It seems the number of cars from the 80s being driven in the UK today is dwindling, while classic cars from the 60s and 70s still appear to be popular.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22525103
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I can't watch the report at the moment, but reading the blurb under it I'd have to ask: in what way is a Cortina a car of the 1980s, other than it's production ended very early on in the decade? Shirley it's a car of the 60s and 70s.
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>> in what way is a Cortina a car of the 1980s,
It's not.
>> other than it's production ended very early on in the decade? Shirley it's a car of the 60s and 70s.
The report says while the Cortina of the 60's & 70's is still loved. it's 80's replacement, the Sierra, isn't.
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>> The report says while the Cortina of the 60's & 70's is still loved. it's
>> 80's replacement, the Sierra, isn't.
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It will be.. when the majority have rusted away.
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So from last week then :o)
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Perhaps it's because the generation who were children in the 80s (I was a teenager, so almost count), haven't matured sufficiently yet to enter the realm of being able to afford and have the space to preserve the cars of their childhood. I recently had a try with my Volvo 360, but I didn't get enough out of the experience to keep the car long term.
If I was ever going to do it again, I think it would have to be an Alfasud (and that's a 70s car really). But lots of 80s cars appeal to me.
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There are few mainstream cars of the true 80s worthy of comment. A lot of uninspiring trash was turned out.
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Hmm nice 80s cars... forgetting the real exotica there were still a few...
Alfasud Ti & Alfa GTV
Audi 80GT & Quattro Coupe
BMW 325
Citroen BX GTi 16v
Fiat X1/9
Ford Capri 280 & Sierra Cosworth
Peugeot 205GTi
Renault 5 Turbo
Saab 99/900 Turbo
Lotus Carlton
Golf II GTi
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There are some older cars ( often Volvos most visibly to me anyway ) which seem to be able to function perfectly well as everyday cars despite their age being measureable in decades rather than years.
I'm moved to wonder what of today's models might survive as well? Hypothetically, if someone was inclined for whatever reason, to buy a currently new car and to aspire to keep it as their daily driver indefinitely, I wonder what would be the car, or make or general type most likely to achieve that goal?
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>> I'm moved to wonder what of today's models might survive as well?
I've selected my two: Toyota Landcruiser and Mazda MX-5.
I suspect the landcruiser will eventually die of an electrical system mishap which makes it uneconomical to repair. Most MX-5s seem to eventually die of rust, so I've had mine treated.
I'm not expecting the wife's Honda Jazz to fare nearly as well as my two.
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None of them are "mainstream" and the golf 2 was a backwards step.
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>>>None of them are "mainstream" and the golf 2 was a backwards step.
Wasn't thinking mainstream... just 80s cars I think I'd be happy to have about now. To be honest I never really think mainstream cars are up much as classics anyway. You need that bit extra to make them worth the trouble.
I was never on the Golf Mk.1 good, Mk.2 bad bandwagon. Cousin has a low miles met racing green Mk.2 GTi and it's still a very credible car that I'd happily drive.
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I had 2 Mk2 Golf Gtis. they may have been backward but they were pretty damn good at going forwards too.
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>> I was never on the Golf Mk.1 good, Mk.2 bad bandwagon. Cousin has a low
>> miles met racing green Mk.2 GTi and it's still a very credible car that I'd
>> happily drive.
Oh it is no doubt about that, its not a bad car. But it was a backwards step from the Mk 1 (despite its terrible brakes)
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Gawd yes, I'd forgotten about the brakes on the mark 1. I seem to recall the servo et al was on the left hooker side and the rhd pedal joined to it by a steel rod across the bulkhead. Mickey Mouse or what!
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the reason why the servo was to the left was that vw didn't engineer for the steering wheel to be on the right side
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Don't most European cars have a similar arrangement? Pretty sure every car I have looked at the servo has been on the left.
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>> .....recall the servo et al was on the left hooker side and the rhd pedal joined to it by a
>> steel rod across the bulkhead. Mickey Mouse or what!
While not commenting on the brakes of the Golf in question, I'd have to say leaving the servo where it was designed to be is (IMHO) a good idea: LHD designs being a bit full on the side you might want to put the servo on a RHD car.
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I was born in 1982 so I remember 80's cars fondly. I remember the excitement when my friends dad got a brand new company car, a 1990 G Seirra. We only had two 80's cars and they were both Ladas.
My late grandad only passed his test in the mid 70's so he had lots of the 80's classics. He had quite a few Montegos and a Y reg Meastro for about three weeks as a temp car. It was an HLS and would be worth a fair bit now.
