Formula Autos Posted December 16, 2010 Posted December 16, 2010 I often wonder about the fate of various press cars especially ones that were used in adverts and road tests. My wife's last car was an ex-Ford press car - a 53 plate SportKa, bought through Ford Direct from the local dealer. It seemed faster than other SportKas she tried at the time, as if it had been tweaked before being handed to the press. Being a bit of a girl racer, that swayed her towards buying it. It went very rusty though - she got rid of it early this year with just 23K on the clock and holes in both sills and in the metal at both top corners of the windscreen, despite being very well looked after (several previous unexpected blemishes having been properly repaired by a local bodyshop). I wonder if they skimped on rust-proofing to keep the weight down, and performance up? A fantastic little road-rocket though. I was sad to see it go.
brammy777 Posted December 17, 2010 Posted December 17, 2010 Hold on, I just remembered that I went to a Monster Truck show around this time, and we still have photos from it. If I remember rightly, the cars being crushed in the display (well the ones at either end) went as follows: MKI Cavalier, Mini, Volvo 340, Mini, Acclaim. They also wrecked something else, I will have to dig these shots out. Just felt this would add some clarity as to what was fit for that sort of thing back then, i.e. scrapping.
Negative Creep Posted December 17, 2010 Posted December 17, 2010 A random very early childhood memory was going to see a monster truck show (which I presumed would be in a massive stadium like on the TV, not a muddy field. However I distinctly remember one of the crushing victims being an early Avenger with the boomerang lights.
Guest Posted December 17, 2010 Posted December 17, 2010 If those were the Abbey lane / Whitefield road scrapyards then some of those Talbots/Chryslers ended up less than halfa mile from the main dealer who sold them new. Castles is now Robins and Day Peugeot and the Scrapyards have gone:(
timmyteapot Posted December 17, 2010 Posted December 17, 2010 Lots of leicestershire and nottingham registered cars there, where were these taken?
retro80sboy Posted December 17, 2010 Posted December 17, 2010 Great pics. makes me sad though that all these good old motors and (now valuable and sort after) parts were just binned. as said before though, at the time nobody would have cared.
AnthonyG Posted December 17, 2010 Posted December 17, 2010 I recall 1995-97 to be when most Talbots disappeared from the roads. The same thing will happen with the remaining MG-Rovers around 2015, I expect. Too true Walked down a street the other day with a 75, 45 and two 200s close together, and realised that they're going to go from commonplace to unusual in the blink of an eye. From a Telegraph article found on the web, from July this year http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/new ... d-age.html 'New figures show that the vehicle 'parc' (the DVLA's database of vehicle registrations) for MG Rovers produced since 2000 has declined only marginally in the past 12 months. The MG parc (ZT, ZS, ZR and F/TF) - has fallen by only 3.1 per cent, according to the DVLA figures, while the Rover parc (75, 45, 25, Streetwise and City Rover) has declined by 3.7 per cent. It means that in total there are still more than one million MG Rover vehicles registered for use on the UK's roads, over 50 per cent of which were built post-2000.' Perhaps the situation re Rovers won't be as bad as Talbots after all .
chaseracer Posted December 17, 2010 Posted December 17, 2010 I often wonder about the fate of various press cars...Domestic Management had an ex-Fiat press fleet Panda 100HP until recently. I looked, but I couldn't find any pictures of it airborne or being ragged to shit, which was a shame.
