RetroRides - Where did it go wrong and what are the lessons?

[R Lutz]

The MG ZT260 forum was frequented by members as dull as the cars were exciting. One thread, which rambled on was about a dealer selling a seriously ropey 260. But the members wouldn't tell you which dealer or car it was. What's the point in that? I guess they may have if you paid them a tenner. I was subsequently banned. 

[roy8846]

I have been on Retro rides a few years now and have noticed a big decline in posts, I'm more a lurker TBF.

I only recently came across here via chance linked via Piston heads bargain barge threads and this place is everything I wanted from RR to be honest. As previously said the constant KGF sales sours the FS section as it isn't what Retro forums are about.

Shame as there are some cool builds on there (and used to be some cool one off bargains too!)

[scaryoldcortina]

44 minutes ago, delux said:

 

Anyone remember when autoshite was just a page full of seveties photographs?

I haven't seen a talbot tagora reference for a while.

[Out Run]

4 minutes ago, scaryoldcortina said:

I haven't seen a talbot tagora reference for a while.

D701 SWL

[bigfella2]

One of the cool builds on there that I never forgot was the red Lotus Eclat, I can't remember if it was running air suspension. Took cool to another level.

[comfortablynumb]

Medusa

'nuff said 🤩

[Six-cylinder]

Just before I bought my first car on AS I bought a couple on Retro Ride. My 1994 MK1 1.8i Enos came from RR and that was a great car even if I did have to desticker it when I got it! I also bought a 1995 Volvo 850GLT 2.5 10v Auto Estate which also was great car. Mrs6C and I both had this shape Volvo estates at one time as she had the V70 T5. Eventually the 850 exported to Portugal in good working order.

I then settled down to AS, and have enjoyed being able to talk about core AS cars that I love and some of my non appropriate cars without complaint.  I never had anything against Retro Rides or The Dark Wob and have just looked and can still log in and go by the same user name as AS.

[UltraWomble]

6 hours ago, delux said:

Worst forum I ever joined was the 'subaruforester' forum.

 

6 hours ago, R Lutz said:

The MG ZT260 forum was frequented by members as dull as the cars were exciting. 

You guys have seen NOTHING as anal as Badger&Blade shaving forum

Seriously there are flame wars over everything from what blades you prefer, which head, which handle, which maker and the less said about the wars between straight shavers and DE shavers the better.
DONT go on there and mention cartridge shaving. Ever.

[HMC]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

Just before I bought my first car on AS I bought a couple on Retro Ride. My 1994 MK1 1.8i Enos came from RR and that was a great car even if I did have to desticker it when I got it! I also bought a 1995 Volvo 850GLT 2.5 10v Auto Estate which also was great car. Mrs6C and I both had this shape Volvo estates at one time as she had the V70 T5. Eventually the 850 exported to Portugal in good working order.

I then settled down to AS, and have enjoyed being able to talk about core AS cars that I love and some of my non appropriate cars without complaint.  I never had anything against Retro Rides or The Dark Wob and have just looked and can still log in and go by the same user name as AS.

That de stickering must have taken some time! 

[Rust Collector]

15 minutes ago, UltraWomble said:

DONT go on there and mention cartridge shaving. Ever.

I might sign up to tell them that I shave my ball bag with a rusty, dull, disposable that I’ve not bothered to replace in at least 5 years.

I reckon I’ve still got about 40% of my original scrotum left, and when that gets down to about a quarter then I might treat myself and take the next 30p razor out of the packet in the bathroom drawer.

[stuboy]

7 hours ago, delux said:

Anyone remember when autoshite was just a page full of seveties photographs?

thats my 1st memory

[dieselnutjob]

RR got annoyed with me for starting an Autoshite website status thread which I would update every time it was necessary to got to the AS 999 backup site.

I thought that their annoyance was hilarious. They hated it but couldn't seem to find any rule that I'd broken.

[Soundwave]

7 hours ago, delux said:

Anyone remember when autoshite was just a page full of seveties photographs?

Yes, and thanks to the Internet Archive, you can relive it!

https://web.archive.org/web/20060816032959/http://www.autoshite.com/index.php?id=78

[Spiny Norman]

19 minutes ago, dieselnutjob said:

RR got annoyed with me for starting an Autoshite website status thread which I would update every time it was necessary to got to the AS 999 backup site.

I thought that their annoyance was hilarious. They hated it but couldn't seem to find any rule that I'd broken.

