S A Barrett's Sussex shite spots - summoning shite out of thin air

[RoadworkUK]

On 03/08/2024 at 00:51, Dan29 said:

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

Ha, small world. That's on my regular circular "see what old rammle I spot" lunchtime walking route when I'm in the office.

 

[barrett]

Few more. This is about 6 months' worth of spots, which is fairly tragic. Where have all the old cars gone?

Bog-standard Ford saloon #1

Bog-standard Ford saloon #2

I spoke to the owner of this, can't remember the whole story but he's had it since it was nearly new and it's totally original and unrestored. It was an absolute minter, a real credit to him

Just through pure scarcity these are staring to look smei-interesting. Squishy seats and trim rattles are an underrated combo

Extremely passive, parked outside the pub next to my office and I know the person who owns it

Paris in February, almost nothing of interest seen bimbling about

Same car park a couple of weeks apart

Twingo, because Twingo

I'm pretty sure last time I went to Hastings I saw a Rover 800, same again this time

And finally, a stand-out at the Goodwood carpark recently

[barrett]

I think I've cracked the code. It's not that there aren't any old cars around anymore, it's just if you never go anywhere or do anything you don't see them. Turns out, if you do actually go outside every now and then you will probably see some old cars.

This 205 was from my last trip to France. Jealous of his wheels, if nothing else.

Jag coupé in central Brighton recently. Nice and rough when you start looking at it

Car park Beetle Brighton edition

I've seen a huge number of this generation of Polos recently, although I haven't managed to photograph any. In fact I saw one this morning. I think they're breeding

Better class of supermarket car park spot. I've seen a few of these recently, but none when I've been driving mine

Lovely

Excellent tow vehicle

Three-door version of mine, but diesel

Car park Beetle, Suffolk edition

Jeeps

This absolute beauty appeared on my commute recently. I love 142s and 242s and I'm surprised more people haven't imported them over the years. Absolutely brilliant colour, too. Just a lovely thing (except the number plates, obviously).

Couple of sleeping modern* Fords

Another red Jaguar coupé (terrible pic, sorry)

Roadside rammle from Worthing

Quite nice to see this sort of thing street-parked and obviously just in use as An Car

Very ropey, when you look closely, which is brilliant. I think the elderly owner also has a Mk1 2000 saloon whch I've been hoping to snap for ages

Some actually quite nice cars

I suspect this is one I photographed years and years ago (maybe even twice) but figured it was worth documenting just in case

Right, best of the lot now. Firstly this absolutely fuggin' brilliant 205 Rallye. No idea if it's real or not but I don't care, it looked bob-on

and finally, a STANZA! Yes, a real live Stanza. With a Xedos in front of it! I drove past about an hour or so later and this had gone, so it's mobile and in use. Lovely stuff

That's all for now

 

[domrr]

Lovely pair of Jeeps at a certain cafe on the A12 - thought I recognised the car park - nice food but a little pricey 

...give me a clue on the Beetle location - again, sadly, I recognise the car park...

[danthecapriman]

That Stanza is mega! Not seen one in years.

MOT’d until Feb 26 so definitely in use. 
MOT history isn’t too bad either. Mostly bullshitty advisories, and silly stuff. Bit of crispy-ness to the sills and floor pan by the sounds of it though.

[barrett]

Here's a few more for ya, starting with a Saab

Another (partial) Swede in London. where is that plate from, though?

A couple of horseboxes. The LT looked amusingly stubby

DULL 80s cars (I got pretty excited when I saw the Civic)

A walk round Shoreham netted these (I don't think this is one of the Corvairs I've previously spotted but I could be wrong)

And finally, the 'old car parking' at a wedding I went to recently

[mk2_craig]

2 hours ago, barrett said:

Another (partial) Swede in London. where is that plate from, though?

Looks like the current format for French registration marks, but someone has had the plates made in one of the old size British fonts. Don’t know if there is an online French reg checker? 

[Asimo]

Oh gods!  that Corvair, and that Ami Super!!!

Give me an Ami 6 and a Tatra 603 and I'll die happy.

 

[Missy Charm]

On 28/08/2025 at 18:34, mk2_craig said:

Looks like the current format for French registration marks, but someone has had the plates made in one of the old size British fonts. Don’t know if there is an online French reg checker? 

It is a French registration: https://immatriculation-auto.info/en/vehicle/GA419FD, but the car itself appears to be wearing custom-made plates.  God only knows why.  

