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Base spec absolute misery


sierraman

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I’d forgotten about the original, Firenza bodied , Viva E. That must have been one of the only cases that a top of the range car and possibly the most expensive that manufacturer offered , becoming the bottom and cheapest. 
This would be akin to VAG stripping everything out of a TT , putting a 1.0 3 pot in it and selling it cheaper than a Skoda Citigo.

04E83B78-5431-4FF0-8CDE-462543A54E62.thumb.jpeg.3293c010cf7ffd6fd074cf141a8ba784.jpegB035C1D8-2715-4B67-8153-6FE4CDCC5333.jpeg.c55a3e6c9538b9edeb6170051236af11.jpeg

 

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Some manufacturers seemed to only make estates with basic trim & engine size.  
 

I can understand the trim as in many countries estates are mostly used as vans but only having a small engine makes less sense if they were mostly used for lugging stuff around.

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The base-spec 1.9 SDI, invariably white MKIV Golf Estates are absolutely miserable looking.  There's one around the corner from me.  It's surprising what a difference trim level makes - mine is the 130 TDI mid-range spec with climate control.  Usual teutonic interior (subject to taste) but the driving experience is hugely, hugely different because of the engine specifications.

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Absolutely. 
Volkswagen and other German manufacturers didn't give much away in the 1980's. 
My best friend at school, his Dad, traded his S reg Princess 2200 for a Y reg Mercedes 200 in 1985. The Merc was £10,000, it was beige with green cloth trim and had PAS and central locking. He took the radio cassette out of the Princess and fitted it in the Mercedes as there wasn't a radio. 
Here is a lovely Volkswagen Polo mk2 dashboard. Ignore the woeful lack of content and drink in the quality on offer. 
volkswagen-polo-coupe_2859_5.jpg.2954c1c11076be3a73bad648ab4bd7f6.jpg

Check out the gap between clutch and brake pedals , is this for a hobbit?


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I’ve got a brochure somewhere for a special Hillman Avenger fleet special base, from mid 1972 I think. 

1250 engine, rubber mats instead of carpets, virtually no instruments bar a speedo and temp/fuel gauge, vinyl seats, one speed heater blower, one speed wiper, you get the drift. Avenger Deluxes weren’t exactly luxurious so these must have been proper grim.

Most died early like all fleet specials but those that survived beyond company use usually got turned into budget rally cars as no one sane would run one as a private car.

On another Chrysler UK theme, you could get base Sunbeams with the Imp 1 litre engine, and after the 73 fuel crisis there was also a base Imp which was the cheapest car in the U.K. at the time (or certainly cheapest ‘British’ car).

 

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On 3/10/2020 at 7:27 AM, sierraman said:

Anyone remember the special base ones they did for BT, usually a base Sierra or Escort Estate in telecom yellow? 

I remember the odd one at auction, this was after the BT rebrand around 1990 so the car would be the new grey on the outside and telecom yellow on the door shuts/engine bay/rear load area. 

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On 3/8/2020 at 9:44 AM, Richard_FM said:

The interior lights come to mind, my mum’s metro had one with a bl plug hole logo moulded into it.  I heard these were used into the Phoenix 4 era for boot lights.

The marinas door handles were used on Range Rovers into the mid 1990s at least.

Am I right in thinking that Lotus used the same door handles in the Esprit?

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Yep, until the series 4 of 93 when they were replaced with GM ones - either Cavalier or Carlton. 

All sorts of low volume cars used the Marina handles, because they were easy to source (from whoever made them for BL) and complied with safety legislation from the get-go, particularly that of the US. 

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On 3/7/2020 at 2:15 PM, dc2100k said:

When my wife first got into my W124 (a mid spec 260E with cloth, but electric windows and sunroof, vacuum headrests and locks, Gullideckel alloys) she had the temerity to look at all the space in the dashboard that wasn't filled with switches and exclaim 'I don't think this was top of the range was it'.

Needless to say we had a lengthy conversation about material quality after that. In retrospect, the W124 feels so special to the touch. Every element feels soft-touch and correctly weighted. I miss it, quite fancy an R129 or a 300CE-24 drophead.

$_862.JPG

If yours is a saloon there’s 2 switches for the rear wiper and wash on T models that will be blanks

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13 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

I'd previously owned a lovely high-spec Genesis model which was stolen and recovered (but never the same car again), and the difference between the two was considerable.

