S A Barrett's Sussex shite spots: Best Spot Ever???

[barrett]

Two from Sussex:

I don't, as a rule, like 1930s BMWs but this looked really great

I can't remember if we've had this one before. One of the few 1950s street-parked cars left in Brighton I think, which is quite sad

All the rest from London, variously:

Nothing too special, all typical London cars with the exception of the Metro. Last two notable for being photographed just off Felsham Road in Putney, which is where my Palladium was built 100 years ago

[barrett]

I think it's safe to assuem this will be my last update for 2023. It's certainly been a lean year although I saw a handful of cool bits. Anyway, this Saab was parked at the hotel by my office, which often has interesting visitors. Apart from the whitewalls and the number plates it's pretty much perfect.

I haven't left my house since December 22nd so I thought I'd go out today and actively look for things which didn't go as well as hoped. Lots of potentially interesting cars under tarps , etc, and some things I'd seen on streetview which had vanished. I did see this Lancia Delta* though. I didn't realise but there was somebody working on it round the other side, which I discovered when I heard somebody mutter 'you cunt, what are you doing!' under their breath. Assumed it was directed at me, but in fact it was just 'mechanic's fristration' in action. Anyway, cool thing, right?

This was on the same street. Not sure if it's a 12 or a 14, but in any case it looks to have been sitting there for some time.

I discovered the motherlode. A garden filled with abandoned cars which is right next to a pubic footpath so I could be very nosey and stick my camera through the fence. I'm never sure if the sort of people who live in these places are gonna be invalids, or champion curtain-twitchers, and in case it was the latter I didn't hang around too long, so failed to snap the early Metro. This Vectra wasn't interesting, really. Land Rover behond, and just out of view 80s Rolls-Royce and various bits of 90s bilge (Metro just visible on the left)

This is a Sierra estate, but you'll have to take my word for it

Best thing was this, which was right up by the house behind the Metro. I think there was a Mini in the back garden but it was totally covered by tarp and not very photogenic. Anyway, RENAULT 20!! Gotta be my spot of the year.

So that's it for 2023. Thanks to everyone who's looked at this thread,c ommented, liked or whatever. IT'S ALL FOR YOU!

[RobT]

The 20 is a mega spot.  Makes all the wandering about worth it eh.

[vulgalour]

That SAAB is lovely and I quite like the whitewalls on it, certainly not the most offensive option they could have gone for.

[timolloyd]

Amazing find. 

It’s a garden like that, somewhere, which will contain a Lonsdale.

[Asimo]

The big Renault is coloured gold according to DVLA.  
Who knew gold could tarnish?

[quicksilver]

3 hours ago, barrett said:

pubic footpath

I don't think I'd have the balls to walk on one of those. Even if I could see a Renault 20 from it.

[MiniMinorMk3]

I found the Mazda HF on pintrest posted by the owner.

Quote

Our Lancia Delta Mazda 323!! Driven on a £250 or less banger rally, 2700 miles over 10 days, 4 mountain passes, 3 laps of the Nurburgring!

[crad]

that lanzda parks a road across from my mates house in lancing! small world eh.

[egg]

On 29/12/2023 at 21:41, timolloyd said:

It’s a garden like that, somewhere, which will contain a Lonsdale.

I reckon if it's ever found the autoshite singularity will be achieved and the entire forum will become a (beige) black hole.

[Spottedlaurel]

Quality, not quantity.

The Renault 20 is marvellous! It's been nearly 18 years since I found one out in the wild, fairly local but long-gone now. Not even sure if I've seen one in France on my 2010-on holidays.

[barrett]

Time for a very small update. I'll start with a handful from my last trip to France.

These were all in the parking area for an event so not spots so to speak

This was the only car I saw out in the wild that I got a photo of, although there were a handful of interesting things smoking about as usual. Still lots of 205s, which is reassuring. Anyway this thing looked stone mint and for some reason incredibly desirable. Straight outta the pages of a catalogue. Black plates/yellow lamps BEST

Back to Blighty but with a French theme: I'm sure this is a highly successful racecar*

Also on a trailer (taken from a CRASSIC CRAR too)

This has appeared outside a house in the next street along from me. Looks like it's just been dragged out of storage, no idea what's going on with it but it's COOL AF ('cool as fuck' for the granddads) I reckon

Finally for now, a bad-news story. Saw this really near my house and was flawed by how neat it looked. Great colour, incredibly tidy, honest old thing clearly well-loved

A few weeks later this came up randomly on my Facebook feed. Seems the guy was motoring along at 50mph and somebody pulled out directly in front of him. He took avoiding action and this was the result. He was fine, and the car seemed remarkably alright except the roof, but for whatever reason he'd decided not to repair it so I think it's dead now. Shame.

Oh yeah he had a gearbox or an engine on the rear seat, not strapped down, and avoided getting his brains smashed in which is pretty good going!

