The First Year in the Life of a Philippines Car Spotter

[davocano]

Spotting-wise, a killer month was October.

Brooklands Honeypot so not Spot Of The Year

SOTY runner-up

Deffo SOTY 'cos there's only three weeks left now.

2.3 Ghia auto but the first owner left the option box for "Rear Wash/Wipe" unticked.

[mk2_craig]

8 minutes ago, davocano said:

 

Loving the rims here

 

Early focus ghia? 

[davocano]

^ Confirm.

The sexy* ones on the Corolla was my observation.

[davocano]

I'd better try and catch up on the backlog, seeing as it's next year now.

Jaaaag V8

Aaaaccord V6

The Gulf Oil paint job gets interpreted anywhere

Looks abandoned but I suspect it's still in use; a fairly nearby boatyard has hundreds* of 'em.

Not seen a Mk1 Gally for a while.

One (of 350) in a Million

 

[davocano]

OK, so maybe they're not as rare as I thought they were (haven't seen one since tho, as of January '22)

One of them pastiche T-Birds fom the early noughties. QUITE LIEK

E220 previously spotted in 2019.

A middle-aged couple emerged from this along with their boisterous Alsation. Really nice to see a valuable classic being used as an car.

[davocano]

Historics Auction 'shite.

But first, a 3-door Focus in the Mercedes-Benz World car park (which is on a section of the original Brooklands race track).

.... and a 300 SL AMG. Eleven genuine 300 SL Gullwings were updated to 21st Century spec that includes a 6.0 V8 plus associated running gear obvs and also modern cabin comforts. B&W photo 'cos the light was pretty bad.

Rotary exotica

Slushbox Mayfair with less than 14K on the clock

Slushbox 635 CSI

ADO16 Luxury Model

Looks quite honest at first glance but has had a blow over. White and purple paints not pictured. Well, a little bit of white peeking out tho.

A couple of Euroslabs

Most interesting; a twin-engine 4WD Sahara. Previously operated by the Guardia Civil.

Finally, a trio of Cortina Savages. I often saw the late owner tooling around the local area in the silver one and also in his 1929 Ford Model A hot rod.

RIP Alan Monkley (I had a brief chat with him shortly after taking this shot in 2014)

[davocano]

A vantastic conclusion to November.

Previously spotted in 2017; this 440 is not getting any healthier

Blimey.

[davocano]

As expected, December is once again a lean month. Fortunately, the Walton Bridge Breakfast Club provides adequate content.

Starting with some sexy* Swedes.

[davocano]

Not a rebadged Vauxhall Nova but a genuine UK-from-new Opel Corsa. Probably been redtopped or summat tho.

Hub Nutted P38

CA looks to be still earning a crust in a specific and limited way.

B&W because poor light. CX 25 GTI in silver and SEXY RIMZ

A Cortina that appears to have fallen out of the Street Machine classified ads circa 1988.

[davocano]

The 'shitest highlights:

Smokin' Trabby

416 SLi slushbox

Bedford that has appeared in a previous WBBC. Deserves another appearance on AS so here it is.

1.3 L. Yeah, a 1300cc Cavalier. With 230,000 miles on the clock. Amazeballs.

[davocano]

Just four spots from TEH WILDS (fackin' December innit)

Are these any good? Shogun Sport

SCENEYO 340

Polski 126

Earning a crust in a specific and limited way (no ladders on the roof yeah?)

(belated) HAPPY NEW YEAR

[AnnoyingPentium]

2 minutes ago, davocano said:

Are these any good? Shogun Sport

My neighbour had one for about 10 years. Didn't seem to cause many problems.

[mk2_craig]

Beige Cavalier please!! Though looks slightly strange without the side rubbing strips.

[davocano]

23 hours ago, mk2_craig said:

Beige Cavalier please!! Though looks slightly strange without the side rubbing strips.

The owner has a youtube channel; side rubbing strips are on the to-do list.

 

[mk2_craig]

Ah fair play. Great survivor!

On 1/6/2022 at 5:00 PM, davocano said:

UK-from-new Opel Corsa. Probably been redtopped or summat tho.

Later grille/bumper combo so the owners been to some trouble sourcing the correct badge, assuming it doesn't just swap over from the original front end.

[davocano]

Spotted this on New Year's Day but the backlighting made a terrible photo so went back again two days later.

Spot of the Year on January 1st? Deffo SOTY as of January 1st

[davocano]

Three Daihatsus within three streets of each other; smiley face Charade made me smile

We got the Vauxhall Frontera; JDM got the magically named Isuzu Wizard.

Toyota Sequoia; bulky American-built SUV (not many words contain all five vowels do they)

[davocano]

SCENEYO 940

Oooh, T-5R

Adjacently, a UK from new late Karmann Ghia

Cor strouf, lav a dack, di'nt you kill my bruvvah and so forth

Blimey, ex-BT still alive and earning a crust (not for BT obvs)

[davocano]

Spotted last year in a different location; now with added trade plates.

