warren t claim Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 Whilst scouring the land looking for a decent Focus to make a few quid on I've noticed that the saloon version usually sells for about half the money of what a 5 door hatch would, and the saloons usually better kitted out. This has got me thinking of other booted hatches that have been sold over the years and the very few that have managed to have a decent image and an identity of their own without managing too look like a hatchback with a fat arse. My first thought was this low selling piece of prime autoshite.I think these look ace in a mini Maserati kind of way. The lines seem to suit it and it looks like more than just a Delta with a boot nailed on as an afterthought. Any others?
Morgan84 Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 I think the MK1 Ford Orion with its distinctive front grill was a lovelly looking car,but they spoiled them in about 1985/6 when they put the same nose on as the Escort with its fuller plastic bumpers
warren t claim Posted July 25, 2011 Author Posted July 25, 2011 I think the MK1 Ford Orion with its distinctive front grill was a lovelly looking car,but they spoiled them in about 1985/6 when they put the same nose on as the Escort with its fuller plastic bumpersThe early Onion Ghia Injection drove differently from an XR3i due to taller tyres and slightly softer suspension. A better car imho.
Timewaster Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 I always liked these:But the 1980s car buying public didn't seem to share my enthusiasm
dollywobbler Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 I think the Renault 19 Chamade was a success. Certainly more so than the Megane saloon... I always quite liked the Nova saloon, but I reckon the Skoda Fabia saloon is absolutely first-class revolting. Best hatch-to-saloon change I reckon is the Ford Sierra Sapphire. These have always been spot on. Works in just the way that the Granada saloon never did. By the way - perhaps this thread should have been titled Putting the boot in...
Timewaster Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 By the way - perhaps this thread should have been titled Putting the boot in... Or The last chance saloon? +1 on the Fabia. Hatch is neat, Saloon is super mega fuggly - by christ its fuckin ugly!
chaseracer Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 Given the development costs and the level of sales, you'd have thought that this... ...would have provided the rear lights for this... Apparently not...
dollywobbler Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 Or The last chance saloon?Like it. +1 on the Fabia. Hatch is neat, Saloon is super mega fuggly - by christ its fuckin ugly! Weird thing is, it just gets uglier and uglier the longer you stare at it. I'm surprised they sold any at all.
Guest Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 Going older car wise - the mk1 Renault 5 was greatButOh.
Albert Ross Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 Here's one we never got.Buick Sail/Chevrolet Classic. Brazilian GM product. Definitely not one for golf clubs. They are doing one based on the current Corsa too! Also, both available in Estate form....!! (Both above images are from China bizarrely.....Wonder if they get the old South American rammel?)
MK5 Escort Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 I always liked the look of the original Megane saloon. Something about it was just 'right' and 'smooth' about it. Sadly, it was uglified a bit in the 1999 revision. Corsa saloon? Seen a few of them pictured here over the years. Yes, please! Indeed, sticking with Renault, the 19 Chamade was a cracker. I’ve always fancied one of them. I thought the third generation Orion, based on the MK5 Escort was also a pretty, neat little saloon. Considerably better than the original saloon Focus ('The Wedge'). Yes, the Sierra Sapphire was also an excellent 'conversion' to saloon also in my opinion. What about the Suzuki Liana? I prefer the saloon over the confused hatchback-cum-estate version.
r.welfare Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 I saw an Oirish-registered Renault Fluence (aka new Megane saloon) on the M27 today - looked quite good. We've also been denied the Fiat Linea, a Grande Punto saloon. Saw one in Portugal a couple of years ago and thought, hmm, looks quite resolved. Just read up that it's 15ft long though - that's a mighty stretch of a supermini platform. For low-buck unloved saloon VALU, this jumped out at me yesterday when I was casually browsing eBay Motors with the keywords "1 owner": http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2003-Vauxhall-Opel-Astra-1-6i-Club-A-C-1-Owner-/250854585406 Apparently Opel did do a Mk5 Astra saloon for other markets: I always thought the Mk1 Focus saloon looked bloody horrid, but the Mk2 version was the best-styled of the body types available. The Mk3 has a look of mini-Mondeo about it.
