Has anyone ever actually seen a Dacia Denem in real life?

[Dead_E23]

Istr Denems being a more common sight in the early '80s than the Renault 12 - one seemed to replace the other really quickly. I suspect that neither car was particularly long lived because the Denems disappeared from the roads just as abruptly. Do Renner 12s rust really badly or something?

 

The last Dacia I remember seeing was a blue Duster with spectacularly badly oxidised paintwork that parked for years on the road next to the common in Tunbridge Wells looking like scrap. I think that might have (just) survived into the '90s.

[Andrew353w]

Yes, I CAN claim to have seen a Dacia, in Perivale, Middlesex! Although somewhat "down at heel" to say the least, it WAS running and working, allbeit in 1995... That said, there's recently been a big discussion about these cars on another website I subscribe to, namely the IFA club, which discusses all eastern European cars. A member even managed a potted history of the importers, who apparently went spectacularly bankrupt after importing the cars for about a year in 1982-3. Later they re-launched the range in 1990 with the Duster (a 4x4) and the Shifter, a Renault 12 pick up. These would be rarer than a Dacia Denem.... I can post brochure photos if anyone's interested....

 

"Nurse, the screens!"

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Ah, the very unacceptable Dacia Denem. There was a sort of Dacia dealer called Marsh Gibbon garage near Bicester in the '80s with these turds and the Dreadful Duster. They were utter shit, a Renault 12 thrown together and painted with a vacuun cleaner.

[Timewaster]

painted with a vacuun cleaner.

WHAT?!

[boobydoo]

By the way, how do you say it?

 

I keep wanting to say 'Day-see-a' but I think it might be 'Day-sha'?

 

Anyone know?

[Richard]

It's "Datchia" I think.

[Tayne]

.

[trigger]

I saw a Dacia 1310 in Ipswich about a year ago which caused much excitement in my pant area.

 

Dacia Denem (1310) in Ipswich by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

[scaryoldcortina]

Romanians say Datcha.

At least they did in that movie.

 

I'd always thought it was Day-see-a, it may have been marketed that way over here.

 

Datcha would fit... romanian is about as close to latin as you will find in a modern language, and latin has no long vowel sounds (I think.... it was 25 years ago...) anyway, I always pronounced it like that and got funny looks at the autofactors.

 

Last time I saw a denem was about 1992, and it was almost dead.

[Richard]

latin has no long vowel sounds (I think.... it was 25 years ago...)

 

I think you'll find it was more like 2000 years.

[scaryoldcortina]

latin has no long vowel sounds (I think.... it was 25 years ago...)

 

I think you'll find it was more like 2000 years.

 

I meant the lessons, although I suspected at the time that my teacher spoke it as a first language...

[CreepingJesus]

painted with a vacuun cleaner.

WHAT?!

 

Actually, the handful I can remember seeing, looked like they'd been painted in Humbrol enamel with a yard brush. With the rust pre-installed at the factory.

There were a few in Glasgow (I'm sure if you sold the most appalling car in the world, at the right price; some old tightwads in bunnets and bad cardigans would buy them...in Glasgow), but I can't remember for the life in me, who the dealer was. I've a feeling they were sold somewhere out Hamilton way, maybe Motherwell. It might also have been related to the FSO dealer up Switchback Rd, just past Anniesland Sawmill.

I know for sure that, by the time I was scouting scrappies for 'stuff', in the late 80's, that's where they were. Dusters, yes: there were a few about - they were on sale here for longer than the Denem was - and my mate tried to persuade me to buy one from Graham St auctions about 1990/91. Somewhere in my collection of junk, I have a 4x4 magazine from '84, which extolled the virtues of the Duster. I didn't really need a 4x4, but he needed a reliable towcar for his crap Mini Clubman estate...

Tayne - don't you have a pic of a Dacia dealer's sign somewhere?

Considering Dacia's gold reserves, it's a wonder their auto industry is so impoverished. Even VW wouldn't go there.

[Tayne]

.

[Alpineandy]

A few years back a friend had R12s, a denem and a duster. He had problems with the dacia electrics as the wire running through any holes, didn't have gromits. A former dealer friend of his advised that they came like that and were sh1t build quality. he sold the dacias and reduced his R12 stable shortly after.

[lovejoy]

Andrew 353w said .... " I can post brochure photos if anyone's interested.... "

 

YES please !!