Another XJR in the same location, not spotted before.

The most common classic; quite lieked the look of this one.

Getting rarer by the day.

Saloons were never common. Ghia spec most common.

Millennium Edition, previously seen in the Colours thread.

[davocano]

Top Mazda 'shite? Perhaps, I dunno. Don't see many nowadays.

Deffo top Hyundai 'shite.

Dressed up rubber bumpers on the commonest of classics.

Oooh, 820 coop.

TARDIS'd in from the mid-noughties.

[davocano]

Some Archishite that caught my attention.

Looks quite incongruous on a residential street.

Mer u y Motors was established in 1941.

Orbit Electronics was established in the 1980s; that's "Data 70 Font" I believe and the sticky-out sign has the 081- phone number on it.

 

[AnnoyingPentium]

9 minutes ago, davocano said:

that's "Data 70 Font"

I have a .ttf file of that font on my computer.

[davocano]

Oh, whats that over there? Why, it's a Jurgens Autovilla bearing a South African licence plate, a parking ticket and a Council Removal Notice.

Went back the next day because better light and the documentation submitted by The Man has been removed.

Two days later it was gone; by the hands of owner or Council, who knows.

I remember a time when Hs were non-existant in the UK. Still enjoy seeing 'em tho.

Explorer in 4.0L V6 flavor.

Gopping when new, a bit like the final incarnation of the Scorpio was. Nowadays, loverly*.

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, davocano said:

Cor strouf, lav a dack, di'nt you kill my bruvvah and so forth

Ooh thats an interesting one! someones done an MGB with that

aka stuck chrome bumpers on a rubber bumper car, but I dont think I have seen someone do with an FX4 until now

it reminds me of a Hindustan Ambassador I once saw which had been dressed up to look Exactly like the Morris oxford the Ambassador basically is/was

it was really funky looking because it was really well done, but it had an N prefix plate still  

[davocano]

A frosty finale to the January selection.

Lacetti of the Daewoo incarnation.

Early K11 and late 2CV... TOGETHER

Previously spotted in 2021 with added frozen water photogenetics.

I still see a few of these around but my spotting radar may be using old calibration data.

Oooh, Silvia. UK registered from new so decals may be SCENEYO.

I've seen this a few times over the years and this is the first* time the owner has reversed onto the driveway.

[davocano]

I've got plenty of free time now so I'll reactivate this long dormant thread. I almost feel homesick looking at pictures of frosty windscreens.

Long story shortened to almost nothing, I have emigrated to the Philippines.

Car spots will be mostly of Japanese origin although they will be mostly built in the Philippines.

Let's start with one of the staples of public transport, the Jeepney; officially called the "Public Utility Jeep" but everyone calls them "Jeep". There are a number of manufacturers that produce bodies fitted with Japanese running gear and engines that are predominantly Isuzu diesels.

Routine* maintenance can be carried out at the roadside.

No Mercedes parts were harmed in the production of this one.

Nor this one.

These two had been hired to carry mourners to a funeral, hence the balloons.

Rectangular headlamps are more common than round ones. Tyres with tread are quite uncommon.

Public Utility Jeep owned by a smol business. Check out those side exhausts that may or may not be functioning.

Engine-less and appears to have been immobile since around 2008; currently employed as a storage shed. Very short wheelbase which is quite unusual.

[RobT]

Blimey, that's a change.  GLWTnewlife.

[808 Estate]

"Jeeps", warm beaches and cute babes. Whats not to like.

[davocano]

So there's the Public Utility Jeep, then you've also got the "owner-type Jeep". Less popular than they once were as the price of older factory-built cars comes down but they're still around.

Locally built chassis and bodies fitted with used Japanese running gear. They come in a variety of body styles but still bear a strong resemblance to the surplus WW2 Willys Jeeps that the first ones originated from. Some have modern* rectangular headlamps but I haven't caught one as yet.

Oooh, slot mags!

Pretty sure the folded tin roof option ain't "factory". Neither is the lack of an engine.

Perched on the edge of a 40-odd foot ravine at the back of a squatter area. From what I can gather, the term "squatter" here refers to people living on land that hasn't been claimed by an owner; over time, the people are usually granted legitimate title to the land they've been living on for however long it may have been. I'm sure there's some more nuance involved tho.

[davocano]

Arguably sitting at the bottom end of the market is the "Basic Utility Vehicle". Again, locally built bodies with used Japanese running gear.

The dashboard on this is a sheet of aluminium with a rectangle cut into it for the speedometer. I assume they're all similarly well appointed.

The lwb versions can also be seen in use as Public Utility Jeeps; this particular one however appears to be owned by a mattress seller.