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Shite that's passing us by....


Baz

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Back when I was slightly more active on here....Five years or so ago, I guess....I was mainly into the 70's/80's French stuff, but I was often quite attracted to some of the more obscure/mundane family stuff from East Asia in the 90's and early noughties....There's no doubt that most of it was SHIT, but back then, it was all probably just a little recent to have been of much interest on here, as bona fide SHITE....I suppose it was "Futureshite", if you like....Stuff like:

 

- Daewoo Nexia, Espero, Leganza.

- Daihatsu Applause.

- Hyundai Lantra, Sonata.

- Kia Mentor, Clarus, Magentis, Cerato.

- Proton Persona, Impian, Wira.

- Suzuki Baleno Saloon/Estate.

 

Have spent a couple of hours on Ebay/Autotrader this afternoon, and am really surprised at how little of this tat that there seems to be for sale out there at the moment....Maybe they're all being cherished by loving owners somewhere, but I suspect not! Surely that means most of the above have now earned true "SHITE" status now? I can't believe that I cannot find ONE Daewoo Espero for sale! Yes, they were rubbish, but they did look pretty good (To me, anyway!) and they used to be quite easy to find....I vowed to myself that I'd keep my eye on cars like this, but I didn't, and seemingly they've all disappeared!

 

I did find this though, which I'd probably buy if I thought I'd get away with it:

 

pic.jpg

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p

 

....Looks pretty good for £495 to me!

 

I think I'm gonna make it my mission after Christmas, to Ebay some of my copious clutter, get myself £3-500 together, and "rescue" one of the above, increasingly obscure, vehicles (Espero is my favourite, I think!) and attend as many Autoshite meets as possible with it. So S.L, Wuvvum and any others from Norfolk, stand by after Christmas....Hopefully there'll be another shite collection mission, if anyone's interested! :wink:

 

Anybody already own/run any of the above? Any other suggestions?

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saopenzafront.jpg

 

(photo from PetrolBlog)

 

There was a brief flurry of these round about 1991. I haven't seen one in the metal since about '95. Quite cheap as I recall, and not awful.

 

See also: SillyRover. A mate bought one yesterday for no other reason than it was too cheap NOT to buy @ £250 with 9 months test & rent. I haven't seen it yet, but an 04 car, no matter how (supposedly) awful for that money is a steal.

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Shit the bed, that Nexia is MINT! Check out the original wheeltrims. Definitely one to squirrel awy for the future regardless of how shit they are - these are the first Daewoos in the country and like my Datsun 1000, part of our motoring heritage - early forays by companies that eventually go on to great success. The whole sales through Halfords thing has a certain charm and curiosity. if I had a spare 500 quid, I'd be all over that!!

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I give you a £225 Kia Shuma.

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p

 

That is the most utterly miserable, depressing, soul-destroying mode of transport imaginable. That said, it certainly is cheap, I can't imagine it'd need much for an MOT, these things seem to absorb neglect. Kia have certainly moved on.

 

It's harder to get interest about cars that were still very common when I started driving

 

Perhaps this is the thing, there's a whole load of these mid/late-nineties budget cars and they're just not old enough yet to be interesting. They had no redeeming features when new, now they're also old, worn out and probably in some cases hard to find parts for. Those early Daewoos were pretty unreliable. Give it another 10 years and they'll be rare enough to be interesting.

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Trouble is a minor fault on these cars can tip the ballance between resale value and what they weigh

 

Also some things arnt worth fixing ive just scrapped an 02 Magentis that diddnt appear to have much wrong with it other than low value and desirability but on close inspection the front subframe was rotten so it was terminal .

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Those Nexias had a 1.5 16v lump which looked like a red-top. I bet they're a perky enough drive. And low tax band too.

On red-tops, earlier in the year, Wuvs found a pov-spec Lanos on ebay with a real one plumbed in. What a toy!

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Funnily enough, I had a chat with a friend in the pub the other night, where we came to the same conclusion, i.e. that all that non-Jap Asian stuff

disappeared as quickly as it came. The phrase 'Hyundai Pony' fell a few times that evening and how unlikely it is that someone tucked one away.

