Garage find Rancho - the bronze one. Rust update, p15

[Split_Pin]

Good ball my son.......

 

I had loads of these as toys back in the 1980s, including a lovely 1/24 scale Bburago example. The only one that survived was the little Yellow matchbox one however I have over recent years re-acquired the Superkings and Corgi version, together with the Bburago one again.

 

Can't wait to see the pictures!

[RoadworkUK]

Blimey Skizzer. I really, really like your XJS, but...

It's shit compared to this!

[purplebargeken]

Family across the road had a new one in the day, sort of a turquoise colour. 

 

I liked it.

[Cavcraft]

Honestly think these are THE most Autoshite cars you could get, truly hope it comes off for you. Would imagine that being in a garage has done it numerous favours, do these have those seats made out of broken biscuits that crumble away in the sunlight like the Alpines and Tagoras?  

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[timolloyd]

This.

I'd like to think yours was bought by Land Rover 'for assessment' before the Freelander or even the Disco were a twinkle in their eye. I imagine a scene deep in some Warwickshire woodland, with a Rancho and Ital van/factory mule thing parked alongside each other. Management looking from one to the other and still concluding: 'nah, it'll never catch on'
 

Ten years ago you could've bought this, driven it to Nissan and said, "This looks like a 4x4 but isn't, its underpowered and its fugly.... this will save your company" and they will probably have laughed you out of the door but here we are and there must be 4 or 5 Kumquats or Pukes down my street.

This car is more ahead of its time than a time machine.

Win win win

[dollywobbler]

Absolutely amazing. Though I can't agree with Junkman. Horrors can lurk rearward because, if I remember correctly, these were based on the pick-up, so have a steel floor to which that fantastic plastic contraption is bonded. Makes resto a pain in the arse, so I'd have a very good poke around underneath.

 

Doesn't detract from the frankly ridiculous levels of WIN in this thread, obviously. 

 

Here's one I found in a French scrapyard seven years ago. Note that they actually changed the rear wiper position for RHD, which meant also changing the tailgate design!

 

[tooSavvy]

 

Generally, the spare parts situation is surprisingly good, since there are clubs in many countries.

.... Not so for all of us, ha!

 

TS

[cort16]

I wonder if skizzer has had that sober moment of realisation yet?

[Skizzer]

Thank you all for feeding my insanity, you evil bastards.

 

I woke up at 5am thinking bugger, another broken car to worry about - but then I thought Rancho and got very excited all over again.

 

The only things that will stop this happening are if the seller lets me down, if it's logged as scrapped at the DVLA or if it literally falls apart on moving. I'm not expecting any of those to happen. In the latter cases it would be better going to Simcat or the Owners' Club as a parts donor.

 

Apparently the mileage is only 80k, which is great news.

 

I've just looked at Inconsistant's brochure scan (thanks!) which says it should be a 7-seater. This is also a big bonus as that means it could in time replace the Discovery, freeing up space for more shite.

 

This may be handy as I'm also the high bidder on that red Granada estate...

[nigel bickle]

As the owner of a couple of Simcas, inc an 1100 van, I'm going to be watching this with a deal of interest.

 

There's a chip on the blue forum, who majors in these. SCMick, I think - lives in Chesterfield. Seems pretty valued on the mechanicals, not do sure on the bodywork side.....

[dollywobbler]

As the owner of a couple of Simcas, inc an 1100 van, I'm going to be watching this with a deal of interest.

 

There's a chip on the blue forum, who majors in these. SCMick, I think - lives in Chesterfield. Seems pretty valued on the mechanicals, not do sure on the bodywork side.....

 

He also seems to love superchargers...

[EssDeeWon]

I used to have a toy matchbox one in red but remember thinking what is this car?? I have never seen one on the road, and this was in the 80s!

 

 

There is a very tidy white one not far from here which must be garaged, only see it bi-annually out and about.

[tooSavvy]

SCMick puts 'wrong way round rotation' Honda TC into his Simca.

 

..... and, errr, then shredds the diff.

 

Every day's a school day

 

 

TS

[phil_lihp]

I'm genuinely jealous, I would love one of these.  I think this might be *the* Autoshite eBay purchase of 2016, nothing much will beat it.  Lovely colour, too.

[Dick Longbridge]

Intrigued to see where this goes. Late one on a B plate? Have a word with the fuckmuppets on TG France for spares - the 2015-16 season killed one just like this

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_799690-Matra-Simca-Rancho-1977.html

[andy18s]

I've just looked at Inconsistant's brochure scan (thanks!) which says it should be a 7-seater. This is also a big bonus as that means it could in time replace the Discovery, freeing up space for more shite.

 

 

And there was me thinking that If the metal bits of the Rancho were too bad,you have an ideal donor vehicle right there.....

Top buyage by the way......

[BorniteIdentity]

There was a pristine red one at Festival of the Unexceptional that I looked at no fewer than 5 times.  That also had the rear facing seat option and, as a father of 4, turned me on greatly.  However, it's this constant level of arousal that led to me being the father of 4, so whilst I've thought about them for the last couple of weeks - I didn't even bother looking to see if there are any for sale.

 

I would say that this has great potential.  FFS - it's even in a shite colour.

 

Good luck, friend.

 

1985 Talbot Matra Rancho by Adam Floyd, on Flickr

[Skizzer]

That red one is immaculate but perhaps a tiny bit overdressed for me. Serck plates though - wonder if 'mine' has Serck plates? Dare to dream...

