FLOGGING A DEAD HORSE....'SHITE' POLL!

[boobydoo]

One of the things I often dream about is how I would have enjoyed working as a salesperson in a car dealership in the late 70s/early 80s. Naturally, I tend to see it through rather rose-tinted glasses...sitting at my desk in the window marvelling at the complete chod I'm being asked to sell to a still trouser-flared and kipper-tie'd consumer. Chatting to the lovely Sandra on reception about the new ELO album I'd just bought. Flicking through the brochure to check the latest product updates.....ooh! fag lighter now standard on the GL!!!!

 

But if we could go back in time for one day as a car salesperson ,which dealership would we choose to spend our time in...and why?.. IT'S 1980!!

 

THE CONTENDERS:

 

 

Oh dear. The Metro is still some months away so it's a pretty vintage range of cars you're trying to flog.

 

The Maxi is 11 years old though recently minor facelifted to the Maxi 2.

The Allegro 3...well, its not a bad little car now especially in quad-headlamp HLS spec!

The Ital has just been launched. Ooh! much excitement at the unveilling and nine years of Marina prospects to phone!!

Mini...still a good seller...but you earn sod all commission!

Princess...that Reynard Metallic boggo spec has been stuck in the showroom for months now. Big bonus on selling that!

Dolomite. Hard to sell now against more modern competition.

TR7... a few dollybirds in looking at these..but the complaints about the build quality once they've had them a few months! Nightmare!

 

VS:

 

 

Blimey, I spend half my time taking Chrysler badges off and putting Talbot ones on!

Avenger...10 years old and looking dead old fashioned.

Sunbeam...nice little car...all the old birds like 'em...taken a few Imps in P-ex!

Horizon...clattery old engines so avoid test drives if at all possible!

Alpine...recently face-lifted, so looks quite smart....punters are hardly queueing at the door, though.

New Solara...not doing aswell as expected...big discounts already! Need a big fleet order to hit target!

The sales managers Chrysler 2 Litre demonstartor in the back yard...£100 bonus on selling that f***er!!!! Thankfully, the new prestige model is due next year!!

 

So which would you choose? 24 hours trying to flog 80s chod!!!

[Albert Ross]

Talbot for sure. Sunbeam Lotus anyone?

[autofive]

i voted for BL

 

better the devil you know, than a rotten talbot alpine

[warren t claim]

Talbot. Plenty of bewildered punters buying whatever Car of the Year Talbot had that year.

 

Plus John "King Dong" Noakes doing the TV ads must of been a crowd puller...

[Tayne]

.

[Negative Creep]

If I had access to the Dolomite Sprint then I'd take the BL dealership. I could have hours of fun convincing potential buyers that brown and beige would be the hight of fashion in 1990

[Alexg]

BL - I'd love to bowl about a showroom in 1980, appraising some old giffers Marina as I try to convince him that he needs to upgrade to the New Ital, bollocking the valeter because the used Allegros are scruffy and buying up all the shite trade-ins

[Split_Pin]

I voted BL simply because the product range at the time was broader than Talbot, so more chance of finding something to offload on whatever punter came through the door.

 

Rover SD1 for the Company DIrector, Princess 1800 for the Area Manager, Ital for junior Manager, Allegro estate for mum and Mini for Granny and Gramps.

 

I'm not sure if Talbot could cover all those bases at the time, although despite their clattery engines, i think the Alpine looks a lot smarter than, say, an Ital.

 

People must have been thoroughly confused at the time with neither Company having much of a brand identity.

[maxpower]

talbot for me

 

only because i loved the horizon

[TagoraSX]

I did the unthinkable and voted BL, for purely economic reasons.

 

Buyer's weren't too fussy back then and bought any old tat. BL had a far larger range of tat to sell, which would have meant more wedge in my pocket.

 

Hopefully I would have seen the writing on the wall and spent my lunch breaks covertly looking for a new job at the local Ford/Datsun/Toyota dealer.

[Captain Mainwaring]

British Leyland, for the same reason as Tayne.

[Formula Autos]

Talbot for me.

 

Hindsight's a wonderful thing, but in 1980 this must surely have looked the better option?

 

BL had already failed (in a business sense) and been bailed out by the government. Who knew (in 1980) what further debacles lay ahead?

 

Talbot (for all that had gone before) had just been bought out by PSA, who didn't make THAT bad a range of cars. Surely it would have looked like the near future was brighter for Talbot, particularly when the BL tie-up with Honda wasn't widely known. In any case, Honda was a relatively small selling marque in 1980 (for various reasons, not least quotas). Plus Talbot still had the Ryton factory and the 'made in Britain' allure for some models, so this wasn't a complete trump card for BL.

 

As for the Metro looming on the horizon, it can't have sounded too enticing to BL dealers - basically Mini mechanicals in a bigger shell, with the Allegro's suspension. We know it was more than that, but the bare facts won't have sounded all that great. Even if the Samba, the Metro's competitor, had been known about (basically a restyled Pug 104), this would have probably sounded more modern than a rebodied Mini (launched in 1959, let's not forget - the 104 at least hailed from the '70s).