When have you last seen one?

 

I had an Espero a few years back. Not that bad a car, really, it was basically an Ascona C with Bertone coachwork. Why the yellow gents always

get the shaft end of the deal when they hire European designers, is a phenomenon, that will never cease to amaze me.

Mine was a 2.0 auto, with power everything, including sunroof and A/C and most buttons still worked.

When Daewoo was rechristened Chevrolet (what a bloody sacrilege, those corporate clowns should be tracked down and hung by their bollox),

they immediately stopped catering for the Esperos.

Once orphaned, it became difficult to get spares for it. Sadly, the MoT henchman spoke evil, too, so it had to go over the bridge.

I haven't seen another one since and I bet many met the same fate. Add that godforsaken Scrappage Scheme and you can figure out where all

those cars are now. You probably bought your beans in one yesterday.

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My daughter has an 03 Shuma, drinks fuel quicker than I do beer, exhaust blowing and a fifth gear that lets the engine rev like it was fourth......I'm having to go and look at it's issues later today.....but all in all, it may be shit, but it is top quality shite :D

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it may be shit, but it is top quality shite :D

 

That's the thing....Yes, all the cars mentioned in this thread are BAD cars, but then so was (For example....Just off the top of my head) The FSO Polonez, and one of those, due to it's scarcity today, is surely much coveted in these circles? I don't think you can really buy a truly BAD car today, which (Unless the Chinese step in pretty soon) means that true Shite will become a rarer and rarer commodity....Thankfully, lots of people are already preserving Shite from the '70s/'80s, and I reckon some of the Korean/Malaysian efforts from the '90s....However crap....Deserve to survive too.

 

My search will start in the New Year....If I could find one of those 358 Espero, I'd be quite pleased....And surely it would be welcomed on here? :wink:

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I don't think the Nexias, Esperos and Shumas were bad cars in the way of a Morris Ital or FSO Polonez. Maybe they weren't the last word in style or chassis dynamics, however they were quite reliable, cheap to run and relatively easy to fix (especially the Opel-based ones) and didn't give you a back ache every time you drove the two miles to Morrisons.

 

In fact, I bet they were much better than a brand new Nissan Pixo.

 

The Sonata and Applause were actually bloody GOOD cars.

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My search will start in the New Year....If I could find one of those 358 Espero, I'd be quite pleased.

 

The best time to buy something like this is the fortnight before Christmas.

That's when I usually get me a WBoD (Winter Beater of Distinction) and I'm often the only bidder on Ebay.

I once got me an LDV Pilot with T&T for the minimum bid of 150 quid this way. The seller was well pissed off.

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I think last Christmas was the golden time for cheap old vans - the usual seasonal lack of demand combined with the impending extension of the London LEZ to pre-2002 light vans meant that the supply /demand balance was heavily tipped in the buyer's favour - I bought a V-plate LWB Transit TD with tax and test for £310, I could probably get that back for it now as spares. Your Pilot sounds like even more of a bargain, but I don't think I could stand to drive a Pilot more than a few feet at a time.

 

Back on topic, I'd quite like to try an Espero some time - would have to be a 1.5 though for maximum misery.

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A Bitter SC and a Charade saloon in one afternoon - that is the embodiment of the expression "from the sublime to the ridiculous". I am envious.

 

I actually saw a Charade saloon a couple of weeks ago. Rather odd-looking thing from the back - rather high boot combined with low-mounted number plate leaves quite an expanse of blank metal. Would imagine something like that has probably been giffer-owned so should be reliable.

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how about the Daihatsu Applause daihatsu_applause_limited_green_1989.jpg

 

The Applause was indeed included in my original selection....I love pretty much any Daihatsu (And therefore, I guess, any Perodua!)....The Copen is another dream car of mine....The latest model of Charade is also a favourite with me: I'll definitely sample one of those once they're cheap enough! 8)

 

Back to the Applause though....I'd love to find, or see someone else find one, and bring it into the fold....Sadly, according to "How Many Left", they're even rarer than the Espero! :shock:

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