1989 SEAT Ibiza 903cc Special - The Dream Machine - Rust Bubbles and Dodgy Breaks

[SEATMad]

14 hours ago, Burnside said:

Nothing sad about wanting a Malaga, I think there ace!

Only a few years ago, there was someone on this very forum who spent years trying to find a RHD Renault 14.

A few people said no chance, but they manged to find four cars before buying one of them.  So anything possible.

Here's hoping one comes up in some OAP's garage or something of the like. Something well kept that has been off the road for years. I like to think of the Malaga as the Austoshite holy grail. Hoping it'll happen just like that Renault 14. 

7 hours ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

I don't know the others, but in Norway it was never high.

That doesn't really surprise me. 

[SEATMad]

For those wanting a project. This is up now for £800. It's a bit of a mess but it's all there and its not too far passed it. 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3492908780973869/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A9b4a9a15-1714-4614-8567-c5aee0c79d36

 

[SEATMad]

So today I decided to take to give her a wash while its not pissing down. Went to the local carwash place and had a couple of old boys perving over her. Then some bloke came up to me and asked me what type of Volkswagen it was... Never mind. I must say I do enjoy a good chinwag with random strangers of my car. It give's me a sense of enormous wellbeing (parklife). 

Anyway, here's some photos. Some of you have asked for some more, here ya go. Please mind the messy interior.

Thank you for reading once again   

 

[Volksy]

Being lucky enough to grow up partially in Spain, Seats have always been part of our extended family. 

My dad bought a new 1988 Ibiza 1.2L in black (E185PUG) from AMG Porsche in Leeds. We kept it about three years, with it not missing a beat. It did plenty of trips down to the east coast of Spain, It was a rocker switchgear early model and he loved it. It got me kudos on the school pick up as it had systemPORSCHE stickers on the lower parts of the doors (in the correct Porsche font too..).

It was replaced with a 1990 1.2XL in metallic blue (G998KWX) bought new from a garage in York. This was after VW had started to take control, so had the VW Polo/Golf switchgear.  This one was not so good, it overheated a few times, had autochoke issues and bits of trim were dropping off left right and centre, it was traded in for a Peugeot 106.

On the subject of Malagas, I think N.Bickle has a 5dr (Malaga/Ronda) but I think the last UK one expired several years ago (a grey XL facelift). I spotted it in a battered state at my local Morrisons, I assume to the owner it was just an car, and didn't know it's unicorn status. I spotted a few weeks later at CoPart York, having had an attempted theft and what looked like a carb fire. It was for sale complete, but I think it was thrown in the frag due to lack of interest. 

 

 

[SEATMad]

13 minutes ago, Volksy said:

Being lucky enough to grow up partially in Spain, Seats have always been part of our extended family. 

My dad bought a new 1988 Ibiza 1.2L in black (E185PUG) from AMG Porsche in Leeds. We kept it about three years, with it not missing a beat. It did plenty of trips down to the east coast of Spain, It was a rocker switchgear early model and he loved it. It got me kudos on the school pick up as it had systemPORSCHE stickers on the lower parts of the doors (in the correct Porsche font too..).

It was replaced with a 1990 1.2XL in metallic blue (G998KWX) bought new from a garage in York. This was after VW had started to take control, so had the VW Polo/Golf switchgear.  This one was not so good, it overheated a few times, had autochoke issues and bits of trim were dropping off left right and centre, it was traded in for a Peugeot 106.

On the subject of Malagas, I think N.Bickle has a 5dr (Malaga/Ronda) but I think the last UK one expired several years ago (a grey XL facelift). I spotted it in a battered state at my local Morrisons, I assume to the owner it was just an car, and didn't know it's unicorn status. I spotted a few weeks later at CoPart York, having had an attempted theft and what looked like a carb fire. It was for sale complete, but I think it was thrown in the frag due to lack of interest. 

 

 

This one was spotted in a Copart yard many years ago, probably the one your referring to. 

These Ibiza didn't half come with some cool asf graphics back in the day! 

[Volksy]

2 minutes ago, SEATMad said:

This one was spotted in a Copart yard many years ago, probably the one your referring to. 

