UK shite Over There.

[cort16]

State side 156

 

http://m.ebay.com/itm/251811362776?_mwBanner=1&rmvSB=true

[londonm]

I'm sure I started a topic about this before somewhere, don't think it was here though? Who cares, I'm posting it again.

 

Is it just me that watches old (60s/70s) US-set movies and wonders at the boggo UK cars that appear? I understand the appeal of 'sporty' stuff like MGs and TRs, as well as the higher end exotic stuff like Astons, but why would you drive a Cortina?

 

I plucked these from the first 10 minutes of the GI60S main chase, but I've seen similar elsewhere:

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Yes I know the last one's a Pug 404, but it's close enough to an Oxbridge for the principle to apply. Also I've only just noticed.)

 

I guess there would've been ex-pat Brits who refused to drive yank barges, or hardcore Anglophiles who wanted to complete the image, but that doesn't account for all the stuff you can see, surely? I mean, who would walk into a Ford dealer and choose a Capri over even the smallest-engined Mustang? Who would want to drive an ADO16 anywhere outside of Europe?

 

Bit of a random brainfart, I know.

For years I always noticed a scene in 'Dirty Harry' on the freeway, suddenly a Austin 1100 is present amongst the big tin barges.

[Madman Of The People]

Sadly, I'm more than four decades too late to enter the Great British Car Sweepstakes.

 

I guess British Leyland were so desperate to shift Austin (Morris) Marinas in America they were literally GIVING the damn thing away!

 

 

[cort1977]

I have no idea how that 156 is registered.   In general a car not type approved and sold in the US can not be imported until it is 25 years old.

[cort16]

It probably says Cadillac Seville on the log book.

[Madman Of The People]

I have no idea how that 156 is registered.   In general a car not type approved and sold in the US can not be imported until it is 25 years old.

 

 

A Nashville-based company called Autodelta USA briefly imported Alfa Romeos.  There are conflicting stories of what happened to them.  Some sources say they were telling the Feds they were modifying the cars to meet US regulations but really weren't.  Others say they were bringing the cars into the country on temporary visas and then illegally selling them to unsuspecting punters.  Either way, the Feds shut them down and arrested the owners of the company.

 

It seems they never bothered confiscating the cars that had already been sold, unlike more recently where US Customs have been seizing illegally imported Land Rover Defenders all over the country.  Before buying this car, I'd want to make sure it has a valid title issued by a US state.  I'd also keep it locked up in a secure (and secret) location until the 25-year import threshold passes.

 

According to this EPA press release I found, we can once again thank California for making life miserable for those of us in the rest of the country!

 

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/e013d28c3c3eb28b85257359003d480b/d3894e5a84fde4e18525704b0062f027!OpenDocument

[Madman Of The People]

As of 2011, the Giordanos (owners of Autodelta USA) were still on the lamb from US authorities.

 

This New York Times report mentions them and their company.....

 

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/01/04/04greenwire-epas-enforcers-try-pr-to-net-fugitives-shed-tr-85801.html?pagewanted=all

[cort16]

On the lamb is a great phrase.

Imagine having to go on the run and flee the country because you imported imported half a dozen cars? America is very confusing.

[Richard]

On the lamb is a great phrase.

Imagine having to go on the run and flee the country because you imported imported half a dozen cars? America is very confusing.

 

The guy who was selling show and pre-2001 plates was dealt with pretty severely in the UK http://signam.co.uk/content/huge-fine-illegal-number-plate-dealer

[dangerousdave]

you can get a kit in America to put a v8 in a focus now that would be good a v8 focus

[chaseracer]

The guy who was selling show and pre-2001 plates was dealt with pretty severely in the UK http://signam.co.uk/content/huge-fine-illegal-number-plate-dealer

 

The only thing missing from that smug article is the phrase "zero-tolerance approach to offending"...

[Madman Of The People]

 

 

1987 Sterling 825S for sale in Seattle, WA.  Automatic, garage kept, 93,434 miles, $3,000,

 

http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/cto/4895761829.html

[chaseracer]

MO!  ROADTRIP!!

 

[PhilA]

They do crop up from time to time.

 

 

Not too far from me. Once people realise what they are, there seems to be an "ooh, rare!" reaction which generally means they get rebuilt and taken care of.

Any import over about twenty years old is looked upon in amazement that it still runs (if it does), and if not, that it still exists.

 

--Phil

[Ghosty]

Something I was discussing with an acquaintance has got me wondering - did the States ever officially get Dolomites or Cortinas?

[Madman Of The People]

Something I was discussing with an acquaintance has got me wondering - did the States ever officially get Dolomites or Cortinas?

