Craigs Countrywide Cack. MASSIVE BELGIAN RENNER TAT HOARD

[mk2_craig]

On 2/5/2021 at 7:36 PM, mk2_craig said:

we did come back to Cyprus five years later, but landed at a different airport and stayed on the east coast this time.  With a toddler in the equation the opportunity for shite-spotting was somewhat more curtailed.  At some point I'll have a look to see if I did manage to photograph anything on that occasion.

A trawl through the hard drive proves that I did.  I think some of these musta been posted up on that there facebook round about that time, however I don't think they ever got copied onto the forum.  So here's an exclusive, of sorts.  

Pickings were definitely slimmer, and the country had the air of being on its arse in the aftermath of that naval base explosion combined with the lingering ripple effects of the global credit crunch.  There seemed to be no shortage of mothballed restaurants, closed supermarkets, semi-complete apartment blocks and deserted holiday home complexes.  I wonder whether the apparent slowdown in economic activity was linked at all with scrap metal being more lucrative as an export, in any case it seemed as if there were fewer old heaps lying in fields than previously.  Not that I covered the same territory this time of course.

Starting things off then with this reasonably tidy "Kadett Belmont", looks strange to not be left hand drive.  Next to it is our Jap spec Nissan Note hire car, this felt massively more tinny than a UK market car and most annoyingly retained its original radio that was impossible to tune into any FM broadcasts whatsoever.

Staying on the four door saloon version of a common hatchback theme, here's a Suzuki Swift probably circa 1990.  I have a vague recollection that this bodystyle was only sold to the British Isles in some sort of weird whizzy spec that may have featured 4WD.

Definitely not UK spec was this Ford - based on a Mazda of some sort?

Talking of Mazdas, I was pleased to see this ageing 323 still serving as a shopping trolley.

Subtle detail differences between these Civic saloons.

I thought this was some dodgy chop job, but apparently these Paseo convertibles are an actual thing?

I think we saw this Moke around Ayia Napa, no idea what it's advertising.

Bedford badge on the front of this bus/coach, which in 2015 would probably have been at least 30 years old.

Surprising volume of these stretched Mercs still earning their owners a living, the second one looking somewhat classier than the first.

Didn't see so many abandoned looking cars at the side of the road this time round, though this sad Delta was a notable exception

Sniffing around the residential areas yielded better results, not that I was able to spend a lot of time doing so. Elderly Volvo a nice find.

An actual Vauxhall this time, clearly hadn't moved in a long while.

Venerable Land Rover had some weird shizz attached to the exterior.

I think I've saved the best till last, another Daihatsu Charmant, LD trim level - possibly more pov spec than the cheapest UK model?  I wish @Hirst was still lurking around these parts, though I did email him these photos at the time.

That's all from Cyprus, as I've not been back since.  I'll try to keep further updating this thread with some random spots from various trips to England and France over the past decade or so.

[MorrisItalSLX]

10 hours ago, mk2_craig said:

Definitely not UK spec was this Ford - based on a Mazda of some sort?

Australian spec Ford KF Laser, based on the Mazda 323.

[mk2_craig]

Summer 2023, and I think this is the furthest south I’ve ever been. A wedding in the family was all the excuse we needed to finally get over to Madeira after years of saying we would, though not by using the expensive direct flights from Jersey, due to being a bit short of money so the long way round via Gatwick it had to be. 
 

The place is as rich a seam of shite as anywhere else I’ve visited in recent years. Welcoming us to Funchal was this Escort Cosworth, unknown to me we had arrived just as the Rali Vinho de Madeira was starting,

 

While this old Merc was a prop in the bar next door to our hotel. 
 

Some of the open top bus tours are in the hands of what I think are ex Berlin MAN double deckers,

And “Rodoeste” run some of the bus services using what seem to be remarkably venerable vehicles. This Volvo must be somewhere in the region of 40 years old and no doubt boasts heliospheric mileage. 
 

That’ll do for now. More to follow!

[Asimo]

I’ve never been, but isn’t Madeira one of those tiny, hilly places where you only need 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears?

[mk2_craig]

I think yes, until about twenty years ago or so, when a whole load of EU money helped pay for big infrastructure upgrades. Including construction of the spectacular VR1 highway which runs east-west with countless tunnels through hills and bridges over valleys. It’s some feat of engineering. 
 

In terms of spots, unfortunately I so far haven’t managed to get the camera onto anything remarkable, but here’s a brief selection:

Loads of mk1 Clios still, this one looks like a warm model, though badged RL. 

Renner Express van papped from a taxi at speed. 
 

And a 4 in slightly frayed condition, I believe you can take a tour of the island in one of these. 
 

Tons of Corsas. Even a few early ones still. 
 