Don't want to end on a bummer so here's an AC Greyhound I was licking the other day

 

 

 

[egg]

Don't know whether to like or sad face that one (don't show Savvy the Imp)

[vulgalour]

Some lovely spots there, and such a shame about the Imp.  Pretty remarkable how robust the Imp looks to be upside down too, wouldn't have expected that at all.

[Rust Collector]

2 hours ago, barrett said:

Oh yeah he had a gearbox or an engine on the rear seat, not strapped down, and avoided getting his brains smashed in which is pretty good going!

I saw that and thought exactly the same. I used to live with a fireman, and I remember he went to a crash locally where the chap was moving house and had unsecured furniture in the back of the car. He did not walk away after an item of furniture interfaced with his head 😢 I really think about what’s in the back of my car now, and avoid anything heavy that isn’t strapped down.

[Dyslexic Viking]

4 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

I saw that and thought exactly the same. I used to live with a fireman, and I remember he went to a crash locally where the chap was moving house and had unsecured furniture in the back of the car. He did not walk away after an item of furniture interfaced with his head 😢 I really think about what’s in the back of my car now, and avoid anything heavy that isn’t strapped down.

A former boss of mine he lost his cousin when she got hit in the head with a toolbox in her parent's car when it was in an accident.

Things like this have probably happened a lot unfortunately.

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, vulgalour said:

Some lovely spots there, and such a shame about the Imp.  Pretty remarkable how robust the Imp looks to be upside down too, wouldn't have expected that at all.

Push it over, it'll be reet.

[barrett]

It's not really the done thing to self-declare you've made the Best Spot Ever, is it? It's usually left to others to make that sort of call (and we all know it was that ropey Mk3 Cortina estate, anyway) but I do think I might be in with a chance here.

No, it's not this Mk3 Capri which I saw resting in a nice part of outer London recently

Nor is it this Mk2, which I saw an hour or so later, and is by far the nicest Capris I've seen in a very long time

It isn't this tidy FB RX-7 which I saw brrrp-brrrping its way through Brighton

It's not this... thing, which might be the worst car I've ever seen. The more you look, the worse it gets. No way the guy who drives this isn't a sexual predator of some description

It's certainly not this humdrum spot. I am pretty certain the wheels currently fitted to my 205 left the factory fitted to this car, for reasons too boring to explain.

This is pretty flippin' great, but it's deffo not Best Spot Ever-league, is it? I caught a glimpse of this from a distance and made a big detour to go back and photograph it, and I reckon it was well worthwhile.

Whilst stopped for the Passat, I saw this outside a modern Alfa dealer. V nice, but not BSE.

This was lovely to see, but hardly even a 'spot' really given that it must be a pretty cherished cla**ic. Nice to see parked outside though.

It definitely isn't this, either. These have thinned right out recently so it was good to see a tidy example in central Brighton. Looking at the background I wish I'd made a bit more of an effort with this picture actually.

Anyway, it's this. This is the Best Spot Ever (maybe)

Just casually street-parked this morning not far from home. I have never seen one before (knowingly) and I doubt I'll ever see another. Looked in absolutely lovely nick.

THAT'S ALL!

[Stinkwheel]

2 hours ago, barrett said:

It's not really the done thing to self-declare you've made the Best Spot Ever, is it? It's usually left to others to make that sort of call (and we all know it was that ropey Mk3 Cortina estate, anyway) but I do think I might be in with a chance here.

No, it's not this Mk3 Capri which I saw resting in a nice part of outer London recently

Nor is it this Mk2, which I saw an hour or so later, and is by far the nicest Capris I've seen in a very long time

It isn't this tidy FB RX-7 which I saw brrrp-brrrping its way through Brighton

It's not this... thing, which might be the worst car I've ever seen. The more you look, the worse it gets. No way the guy who drives this isn't a sexual predator of some description

It's certainly not this humdrum spot. I am pretty certain the wheels currently fitted to my 205 left the factory fitted to this car, for reasons too boring to explain.

This is pretty flippin' great, but it's deffo not Best Spot Ever-league, is it? I caught a glimpse of this from a distance and made a big detour to go back and photograph it, and I reckon it was well worthwhile.

Whilst stopped for the Passat, I saw this outside a modern Alfa dealer. V nice, but not BSE.

This was lovely to see, but hardly even a 'spot' really given that it must be a pretty cherished cla**ic. Nice to see parked outside though.

It definitely isn't this, either. These have thinned right out recently so it was good to see a tidy example in central Brighton. Looking at the background I wish I'd made a bit more of an effort with this picture actually.

Anyway, it's this. This is the Best Spot Ever (maybe)

Just casually street-parked this morning not far from home. I have never seen one before (knowingly) and I doubt I'll ever see another. Looked in absolutely lovely nick.

THAT'S ALL!

K plate? Confused. Dont these 3 stud wheels mean it has the renault 1.4 engine? They didnt make them that late did they? Whats going on? But agree, best spot ever!!!!!!!

