RoadworkUK

The Mustang was a pretty crude device, just a Falcon under the surface. Having said that, I don't think there was a lot of Detroit iron with front discs until well into the 70s. Pretty sure most Chargers and Roadrunners ran drums all round.

I think I'm right in saying that, although there's an overwhelmingly strong resemblance, the Falcon and Granada didn't actually share any common panels. I have an '81 Australian Ford range brochure heading this way soon. Rather looking forward to it.

Agree with the ridiculous pricing policies of certain chazza shops (Oxfam tends to be a special case). However, some of those Bond partworks aren't outrageously priced by eBay standards. I'd have a hard time walking past the E38, Mach 1, Corvette and Matador if I was in that store....

Quick running update on this: It still works. Look! Headlights and everything. Has given absolutely zero drama since the riveting rollercoaster of emotion that was my previous post in this thread, and is now homing in on 160k. Oh, except the driver's seatbelt buckle is broken. So – does anybody have a surplus non-pretensioned front driver's seat belt buckle (clip, fastener, I'm really not certain what the official term is) for one of these that might come my way for a handful of magic beans and some positive thoughts (or perhaps a little money?) Might be the same bit as a Citroen ZX or Berlingo or something like that? Also very much in the market for a gearknob, as ours has fallen apart. Literally. Never seen plastic decompose quite so startlingly.

I always thought the Ford Fusion was woefully mis-marketed. It was seen as what it was, a taller Fiesta that was easier to get in and out of, and that made it popular among a 'more experienced'' element of society. It was always tarnished as a bit senile and incontinent. Had Ford stuck roof rails, bigger wheels and a set of butch-looking cladding on it – basically given it the Streetwise treatment – and marketed it in the 21st century Matra Rancho bracket, things might have been different.

Yeah, the Charger Daytona's nose wasn't as well-integrated as the Roadrunner's, it really was a bit of an afterthought.

OhEmGee. I've just spent a fevered several minutes playing "want, got, need" in exactly the same was as I did when I was eight – when that catalogue was released. I'll have to unearth some of my favourites from the above. Mate of mine had the SuperKings Texaco RS500 Cossie, which I used to enjoy comparing with my XR4i of the same scale (I always preferred mine. Somehow classier). The coastguard boat that comes on the back of the SuperKings Mercedes-hauled Launch Transporter had a really well-observed deep-vee hull form, which did a fabulous job of planing across the water in the bath / pond / swimming pool. News to me, BTW, is that Matchbox's SuperKings Range Rover rendition featured a stab at recreating its three-spoke alloys. Good grief. 1989, eh? What a time to have been alive.

Today's 50p charity shop find. Sans horsey, but practically mint. In a display of sheer profligacy I gave a quid for it. Good cause, innit.

Flabber well and truly ghasted here. I'd not seen this thread until now, and it's suddenly leapt right to the top of my 'gosh' list. What a turn of events. 2020 just took a turn for the better.

306 "touring car" edition. Looks great, that. Despite my being a colossal anorak, I used to frequently mistake 306 Sedans for 406s.

My wife's 306 1.4 XN remains the only car she's ever owned, and she pased her test fifteen years ago. It's taken us on some incredible adventures, including a pan-European odyssey the first year Nicola and I were together (image above was taken at the bottom of the Stelvio Pass). It was written off several years ago, and this thread tells the story of how it's still on the road today. There was high drama a few weeks ago, though; it lost one of its original wheeltrims. We were devastated. So much so, in fact, that we paid £8 for another from eBay. All is now well and universal balance is restored.

Was pondering this the other day: in terms of general spoke layout and pattern, Corgi was fitting the "Style 156" alloy wheel to BMWs several decades before BMW thought to.

Couldn't resist this for a quid in t'chazza shop. I've never really liked the non- specific nature of the "US Van" casting, but it's almost mint and BT livery somehow evaded me as a kid; I only had the Coke, Unichem and Hertz varieties.

Yep. Quite a lot bluer than my Mk1 was (820e Fastback).

Here's a couple from my phone, including one that shows it in rare 'clean' condition.