Yank stuff imported to U.K in 70s

[adw1977]

Motor magazine tested a right hand drive Pontiac in 1962:

 

Ford Cars brochure from 1981, I love the juxtaposition of a Mustang and a Fiesta on facing pages:

[Felly Magic]

There was a Ford Galaxie 500 hearse in the UK in the 60s IIRC

[mercrocker]

There was a Ford Galaxie 500 hearse in the UK in the 60s IIRC

 

I seem to remember that - a 1963, I think.   Saw a photo of it in a scrapyard somewhere (think I still have the cutting but God knows where....)  

 

Wasn't it a longer wheelbase, too?

[mercrocker]

I like Dugong's point about the LHD snobbery thing, too.... 

 

I actually find Yanks easier to drive with it because you can hug the kerb and gauge the width better.  

 

However, if I ever get another one it would have to be a UK origin car, rotten though it probably would be.... 

 

Nothing better, in my mind, than a piece of 50s/60s Americana on short numbered black plates that probably had some kind of shady/glamorous ownership early on and sat outside dodgy Soho clubs watched over by some crook of a bouncer.    Or owned by a bloke who had a number six hit in 1963 before buggering off to Spain with his promoter's missus. 

 

Ken Dodd had a RHD Parisienne but that maybe isn't quite what I have in mind!

[noseypoke]

AMC sold Rebels, Ambassadors, Classics, Pacers and Jeeps (they owned Jeep at the time) in RHD.  They also sold AMXs and Javelins (I think there were some RHD Javelins) and even Matadors offered in LHD.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/62726314@N07/28126251465/in/photolist-JRqoE6-nfkQCa-p198pU-8DJyz9-7AruWz-8Y52P4-nfVWRx-qw46UU-fd12XC-a3qdcw-booMck-7KNaHj-fNtq6S-aBTqde-a9P6QL-9Gruyp-aEFTJ7-qYeX2t-kTDpSv-aBWd5A-nfVZpF-7HPAAN-ijcSuM-booMhK-7SjcQZ-aBW2tE-a3bEG9-duQK9k-a38tLZ-6AzMCg-ak1DSY-7JN77z-a3aRMG-a5usD3-aAnbYK-jFa3DY-a3buWS-853eAa-7KJt78-aeqdGV-aBTtD2-fcZScG-e4Sfqu-fd1ijU-a38UUi-a3n9ai-fcKxgp-3TzHpD-piZQFv-jXdQqx

 

 

GM (Chevy and Pontiac) sold stuff in RHD in the 50s and 60s, not so sure about the 70s.  

 

For another book I recommend Steve Miles' various (vols 1-5) "Over Here" with photos of all the Yank motors he spotted - mainly in the 60s - but a surprising number of RHD.

 

Ford sold RHD mustangs here - this one in 1977 -

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81018118@N02/15464408050/in/photolist-pyx8K1-p198q5-nRJ7EM-dPuGGx-pB2jYi-pyx8Du-qgnkDn-qWP5sg-qXgLFR-qgMkJs-rcMkAi-eLFUfJ-dqzJs7-ptPJVX-qkQXGz-fcZWxL-fd1rRw-fd19YG-o961W6-oxr5h5-npYizM-fcZTdL-qZ6UQh-e6tMVY-qnrZhb-aCWLWb-oeHXc1-rcWc68-rhm8QA-e7roTU-r17sjZ-k9Wv4N-qXaLDj-fcKQdc-oxr3mb-qgVfd8-fd1guA-fcZUrC-ekbgoX-oM53xU-oK4Ujs-p198py-6AEJLm-HLyBif-fq2oQC-fd1aB1-9zntXK-nH3WRf-rk13hd-nvP5Dj

The worst MUSSIE ever...load of crap

[Vin]

At first I thought this might be it, in Supergirl, filmed at Pinewood in 84 ( note the stickers trying to hide the RHD W108) Unfortunately those 2 Transits make the picture with the pink flash at least 1986.image.jpeg

 

It looks like the tax disc says 04.99...

[noseypoke]

Have seen a factory RHD Chevy Bronco? or Jimmy and also a factor US Chrysler 4x4 wagon in RHD, also seen the chain drive lhd->RHD conversions...

 

You could order Aussie Fords and Chryslers here but not Holdens (as far as I know). Surprising numbers have survived but some models are being exported back to Aus as they are worth more there.

PS I'm looking for an Aussie Charger...

FORD BRONCO ...GMC JIMMY,,,,,

[sierraman]

I read the Galaxie Hearse was scrapped for the engine. What a shame! Imagine the work you could get with that these days!

 

What became of a lot of these yanks I wonder, probably poor parts availability killed them off.

 

The Ford LTD is actually a Fairlane...

[danthecapriman]

The worst MUSSIE ever...load of crap

I like the Mustang 2, the worst one IMO was the fourth gen Mustang. It's just a boring bland 90's car.

