Fantasy Garage

Any other cars out there to rival the Allegro and Marina/Ital as being truly the worst???

Mike

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Originally posted by MichaelC:
Any other cars out there to rival the Allegro and Marina/Ital as being truly the worst???

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Austin Princess/Ambassador: I drove one of those for a while - terrible gearbox

Fiat Panda (the original one): wife had one - what a rustbucket and the seats! Great fuel economy though.

Metro: *shudder* - awful, just awful.

Maestro GT (the original carb on): I quite liked the Maestro (I had a 1.3HLE for a couple of years) but the first sporty one was terrible and had loads of carburation problems.

Polski-Fiat: Awful

And my new vote for worst car ever:

Lada Riva: We did PDi's (at my uncles garage where I worked in the summer) for the local dealer and they were really really bad. Perhaps the worst handling car I'd ever driven - worse even that the Allegro. I think I'd blanked these from my memory because the Allegro, while bad, was nowhere near as bad overall as these.

With regard to current pump prices my choice
would be any new model fitted as standard with all those gizzmos that are advertised that guarantee to save you 10% on your fuel bills with enough of them fitted I could drive around all day and have the surplus fuel spilling out of the tank.
Or have I the wrong idea about this thread?
oldie.

Surely the Lada Riva was one of those cars that was just so lumpy it was almost cool. I could see a grungy student in a Lada and getting away with it, but not an All-agro.
I had a boss who bought a new Princess. Boy did we rip the piss out of him for years.
I wonder who designed the look of the rear end?

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Originally posted by Rasher:
Surely the Lada Riva was one of those cars that was just so lumpy it was almost cool. I could see a grungy student in a Lada and getting away with it, but not an All-agro.

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Have you ever driven a Lada Riva though? They are really, really bad.

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I had a boss who bought a new Princess. Boy did we rip the piss out of him for years.
I wonder who designed the look of the rear end?

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I think it was supposed to be a hatchback but they bottled out.

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Originally posted by oldie:
Or have I the wrong idea about this thread?

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Would you get a GPS based speed limiter fitted as well so that you'd never exceed the speed limit and therefore always be "safe"?

Stevie Dempster, I am shocked and stunned that an MGBGT is not on your list!

ricolist:

1. Porsche 993 Carrera 2S, although unlike Steve's mine would have to be white. Okay, maybe pearlescent white.

2. Muscle car: 1973 Plymouth Roadrunner, or a 1969 Chevelle SS, or best, a 1975 XB Ford Falcon 351GT Coupe - it would have to be either sky blue (or was that only a 1976 colour?), or canary yellow.

3. BMW e30 M3 evo - just for fun.

4. Toyota Landcruiser. Maybe a rangerover, but I'd need to be convinced.

5. A big-arsed comfy car for 5 or 6 for long drives with friends or family - Merc S500? Bentley?

Anyone ever seen that MTV show "pimp my ride"? That 1978 Caddy was a hoot.

And oh damn, there's no room in my garage for a Datsun 1200SSS, or a 32 Ford Highboy roadster chopped and chanelled, with a big block, dump tubes, and a C6.
What about a 240Z? A Mk2 escort RS2000 and matching Mk3 capri 3 litre (for those bodie and doyle days), RX7 rotisserie (or hey what about an RX2 - maybe dump in a 20B rotary for hoots, and give it brakes and handling to match?), Alfa Romeo Spyder, or Fiat 124 spyder. Holden Maloo, or a Ford Lightning? 1984 Chevvy Suburban with big block and 22" rims? Lamo Miura SV? 1967 Mustang GT390 Fastback? Oh dear the list goes on.

Rico - SM/Mullet Audio

PS - what about an Alfa Romeo Montreal? Or for something outrageous, Citroen SM? Mercedes 600pullman? a 1977 Merc 450SEL6.9?

[This message was edited by Rico on Thu 27 May 2004 at 13:10.]

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Originally posted by Rico:
Stevie Dempster, I am shocked and stunned that an MGBGT is not on your list!

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Well OK, a '74 chrome bumper GT V8 in either damask red or sage green (sans webasto roof) would be nice

Steve

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A Mk2 escort RS2000

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Surely if you're going to have an Escort it'd have to be a Mk1 with a twin-cam engine?

Steve,
could be!!

Today I would be driving a Mini Moke

"A Mk2 escort RS2000"

Nah, that's just a Cortina engine! The best ones are the Mk1 RS1600 and the Mk2 RS1800, both of which had Cosworth BDA engines. Incidentally, Mk2 rally prepared Escorts can go for silly money - £60K+ for the right spec.

