Pictures of car parks circa 1985!

[reallyloud]

In York!

 

I take no credit for these, they belong to chap I bothered on flickr. Not only that but he used to own a Fiat 132.

 

 

 

Isn't this excellent? Virtually every car is recognisable and more importantly in focus.

[retrogeezer]

Fantastic.....back then, you never would have thought that a simple photo pf a car park could be so interesting 20 odd years later.

[mk2_craig]

Great stuff... Just spent a few fun minutes trying to work out the newest car there, probably the Montego in the second picture?What's surprising is the almost total lack of any older stuff, mid 1970s or earlier.

[reallyloud]

What's surprising is the almost total lack of any older stuff, mid 1970s or earlier.

Thats exactly what I was thinking. Suggests that this was a car park for the well heeled - a hotel maybe? There is a mk2 cortina right at the back in the 2nd image which might well belong to a cleaner. Or student.I like the Taunus with engine problems.

[stoterstangen90]

Intresting Barkas on the second photo

[monzaE]

Oldest I can see is the white Mk2 Cortina or perhaps the Taunus with the bonnet up in the second shot. Flickr is the source of all sorts of stuff. Seems unrestricted if you know what I mean.....

[bigstraight6]

Fantastic stuff, love the Taunus in the second pic with its owner looking under the bonnet!

[Richard]

There's a fair bit of 70s tat there. Having a seven year old car in 1985 was like having an eleven year old car now. I've got a picture of a coal mine car park from about 1980 and EVERY car is a Mk1 Cav, apart from one Mk2 Cortina with full chav kit.

[bigstraight6]

In the first pic, second row down, is that an Imp next to the MK3 Corty

[seth]

Superb! Its obviously round the back of "Fenwicks" and the camper van make me think it is a summer time car shoppers/tourist car park. Just around the kind of time I might have been there on holiday with my folks, doing Yorvik related projects for school. Ah memories!Nice early povo Sierra just behind the Barkas. What's next to teh Escort estate in the same row. Something VW?

[retrogeezer]

What's next to teh Escort estate in the same row. Something VW?

The yellow car?? Thats an Opel Ascona...Behind the blue mk3 escort further along is what I think is an early Toyota Celica....

[retrogeezer]

Skoda Estelle next to the silver Jag in the 1st pic?? Which is next to a beige 70's Jap estate??? (on the left end of a row)

[pompei]

In the second pic, what's the cool guy with the blue Reliant pointing at his lady friend?

[seth]

Skoda Estelle next to the silver Jag in the 1st pic?? Which is next to a beige 70's Jap estate??? (on the left end of a row)

Thats a Datsun (Bluebird, 160?) just like the brown one we had a couple of years earlier./\ LOL. That looks like a set-up brochure kind of pose!

[Baz]

Ooh, and a Renault 14 in each picture too....Super stuff!

[retrogeezer]

Nice parking from the MG Metro driver....

[Guest]

In the first pic, second row down, is that an Imp next to the MK3 Corty

Looks like a later model in orange to me

[mouseflakes]

There's about £4,750,000 worth of RWD Escorts in that car park!

[Maltelec]