[DodgeRover]

I owned a Chrysler Ch in the mid 80s found it in a somerset scrapyard with a busted windscreen ( luckily found one god knows where from can't remember where it came from now ) It was a 1971 4 door saloon model imported by Chrysler from Aus and fitted with a 5.9 V8 went well but about 15 to the gallon more info on imported Chryslers here ... http://www.rootes-chrysler.co.uk/aussie-chry.html

Do you remember the plate or any details if so I'll try to forward them on to the guy on Moparuk who was trying to put together a list of all the Aussie Chryslers sold here.

[Felly Magic]

There is a right hand drive GMC thingy not far from Trigger towers, and I remember the GM G20 Ambulances in the early 90's, the NHS trialled a few IIRC

[dugong]

There is a right hand drive GMC thingy not far from Trigger towers, and I remember the GM G20 Ambulances in the early 90's, the NHS trialled a few IIRC

 

Nah, what you want is one of those self-immolating Renault Trafic turbo ambulances, the perfect thing for finishing off burns victims in an emergency.

I'd have a lot of fun with a Sherpa V8 illness bus; I'd give it an hour before I turned it over.  

[AMC Rebel]

 

I also want to take issue with the tedious fanbois who claim RHD factory built cars like that WW Barracuda 'aren't proper Yanks.' Yeah, having a more usable American car with a steering wheel on the right side of the road for the country you live in is a right pain in the arse, isn't it? Delightful people like that would put me off joining any Colonial car club right off the bat. Vehicles like that WW Barrcuda were designed and engineered by the people who built the LHD home market cars - they're hardly butchering them with Sturmey Archer cast-offs in a shed.

 

Go back to your line dancing class in Burnley and speaking in a faux-down home accent. Nothing inauthentic about that at all.

^ This x1billion.  I have posted before about this kind of daft yank fan with their cowboy boots, waving the battle flag of the confederacy with no clue about the history of it, telling me my RHD yanks (I have three so far) "aren't proper".  Bollocks.

 

This is why I don't go to yank car shows any more and I canned my presence on Rods n Sods.

 

With that said, when I worked in the filling station we used to get a jolly crew in who used to ride round in a transit minibus who called themselves Derby Texas Rangers - and they were quite funny.

[eddyramrod]

IIRC there was at least one of those RHD ambulances used in Casualty for a season or two.

 

I had a mate at art college (1976-7) with a RHD 1960 Chevy Impala, SCB 989.  They do crop up from time to time, as do Plymouths and Fords, epecially the 60s models.  In the 70s Ford and Chrysler did dabble in bringing Aussie models over, but they were too big for the market (which now happily buys V10 diesel Cayennes....).  As mentioned, you could also get a Mustang 2/3, Caprice or Seville in RHD.  More recently we've seen the Chevy Blazer and Cadillac STS in this spec.  Regular readers will remember I had a RHD Blazer, and didn't like it.  The current Mustang is also here in RHD, I posted a red one I papped just round the corner from my house very recently.  I still see it most days.  There's also a pig-ugly Jeep thing, also new-ish.

 

I have, as you all know, had several LHD American autos, but perhaps surprisingly, the Blazer of ill repute was the only RHD.  I think if I found myself being offered something like Bob's Impala at the right price, I'd probably have a go, but I doubt I'd go for another modern.  I do actually LIKE driving LHD.

[Felly Magic]

Motor magazine tested a right hand drive Pontiac in 1962:

Pontiac Parisienne road test 1962 (1).jpg

 

Ford Cars brochure from 1981, I love the juxtaposition of a Mustang and a Fiesta on facing pages:

Ford Cars May 81 002-003 Mustang and Fiesta.jpg

The Fiesta Pop Plus was probably faster than the Stang LOL

[AMC Rebel]

Have seen a factory RHD Chevy Bronco? or Jimmy and also a factor US Chrysler 4x4 wagon in RHD, also seen the chain drive lhd->RHD conversions...

 

You could order Aussie Fords and Chryslers here but not Holdens (as far as I know). Surprising numbers have survived but some models are being exported back to Aus as they are worth more there.

PS I'm looking for an Aussie Charger...

<pedant> Unless you were doing in on purpose and I missed it - Bronco is a Ford.</pedant>

 

I have seen quite a few K5 Chevy Blazers.

 

There are a few RHD Chevy Suburbans, and Caprices (as someone else said) knocking about.

 

Chevy sold the later much smaller  99> Blazer here in RHD - supported by Vauxhall dealers - they saw it as a rival to the Ford Exploder and Jeep Grand Cherry.  You could get Jeeps with a 2.5 pez or dizzler - later a 3.1 VM 5 pot unit which divides opinion, but the RHD Ford was 4.0 V6 only and the Blazer was the 4.3 V6 that is 3/4 of a SBC.

 

Edit: and as I was typing that Eddie posted most of it!