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Originally posted by Rasher:
I had a boss who bought a new Princess. Boy did we rip the piss out of him for years.
I wonder who designed the look of the rear end?

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In 1975/76, I worked nights on the Princess production line at Cowley (final assembly: rear axle and brake pipes). Anyone who lets me anywhere near the moving parts of a car is a moron, and I was far from being the worst offender. They were dreadful cars, designed by idiots, built by people who didn't care, supervised by people who didn't understand.

A little later, I worked briefly at the old MG plant in Abingdon (pusher of trolleys). Most of the people there actually took some pride in what they were doing. For all the good it did them - they were all fired anyway.

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Originally posted by Bhoyo:
They were dreadful cars, designed by idiots, built by people who didn't care, supervised by people who didn't understand.

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......and bought by?....

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Originally posted by Rasher:
......and bought by?....

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Mick Parry?

Always, when there is nothing more to be said - someone has to go and say it.
Poor Mick.

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Originally posted by Rasher:
......and bought by?....

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That puzzled the hell out of the boys in the factory. We were told it was fleets, mainly.

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Originally posted by Bhoyo:

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Originally posted by Rasher:
......and bought by?....

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That puzzled the hell out of the boys in the factory. We were told it was fleets, mainly.

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Or perhaps it was people trading up from an Allegro or Marina?

Oh, I almost forgot - Bye, bye Henrik - blubber, blubber... If there is one thing I enjoy it's seeing a Septic fan crying...

Rico,



As shown milliseconds before fishtailing out of control

The Roadrunner is nice indeed

• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Bond's DB5
• FAB 1 complete with Parker
• Scooby Doo's Mystery Machine
• The Batmobile

Failing that a DB9, Merc ML500, Merc SL600, Caterham 7 and the Rolling Stones tourbus c/w all the illegality it possessed in terms of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll !

Err Mike - <mock serious tone> you must understand, that the oz muscle-cars had reasonable handling </mock serious tone> - I recall a particularly entertaining hitch-hiking trip circa 1989 where I caught a ride in an XB Coupe "GS" (basically a 351 GT but with some luxo-bits); by the time we were in the central north island of NZ, on the "Desert Road" and surrounding environs (I was heading north to Tauranga, my ride would drop me at Taupo) we were screaming along at up to 195kmh, and by the time we approached lake taupo were opposite-locking through the corners. It amounted to a rather exhilerating drive with an excellent driver, and highlighted the handling potential of a largely stock car.
The "oversteer and slide off the road" in the photo would really only happen in the hands of a particularly inexperienced driver. Cast your mind back to the first two mad max movies, the Interceptor is based on the Falcon coupe. I found these disturbing site ... site
... site.

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The 1973 Roadrunner I had in mind is nearer this:

Is your pic a Superbird?

cheers

Rico - SM/Mullet Audio

Hi Rico

Oz muscle cars are great - my cousin raced a ? torano ? and gave me a shot of his road version which was nearly identical.

A 454 Chevy under the hood and it was like driving a firework !

It stuck to the road like glue - probably because it weighted so much.

Muchos fun !

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Originally posted by Steve G:
Oh, I almost forgot - Bye, bye Henrik

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P5W5D0L0

Ahhh, that'd be Torana. There were effectively 2 styles - LC/LJ which had beginnings in the HB Viva, and the later LX/UC series which would more likely be able to carry a big block.

Toranas weren't particularly large

- the XU-1 model LC and LJ were well campaigned at Mt Panorama. I had a friend who had a very well sorted LJ back in the early-mid 80's, with Garrett turbo on the 186ci (3.0 litre) straight six holden red motor, water injection, sorted suspension all based on XU1. Went like a bloody rocket, hair exciting fishtails under boost (used to run 15psi), like sitting in the cab of a locomotive.

Even the LX series were a mid-size car, yet a smallblock V8 would go in there ok - there were a couple of variants - the A9X liftback 2 door, and the SLR 5000.



</anorak>

Rico - SM/Mullet Audio

That other piccy is indeed a Plymouth super bird, Dodge made the Daytona very similar. They were designed for NASCAR racing and the road ones were for homologation purposes. I think they managed to lap Talledaga at over 220 mph, not bad for a 2ton car. Needless to say they were banned pretty (should that be Petty) quick.
Google "NASCAR superbirds" for several sites about them.

Howard

[This message was edited by BigH47 on Fri 28 May 2004 at 9:17.]