And a non shite Alfa to finish for now. 

[mk2_craig]

I’ve had to reset my shite barometer a bit. What I would keenly photograph back home is still very much run of the mill here. I guess it’s expensive to bring a new car in, and spending good money on keeping something older going makes sense - climate also probably means terminal corrosion is less likely. 
 

So I’ve been largely ignoring the thousands of 1990s hatchbacks in regular daily use. I did engage in some cable-car based spots, please excuse the screenshotted cameraphone zooms for images, hopefully it’s worth it. 
 

Wow, what a police fleet! Wonder if the Vitara was confiscated after some sort of bust, or kept as their undercover off road surveillance weapon. 
 

Looked like a Merc taxi graveyard, though even something that’s fit for spares only still seems to command a high value. 
 

AX not as prevalent as the same era Clio, Corsa, etc but a fair few in regular use all the same. 
 

KE70 Corolla? With bonus Renner 4 in period correct colour. I felt like I was playing the original Grand Theft Auto. 
 

Quite a number of elderly pick up trucks knocking about. Not sure exactly what this is. Early 80s Datsun? Bedford KB?

 

I think this is the Rodoeste bus and coach depot. Their website invites folk for a nice look round the facilities though my wife was less than enthusiastic about that. The various other bus operators have a lower average age profile by the looks of it. 

[mk2_craig]

A few more from 500m above Funchal,

CPTC

Partial CPTC. Autobianchi if I’m not mistaken. 
 

Round the other side of that same building. RWD Starlet, though it didn’t appear to have any windows. 
 

Nearly missed this one while photographing some actual landscape rather than landfill. Datsun Sunny? And possibly another one behind it. 
 

Then we came back down again - part of the way in one of those wicker sledges that travel on public roads. Snapped this tidy mk1 Uno (a top of the range 70SL if you believe the badging) about ten seconds after departing! 
 

[ETCHY]

I was in Madeira back in April, surprising amount of chod.  K11 Micra's were bloody everywhere !

[mk2_craig]

On 30/12/2006 at 18:55, pogweasel said:

ISAYDINGDONG!!!Where are those beasties lurking? I've never spied them before?I thought I'd mapped all the shite to be had about these parts! Do spill the beanZ!

Holy post resurrerection. Mainly because the Rootes Arrows visible here have cropped up on social media:

They’re all apparently up for grabs, though looking at the tendency to shed their front doors, I wouldn’t put strong money on any of them hitting the road under their own power again. 

[mk2_craig]

I’m in Turkey today, and I’m pleased to report that in this rural-ish area a couple of hours east of Istanbul, the place is crawling with shite. You know how you get off a plane somewhere and a few minutes later you see something like a Lada Samara and think, “ah wow, a Lada Samara” then soon after “no way, another Samara” and within half an hour you’ve seen ten and think, hm they’re clearly still really common, I won’t bother photographing those? Yeah it’s like that here. 

I woke up to find this Renner 9 outside my hotel, which was nice. Also nice is the hotel, which has a great spa though the bedroom smells a bit of stale fag smoke and the Wi-Fi signal is fucking shit. On the plus side there’s loads of free stuff to take home with you, like shampoo/shower gel bottles, coffee sachets, ashtray, toilet brush and some balcony chairs. 

Most of these photos were taken looking out the slightly tinted side window of a shagged 2023 Merc Sprinter minibus with a KRAKD windscreen, loose exhaust backbox and a diff that howls a bit above around 50mph. Here’s a Fiat Tempra saloon, I also saw a Tipo SX today. 

I wasn’t actually 100% sure what this was, though the number plate surround was advertising the local Lada dealer. 

I don’t know what this is at all. Bad Eastern European attempt at a Saab 900?

I thought this was spot of the day, then I saw another. 

Double spot, Motherfucker-spec Frontera and what I assume is one of those locally built Tofas things that to my eyes must be some mix of Fiats Mirafiori and Regata? 

Here’s another. I saw flipping loads of these milling around and parked up/abandoned/whatever. 

Truckshite, this looks like one of those incredibly rot-prone Ivecos that carried TurboZeta badges in late production. I also saw an 80s Ford Cargo though no photo. 

No matter where you are in the world, you’re never more than a few hundred metres from a W123. Or two in my case. 

Presumably a Dacia, did see a nice 12 saloon in that ace orange shade but again unable to point the camera at it. 

Favorit near where I’m staying, again not the only one seen today. 

And finishing with another R9, the area is absolutely littered with them in fact. I’m guessing there must have been a factory here that kept building them long after they were killed off by the 19 in Western Europe, one of the others I saw looked like a facelift version with modernised front/back ends and mid 90s version of the Renault badge. Anyway that’s all for now! 

