ChinaTom

What the absolute fuck happened to the Talbot Horizon?! Another total failure. Nice work.

A 2.1 diesel found its way into a reasonably modern s class too

There was a BMW 725 for German and Italian markets. And a Merc 260S Class I think.

That’s a prototype of one for Lotus. We are doing a few for them - camel, JPS, Goldleaf and the classic green and yellow.

And after many many years of hibernation while I was out and about in the world, a temporary resettlement in UK requires the old girl back in my life: a call was made (sorry Ceri, I needed her back really quickly), transportation arranged, and it came down from Scotland. and now with a new battery, it is blasting around the grounds preparing for an MOT next week and being pushed into duty as client fetching limo / photo prop. still love the old thing - hope it loves me back…

Around the same time I passed over a Renault 18 TX from a garage in Market Deepinh. Insurance too much. Basic trim 2.0 was perfect. But 1.3 Base Escort was what HillHouseHammond would let me have at that age. Those TX spec cars are mythical now.

Clarus and Magentis also made bugger all impression here.

Not an Aurelia or Appia GTE type?

Opel 1900 / GT?

David Denem!!!!

Optional on VdP later. Same switches as Peugeots, Scimitar SS, Samba cabriolet and you got 4 of them in mid term Montego VdP before flush fitted ones took over. Think Ambassador had the option of 4 as well. Somewhere in the garage I have one with only 1 arrow on it (rear deactivate). Found it on a car park floor. Always wondered how it got there.

trusty 528i having a paddle. Served me well. current steed and one of the few cars I have had from new. 161k up and faultless. wish I had a pic of the Scorpio. Loved that thing.

I think we were both thinking of the C1G. Weren’t the 810 and C1G related somehow?

Did that engine make it into the TC? Always thought the TC was 1108. That 1237 was only available in the GTC model we never got. Great to see a TL surviving. The trims look like the ones on a Phase 1 TXE we had back in the 80s. Like the R18 TX, I knew they existed but had yet to see one except in a brochure.

The only XJ40 wings I had were still attached to the XJ12 so I deny all!! I recognise Pete M, Minimad, Jon and think that’s wuvvum’s head at the back there, but I can’t put names to the other faces.

Big grilles always make me think of Cisitalia, but the rear is wrong.

I used to get from my hotel to the airport in these - just taxis you hail and jump in the back of and squeeze in with about 20 people.

To be fair I don’t, but it’s a scrapyard and by all accounts a fast moving one

Yes, that one Blimey - either that is a very up to date street view, or I have been blind for all that time, or the Ibiza I had in my short term memory was silver. I’ll check tomorrow.

Between the villages of Tacolneston and Wreningham on the B1113 in Norfolk, there is a row of semis and one has been turned into a scrapyard with all sorts of stuff flowing through it. I drive past it every day. Last week there was a B11 Sunny teetering on the top of a pile of anonymity. Today there is a Seat Ibiza SXi there looking in great condition. I’m not sure how easy these folk are to deal with, but given the rate at which these motors are stripped and fragged, I’d be quick. Carl Salvage is the yard.

Backwater Colombian towns have plenty of Renault 4 and 9 taxis. Fiat Oggis as well ( saloon Uno). Lots of mid size Fiat saloons I can’t recall the name of. O yeah, Palio.

It isn’t waste - it is sometimes worth more than the sugar. Which is why most plants split the process and produce it from molasses or low purity recycle flows. Those that take cane to ethanol directly are boom bust operations from year to year. Shell and BP both have big joint ventures with sugar companies in Brazil but hedge their bets making both. I played a minor part in the development of this technology. Long since developed further by younger generations and my little contribution is a just footnote in history.

Uruguay is amazing for old motors. Most countries around there are either Japanese biased, or European biased, but Uruguay has just about every make and model you can think of - Soviet, Japs, Euro, Yank - and South American versions of GM stuff - the whole lot. Nowadays it is pretty much all Korean and Chinese imports. I was there about 5 years ago and saw a couple of Maestros biffing about, even an Allegro parked up in a yard. All my pics are on a work phone and laptop I handed back when I left so I had to remember where I was where I saw one parked and hope it was on Streetview. Kerching! Not Bella Vista, my mistake, it is the town where I went - Salto. Note the Visa and Escort bookending it. He’s definitely an enthusiast and maintaining it, rather than fixing it I reckon.

I suspect this is probably the farthest away Maestro from yours. It is in Bella Vista, Uruguay. Possibly a Bulgarian though. And Etsongs don't count.