Whatever Happened To The Likely RUB?

[Guest]

It's been so long now that I bet barely anyone remembers Vicsmith having this Mazda 626.

 

 

Good old RUB! Here it is parked in a lovely meadow which definitely has not been hastily edited on.

 

 

Mad interior.

 

 

Blue velour! YES.

 

Anyway, it has been at deadlock for a while - it needs some welding for a test, namely the rear strut tops and sills (rest of it is absolutely fine). Due to other cars needing to be sorted out and the availability of people who can weld, it has been going nowhere. To be fair, it hasn't been just sat about and has had a few runs around privately owned roads to keep it sweet, but it has been stuck in a loop of no welding = no test. A car that drives lovely and looks ace, trapped because it needs some sodding metal. It stinks!

 

It doesn't help that older Japanese cars tend to be a pain because you look in the Hadrians, Teng or whatever catalogue and you'll see a nice line drawing of a car, usually with a weird shape around it which is labelled as something like "Grille" or "Headlamp Bowl". And that's your lot, lump it. Very unusually, this is not the case with the 626, it's one of those where it looks like the car is exploding - bits flying off it all over the place. EXCELLENT. An order was placed last week.....

 

 

.....and this evening I returned home to a nice pair of sills. Here they are sitting on my folks pricey rug, presumably I will get some grief at some point about leaving car bits in their hall. They can swivel, this is for a car with velour and a digital clock. It'll be worth it.

 

Anyway, just need to get them delivered to the welder and with a bit of luck, there'll be more chintzy updates to follow! Exciting!

[Father Ted]

Orsumm interior.

[Station]

I bet you that's '80's era Rover' comfortable.

[barrett]

Whats the groovy blue & green thing in your parents hall? Lampshade? looks tasty.motor's not bad....

[Mike D]

Excellent work. I like the 'scene slippers' too

[michiel]

Aren't you allowed to come downstairs?

[Guest]

Nah, I've been grounded for charging the Galant's battery on that mahogany table.

[Pillock]

Ooooh a 106 with the rare option of 'Hot Eggs'. I likey.

[michiel]

You've got good eyes!

[AXrescuer]

You've got good eyes!

He did have before that green/blue thing almost blinded him!

[Pillock]

Yeah I was a bit confused by the perspective on that last shot, took me ages to realise it was a lampshade much closer than the sills rather than a huuuuuge bowl on the floor.I also have an amusing mental image of the postman feeding three-foot-long sills through the letterbox.

[Milford Cubicle]

My dad used to be obsessed about buying one of these 626s, to remind him of the RX-4 he owned in his early 20s maybe. He ended up buying an Accord instead, the loser.The interior colours are really jarring, blue/grey dashboard and yellow graphics. Stunning!

[AXrescuer]

I think the yellow is actually orange which has been lightened by the camera flash.

[FredTransit]

Yeah I was a bit confused by the perspective on that last shot, took me ages to realise it was a lampshade much closer than the sills rather than a huuuuuge bowl on the floor.I also have an amusing mental image of the postman feeding three-foot-long sills through the letterbox.

That didn't occur to me as I am used to 3ft sills! ROFL!

[Guest]

You're both right - it's a sort of yellowy-orange. What you can't see is the matching Mazda "Finish Line" radio cassette! Nice.

 

Just noticed that there's a weird scrollwheel on the right, wonder if that's for dashboard brightness - never driven it in the dark. Bet it's got a nice comforting yellowy glow to it. Looking forward to the opportunity to drive it back from work in the future, there's only so much I can take of whizzy hot hatches with firm suspension! Cars like that do my head in if I'm not in the mood.

 

In terms of a relaxing drive home, I love these old intermediate/fullsize J-clunkers with their gentle engines, big fat 80-profile tyres and crackly radios, very soothing after a day of having mental people scream down the phone. Cruising back home down some country roads with intermittent wipe on, radio gently crackling out something from yonks ago, relaxing in the big cosy seats. It's bliss, like the driving equivalent of having a nice sit down.