[bramz7]

The eastern European 900 is an Anadol of some kind.

[Split_Pin]

I remember seeing loads of Tofas Sahins last year on my Visit to Turkey. They are pure Fiat 131 underneath but do look very Regata-esque. The 12-style thing is a Renault Toros (I couldnt believe I was standing looking at something resembling a Renault 12, I thought Id never see ine in the metal again! The 9-based cars were built well into the 2000s. I also saw a few Tempras, again I think they were built locally (no Tipos though). 

[hairnet]

cyprus is worth 4.5 hours on a plane tho?

@eddyramrod

whats the north like? @mk2_craig craig?

 

[eddyramrod]

9 minutes ago, hairnet said:

cyprus is worth 4.5 hours on a plane tho?

@eddyramrod

whats the north like? @mk2_craig craig?

 

Cyprus absolutely is, yes.  Go.

The Greek bit is like stepping back 25 or 30 years, in many ways.  The north though... you can add at least a decade to that.  It's a wonderful timewarp in many ways.

[mk2_craig]

Never been to northern Cyprus. I bet it’s absolutely chock full of unphotographed old rammel. 

[sierraman]

I was once in Turkey for the day, for the brief time I was there I could see loads of Renault Broadways which are a 9. Quite a lot of Ford Cargos as they are manufactured there as well. 

[mk2_craig]

I’m back home now but attempted some more spots on this mornings journey to the airport, nothing that exciting really but thought I’d share. As ever, please excuse the image quality. 

First up is a SHERPA with prominent (though unclear here) Leyland grille badge, I also saw a later one with the LDV facelift front, can never remember whether the narrow one is Pilot or Convoy. I think these were built locally by BMC Turkey but probably no longer made. 

Tired looking Uno, now that’s what I call Lacquer Peel. 

Tipo and Tofaş in same shot, with bonus helmet-less biker (not sure whether that might actually be legal)

And same combination, with another Renner 9 this time, the mid 90s Polo and Combo van seem modern and uninteresting in comparison. 

Looks like the same car but these are in fact TWO of those Renner 12 wagons, spotted within seconds of each other. 

Yet another R9 (yawn)

This is probably the modern day equivalent of the Tofas, a booted Tipo though it’s called something else. They were absolutely flipping everywhere, as was the saloon version of the current Focus which I imagine is also produced in the area.

And is clearly the taxi of choice at Istanbul airport. 

Finally our Sprinter, holy crap that was tired for such a young vehicle. I forgot to ask what was on the clock but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was well into 6 figures (km) at less than 2 years old. 

SPOTTED NOT PHOTOGRAPHED: a mk5 Cortina/Taunus and another with different rear end "styling", a five door Rover bubble 200 in that nice purple plus (amazingly) a face-lift 800 saloon, a late model Ford D Series 6 wheeler cab/chassis being transported on a slightly newer Cargo. And also a very shonky old mk2 Transit which actually popped up on Facebook marketplace when I did a quick search for locally-available shite, I'll try to grab screenshot later. 

Bye Turkey - I quite liked you. Back again next year maybe. 

[Split_Pin]

2 hours ago, mk2_craig said:

Back again next year maybe. 

I am going back next year to the same place where I spotted lots of old local chod, can't wait!

[somewhatfoolish]

Turkish Sherpa is called a Levend, they appear to have been made up to about a decade or so ago with wheezy old B series dizzlers. Given they mostly kept the Sherpa panels and in turn the Sherpa reused the J4's panels the whole lot stretches back to 1960, ~50 years in production isn't a bad innings.

[Datsuncog]

16 hours ago, mk2_craig said:

SPOTTED NOT PHOTOGRAPHED: a mk5 Cortina/Taunus and another with different rear end "styling"

It wasn't one of the hot* Otosan Ford Taunuses, with a back end like this?

[Datsuncog]

On 02/12/2024 at 22:16, mk2_craig said:

I don’t know what this is at all. Bad Eastern European attempt at a Saab 900?

I think that is indeed an Anadol A2 SL.

Looks like this from the front:

Very popular as a taxi throughout the 1970s and 80s - looks vaguely Rootes Arrow-ish.

Its replacement, the A8, was notably gopping...

[mk2_craig]

1 hour ago, Datsuncog said:

It wasn't one of the hot* Otosan Ford Taunuses, with a back end like this?

That's the one! Though it was a load less tidy. Orion lamp clusters FTW 

18 hours ago, mk2_craig said:

And also a very shonky old mk2 Transit which actually popped up on Facebook marketplace when I did a quick search for locally-available shite

Here's that Transit, I am sure you will agree it is the very definition of EKSELANS.  

