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Spotted's Spottings (2023 final holiday updates 08/10/23)


Spottedlaurel

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This is well class.

Roof rack for functiional use only AND budget supermarket cola.

 

I can never work out which of these are FWD and which are RWD. Christ knows what Triumph were playing at back then.

 

Quite taken with the flowery Sherpa too.... :oops:

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This is well class.

Roof rack for functiional use only AND budget supermarket cola.

 

I can never work out which of these are FWD and which are RWD. Christ knows what Triumph were playing at back then.

 

 

The early ones were FWD,I don't think they made them for very long.My mate had an M reg one for his 1st car in 1983,I know it was RWD as it spent a lot of time going sideways :lol:
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Ihad a front wheel drive 1500 manual for a while, back in the '80s. Bit of an old man's chariot really, but a very pleasant thing to drive, and interior was alovely place to be. It stripped the gears on the big gear wheel at the back of the engine which transmits drive to the gear box. Fixed it ourselves via the removable panel in the floor- a remarkable bit of foresight from the designers, who must presumably have anticipated such failures?! Then the Rotoflex couplings on the drive shafts fell to bits, and we decided to call it a day. Sold it to someone who intended to fix it up, don't know if they ever did though.

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Tidy Mk1, young lad owner obviously starting to accessorise it, sadly. Chrome bumpers look out of place on one this late, and in this colour - possibly retro-fitted for added bling?

I suspect so - the facelift came in on X-reg. Trivia alert - the later big black bumpers have two mounting nuts per side, the earlier items only one. hence the front and rear panels are actually slightly different.

 

Unfortunately there's a bit of a scene round early Fiestas, therefore - much like mk1 Golfs - it won't be long until most of the survivors are modified in some way.

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  • 3 weeks later...

A few more odds and ends:

 

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As ever, plenty of variety at the monthly meet-up at The Angel (Trigger, you must bring your '02 along).

 

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I'll make no apologies for posting several pic's of this Cortina, as it was heart-stoppingly wonderful. I spent some time looking at the shape of it, which the mod's had brought out perfectly - the way the door handle sits neatly in the middle of those coke bottle bulges front and rear for example. Shame about the LoM tax with Mk3's, I would love one some day as they're the defining car of my 1970s youth (we had three of them ourselves).

 

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Whoa! Nissan Atlas (Cabstar to us) JDM airport fire trucks. Norfolk import dealer who sells a lot of Cubes bought these on a whim, he said they're not for sale as he likes the interest they create. Says he'll chuck some trade plates on and I can have a drive one day, ace!

 

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A trip on Norfolk's Poppy line saw us getting a ride behind this, probably a touch of overkill for the few carriages it was pulling. Pleasingly rusty.

 

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Another Cabstar, nice that it's not the usual dropside body. This one had an opening hatch the other side, it sold meat. Hang on, what's that in the background?...

 

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A Mk1 Uno! (Edited for stupidity by SL) G-reg seems quite late. I genuinely didn't see that at the time, it was only when I came to edit the photos I noticed it - very neat bit of timing.

 

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3-series action (and old people with ice creams and a closed Woolies) in Sheringham.

 

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Nice to see original plates and dealer sticker on this Polo. Recorder Motor Company, Norwich - well before my time here.

 

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Mystery tape repair and general shabbiness on this.

 

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All the above from Kelling Heath, a big caravan/camping place on the Norfolk coast. They had a sort-of show on to celebrate their anniversary. The Eriba-bodied Renault just happened to be there, looked quite appealing.

 

That's it for now. As it's early perhaps Wings & Wheels next? Clear the decks before anything of note we see on a classic car rally we're on tomorrow.

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Trigger, you must bring your '02 along

I might well do, I haven't been at a meet before (Apart from when i was 18-19 and hanging out down 'the patch' in Colchester on a Saturday night) and could do with some apt minded people to talk to as none of my mates really like cars and most them I'm a sado for getting anything older then 2007 :roll: .Where is this Angel pub that you speak? :?:Oh and i saw that Mk3 Cortina at cars on the green, It's stunning! :shock:
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  • 1 month later...

About time for an update...

 

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Not a bad start eh? Nice touch in how the black on the house matches the car.

 

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Snaps by Mrs SL while we were en-route to the SCCON Midsummer Classic rally thing in the Laurel. I'd like to have seen the reaction had the Escort been an entrant...

 

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Visit to a sculpture exhibition netted this.

 

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Nice pairing.

