1994: secrets of the company car men

[Marm Toastsmith]

Not seen this, apologies if it's been posted before.

[AnthonyG]

Given that shot looks to be of a Mk3 Cavalier I’d say that was the wally who wouldn’t let anyone pass who was in a ‘cheaper’ car than him, which included lesser models of Cavalier. 

The bloke who got given a Maestro diesel is the best, he was just so, so miserable. For a brief second he thinks it might be an MG one, then he turns the corner into the car park and it’s a Clubman (base) spec or something.

I can actually remember this airing, circa 1994!!

[Marm Toastsmith]

"it really was a sinking blow for me"

[sierraman]

3 minutes ago, Marm Toastsmith said:

"it really was a sinking blow for me"

‘We just sat down and physically cried’ 

[cobblers]

7 minutes ago, sierraman said:

‘We just sat down and physically cried’ 

It's weird isn't it. I'm very into cars, but if I worked for a company and they gave me the most miserable peasant car imaginable (Vauxhall Grandland) I would still say "nice one, free car that will get me about". I'd hate it and I'd thrash it mercilessly, but I wouldn't be upset. But this pair seem to hinge their entire self worth around what free car her feller gets as a tax dodge through his job. I suppose it was a different time. 

 

[sierraman]

1 minute ago, cobblers said:

It's weird isn't it. I'm very into cars, but if I worked for a company and they gave me the most miserable peasant car imaginable (Vauxhall Grandland) I would still say "nice one, free car that will get me about". I'd hate it and I'd thrash it mercilessly, but I wouldn't be upset. But this pair seem to hinge their entire self worth around what free car her feller gets as a tax dodge through his job. I suppose it was a different time. 

 

I’d accept it albeit with extreme reluctance, park it round the corner and start inroads to looking for a new job. 😂

[Mr Livered]

1 hour ago, cobblers said:

I suppose it was a different time

Yep! 1994 was the year I was 17 and started driving; as a teenager I remember my mates' fathers (not my own, because he was self employed) having exactly that sort of strange obsession with the hierarchies of models and trim levels.

[delux]

When I was a yoof, my mate Dave worked for a company selling printers, fax machines, that sort of stuff. 

All the sales team had company VW Polos but the top salesman that month got the Corrado for the month. This particular month Dave had the Corrado! A nearly new, deep metallic red thing. 

We had tickets to see the Charlatans in Glasgow, purchased before Dave managed to fluke the 'Top monthly sales' award, we were going! (I'm really revealling my age here, Charlatans and a Corrado, lol!)

Dave decided he would drive us through and not drink. When we got there we couldnt get parked. I suggested a well lit bit of wasteground where flats had been demolished. 'Its well lit, no-one for miles!' I offered. 

Gig was great! Love the Barrowlands! 

Walking back to the car it appeared untouched, all 4 wheels, aerial and mirrors intact.

Then we realised 'CFC' had been scraped into the bonnet with some force. This, I think was more of a reference to the local football team rather than concern about climate change!

We had to drive home buzzing about the great gig with Dave wiping away the tears! 

[Metal Guru]

We had a manager at our factory who was obsessed with his status and what perks he got. It was just about the time car phones were becoming common and the directors already had them. A group of his fellow managers on the same grade , pretended they were getting phones installed and openly talked in front of him about when they had their car booked in for fitting. It drove him mad thinking everyone else was getting something new and he wasn’t.
 

[sierraman]

I get it in a way, you have to have something to work towards. For someone in 1993 that might have been a Cavalier GLS, back then new cars were comparatively expensive so it was a bit more of a status thing. Wasn’t like today where you’ve got a bit of a lad working on the meat counter at Asda driving a 400bhp BMW living at home paying £500 a month on some lease. Cars don’t really mean anything to people now, the whole point of ‘working towards’ something has gone out of the window, it’s no longer special now Kane working on the meat counter has got one, it’s just become low rent and crass. 

[colino]

I remember being, "rewarded" with a 1.3L Astra on a C reg.  I quickly added an Astra to my own fleet.

[warch]

21 minutes ago, colino said:

I remember being, "rewarded" with a 1.3L Astra on a C reg.  I quickly added an Astra to my own fleet.

The humanity! 
 

I can remember people still being obsessed with things like brand status (still sort of a thing) and trim levels even in the 90s. People would literally climb over the corpses of their workmates to get a 405 with better seats and a rev counter.

[sierraman]

5 minutes ago, warch said:

The humanity! 
 

I can remember people still being obsessed with things like brand status (still sort of a thing) and trim levels even in the 90s. People would literally climb over the corpses of their workmates to get a 405 with better seats and a rev counter.

But people back then were impressed with things like that, it goes back to what I was saying, people’s expectations were lower - some might say more realistic. It was harder to climb the social ladder if you like. 

[Marm Toastsmith]

Obviously things have changed, but I’m not sure they’ve changed all that much. People hate getting overtaken by an old banger, and it seems to me that the more prestigious the car, the greater the resentment having to sit behind (e.g.) one of my cars.

