They sold millions.....but not this model

[freebird]

Saw one of these this morning...

I cant remember the last time I saw one, even a Google jobbie only threw up this one and one other pic.

I remember Ford being on a bit of a mission when they launched these yet, despite it being a Transit and Fords marketing department going to town with it, bugger all were sold compared to other pick ups.

Ok, Its pretty obvious why they didnt sell like hot cakes, a "normal" pick up had a bigger load bed and real men dont drive pussy vans, right?

So, what other manufacturers built vehicles that nobody wanted, even though it carried the "badge" and had the full might of the company pushing them onto Joe Public?

[cms206]

The only company I know who bought any great number of Transit Flaresides were British Airways - we had two, P475 OLA and P516 OLA. We had 516 as a runabout for a while before the MT took it off us as one of their runabouts...

 

aviance AV02196 - P516 OLA by cms206, on Flickr

 

 

... and I believe it's still in use with Circusair.

 

Servisair 29-3792 - P516 OLA by cms206, on Flickr

 

 

475 went to a local scrap dealer who was still running it just before Christmas.

[ProgRocker]

I remember a red one of these overtaking me on a bend on the A146 outside Lowestoft once.

[Barry Cade]

Never seen the point in flaresides myself...Maybe they were trying to attract redneck builder types?

 

This was the most powerful muscle car in America in 1978

 

 

So, what other manufacturers built vehicles that nobody wanted, even though it carried the "badge" and had the full might of the company pushing them onto Joe Public?

 

Anything French and Executive sized. Anything Italian and executive sized. XM, Argenta, 605, etc.

[Lord Sterling]

Found this pic of a conversion of a mk2 on google:

 

 

They probably didnt sell much as the bed looked a little on the small side.

 

Type in 'Ford Transit Flareside' in google pulls up more pics.

[quicksilver]

I vaguely remember the Flareside but haven't seen one for ages. That Mk2 actually looks better than the factory version, I guess its conventional bonnet makes it look more like the American pickups Ford were trying to emulate.

[RedSparrow]

I've never seen the point in these 'flaresides' either. Seems like a waste of load space. If they were trying to make it look like a yank pick-up then it's a massive failure!

[Tayne]

.

[Albert Ross]

Scuse the shit picture, but I bagged this on the A1 near Retford 6 months ago.

 

You can just make out the rear body sides... it was near mint! The Transit following was in convoy...

[Partridge]

Blimey, I can’t remember the last time I saw one of them...

[gricer]

It was a stop-gap between the end of P100 production in South Africa and the start of Ranger production in Thailand, from what I can remember.

[Ben_L]

Vauxhall Astra Saloon (Mk3) - Only sold in micro numbers compares to Estate and Hatch models. Not helped with the poor spec levels available where the Estate/Hatch were available as; Merit, LS, GLS, CD, CDX, GSi, SRi, Cesaro + all the shit California, Duo, Arctic, Atlas spec.

Saloon was LS, GLS and I think Merit, SRi and CDi for the first two/three years. No CDX meant no AC, leather wheel, leather seats etc.

 

Vauxhall Cavalier 2 Door Saloon - No idea why, I've never seen one but most sources suggest it existed in the UK.

 

Peugeot 306 Sedan - Hardly ever seen these about.

[stuboy]

were couple round here but all dissapeared.... last saw one in scrapyard in sittingbourne

[stuboy]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ford-transit- ... 2a28cad766

[eddyramrod]

Vauxhall Cavalier 2 Door Saloon - No idea why, I've never seen one but most sources suggest it existed in the UK.

 

Peugeot 306 Sedan - Hardly ever seen these about.

 

Cavalier, yes it did exist, I know someone who had one. They're quite prized by the rally/drift mobs, for obvious reasons. Why were they made? Because the Opel range included a 2 door, seems there is, or at least was, quite a market on the Continent for larger saloons with less doors. Hence the extremely-prized 2 door saloon versions of both mk1 and 2 Granada, which we simply weren't offered.

 

306 Sedan, yes, you do see them now and again. My neighbour in Cyprus had one and probably still has. Silver, of course.

[Barry Cade]

I had a Mk1 Cavalier 2-door many many years ago, which I quickly turned into an Ascona, and I suspect many more went this way. Mk 2 was also made in 2-door, but never seen any in UK spec. fairly common in Germany , as were the 2 door Jetta and Passat. Nissan Almera saloon was another you don't see many of here.

[Spiny Norman]

Also in 2 door saloon form, the Volvo 140/240 & late 70s Audi 80. Don't even think they were officially sold here or not, certainly never seen one in this country.

 

 

I quite like big-ish saloons with only 2 doors for some reason, there's often a sort of coupe-ness about them that imparts a sense of sporty behaviour that usually isn't there because the 2 door versions tend to be the poverty spec ones, but hey...

[Joseph]

Following on from Studebaker's point above, another 2 door saloon which I don't think saw huge numbers, and don't think was sold in Britain either:

 

 

Jetta 2 door.

[quicksilver]

There's a Skoda Fabia saloon down the road from me, it's always struck me as a bit unusual and I don't recall seeing another.

[FredTransit]

the owner of that Mk2 flareside (which I hate) has just butchered a mint Mk2 county for the 4x4 running gear. I will like it even less knowing a perfectly good county died to make it 'better'