I think in some ways the Cortina can be classed almost as 80's, in a way the Sierra can be a 90's cars. When I think back to the early 80's, it is images of Ford Cortinas that come to mind, even though they stopped making them in 1982.
I think the Montego is quite under rated today, it is seen as a badly built rust buckets, but they had some good engines and they were spacious and comfortable.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Tue 14 May 13 at 17:18
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Almost on 13,000 miles now. Just over three years old now. Been a brilliant little car, apart from it needing new brake pads at 12,500 miles. I suppose the travelling from Chorlton to Ardwick every day has caused that! (mostly innercity).
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did you replace the front ones or did you change both front and rear?
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>> Almost on 13,000 miles now. Just over three years old now. Been a brilliant little
>> car, apart from it needing new brake pads at 12,500 miles.
Are you sure they were necessary - my FWD turbocharged Audi, not renowned for being a light car, managed 50k miles on its front pads. And I'd lay money on me being a quicker driver than you :-)
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I got the MOT from an MOT only place (the one Ted uses), it passed the MOT without any issue. I then took it to the main dealer, they told me the pads were 90% worn and wanted £160 for them. I told them in a nice way to stick up their fat **********************.
Anyway to the local back street place, he is a guy I trust and he told me they were worn. He said it is not unusual on smaller cars, his needed doing at 16,000 he told me (he has a C1).
I suspect it is because that 12,000 is more less exclusively local congested inner city roads. I use the car for around 90 minutes a day yet do little mileage, so you can see from that a lot of it is stuck in traffic.
Since replacing the brakes I have been staying in 3rd a lot more though, to let the engine do more of the breaking.
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>> Anyway to the local back street place, he is a guy I trust and he
>> told me they were worn. He said it is not unusual on smaller cars, his
>> needed doing at 16,000 he told me (he has a C1).
Our firm's small cars...Fiestas mostly, have all needed pads at around 15K. Again, mostly city use. Multiple drivers, as well.
As an aside, one of the 3 year old Fiestas was wrecked the night before last.....Man United parade passed within 20 feet of where it lives and it was used as a viewing area bu numerous ' fans ' The 62 Zafira with it suffered the same fate, the roofs and bonnets of both cars badly deformed and mirrors, wipers, etc removed. Both cars ' de-fleeted ' and taken off the road.
I had the Fiesta booked for it's first MOT tomorrow........doing it's replacement Corsa now.
Thanks a bunch, lads !
Ted
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For me the Cavalier (FWD) epitomises the 80s far more than the Cortina which to me, a child of the 70s, is definitely a 70s car!
The 205 GTI is definitely up there - I have fond memories if mine - and I think the E30 BMW also kick-started the 'premiumisation' of the mass market and so is classic 80s. Then there's the Porsche 911 Turbo! Mind you, the 924 (70s ?) might have also been the start of the relentless quest for volume from the Germans...
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>>I think the Montego is quite under rated today,
, but they had some good engines
1.4 tended to go backwards up hills
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>> I think the Montego is quite under rated today, it is seen as a badly
>> built rust buckets, but they had some good engines and they were spacious and comfortable.
>>
Funnily enough I saw a late reg Montego estate today. How it had an MOT I will never know - more rust than metal!
I remember going to the British Grand Prix with a mate driving an early Maestro (whatever year it was that they were released). Our verdict was that it was nice, spacious and bright inside (massive glass area). It drove well too, but the quality was a bit below par, even in those days.
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Was there ever a 1.4 Montego, MM? I remember the range (and we had Maestros in the family) as 1.3-1.6-2.0.
Can't face checking through but has anyone mentioned the Escort XR3? Or the Peugeot 405?
I suspect what's happening here is that 80s cars are still too recent and too (relatively) numerous to be much more than junk to most people, as 70s cars would have been a decade (and perhaps a half to allow for inferior rustproofing) ago. And no-one gives 90s cars a thought - yet.
Recent 80s spots round here are a black Alfasud Sprint Veloce and a Volvo 240 saloon in Appalling Beige. So awful, I wonder if had been applied on purpose for ironic effect.
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Next door has an immaculate - and I mean it - 1987 Mercedes 300SE in blue.. It was rusty when he started to spend on it...looks better than new.
He's building his drive so it lives in our yard :-)
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>> Recent 80s spots round here are a black Alfasud Sprint Veloce.
