Variants we never got

[sierraman]

Thinking today about the shite we never got for some inexplicable reason, most disappointingly we didn’t get the Mk1 Megane Estate. 

[loserone]

Renault Talisman

[goosey]

Mk2 escort RS2000 4 door 

 

[sutty2006]

A series manta GTE. 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

38 minutes ago, goosey said:

Mk2 escort RS2000 4 door 

 

What was it with Ford, giving everywhere else more or less doors than us?

[Motown]

Not quite sure if this is relevant or not but I would have bought this 100% 

[omegod]

1 hour ago, goosey said:

Mk2 escort RS2000 4 door 

 

Mate of mine swears there was one done unofficially at Halewood, if a worker ordered a new car everyone on the line knew about it and to add ( wholly unofficially  ) whatever the owner wanted as it went down the line and what came off the end was basically a 4 door RS2000 

I call bullshit but he swears otherwise as he worker there at the time 

[Timewaster]

4 minutes ago, omegod said:

Mate of mine swears there was one done unofficially at Halewood, if a worker ordered a new car everyone on the line knew about it and to add ( wholly unofficially  ) whatever the owner wanted as it went down the line and what came off the end was basically a 4 door RS2000 

I call bullshit but he swears otherwise as he worker there at the time 

I've heard stories of line Halewood workers ordering a car and getting every option accidentally fitted.

Quite how they got away with it I don't know unless it was expected amd managers turned a blind eye.

[omegod]

Just now, Timewaster said:

I've heard stories of line Halewood workers ordering a car and getting every option accidentally fitted.

Quite how they got away with it I don't know unless it was expected amd managers turned a blind eye.

Yes it was normal practice I believe, extra bits would be stashed behind trim panels too, the place was riddled with skulduggery 

[New POD]

When I was a student at Coventry Polytechnic we had to do 5 factory visit reports for one coursework. 

One of the lads was sponsored by Pueguet Turbolt at Ryton, so arranged for me and another lad to go on a tour.  They employed a retired supervisor to take us around.  After, he offered to give us a lift back to the city centre in his Horizon built just before the 309 was produced. 

He said, it had 2 coats of primer and 3 top coats.  It was beige.  And perfect. 

[155V6]

Citroën Xantia V6 Activa

[Patent]

The new Espace 🥺

[Macscrooge]

Volvo 240 Turbo

[NorfolkNWeigh]

1 hour ago, omegod said:

Mate of mine swears there was one done unofficially at Halewood, if a worker ordered a new car everyone on the line knew about it and to add ( wholly unofficially  ) whatever the owner wanted as it went down the line and what came off the end was basically a 4 door RS2000 

I call bullshit but he swears otherwise as he worker there at the time 

I’m inclined to agree with you on this. RS2000’s were never built in Halewood. Mk 1’s were built in Aveley at the AVO plant orSaarlouis in Germany. All Mk2’s sold in Europe came from Germany . 
 I suppose an L loaded with 1600 Sport or Ghia bits might have been possible but not an RS2000 the  parts would simply not have been anywhere near Liverpool.

 

 

[Skcat]

I remember hearing in Europe you could get a k11 micra with a TUD like a 106 or metro. So every time I visited mainland Europe I made sure to check out every K11 just so I could see one. And i found this one in Portugal, very happy to find it! 

I have no way too know if it really was a diesel. It has a very rover'ish 1.5D badge on it. I can't imagine someone would fake it. Being a GX it was a decent spec too! 

[Fumbler]

1 hour ago, Skcat said:

I remember hearing in Europe you could get a k11 micra with a TUD like a 106 or metro. So every time I visited mainland Europe I made sure to check out every K11 just so I could see one. And i found this one in Portugal, very happy to find it! 

I have no way too know if it really was a diesel. It has a very rover'ish 1.5D badge on it. I can't imagine someone would fake it. Being a GX it was a decent spec too! 

Micras were sold with a 1.5TUD so I bet it has one of them under the bonnet. I wonder how heavy they were?

[Skcat]

22 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

Micras were sold with a 1.5TUD so I bet it has one of them under the bonnet. I wonder how heavy they were?

Looks like the 1.0 petrol is 820kg and the diesel is 885kg. (both thee doors) 

13.7 kg/hp for the petrol vs 15.5 kg/hp

[bunglebus]

Renault 7

[Supernaut]

Suzuki Jimny turbo diesel.

Look at that little scoop feeding the intercooler!

[Mr Laurence]

Peugeot 205 Multi

[wuvvum]

BMW E28 / E30 diesel

[wuvvum]

Citroën AX 4x4

[wuvvum]

Citroën BX 11

[Spiny Norman]

Always loved the 2 door versions of big saloons you could get in mainland Europe, wonder why we were never offered them here.

[Spiny Norman]

5 hours ago, Motown said:

Not quite sure if this is relevant or not but I would have bought this 100% 

What even is that, mock up of a 21st century SD1?
Me likey whatever it is.

 

[Timewaster]

5 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

Always loved the 2 door versions of big saloons you could get in mainland Europe, wonder why we were never offered them here.

I can only assume we never bought them in any significant number. 

That's why we never got the 3dr Mk2 Sierra. Nobody bought the mk1. 

[New POD]

28 minutes ago, Timewaster said:

I can only assume we never bought them in any significant number. 

That's why we never got the 3dr Mk2 Sierra. Nobody bought the mk1. 

I only ever saw in the flesh  the 3 door Sierra as a  1.3 Auto mk1  in beige, as a black cosworth and lots of xr4i with the bit of metal in the rear window. 

Oh and I once went to look at a bitsa. 3 door shell, cosworth body kit and whale tail 2.8 xr4x4 running gear xr4i interior. 

I didn't bother to test drive it.  The bodykit was badly fitted, and the interior was fucked, and the lime green paint was patchy. And the owner was saying he was a private seller despite the viewing being in a scrap yard. 

[Schaefft]

A considerable chunk of the current lineup of petrol Mercedes cars. In fact the closer you look the more you notice how both BMWs and Mercedes' (and probably Audi's) lineup of cars and available options is incredibly simplified for the UK market. Which sucks if you want a powerful petrol that's not an AMG or M.

[sierraman]

6 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

What even is that, mock up of a 21st century SD1?
Me likey whatever it is.

 

That’s what they SHOULD have been making. But no doubt they’d at the last minute decided it must have a big grille at the front and the bonnet line raised by say 6 inches so they could fit an L series diesel under the bonnet. Those rear lights would have to go as well, they’d have got a load of Maestro units that worked out 15p a unit cheaper. Then probably spend 50% of the project funds on some obscure racing project then in ideal circumstances lose interest at the last minute. That’s how they’d do it. 🤣

[Sudsprint]