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Lonsdale yd41???


sierraman

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Lord Bob Edmiston owns IM Group, current UK importer of Subaru, Isuzu and Great Wall. And until recently, Daihatsu.

 

Also former owner of Jensen and former importer of Hyundai and SsangYong cars.

 

He's very, very, very rich, and I can guarantee he has no Lonsdales tucked away anywhere.

 

As an aside, IM Group did own a Daihatsu Compagno, though I'm not sure what's happened to it now Daihatsu is no longer imported here. May have been sold. It was beautifully restored a decade or so ago.

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I work for a Colt dealer that sold (I think) Lonsdales as well. Certainly serviced them. One of the company names that appeared on various paperwork was Lonsdale Motors.

 

Had odd handling suspension set-up on them, always felt heavier than the equivalent Sigmas/Galants. 2.6 Auto estates were a beast, and very common (as far as Lonsdales go) locally.

 

Ah, the 80's, how I miss thee..

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I work for a Colt dealer that sold (I think) Lonsdales as well. Certainly serviced them. One of the company names that appeared on various paperwork was Lonsdale Motors.

 

Had odd handling suspension set-up on them, always felt heavier than the equivalent Sigmas/Galants. 2.6 Auto estates were a beast, and very common (as far as Lonsdales go) locally.

 

Ah, the 80's, how I miss thee..

 

I worked for a 'Bishi dealership in the mid 1990's. Apparently they were set to take on Lonsdale but it went tits up before the brochures arrived and had thre Sigma instead. The Lonsdale YD41 arrived in May 1983. Rear drive and based on the 1980 model Galant floorpan/engines, it was rebadged as the Mitsubishi Sigma in May 1984. At £5699, the 1600 was barely 100 quid less than the 1.6L Sierra, Passat and Cavalier, all around £5800. No wonder it flopped. At £4800 it might have had a chance.

 

Lonsdale didn't really die in '84 as Oz cars were still imported. The nineties Sigma was a great car - the (Jap built..?) saloon with 4WS and the multivalve V6 was nice, but the Oz built Sigma estate with the old 2v V6 was a proper motor.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 10 months later...
  • 1 year later...

Holy thread resurrection Batman (etc.)

 

I sourced this from the attic of a former dealership a fortnight ago - makes me smile just thinking that it had probably been sitting there since c. 1984!

 

IMG_4393_zps1ufrobng.jpg

 

Looking vastly better after a shampoo & rinse:

 

IMG_4415_zpsxc3kamj6.jpg

 

This will feature in the new Autoshite Northamptonshire showroom that is being built in Q1/2 2017 - watch this space! :-)

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  • 6 months later...

Last, and only, one I ever saw was a blue estate on a dealer's forecourt opposite where my grandad worked in 1989.  Amazingly I've remembered the reg plate correctly, A51DAL, it shows as being last taxed in February 1994.  So I think we can safely say that's long gone.  Apparently it was a 2.6.
It takes a special kind of special to remember the number plate of a car you saw once briefly 28 years ago.  I was 13 at the time.

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