ProgRocker

I don't think I have ever seen a Gamma in the flesh. A Greek alphabet of Gammas?

I papped the Passat GL5 5 years ago from the top deck of a bus. Wunderbar! My dad actually liked these Passat B2s. Were on the shortlist for next used family car in the late 1980s despite not being British.

A mechanical handbrake. Bloody hell.

A few days off work this week. Today's relatively mild weather has given me the opportunity to hand wash my i10. It is the dirtiest it has been in my ownership. I have been clocking around 100+ miles a week in it on my commute. Mileage is up to 37,500 (ish). The warranty runs out in March, which of course is when the next service and MOT is due. Once those milestones pass I may be looking to move the i10 on.

Mamma Mia! This looks good for not much cash. 1998 Fiat Marea ELX! 52,000 miles. MOT due in June. £495. https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1542826 Edit: or maybe not...

Something I have been pondering on. I always think of 1977 as the year when rather forward thinking designs were launched. The curvy 'coke bottle' designs were going out of style (like progressive rock music), only to be replaced by sharped edged ones (punk/new wave style?). The heavily facelifted Chrysler/Talbot Avenger was archaic by 1981! A couple of the 'old guard' executive cars from the British Leyland stable were discontinued that year. The Rover P6 ceased production in March '77 while the the same happened to the Triumph 2000/2500 in July. As we know, both cars were phased out by the big Rover hatchback the previous year. Devoid of any interior wood trim of previous Rovers. Smaller engine options for it appeared in November. BMW launched the new 7 series that year (E23) and Ford launched the mark 2 Granada in August. Lada introduced the Niva 4x4 that was a revelation and remained in production for over 4 decades. A very tough car that was easy for owners to repair. And one of my favourite cars of all time: the Porsche 928. The car that couldn't kill off the classic 911. Unsure if sales officially begin in 1978 for that one. Has there been any more I haven't mentioned? I omitted any Japanese marques. I believe the Honda Acty commercial vehicle was introduced in '77. 1971 is perhaps another year where there were quite a few new models. British Leyland had quite a few model changes.

I used to consider myself to be a motoring enthusiast but what I know pales into insignificance compared to other members on this forum. Furthermore I am less keen on driving these days.

The Thai FSO Polonez thread down below reminded me. Back in 1997 when I was car hunting for a 9 / 10 year old Astra mark 2 or something similar the was a car site around the corner from me. I had a budget of £2k. On their forecourt was a white F reg Polonez up at £2,495! So 8 or 9 years old at that time. Back then you could have bought a very tidy F reg Golf Mark 2 for the same money. I think the price dropped to below £2k but fortunately no car buyers were fooled that Polonez was as good as a Golf or Astra built in the same year.

One for me, thank you.

Great YT channel for car brochures. He's done plenty of old Renault ones and Toyota ones. Here is the latest upload on the Granada Consul...

Have we had this Renault 25 yet? Looks nicer with the facelift imo. I used to associate big executive cars like this with high insurance premiums. But then it dawns on me that I'm in my 40s now. I'm a little tempted by it as it's 30 miles away from my locale. R25 TXE

Probably mentioned already on this thread but last night I found out that there was a shortened Mercedes 190 in development. En Francais:

Autoshite gold right here: A dangerous and insecure load (Eastern Daily Press)

I'll take this opportunity to briefly hijack this thread and post a picture of my parent's old navy blue Carlton CDi auto. D registration, so like @sutty2006 's it was one of the last of these boxy Carltons to roll of the Opel Russelheim (spl??) factory floor before the new Omega A based model. I got to drive it a few times when I passed my driving test. Not the nicest looking Carlton at the time but I loved that car.

D'oh! It said fuel injection in the advert.