[STUNO]

Nice car Hirst. I had an '85 one, badged as a Ford Telstar and enjoyed some long trips in it. It had been a repmobile before I got it at 2 years old with 100,000km (cheap!) and needed new rings at 200,000 cause it got a bit smokey. I sold it about 12 years ago and it only recently died.

[Gompo]

Well I'd forgotten about it.. good luck with the welding.Those seats look a bit overly sporting, they remind me of something else - maybe those from a Renault Fuego?

[Nervy Si]

That looks a swell buggy. My dad had an A-reg one with no power steering, though the dash was a little bit different to yours - it had two pods of little switches next to the steering wheel for lights, wipers etc. rather than stalks. It also had a zillion different chiming tunes to warn you that the door was ajar, you had left your keys in the ignition, left your lights on, you name it (what noise it would make if you did all that at the same time I daren't imagine). It all seemed like a glimpse into the future compared to the Cortina 80 Ghia he traded in for it.

[Split_Pin]

In terms of a relaxing drive home, I love these old intermediate/fullsize J-clunkers with their gentle engines, big fat 80-profile tyres and crackly radios, very soothing after a day of having mental people scream down the phone. Cruising back home down some country roads with intermittent wipe on, radio gently crackling out something from yonks ago, relaxing in the big cosy seats. It's bliss, like the driving equivalent of having a nice sit down.

This sounds excellent - I could do with something like that

[Guest]

Here's the latest instalment of "Whatever Happened To The Likely RUB?". The same old picture because there hasn't been a new one taken. Soz.

 

 

Anyway, the big update - looks like Christmas has come early for this old 626, not only does it have a new MOT, the cambelt has been changed and the sump is full of nice fresh oil. ASTOUNDING!

 

Here's a bonus video of Vicsmith driving around (not really):

 

My favourite bit is the one about a minute in where he stops to have a perv at some girl, the SLEAZE.

 

Might get some more pics tomorrow, up to date ones. That'd be nice.

[Mike D]

YAY! GR8 work D.Hirst

[Milford Cubicle]

Nice work Hirst, I have a soft spot for 626s.That Alain Delon/Vic Smith is a bit of a degenerate.

[r.welfare]

Great to see this road legal. I've never been in one of these 626s, reckon it will be a decent enough thing if it's anything like the similar-age 323.Hirst, can your ORSUM YouTube 626 video skillz find the 626 UK TV ad of the mid 80's where one drives over a Merc 190 and a Porsche 944?

[Guest]

Hirst, can your ORSUM YouTube 626 video skillz find the 626 UK TV ad of the mid 80's where one drives over a Merc 190 and a Porsche 944?

No but Vic keeps mentioning it! I can't find it anywhere.

 

 

And here he is in the machine itself, taken just minutes ago. I believe he was heading to a bingo hall!

[vicsmith]

RUB`s Luck continued - gave it a bit of a shampoo `n` set today, always comes up well:

 

 

 

Been running it for a couple of weeks now, the driving experience may surprise some, not the comfy, floaty, numb J-barge you might expect, think more along the lines of a Peugeot 405 and you`ll be closer, quite a firm ride and very agile. Also shifts a bit, it`s given a few aftermarket-alloyed 3-door 1.8 Focii a nasty surprise on the ring road.

 

Also has auxillary courtesy lights modelled on a square donut, red and white door-lights that light up the rear seat like a brothel when one of the back doors is open, and a smoked plastic transparent centre console lid that has to be seen to be believed.

[Gompo]

Looking nice there, top work.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

That looks GREAT. I always scan the Bay for 626;s of this shape but have not seen one for months and months, maybe over a year.

[Guest]

Yeah the old GC seems to be getting a bit rare now, the GD seems relatively abundant in comparison. Shame as I think the GC is a bit more of a looker, the GD isn't quite as bold I think. Still nice though, I'd have one of those weird GT 4WS ones.