What decade or era

[gordonbennet]

was your golden age for cars?

 

You've possibly had this discussion a hundred times, but i'm a new boy, well ok an old fart, and haven't seen the discussion if you have.

 

I don't mean which were the most beautiful as we all have our own favourites, i mean those which were good durable cars with at least a nod in the art of corrosion resistance, but that we could still fix fairly cheaply by using our noddles a bit and some good old fashioned real diagnosis of problems.

 

 

[HMC]

My favourite period is circa late 80s/ early 90s. On the whole manufacturers wised up and got to grips with corrosion resistance whilst not getting too ahead of themselves with electrical Systems. As a day to day user decent heat/ vent systems are nice for the non masochists, especially this time of year!

[mercrocker]

There are several decades I like.   The one with the best music - 1950s.   The one I remember most  fondly - 1960s and the one where  I live now - 1970s.

However, when it comes to cars its the 80s for me.  Not as first choice, gotta have one one day lottery type wish.    I mean, hope I mean, in the spirit of your question.   An 80s car represents the natural zenith of mechanical and engineering progress so you get all of the benefits of learning almost the very day before all became shite again.  My 1990 Mercedes is such a car.   There are faster, prettier, more desirable cars but none that I could live with as I have lived with these.   I drive most of  my shite  for different reasons but this one I drive because it is, in my opinion, the best car ever made.  And it cost me a grand to buy five years ago, still has not  rusted and ages better, visually, every year.....

[messerschmitt owner]

my favourite period for design is the mid-late 50s but for modern usable cars its late 80s and early 90s. Good enough to be reliable as a daily driver, easy enough to fix.

[EssDeeWon]

I grew up in the 80s and early 90s longing to drive when there were still plenty of MK2 Granada's and SD1's to choose from in the classifieds, and if I had money I could buy a nice 1989 RR Vogue SE or a nice MK4 XR3i, perhaps some Granada Scorpio 2.9 too 

[Asimo]

1970 - 1974

So much choice: front engine, rear engine, Fwd/Rwd or a proper Range Rover. Air cooled, wankel or whatever as long as it wasn't a turbo-diesel.

Riley, Wolseley, MG, Morris or Austin badges are all available if Sir does not select the Vanden-Plas.

Fords available in large, medium and small plus Transit and Capri.

XJ6 /12, 911, MG V8, Lotus Elan,

Volkswagens with wet or dry engines at either end,

Citroen SM / GS / DS / Cx..............

[Skizzer]

1978 to 1992.  Anything newer is an appliance; anything older is archaeology.

[gordonbennet]

Thats what i'm talking about.

 

Fully in agreement about the 80's and 90's, as said in recent years they stuffed far too much electronic rubbish in.

 

Modern stuff really does nothing for me, people will be coming over all uncessary because apparently there's yet another Focus facelift coming out...well i'll go to the foot of our stairs...you couldn't pay me enough to own one of these cloned bloody modern hatches i'd rather stick pins in me eyes, boring electronic tat.

 

Years before the 80's corrosion was a nightmare for most of us, by the time i could afford to buy cars i truly loved from previous years they'd been allowed to rot by their uncaring ungrateful owners, and as we know too well, simply too far gone for most to be saved.

 

Agreed, not the most beautiful era for cars, with some exceptions, but probably the best years for the likes of most of us.

[eddyramrod]

I'd stop earlier, Skizzer; about 1985-ish.  Otherwise, yes, agreement there.  For practicality, that's the period.  For style, I'm afraid one has to rewind a further 20 years or so.

[fordperv]

i am an 80s technology man, bare bones electrical systems which were relatively simple to fix and good honest mechanicals in comparison to modernz

[Cavcraft]

We have had it endless times and it's always the late 1980s and the 1990s that are the winning era for well made, reliable cars.

[KruJoe]

1988 - 1993ish.

I could maybe stretch to 1996, if only to include some pretty Alfas, and the Peugeot 406 Coupe.

[DSdriver]

I think Mercrocker has nailed it as far as I am concerned. I am stuck very much in the seventies living in a house with coloured baths (fortunately blue and yellow, not brown and avacado) and the two DS, one as a daily driver and the other "for best". Oh and a 1976 sailing boat which has a nice shiny new propellor.