I had one as my first car, quite a good introduction to the joys of rust and non functioning electrics, to the point of having to go outside in the pouring rain and twiddle fuses to make the headlights come back on. Strange driving position that made my ankle ache on long journeys.
Great boxer engine that revved to the sky though, and very good handling. Pretty shape too.
The one you saw must have been either religiously rustproofed or restored. They were made from recycled steel that was rusting before it left the factory in Naples.
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The one you saw must have been either religiously rustproofed or restored.
Quite possibly, Corax. It passed across a roundabout in front of me, so I only glimpsed it for a second or two, but something about the black paint didn't look quite natural to me. But it was moving, which is more than most of its stablemates from that era can manage.
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but has anyone mentioned the Escort XR3?
I had a rather second hand XR3i of the very first incarnation. Go cart like steering and the first car I owned that could get round almost anything without skidding.
Dreadful oil level checker, hopelessly optimistic speedo and sold because I was fed up with being treated as a boy racer by other motorists.
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>> Funnily enough I saw a late reg Montego estate today.
>>
As did I yesterday, although not so late reg (it was D). By coincidence, at the same junction there was also a C reg Vauxhall Nova. Both red, both in shed condition. Also, a boggo gold coloured Maestro in another street round the corner.
There are two Volvo 360s in daily use on my manor, one (a G reg) is used by a local window cleaner, ladders on and all. The other is a D reg. Sadly, the Y reg example I used to see every day in the mornings seems to have gone for a burton. There is also a silver (F reg I think) Volvo 240 estate in daily use, which lives in an enormous house in the second most prestigious street in town.
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>> I think the Montego is quite under rated today, it is seen as a badly
>> built rust buckets, but they had some good engines and they were spacious and comfortable.
>>
The diesel Montego was a decent car in its day.
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The only reason for hankering after a FIAT X1/9 is if you are feeling nostalgic for the horrific Italian rotboxes of the '70s.
By 'eck do those things rot. Takes you back it does.
I came quite close to buying an early GTV a few years ago. One of Alfa's more attractive vehicles and probably the only thing made in that '70s angular "wedge" style that really worked.
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>> probably the only thing made in that '70s angular "wedge"
>> style that really worked.
>>
Sud Sprint?
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Morris Ital, Nissan Stanza&Bluebird, Alfa Arna there were some gems. No wonder we loved the understeering Mk2 Astra.
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>>>I suspect what's happening here is that 80s cars are still too recent and too (relatively) numerous to be much more than junk to most people
Much like 80s music really... and for good reason.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Tue 14 May 13 at 21:40
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Lord, the Arna was a shocker. Also sold as the Nissan Cherry Europe, which I think are actually extinct.
The local Datsun/Nissan dealer couldn't believe how bad they were. All they ever did with the Japanese ones was to fit the carpets and wheel trims, and top up the engine oil - they were shipped about half full for some reason.
When the 'Europes' arrived they suddenly had hours of rectification to do. Seats that weren't bolted down, windows that didn't open, misaligned latches.
Didn't AC have an Arna?
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Who could forget the Alfa 75. Looks like you're giving the car behind the finger just by opening the window (switch above the rear view mirror), have to change down to fourth to change a cassette and drop the gearbox in the back axle to change the reverse light switch. Makes changing a modern headlight bulb look like child's play.
Last edited by: gmac on Tue 14 May 13 at 22:09
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Was the XR 4 X 4 an 80's car? I had one second hand on a D plate which was fine...looking back through rose tinted glasses. Much better though was my B plate black Audi 80 Sport. Bought off my best mate, who in turn had bought it off his boss. I sold it after 3 years with well over 100k on the clock. That 1.8 engine, same as the Mk2 Golf GTi I think, was a cracker.
A friend of mine sold his H reg Mk2 Gti six years ago which he had from almost new. Another cracking car from the eighties. Sold privately within hours, and replaced by an A3 Tdi P reg which is just yuk, unless your only concern is good mpg. He still regrets selling the Mk2. And too cheaply, which only adds insult to injury.
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Apologies. Just noticed the post was 'unloved' 80s cars. Not 'loved' one's. Silly me.
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>> Apologies. Just noticed the post was 'unloved' 80s cars. Not 'loved' one's. Silly me.
No apology needed. That was right on topic by the prevailing standard here.
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I had a Princess, followed by an Ambassador.
The Princess was the perfect car at the time for a growing young family, although SWMBO had to send one of the kids crawling into the darker recesses of the cavernous boot to retrieve stuff she couldn't reach.
