What and when was the last proper bASe car sold in the UK?

[timolloyd]

All this talk of the bASe Mondeo has got me thinking - when was the last time any of us could walk in to a showroom in the UK and buy a proper base model?

 

I guess base models are still available now, but let's face it, even the most humble Dacia or whatever is going to have a passenger door mirror, some airbags and a radio.

I remember going to the motorshow in 1989-ish and my Dad showing me the FSO stand, and pointing out the model on display had a blanking panel where a passenger mirror might fit.

 

So, what's the newest car you've driven, that's been missing the most standard stuff?

[Tamworthbay]

Fiat 500 pop? No rear headrests, no CD player or dab, steel wheels, but still with tyre sensors, Christmas tree lights on the dash etc. My mate has a Sandero that is pretty bleak inside.

[HMC]

Hasn't kiltox got a Dacia with the entry level spec?

[Kiltox]

Base model Dacias don’t have radios - the Sandero doesn’t have central locking either (Duster does).

 

I think the Sandero Access has keep fit Windows too - Duster has electric in the front

[Felly Magic]

The bottom of the range Sandero just has the bare bones, no stereo, and now a 3 cylinder engine, clockwork windows, and white bodywork, no spare wheel or jack, just the legally required airbaggery etc, but it is only £6k

[Liggle]

I once bought a 1993 VW Polo 'Fox' for £75, that was real poverty spec. Luckily only bought it to break for spares for another Polo I had. 
 

[Ghosty]

There has to be a poverty Citroen C1 out there...

[brandersnatch]

I bought a Corsa for my daughter. Miserable thing. Three cylinder, keep fit windows and no power steering. The radio was just a radio, not even a cassette.

 

 

One’s too many, ten’s not enough!

[egg]

Ford Fusion '1' was a bit povvo, up to 2004/5.

[Kiltox]

Kia Rio and Picanto “1” (until 2010) were proper bASe too

[For Fiats Sake]

Fiat are pretty much the minge bags of auto manufacture, if it's not mandated by law they'd delete it for a base model.

The 750 panda didn't even have opening rear windows, let alone such fripperies as a clock.  Windy front windows, non locking petrol cap, no rear wash wipe (or a blanking panel on the boot interior apart from sisley 4x4's) and power steering was never ever an option.

Adjustable drivers mirror (no passenger one) from the outside, non dipping interior mirror, rubber carpet, no radio or cigar lighter, heating controls with no night time illumination are all included (or not!)

Probably lots of other shizz I've forgotten about too. 

 

At least they came with a full size spare wheel without gouging 50-100 quid for the privilege.

[egg]

What was the most base Felicia?

[angle]

I only thought of this because one overtook me on the M5 this afternoon, but Seat did a pretty bleak version of the Mii. Check it:

 

 

[chaseracer]

The bottom of the range Sandero just has the bare bones, no stereo, and now a 3 cylinder engine, clockwork windows, and white bodywork, no spare wheel or jack, just the legally required airbaggery etc, but it is only £6k

 

Sounds fine to me... 

[SiC]

Interestingly executive/premium stuff like S90/5-series/e-class/A6/etc don't really have poverty spec levels anymore. Even the base models come with satnav, full climate, heat seats, etc. Even base Mondeo's and Insignias come with full climate/cruise/etc.

 

This is where we'll really notice the absence of Hendry and his knowledge on trim levels.

[Datsuncog]

On 04/03/2018 at 21:10, Liggle said:

I once bought a 1993 VW Polo 'Fox' for £75, that was real poverty spec. Luckily only bought it to break for spares for another Polo I had.

Yeesh, I owned a Polo Fox of the same vintage for a bit as well.

Some of the equipment deletion just seemed to be plain vindictive - like the removal of sound deadening on the bulkhead, and a blanking plate in place of a plunger switch on the passenger side so the courtesy light didn't come on.

No radio, fag lighter or clock as originally supplied - though someone had bodged in the first two with doorbell wire and scotchlocks, while I Blu-Tac'd an old Casio digital watch to the dash to give me the luxury of knowing how late I'd be for work.