[dollywobbler]

1988 - 1993ish.

I could maybe stretch to 1996, if only to include some pretty Alfas, and the Peugeot 406 Coupe.

 

Similar, though the Sirion has fired up my interested in late 90s stuff. Still very simple, but enough clever bits to work really well.

 

I think 1980s 2CVs are my favourites overall. Yes, the metal is thinner than earlier 2CVs, but you get disc brakes, a nice twin-choke carburettor and two-tone paintwork.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

This will probably be regarded as the ravings of a heretic,but, I don't think the 'over engineered' late 80's early 90's German cars represent the zenith of usable ,durable cars. They are just the current darlings of they don't make 'em like they used to movement, my grandad thought no decent cars were made after 1959, my dad thinks fuel injection is black magic and I can't get my head round the fact cars don't have distributors any more.

When the W123 was replaced by the W124 is was just a logical development and customers flocked to change,similarly when the W210 came along. The fact MB screwed up on quality meant this was short lived, but by the end of the production run they pulled it back and already people are saying a late diesel estate is a better bet than the replacement W211.

I think the best cars were from the late 70's early 80's. Rover SD1,Granada ,W123 Merc,Range Rover,S3 XJ6 etc. All can be used every day,can be made relatively rustproof and most importantly can be fixed by a total mechanical ignoramus like me.

This can be explained by the fact they were the cars I read about and aspired to when I was in my teens,in much the same way e34s,w124s, Sierras,XJ40s etc were the aspirational cars of the people who are now 40ish and hence influential in the 'classic' car market now.

My daughters will probably wax lyrical about that old fashioned Merc CLS or Chrysler 300 their dad had 20 years ago and how they were the last of the unrestricted cars you could drive without preprogramming.

On my drive there is an 80's BMW that could do with a wheelbearing,a 90's Merc that needs an engine loom and 2 newish cars that sometimes won't open or the sat nav won't load or other random electronic bollocks which seems to cure itself the next time you switch it off. The older stuff I can fix the new ones I'll just get rid of and replace with something even more complex.

[theorganist]

I tend to look at 1975 to 1985 even though I know it is probably the worst ten years of motoring history, particularly from the point of view of the domestic market. The demise of Linwood and the troubles at Leyland!

[gordonbennet]

P5 and P6 Rovers have loyal followings, as do other notables from the decade yet the 60's arn't being sung about in car terms.

 

Some of my favourite cars were from the 60s', though for beauty i go much further back to pre war Merc Jaguar Lagonda and many others.

[scruff]

1930s. I'd daily an Austin Seven if my balls and wallet were big enough.

 

No, I agree with all the above on the eighties. Saw the cars as a kid, enjoyed many of them since passing my test, transfixed by the motoring press and motorsport of the era. My Audi B2 coupe was a wonderful car albeit a bit knackered and I'd love some of the cars my family had; Mk3 Escort Ghia in particular! 

[Junkman]

1886 to 1986.

In 1886 they started making cars, in 1986 they stopped.

[Micrashed]

Late 80's Early 90's

 

In Fact:

 

in 1.9D or TD 

 

OR THIS

In 1.9D or TD flavour.

 

Great reliability, ZX more prone to rust than the 306, otherwise grrrrreat

[Skizzer]

This will probably be regarded as the ravings of a heretic,but, I don't think the 'over engineered' late 80's early 90's German cars represent the zenith of usable ,durable cars. 

 

I don't think that's raving or heretical - I'd actually agree with you here, in spite of what I previously said.  I just can't help liking the stuff from the late 80s because that's when I was at that impressionable age.  From the point of view of trying to fix things, or having less to go wrong, you're bang on.

 

Even back in the day, I remember reading in CAR magazine from about 1986 about all the gizmometry (Mazda 323 4wd, anyone?) and thinking Christ, this stuff is going to be expensive to fix when it packs in.  By 1989 (Merc R129 SL, W124 4-Matic, Porsche 928S4, even VTEC Hondas) it was out of control.  