I thought the Ambassador was the natural successor - so, we all make mistakes! Although I don't think I've ever had another car that I can get a ten-and-a-half foot ladder in and still shut the tailgate.
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>> I had a Princess, followed by an Ambassador.
>>
Who remembers the Unipart Ad, that was pulled?
It included 'coil for a Princess' amongst the parts available...
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>>I had a Princess, followed by an Ambassador.
I always felt there was something different about you bathtub, but I could never quite put my finger on it, before now.
:+}
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I remember rows upon rows of 2200 Princesses on jacks in Longbridge with no front driveshafts . The front CV joints failed after 1,000 miles on auto models due to a design fault in the angle at which they operated.
Carp then.. altho very comfortable and smooth.
Has a BMW 320i - nice and smooth but oh in wet weather round corners.. lethal
As far as I am concerned they can all rust away. Oops they have...
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>>Carp then.. altho very comfortable and smooth.
Bout the only good thing in their favour really, 6 pot TC was also carp ISTR.
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>> I remember rows upon rows of 2200 Princesses on jacks in Longbridge with no front
>> driveshafts .
>>
Never touch a Princess made before the introduction of the "O" series engine. The 1.7 and 2.0 four-pot "O" engined cars are quite good. In earlier ones, the pig-iron lump is too heavy for the car and they don't go round corners.
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>>Never touch a Princess made before the introduction of the "O" series engine. The 1.7 and 2.0 four-pot "O" engined cars are quite good. In earlier ones, the pig-iron lump is too heavy for the car and they don't go round corners.
I had a 1.8 "B" series engined Princess and was amazed it could achieve 40MPG. It was also adequate at towing a 14' caravan.
The 1.7 "O" series Ambassador that replaced it, was by comparison, a slug that drank petrol and regularly warped its front discs. The massive weight increase caused by the strengthening necessary to install the hatchback was, I believe, the cause. That hatchback (the largest ever made at the time I believe) was its only redeeming feature. The "O" series had none of the flexibility of the earlier "B" and "E" series engines.
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and top up the
>> engine oil - they were shipped about half full for some reason.
>>
New Toyotas were actually delivered like this some years ago from the Derby factory, don't know if they still are.
Since at that time they had a first service and oil change at 500 miles, an employee sat down and worked out that by not filling the sump up to the mark, Toyota would save a considerable sum of money as the chances of a new car burning or leaking enough to be problematical was remote.
ISTR he got an award for it and the idea was adopted across a lot of the industry.
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Oh yes - the Alfa Arna - an Italian body with a Nissan engine. Odd combination which never sold well.
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>> Arna - an Italian body with a Nissan engine. Odd combination which never sold well.
You're on some of that hydroponic skunk again Rastaman. The Arna was a Nissan Cherry (I think it was a Cherry) body with an Alfasud front end, including the front suspension, but with Nissan trailing arm rear end.
Being assembled in Italy it was rust-prone though.
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The Arna was, I think, also known as the Nissan Cherry Europe. Included the inboard discs from the 'sud.
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While the number of cars from the 80s being driven in the UK today is dwindling, classic cars from the 60s and 70s still appear to be popular.
I think what we've shown here is that classic cars from the 80s - Golf GTI, W124 coupé, Sierra Cosworth - are still popular among those who like such things. What's 'dwindling' is the workaday dross of Metros and Bluebirds that no-one much cared about at the time either. Their equivalents from the 60s and 70s have already dwindled away, so what's left is the stuff with some enduring interest or value - although having travelled in a fair few Mk 3 Cortinas when they were current, I'm not sure they have much more than rarity value going for them now.
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was it the allegro that was supposed to be more aerodynamic and faster at going backwards??
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>> was it the allegro that was supposed to be more aerodynamic and faster at going
>> backwards??
>>
>>
I doubt it. Mind you if you jacked it up wrongly and teh front windscreen slipped out - as they did! - then yes..
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>> I doubt it.
Actually it was, but the same could be said about a lot of cars. The front of a car has air intakes for cooling which increase drag.
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I was selling Austins in the late 1960s, so I've seen and driven a fair few old dogs in my time!
Later I was working for a finance co. in the early to mid 1970s and repossessing a few equally nasty lumps.
In the the early 1980s I was selling Fords and then progressed (!) to selling Ladas and later, Protons until 1992.
I reckon I've driven every truly nasty car ever made, during those years.
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The MG Montego Turbo was a ridiculously quick car in its day. Reliable as well if the one my mate had was any indication. Capable of thoroughly embarrassing an E30 BMW 325i in a straight line.