[Andrew353w]

O.K. then, as requested, some of my Dacia brochures.... Sorry about the quality, but I took these: a) using a mobile phone, and on the table in front of a real log fire, so there might be a little of red colour to the pictures!

 

Here goes...

 

The first 2 are the saloon and estate cars:

 

 

 

Now the "Duster" and even rarer "Shifter" range:

 

 

 

 

 

I also photographed a few of the price lists from 1982 & 1986, but the quality is too poor to reproduce. I'll try again later with those.

[Marshall]

^^^ Quality stuff especially the Denem brochures!

 

I will just post these again because it seems like a good excuse!!

 

Cool stuff. I tried again to find a dealer list - no luck!

NEVER seen a Denem - Well I have but it was in hungary.

Saw a hard -top Duster outside the scrappy in Morecambe about 10 years ago.

[mattblack]

I never knew those Shifter pick-ups were RWD...

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Don't get any ideas about drifting one of those!!! Saying that they are probably the number one vehicle in the Romanian tramp drift scene actually.

[gtd2000]

The Dacia Shifter - excellent

[Negative Creep]

That hardtop van looks like a 1960's kit car

[ChinaTom]

I sat in a fair few (well all of them that were delivered) at my Uncle's Dacia dealer in Suffolk when I was a kid. I recall a few journeys from the garage to the Peacock pub in Chelsworth too. Unfortunately he has now died so I can't ask about the volume sold. As he soon shifted to Lada, I reckon it may have been a fat zero. Some Dusters shifted though. Best one was a blue Denem with a vinyl roof which seemed to be a lot plusher than my old man's Allegro 1750HL of the same colour scheme.

[RedSparrow]

This place?

 

Dacia by Tayne, on Flickr

 

Old Dacia Dealer by Tayne, on Flickr

 

Its not far from my flat.

 

I suspect AndrewE could rustle up a full dealer list like he did for the FSOs.

 

Hey Tayne, have you tried enquiring about nabbing that sign? Must be the only one left in the country surely?

[Angrydicky]

I can see that sign being dumped in a skip in the not too distant future.

[RedSparrow]

What Dicky said.

 

Must be worth saving - I'm sure some people in the Wartburg IFA club would love it. Is it worth sending the picture to Practical Classics?

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Romanians say Datcha.

At least they did in that movie.

 

I'd always thought it was Day-see-a, it may have been marketed that way over here.

 

It is pronounced Dachia. Well, it is in Moldova, anyway!

 

It is named after the Roman province which corresponds to modern day Romania, Moldova and a bit of Serbia, Bulgaria and Ukraine. They were Thracians. It was an important place, later conquered and assimilated by Rome. Scaryoldcortina is right, Romanian is very close to Latin, though its spelling was altered and "Slavified" by Stalin after the war in Romania and a new Cyrillic style alfabet with a few new characters was created for the lucky Moldovans when the "joined" the USSR who then couldn't write their own language. They counted themselves lucky, since tens of thousands were sent to Siberia and Kazakhstan in 1947. Those who were left at least had the luxury of starving at home.

 

Not sure what any of that has to do with the Denem though! I think Dacia sold a few more in the UK than might first be imagined. I have an old What car? magazine containing an artical detailing the withdrawl of Dacia form the UK market. I can't remember the numbers sold (it must be over a decade since I even glanced at the thing) but I remember being surprised by the sales - it was in 4 figures I am sure. I could have a look for it if anyone is interested.

 

I had a friend at university who ran a Denem for a time and actually liked the car. This would have been about 1993/4ish and he reckoned it was quite a bit better than a Hyundai Pony or a Polonez (bit of a pattern of buying here?) and on a parr with a Skoda Estelle. His favourite was the Lada Samara and I agreed with him. The Samara was a suprisingly decent car.

 

Talking of Romanian cars, they were never sold in the UK but has anyone ever seen an Oltcit here?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I have driven an Oltcit with a rotten floor, do I win £5?

[warren t claim]

I think I might be able to trump you all and say I've driven a Denem, albeit only for 50yds around an auction.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I have welded up (or at least tried to weld up) the floor of a Romanian Dacia 1310 or whatever theyre called using a stick welder on a Bucharest mud road.

[boobydoo]

I sat in a fair few (well all of them that were delivered) at my Uncle's Dacia dealer in Suffolk when I was a kid.

 

That is what you might call a 'privileged upbringing'. You lucky devil!!