I've parked in that car park many times!That kurb to the left in the 1st picture is about 8" high to stop cars getting in/out over it. I found myself in my 1983 land rover in the top left one Christmas with cars gridlocked behind me and cars gridlocked going the wrong way round infront of me. To put it simple, I was f*cked! So I got out, put the free wheeling hubs in, stuck it in 4WD low box and drove over the kurb as if it were a small pebble. How the others got out I have no idea, given the average persons driving ability in York they were still there 3 hours later.I swear people used to swerve over when they saw me comming even on the larger roads where you could have got a bus through the gap between us. Its also in York where I was pulled over for "zig zagging" all over the road according to the police. My excuse was that Land Rovers are ment to do that :?Anyway he let me off with it. It was 3am in the morning admittedly with a Cumbrian registered vehicle. It wasn't the only dealings I had with the police at 3am either. They pulled me over when they were riding push bikes!!! before. Wondered what I was doing driving round in circles - was dropping a friend off. They said my land rover sounded like a egg whisk going past :evil:Driving round York is interesting at the best of times. Especially as I rarely use the brake. The cobbled parts are just as bumpy as the tarmac roads so I do them at the same speed. Some roads are narrower than a normal car nowadays, but thats ok cos a Series-3 Land Rover is suprisingly narrow. There is one part leading to the above car park which is a tight bend up a hill. This is where I can't see shit cos of the spare wheel on the bonnet and have to "guess" where the road is.The only down side is the piss poor turning circle they have. Going round some corners even in my short wheel base I take up 2 lanes to get to the right part. There is one corner where I have to back up to get round and one dead end street where a friend lives which I dare not back out of so I reverse down every time with 3" to spare each side.York is also easy to get lost in. I spent 3 years there and never managed to go right round the inner ring road without getting lost. I recon I know where I went wrong now though. I can at least find where I want to go to even if it wasn't the desired route.I nearly got wiped out in some Tw@t in a Volvo once too. There I was flooring it up a hill (the ONLY hill in York), 25mph and slowing down (was in top gear as usual) and he pulls right out in front of me. Now if it was a Eurobox I probably wouldn't have swerved out of the way, but them old Volvo's are just as tough as old Land Rovers. So after testing the large air horn I had at the time, the git only goes and turns off 200 yards further up.York is an odd city. They spend £25,000 on banners around the city for that Horse race pile of shite which the queen went to (I've still got the vehicle pass in the windcreen, 3 years on. Its only 6" square). And yet they refuse to put up any road sign posts because its too expensive and spoils the historic view!At least they fixed up all the roads a week before the Horse race pile of shite which the queen went to because they were dreadful. The University road broke by steering relay it was that bad. My friends always knew I was comming round the corner on that road becasue it sounded like a tractor over cobble stones.The year before the Horse race pile of shite which the queen went to, someone managed to park a coach down a road so narrow it blocked the whole road which was the main road to 1/2 the houses near to the race track. It was so bad the Police were forced to remove 25 cars just to get to the coach to tow it out. This was after the other residents who were in moved their cars. I didn't live down there but a friend gave he his sticker (he was given one even though he didn't have a car at the time) so I could get to his house.Am I ranting yet?

[Mr Lobster]

Lovely stuff! I somehow doubt that a shot of the same car park taken today would be of such interest in twenty years though.

[bones96]

if you could go back in time to that car park for a couple of days what cars would you bring back and why ????

[michiel]

Great pics, I'll have the Fiat van in the bottom of the second pic please!

[Mr Lobster]

if you could go back in time to that car park for a couple of days what cars would you bring back and why ????

Think I'd have the Renault 14, Fiat Fiorino van and Daihautsu Domino(??)And all the rwd Escorts then I could sell them for billions.

[Spottedlaurel]

if you could go back in time to that car park for a couple of days what cars would you bring back and why ????

Leaving aside all the Japanese stuff - which seems to include a Mk1 Celica TA22 and possibly a Laurel right at the back in the second pic plus goodies such as Stanza saloon and Cherry estate – I think I’d go for the 2dr yellow Ascona. Looks an interesting spec with the stripes and rostyles.

[michiel]

One of the pics also comes in a bigger size, here's a link:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2269/2163299644_fa75522e75_o.jpg

 

And I'll have the white German Ford as well please...

 

1977

[michiel]

Thread hijack... but I found a couple of nice ones.

 

'Brunel's original Bristol station trainshed of 1841'

 

'Birmingham Snow Hill station, 31st Dec 1974'

 

'Manchester Central Station in dereliction, March 1979'

 

All from this photoset.

[reallyloud]

I think I'd go for the green VW Piss-rat and TA22 Celica for the evenings. And then make a killing on ebay today. Fiends.

[michiel]

Don't want to start a new thread for just one pic so I'll just post it here, I absolutely love this one:

[Vin]

Oh the Fiorino for me please In the second picture, 4th row down, the second car in, the minty green coloured one - Has strange rear lights; Anybody know what that is You can get a better view from the enlarged link michiel posted.Also in second pic there is a white Bedford CF with a Volvo 343 to the left of it. To the left of the Volvo is I think a Fiat saloon - Anybody know if it is 131, 132 or maybe even Argenta Noticed quite a few examples of Chrysler/Talbot Sunbeams in the pics too

[michiel]

I'd say it's a Stanza! (the minty one)