These Ibiza didn't have come with some cool asf graphics back in the day! 

That's the exact one. 

 

[SEATMad]

1 minute ago, Volksy said:

That's the exact one. 

 

Yeah this one did the rounds on Flickr back in the day. We must be going back maybe 10 years now. Unfortunately long gone now. Breaks my heart knowing If I was a few years older, maybe I could've done something to save it.  

[Volksy]

I remember commenting to H.Imp (who also wants a Malaga) at the time. I was living where I do now, so must have been around 2019.

In hindsight I should have left a note/spoken to the owner who IIRC was a old bloke with string for a belt type. 

 

[SEATMad]

5 minutes ago, Volksy said:

I remember commenting to H.Imp (who also wants a Malaga) at the time. I was living where I do now, so must have been around 2019.

In hindsight I should have left a note/spoken to the owner who IIRC was a old bloke with string for a belt type. 

 

Unless there's more than one kicking around somewhere which makes me extremely excited. That photo was uploaded in 2013 I believe. 

I'm sure there is one hiding away somewhere, or at least I hope there is! 

[Volksy]

Nope. That was defo the one I'm afraid, I must be getting my dates mixed up.

[SEATMad]

4 minutes ago, Volksy said:

Nope. That was defo the one I'm afraid, I must be getting my dates mixed up.

Aaah I see, you got me excited there 😂

[blakey79]

F863PLD Seat ibiza crono 1.2 in metallic blue was my late father's car, at first I was pissed as he'd sold his 1981 registered Audi coupe XKX117X my less educated scholl mates thought was a quattro. He had it for a year, but had continual issues with the gearbox making strange noises, was offered an older 1.5 GLX by the supplying dealer but cut his losses and this really hurts purchased a Volvo 360 GLT...

[SEATMad]

49 minutes ago, blakey79 said:

F863PLD Seat ibiza crono 1.2 in metallic blue was my late father's car, at first I was pissed as he'd sold his 1981 registered Audi coupe XKX117X my less educated scholl mates thought was a quattro. He had it for a year, but had continual issues with the gearbox making strange noises, was offered an older 1.5 GLX by the supplying dealer but cut his losses and this really hurts purchased a Volvo 360 GLT...

Give me the 1.5 GLX any day of the week, yet again, I am biased 😂

[brownnova]

On 29/02/2024 at 17:48, Blue 850 said:

Yugo 45s

Thought it was the same engine as in my Yugo

Good to know parts are easy to come by for the engine! 

[comfysofa]

Just throwing in my Malaga story...a friend of mine in the late 90's was trying to save his sister's tatty but solid blue base model Malaga, but bits were unobtanium even then. A quick scoot round to a local backstreet dealer one evening by chance by me saw a running high-spec model identical to the Copart one in even worse condition with 30 seconds MOT for £150...that month Franken-Malaga was born.

I really thought they were a stunningly functional car, loved the simple Euro-centric design aspect of it and the Marbella and Terra van also.

For some reason i could never really get excited about the Ibiza but this one is a stunner! Long may it continue

[danthecapriman]

That’s a great looking car @SEATMad I’ve not seen one in any condition for years, but yours is absolutely mint!

I used to work on one of these, a gold E reg one, years ago. Owned from new by a little old lady. That must have been about 2002/2003 the last time I saw it. It was quite rusty around the front end though and it used to absolutely piss oil out everywhere. It just kept on going though.

In fact I can’t remember seeing one since then!

[SEATMad]

44 minutes ago, comfysofa said:

Just throwing in my Malaga story...a friend of mine in the late 90's was trying to save his sister's tatty but solid blue base model Malaga, but bits were unobtanium even then. A quick scoot round to a local backstreet dealer one evening by chance by me saw a running high-spec model identical to the Copart one in even worse condition with 30 seconds MOT for £150...that month Franken-Malaga was born.

I really thought they were a stunningly functional car, loved the simple Euro-centric design aspect of it and the Marbella and Terra van also.

For some reason i could never really get excited about the Ibiza but this one is a stunner! Long may it continue

Thank you! That's a great story as well, how did Franken end up? 

