vicsmith

Love these, only ever seen pictures of them from when they were new, and probably saw one getting pulled over in an episode of CHiPs, that program was full of British stuff you never normally see in American films, and that was about it, nice to know one is still around. I wouldn`t mind getting a grille like that for mine. Presuming it`d fit a Mk3, are Capri II grilles a commonplace item in the U.S.?

This was an absolutel mintball: This was at a Renault specialists, hopefully it`s all sorted now: This looked great in BT Grey, looked like original paintwork: Caddy based van affair, would this have been a factory item? Mazda6 service vehicle, had to be captured: Tidy two-tone job on this Cortina, quite a fan of this guy`s work, have to say.

Tell you what, old folk absolutely love tall cars, not hard to see why - must be nectar being able to virtually walk into a car after a few years of folding your arthritic body into a Concerto. As someone that`s experienced a trapped nerve and been fortunate enough to have been running a Daihatsu Mira at the time, I would opine that tall cars are quite un-pointless.

Hold on tight, here we go, no vic, that`s no good, you gotta get higher than that etc. Espero! Mk1 Probe on a space-saver with permanently popped up lights: P100/barrel crossover: Concerto 4 - door, which, I am led to believe, is something of a rareboy. Homebrew 2-tone job on a 416. I though I was into two-toning stuff but this guy is a pro. Loads more to come, including some that weren`t just taken through the windscreen to avoid having to get out of the car.

This is quite possibly the nicest remaining example in this country. I`ve heard/seen pictures of about 6 remaining 2-litres and 2 180s including mine. I`d like to think there were more, that`s a dangerously low stock for such a stylish car. Don`t suppose you`ve found a decent source for bits have you? I`ve had to get everything off ebay and it`s a bit tricky, I ended up in a right old tussle with a french guy over a master cylinder once. If you ever need a rear light lens give me a shout I`ve got about 8 of them!

Had a lot of hyundais from that time pass through my old lot, including a few of these, never gave any trouble, in fact the only thing Hyundais used to let me down on were, occasionally, distributors, which has been alluded to in an earlier post, and these can be time consuming to source second hand, but we`re only talking a week to track one down instead of 5 minutes for a Fiesta. You need to buy 2nd hand, too, dealer prices for distributors are, unlike subframes, not at all reasonable. I`ve always thought if you buy an old Hyundai, start looking for a 2nd hand dizzy before you need one, do that and there`s not a lot to catch you out.

I've never understood why whenever the final incarnation of the Zephyr/Zodiac crops up, at some point it's looks will be called into question, and any positive comments usually come with some sort of justification which I would have thought was unnecessary. Surely it`s just part of the same fold as all the other big, american influenced late `60s/early `70s cars, and if you like the Mk1 Granada, PC Cresta, Chrysler 180, Opel Rekord etc. then the Zephyr`s styling is beyond reproach? I think they`re fantastic looking, and not in any sort of bollocky, ironic way, just genuinely stylish, and I would be curious to see how many would agree.

This thread never disappoints. As a whole it's probably one of the best things on the internet.

The last Morris Oxford was sold in 1913. 1966 had ABS brakes. The first turbocharged production vehicle was in fact Henry J. Ford. Noel Edmonds owns more than one pair of shoes.

Still a lot around compared to anything else than finished in 1995 - Mk3 Fiesta and Sunny both ceased on the "N" (Okay, the Fiesta trickled on for a bit as the Classic) and they seem a considerably rarer sight than the Mk3 Cavalier, yet the Fiesta equaled it for simplicity and outnumbered it at the time, and the Sunny was a popular car that was just as tough. Cavalier numbers seem to be similar to Mk3 Golf numbers, but the Golf had the luxury of not being stopped until 1998. As others have suggested, maybe some people know when they're onto a good thing, if you want a nice modern comfortable car that`ll cruise all day at 100 mph, not feel like it`s going to fall apart and give sensible mpg but it`s clutch can be changed in half an hour where else are you going to look? That slatty grille SRi looks a bit tasty by the way, don't remember seeing many in that nice pale blue.

There`s a Maroon one near me, not particularily mint, just presentable, with Maroon wheels and chrome dog dishes, driven by an elderly woman, and I always love seeing it, can`t understand why seeing a nice old Minor wouldn`t brighten anyone`s day really, but then I suppose that bloke who was caught bumming a goat behind some rocks probably wonders why not everyone likes bumming goats. While not at the top of my list, I`d have a Minor in a flash if one came up in the right circs.

