Undesirable specs

[martc]

 

Studebaker in the US had the Scotsman too...

 

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/1957-1958-studebaker-scotsman-discount-life-preserver/

 

A parsimonious car called a Scotsman - I can barely control my inner Jim Davidson.

[JimH]

What about undesireable specs at the other end of the spectrum? Sure it's easy to see the model where headlamps were an option as undesireable but what about those weirdo big engine/strange interior/odd gearbox combinations? I can't think of one more mental than the aforementioned MPi Discovery or the tax dodging 2.9 litre Jag. Big Mercs with manual boxes must be out there. I suppose automatic versions of cars that really shouldn't have been automatics must get lumped into this too. Hmmmm, a Khamsin with an auto box. Sign me up for some of that.

[SierraMikeHotel]

How about expensive cars in unusual colours?

 

There's a bright yellow Cayenne in Low cost, big liability that I really like the look of, but I bet I'm about the only one. I even like Kiltox's brown X5.

[Guest Hooli]

 I suppose automatic versions of cars that really shouldn't have been automatics must get lumped into this too. Hmmmm, a Khamsin with an auto box. Sign me up for some of that.

 

Auto MX5

[Tamworthbay]

Daewoo Matiz? The whole car is an undesirable spec. I had one as a ‘courtesy’ car and it is the only car I have ever driven where I couldn’t find a single thing I liked about it (I decided giving it back didn’t count).

[sierraman]

The base 820E was the 8 valve which nobody wanted.

[anonymous user]

Land Rover Discovery 2.0 Mpi

 

Poor engine choice for a 2 ton car, had they fitted some turbos on it though.....

I'm one of the people who owned one, I found it perfectly adequate, at the time I did not need a tow car so deep down grunt was not necessary, but it had good visibility, the dogs liked it and it was reasonably economical; what's more it was really cheap as nobody else wanted it. My last three new cars have been absolute base models (two Pandas and an Alto), fine as transport, I did get caught out with the first Panda as the lighter/power socket was an extra so I missed out on that as I didn't realise it was not a standard fit but a £40 extra.

[AMC Rebel]

Wow, I wonder what kind of tax bill he would have had with the Jag? The cars were supposed to reflect the salary in a way. Primera L vs XJ40 is a choice only given on here surely?

 

 

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Iirc tax wasn’t based on list prices then - it was a flat rate that was cheaper if you did more than 18k business miles which oddly most people seemed to manage.

 

I may be remembering incorrectly though.

[Shep Shepherd]

Ford used to try cheering up base Sierras calling them Laser or Quartz.

 

Don't forget the Sapphire Classic

[Noel Tidybeard]

Wow, I wonder what kind of tax bill he would have had with the Jag? The cars were supposed to reflect the salary in a way. Primera L vs XJ40 is a choice only given on here surely?

 

 

 

yeah neesan reliability every time!

[John F]

I suppose automatic versions of cars that really shouldn't have been automatics must get lumped into this too.

 

My sister had a 1984 Mini Mayfair with a dire 3-speed auto. It was miserable.

 

Also, no sports car, or anything with sports pretensions, should have an auto box up to at least the early 2000s and probably after that too.

 

In fact, bollocks to auto boxes for anything other than medical or commuting reasons. Hateful things.

[SierraMikeHotel]

Ford used to try cheering up base Sierras calling them Laser or Quartz.

Chasseur? Bloody funny thing to do, naming a car after a chicken.

[Wack]

1970s and 1980s model catalogues were full of marketing driven base models that mainly existed to create showroom traffic

 

Mind you, are the base model Dacias today any different?

 

A mate bought a sandero for his wife, must be a base  model as it has no AC in it ,all I'm going to say is she's not very happy with it, especially since we've just had 4 months of 30 degree temperatures.

[kinkersaab]

One of my most fondly remembered cars ever was my 88 Jag 3.6 manual, dark blue with grey tweed, I loved everything about that car. Here it is pictured in about 2000 next to my squadron blue Daimler, 

[kinkersaab]

I had forgotten, but i did then upgrade to leather seats for it.  I went over to the then well known now dead Jag specialist  Charles Leslie and bought some grey leather seats..i also whilst there bought this rover V8 I seem tor remember £550 for the rover and some seats for the Jag .I think we were fitting said leather at the side of the A93 in this picture.

