Popular Post Adrian_pt Posted April 4, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted April 4, 2017 1984 Dacia, sight unseen, from Romania. Plan is to use it over there (I'm over a couple of times a year) with a mate keeping it running the rest of the time. Road trips to feature quite heavily... It's a one owner car in good mechanical order. The bodywork has, er, patina. What could possibly go wrong....... Shep Shepherd, jumpingjehovahs, trigger and 54 others 57 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollywobbler Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 WINNING. What happened to the pick up on here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panhard65 Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 WINNING. What happened to the pick up on here?I was talking about that the other day as the original owner is one of my customers and he hadn't heard anything more about it recently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy18s Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 Delivery service available...oh alcyonecorporation and Tamworthbay 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMC Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 Top work! To quote the dammed by faint praise uk ad , that's VERY ACCEPTIBLE!! privatewire, Yoss, egg and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Split_Pin Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 Excellent news all round there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Bo11ox Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 foarte frumoasa! KruJoe and TataBobu 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian_pt Posted April 4, 2017 Author Share Posted April 4, 2017 Thanks all. AFAIK the pickup is doing well - its current owner has the ex-Sam Glover Denem as well, plus a R12 Gordini. Shep Shepherd 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Split_Pin Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 The Shifterossa is now fully restored. The owner frequents the Dacia owners Facebook page and recently posted pictures. Looks to have been fitted with a front end similar to the example above. Shep Shepherd 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoss Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 YES. One like just isn't enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felly Magic Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 GREAT NEWS!!! chaseracer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian_pt Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 (Romanian) MoT passed over the weekend. Couple more pictures from before the winter. The real excitement will be finally being able to recreate the famous* 1982 ad... I don't think anyone's ever simultaneously owned one of these and an XJ-S before. tooSavvy, richbraith, Vince70 and 14 others 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barefoot Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Was it a lot of money? And given your Romanian contacts, is it practical to import a crateful to the UK? Looks, nice... eddyramrod 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian_pt Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 1300s are getting pricey - estimate 1500-2000E for a good one but can go up to 5k for the very best. 1100s ditto. Eighties 1310s are still at the bottom of the value curve. The best are about 1000E (apart from a few ultra low mileage examples) but you can pick something interesting up for a few hundred. Price of Sports varies quite a lot but a decent one will be 2k plus. So by no means cheap. The vast majority, though, are absolute sheds, massively modified over the years and of no value. They are disappearing off the streets very rapidly indeed: it's now largely seen as a car for pensioners and the very poor, except for in the cities where there's a growing scene. Re importing a crateful - is there really demand? barefoot and egg 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy18s Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 As as aside to this,it looks likely I'm travelling back to the UK to collect my Escort and at the moment have an empty trailer........ Adrian_pt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy18s Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 Pm sent Adrian... eddyramrod 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian_pt Posted May 15, 2017 Author Share Posted May 15, 2017 Saturday was pick-up day. I had to be at a wedding in the UK, so asked a Romanian friend, as a massive favour, to do the honours. He had never driven a Dacia before - or, indeed, any old car. The car itself had not been driven any length of distance for over a year. The total distance was only 530km. So we were firmly in WCPGW territory. On the Friday, I had a phone call from the current owner in Romania. "The car ... It has trouble starting. And the brakes have gone. I'm not actually in town tomorrow for when your friend comes to pick it up. Do you have a Plan B?" Plan B involved finding a mechanic who could patch up the car so that it would at least be in with a sporting chance. A dodgy alternator was fixed; brakes were bled; electronics were given the once-over; encouragement was given to my friend, who was by now terrified (as well as suffering from an unwise evening in Bucharest the night before). The elderly mechanic, bemused at seeing a young bloke in a car that is only driven by very poor pensioners, refused payment and sped them on their way home... .... where, twelve hours later, through torrential rains, endless roadworks, the wipers and most of the dashboard conking out, they arrived. Needless today, my friend (who is owed many beers) is now a complete recruit to the cause. And the little Dacia proved itself under some pretty tough circumstances. Next step is to fly over myself and see what needs to be done, before taking it on some proper trips and giving it the attention it clearly deserves. I have a good feeling about this. D Spares & Tyres, Dirk Diggler, wuvvum and 36 others 39 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Jimmy Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 Respekt due comrade. tooSavvy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Moog Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 Sounds an ace collection mission Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felly Magic Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 It's even in Autoshite brown. Would look good with a denem badge on the bootlid Good luck with this project Adrian_pt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan_dyane Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 Exceptional work! I'd love an estate... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HillmanImp Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 Exceptional work! I'd love an estate...Marry a Duchess then. Sudsprint, jonathan_dyane, They_all_do_that_sir and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest benno Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 Saw a nice estate on Facebook with 1100km for £5k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan_dyane Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 Ooof! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timolloyd Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 Massive respect to you and your friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KruJoe Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 That sounded like an ace "Best friend test" John F 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian_pt Posted February 8, 2018 Author Share Posted February 8, 2018 Quick update. Been over twice to try it out - both involved long-ish trips. On the first, it distinguished itself by developing a gearchange problem which allowed me only to use 2nd and 4th, making the 400km expedition interesting*. Both the fuel gauge and the trip counter had given up the ghost, the front seats had almost collapsed, the driver's window was set at an angle to the rest of the door, and the fanbelt snapped about 20 miles in. The closing mechanism for the bonnet was also long gone, so at any speed over 80kmh it lifted upwards, waving around somewhat disconcertingly in front of the windscreen. Despite this the car gallantly refused to die, and in fact was a lot of fun, despite the many, many ways in which it was mildly fucked. I've just got back from the second. Since the first trip, it's had repairs to the gears, a new interior, a proper service, and minor aesthetic details. The trip involved around 750km, a lot of it on tough terrain: mountain passes, unmade roads, snow and ice, and proper hills. The only fault was a blown headlamp bulb - aside from that, it behaved and drove perfectly. Performance is actually excellent - at 880kg its 1.3 litres are more than adequate to keep up with modern traffic - and decent ground clearance means it can go places a lot of moderns would struggle. People's reactions when it's on the road are massively positive - the R12 shaped Dacias have really disappeared off the streets and I don't think I saw more than about 4 or 5 others on the road the entire trip. To everyone's astonishment it maxed out at a very smooth 130kmh: aided by a dip in the road, admittedly, but plenty fast enough. A combination of bendy mountain roads and no traffic whatsoever made for some serious fun (and the occasional sideways corner). All in all: much, much more than "very acceptable". More photos when I can get them off the phone. One final thought: till very recently, these cars survived in large numbers in tough conditions and took a LOT of abuse. Domestic-market cars were notoriously worse-built than those destined for the West - particularly on rustproofing. How did they survive for three or four decades carrying potatoes across ploughed fields but manage to get so defeated by suburbia?? catsinthewelder, Cleon-Fonte, wuvvum and 23 others 26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strangeangel Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 One final thought: till very recently, these cars survived in large numbers in tough conditions and took a LOT of abuse. Domestic-market cars were notoriously worse-built than those destined for the West - particularly on rustproofing. How did they survive for three or four decades carrying potatoes across ploughed fields but manage to get so defeated by suburbia?? Dunno, possibly they represented a much bigger investment to your average Romanian back then than a Denem did to a UK customer, and hence more effort went into keeping them going? Could you even buy anything other than a Dacia there under communism? My Uncle had one of the UK cars from new back in the day; it was massively unreliable from the off, and was completely rotten by the time he got rid of it at four years old. The dealership he bought it from went bust while it was under warranty. Eventually he binned it off and bought a Ford - I'd be surprised if it lived to see its fifth birthday. Ace car though. I was over there in 2006 and the place was awash with them, sad to hear they're all disappearing now. One of the highlights of the trip (puzzling my OH no end) was the ride back to the airport in one of the many then plying its trade as a taxi Adrian_pt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoss Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 I like that very much. More pictures please. Especially of the inside. egg 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datsuncog Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 That is rather nice indeed... seconded for more pics, whenever you get the chance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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