If I were in your position I`d get the late `90s Cadillac STS - you can probably get one from the early 2000s - much better looking than the new Caddies, very well proportioned like a big `80s Italian number and a nice bluff front end, well rated, supposed to handle alright and the Northstar engine is meant to be tough, plus there`s plenty of them around, they were sold in UK dealers, parts shouldn`t be a big problem, but a totally different choice, I know the W8s etc are probably really impressive machines but why have such a commonplace shape when you don`t have to?

The 89-94 Mazda 323 BG, though in no way a potential winner of this, deserves a mention due to having 3 and 5 door versions that look absloutely nothing like each other, have no interchangeable panels or trim and even totally different dashboards. To add to this, the 4 - door version shares nothing with either car except the 3-door`s headlights and front bumper. The wings and bonnet look the same, but they are not. It`s as though Mazda were trying to make the range as unprofitable as possible. Mk2 Cavalier puts up a good fight, though: 4 dr saloon 2 dr saloon 5 dr hatch 5 dr estate 2 dr estate (Brazil) 2 dr coupe (Brazil) Convertible Chassis cab (perhaps)

That Calibra seems to have gone for weigh in money due to a spider being there. I wish I`d known about it, a cheap Calibra PLUS a nice big spider to take home and get up to mischief with - offering it to grandma in a crisp packet, putting it in dad`s coat pocket so it goes onto him next time he puts it on, things like that.

The Fiat does not look screwed to me, depends how much you like it I suppose, but there doesn`t look to be anything un-sortable on there, might need to go into someone who really knows their bodywork but and these people sometimes want a lot, sometimes don`t. I`ve had some nice surprises quoted for seemingly unrepairable structural damage, I bet the bloke who did my 323 would laugh at the idea of that being unfixable.

This was at the 1992 NEC show? I think I was at that show, and there is something familiar about the cut away door panels, I`ve a suspicion I remember actually seeing this on display. It does look like the kind of cutaway stuff they had back then.

Those Blueberry Muffins look like a good deal at first, but they also don`t look very big. Are they selling mini-muffins at 25p a pop, and thinking they`re doing folk a big massive favour by doing that?

I have an ex unmarked Police Sierra 2.9 XR4x4: Had it 5 years, it`s been off the road since `08 but it had the MOT welding done and 2 new springs before it was laid up and it gets fired up and trundled about regularily enough, the intention is to get it back in use by next Winter. Needs a rear window if anyone nearby has one. You`re right about the hard lives these cars lead, it`s had more than one new front end and a couple of colour changes. Engine is lovely however, and it has always been a good reliable car and it still goes and grips plenty. In fact mechanically I`ve never worried about it at all, no diff whine or any issues with the `box. Still has a Blue rocker switch on the centre console for what I presume would have been the concealed flashing lights.

Nice eclectic little bunch, I`d be delighted to own any of those, Dodge Ram(?) must be a contender for the best pick-up styling ever.

Oh no Frank Sidebottom was ace, it`s hard to imagine such a character occuring nowadays.

The Chrysler 180 Coupe would have been nice: Apparently someone actually saw this parked up somewhere and sketched it, if that`s the case then the prototype must have been crushed pretty quickly, this is the only thing about it on the whole internet.

The continuous strip taillights on that New Yorker are a master stroke. Always been a big fan of the Precint 13 Ambassador and Used Cars Merc, and in a similar vein, check out Uncle Jessie`s moonrunnin` special in Dukes of Hazard: I bought THAT box set anticipating lots of stacklight Mopar action but was delighted to discover a huge `71 Custom/Galaxie/LTD presence.

Nice work with the Cavalier Mr.Cubicle, for some reason I`ve always found the GLS to be even classier than the CDX, it just rolls of the tongue better. Gave the 180 a swill off and took it for a quick trundle last night, and enjoyed the fact that long term storage doesn`t seem to be adversely affecting anything, it`s just as clattery and `50s sounding as it always has been:

Glad to see other folk on here like a good stacked headlight as much as I do, also glad the late `60s, early `70s full-size service vehicles are getting some props too, I recently paid good money for a Superman box set purely beacuse of the `71 Custom action in the first 2 films, especially the Red one Lois Lane falls down a big hole in, maybe it`s something about Bright Red American cars on dirt roads or something, I always like to witness the Valiant getting really dusty in Duel as well. Thing is, anyone that pours scorn on how American cars drive needs to remember that they take a bit of acclimatising to, they might seem a bit unresponsive at first then you suddenly realise you could happily drive this thing all day without a break, which is probably deliberate considering the size of the country they`re built for. Anyway, check this out: