sierraman Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Remember when the phrase ‘entry level’ hasn’t entered the dictionary and you were sat behind the wheel of a Cavalier 1.4 Envoy with all those blanking plugs covering up where the headlight levellers were? Or when a radio was actually an option on Mercedes and you paid extra for an ashtray on a BMW 316i? rantingYoof 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aston Martin Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 One mirror K10!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asimo Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Alternative viewpoint:- Remember when you could buy a car, and it wasn't stuffed with shit you didn't want at all, and certainly didn't want to pay for and maintain at much effort? BL Bloke, BlankFrank, Eyersey1234 and 31 others 30 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shep Shepherd Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 I remember a time in the 1980s when a local Ford dealer (Thompsons of Dover, long-defunct) used to refer to the 'so basic they don't even have a model designation' mark 3 Escorts as 'Lead-In' models in their newspaper adverts. BorniteIdentity, egg and ProgRocker 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timewaster Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 It still exists. My Outlander is a "Juro" spec. I have no idea where that sits in the accepted Popular, L GL, GLS, Ghia scale but it has DAB, heated seats, aircon, cruise, heated screen etc... But it still has 9, yes 9 switch blanks. God only knows what kind of spec they are all for. Eyersey1234, HarmonicCheeseburger and somewhatfoolish 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Less equipment = less weight = better performance. I prefer to call them "Race Car Spec". rantingYoof, BorniteIdentity, Tenmil Socket and 11 others 10 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timewaster Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Just now, Conan said: Less equipment = less weight = better performance. I prefer to call them "Race Car Spec". Or "Rallye" spec. If you like Peugeots. Craig the Princess and cobblers 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulgalour Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 But the children resale value! Won't somebody think of the children resale value? MiniMort, djim, Kowalski and 2 others 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asimo Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 No. If it is worth buying, it is worth keeping. Kowalski and HarmonicCheeseburger 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fumbler Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 You got the ashtray but not the lighter in my Micra. The only reason why the ashtray is there is because it holds part of the centre console in place. Eyersey1234, BlankFrank, stonedagain and 4 others 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelandeth Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 How about in the Fiat Panda where the base models didn't even have the lighting for the switchgear fitted? scdan4 and UltraWomble 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard_FM Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Ford were real penny pinchers on their base spec models. My uncle remembered borrowing an early fiesta from a friend which only had 1 sun visor. Walter White, Aston Martin and 108 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crispian_J_Hotson Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Massive irritant was the blanking plate for me. The last car I had with too many was an Escort and all that said to me every time was 'you can't afford life'. Miserable piece of shit, I hear they sell well now though. Craig the Princess 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoss Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Talking of K10's, when I still lived at home, an elderly neighbour had one. When she had to have a hip op she asked me to use it a bit to keep it running. She had an aftermarket alarm fitted and one day I let then girlfriend in the passenger door and then realised I hadn't disabled the alarm. Nothing happened. Went to the drivers door and it set the alarm off. Turned out the interior light to which the alarm had been linked only worked on the drivers door. There wasn't even a hole for the switch on the passenger side. Made the alarm pretty pointless. scdan4, Eyersey1234, HarmonicCheeseburger and 2 others 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain_70s Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 The Acclaim L doesn't have head rests or a dipping rear view mirror. Doesn't seem a big deal for 1981 until you realise the base spec Dolomite it replaced had both those features as standard... BorniteIdentity and HillmanImp 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adw1977 Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 1 hour ago, Shep Shepherd said: I remember a time in the 1980s when a local Ford dealer (Thompsons of Dover, long-defunct) used to refer to the 'so basic they don't even have a model designation' mark 3 Escorts as 'Lead-In' models in their newspaper adverts. Ah yes, with vinyl trim, although the brochures always show them with fabric trim, which was an option at extra cost. Flickr link I wonder if any vinyl trimmed Mark 3 base Escorts still exist? ProgRocker, BlankFrank, DoctorRetro and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inspiral_Mondays Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Ford Escort Mk2 1.1 Popular had a detuned 42bhp engine, vinyl seats, single sunvisor, no door mirrors, no heated rear window, foot pump windscreen washers, 12 inch wheels with hubcaps from the Mk1, drum brakes at the front and rubber floor mats. What little sound proofing there was in the Mk2 was also deleted. Oh and it had non-inertia reel seatbelts, which wasn’t a big problem as there was no radio or switchgear to reach anyway. Around 1978 Ford went all extravagant and added a mirror for the driver‘s door as standard (unchromed obviously). dc2100k, Isaac Hunt, Sir Snipes and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamworthbay Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 8 minutes ago, captain_70s said: The Acclaim L doesn't have head rests or a dipping rear view mirror. Doesn't seem a big deal for 1981 until you realise the base spec Dolomite it replaced had both those features as standard... My best mates Mum had one, we didn’t even have a car as Dad had a motorbike, but it still felt shit. They were a depressing car when you look at the opposition. The Dolomite could be argues to be a step back from the FWD predecessor but the styling was gorgeous and they drive beautifully, the Acclaim was a step back in most ways from the Dolomite. The end of the great Triumph name sadly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shep Shepherd Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Jeremy Walton described the base model mark 3's interior as a rep's monastic punishment cell in his excellent book about the Escort I remember seeing a lot of vinyl-trimmed base model Escorts in my local scrapyard around 1994 or so. I can't recall ever seeing any on the road, though. HMC, HarmonicCheeseburger and egg 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMC Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 90s base spec to me speaks of non body colour bumpers and centre caps rather than full wheel trims; whose spiritual successors are alive and well in recent low end Dacias. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macscrooge Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 I had a poverty spec 1989 1.3 Escort as a fleet car. Ghastly it was, and on such narrow tyres it was a danger on damp curves. In the ‘60s my Dad had BMC 1100s as company cars (a new one each year ‘cos after 12 month they were shagged). He got the basic model plus the luxuries of seat belts, heater and windscreen washers! HarmonicCheeseburger and Shep Shepherd 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMC Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 It’s all relative- in the poverty of low spec 80s models and whole models ranges. radios as an extra? Step this way into your new w124 Merc. Low spec high quality doesn’t seem to make the cut these days as a sales model. Mind you it’s still possible to spec up a bmw/ Mercedes to truely scary levels of extra cost. I sometimes wonder if you can “build your car” online and experiment to double the price with options. Obv you’d have to be mega bored/ self isolating. BorniteIdentity, HarmonicCheeseburger, chodweaver and 1 other 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Hunt Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 When the Escort MK2 did a ‘Popular Plus’ that was so basic, if there was a ‘Popular’ then the AntHill Mob must have had that one. Or you got a Ford Cortina Mk4 1.3 and your next door neighbour PHSL cos he had a 1.6L. The MD was king of the castle with a 2.3 Ghia back then, poverty spec was proper povvo. BeeHell were just as bad, if you had a super deluxe, you could look down your nose at the poor fekker with the deluxe. the povvo spec often didn’t even have a heated rear window. You used to see folk with those stick on shite things. Mind you, if you did have a HRW, by the time the box of tissues on the parcel shelf had done two circuits, half the fekkin elements were bost anyway. I had a Marina 1.3 base model. Vinyl seats, static seat belts and drum brakes up front. It used to pull to the left on braking. So just before my driving test I deglazed the shoes and drums, adjusted them up. On my test, when the examiner turned round to check for traffic, I was ready for the STOP. I slammed on the anchors and yanked hard right, the fekker stopped in a straight line on a sixpence, the examiner and clipboard shot forward off the vinyl seat, under the baggy static belt and ended up in the footwell. I was certain i’d failed. But he straightened himself out, issued further instruction and off we drove. I was gobsmacked to hear him say “I have to inform you that you have passed” mk2_craig, Shep Shepherd, Dan_ZTT and 3 others 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Tidybeard Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 1992 pugrot 106 XN- 2 dials, speedo & fuel gauge if you had a 1.1 XN you got rear wiper as well if you had a 1.4 XNd you got 4 stud wheels on top of that! add in the Graduate package to get pop-up sunroof, tape stripes for sides & wheeltrims & carpet mats HMC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMC Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 It seems a simpler time when the prospect of side rubbing strips on the next model up was something to get excited/ spendy over. Isaac Hunt, Kowalski, ETCHY and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spurious Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 I think I've been lucky that I've not had a complete poverty spec car, though the Irish car market did have it's own oddities, most cars were the base bottom of the run spec. I'm pretty sure there was some engines reserved for the Irish market that didn't make it to the UK (small CC engines due to the motor tax system) but I cannot think of any examples off the top of my head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMC Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 I do recall my dads Sierra azura having a massive analogue clock rather than rev counter and keep fit windows all round. So much for a (usually higher spec) run out special. Our 89 escort BONUS (bought new F355jbu from Gordon’s of Bolton) had white wheel trims and very little else. It sounds so ridiculous to say but I could hardly contain myself when I was a passenger in a car with a rev counter. chodweaver, dome, mat_the_cat and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltraWomble Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 47 minutes ago, Zelandeth said: How about in the Fiat Panda where the base models didn't even have the lighting for the switchgear fitted? This The wifes first ever car was a Fiesta Base 1979 Squeezy bulb washer pump. No wing mirrors No RWW No HRW No radio No lighted switchgear 2 speed fan Vinyl seats ( no head rests) Rubber floor covering (no carpet) 1 speed wipers (on or off) Manual winter setting for the air intake Dan_ZTT, BL Bloke, stonedagain and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted March 7, 2020 Author Share Posted March 7, 2020 Escort 1.1 Bonus... BorniteIdentity, BL Bloke, sdkrc and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleon-Fonte Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Think of the poor sod who could only afford the basic Renault 4 (or Renault 3 if it had the 603cc engine) in the early 1960s: any colour you like so long as it's grey, no heater fan, a metal steering wheel, no interior trim, no rear quarter windows, thinner seats and a starter button instead of a key (gr9 for being nicked, if the thieves in question had no self image). They didn't even bother with a grille, slots cut into the bonnet were your lot. It's no wonder everybody bought the better appointed 4L instead. strangeangel, UltraWomble, Dan_ZTT and 12 others 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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