No lid for the glove box, and no parcel shelf in the back either.

No brightwork anywhere, even the VW badge was just plain black plastic.

Of course, no airbags or electric windows.

This was the only car I ever experienced brake fade in - I later learned that they weren't fitted with vacuum servos. The fuel gauge was also rather approximate, and left me filling up from a fuel can by the roadside on a couple of occasions.

Brutally basic motoring!

I'd formerly owned a fully loaded* Polo Genesis that went and got itself TWOC'd, so sadly I knew exactly where the tacho, clock and trip odo ought to have been...

 

*relatively speaking

[Ghosty]

Mini Firsts were pretty basey. You got a CD player though.

[Captain Furious]

Crikey that Mii looks grim, switch to turn off passenger airbag “because they want to”

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Just posted this elsewhere but the original Ford Ka was bASe.  Old 1.3 Kent-derived engine, no power steering, no central locking, keep-fit windows. Only 'modern' thing was the radio and that was just a cassette.  It did have passenger mirrors and the like.  No ABS but it did have a drivers airbag.

 

I absolutely loved mine and I miss it enormously.  You are fondly remembered, Penelope.

[Mr A Lawrence]

It's a jeep?

[Felly Magic]

What was the most base Felicia?

 

Felicia Lx on launch had a clock, rear wiper, and all of 54 bhp, facelift Felicia L was the same spec, no power steering, no radio

[timolloyd]

I had a 1989 Vauxhall Nova Star with no cigarette lighter. Bet the wiring was there though

[rantingYoof]

I've seen some pretty basic Volvo 850s for sale before...four windy windows and blanking plate heaven on the dash.

 

2.0 10v engine is probably as miserable as you can get for one of those, although sadly probably too sufficient to be classed as baSe.

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[Split_Pin]

Definitely the only proper base is the Sandero Access. If it has any kind of ICE or electric windows then its not a base.

 

My 2000 Corsa B Envoy only had a radio cassette but even that wasnt a proper base because of that and the fact that it had a clock.

 

My mum had what I would consider to be one of the last proper base models, a G reg Metro city. No clock, radio, parcel shelf read wash wipe and even the centre face vents were deleted. The equivalent Fiesta base at the time even had a radio.

 

The Polo Fox is definitely a proper base too.

 

Wish Hendry was here, he would 100% be able to tell us the date and spec of the last proper base model car.

[riek]

Interestingly executive/premium stuff like S90/5-series/e-class/A6/etc don't really have poverty spec levels anymore. Even the base models come with satnav, full climate, heat seats, etc. Even base Mondeo's and Insignias come with full climate/cruise/etc.

 

 

there's a properly pov M-Reg Audi A6 just up the road from me, it's cream - almost berlin taxi esque and has wheeltrims. I think that kind of thing was killed off by the growth of people carriers, folk with big families had better options

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Yeesh, I owned a Polo Fox for a bit as well. Some of the equipment deletion just seemed plain vindictive - like the sound deadening on the bulkhead, and the plunger switch to operate the courtesy light on the passenger side. No radio, fag lighter or clock as originally supplied, of course. Brutally basic motoring!

 

P1030731.JPG

 

P1030735.JPG

 

 

Consider yourself lucky: the current "6R" Polo (in 1.4 85hp* spec) doesn't even have a temperature gauge.... 

[BorniteIdentity]

Consider yourself lucky: the current "6R" Polo (in 1.4 85hp* spec) doesn't even have a temperature gauge.... 

 

Neither does £32k worth of Mazda CX-5 sat outside tho.

 

Progress innit.

[angle]

Consider yourself lucky: the current "6R" Polo (in 1.4 85hp* spec) doesn't even have a temperature gauge....

Here is the entire dash of that Mii I posted:

 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Here is the entire dash of that Mii I posted:

 

Grim.

[oldcars]

Do some moderns not even have a temp gauge now? Seems silly.