First car

Started by dannyboy, April 21, 2015, 03:53:51 AM

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Tdm

Interesting subject - the decline of the British Motor Industry, and the rise in foreign Imports.

Personally I think one of the triggers was the British Leyland "troubles" of the late 70's, when "Red Robbo" was constantly making headlines due to all the "Strikes" taking place at the Car Manufacturing Plants in the Midlands, and the workforce seem to "throw" British cars together without taking any care in the product they were making, and quality control was virtually non existent.

I have never "owned" a Japanese car (although have driven plenty), and the only "foreigner" I bought was a second hand Mercedes 230E which I ran for 17 years with only 2 failures, one head gasket failure , and one new altenator. I only sold it when we emigrated as I couldn't drive that and my Triumph Stag to Tenerife at the same time.

My wife on the other hand has had a couple of Nissan Bluebirds and a couple of Hondas, the last Honda (an Accord) we did drive to Tenerife in 2005 and is still going strong here although it is now nearly 20 years old (the Stag is approaching 40 years old by the way).

To be honest if asked to recommend a "reliable" car to buy by someone, I would say go Japanese (or Korean), although VWs seem very well made, and they now own "Skoda" whose cars Taxi drivers here are buying to replace their Mercs. 

mr bachmann

what ! no tarted up dash boards ?  :D

Tdm

Quote from: mr bachmann on April 23, 2015, 01:45:40 PM
what ! no tarted up dash boards ?  :D

If you like "modified" dashbords - what about this one - bet you can't guess the make and model of car?


Pengi

My first car was a Vauxhall Nova SR. Now drive a VW Scirocco R-line.
Just one Pendolino, give it to me, a beautiful train, from Italy

4x2

Quote from: Tdm on April 23, 2015, 03:18:45 PM
Quote from: mr bachmann on April 23, 2015, 01:45:40 PM
what ! no tarted up dash boards ?  :D

If you like "modified" dashbords - what about this one - bet you can't guess the make and model of car?


R5 GT turbo !
If it's got rails... you have my full, undivided attention - Steam, diesel and electric, 'tis all good !

Mike

Tdm

No its not an R5 - if you want a clue it is not a French car.

Newportnobby

Not sure those seat covers would do your Farmer Giles much good :worried:

Tdm

I shall be leaving to run the Quiz in our Bar shortly.

If anyone wants a further clue as to the identity of the car I featured with the brightly coloured dashboard, make a post on here and I will respond when I get back home at about 11pm or so depending how quick the Quiz goes and how good the beer is tonight.

Of course it could be that by then someone has been able to correctly name it?

4x2

Quote from: Tdm on April 23, 2015, 04:46:20 PM
No its not an R5 - if you want a clue it is not a French car.
It's got to be a Honda then, most likely a civic... not much there to figure it out !
If it's got rails... you have my full, undivided attention - Steam, diesel and electric, 'tis all good !

Mike

Tdm

Sorry - wrong again - will post a picture below taken from outside the car - see if that helps?,
but be aware the ouside has been modified too.




4x2

Quote from: Komata on April 23, 2015, 08:15:55 AM
4x2

Very interesting info.  While the list 'details' don't interest me per se, what I AM interested in is to learn when you started to move away from 'British' and into 'Foreign'; and the path you took to reach your current Hyundai.

Did you follow the 'Continental European' path (Renault, Fiat, Merc etc.), or go via the 'American' route?  Or, if neither was the case (which leave only Japanese and Korean)at what point did you decide to go 'Asian' and for what reason/s?

I'm asking these questions in support of a theory that it is actually possible to determine with some accuracy the year in which the British motor vehicle industry stared its descent into oblivion; the hypothesis being that this occurred when the first mass- importation of 'pre-loved' Japanese vehicles came into the UK (as it did in New Zealand, where it subsequently destroyed the local car assembly industry, largely due to volume and a massive decrease in price compared with the local product).  Although in New Zealand this occurred 1986/1987, I suspect that in the UK it was considerably later.

As you can 'track' your vehicle purchases with some accuracy, I suspect that you may be able to follow this path and would be interested in learning when the 'swing away' from the home-grown product started.

Thanks.

   
Hi Komota, I have had quite a random collection of cars over the years... In the UK most makes are available and all are well supported so really which car you choose tends to boil down to cost and toy count (AC, electric windows etc). I personally am a Ford fan (9x Fiesta's 3x Escort's 3x Sierra's and more !) so Ford has always been my first choice, however recently in the UK we had a 'Scrapage Scheme' which offered anyone with an old car £2000 off a new car when they part exchanged their old banger... Thousands of good cars were scrapped and new car sales took off... In the UK Ford, VW and Vauxhall tend to dominate new sales so second hand sales tend to follow, leaving the cheaper Asian cars for the budget buyers (like me). My current car, a Hyundai Santa Fe was purchased for a fraction of what it was worth 2 years ago and it's much more reliable than the equivalent Landrover Freelander (known for shreading it's transfer box amongst other things !).

My Dad has also just bought a Kia Rio, he said 'Best little car I've ever owned' and he's a fussy @#@#@# !

Hope that helps  :thumbsup:
If it's got rails... you have my full, undivided attention - Steam, diesel and electric, 'tis all good !

Mike

4x2

Quote from: Tdm on April 23, 2015, 10:26:02 PM
Sorry - wrong again - will post a picture below taken from outside the car - see if that helps?,
but be aware the ouside has been modified too.


Last guess then... Toyota MR2 ?
If it's got rails... you have my full, undivided attention - Steam, diesel and electric, 'tis all good !

Mike

Tdm

#57
O.K. If your giving up I'll show you a picture of the production car.

The red car is a heavilly modified Mitsubishi Colt Starion Turbo.

Would you like me to post some pictures of other cars that you might not immediately recognise?  ;)


4x2

Quote from: Tdm on April 23, 2015, 10:57:21 PM
O.K. If your giving up I'll show you a picture of the production car.

The red car is a heavilly modified Mitsubishi Colt Starion Turbo.


wow... The standard car looks so much better... I always liked the starion but they are so rare !
If it's got rails... you have my full, undivided attention - Steam, diesel and electric, 'tis all good !

Mike

MalcolmInN

#59
Quote from: Komata on April 23, 2015, 08:15:55 AMWhile the list 'details' don't interest me per se, what I AM interested in is to learn when you started to move away from 'British' and into 'Foreign';

Did you follow the 'Continental European' path (Renault, Fiat, Merc etc.), or go via the 'American' route?  Or, if neither was the case (which leave only Japanese and Korean)at what point did you decide to go 'Asian' and for what reason/s?
I moved away from Austin/Morris/British Lealand/its predecessors/ heirs and succesors/ when they ceased trading !

Red Robo was a political nuisance and did cause the decline , but do his worst - it was still fixable with a whitworth here and a 10thou there.
did though get a bit fed up at one point and looked at a Renault, but there was a 9month waiting list ! Ha !

Now, for new I would do the cheapest (ex - east -) european, [except for son-in-law who keeps finding us good deals on 220th-hand ricegrinders - - I'm not proud ;) as long as it works and has 4 wheels, one on each corner , and the far easern stuff seems to just keep going and going ! ]










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