I remember that. 
That's what alerted me to this place at first, that and the fact you couldn't get approved for love nor money back in the day, think I ended up emailing one of the admins who took pity on me and let me join up. 
It wasn't all different sections back then, the only advantage being a member had was being able to post as well as read. 

The people who've joined up in the last 10 years or so probably don't realise how easy and smooth running this forum is now compared to how it used to be. 

[dieselnutjob]

5 minutes ago, Spiny Norman said:

I remember that. 
That's what alerted me to this place at first, that and the fact you couldn't get approved for love nor money back in the day, think I ended up emailing one of the admins who took pity on me and let me join up. 
It wasn't all different sections back then, the only advantage being a member had was being able to post as well as read. 

The people who've joined up in the last 10 years or so probably don't realise how easy and smooth running this forum is now compared to how it used to be. 

I found it.  https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/140498/autoshite-forum

[BorniteIdentity]

40 minutes ago, Soundwave said:

Yes, and thanks to the Internet Archive, you can relive it!

https://web.archive.org/web/20060816032959/http://www.autoshite.com/index.php?id=78

I love just how completely surreal the whole thing was. Brilliant.

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, Soundwave said:

Yes, and thanks to the Internet Archive, you can relive it!

https://web.archive.org/web/20060816032959/http://www.autoshite.com/index.php?id=78

Gosh that's how I remember it when I signed up! I started browsing the pictures on the site some time during 2006 but it took me until 2008 to realise that the 'Messageboard' was essentially the same as a forum. A few weeks later I was buying tat brochures from 'Fiatdaft' and being utterly immersed in the You Tube thread.

Good times always.

[chodweaver]

On 26/12/2025 at 21:46, JMotor said:

...

However. Those Simcas in a particular thread made me raise an eyebrow at the quality of the welding done. 

It's bad. Like REALLY bad. To the point I'm amazed at how can someone happily stand back and call it good. 

Dammit. I'm dying to go over there and have a look now!

[R Lutz]

I was a mod on the original X-Power forums back in around 2003 when I joined this place the first time around. I think it was Keith Adams who pointed me in the direction of it. That archive has took me right back. Did it go down once for a couple of weeks, then come back?

[Mr Livered]

26 minutes ago, chodweaver said:

Dammit. I'm dying to go over there and have a look now!

Any chance of a link, anyone? I'm super intrigued for some reason. 

[hairnet]

4 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

 My 1994 MK1 1.8i Enos 

 

 

 

[DavidB]

I remember selling my Toyota Hilux on there in about 2014 and I refused to sell to a complete wingnut and he spent two pages of the for sale thread verbally attacking me, I just refused to take the bait, the mods did nothing because I asked about the whole hill climb travesty previously and obviously got black listed for perceived negativity. 😂

 

[DodgeRover]

10 hours ago, comfortablynumb said:

Medusa

'nuff said 🤩

As seen on rods n sods. His house/ farm progress (in the other modifications) is one of the threads I read still

[dikkehemaworst]

I enjoy both forums, and for me they serve a different need. You can be on autoshite for days without talking cars, wich is not my thing, so i set the search to 1 forum only.

RR is a car dedicated forum with just cars and fills another void for me. I grew up relatively poor, and nowadays with some cash to spent,  I like to buy cars I never could dream of owning back in the day, and make them all mine. Just like the TDC guys are doing now on youtube with the fiesta and the golf series.  Que my 100 NX and my w124 Merc. I was a single brand car guy ( fiat) when I came to English forums in the first place, Driven there by dutch ' eikels ' and know it all's . RR changed my opinion and desires so much that I even sold my 'forever car' a couple of months ago and I have zero regrets... My dreamcar is still a bogg standard 90- to 93  daihatsu Charade with windy windows and there was a guy from China on RR who had one, but overnight he dissapeared. ( he  probably got his Internet blocked by his government or is in jail for doing so) 

But even I think RR is to heavily moderated,  but it feels like the moderators are 'rivet counting' the rules and applying them too strict. Management is too busy minding it's own business and things go south.  The exit of Ryan being an excellent example of this. I like his thread, still do, and I enjoy reading the continuing story on here. But he is ( was)  also the most 'reported' person of the whole forum. 