 

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Couple of Swedes.

 

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Nice little Civic seen at Billing last weekend, I wasn't the only one who took photos of it.

 

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Better shots of the Atlas (Cabstar) fire engine.

 

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Possibly posted before, but again a better shot. Visited here as Iwan was kindly taking me down to Surrey to collect the Bluebird, so we tried to find a few interesting things en-route.

 

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Chance find, had a chat with the friendly owner. He had it imported, it's a Trueno version of the good old AE86 Corolla. My old Laurel in the background was transport for the day, nice way of cruising about.

 

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A rare visit to a scrapyard! We struggled to find one happy to let us wander about and take pic's, but to be honest what was in them was massively less interesting than just a few years ago. This Benz was unexpected, though looks a bit sad.

 

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Don't see many Vanettes about now.

 

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US-spec Altima off the base. Not sure if at this age this would still be related to Japanese-market Bluebird, or if it had gone its own way by the time of this one.

 

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Bound for export I'd say. Mazda a little rough...

 

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Hopefully this just being stored there.

 

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Find of the day?!

 

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Never heard of Hazeldene Motors, for added shite value they did FSO as well.

 

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x58/Spottedlaurel/Spotteds%20Spottings/P7279138small.jpg

 

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x58/Spottedlaurel/Spotteds%20Spottings/P7279140.jpg

 

More export victims.

 

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x58/Spottedlaurel/Spotteds%20Spottings/P7279143.jpg

 

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Poor old Accord.

 

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x58/Spottedlaurel/Spotteds%20Spottings/P7279146.jpg

 

Back on the road again, this Camry was travelling at a fair old lick on the M11 (my candidate for most boring road, had motorways been allowed).

 

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x58/Spottedlaurel/Spotteds%20Spottings/P7279148.jpg

 

This rod was being towed by a Dutch-registered van, presumably the strong Euro seeing this one going across the North Sea. Seth will like, I'm sure.

 

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x58/Spottedlaurel/Spotteds%20Spottings/P7279153.jpg

 

As well as a Stag in the garage and a TR6 elsewhere, seller of my Bluebird also had this. Just picked it up for £900, looked a tidy example.

 

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x58/Spottedlaurel/Spotteds%20Spottings/P7279155small.jpg

 

Big old brake lights on Iwan's Laurel. Rain spoilt what would have been a rather scenic journey travelling across Surrey from Farnham to RR/OJCer Goosegog's place.

 

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They've just restored this lovely 100A. Ms Goosegog uses it very regularly.

 

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x58/Spottedlaurel/Spotteds%20Spottings/P7279160.jpg

 

7-litre conversion in this, a car he'd bought home from work. But more interesting what's in the garage...

 

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x58/Spottedlaurel/Spotteds%20Spottings/P7279162.jpg

 

His rather splendid Corona.

 

And after that I drove my new Bluebird home, to round off an excellent extended weekend.

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I'm not going to find it now, but the one we saw back then was a G-reg dropside pickup, IIRC. It was still parked up there for a good year or two after we'd seen it; I'll probably be visiting the yard near it soon as they have a few Bluebirds for racing so I'll see if the Dacia is still festering away.

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Great spots there SL!.

We struggled to find one happy to let us wander about and take pic's, but to be honest what was in them was massively less interesting than just a few years ago.

I found that the other day, I needed a radio surround from a Volvo 240/340 to use in my 02 so i went to Gunhill which was the biggest and best scrappy in the area on the A12 to be told they only sell Salvage now.So moved on into Colchester to the two that next to each other down the Hythe, One tells me they only crush cars now due to the scrappage scheme and the other was just full of T reg and newer cars!, I even had my camera but there was nothing to take pictures of, Most gutted, And not even a Volvo in sight. :cry: They did have a Mazda Xedos and a Mondeo 4-door getting weighed on the bridge mind.But where's all the old crap gone??!!
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Great spots there SL!.

Thanks! Netted a few nice ones while out and about yesterday, to come at some point soon.

I found that the other day, I needed a radio surround from a Volvo 240/340 to use in my 02 so i went to Gunhill which was the biggest and best scrappy in the area on the A12 to be told they only sell Salvage now.So moved on into Colchester to the two that next to each other down the Hythe............