 

Talbot had a previous winner of Car of the Year (Horizon), whereas BL had been developing what eventually became the Maestro (a car roughly Horizon sized) since the mid-'70s, with still no sign of it appearing in 1980. For the foreseeable future, the Allegro had to compete with the Horizon. On the showroom floor in 1980 I think we all know which would have looked more enticing to the average buyer.

 

Having said all that, by the end of 1986 I'd have felt like a complete plonker and might have gone running to Austin Rover or, more likely, just got on with flogging shedloads of 205s and 309s when the dealership transferred over to Peugeot.

 

Talbot in 1980

 

BL/AR in late 1980

[M'coli]

Talbot for me. In 1980 Linwood was still open, and was reasonably local so any help would have done. The fact that my old man (while employed by a subcontractor)took redundancy rather than nights at Linwood may have something to do with it...

[Mash]

Difficult one really, neither range was particularly inspiring and in 1980 both had cars that were getting long in the tooth. The Avenger and 180/2-litre were ten years old and the Sunbeam was RWD when a lot of the competition had gone over to FWD. Having said that, the Horizon and Alpine were more up to date styling wise and both had hatchbacks and the Sunbeam at least looked something like it belonged in 1980.

 

So I went for Talbot. Selling cars that harked back to the 1960s with some plastic stuck on for good measure must have been quite a task back then (Dolomite, Maxi, Ital) and the Allegro was past it's best by then. The Princess was stylish but I suspect may have dated quite quickly - let's face it, it's a really 70s-looking design. With only the Metro on the horizon (pardon the pun) you'd have to really plug away at the Buy British campaigns.

 

Can I choose Renault or Datsun instead?

[scooters]

as far as i know Talbot didn't make a van so i have voted British!

[Albert Ross]

You forgot this.......

 

 

and this.....

 

 

and this....

 

[scooters]

doh!

[Guest Tony Hayers]

Just about to mention the Express. No, honest I was

[M'coli]

The first Talbot Express vans were still 6 years in the future, but the old Commer was badged as a Dodge and sold on an X plate, so spacevan it is!

[CreepingJesus]

In 1980? Talbot - no contest. Toivonen's just won the RAC Rally in the Lotus Sunbeam; it's a car for now. It's probly more attractive in the long run, to throw your lot in with PSA, than watch the BL ship sink under the weight of its' own corrosion.

Mind you,

Talbot for me. In 1980 Linwood was still open, and was reasonably local so any help would have done. The fact that my old man (while employed by a subcontractor)took redundancy rather than nights at Linwood may have something to do with it...

Linwood wasn't far from home, and I do seem to recall some mild backlash against Rootes/Talbot products at the time.

Maybe then the neighbours won't come to our dinner party, and I'll end up eating Crispy Pancakes and McCain's oven chips again. Then again, maybe I'll rush home, in order to get out to the 'Quo gig, at the Apollo....ahhh 1980.

Now where's me time machine?

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

I'd like to say I voted British Leyland because I am an Idealist.

However I am coin operated like everyone else and reckon there would be more money selling BL - and a chance to borrow a nice brown Rover for the weekend.

[barrett]

The first Talbot Express vans were still 6 years in the future, but the old Commer was badged as a Dodge and sold on an X plate, so spacevan it is!

 

Slightly O/T, but when did the Talbot name actually die? If they didn't launch the Express till '86 it must've outlived all the Talbot cars no?

[Albert Ross]

1992/3 I think.

[meggersdog]

Talbot commercials were badged Dodge,not sure but when the cars finished the Dodge name was replaced with Talbot.

[chaseracer]

The first Talbot Express vans were still 6 years in the future...

The A-reg one I hired in 1985 must have been a very early prototype...

 

The Express - according to a slightly more reliable corner of Wikipedia - was introduced in late 1981, along with the other 'Sevel' vans: Peugeot J5, Citroen C25, Fiat Ducato and...

 

 

...ubervanshite Alfa Romeo AR6

[Albert Ross]

For instance.....

 

[Albert Ross]

http://www.psa-peugeot-citroen-press.co ... %20kit.doc

 

Page 2 holds the info there.

[M'coli]

I stand corrected!

[warren t claim]

The first Talbot Express vans were still 6 years in the future...

The A-reg one I hired in 1985 must have been a very early prototype...

 

The Express - according to a slightly more reliable corner of Wikipedia - was introduced in late 1981, along with the other 'Sevel' vans: Peugeot J5, Citroen C25, Fiat Ducato and...

 

 

...ubervanshite Alfa Romeo AR6

 

If I win the lottery I'll buy an Alfa van to tow my Montreal to classic car shows, or maybe vice versa depending on the reliability.

[barrett]

I never knew they made an Alfa version. I must be a secret badge snob 'cause I want one of those badly!