Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Drove a 1l Yaris to the south of France loads, just meant we took a bit more time on the journey.

What make & model is this car?

1 Attachment

fiat / lada ?

i'm sure james may did a programme which included these, " cars of the people " ? , one of the biggest selling cars of all time, socialist affordable car made in italy for the masses, then the patents were handed out to eastern europe and a few car companies made their own version

i could well be wrong though

Lada Vaz 2101

Lada Vaz 2101

Thanks!

Searched the make model and found this on wiki

The lightweight Italian Fiat 124, which had won the 1967 European Car of the Year,[2] was adapted in order to survive treacherous Russian driving conditions. Among many changes, aluminium brake drums were added to the rear, and the original Fiat engine was dropped in favour of a newer design made by NAMI. This new engine had a modern overhead camshaft design but was never used in Fiat cars. The suspension was raised to clear rough Russian roads and the bodyshell was made from thicker, heavier steel. The first Lada models were equipped with a starting handle in case the battery went flat in Siberian conditions, though this was later dropped. Another feature specifically intended to help out in cold conditions was a manual auxiliary fuel pump.

I'm not a fan of MGB lines, but that colour really makes the car more than an MGB IMO.

Wasn't just lada that had the design. The factory was built along with in a new town named after the then leader of the Italian Communist party.
/CS comrade/ There were Seat in spain too, bulgaria, and even Korea.

My mum used to have a Jazz.

I never drove it as far as the south of France, but I did Devon - Sussex - Cardiff - Birmingham - Sussex in it in a couple of days and it was comfortable and quite nippy for an under powered little town run around.

However, the chief thing with it was the amount of space in there. I did 4 hours sat in the back once, at 6 foot tall, with plenty of room. And the boot had room for my parents Flatcoated Retriever (Roughly 50 kilos of dog). You can get 3 bikes and 3 people in but then it gets really sluggish.

She now has a 1.4 TSI Mk7 Golf. Much better on the move, less practical inside. Still able to carry a big dog.

TL:DR - They aren't as bad as all that. Very practical. Would prefer big autobahn sled for France trip. Civic/Focus/Golf/Leon/A3 would all be better.

Have to agree with @BunninZootius , the Jazz is incredibly well packaged and surprisingly spacious and comfortable inside given it's footprint. I'd definitely not rule it out without driving one. They do a 130hp 1.5 model as well that should be nippy enough for most things whilst still being economical and cheap to run.

You can fit a k20 engine into the engine bay of a jazz... 10/10 would drive

1 Attachment

Minimum acceptable size of engine for a passenger car is 3 litres (may be smaller with forced induction).

Sounds liek u gonna save the planet on yo own.

How small is acceptable? 1.6t?

Good day on YouTube - MCM 240z first drive, new Gordon Murray Escort episode, new Skid Factory and best of all, new Project Binky. Wish my wife was going out.

How small is acceptable? 1.6t?

It's always hard to specify the swept volume of a rotary I find - Norton famously had an ongoing argument about their speed triple on that very subject.

speed triple is a different bike to the twin wankel.

Who you calling a wankel?

A felix wankel.

Cheers. TBH France driving trips might not be as common as I imagine when it's usually cheaper to fly and rent for <1wk... and in the real world you have limited annual leave.

The thing I worry about with a focus is the age of the ones I'm looking at. I know parts and repair are cheap, but it's still a Ford and I'd feel more comfortable with an older Jap car.

I'm still on the lookout for a 1.4tsi Golf in budget (£3-5k - ideally £3,500), but you just get more for your money with a Toyota / Honda. Plus it will likely be trashed and run into the ground and hopefully replaced by something nicer in time.

I do really like the A3 sportsback. They feel so clean and solid, but am equally put off by a things such as the ride, quality control, and weight/need for a big engine.

@ricky2slicky

130hp 1.5 model

I'm not sure there was a UK version until quite recently, but I`ll have a look.

The new ones are probably the most common hatch in NYC which surprised me (although I probably see more F150/250's a day than the total number of Fit/Jazz in a year).

That answers your question - get an effy.

boo! this makes me a bit sad

Thats' your car, or it's twin?

Yeah I hadn’t seen a racer in that colour before

Just looked it up. It’s been around for ages.

Good thing is that we are not going to be too far off the value of that in build costs. Not counting the duff car we started with.

So Disco engine is seized... 25,000km after a rebuild :(

Think it's time for a big diesel estate and buy a Series II/III for recreational Landying.