 

There's that one, the wheelchair-adapted white one that KGF sold a couple of years ago, the Fiesta(?)-engined one in Germany that's been for sale for ages (for a reason) and there's another bronze one around somewhere - and I think that's about it for RHD survivors on the road. Don't think even Brammy, Barrett or EssDeeWon has papped another, therefore they don't exist.

[Joey spud]

I worked for a Talbot / Peugeot dealer back in the mid eighties (Rochester Motor Co) and can only remember working on one Rancho.

 

If you pissed off the workshop foreman he would give you all the shit jobs like Express clutches or Dodge PB vans with shot suspension,and as i tended to upset the old git more than most i got given the Rancho job so i guess back then they were unloved within the dealer network.

 

One of the many faults on this Rancho that the owner was concerned about was excessive brake pedal travel.

I stripped,cleaned,adjusted and bled the brakes countless times but couldn't really improve the long pedal,in the end i noticed that the operating rod from the pedal to the servo/master cylinder was adjustable so i lengthened it and now the pedal travel was perfect....

 

Well i was perfect untill i went for a test drive and found that the adjusted rod was pushing against the master cylinder slightly and after a mile or so the brakes were seriously binding on and smoking.

I had to abandon it outside a Vets as it wouldn't move anymore and walk back to the workshop to get a couple of13mm spanners then cadge a lift back to it to reset the adjustment back where it was.

 

Turns out all RHD Rancho's had long brake pedals so i was flogging a dead horse.

[Skizzer]

I worked for a Talbot / Peugeot dealer back in the mid eighties (Rochester Motor Co) and can only remember working on one on Rancho.

 

If you pissed off the workshop foreman he would give you all the shit jobs like Express clutches or Dodge PB vans with shot suspension,and as i tended to upset the old git more than most i got given the Rancho job so i guess back then they were unloved within the dealer network.

 

Hey, this could be your big chance to relive your lost youth. I'll just bring it round to yours on the way home, yes?

 

[Braddon81]

Do these have those seats made out of broken biscuits that crumble away in the sunlight like the Alpines and Tagoras?  

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The interior trim on these is pretty durable, especially compared to most baseline Talbots of its era with it being trimmed predominantly in Vinyl with plaid cloth inserts. All UK Ranchos became 7 seaters from late 81 onwards til it's quiet death in 1984. Most Remaining UK cars seem to have the Constable wheelchair conversion so it's good to see this is in totally original spec. Although not totally immune to rot these late Ranchos in common with all late Talbots were far far better in their rust resistance to earlier examples and it looks like this one might need just a modicum of mig tickling on its back end.

[xtriple]

Took a truly vile example of one of these in P/X about 200 years ago. It was a nasty 'doom blue' and very, very rusty underneath. But it was great fun to tool about in and to my great surprise (and delight) it sold for a reasonable price and very quickly.

 

Top 'shiting, I look forward to tales of daring doings and adventures.

[Rocket88]

If the underpinnings are completely rancid, remove body from your Disco, and hammer this over the top.........................

[Joey spud]

Somewhere i still have the dealer tool for adjusting the valve clearances which to be honest was just as easy to do with a spanner.

 

It was a pointless task anyway as the early engines sounded the same no matter what the valve clearances were set to.

[Braddon81]

If the underpinnings are completely rancid, remove body from your Disco, and hammer this over the top.........................

Or perhaps we can do some dodgy dealing with some Chinese investors and build a new version!

[Skizzer]

If the underpinnings are completely rancid, remove body from your Disco, and hammer this over the top.........................

Now there's an idea. I'm not sure which I like the sound of more, a V8 3.9 Rancho or a 1440cc FWD Discovery.

[Dick Longbridge]

Or perhaps we can do some dodgy dealing with some Chinese investors and build a new version!

Damn, I don't dislike that...

 

Prettier than a Discotheque as well...

[RichardK]

Or perhaps we can do some dodgy dealing with some Chinese investors and build a new version!

 

 

I'd buy that.

 

TOP ENVY for acquisition of a Rancho. They're a significant part of my childhood because of a particular yellow Corgi model and the lengths I went to to obtain said model I wanted it that much. More than I wanted the yellow Maestro with working brake lights.

[Junkman]

Absolutely amazing. Though I can't agree with Junkman. Horrors can lurk rearward because, if I remember correctly, these were based on the pick-up, so have a steel floor to which that fantastic plastic contraption is bonded. Makes resto a pain in the arse, so I'd have a very good poke around underneath.

Amazingly it turned out, that most of them are pretty solid in the back tin wise. The plastic umbrella seems to protect the

underlying sheet metal surprisingly well, except when, as I mentioned, the plastic is damaged and lets water in.

And one of the most common spots for this are cracks around the tailgate hinges.

But even if, the floors are quite simple stampings and not that hard to repair.

 

Notorious are the A-pillars, which had zero rust protection from the factory and are the most stressed structural component

of the car. They are also quite a complex shape, thus can only be repaired by either advanced tinplate sculpturists, or with

sections cut from another car. However, they are shared with the 1100/van/pick up.

So are the doors and front wings, which can also challenge 90s Mercedesesses for rot enthusiasm.

[dollywobbler]

I think you under-estimate the fierce power of the British winter to attack the rear end from beneath. Good point about the A posts though.