Jump to content

A wealth of 80s Autocar Roadtests!


Guest

Recommended Posts

I have that road test yearbook thing somewhere... what's so significant about it? And why did it get him fired?

Read the first letter on each page, and put them together as a sentence..
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don’t know who Dockertrigger is, but his Flickr stream of literally hundreds of mostly obscure Eighties road tests has kept me entertained for–well, not very long, actually, since he only started making with the scans last summer. I have this not-so-vague fear that the attention will get Autocar, from whence most of the stories come, to bring the hammer down. But do they really have pressing plans for their test of an Austin Montego 1.6L from 1987? You should probably download them all just to be on the safe side.

Fame at last!! Hope Autocar don't make me delete them all, It's taken bloody ages to upload them!!Haven't even started to upload my Whatcar? and Motor magazines yet!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

--------- Vectra owners, look away now -------------I think he absolutely hates Vauxhalls for the same reason I do. I hate 'em.

Yes, the Vectra was a hateful car. My brother owned one a couple of years ago. The steering wheel felt like it was trapped and wouldn't turn at motorway speed. I could rant til I was blue in the face about this car, I hate it and I even had to work on it a couple of time. New PAS meant the engine had to come out as it was between the engine mounts and the subframe. You feel like you're confined inside and it feels claustraphobic.Don't think it's fair to tar the rest though, the early 90's and 80's Vauxhalls have pretty good handling with basic lowering. Scourge of a mass production car I'm afraid.I had to endure a number of Volkswagen Golfs. Now there's a shower of shite if ever I drove one. A colleague drove his into the sea he hated it so much! :lol:
Link to comment
Share on other sites

--------- Vectra owners, look away now -------------I think he absolutely hates Vauxhalls for the same reason I do. I hate 'em.

I had to endure a number of Volkswagen Golfs. Now there's a shower of shite if ever I drove one. A colleague drove his into the sea he hated it so much! :lol:
Funny that, I've just uploaded a 1983 road test on the then new Mk2 Golf and Autocar rated the Mk1 Astra over it!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mk3s are grim, I bought one last year when I was skint. I thought it'd be reliable and cheap to run, which it was. However the hard and high-set driver's seat crippled me and it was the rustiest car I've ever owned.I don't understand the appeal of '90s/'00s VWs at all, they're stodgy to drive, badly built where it matters (damped grab handles and soft-touch finishings don't equal a rugged car). That badge holds enormous cachet to a lot of people, even the boring FWD Transporter vans have a rabid following... :?trigger, got any more '80s diesel road tests to share?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What you after?

Er...Vauxhall Astra mk3 (GSi) and Cavalier mk3 (GSi) :)And Mitsubishi Starion. :) :)
I'll have a look for you, I used to have the Cavailer GSi2000 Road Test but Ebayed it ages ago, Got a few Starion ones, only upload one a few days ago... http://www.flickr.com/photos/7869726@N02/sets/72157615490380533/

trigger, got any more '80s diesel road tests to share?

I'll keep a eye out, I've uploaded a few diesel test but they all are mainly petrol.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

These are fantastic - few write up's on the ol' Lancer and Colt will need further reading from me.I've got the full set of 'On The Road' magazines that my dad collected in the late seventies / early eighties. Some fantastic road tests on Solara's, Ital's avengers etc etc. Keep meaning to dig em out and scan em (unless someones beat me to it some where on the net !!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

trigger, got any more '80s diesel road tests to share?

Found one for you!, It's still in black and white as it's from 1982, And sorry for any writing cut of the edges, the old Autocar mags was a bit bigger then the A4 size the newer one's are which mean they are a bit big for my scanner.

 

Posted Image

 

Posted Image

 

Posted Image

 

Posted Image

 

Posted Image

 

Posted Image

 

Also just scanned of a Audi 80 1.6 Turbo Diesel road test from 1982.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7869726@N02/sets/72157615814816579/

 

And tomorrow i will be uploading a 1983 road test of the Talbot Horizon LD diesel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have to concur with the general opinion on the quality of motoring journalism nowadays.

 

I have a big stash of CARs going back to the mid-80s and used to buy it religiously until about 2001 - I've bought a few since to see if it's returned to its previous heights, but no luck on that front. It's a number of things - I hate the new layouts (the mid-90s layout in particular looked classy and sophisticated; the recent ones rate 'images' far above 'readability'), the general length of, and insight in, the articles have been cut down savagely; the car 'reviews' are biased, give you no idea what a car is like to drive (I remember one recent article where the sum total of driving impressions amounted to, "This is not really a driver's car" - elaborate???); and, most important of all, the razor wit and tremendous writing talent which made the magazine so great has moved on.

