Brownnova’s Trans experiment - Born in the USA, Living in Wales: We got us a misfire!

[brownnova]

So the minor elephant in the room with this car is that the MoT expires on Thursday... it appears as though it may have either come from a deceased estate or have been children clearing out their elderly dads things after he has given up driving rather than any obvious faults which would lead to massive MoT failure. Indeed a quick scout about has revealed nothing I’m concerned over. I think that I have some wiggle room money wise to still be above the cars value if it does need some repairs. But they are difficult to value in the UK as they so rarely come up for sale. 

So today’s jobs:

- give it a damn good clean (it’s grubby), 
- check over for any obvious MoT fails,
- book in for MoT,
- go for a drive. 
 

We also have no history with it, so I’m thinking I might write to the two visible owners on the old log book and see if they have anything. The owner before me had it since 1999! 

[Noel Tidybeard]

OMG! they even did an Autoshite version:

 

In 1995, a 1.9-liter turbodiesel by PSA became an option in the European market.

[eddyramrod]

On 3/20/2021 at 11:04 AM, phil_lihp said:

 I've probably missed this being said somewhere but are the bodypanels fibreglass like the Espace?

I believe they are.

[Noel Tidybeard]

30 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

I believe they are.

nay- posherer than that

The Trans Sport, along with the Lumina APV and Silhouette, rode on the U-body platform and was constructed from a galvanized steel space frame, featuring dent and rust resistant polymer plastic body panels on the side and a galvanized steel roof.

[hairnet]

11 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

Please do!  I fancied this when I saw the original posting.  Do you want a Volvo?

eddy youre such a slaaaaaaag

 

[OM646]

Always thought the 1st gen U-Bodies looked ace. How they managed to screw it up so badly on the 2nd gen (aka Sintra) is beyond my knowledge

[RobT]

16 hours ago, brownnova said:

 

As you'd expect, the yank is a fair bit longer than the Espace.  Around 690mm.  Wider too, although similar in height.

Wins on the windscreen angle by the looks of it.  These two really do need to meet at some point! Probably more likely when the Espace is in Skizzer's possession.

[wuvvum]

5 hours ago, sierraman said:

That looks disgusting, excellent purchase. Weren’t these sold in Europe, sure I remember seeing them in the 90’s in Spain?

Yep.  Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, probably others as well.

[PhilA]

17 hours ago, hairnet said:

@PhilA has a rival

 

Side note, it does share something in common with my car.

 

The bonnet badge is this emblem, sideways, one star and in red.

Phil

[brownnova]

3 hours ago, RobT said:

As you'd expect, the yank is a fair bit longer than the Espace.  Around 690mm.  Wider too, although similar in height.

Wins on the windscreen angle by the looks of it.  These two really do need to meet at some point! Probably more likely when the Espace is in Skizzer's possession.

But amazingly the dimensions of the Trans aren’t actually much bigger than Mrs_b’s modern C5... 

[dollywobbler]

That's amazing, and I wish to get my grubby mitts on it. All the best for the MOT!

[brownnova]

So my plan came to pass... here’s the verdict: 

A good clean has done it the world of good... 

England sticker removed from the front , but the touristy stickers on the back have a certain charm...

A good check over has not yielded anything I can see which would be an outright MoT fail. The inner sills need a wire brushing and treating, but they’re solid as far as I can see lay on my back. But everything appears to work as it should. Only minor matter for correction seems to be 

New mirror needed. But drivers side and central are there. I’ve bought repair bit from the local motor factor. 

On to the proper test run... 

Off to the beach (staying local of course) it blended right in with the other car park dwellers... 

Did about 35 miles tripping around, and all was well. Goes well, gets a wiggle on if you put your foot down... only issue is that the Speedo under-reads. In suspected that yesterday, but stuck a gps Speedo one my phone today and confirmed it. I can cope with that.

I’m genuinely really impressed, it wears its 314,000 kms well (195,000 ish miles) and all works as it should.

Have some of my favourite features: 

Inlaid badging...

Those wheels... 

You’re not allowed to forget you’re in a Trans Sport...