 

[ChinaTom]

I knew someone at school whose father had an E23 728 with wind-up windows converted to electric in the front with an after market kit. And some delightful* gold-painted BBS alloys.

Coincidence! Me too. Mr Haynes on the corner had a light metallic green 728 with keep fits and got my father to help him install Leccy fronts with a kit made by Moss - the alarm people. I remember it being a fiasco and not working properly. He replaced that beemer with a base Senator in the same color and that had Leccy fronts as standard.

 

 

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[John F]

kinkersaab, on 06 Dec 2018 - 3:08 PM, said:

One of my most fondly remembered cars ever was my 88 Jag 3.6 manual, dark blue with grey tweed, I loved everything about that car. Here it is pictured in about 2000 next to my squadron blue Daimler, 

jag blue.JPG

 

That Jag looks fantastic. What was it like to drive with the manual box?

[kinkersaab]

They were lovely, quite a long throw box with a heavy feel to it, but a nice solid feel. The grear knob if unscrewed was solid metal, and very heavy,im guessing for a reason. I later had a J reg one a 3.2 GOLD manual, I liked it too., but the 3.6 was ace I was a young lad back then and all my mates were bombing about in metros... 

[kinkersaab]

It was about 1998 when i bought it so 10 yrs old, i paid £1900 for it with 120k on the clock. 

[John F]

They were lovely, quite a long throuw box with a heavy feel to it, but a nice solid feel. THe grear knob if unscrewed was solid metal, and very heavy,im guessing for a reason. I later had a J reg one a 3.2 GOLD manual, I liked it too., but the 3.6 was ace I was a young lad back then and all my mates were bombing about in metros... 

 

Sounds lovely. I've often wondered what a manual proper Jag would be like, and hope to get a go in one some day.

[Lacquer Peel]

The 2.0 Discovery was developed for and aimed at the Italian market where cars with engines over 2000cc were taxed punitively, they got all kinds of weird things like 2.0 Volvo 850 T5s.

[kinkersaab]

I would really like to convert my v12 xjs to a manual...i have contemplated looking into it....but wont ever bother... 

[bramz7]

The 2.0 Discovery was developed for and aimed at the Italian market where cars with engines over 2000cc were taxed punitively, they got all kinds of weird things like 2.0 Volvo 850 T5s.

Yep, 1.0 Kadett D is another, which is disgusting.

See also 1.1 Tipos.

[John F]

I would really like to convert my v12 xjs to a manual...i have contemplated looking into it....but wont ever bother... 

 

I did look into it as a bit of a pipe-dream when I had mine, I came to the same conclusion

[JimH]

Iirc tax wasn’t based on list prices then - it was a flat rate that was cheaper if you did more than 18k business miles which oddly most people seemed to manage.

 

I may be remembering incorrectly though.

My recollection was that at the time of the 2.9 XJ40 BiK was calculated on list price but at some point which in the late 80s/early 90s was around about £19K the rate jumped somewhat so most manufacturers tried to get something that slotted under that bracket. Easy if you are Ford, Rover or Vauxhall but a bit harder to do if you are Jag, BMW or Mercedes. The 2.9 Jag with tweed* and hub caps and the general whiff of desperation just squeaked under that figure.

 

 

 

 

 

* I have nothing against the tweed interior personally because any one with any sense of style knows that cloth is about a trillion times better than leather for trimming car interiors. It just seems a shame that most manufacturers have forgotten this. I mean, how much better would the world be if instead of dreary black, seen it a thousand time before tan or really, what on earth were you thinking red you could buy a car that looked like this when you opened the door.

 

 

Sorry, I've wandered off topic.

[John F]

^ Imagine driving home from a festival in that car...

[Tamworthbay]

Driving anywhere in it would give me a migraine

[John F]

It'd give me flash-backs...!

[JimH]

I'm not suggesting that all manufacturers get as imaginative as Gabriel got but wouldn't it be nice if we got cloth back?

[dozeydustman]

The Renault 3. 600cc, 3-speed, about 22hp and an exhaustive equipment list that was a steering wheel and some pedals.

 

For a handful of Francs more Mr Frenchman could have got himself a deux chevaux with more* power in 435cc form or the slightly less mingebag spec R4 with the 750cc ventoux lump.