wuvvum Posted March 16, 2013 Posted March 16, 2013 Yes. I did. Many of you will remember this little beauty as at one stage it was almost as regular a feature on the eBay Tat thread as a certain similarly hued Peugeot. I liked the look of it then, so once the price fell to what I considered to be reasonable I bought it, and last night I got on a train to Dorking to pick it up. The seller was actually a pretty sound bloke - he mainly buys up cars and vans for export but whenever he gets offered something interesting he sticks it on eBay - last year he sold an automatic Talbot Alpine to a chap from Scotland. We exchanged money and paperwork, had a brief chat about cars and then I was on my merry way. It's actually a really sweet little thing to drive, and didn't miss a beat on the 175-mile run home, despite the appalling conditions. It even came with half a tank of pez - and seems to have got home on just over a quarter of a tank, although I dn't know how accurate the gauge is. It's only a 4-speed, but it's quite high-geared so it's not revving its knackers off on the motorway, and I cruised at 65-70 all the way home, apart from a section of the M25 when I slowed down to 50 to make sure I arrived at the Dartford tunnel after 10pm to avoid paying the toll (yes, I really am that tight). Everything seems to work on it - what little there is to work anyway - although the heater fan only works on high speed and the driver's side washer jet doesn't squirt. The rear wash-wipe switch is in a daft position more or less in the passenger footwell, but everything else falls readily to hand. It did develop a slight exhaust blow from the rear on the way home, which I'll have a look at when it stops raining. Had a look round it in daylight this morning and apart from being in dire need of a wash (I'll run it down to the jetwash as soon as the wind dies down to a level that will actually allow the water to reach the car) it looks pretty sound. There's a minor dent on the driver's door and the offside rear bumper corner is tatty, but other than that it's tidy for a 30-year-old Citroën. I haven't been underneath it properly due to the weather, but I had a glance underneath and all looks solid. It's a really oddly-proportioned little thing, especially in profile - it almost looks like it's had a rear end shunt: (Soz 4 blurry pitchers, I didn't realise at the time that I had my camera in manual focus mode ) The interior isn't bad - the front seats have fake sheepskin covers on them but the only damage I've found is a bit on the driver's side backrest which looks like the sun's got to it. It has a Citroën single spoke wheel but everything else is pure Pug 104. The seats are slightly lacking in lumbar support but are otherwise comfy enough, although the driver's seat could ideally do with going back another couple of inches to better accommodate my long legs. The engine bay has the usual canted-over suitcase engine with the spare wheel on top. All looks pretty sound under here to me. The engine starts instantly hot or cold and isn't overly tappety, but it does like a smidgeon of choke to help it accelerate, especially at low revs, so might be due a tune-up. The boot is tiny, but split-fold rear seats help. There's not a lot of room in the back seats either - it's more of a 2+2 than a full four-seater. Overall I'm pretty pleased with it - it's a fun little thing to drive, it's small enough to park anywhere but has enough poke to cope with longer journeys if need be, and initial impressions are that it's pretty good on pez. Once the weather brightens up a bit I'll give it a good going over and sort the minor issues, and then hopefully it can be put into service as my alternate daily over the summer.
trigger Posted March 16, 2013 Posted March 16, 2013 Nice work Dave, I love the basic dash. We should try and get a photo of that and my Alto together, It would be interesting to see the size differance.
RedSparrow Posted March 16, 2013 Posted March 16, 2013 Great! My first thought was that I love the dash too!
skattrd Posted March 16, 2013 Posted March 16, 2013 Thar's ace!Wuv & Trig, if you do do a photo of them together can we have a roadtest/comparison of the two please
retrogeezer Posted March 16, 2013 Posted March 16, 2013 superb! I looked at a beige one of these in 1995! I just couldn't bring myself to drive something so small at the time and ended up with a Renault 9.
SambaS Posted March 16, 2013 Posted March 16, 2013 Can we please please please team up with a Peugeot 104 owner and park it my Samba and said 104 up for a photo... I've been trying to arrange this for years. Please please please. Sorry for being strange.