[Felly Magic]

I watched a youtube clip about a USA spec Mercury Capri mk2 rescue, and the comments from stereotypical mouthbreathers slagging the car off, saying American stuff of the same era was better. I don't think they liked it when i said a UK spec 1.6L Capri mk2 was as fast as a Mustang 2.8 of the same era, both had a top speed of 99! America really did get a bum deal, and I did read that the Bandit spec Trans Am had only about 175 bhp from that mahoosive V8 once all the smog crap was fitted.

[doobietoo]

Do you remember the plate or any details if so I'll try to forward them on to the guy on Moparuk who was trying to put together a list of all the Aussie Chryslers sold here.

it was blue and I had it painted black...... I may have a reg number somewhere in the loft I did take it on run to the sun so may be a pic floating around I am abroad at the moment but will see what I can find when I return..

[AMC Rebel]

 

[AMC Rebel]

RHD K5

 

 

 

http://car-from-uk.com/sale.php?id=84600

[AMC Rebel]

[sierraman]

Most US spec cars are outrageously quick to sixty but then have a maximum speed of something daft like 110mph. When you think about it it makes sense. How many Fairmonts got sold and more importantly how many survived?

 

I bet the old chain drive was a bit dubious as time went on!

[Guest Hooli]

Somewhere in my parent's loft (I must get them back one day) I've got the road test of the Ponitiac GTO in 'Small Car'. From memory (read it years ago) 2 speed auto that kicked down below 70 so it often left corners going backwards if the road was damp...

[AMC Rebel]

 

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_743775-AMC-Ambassador-1970.html

[ShiteRider]

I do resto work for a local funeral firm, we've had this a year (full bare metal job).

Norman, who owns the firm, has a 62/63 (never seen it to confirm) galaxie convertible in white which he bought new in rhd.

His memory is a bit hazy now (he's a fairly spry 91) so i don't know if it was factory or an aftermarket conversion.

My boss, who has worked on it in the 80s, reckons it has a chain drive conversion.

[sheffcortinacentre]

For ford imports & oddities there were three dealers in the UK during the 70s -80s, they'd supply yanks,Aussie,crayford s etc.

 

Quicks of Manchester.

Bristol street motors Birmingham.

Perry's London.

[AMC Rebel]

[Ghosty]

Ah, Bauer Millett. I don't remember them being on Deansgate but I'm familiar with the place they had under the arches behind Central/G-Mex.
They were the place to go in Manchester for the Camaro/Corvette, Hummer, etc. Manchester United having a sponsorship deal with Chevrolet seemed to get them a bit of business.
The Chrysler tie lived on - by the 2000s they were also (and perhaps mainly) an FCA dealer, selling Jeep, UK market Chryslers, as well as Fiat, Alfa and Abarth. Sales slid off as time went on and they shut up shop about 2 years ago.
In related news, the Chrysler/Jeep (and probably formerly Dodge) dealer down the A6 near the McVitie's factory on the way to Stockport now sells Teslas.
With FCA having given up on everything but Alfa and Fiat over here, we're once again in the position of the only Chevrolets available to buy in the country being Camaros and Corvettes, albeit the number of dealerships in the country that sells them is in single figures.
As mentioned, you can now walk into any Ford dealer and buy an RHD Mustang. They come in Ecoboost V6 (£30k) and 5.0 V8 (£36k). Not too many options, no four cylinder model (strange? US has one), and I don't think we get the GT350 either. We also get the massive Ford Edge (an SUV) in RHD now, but nobody seems to give a shit, I've seen one on the road.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Ah, Bauer Millett. I don't remember them being on Deansgate but I'm familiar with the place they had under the arches behind Central/G-Mex.

They were the place to go in Manchester for the Camaro/Corvette, Hummer, etc. Manchester United having a sponsorship deal with Chevrolet seemed to get them a bit of business.

The Chrysler tie lived on - by the 2000s they were also (and perhaps mainly) an FCA dealer, selling Jeep, UK market Chryslers, as well as Fiat, Alfa and Abarth. Sales slid off as time went on and they shut up shop about 2 years ago.

In related news, the Chrysler/Jeep (and probably formerly Dodge) dealer down the A6 near the McVitie's factory on the way to Stockport now sells Teslas.

With FCA having given up on everything but Alfa and Fiat over here, we're once again in the position of the only Chevrolets available to buy in the country being Camaros and Corvettes, albeit the number of dealerships in the country that sells them is in single figures.

As mentioned, you can now walk into any Ford dealer and buy an RHD Mustang. They come in Ecoboost V6 (£30k) and 5.0 V8 (£36k). Not too many options, no four cylinder model (strange? US has one), and I don't think we get the GT350 either. We also get the massive Ford Edge (an SUV) in RHD now, but nobody seems to give a shit, I've seen one on the road.

I think the Ecoboost is the 4 cylinder not V6.

[cort16]

Ecoboost is 2.3 4 pot turbo.