In my humble vision, people come and go in waves. They form a group of like minded 'internet friends' and when one gets sand stuck in his pussy, they all leave as a communal thing. I've seen it happen many a time.  A couple of years ago with a guy ( can't for the love of god remember his name) with a scabby Scimitar who formed a group called Billy no mates, to get in the showground of the gathering,  or the other guy who loves jowet cars too much, got uber pissed about absolutely nothing and started his own forum. (BRM?)   It happens once in a while and I could not care less. I really like the simca man. He maintains his cars to his specific needs and dailys , rally's and races them them all year round. If i had to weld 0.7 mm sheet steel together , it would be full of holes.. i just don't have the skills.

RR was my safe haven during covid. We own a pub and got closed 2 times for over a year at a time in Holland, with no back up and no support at all. In that period ( in wich i hardly slept) I was glad I could read about car stuff  alone, instead of other people's opinions.

Don't think RR's dead , it's just on a lower spot right now. Probably finding new waysin attracting new people. If it's not for you, fine. Don't join.  And for me? I do not need the for sale section. I'm in Holland. No need for RHDriven cars.     As said , I think RR caters for a different need than Autoshite. The weekender campingtickets sold out within the day and I love to meet up with some of you lot, but it's a 12 hr drive for us and being understaffed means it could take a while... 😀 

So i don't think one is 'better' than the other.  They fulfill a different purpose , and I'm proud to support both.

Edited December 28, 2025 by dikkehemaworst
Sorry! English isn't my native language

[BorniteIdentity]

29 minutes ago, dikkehemaworst said:

They form a group of like minded 'internet friends' and when one gets sand stuck in his pussy, they all leave as a communal thing.

TBH mate you're doing fucking well here.  A few of the natives could learn a thing or five.

[sheffcortinacentre]

I know Mick ( the simca man) his passion for the cars is  unrivalled ( except probably for me when it comes to mk3-4-5 cortinas) he is a really nice guy . He travels extensively here & abroad collecting parts etc , helps loads of people  with their projects & has done all his life. His cars may not all be concours quality but he's one of the people who are the backbone of this hobby.  Not in it for the praise & glory but the pleasure & enjoyment, the camaraderie  . RR has got farther away from this than it's ever been which will probably lead to it's demise.

[Homersimpson]

I post over on Retrorides and to me its a good forum for people who like working on cars, rebuilding them or have some other large project like a garage of house rebuild, but any other general chatter is really frowned upon.

I've had limited interaction with the mods but found them to be far too draconian in their operation, especially with the 2000 year cut off which should really have been a rolling limit every year.   They have lost some good interesting members like @grizz for reasons that I'm not entirely sure other than the diversion on his threads to non car content at times which shouldn't matter at all.

They now have a post 2000 cars section but I think they were too late with it as these cars are now up to 25 years old and in the 15 years they haven't allowed them they have lost a lot of potential members.

In summary I like Retrorides but I have no time for the people who run it.

[HMC]

I must admit I was never so involved as to know about some of the rules mentioned. Ive been back and looked at the cars for sale bit and agree its been subdivided and has a lot of mintola stuff by KGF that drowns out a lot of the other ads.

I Found the cars for sale bit better when it wasnt subdivided and when it was mostly private user generated ads- which were more numerous and easier to spot.

Thinking about it I probably do go there a lot less partly due to this- we all like a good deal from a fellow enthusiast but its hard to find one amongst all the trade ads and subsections.

[dikkehemaworst]

6 hours ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

. RR has got farther away from this than it's ever been which will probably lead to it's demise.

Thank you! Really appreciate your reply!

But is it really farther away? or is it just not for you anymore? 

Strange  comparison maybe, but 15 years ago we left the City centre of Amsterdam ,were  my wife and I are born and raised.  Lived there all my life in a 100 Meter distance of Central station. Great big house , no morgage , on one of the most beautiful squares in the city center.   We left because it does not feel as "home" anymore, but the realisation took a while longer because of the fact we've never lived somewhere else.. The same sandbox, next to the chinese temple  in wich we digged and baked sandcakes, nowadays houses children with Fillipini au-pairs and shoes more expensive than most of my cars (combined).

But My eldest Daughter moved back a year ago and she is flourishing! she loves the freedom ,the different people, flow of the city and her oatmeal cappuchino with castrated goatmilk...  It's just not for us anymore

 

[ruffgeezer]

I miss RR as was, I think I just drifted away from a lot of forums at the same time, I couldn't say why but when I do dip back into RR I really struggle to find anything that holds my interest. 

I built the budget AX vtr whilst on there with the spongebob bonnet and the follow up 5dr VTS.

I also used to post on the garage journal which is a US based forum that is still going strong. Perhaps its mobiles that have ruined my attention span?