 

 

Cortinas: Yes, Mk I and Mk II, albeit in small numbers.

 

Dolomites: No.

[darkfour]

This has just popped up on the local craigslist for $2000. Claims there are only 3 others in US so I expect getting parts over here is easy*

 

[brickwall]

Nice, but terrible wheels.

[oldcars]

Nice, but terrible wheels.

Think they are Cinquecento sporting wheels by the look of them.

[sheffcortinacentre]

they got the mk3 aswell upto 73 I've the sales brochure & factory manual.

[Barry Cade]

Pretty sure they got Cologne 2.6 and 2.8 too, remember reading a Road and Track or Car and Driver test of a Mercury badged one compared to a 260Z or something.

I've lost hours in this place...

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/ford-capri-1600-archived-road-test

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/austin-healey-3000-mark-ii-archived-test-review

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/comparison-shopping-the-global-entry-level-market

[Jon]

I'd not heard of the US MkIII Cortinas before, though had heard of MkI & II models sold in the US. Here's a couple of Canadian models, one of which now lives in Washington, according to the plate:

 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ifhp97/6409977801/

 

 

And this one, which I found a link to through the owner mentioning his in the comments bit from the one above:

 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/77581898@N05/7332149364/

[Madman Of The People]

At a recent British car show in Van Nuys, California, one of the rarest British cars on American roads was displayed.

 

Was it a coach built Rolls Royce?  No.  A vintage blower Bentley?  No.  A pristine museum-quality Napier?  No.

 

It was a 1974 Austin Marina 1.8 Saloon!

 

 

 

 

http://hooniverse.com/2015/05/05/queens-english-cast-off-the-1974-austin-marina-1-8/

[Madman Of The People]

Speaking of UK and European chod in the States, anyone familiar with the 1960s TV series Get Smart?

 

Get Smart was a spy-comedy series which ran on television from 1965-70,  It spoofed the then popular secret agent genre of films and television series (James Bond, I Spy, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and so on).  The central character was bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart, brilliantly played by the late Don Adams.  Every episode began with Max driving a sports car to the headquarters of "CONTROL", the fictional agency for whom he worked.  The car changed several times over the series long run, 

 

The pilot episode, "Mr. Big", was the only one shot in black-and-white and the only one to feature Smart driving a Ferrari 250GT cabriolet.

 

Seasons 1 and 2 show Agent Smart driving a red Sunbeam Tiger.  The car belonged to Don Adams in real life and was used throughout the series.  Occasionally, a Sunbeam Alpine was substituted for the Tiger whenever the car needed to be modified or if there was a chance the car might be damaged as the producers didn't want to damage Adams' own personal car!

 

The intro to seasons 3 and 4 show Smart driving a blue Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.  This was due to Volkswagen becoming an advertising sponsor of the show.  Apart from the intro, the car was never seen in in the series.  Max continued to use his red Tiger (and sometimes Alpine).

 

For the 5th and final season, the programme moved from the NBC network to CBS.  This necessitated shooting a new intro for the series, as had a new advertisong partner.  This time it was General Motors, who were keen to have Max drive their new Opel GT, which he did throughout the final season.

 

In 1989, a TV movie called "Get Smart, Again" reunited the surviving members of the original cast and showed Adams driving a red Alfa Romeo Spider.

 

Here are all the intros to the TV series, first to last.....

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, as long as we're on the topic of Get Smart, let's not forget the unfortunate 1980 cinematic remake, "The Nude Bomb", later re-released on television as "The Return of Maxwell Smart"  The funniest part of this rather unfunny attempt at reviving the Get Smart franchise was Max's mobile desk....

 

 

 

 

 

And speaking of unfortunate remakes, there was a short-lived new Get Smart series which aired on Fox in 1995.  The car wash themed intro featured Max in a convertible Mustang, "Agent 66" in a Jaguar XJS cabrio and Max's on-screen son Zachary Smart (played by a horribly mis-cast Andy Dick) in an old convertible Dodge.  Thankfully, this abomination ran for only seven episodes.

 

 

 

 

 

At least the red Sunbeam Tiger makes a reappearance in the otherwise forgettable 2008 Get Smart reboot starring Steve Carrell.

 

 

[eddyramrod]

I remember Get Smart very well!  Top music, and the closing credits, with the various doors, are hilarious just on their own.  How many of us went to see The Nude Bomb in the cinema when it was released?  I did!

[Alexg]

403 convertible.

 

 

 

Even with the 403 aside, Columbo is great for euro-chod. Not just knocking about in the background either, the murderer or victim are often busting-about in something from this side of the world. 

[Jim Bergerac]

I vaguely remember seeing Patrick McGoohan drive an SM in an episode.