Project Drive: MG Rover Cost-cutting

[CIH]

that povvo Imp sounds awesome!

[Tayne]

.

[Rusty Pelican]

that povvo Imp sounds awesome!

I only know of one left and even thats had a heater fitted , Chrysler were great at cost cutting , On the Imp they cut the number of spot welds by two thirds , on the sills for example instead of one every 10mm or so , this became one every 35mm , they deleated two panels on the front suspension which up untill then were deemed as structual , they halved the steel gaugeand didnt put top coat on anywhere it couldnt be seen without removing something , this also happened on the Hunter / Humber Arrow series and contiued on though subsiquent models , the Autoshite hall of fame that is the Talbot Tagora suffered the same crappy build quality

[Richard]

The Imp doesn't sound that povo for 1974. Radios, soundproofing, lighters, opening quarterlights and even carpets were by no means universal on small cars. Even a heater was often a cost option.

 

I was told of somebody trying to buy a proper base-spec Marina with no options. He was told that, even though they were options, they didn't actually make the car without them.

[Tayne]

.

[Pete-M]

Mates dad bought a brand new C plate Fiesta Pop 950 with no options. Nothing. Not even a heated rear window.He then kept it 20 years and had it serviced by the Ford Main Agent he bought it from. Eventually it died through rampant rot.'orrible.

[Pillock]

60s/70s Aircooled VWs had a poverty option - the A suffix on the model number denoted such a car. I had a Type 3 1600TA which simply lacked chrome trim down the sides and the rubber mat in the front luggage space but would have saved the original owner quite a few pounds.Quite rare though, they only made a fraction of them as A models, people seemed willing to spend money on shiny trim.Even the Beetle only did without the chrome trim, and the headliner stopped at the top of the pillars instead of the bottom.

[Pete-M]

My mums old Nova Merit didn't have the vents at either end of the dash, which I thought was spectacularly cheap of GM.

[Vin]

I doubt there is anything you can get with keep-fit windows any more. Even basic commercial vehicles get toys these days. I've got electric windows in my 05 Kangoo, though these were clearly something of an afterthought as they elected to put the switches INSIDE the door bins.... I recently tried out a new Astravan and that was totally LUX inside, electric windows, mirrors, air-con, plenty gadgets, and that was not anywhere near the "top spec" version.

Papa Vins other half has a 58 plate Citroen C1 with keep fit windows. It also has a vast expanse of painted metal inside, which reminds me of my Pandas. I quite like it.

[Andrew353w]

Back in the days of rear-engined Skodas, but post "Estelle", the range was numbered 105, 120 & 130, based on the engine size, followed by letters to show the level of trim (LUX, LS & GL) . In fact, all the cars came over from Czechoslovakia (as it then was) and the trim was added at the Skoda import centre in Kings Lynn. The lowest spec normally offered was the 105 Lux (1050 cc engine, non-halogen lights, base wheel trims etc) But one COULD order an even more base one the 105 S as a special order (the idea of a baser car being a special order seems odd, but there you go!) This one had no HRW, no intermittent wiper option, rubber mats etc. I suppose the salesman would explain the delay in getting one of these base cars, hoping to get the customer to trade up (Skodas!) to a slightly higher spec one.Remember that Minis and many other base British cars were supplied without heaters and washers as standard in the 1970's. No wonder the Japanese and the eastern European manufacturers scored so well; their cars had all that fitted as standard! Skoda's slogan in the 1970's was "Skoda's got the lot"-and it had!

[pogweasel]

The lowest spec normally offered was the 105 Lux (1050 cc engine, non-halogen lights, base wheel trims etc) But one COULD order an even more base one the 105 S as a special order (the idea of a baser car being a special order seems odd, but there you go!) This one had no HRW, no intermittent wiper option, rubber mats etc. I suppose the salesman would explain the delay in getting one of these base cars, hoping to get the customer to trade up (Skodas!) to a slightly higher spec one.

 

My dad had a 105S during his communist phase ( ), it was exceptionally spartan. And incredibly slow, those extra cc's really did make the difference.

[fiatdaft]

lada's were similary 'improved' when they came into the uk importers at bridlington.

[mattblack]

Back in the days of rear-engined Skodas, but post "Estelle", the range was numbered 105, 120 & 130, based on the engine size, followed by letters to show the level of trim (LUX, LS & GL) . In fact, all the cars came over from Czechoslovakia (as it then was) and the trim was added at the Skoda import centre in Kings Lynn. The lowest spec normally offered was the 105 Lux (1050 cc engine, non-halogen lights, base wheel trims etc) But one COULD order an even more base one the 105 S as a special order (the idea of a baser car being a special order seems odd, but there you go!) This one had no HRW, no intermittent wiper option, rubber mats etc. I suppose the salesman would explain the delay in getting one of these base cars, hoping to get the customer to trade up (Skodas!) to a slightly higher spec one.Remember that Minis and many other base British cars were supplied without heaters and washers as standard in the 1970's. No wonder the Japanese and the eastern European manufacturers scored so well; their cars had all that fitted as standard! Skoda's slogan in the 1970's was "Skoda's got the lot"-and it had!

