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

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/truck-details/202206297271279

Something in me wants this.

They won't tell you anything.

@Dammit

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/truck-detai­ls/202206297271279

Makes sense.

I guess also these things change. When I was younger 2nd hand cars were no were near as cheap as they were a few years ago - price for price, let alone from a purchasing power perspective.

It's also worth noting that the Great English Britain has historically had one of, if not the, cheapest second-hand car markets in the world, due in no small part to right-hand-drive and a rabid new-car culture.

After the USSR folded, my grandad spent years coming to visit us in London from Kyiv, buying relatively dirt-cheap cars, sometimes converting them to LHD himself with scrap parts, then driving them back to Ukraine and selling for multiple times the purchase cost. It was the only work available to him during this time, and he earned handsomely.

My mum's also always had a taste for tangy motors, and ran a 1986 Toyota Celica Supra with a 2.8 litre straight-six that she bought in 1997 for £1000.

I sold my 05 plate Astra with 130k miles for £500 with a years MOT. It had a newish set of tyres, was mechanically and cosmetically sound, a proper service history, the only minor thing was the front callipers needed a service soon but had newish pads and discs.

Makes me laugh every time a tank of diesel costs me £100, that’s 20% of my old car!

Thanks. What EVs have you driven by comparison and what do you think sets it apart? I did test drive one and thought it was quite good.

Isuzu Vehicross anyone?

So cool, even though it probably helped popularise the SUV.

Doc Brown and his Delorean just dropped me off in a shitty looking estate in Battersea between August 1st 1980 to July 31st 1981.

That's the only explanation I have for what just happened, as there's no fucking way an OG Mini Metro is in as good a condition as this, outside in winter in 2023.

Its not often I'm stopped in my tracks by a shit car. My eye was first caught by the other car from the same year, the super cool Renault 5 Gordini, such a classy little car,which wiki tells me was the worlds first hot hatch as it was released before the OG Golf GTi.

But I couldn't help just staring at the Metro too, holy shit I don't think even new ones at the dealership back then looked as clean as this, I thought they'd all rusted to nothing. A proper time capsule.

Great scott(spot)!

My mum had a lovely little Vanden Plas auto four door with velour interior and walnut dash. Loved that crazy little thing.

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Renault 5 Gordini, such a classy little car,which wiki tells me was the worlds first hot hatch as it was released before the OG Golf GTi.

Kinda. The Gordini was the UK version and didn’t arrive until after the Golf, but the French version, the Alpine, was before the Golf.

The Autobianchi Abarth predates them both by 5 years tho.

Haha, get her, the flash cow :)

What really strikes me when I see these old cars compared to modern ones, is look how bloody amazing the visibility is on both of them. I know its all safety and crash protection yadda yadda, but it genuinely seems now the cramped modern shit visibility car cabins are probably causing more crashes. If you drive a Metro you know you were the crumple zones and that hitting anything bigger than a cat was probably death.

Ah cool, completely didn't think of the Italians

Abarth

Was that a production car?

A mate had a 5 door one as his first car. Definitely the ropiests of all the first cars mates had.

Haha yes I just sent the pic to a few of my old school mates who have still not been allowed to live down their youthful car choices 40+ years later.

Yep. Part of the normal lineup afaik.

Spiritually the Mini Cooper was maybe the beginning of hotted up normal little cars but Minis don’t have a hatch so it probably doesn’t strictly count as a hot hatch.

Spotted in local Sainsbury's car park;
destined to be a victim of ULEZ.
Makes the parking space look absurdly generous.

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Someone mentioned Abarth a few posts up.

Reminded me that I was thinking about getting a Fiat 500 Abarth as a fun machine.

Done the modded 400 BHP Impreza stuff in the past but was thinking of something smallish and sprightly from the factory. There's a 500 Tourismo up the road with 37,000 on the clock which looks smart in Bright red.

Are 500 Arbath frail and monetpits like the Lotus' of old.?

Didn't Hoops have one (or still got one)?

Not sure if I'm happy or sad that this popped up in my 'local classifieds' algorytm. It's quite confronting that this is lightyears above my paycheck.

BMW M1 E26 | Inka Orange |Collectorsitem | 1978
€ 699.988,00
https://link.marktplaats.nl/m1922639303

Any idea why the fuse for 12v cigarette lighter has blown twice in as many months? We only use it for dashcam which is only plugged in when driving, which has been fine for the past 2 years. 🤔

Now that's a proper BMW designed by an Italian...

None of this modern colour changing dross.

https://twitter.com/NTFTWT/status/1610876401963376640?t=PMlEZyXV6xBn-tPThuwNLA&s=19

😁

Is there a forum approved dash cam? One too many near misses with lunatics lately.