[ProgRocker]

On 17/02/2021 at 22:28, mk2_craig said:

I thought this was some dodgy chop job, but apparently these Paseo convertibles are an actual thing?

A convertible. Ribbetting!

[horriblemercedes]

On 17/02/2021 at 22:28, mk2_craig said:

A trawl through the hard drive proves that I did.  I think some of these musta been posted up on that there facebook round about that time, however I don't think they ever got copied onto the forum.  So here's an exclusive, of sorts.  

Pickings were definitely slimmer, and the country had the air of being on its arse in the aftermath of that naval base explosion combined with the lingering ripple effects of the global credit crunch.  There seemed to be no shortage of mothballed restaurants, closed supermarkets, semi-complete apartment blocks and deserted holiday home complexes.  I wonder whether the apparent slowdown in economic activity was linked at all with scrap metal being more lucrative as an export, in any case it seemed as if there were fewer old heaps lying in fields than previously.  Not that I covered the same territory this time of course.

 

 

I think we saw this Moke around Ayia Napa, no idea what it's advertising.

 

In case you're wondering, it's "Teremok - Russian karaoke bar and restaurant"

 

 

[mk2_craig]

I’ve been in eastern Belgium this weekend mountain biking with mates - trying to complete the Stoneman Arduenna in two days. (would’ve been better to have allowed ourselves three) Anyway there’s not a lot of old toss on the roads here, or even out to grass behind houses and that, perhaps the relevant laws serve to prevent that sort of behaviour. 

I did spot something that looked interesting from the trail and went over to have a closer look:

Guessing Renault 4CV here

Dauphine with maybe another under tarp behind?

 Various old rammel here (I would’ve investigated further but didn’t want to hold the others up too long so wasn’t wanting to linger)

Another Alpine shell

Good selection here. Mk1 5 at the far end. 

9 and 6 in the same shot. 

I looked the place up on Google Street View later and eventually found it, seems to be some sort of independent specialist. 

And that’s only a flipping 7 next to the early Trafic! (Neither present yesterday)

Otherwise, seen a few 2CVs knocking about, a red Calibra parked up and a very nice 1970s Opel Rekord that unfortunately I didn’t photograph. Slim pickings generally! 

[Spottedlaurel]

Good stuff there! Several Renaults that I didn't see in France this year.

[JakeT]

In a similar Belgian French Tat theme, there’s a field of 2CVs near spa I always look out for when we pass.

 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/TPbUFakoivopX8wMA

[mk2_craig]

13 hours ago, JakeT said:

In a similar Belgian French Tat theme, there’s a field of 2CVs near spa I always look out for when we pass.

 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/TPbUFakoivopX8wMA

Didn’t see that, but did head over to the old abbey that houses a small Spa motorsport museum in its basement. Some chod seen on the way:

I started this thread with one of these! Tidy and mildly modified Scirocco round the corner from our hotel, though sounded mechanically standard. 

Ancient old BP sign was an unexpected roadside sight. 

Guaranteed futureshite Piaggio truck thing at an Iveco agent. 

Rich seam of old Volvos located at a filling station on the edge of Malmedy. Early 850 in front of a workshop that was apparently filled with 340s. 

Then multiple dusty old 200 variants, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 2-door before. 

Just going to let the pictures do the talking here I think. 

Spotted but no photo: orange Karmann Ghia, and a red 2-door Amazon inside a small showroom. I’ll share a few pics from the museum later. 

[mk2_craig]

Onto the Spa-Francorchamps museum then, this was only a quick whizz round the place as we needed to press on back into France, but some highlights for me:

Loved this Moroni bike. 

Plenty of models, these ones were my favourites. 

Unlike some of the exhibits, this old Beemer didn’t look massively and unrealistically over-restored. 

This door apparently came off a Scirocco crashed by Jacky Ickx, got to say I’m not 100% convinced. 

Nice to see some J-tin represented. 

And also good that a variety was present, I liked both of these for different reasons. 

My rally car mate immediately latched onto this one as being “not the genuine article”, I don’t know if it was being passed off as such but the RS2000 nose cone is seemingly a bit of a giveaway, also check out the mis-spellings on the rear wing (deliberate?) - unless there really are places on the map called Carliste and Pearith! 

[Lord Sterling]

17 minutes ago, mk2_craig said:

My rally car mate immediately latched onto this one as being “not the genuine article”, I don’t know if it was being passed off as such but the RS2000 nose cone is seemingly a bit of a giveaway, also check out the mis-spellings on the rear wing (deliberate?) - unless there really are places on the map called Carliste and Pearith! 

Interesting looking place. I'm off to Belgium tomorrow so I'll have to look out for that place and make some time to visit. Also, the tram museum is a must now seeing as I've missed it 3 times now.