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>> The MG Montego Turbo was a ridiculously quick car in its day. Reliable as well
>> if the one my mate had was any indication. Capable of thoroughly embarrassing an E30
>> BMW 325i in a straight line.
And capable of then torque steering you into the nearest ditch. Never was a car so inadequately capable of handling its prodigious power.
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I had the MG Montedo EFI - the talking one.
"Bing bong, all monitored systems functioning correctly".
Damn I hated that car. Like driving around with half of Hi de Hi in the dash.
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I had a white MG Maestro 1600. Red seatbelts and a naggy woman in the dash. Handled ok though. Not all that fast but ok. Didn't break or rust in the 6 months / 20k miles or so I had it. May well have done later. Never loved it but didn't hate it either.
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>> And capable of then torque steering you into the nearest ditch. Never was a car
>> so inadequately capable of handling its prodigious power.
Only the early ones. Later cars like mine were fine, in fact it was amazing at putting it's power down.
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>> torque steering you into the nearest ditch. Never was a car so inadequately capable of handling its prodigious power.
Prodigious eh... no need to exaggerate Zero. Ah, those primitive turbos... put a lot of clumsy, heavy-footed, ignorant, slow reacting drivers up trees. Must have wasted a lot of perfectly decent motors.
Worst torque steer I ever encountered was in a stark, early 4wd Nissan Patrol, 4 litre or thereabouts straight six. But I managed to drive it several hundred miles on the worst roads imaginable. A bit tiring it was, what with all the potholes and just enormous holes and every panel rattling over every bump. Jolly good fun (in retrospect). Cost a small fortune in petrol even at Nigerian prices.
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>> And capable of then torque steering you into the nearest ditch. Never was a car
>> so inadequately capable of handling its prodigious power.
>>
But it could. You just had to drive it instead of sit there and press the go pedal as with a modern car. My mate's one was an absolute scream. Flawed as hell but it was certainly possible to go very quickly in it indeed without being killed to death ;-)
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buying a car in the 80s was a bit like buying a video recorder.... sierra was the VHS of the car market... montego was the betamax ( i had the 1.6 saloon montego) the passenger door always looked a slightly different colour to the rest of the car for some reason when the light hit it in a certain way
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>>
>> >> And capable of then torque steering you into the nearest ditch. Never was a
>> car
>> >> so inadequately capable of handling its prodigious power.
>> >>
>>
>> But it could. You just had to drive it instead of sit there and press
>> the go pedal as with a modern car. My mate's one was an absolute scream.
>> Flawed as hell but it was certainly possible to go very quickly in it indeed
>> without being killed to death ;-)
As long as you knew that turbo was going to come in with a bang and propel you at a rate of knots in what ever direction the wheels were facing at the time.
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>> As long as you knew that turbo was going to come in with a bang
>> and propel you at a rate of knots in what ever direction the wheels were
>> facing at the time.
>>
The main reason the Japanese experiment with turbo charged motorcycles was very shot lived.
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Old-school turbo power was great fun. When that rush came in it felt so exciting. Turbo lag, like torque steer is no problem if you adapt your driving style to suit.
All cars nowadays behave with the same, crushing(ly dull) competence. Back then you could tell what you were in just by the different sounds, behaviour and feel. Ah yes, that's gone now as well. New cars will of course run rings round old ones and simply drive around corners at speeds that would have old ones slithering off into a hedge. But I do miss having to drive a car rather than just steer it.
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>> Old-school turbo power was great fun. When that rush came in it felt so exciting.
>> Turbo lag, like torque steer is no problem if you adapt your driving style to
>> suit.
I drove to Scotland in my Montego Turbo, around 550 miles. It was comfortable and took it in it's stride. It snowed heavily the day before I came back, but luckily (or maybe not, as I would have liked to have been stuck there for a few more days), the roads were OK as they had been cleared. The car took that in it's stride too, rather better than me. It wasn't the slight slides around fast flowing corners that were a problem - I had to drive down the A82 to Glasgow with the sun in my eyes, and reflecting off the snow.
I was knackered at the end of that journey, but it was an epic one. Going up motorway inclines with your foot down was like being tied to a big elastic band :)
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There is plenty stored in farms and barns some nice examples above.
The montego / maestro / metro yuk awfull cars metric tyre sizes apart from maestro complete utter pants.
Some nice RS examples were made thanks to Ford.
And vauxhall SRI examples
Vw GTI's lots of golfs about, where do they get there relaible information from!!
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Unloved 80's cars - Alanovich