 

My Dedra Turbo has literally armfuls of sensors under the bonnet, which is why it's being currently fixed by an aerospace engineer with a thing for 90s Italian cars and not by me with an HBOL.

[dangerousdave]

for me its got to be style wise early 70,s they went too square by the late 70,s and technology wise 80,s but both eras are great for everyday usable cars which can keep up with modern traffic as I know from running a mk3 Cortina everyday till 09 then everyday march to September and a 90 range rover everyday between 2011 and now then everyday through the winter

[Negative Creep]

I'd say 80's, as there aren't many 90's cars that interest me a great deal. That said, the latter has better equipment, rust proofing and performance, so maybe it's a tie

[Grundig]

The 80's - 90's for me too

[Station]

I think the late 70's, 80's and early 90's.

The 80's especially. Apart from the 50's/60's, nothing else linked itself to culture of that era like the cars that came out of it.

 

I think most of the cars were inspired by one thing:

 

[Station]

 

yom

[dugong]

Not sure. I think one's formative years colour one's judgement. 

 

The decade I grew up in was an appalling one for most manufacturers, especially Ford. Folk who remember their glory days rallying struggle to understand why the Blue Oval didn't become part of my car life. 

Simple, really.
Where I was standing, Fords weren't iconic. Your next door neighbour had a porridge-spec Sierra and the straight-line hero who thought he was something drove an Orion Ghia ineptly up and down Washway Road. A fast [attainable] Ford was a Mk3 XR2i. No-one I knew could afford a Sierra [or later Escort] Cosworth. 

The latter half of the 90s looked rather good for Peugeot, mind. Perhaps that's why I noticed them over the sea of metal festering in Quicks's forecourt. My aunt had a 205 DTurbo that went almost as well as her recently burned-out XR2 did, but no-one wanted to steal it and the fuel gauge never moved. Rick's uncle had a BX that sat up on its hydropneumatic suspension from rest. That seemed interesting - not at all like the CVH plus regulated difference formula Henry was distilling. 

Of course, when it became my turn to drive, I was punished for trying to get in on the French car disco I'd read about in CAR. My GS was a dog no-one wanted when the inevitable came, I couldn't get parts for my 10 Auto and my C4 was a brilliant white turd dressed in the baubles of a marque long past its prime. The Fords I'd ignored steadily increase in value and I can but stare from the pits of a fortified overdraft. 

The golden age of motoring? When rust-proofing techniques matured, electronic fuel injection replaced the VV and A pillars didn't bisect your perhipheral vision like a badly framed photograph. 

Whenever that was. 

[vulgalour]

Show me anything from the 30s, 50s or 70s and there's a strong chance I'll like it.  Show me anything from the 80s or 90s and there's a good chance I'll be nostalgic but not as good a chance I'll like it.  Show me anything else and I'll likely not be interested.

 

I like a car to be stylish or interesting to look at and I like a car to place comfort above all other considerations.  I've never grasped the rabid favouritism for Audi, Ford, VW or BMW because theses aren't cars that on the whole capture my imagination.  Hard seats and fast engines are so totally at odds with what I want from a car, I rarely get into popular car culture.  It's probably why I'm here.

[320touring]

In terms of cars I'll likely own and drive, 82-92 is the key

 

BMW e30/34/32

 

Merc W124/126

 

VW Mk2 Gti 8v

 

Seat Toledo mk1

 

Mazda RX7 FD

 

Skyline R32

 

Fox Body mustang

 

Bentley Turbo R

 

Etc Etc

[Junkman]

Funnily enough, on the day I was born you could walk into a Rover dealership and drive away with a brand new P4, P5, or P6.

So 1964 was obviously a high water mark in automotive history. It was a perfect year for shite, too, looking at some of new cars being introduced:

 

- Ford Mustang

- Pontiac GTO

- Opel Diplomat

- Brasinca Uirapuru

- Skoda 1000 MB

- Premier Padmini

- Bedford Beagle

- Ford Corsair

- Nissan Silvia

- Mitsubishi Debonair

- Panhard 24

- Toyota Crown V8

- Moskvitch 408

- Sunbeam Tiger