In The Pit Posted December 19, 2010 Posted December 19, 2010 I recall 1995-97 to be when most Talbots disappeared from the roads. The same thing will happen with the remaining MG-Rovers around 2015, I expect. Too true Walked down a street the other day with a 75, 45 and two 200s close together, and realised that they're going to go from commonplace to unusual in the blink of an eye. From a Telegraph article found on the web, from July this year http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/new ... d-age.html 'New figures show that the vehicle 'parc' (the DVLA's database of vehicle registrations) for MG Rovers produced since 2000 has declined only marginally in the past 12 months. The MG parc (ZT, ZS, ZR and F/TF) - has fallen by only 3.1 per cent, according to the DVLA figures, while the Rover parc (75, 45, 25, Streetwise and City Rover) has declined by 3.7 per cent. It means that in total there are still more than one million MG Rover vehicles registered for use on the UK's roads, over 50 per cent of which were built post-2000.' Perhaps the situation re Rovers won't be as bad as Talbots after all . I think both Rover and MG cars of this era will have a far better survival rate than Talbots as they are more sought after today and a sexier brand than Talbot. The Lotus Sunbeam was the only Talbot that had any real interest hence most surving Sunbeams today are the Lotus model. Let us not forget that Talbots rusted horrifically and most were past their best by their 10th birthday. My mum had a w reg Sunbeam from around 1984-1992 and loved it (still likes them) but it went very rotten, it was sold to a mechanic friend of my dads who then sold to a bloke to be done up according to the DVLA it limped on till 1994. My Grandad also had a Solara from brand new an A reg GLS that he kept for around ten years but that was starting to rust although not as bad as the Sunbeam that also has its DOL with the DVLA as 1994..
mk2_craig Posted December 19, 2010 Posted December 19, 2010 The Lotus Sunbeam was the only Talbot that had any real interest hence most surving Sunbeams today are replicas of the Lotus model. EFA.
trigger Posted October 10, 2011 Author Posted October 10, 2011 OMG thread revival! scrapyard 2001 by Judy and Floss, on Flickr May 1996 by Judy and Floss, on Flickr August 1996 by Judy and Floss, on Flickr Feb 1996 by Judy and Floss, on Flickr June 1996 by Judy and Floss, on Flickr Scrapyard may 1996 by Judy and Floss, on Flickr Scrap yard, March 2000 by Judy and Floss, on Flickr Scrapyard, December 1996 by Judy and Floss, on Flickr
trigger Posted October 10, 2011 Author Posted October 10, 2011 August 1996 by Judy and Floss, on Flickr November 1996 by Judy and Floss, on Flickr feb 2000 by Judy and Floss, on Flickr Feb 2000 by Judy and Floss, on Flickr March 2000 by Judy and Floss, on Flickr August 1999 by Judy and Floss, on Flickr September 1997scrapyard. by Judy and Floss, on Flickr May/ June 1998 scrapyard. by Judy and Floss, on Flickr april 1997 scrapyard. by Judy and Floss, on Flickr July 1997 scrapyard. by Judy and Floss, on Flickr
Negative Creep Posted October 10, 2011 Posted October 10, 2011 Thanks for sharing. Interesting how many of them are Y A and B plates, so around 15 years old at the time. For all people bang on about how GR6 modern cars are, the life expectancy doesn't seem to have changed much
CortinaDave Posted October 11, 2011 Posted October 11, 2011 That poor old mk3 cortina soldiered on off the road from 1984 until that pic was taken if I'm right with the reg number ARY480K. Sad thing it was only 3 or 4 years away from moving out of rusty banger status and becoming a viable classic resto project in the eyes of the public!
tagoraman83 Posted September 20, 2012 Posted September 20, 2012 just spotted this thread,if only the Tagora was still there....would solve my roof problem!
HMC Posted September 21, 2012 Posted September 21, 2012 just enjoyed these again, great pics. Going misty eyed over scrap yards of the old days pre health and safety and environmental legislation etc. Part of the 'fun' was clambering around trying to unbolt an elusive part on the car teetering on top of the stack
tagoraman83 Posted September 21, 2012 Posted September 21, 2012 I restored my first car , a Chrysler 2 Litre, between the ages of about 12 to 16 and almost all the parts came from the scrapyards. I used to spend alot of time scouring for a part that was better than the one I had. Scrapyards back then were fantastic places with great cars. I lived near an area of Bury in Lancashire called Pimhole which had at least 20 yards. Autosave was a favorite of mine as the guy who ran it had the biggest collection of NSU RO80's in the country and some brilliant other cars, Citroen DS's , jenson interceptors , fiat 130's etc etc. Those were the days....
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now