Conrad D. Conelrad Posted March 16, 2013 Posted March 16, 2013 I love it. That is a perfect economy car interior right there.
RedSparrow Posted March 16, 2013 Posted March 16, 2013 Can we please please please team up with a Peugeot 104 owner and park it my Samba and said 104 up for a photo... I've been trying to arrange this for years. Please please please. Sorry for being strange. That's a good idea. I'd be interested to see the differences in a side by side comparison.
Six-cylinder Posted March 16, 2013 Posted March 16, 2013 Great purchase, this is the place to find more friends and help with this great little car.http://visaforum.freeforums.org/index.php
hairnet Posted March 16, 2013 Posted March 16, 2013 trigs real life road test thats a nice snotter wuv - jelous heer
wuvvum Posted March 16, 2013 Author Posted March 16, 2013 Trig - I'd definitely be up for that - might have to try and make it down to an RR meet at some point soon. I've been wanting to see your Alto in the metal anyway. SambaS - if you can find someone with a 3-door 104 I'd be happy to have the LNA pose for a photo. Everyone else - thanks for the comments. I'm hoping this one will be a keeper...
SambaS Posted March 16, 2013 Posted March 16, 2013 SambaS - if you can find someone with a 3-door 104 I'd be happy to have the LNA pose for a photo. Brill, do we know anyone with one?
Six-cylinder Posted March 16, 2013 Posted March 16, 2013 SambaS - if you can find someone with a 3-door 104 I'd be happy to have the LNA pose for a photo. Brill, do we know anyone with one? I have a cousin, a Visa 17RD.
Spiny Norman Posted March 16, 2013 Posted March 16, 2013 Another top collection tale Wuv. I wonder, are people on here just buying shite old motors so they can do epic write ups about them?
stilo_active Posted March 17, 2013 Posted March 17, 2013 That's lovely. I love the 104/LN/LNA/Visa/Samba family of cars
eddyramrod Posted March 17, 2013 Posted March 17, 2013 Another top collection tale Wuv. I wonder, are people on here just buying shite old motors so they can do epic write ups about them? You mean you hadn't figured that out? Yes! Wuvvum, well caught sir. My mate's wife had one just like that, between her Avenger and a chain of three Volvo 340s. I think she was a born Shiter....
Six-cylinder Posted March 17, 2013 Posted March 17, 2013 The excitement of getting a new car is wonderful, as so many us buy sight unseen now, that first glimpse and then first drive balancing the good bits against the bad in our minds and thinking up the must fix list. I am ready for another fix…… Parting with them is much harder, which is why I have ended up with so many. My Visa will be coming out of hibnation soon and subject to logistics I would be pleased to join in a Peugeot 104 developed photo shoot.
garycox Posted March 17, 2013 Posted March 17, 2013 Looks great - we were considering this before getting the 126.
SambaS Posted March 17, 2013 Posted March 17, 2013 Cool stuff six-cylinder.. Where will we all be at the same time, are we all doing Faux-Chumley? EDIT: I've found some Peugeot 104 owners, we just need to organise to be in the same place etc. Couple of possibilities: Retro Show - Sunday 7th July 2013 - Santa Pod Raceway http://www.retroshow.co.uk/index.html "Chumley 2013" Sun 12th May 2nd Vale Royal Classic Car & Motorcycle Show, Arley Hall & Gardens, Northwich, Cheshire, CW9 6NA. http://autoshite.commlm/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15786&hilit=chumley+2013
Six-cylinder Posted March 17, 2013 Posted March 17, 2013 I can make either of those dates, my Visa will be out and about for May as I an going to a Citroen show in Holland with it May bank holiday.
wuvvum Posted March 17, 2013 Author Posted March 17, 2013 Won't be at Chumley - bit far for me. Santa Pod is a possibility though.
trigger Posted March 17, 2013 Posted March 17, 2013 The thought of driving to Santa Pod in a 796cc car scares the hell out of me, Pencil me in if I still have it!
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