I had a 1.3 CL too, was shocked at the difference between them performance wise for only 200 odd CC and an extra gear

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Well if we're getting polos out.

1.0 4speed fox coupe had nothing except a sunshine roof that leaked

Mk2 1.0 4speed breadbin think it was a CL but it was miserable and had nothing

1.3 genesis 5speed, nice seats, electric mirrors and made the mk2 feel ancient.

Corsa 1.2 merit 4speed. Nothing atall, had a coin tray instead of a stereo, rubber gromit instead of an aerial, no speakers, no MFD, no glovebox, and the lovely* rainbow pattern seats that gave me backache.

 

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Screenshot_2020-02-20-00-29-40.png

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37158848.JPG

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Nice lowered Polos ^^

 

We had a Polo open air come in as a P/X at Merc that gave me the wants, until I looked up the 1.0 "performance" figures and realised it would be actually terrifying to drive, 0-62 in 18.5 seconds

 

35640607906_02b482624d_b.jpgPics034 by RS, on Flickr

35640608396_7fae25f083_b.jpgPics033 by RS, on Flickr

 

I also tried to pry this out of the owner's hands but he wasn't having it

 

35760939335_c43171a3f6_b.jpgImage986 (2) by RS, on Flickr

 

 

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On 3/7/2020 at 11:39 AM, Asimo said:

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?

I suppose where it becomes depressing is that so much of the shit can't be taken out so the efforts to produce the base model become more ridiculous. That Vectra Life Sentence we had come with ABS, electric windows, cruise control and air conditioning. Not so long ago these were all the preserve of very flash cars. None of this could be removed in a money saving sort of way so you end up with silliness like not painting the door handles the same colour as the body or not putting a silly concertina sliding flap over the drinks holder in the centre console. Oh woe. How could I live without these things? Personally I'd love to be able to spec a car minus all of its airbags and stupid amounts of sound deadening. Wouldn't it be nice to have a modern car that didn't weigh far too close to two tons?

I've probably gone on about this elsewhere but for me the most depressing poverty spec car was the '68 1200A Beetle. Just look at all the great things you didn't get

  • Waist chrome trim
  • Bonnet chrome trip
  • Chrome on the quarter lights. Only paint.
  • Bright trim set into window rubbers
  • Chrome trim on the running boards
  • Chrome horn ring
  • Dashboard chrome trim
  • Updated switches - pre-68 switches instead
  • Chrome on the front indicator pods. Replace with grey paint.
  • Updated rear lights - you got pre '68 rear lights
  • Updated bumpers - on the pre 68 bumpers for you, peasant.
  • Model designation on deck lid
  • Chrome on the VW roundel on the bonnet - painted instead.
  • Updated glove box latch. pre '68 push button for you
  • Locking front seat backs. Saves time, I suppose.
  • Rear assist straps. You can have the coat hooks to cover up the screw holes though.
  • Locking rear seat back rest. Well it does lock but only with a rubber band.
  • Locking deck lid
  • Update deck lid with intake slots. No slots is enough for you, you scrote.
  • Locking bonnet with safety catch
  • Bonnet release in the glovebox - yes, it's under the dashboard like it was last year
  • Two speed wipers - one is good enough for the likes of you
  • Hazard warning lights. They aren't madatory yet so tough luck.
  • Headlining. Alright you can have a bit but only in the middle. The pillars are all bare metal.
  • Two sunvisors. Your passenger can just squint
  • Carpet. Rubber mats are easier to clean I suppose.
  • Ashtray in the rear. Your kids shouldn't be smoking anyway.
  • 12 volt electrics. Volts cost money so you can have a 50% reduction in them.
  • A fuel gauge. You fucking what? I can't even have a fuel gauge? Oh alright, you can have a reserve tap.
  • Headlamp flasher.
  • Under bonnet liner. A cardboard square thrown over the fuel tank was enough.
  • Carpet behind the rear seat. Cardboard for you here as well.

What is strange - and almost coming back to the point made by @Asimo is that at about the same time most of those missing bits became a fashionable thing is some parts of the world. Take a 1200A, paint it in turkis blue, put some Speedwells on it with a hairy motor and you've got Cal Look. I was more into T3s than Bugs so I am just as bad when I got excited about 1500N flat rear lights rather than the slightly too fin like 1500S versions.