Gorgeously retro switchgear 

Aaand finally a question...

Whats the little D inside an O about? It drives fine in either that one or normal D... can’t see any difference. Does anyone know? 

[Mrsbrownnova]

18 hours ago, brownnova said:

We have one rule in our relationship that I can buy whatever I like, as long as she can drive it... I fear this one may change that rule!

To be fair she was aware before I bid, and quite likes the inside... I think mainly because she doesn’t have to look at the outside and it has tinted windows so no one can see her in it... 😂

It’s true. Once inside Bonk the magic wagon, it’s great, but boy is it an ugly beast on the outside! The only fault I can see so far is that the seatbelts are way too short for a rear facing car seat for babybrownnova. I guess the real test will be when I drive it. 
Now, where’s @brownnova... I do believe he owes me a baby. 😂

[Sunny Jim]

D inside O - some kind of overdrive? Not sure how that would work on an auto.

Edited to add https://eliteautorepairtempe.com/how-does-automatic-overdrive-work/?amp=1

Edited March 20, 2021 by Sunny Jim
To add link

[brownnova]

Little D in the O is overdrive according to google... I did think it might be.... 

Apparently it’ll engage the overdrive at cruising speeds... not to be used on hills... so most of Wales then! 😂

[Mrsbrownnova]

21 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Um, the BIG question though is how has Mrs Bn reacted to this...or is she unaware until it lands?

I knew about it. It was difficult to miss @brownnova’s excited face as it popped up on EBay. I live safe in the knowledge that when he’s looking at his phone and has a pervy look on his face it’s never another woman. 🚗  I think my reaction was something like...‘you’ve basically bought a greenhouse on wheels.’ It’s all good. The one rule stands...if he buys it I must be allowed to drive it 😀
 

[bezzabsa]

weren't these a joint production with Renault??? or am i dreaming??

also, think they ripped the bonnet & headlamps from a Rover - even the badge looks very Viking like from a Distance!!!

 

[RoadworkUK]

Well this is the most brilliantly bananas thing I've seen on here in a while. Fucking brilliant.

This'll have what 12 year-old me thought was the world's coolest HVAC fan control when I experienced it in a Lumina in Florida in 1993 — there's a button for up, another for down and four green LEDs for the amount of fan going on.

I'm deeply glad somebody bought this.

EDIT: Disappoingly, the '92 Trans Sport brochure isn't online, but the '94 facelifted version is quite thoroughly covered here

[Macscrooge]

Epic!  I used to see one around NE Derbyshire in the mid 90s - there’s certainly no chance of mistaking it for something else in a car park....

This  is a close as I’m getting. 

[PhilA]

No, this was a wholly GM project. Renault only got involved with AMC and that ended in 1989.

[BL Bloke]

That looks fantastic and even better after a clean, well bought!

[Ian_Fearn]

I can’t begin to tell you how much I love this. Absolutely utterly brilliant.

I’d be happy to do any welding it might need but I am in Derby so not exactly handy for you.

[ProgRocker]

*clinks thread link nervously*

Cool MPV! Is it just me or does the lower front end styling look like a Rover SD1?

[stripped fred]

This looks ace, well done sir.

[wuvvum]

The Buick had the same gear indicator.  It's basically D-3-2-1.

[brownnova]

59 minutes ago, Ian_Fearn said:

I’d be happy to do any welding it might need but I am in Derby so not exactly handy for you.

Thanks for the offer! Hopefully none this year... but in the future when travel is allowed I might remember this offer should it need any!! 

[brownnova]

Oh and it really is not hard to see how these earned their name of the DustBuster! 

[Ian_Fearn]

Was this one sold new in Europe? The low level rear lights and long number plate recess don’t look like the US version.

Just so flippin brilliant!

 

[brownnova]

Yeah it appears so... but to be honest I don’t actually know anything about it’s history! I’m going to try and find more out. But it was registered in the UK in 1992, so it’s been here most of its life. 

[OM646]

I used to see a silver one back when I was a kid! 

 

And portugal is a pretty cumbersome country with american imports, so might have been EU spec