polo C is spectacularly grim, this is some proper poverty spec action going on here!

I’m still getting my head around the seat needing an ECU! I guess this is due to memory settings etc. I would be planning a trip to Northern France to obtain a manual seat from a breakers at this point. Obviously don’t know where you are, but if you’re in Southern England it’s worth a thought.

Christ, now that is grim. Alloy wheels though - is ‘Life’ higher than ‘Club’? My friend has a proper basic 2010 Corsa D, I think that is an ‘S’, which I had thought was just a VW thing.

It’s sad that £40k gets you so little these days. I would have plumped for the Alfa Romeo Stelvio but these are way over £50k, and I’m not sure you can get a nice Guilia for under £40k either. Obviously I am ignoring the 250k mileage thing as well! In the real world I will play it safe and go for a Lexus ES. I assume you could buy a BMW 325 Coupe in 1995 for £25k? If not then maybe a Jap luxury coupe like a Honda Prelude or Mazda Mx6.

The Gamma Coupe is a beautiful car but I think the Berlina has more character. Imagine one in black on its home turf circa 1980 - you wouldn’t know whether it would be transporting an aristocrat, cardinal or Mafia don!

The colour is Maritime Blue, should be an easy match for any half decent paint place to make up. You might even find NOS cans in an old school motor factors. I wouldn’t bother with Hammerite, it’s not that much cheaper than a matched can.

You do have a very particular set of skills!