Stuff we've seen on the road

[3cav3]

Even if it wants a fortune spent on it then financially it'll probably be worth it. Can't believe what old fords seem to be going for, particularly when compared to our Vauxhall's. Since I've owned my Cav it only seems to of gone up a few hundred pounds, yet fords have gone up thousands.

[ilovedmymantas]

Maybe because they disintegrate faster making them rarer

[Robsey]

I am not to sure that Cavaliers are lagging too far behind on prices.

Five years ago, I could easily pick up a LS or GLS for under £200. (And I do not mesn a wreck).
Today on ebay, most Cavaliers are £800+

The high value vehicles are your sports models in good to excellent condition.
(SRi, GSi and Turbo).

Same with Fords. It is mainly your mk1 / mk2 Escort Mexico, XR2, XR3, RS Turbo, RS1800 Mk2 and Cosworths, XR4X4 etc...

But there is a lot of truth in the very poor anti-corrosion treatment (if any) applied at the Ford factories.

Although - all that said, my mk2 Cavalier saloon base model rusted very badly...

[ilovedmymantas]

Does anyone remember the Daihatsu applause 1.6glxi ?

Me neither. Looks ok though

[Robsey]

Looks a bit like an American model judging by the shape of the headlight and tail light assemblies.

Nope I don't really remember the applause.
Upon reflection, looks like an early Audi crossed with an Astra-F.

Vaguely remember the Charade from that era though.

[James McGrath]

Never seen one of those before, nice find.
It's amazing how rare cars like this are now.
Most every day family cars from the 90s are less common than the Ferraris and Astons of the same era.

[Robsey]

Indeed, not much stuff around with the old style number plates in my area.

There is a T reg Rover 618 in British racing green and an X reg Citroen Xantia estate in Maroon on the next road over from me,

But nothing any older within my local area... apart from my car.

[James McGrath]

I see the odd P or R plate here and there, rarely anything older.

There was a nice old red E30 BMW 318i estate near me (I thought it was on an N plate but looking at Wikipedia the E30 was only made up until 1994 so I'm probably remembering wrong there )
Anyway, it had been in the village for as long as I can remember.
It had faded to pink long ago, then about a month ago it was polished back to bright red, looked great.
Unfortunately it has now disappeared and a boring mid-2000s 3 series estate in grey has taken its place.
I'm guessing they just cleaned it up to sell it.

Other than that, there is a family near where my parents live that have three Renault 5s.
Think the oldest is on a H plate and the newest on an N.

[3cav3]

It seems that an awful lot of 1980's and 90's cars were lost to the scrappage scheme. I always think that a scrappage scheme is a crazy idea, the amount of pollution that something that has already been made puts out in years is surely less than the pollution it takes to make a new car? Surely it's better to use something that has got life left in it rather than just replace it.

[Robsey]

Here is a strange one.

Parked almost next to my car this afternoon.



Any ideas.?
A clue is that it is a Jap import with doors that open upwards and forwards.

Only the second that I have ever seen.
Manufactured in 1990 (G reg),
Registered in the UK in 2000.
And has a 1500cc engine.


Can't say that it is my thing, but the colour sure caught my eye - lol

[Robsey]

Ooh no takers?

It is a 1990 Japanese spec, Toyota Sera 1500.

Imported and registered in the UK in 2000.
(Grey import).

When I first saw it from the front, I thought it was a badly chavved up Calibra., but as I got closer...

[3cav3]

Looks a bit like a tigra with a calibra front wing.

[Robsey]

Looks a bit like a tigra with a calibra front wing.

Now you mention it.
I totally agree.
Tigra-ish with calibra head lamps and bumper / wings.

[Robsey]

And the winner of the ugliest heap of $#!/ award goes to this G reg white Nissan-S Cargo.



That is what the DVLA will tell you, however it is vinyl wrapped in a peculiar purple metallic finish.

Outside one of my local Lidl supermarkets.

[Cavalier342]

Funny enough I saw a red Calibra earlier today on my usual shopping trip on foot, can't recall if it's a Turbo or not but had a loud twin exhaust, not chavved up, just nicely modified, loud as hell. Think I've seen it around for a few years but can't remember the license plate exactly. Nice to see, especially with all this dull ugly boring European shit that clogs up the roads these days.

[Robsey]

[ with all this dull ugly boring European $#!/ that clogs up the roads these days.[/quote]

Sadly the Japanese / Korean manufacturers are just as guilty at times.
Nissan Note, KiaSoul, Nissan Cube...
the list goes on.
Even Vauxhall make mistakes...
Meriva (pre-facelift), Agila (all of them) have been beaten hard with an 'ugly stick'.

And should I say it?... our Vectra-C is a tad bland.
Just like the early Zafiras and Corsas.

[3cav3]

I suppose though you have to remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I remember years ago that I always used to think the cirtreon BX estate was one of the ugliest cars ever made, but I found myself needing a cheap diesel estate car years ago so when offered one for £400 with a full mot I bought it and ran it until it eventually fell to pieces( most of that was caused by working it to hard by myself and previous owners).
Over time it's quirky looks grew on me and I would love to have another if I ever managed to turn up a good example. But space might be the limiting factor as I've already got 5 cars on my drive.

[Cavalier342]

The BXs look alright, instantly recognisable shape. Still see a couple every now and then on the roads. I like the square tail lights on them.

[James McGrath]

I like the BX. It has very clean, sharp lines that really stand out today.

I very rarely see them though, I hardly ever see any XMs or Xantias let alone BXs.

[James McGrath]

There was a nice old red E30 BMW 318i estate near me (I thought it was on an N plate but looking at Wikipedia the E30 was only made up until 1994 so I'm probably remembering wrong there )
Anyway, it had been in the village for as long as I can remember.
It had faded to pink long ago, then about a month ago it was polished back to bright red, looked great.
Unfortunately it has now disappeared and a boring mid-2000s 3 series estate in grey has taken its place.
I'm guessing they just cleaned it up to sell it.

I found it!

It was parked off the beaten track on the outskirts of Robertsbridge.
Spotted during a long walk:






It's a 320i, on an H plate. Funny how the memory cheats.

[3cav3]

I like the BX. It has very clean, sharp lines that really stand out today.

I very rarely see them though, I hardly ever see any XMs or Xantias let alone BXs.

Always liked the look of xantias, apparently they were not very safe in a crash though. I guess you're right, they've also gone very rare.

[Robsey]

There is a Xantia estate (X reg) near me.
Absolute mint condition.

The chap used to have a much nicer black Xantier 2 litre diesel hatchback (N reg).
But I have not seen that for months.

He also briefly had a mid 70s DS -
a car I fancied as a very young teenager.
I always did like quirky.

I presume he has a lock-up somewhere full of Citroens. His wife has a crappy C1.

[Cavalier342]

I wanted to buy an XM some years ago just due to their sheer massive size and unique shape. Finding one for sale was always a challenge.

[Robsey]

There are quite a few around.

Check out this website.
https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/list/15/xm/

[Robsey]

Today we spent the afternoon in Barmouth.
A three hour, 118 mile road trip to the seaside.

One of the wife's childhood holiday destinations.



Just before making our way back home, we saw this behind the leisure centre cafe.





Chevrolet Camero apparently.