My dad had a 105 Lux... he found it too spartan (after a MK2 Granada 2 litre 'L'...!) and bought a Volvo 240 instead.I needed a car at the time (my Ital had died, IIRC) and so I ran it for a while... I thought it was a great little motor.

[Guest]

My Amazon is a 121, which was the most pov spec you could buy in the UK.It had one door \ wing mirror as standard, which was installed where the supplying dealer chose. Mine was on the door, and it fell off because of epic rusting through the door itself.It has a four speed M40 with no overdrive, and a shitey Dana diff with a 'screaming its tits off at 65 mph' high final drive, as opposed to a Hardy Spicer.A TWO speed heater was standard, but no heated window, although there is wiring for it in the headlining - i.e. what an Audi brochure would call 'preparation for.'It also has a thinner anti roll bar than other models. and a 32 mm single Zenith downdraft carb. That's a 32mm throat. On a 1.8 litre engine. With a very mild cam grind (the 'A' in B18A refers to the cam profile).It has just the one wing badge on the drivers side, as opposed to the two on the 122S and 123GTs.It was originally owned by a bloke who lived in London and worked for Reuters. He travelled all over Europe in it and the majority of the mileage it accrued happened in the first 2 years of ownership. Then he traded it in for a Mercedes and it spent the rest of its life doing 10 miles a year and back to the MOT \Weldathon with the bloke I bought it off in Sussex.Surely, if you're doing distances like that, an OD would be desirable, together with a bit of go? A 122S wasn't that much more, and could be had with a lower back axle ratio and twin carbs.For some inexplicable reason he then specced it up with a very expensive VHF Blaupunkt radio (which cost the equivalent of £900 at the time) with a two speaker set up and fader, and a Golde all steel sunroof. The VOC know of one other car with this type of sunroof, and that's in Holland.It also has a lightened flywheel, and I don't know why. I got a spare one in a job lot and compared mine and the spare when I did the clutch with SCTSH_ANDY, and mine had had a lot of weight taken off it. Odd.Why put options like that on a piss basic Amazon? It doesn't make sense, unless he was some kind of skinflint lunatic who wanted those specific options over the extra equipment offered by the 122S. An Amazon wasn't far off the cost of a Merc back then according to me Uncle Ray.Scandinavia had the choice of a cheaper, shitier Amazon called the Favorit. This had a 3 speed box from the PV544 and the same crap carb my car has. It also had some chrome deleted around the windows, and could only be had as a three door. This was an attempt by Volvo to try and snare PV544 customers into buying the new model without giving up too many things from their earlier cars and paying a slight premium over a straight replacement into the bargain.I really want to drive a 120 Favorit, I imagine it would be vile and horrifically slow. Slower than my car even.

[Whoop Whoop Pull Up]

As a former 216 owner and poster on mg-rover.org, it was tragic to watch MGR's death unfold I did actually swap my seats for some out of a 25iS and they were bloody rock hard! I went back to the originals after a couple of months. Christ knows how anyone else put up with them.

[chaseracer]

In 74 Chrysler launched an Imp basic in responce to the Suiz crisis...

Only 18 years late, then! Can't think why Chrysler UK went arse over teapot...

[Betaphile]

My mums old Nova Merit didn't have the vents at either end of the dash, which I thought was spectacularly cheap of GM.

On boggo 206s, Peugeot went to extra effort to blank off the leg-height vents in the dashboard, presumably in order to make sure you were reminded of your (or your boss') tightness at every turn.

[Parky]

Renault trimmed out the 5 Campus so it didnt have any centre air vents, bare metal on the doors, all plastic (no cloth) trim and very basic seats. Early models also had a four speed box and no rear wiper as I recall but that still doesnt stop me wanting another one though

[r.welfare]

My cousin had one of the last 5 Campuses on an L plate. It was actually delivered with different wheel trims on each side. The garage's response was "well, you can't see both sides at the same time so what's the problem?".I was reading a road test of the Chrysler K-Car the other day, and the basic instrument panel had a speedo and nothing else in the way of gauges...

[Parky]

I ran an "L" plate Campus (L87 KNO) for three years and it was awesome. 40 mpg irregardless of how I drove it and it needed nothing in that time other than a back box and a new battery. Sadly I killed it when I changed the coolant. Despite being mega careful (Renault cooling systems are a nightmare) I somehow got a massive air lock which somehow conspired to crack the head. God knows how. One bottle of Radweld and a rapid PX later saw me enjoy(?) two nondescript years of Fiesta Zetec ownership.Am craving some shite so have a few Renault 5's on my eBay watchlist. I am supposed to be doing a banger rally in Summer and I might get a Five, run it sympathetically, and bring it back home.

[CIH]

I'll have to look up some of the Datsun Cherry N10 specs as they're supposed to be supa skinflint, which makes me really want one.