Shame. One of those yards (Autobreak IIRC) was where the one-owner SA-spec 1988 Skyline was found, which I bought and now lives in Holland with Iwan.What about heading north of Ipswich up to Mills at Hollesley, Spall's or Sole Bay? As they serve a more rural area I find they usually have some interesting things in them. Or Whip St Motors out at Paper Mill Lane?
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Some lovely high street captures there. But that Dacia! Can someone confirm whether the saloons and estates were actually imported, and more to the point any sold here? I heard that the Romanian embassy had a few to knock around in. The sales brochure has a couple of Y registered cars but I really cannot recall seeing one. Even these pick ups seemed rare when new - the only Dacia I've seen in any numbers were the Duster vans/pick ups.I like those 504 pick ups too, I saw an early pick up with a camper body and round front lights on the opposite carridgeway of the A34 recently. I would have probabily left off at the next junction and make the missus snap it, had I not been rushing to get to the flicks to see Transformers.....

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Some lovely high street captures there. But that Dacia! Can someone confirm whether the saloons and estates were actually imported, and more to the point any sold here?

Yep - there was a blue saloon in Beverley in the mid-late 80s. I used to see it every now and again going home from school. It struck me as odd being a Y-reg Renault 12 until I found out what it was. Must have been the only one in the area though.
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A late relation of mine owned a small dealership in the village of Monk's Eleigh, Suffolk, and I remember him selling Dacias - mostly pick-ups but the occasional Denem saloon too. I recall as a lad liking one such Denem as it was metallic blue with a vinyl roof like my old man's Allegro 1750HL.He was a Yugo and Lonsdale dealer for a while too, but switched to Lada soon after. Noel Edmonds used to fill up his Roller with 5 star there. This relation used to sort my old man out with decent second hand motors which is why he had Triumph 2000's and Allegro 1750's and Dolomites when I was growing up instead of clapped out old Minors and Anglias his budget would have stretched to. My love of shite comes from spending a lot of time in that dealership during school holidays. I suspect I am one the only people here to have actually had a ride in a Lonsdale.Willows garage is gone now.

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Gone indeed, just some executive houses now. I wonder what happened to a white Yugo 55 that might have been stored there – my stepdad’s ex-wife had one brand new, but it was so rubbish she stopped making the payments on it, some big legal ding-dong ensued and the car just sat somewhere as I recall. I think if I ever bought a Yugo I might be disowned...Be wonderful to think a Lonsdale was still tucked away in a barn out that way, I regularly drive through that area. Wonder if they sold many? My experience in Boxford with a similar car dealership in the village was that the locals would be quite faithful to them and buy whatever brand they were selling.

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Some lovely high street captures there. But that Dacia! Can someone confirm whether the saloons and estates were actually imported, and more to the point any sold here? I heard that the Romanian embassy had a few to knock around in. The sales brochure has a couple of Y registered cars but I really cannot recall seeing one. Even these pick ups seemed rare when new - the only Dacia I've seen in any numbers were the Duster vans/pick ups. Yes, Dacias were imported into the U.K. for about 2 years in the early 1980s. The cars, based on the Renault 12, were sold under the slogan "the very acceptable Dacia Denem"-suffice it to say-they weren't! The importation of the vans and pickups was also done at the same time, but was re-started in the late 1980s/early 1990s, when a small (and I do mean SMALL) number of the pickups came in. They were again based on the 12, but the company also maunufactured a 4 X 4, called a "Duster".... Do you want to know more?? Thought not! Can I take my anorak off now, please?

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Gone indeed, just some executive houses now. I wonder what happened to a white Yugo 55 that might have been stored there – my stepdad’s ex-wife had one brand new, but it was so rubbish she stopped making the payments on it, some big legal ding-dong ensued and the car just sat somewhere as I recall. I think if I ever bought a Yugo I might be disowned...Be wonderful to think a Lonsdale was still tucked away in a barn out that way, I regularly drive through that area. Wonder if they sold many? My experience in Boxford with a similar car dealership in the village was that the locals would be quite faithful to them and buy whatever brand they were selling.

According to records I saw briefly after he died, 4 Lonsdales were sold in 12 months (not 1 as I previously thought). I am not sure whether his other garage (Baylham) sold them as well. I recall lots of unsatisfied owners of Yugos during that time. Quite a few 311's (all red) used to queue down the slope to the shop for fixing. I saw a red 311 in Mildenhall a few months ago - Sid n' Doris job in perfect condition. The reg was an Ipswich one (XRT). Willows Garage halcyon days were the BL years followed by several good years of Subaru.I guess pension day in Bildeston or Hadleigh may yield a Lonsdale...
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