 

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I don't know if more SAABy types can confirm this but I have heard that the lower specced 9-5s had the seat heaters in place but they just cut the connectors off if you didn't pay for them as an option or buy the Aero models. All it really saved was the cost of a switch.

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On 3/10/2020 at 7:27 AM, sierraman said:

Anyone remember the special base ones they did for BT, usually a base Sierra or Escort Estate in telecom yellow? 

I saw one recently!  Actually, it's an L - BT must have got all decadent.

1805630339_1990FordEscort1.3L5doorestateJuly1993.thumb.jpg.0aaecee30c869d9578bcc103989cf846.jpg

A few years ago, this Sierra, which was definitely ex-BT was still going in south London, sadly since scrapped:

681282392_SierraestateexBT(3).thumb.JPG.695287df9089bb5889793a12e5c5e61a.JPG

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2 hours ago, JimH said:

I've probably gone on about this elsewhere but for me the most depressing poverty spec car was the '68 1200A Beetle. Just look at all the great things you didn't get

                               This might explain  my Kreg  6V  1200 Beetle. Imported from Belgium. Definitely had free flopping seats and the rubber band for the rear seat back. £10 that cost, Dad and then me had about 5 years out of it.

1500N flat rear lights rather than the slightly too fin like 1500S versions.

                               I never noticed that! Darn it, no photos of my single-carb notchback.

 

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18 hours ago, 2MB said:

If yours is a saloon there’s 2 switches for the rear wiper and wash on T models that will be blanks

Blanks?  BLANKS? How very vulgar. Mercedes Benz don't have blanks.  They only cut the hole needed in the wood panelling if the option is there, otherwise it's smooth and you'd never know there was the option to have something there (unless you already know it could be there.)

Blanks indeed! <_<

 

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^^My 1300 handles beautifully. I have Sprint wheels on it and uprated springs. The Sprint wheels have a greater offset than the unique originals which does make the steering a bit odd until you get used to it. The self centring is a bit weaker but the grip is fabulous. The FWD rack is higher geared than the RWD one so my car feels quite gokarty. The ride is quite hard but I like that, the seats are nice and soft to soak it up! 

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7 hours ago, JimH said:

 

I've probably gone on about this elsewhere but for me the most depressing poverty spec car was the '68 1200A Beetle. Just look at all the great things you didn't get

  • Waist chrome trim
  • Bonnet chrome trip
  • Chrome on the quarter lights. Only paint.
  • Bright trim set into window rubbers
  • Chrome trim on the running boards
  • Chrome horn ring
  • Dashboard chrome trim
  • Updated switches - pre-68 switches instead
  • Chrome on the front indicator pods. Replace with grey paint.
  • Updated rear lights - you got pre '68 rear lights
  • Updated bumpers - on the pre 68 bumpers for you, peasant.
  • Model designation on deck lid
  • Chrome on the VW roundel on the bonnet - painted instead.
  • Updated glove box latch. pre '68 push button for you
  • Locking front seat backs. Saves time, I suppose.
  • Rear assist straps. You can have the coat hooks to cover up the screw holes though.
  • Locking rear seat back rest. Well it does lock but only with a rubber band.
  • Locking deck lid
  • Update deck lid with intake slots. No slots is enough for you, you scrote.
  • Locking bonnet with safety catch
  • Bonnet release in the glovebox - yes, it's under the dashboard like it was last year
  • Two speed wipers - one is good enough for the likes of you
  • Hazard warning lights. They aren't madatory yet so tough luck.
  • Headlining. Alright you can have a bit but only in the middle. The pillars are all bare metal.
  • Two sunvisors. Your passenger can just squint
  • Carpet. Rubber mats are easier to clean I suppose.
  • Ashtray in the rear. Your kids shouldn't be smoking anyway.
  • 12 volt electrics. Volts cost money so you can have a 50% reduction in them.
  • A fuel gauge. You fucking what? I can't even have a fuel gauge? Oh alright, you can have a reserve tap.
  • Headlamp flasher.
  • Under bonnet liner. A cardboard square thrown over the fuel tank was enough.
  • Carpet behind the rear seat. Cardboard for you here as well.

And all the better for it. No fancy shiny bits and trinkets, just 4 seats and the mechanical bits required to make it go and stop while keeping you dry.

Less is more

I really love a dechromed smoothed out Beetle, accentuates the simple but beautiful lines. 

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