[wilko]

My old man loves a bit of povvo spec - we had an mk2 escort 1.1 popular when I was a kid, followed by a Talbot Horizon 1.1 which was so povvo it had no passenger side door mirror and no centre console, at the same time we had a 1.6d fiesta popular plus (that was the most high spec up to this point - the first with front headrests & had a 5th gear by virtue of the oil burning lump). He then lost the povvo plot and bought a nearly top of the range 309 1.9 GRD. When he had run that up to minicab mileage he went to look at 306 estates. He could have chosen between a 1 year old D-turbo with alloys, aircon & toys & 15k miles, or for EXACTLY THE SAME PRICE a 6 month ex-motability non-turbo on 13 inch steels with 5k miles that was so low spec it had no rev counter. Guess what he chose and still owns? This man earns a good 50% more than the national average, but is happy to drive a 12 year old car with an official top speed of 99mph & has a little book in the glovebox detailing the fuel economy it has delivered since the day it was bought. They don't make new cars for people like that any more do they?!? I bet if Ford announced the launch of the new 75mpg Focus 1.4 TDCi-6 popular plus estate, he'd be banging on the door of the dealership!!

[VWPowered]

one of the best cars i had was a 86 Ford Fiesta Mk2 Popular Plus, never let me down, povvo cars are harder to find as most are uncherised shagging wagons, being thrashed to buggered defo scrapping, whereas alot of the higher spec stuff gets looked after a little better, i love the basic mechanics on 80's cars

[Pillock]

I bet if Ford announced the launch of the new 75mpg Focus 1.4 TDCi-6 popular plus estate, he'd be banging on the door of the dealership!!

Almost, but not quite - 1.6TDCI Focus gets 74.2mpg combined. Bet that's a hoot to drive!See if they'll do a special version for him with analogue windows and no stereo, then break the passenger mirror off it.

[pogweasel]

I bet if Ford announced the launch of the new 75mpg Focus 1.4 TDCi-6 popular plus estate, he'd be banging on the door of the dealership!!

Almost, but not quite - 1.6TDCI Focus gets 74.2mpg combined. Bet that's a hoot to drive!See if they'll do a special version for him with analogue windows and no stereo, then break the passenger mirror off it.

Ford Focus ECOnetic 1.6 TDCi with Auto-Stop-StartPrice: £19,995

That is taking the piss, surely??

[Pillock]

Ford Focus ECOnetic 1.6 TDCi with Auto-Stop-StartPrice: £19,995

That is taking the piss, surely??

I thought that was pretty standard new car money these days. GF's folks have just spent £22k on a Pug 308SW - high spec, but still pretty average. If you could actually hit 74mpg in that Focus, then an average 12,000 miles at £5 a gallon is going to cost you an extra £811 a year in fuel.for your £20,806, you could instead buy a nice comfortable cruiser like a Rover SD1 V8. Allow, say, £3500 for a really tidy one? You've got £17306 spare then, which at £1.08/litre for petrol means you could buy 3,532 gallons of fuel, and with the V8 returning mid-20s on a run will get you from London to Indonesia, the long way around. After passing London again three times on your way. That's over 88,000 miles

[Milford Cubicle]

It's quite scary when an average low powered diesel hatchback costs £20k, I wonder how many people achieve that 74MPG figure - all of these hyper MPG figures seem to be completely unrealistic nowadays

[r.welfare]

It's the old crazy list-price thing again. Check out the Vauxhall website for shits n' giggles, a fairly boggo New Astra checks in at £20k I reckon with all the silly mods it should be possible to clock 70mpg in one of those special Foci. I got a proper, brim-to-brim calc. of 68mpg in a 308HDI 1.6 I hired for work a few months ago, spending 90% of it's time with me doing a steady 75 with the a/c on up and down the M1. Not half bad, when my 405 does 50mpg in the same circumstances.I'd prefer an SD1 though, given the choice.

[pogweasel]

I appreciate that there is *some* list price inflation going on to counteract scrappage, but I had no idea middle-of-the-road dullness cost that much. I was shocked when I discovered the Kia Cee'd I recently hired was £14k new, but £20k for a boggo Focus is insane. My brother is after a new motor in this size range, but even the cheapest Focus seems to weigh in at £17k or so. I remember berating one of my mates when he bought one 5 year ago for paying 'list', and that was £10k for a Mk1 run-out.

[Pillock]

It's weird that nobody apart from fleet buyers ever thinks of paying the list price for a car. You walk into a dealer and suddenly you're Del Boy, trying to get the most for the least. If you come back home with a new car and you paid list price, complete strangers will take the piss out of you.Yet how many people walk into Argos and try to wangle ten quid off a set of towels, or a bit off a box set of DVDs in HMV? Why just cars?So yeah, manufacturers will always set some crazy RRP.... then the dealers can offer 'Mad mad offers for this weekend only!!!11111' without going bust and they make a massive profit from the fleet guys who just order 50 cars at a time, random colours, don't give a crap.Plus they can drop the price when a competitor is released, they might not be newest but they can be cheaper.