If anything I feel like the perception has shifted as the wealth divide in society has grown. The badge on your Vauxhall is irrelevant, but a new Range Rover, Tesla, Porsche, or high spec Audi/BMW/Mercedes still counts for something and most people in that sort of stuff don’t like it much if the car in front is an ancient base model 1 litre Peugeot.

[sierraman]

6 minutes ago, Marm Toastsmith said:

Obviously things have changed, but I’m not sure they’ve changed all that much. People hate getting overtaken by an old banger, and it seems to me that the more prestigious the car, the greater the resentment having to sit behind (e.g.) one of my cars.

If anything I feel like the perception has shifted as the wealth divide in society has grown. The badge on your Vauxhall is irrelevant, but a new Range Rover, Tesla, Porsche, or high spec Audi/BMW/Mercedes still counts for something and most people in that sort of stuff don’t like it much if the car in front is an ancient base model 1 litre Peugeot.

I find people get out of the way for my old banger to be honest! 

[Marm Toastsmith]

6 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I find people get out of the way for my old banger to be honest! 

Does depend on the context and the exact car. The Primera is happy to cruise at 90, it’s also fairly conspicuously old. I find that on the motorway/dual carriageway people speed up if you overtake them. It’s a signal that they’re not going fast enough.

I also find everyone tries to race me in the 106, lots of white vans tailgating on B roads etc. I think it’s because it was such a popular learners car, lots of people remember them as their 1st car, which they were glad to move on from.

In a scruffy banger you can throw your weight around a bit though, if it’s obvious that you don’t give a fuck about your paintwork. 

[Mr Livered]

57 minutes ago, Marm Toastsmith said:

In a scruffy banger you can throw your weight around a bit though, if it’s obvious that you don’t give a fuck about your paintwork. 

It's funny because when I'm driving shite I'm usually a lot more concerned about paintwork than I am when I'm driving a disposable appliance that's only a couple of years old. Your point stands though, because I bet that's not what most people assume when they see me on the road!

[Peter C]

Only winners drive base model rep cars in 2026.

[lesapandre]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

I find people get out of the way for my old banger to be honest! 

And your car? 😂

[goosey]

I remember the uproar back in 2002 when our fleet Manager tried to give us Ford Focus Estate CLs instead of LXs the meeting was at the Copthorne in Dudley and they tried to palm us off with a free breakfast to ease the pain. We got LXs in the end though with our own colour choice something to do with no ABS on the CL 

[sierraman]

22 minutes ago, Peter C said:

Only winners drive base model rep cars in 2026.

As you drive to a conference in Milton Keynes in the Sierra 1.6L, Prefab Sprout on the cassette, just yourself and the carpet samples in the boot for company. Treating yourself to a Little Chef for closing on a big deal. 

[big_al_granvia]

what a prize collection of bellends, it says so much about the person to be creaming yourself about a fucking cav... okay as a shiter and a driver if i want a thrash it will be the corolla every time but aye i do enjoy some creature comfort so the v70 wins there

[sierraman]

19 minutes ago, goosey said:

I remember the uproar back in 2002 when our fleet Manager tried to give us Ford Focus Estate CLs instead of LXs the meeting was at the Copthorne in Dudley and they tried to palm us off with a free breakfast to ease the pain. We got LXs in the end though with our own colour choice something to do with no ABS on the CL 

Very little I imagine could ease the pain of missing out on the velour seats of the LX. 

[chadders]

One company I worked for had Cavalier 1.6L saloons for one grade and 1.6L hatchbacks for the next one up. Still better than Cortina 1.3Ls at a previous employer though.

[sierraman]

4 minutes ago, chadders said:

One company I worked for had Cavalier 1.6L saloons for one grade and 1.6L hatchbacks for the next one up. Still better than Cortina 1.3Ls at a previous employer though.

You’d think they’d have gone for a Cavalier 1.8 GL for next step up then perhaps opportunity of a Carlton then a Senator for the big nobs. 

[chadders]

Just now, sierraman said:

You’d think they’d have gone for a Cavalier 1.8 GL for next step up then perhaps opportunity of a Carlton then a Senator for the big nobs. 

It didn't make any sense - the next step up was a Rover 2000, the SD1 sort.

The Big Knobs had XJs and similar.

Mind you the company was a complete shambles, I left within 10 months even though it meant I had to pay back all my relocation costs, another 2 months and I wouldn't have had to.

[Peter C]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

As you drive to a conference in Milton Keynes in the Sierra 1.6L, Prefab Sprout on the cassette, just yourself and the carpet samples in the boot for company. Treating yourself to a Little Chef for closing on a big deal. 

It’s a 1.8L and stop fucking following me around the country whilst I’m trying to earn a living.

[bangernomics]

I find people get out of the way for my old banger to be honest! 

We used to play the “depreciation game” many years ago with shiny stuff coming the other way to see who would blink first.

[Marm Toastsmith]

8 hours ago, Mr Livered said:

1994 was the year I was 17 and started driving.

Me too!

[HMC]

I was 14 at the time, and on my paper round higher trim level stuff i did like very much.

monty VDP estates x2 / 216VDP efi // fiesta mk2 ghias // cavalier CDIs and one DIPLOMAT

Maybe it was something in the water at the time as i lapped it up too and I was a schoolkid.