 

OK, so Bayley was/is a pretentious tosser and I can't say I've ever particularly rated Gavin Green as a writer (editor is another matter). But 10-15 years ago, when they had their lineup of LJKS, May, Bulgin, Bishop, Goodwin, Simister, Jamie Kitman, Paul Horrell, and a bunch of others I'm doubtless forgetting right now - it was rare to pull up a truly dud article. More to the point, it was common to find truly memorable ones - Kitman's blast across newly-deregulated Montana in a 456 GT, the Crap Car Cup (in many ways a prelude for the TG challenges), a look at the history of the Metro and its relationship to GB's collective psyche; their ongoing ARG/Rover Group deathwatch/'reliability' updates throughout the '90s; and meaningful Giant Tests which actually gave you information about what cars were like to drive. Oh, and they actually had breaking news - to this day, CAR is the only outlet I've ever seen to report the news that the 1995 Rover 200 was supposed to be the replacement for the Metro, but was shunted upwards in the product queue late in the development phase.

 

Nowadays, let's take a look at what constitutes a CAR 'scoop':

 

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Community/ ... CAR-scoop/

 

(If you don't get it, have a look at the comments.)

 

All of that said, Autocar are just as bad - I just find CAR particularly egregious because I always preferred it to Autocar. Let's look at this so-called road test of the 308:

 

"The steering is accurate enough but no match for the best in class for feedback."

 

On the next page:

 

"But the steering itself is much improved in general feel – much more responsive and positive than before, accurate and nicely weighted."

 

And then we get to Cropley's inane rantings, like this typical piece:

 

http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/anything ... saved.aspx

 

"My own impression is that, even when times are as tough as this, a GM led by Rick Wagoner and the fine teams that he's assembled, stands a better chance of making the cars we'll need tomorrow than what I've seen of the modern, Cerberus-controlled Chrysler. All GM needs is time to implement its bold plan followed by some faith from car buyers.

 

"From what I've seen of GM's future plans, the giant conglomerate is as prepared for the car-selling conditions of tomorrow as Chrysler is not. Were they able to build something stronger by merging, the plan would get my vote in an instant."

 

Honestly, for someone who spends their entire life around the industry this is one of the absolute worst pieces of pathetic cheerleading prose I have ever read. Which, incidentally, made this post from the other day pretty rich in my book:

 

http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/autocarc ... press.aspx

 

(So endeth my rant. For the moment.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Never knew they made diesel SD1's. You are doing a gret service Trigger!!While I don't like it too much, Evo magazine reminds me of the 80's and 90's car mags. The writing style is similar and I'm sure most of the staff worked on previous publications such as these.Just looking at front covers is enough. It's all turned into Top Gear. Give me a white magazine with a car on the front and a load of reviews inside. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nowadays, let's take a look at what constitutes a CAR 'scoop': http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Community/ ... CAR-scoop/

Jesus, I remember reading about those 6 or 7 years ago.I agree on the 'driver's car' thing. What the fuck are they talking about?! You will have to elaborate further on the 'driver's car' thing, that's just a journo pretending to know what he's talking about.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just got this weeks Autocar and I think its finally pushed me to the point where I'm cancelling my subscription :( The front cover fetaures the new Mk6 Golf GTi with the line 'There is no better way to spend £20,000'.Apart from the small fact that the Golf Gti starts at £22,000 (buts whats two grand matter anyway) there are many many many better ways of spending £20k. I'm sure the new Golf Gti is a very good car and I would be more than happy enough with one myself, are we really sure that there is no better way to get rid of £20k than buy buying the default choice of every aspirational rep / junior exec out there. I'd much rather buy a new Dacia Logan, half a dozen old 'classics' and stick a few grand in the bank.It just seems somewhat out of touch with reality in saying that we should all be rushing out to finance ourselves to the bollocks and buy a shiny new VW. I know they have a pro new car agenda and won't want to start upsetting their advertisers but really, a touch of reality might be useful.Theres also a couple of readers letters regarding the scrappage scheme. Autocar it seems is a fan of this :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If those Golf's had a 'member', most of the motoring press would be queuing round the block to give it a good damned 'nosh'. For years I've been sick of hearing how it 'dominates' the market by Top Shop wearing qunts. I've yet to see a review that doesn't have the VXR, Focus ST/RS group test quickly over with to get to the Golf.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jesus, the price has gone up since I last looked, they were £4995 a year ago!

He's hopeful!, I've got nearly everyone from 1982-1988, plus the same again in Motor and a stack of What Car? mags for £25, Couple of months back at the auction i go to, There was a 4 big boxes of Autocar mags covering all the 50's and 60's that sold for £45, But i couldn't make it that day so missed out. (nice of my mate to tell after they sold!)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...