[SEATMad]

8 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

That’s a great looking car @SEATMad I’ve not seen one in any condition for years, but yours is absolutely mint!

I used to work on one of these, a gold E reg one, years ago. Owned from new by a little old lady. That must have been about 2002/2003 the last time I saw it. It was quite rusty around the front end though and it used to absolutely piss oil out everywhere. It just kept on going though.

In fact I can’t remember seeing one since then!

Thank you for the compliments! I don't believe there's any gold ones kicking about anymore unfortunate. 

2003/2004 Is when most of these disappeared I believe, As soon as they hit the 15 year mark it was game over it seems. 

[comfysofa]

13 minutes ago, SEATMad said:

Thank you! That's a great story as well, how did Franken end up? 

It was seen as a means to an end sadly, disposable transport one MOT fail then baled. It had a cool 80's BAA Heathrow Airport sticker in the back. It's one of those things I wish I had taken pictures of really...it was an out of area car, but the blue one was from Marriotts of Boston, Lincs...an early Seat dealer...Mazda was their mainstay but they also held Seat and Skoda franchises at the time. They had one of those TV ad packages that were popular with smaller Marques at the time, where the original expensive ad had the details of local dealers tagged onto the end.

(slightly apropos) In the East Midlands, Swithland were a huge shifter of lower end cars such as Yugo and Skoda and were prolific advertisers on Central TV which we also got in Boston...some really fun ads!

[SEATMad]

3 minutes ago, comfysofa said:

It was seen as a means to an end sadly, disposable transport one MOT fail then baled. It had a cool 80's BAA Heathrow Airport sticker in the back. It's one of those things I wish I had taken pictures of really...

Aaah that's a shame but that's just how they were seen I suppose. That's the beauty of hindsight really. 

[egg]

[SEATMad]

7 minutes ago, egg said:

I freeking love that @egg! 

[JMotor]

Phwoar!

What a lovely little car @SEATMad.

Really liked the MK1 Ibiza's.

Been watching promo videos about the development of these cars. 

 

[SEATMad]

46 minutes ago, JMotor said:

Phwoar!

What a lovely little car @SEATMad.

Really liked the MK1 Ibiza's.

Been watching promo videos about the development of these cars. 

 

Cheers thank you! I need to sit down at some point and proper nerd out over these videos! 

[Matty]

1 hour ago, JMotor said:

Phwoar!

What a lovely little car @SEATMad.

Really liked the MK1 Ibiza's.

Been watching promo videos about the development of these cars. 

 

Aye, always thought they were a smart looking thing in period. And this one's a little belter!

[SEATMad]

12 minutes ago, Matty said:

Aye, always thought they were a smart looking thing in period. And this one's a little belter!

Thank you all so much more the lovely comments about her. It all gives me that warm fuzzy feeling knowing other people appreciate her! 

[Matty]

24 minutes ago, SEATMad said:

Thank you all so much more the lovely comments about her. It all gives me that warm fuzzy feeling knowing other people appreciate her! 

You've come to the right place for obsessions 🤣

[SEATMad]

1 minute ago, Matty said:

You've come to the right place for obsessions 🤣

Yeah seems like it 😂 it’s alright around here I guess 😂

[Matty]

23 minutes ago, SEATMad said:

Yeah seems like it 😂 it’s alright around here I guess 😂

I don't do social media at all (or computers in general), just here. Provided you steer clear of stuff like the politics bit, the people on here are endlessly knowledgeable, supportive and funny as fuck. Genuinely feels like a community. And that's about a gushy as i can manage 😆

[SEATMad]

41 minutes ago, Matty said:

I don't do social media at all (or computers in general), just here. Provided you steer clear of stuff like the politics bit, the people on here are endlessly knowledgeable, supportive and funny as fuck. Genuinely feels like a community. And that's about a gushy as i can manage 😆

Yeah I stay out of all the malarkey, always turns bitter. Yeah It defiantly seems it. I'm quite young, naïve and unexperienced still and everyone here seems very welcoming and indeed, knowledgeable. Anyways all this gushy shite is gunna make me spew 😂