[barrett]

A couple more from yesterday; this Kia has taken a really serious hit and seems to have been left as a sort of warning to others not to park on this dicey corner

Lovely 164

The sun came out today so I cruised round for some more, starting ith a different Volvo (shit plates, yep)

And a boxed-in 405. This is on in a line-up of cars on a bombsite dealer's but it doesn't appear to be for sale, sadly

An extremely pleasant sight this morning on Brighton seafront – looked absolutely mint

Pony hoarder

This must've been the same owner – again, brilliant condition and a great colour. S1 V8s look brilliant I reckon

On the same street but unconnected... ridiculously clean but I suspect not enthusiast-owned

A bit different and a little sad

Great to see things of this age just parked up and festering but I assume it means the owner is no longer able to drive them. On the drive is their 'modern' which is boxing in another couplwe of prewar things

And then.... this. I was thinking about these lots on Friday, wondering if there are any on the road in this country and trying to find evidence of one in preservation, regreting not buying the very cheap one that was on ebay a couple of years ago (it's the only Ford that I would want to own and one of my favourite 60s designs)

Yeah, turns out there's one just down the road from me? I guess I manifested it into existance. Probably my favourite spot ever!

 

[Spottedlaurel]

Wow, that Taunus! Do you think it's RHD?

Saw this gem in France 10 years ago:

 

 

[barrett]

4 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Wow, that Taunus! Do you think it's RHD?

It's difficult to tell because it's full of crap, but I don't think so, so even sadder it's ended up in that state after somebody has gone to the trouble of importing it – but I suppose it could've been here for 50 years. I've been trying to find the 1970s photo I have of a UK-reg'd Bathtub to check if that's RHD or not but I can't find it at the moment

[High Jetter]

6 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Wow, that Taunus! Do you think it's RHD?

Saw this gem in France 10 years ago:

 

 

LHD from the pic

[barrett]

Here's my Winter 25/26 Collection. Obvously not loads about at this time of year. The first lot are frm the London-Brighton Run day at Staplefield, which always turns into an impromptu car show with various interesting things dotted about. Not quite legit spots, but we'll take what we can.

Always liked these Razor-Edge K-Gs. I don't think the front is particularly well-resolved but from the rear 3/4 it's the best looking car VW ever built, for sure

Always nice to see a well-kept Mult in the wild

This Crab was superb. Difficult to tell if it was black or very dark purple, but the red interior really set it off. I've still never driven one but they're definitely high on my list of British cars I'd actually want to own

I was hoping to park mine next to this for a photo but it disappeared before I got the chance

I know these have been rehabilitated now, but I have to say looking inside it seemed like such a miserable place to spend time. Lots of brittle plastics and surprisingly cramped

Quite a good thing for European holidays, I'd say

I've only seen one of these once before, and thinking about it it may well be the same car, but this was still a very welcome sight. If you're gonna have an MGB it should be one of these, really

Textbook London street furniture

This less so

Not my bag AT ALL, but here it is

This, on the other hand, was lovely. One of my favourite American cars and this was in perfect condition – just a little scruffy round the edges but still smart

American theme continues. Aren't these quite sought-after?

Nothing to say

I think this is enthusiast-owned and, while I don't like them, it did look very smart

careworn Volvo looking just as it should

This was taken this morning. Nice to see a G40 in fairly standard shape

And finally for now, a slightly mouldy P4 which doesn't seem to move from this spot.

Happy new year, may your 2026 be filled with Tagoras and XMs

[barrett]

A few Rétromobile car park spots to start the year

Nice pair - yes, it's a 16 Valve

Honestly can't remember the last time I saw a Safrane in the UK

This was pretty good! I do like these rattly old Simcas

this has been here for 12 years at least but I'm usually on a tram when I go by. Nice to finally get a shot of it – it's now, I think, the only car of this age I know about in this neighbourhood, which was teeming with 80s and 90s stuff when I first started going to this show. Sad.

From Paris to Horsham. Pretty grim, really.

 

That's it for now!

[barrett]

Back in Blighty with a collection of absolute dogshit photos, so apologies in advance.

LIKE these. You'd hope owners of Alpines would be a bit more vibrant & cool than this, though

amazed this photo came out – on a verge somewhere, maybe near Hereford?

Was hopig I'd get a better shot of this but this'll have to do. Nice to see stuff actually being driven round now the weather's a bit better innit?

 

Not being driven round, sadly. I don't think this has actually been here very long, which goes to show how quickly old cars can start to look neglected. Woder what the issue is?

Absolutely love this, which I've seen from a distance a couple of times doing 'truck stuff' as intended, but I discovered by chance that it lives a few minutes from my house. Shit photos still, sorry

This (on the right) looked like a giant version of that already quite big Dinky toy. Fuel prices will, no doubt, allow future historians to date this image quite precisely

Another one! This time a well-travelled, late MG two-door which I imagie is quite a rarity

And this, which is sort-of just filling things out really.

BYE FOR NOW

 

[High Jetter]

16 minutes ago, barrett said:

 

Another one! This time a well-travelled, late MG two-door which I imagie is quite a rarity

 

Welcome back. IIRC most MG's were 2 dr, twin carb