Morgan84 Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 I always liked these:But the 1980s car buying public didn't seem to share my enthusiasm My mother had a new white Volvo 340 1.7 GL saloon in 1987 with optional rubber boot spoiler and lower body decal styling in blue to match the blue interior
eddyramrod Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 Goodness, this is Autoshite and nobody's yet mentioned this!How on earth did that happen?I think this design worked extremely well; both saloon and estate were much more handsome than the dumpy hatchback.
Morgan84 Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 I think the 400 saloon in both mk1 and mk2 forms were very desirable looking cars.Looking back,the Rover 200/400 'XW' series was a very well adapted car 3 door hatch5 door hatchCoupeCabrioletSaloon ( 400 )Tourer (400 ) All that was missing was a van !
Luxobarges_Are_Us Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 In my Asian thread, I'd posted a pic of a ZX saloon which IMO looked quite alright, but has only ever been sold in China.
eddyramrod Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 Ooh, a van, yes please! Like the Lada Riva, perhaps, an estate panelled-in, complete with original rear doors? Count me in!
Morgan84 Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 Going older car wise - the mk1 Renault 5 was greatButOh. That red ( once) MK1 looks like a Auto with its vinyl top,and deeper front bumper,plus its on the 'posher' wheels as well. I had a lovely MK1 automatic in metallic blue as a car to drive in a farmers field when i was about 14 - immaculate appart from a engine with circulation problems after the owner drove it minus a fan belt until it stopped in a cloud of steam !
Timewaster Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 I think the 400 saloon in both mk1 and mk2 forms were very desirable looking cars. Really?Looks ugly to me. I'm loving this thread, have some REAL shite:
Luxobarges_Are_Us Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 Useless fact of the day: The Greek importer of SEAT decided that Malaga sounds suspiciously similar to the Greek word for 'wanker' and promptly renamed the model to the even shiter 'GREDOS'.
Morgan84 Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 How have we forgotten this?! Pity I didn't photo the 7156 miles Solara GLS we had,I'm sure that would have ranked highly being brown over gold !
Timewaster Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 Useless fact of the day: The Greek importer of SEAT decided that Malaga sounds suspiciously similar to the Greek word for 'wanker' and promptly renamed the model to the even shiter 'GREDOS'. True. My mates cousin is a Greek. Everyone calls him Malaka.
eddyramrod Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 Useless fact of the day: The Greek importer of SEAT decided that Malaga sounds suspiciously similar to the Greek word for 'wanker' and promptly renamed the model to the even shiter 'GREDOS'. True. My mates cousin is a Greek. Everyone calls him Malaka. I don't think I've detected that word in conversations that have gone on around me here... not yet anyway... I hope!
Luxobarges_Are_Us Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 Useless fact of the day: The Greek importer of SEAT decided that Malaga sounds suspiciously similar to the Greek word for 'wanker' and promptly renamed the model to the even shiter 'GREDOS'. True. My mates cousin is a Greek. Everyone calls him Malaka. I don't think I've detected that word in conversations that have gone on around me here... not yet anyway... I hope! Nowadays it's become more a term of endearment than a swearword...particularly interesting when used as a pronoun in conversation between two girls!
Polystratus Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 Weird thing is, it just gets uglier and uglier the longer you stare at it. I'm surprised they sold any at all. Think it was more for the European market than the UK, think I've seen two so far on the roads, and one of those was Polish.
M'coli Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 I've always thought these looked better than the hatch, but worse than the estate:
Morgan84 Posted July 25, 2011 Posted July 25, 2011 http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://z.about.com/d/cars/1/0/o/l/Ford_Ikon.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.oldskoolford.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php%3Ff%3D64%26t%3D105676&h=960&w=1280&sz=227&tbnid=ATumV5KS8hfG6M:&tbnh=97&tbnw=129&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dfiesta%2Bsaloon%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=fiesta+saloon&docid=sBoCokVnp5NRTM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dtAtTsKCIIe6hAei-r2qCw&sqi=2&ved=0CDMQ9QEwBQWhat about the Ford Ikon - MK4 and 5 booted Fiesta's
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