[vulgalour]

That Marina gives me very mixed feelings because of how it started https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/210300/morris-marina-custom-unique-freak and where it is now.  Whatever happened it was always going to be a lot of work to make it useable, and it was unlikely to stay in as-found condition because fashions and whatnot change, so it was unlikely to end up preserved in aspic.  It's good to know it's survived in a form, even if I personally don't really like the form it currently has, which doesn't matter since it's not my car.  More power to the owner of it for enjoying it their way.

 

That Duster is a little sweetie too.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

5 hours ago, Stinkwheel said:

K plate? Confused. Dont these 3 stud wheels mean it has the renault 1.4 engine? They didnt make them that late did they? Whats going on? But agree, best spot ever!!!!!!!

There was a very similar one that age on here about 5 years ago, Scottish fella, had a “new” Duster too.

[Asimo]

[FakeConcern]

I'm interested where you spotted the Marina as I was nearly flattened by that in Rickney when out on my bike, it sounded like a fuckin' diseasel...

When I was young, my boss had a Duster just like the one you pictured (only grey) he drove around in his garden.

[155V6]

50 minutes ago, FakeConcern said:

I'm interested where you spotted the Marina as I was nearly flattened by that in Rickney when out on my bike, it sounded like a fuckin' diseasel...

When I was young, my boss had a Duster just like the one you pictured (only grey) he drove around in his garden.

Doesn't that Marina have Golf running gear now,or did I imagine I'd read that somwhere? 🤪

[Dan29]

On 01/08/2024 at 14:06, barrett said:

this Mk3 Capri which I saw resting in a nice part of outer London recently

 

Ha - I know exactly where this is, I used to pass it all the time

[MarinaJosh]

On 02/08/2024 at 21:58, 155V6 said:

Doesn't that Marina have Golf running gear now,or did I imagine I'd read that somwhere? 🤪

Yes, from memory it's a MK4 Golf underneath. I met the bloke who built it and we bought some of the bits he no longer needed, really clever chap. He sold it a year or so ago.

[worldofceri]

That is a great spot. I thought ‘old’ Dusters were extinct in the UK. Last time I saw one in the wild was about 1998. No mot history prior to last year so my first thought was maybe imported from Malta or something, but looks to be an original UK car.

[barrett]

A handful of late-summer spots. When I was approaching this from a distance I thought it was a 2nd generation Corvair coupe... which was impressive enough. I was actually slightly disappointed when I realised what it was, but in hindsight this was a great thing to see cruising on the A27 (why so slow though?)

I was at the Goodwood Revival for five days and this is the only photograph I took

A guy I know bought this recently. Almost the exact spit of my old one but it's a Speciale not a Club. Love a twin-pot GROIN.

On a similar theme, this was parked by the pub next to my office last week. Really lovely.

This drove past me in Brighton the other day. It's difficult to tell from this shit photo, but it was absolutely stone standard, complete with raised digit plates etc, and looked like it might be an original survivor. Couldn't really see the driver but they weren't 'young' and I suspect this might just be 'an car' being used as intended, which is astonishing really.

Another V passive spot, at the hotel next to the pub next to the office. It's a 1929 Humber 16/50 by Tickford, btw

Oddly, it was parked there on the same day this SUPERIOR Humber was delivered. Readers with a very long memory may recognise this, but it's just re-joined the fold after some years of poor storage. Hope to have it cleaned up and running/driving soon! This is after polishing one wing to see how it came up

[neil72]

22 hours ago, barrett said:

A handful of late-summer spots. When I was approaching this from a distance I thought it was a 2nd generation Corvair coupe... which was impressive enough. I was actually slightly disappointed when I realised what it was, but in hindsight this was a great thing to see cruising on the A27 (why so slow though?)

I was at the Goodwood Revival for five days and this is the only photograph I took

A guy I know bought this recently. Almost the exact spit of my old one but it's a Speciale not a Club. Love a twin-pot GROIN.

On a similar theme, this was parked by the pub next to my office last week. Really lovely.

This drove past me in Brighton the other day. It's difficult to tell from this shit photo, but it was absolutely stone standard, complete with raised digit plates etc, and looked like it might be an original survivor. Couldn't really see the driver but they weren't 'young' and I suspect this might just be 'an car' being used as intended, which is astonishing really.

Another V passive spot, at the hotel next to the pub next to the office. It's a 1929 Humber 16/50 by Tickford, btw

Oddly, it was parked there on the same day this SUPERIOR Humber was delivered. Readers with a very long memory may recognise this, but it's just re-joined the fold after some years of poor storage. Hope to have it cleaned up and running/driving soon! This is after polishing one wing to see how it came up

It wouldn't surprise me at all to find that Escort being used as intended, pre and even post ULEZ in my part of London i still see all kinds of 70s, 80s and 90s cars being used for the weekly shop and then put away again.

 

[barrett]

In a surprising twist, I reckon that Escort might actually live two streets over from me (nowhere near where I saw it). There's a 70s car under a tarp which I've not been able to ID but looking today I am pretty sure its Mk2 Escort-shaped...