Crap Cars of the 70's


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Chap went into Halfords and asked "have you got a pair of windscreen wipers for a Lada?". The sales assistant thought about it and then replied "we normally ask for cash, but that would be s fair swap

Just looked back at this post of yours Mick...can you imagine today? "I shall have to warn you sir that those three kids not safely restrained in safety belts are gonna cost you,as is the missing num

My Dad had a vauxhall victor,he had it for donkeys years ,he loved that car,A strange thing is after he died,my daughter came downstairs (she had just looked through her bedroom window)she said 'grand

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I believe there was an oil crisis and subsequent petrol shortage towards the end of 1973, and although it never came to using coupons, there was a maximum of 2 gallons allowed, and you were supposed to use "your own" petrol station to purchase this. I had a Company car at the time and as I covered a large area, never had the ability to use just one particular garage, so had to juggle the use and try to develop a friendship with one particular garage.

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Are you sure it wasn't earlier? I was in the civil service from 1966-68, and ISTR there was a circular to all civil service departments for volunteers on temporary secondment to organise petrol rationing and issue the ration books.

Would that have been connected with the 1967 Arab-Israeli war? I wasn't old enough to pay attention to any potential rationing then. It was planned again - but never put into operation - in the 1973-74 fuel crisis.

Ah.... the good old days...........

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Worst were Vauxhall Viva, MK4 Cortina, best were Citroen ID19, Morris Marina Coupe, Triumph 2000 Estate. Wolsley 16/60.

The Cit, I actually broke the needle on the speedo coming up the M1 from Leicester after a Humble Pie concert at well over 112 mph.

The Morris was powerful, nothing beat it away from traffic lights, but it used a pint of oil every 100 miles.

The Wolsley was a powerhouse, towing a caravan+ family up the M5 at well over 75 mph.

More sedate nowadays , never do over 65.

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Re:#180

There's a blast from the past (or 1970's to be more precise). There is a 1972 Triumph 2000 estate for sale in tonights Evening Post for £2500 I would love to know how much they were when new

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Hi basfordred

My dad had a1973 2ltr straight 6 with overdrive in third and 4th and apart from a knackered rear drive shaft universal joint and a dodgy electrical connection to the overdrive unit it was a great car and turned out to be a great tow car for our caravan too.

That electrical overdrive system was quite advanced for the year too. I think Triumph's problems started when they introduced the prototype fuel injection system

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In the late 1970s my Dad had a Talbot Rancho, some of the bodywork was made with fiberglass, when he scraped it in the early 1990s, it looked as if it had been washed with bleach, because the fiberglass had faded a lot.

talbot-matra-rancho-x(france)--2047.jpg

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My second new van on Telecom was an Austin maestro, absolute piece of crap.

Was serviced every 4 weeks as per all BT vehicles at the time, and was always breaking down.

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Banjo,

It might have been the crap mono grade oil they used at the workshop, or the lack of experience of dealing with anything more recent than an HA van.

Which also put paid to a lot of the Talbot Solaras and Horizons that BT reps were given as company cars.

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#184

I recall being with a large group of Forest fans outside the Bluebird pub in Wembley for one of Forest's frequent visits there in the 70s/80s when a Rancho pulled up at the traffic lights outside.

The two Arsenal fans in it stuck their heads up through the sun roof and made a derogatory comment about the Reds.

Unfortunately for them, the traffic lights stayed on red long enough for a dozen or so lads to run over and empty their pint glasses into the car. :)

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Cliff Tons pic of his Firenza , reminded me of my M reg Ford Cortina 2000E in the same colour way, white with the black Webasto roof. It was a stunning looking car that I got from my dad who had it brand new . It used to get plenty of admiring looks .

As far as I remember it never had the thrilling performance that a 2 litre car should have had and unfortunately it soon rusted, especially the front wings and sold it for a pittance . Don't think I ever took a picture of it and can't find a good image of a black and white one , so this will have to do :

8501233980_d6a6402650_o.jpg

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Cliff Tons pic of his Firenza , reminded me of my M reg Ford Cortina 2000E in the same colour way, white with the black Webasto roof. It was a stunning looking car that I got from my dad who had it brand new . It used to get plenty of admiring looks .

As far as I remember it never had the thrilling performance that a 2 litre car should have had and unfortunately it soon rusted, especially the front wings and sold it for a pittance . Don't think I ever took a picture of it and can't find a good image of a black and white one , so this will have to do :

8501233980_d6a6402650_o.jpg

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David, you needn't have told it wasn't you and the Missus on holiday (Lavenham?) and you were posing for a photo by a friend.

Disillusioned by the revelation that the performance did not match up to it's image, felt the same about Cliff's Firenza. Both cars "looked" the business back in their day.

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Of course it could be that at the time we had a three year old in the back , so wary of driving at any speed .

I don't remember how we anchored the kids down in those days either .

I do remember one holiday a few years later in France with a now 7 year old and a 3 year old in the back . When they weren't asleep they were fighting and they would draw imaginary lines on the seat with the threat that if those lines were crossed there would be trouble . Were there any rear restraints then ?

The whole drive I could feel the back of my seat being kicked as they battled and trying to drive and slap legs of the rear passengers at the same time can't have been the safest !

That was a Renault 14 TL , (like the one below) a brilliant versatile design , probably the forerunner of the modern look-a-like hatchback .

I say versatile because you could flatten the seats (maybe even easily remove them ?) and I remember transporting a scaffolding tower in it once when some external house painting needed doing .

Unfortunately it was an absolute pig to start in a morning and also had rust problems . Looks like there are only about 6 on the road in the whole of the UK now .

http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/renault_14_tl

7511438818_e7b7d58e19_z.jpg

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Easiest way of improving the power from Fords was to change the carb. My Mk4 Cortina had a Weber 32/36 and it shifted well enough. Only problem was that the brakes and handling weren't up to it.

Same with Escorts. Ford fitted them with VV carbs with automatic chokes. According to D&B carburettors at the Cattle Market, they were better used as door-stops.

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I think it is a Dutch house, because unlike most countries on mainland Europe, the Dutch don't have shutters on the ground floor of their houses, the guttering is interior guttering.

Some houses have interior guttering in the area where I live, because it stops snow from blocking them and a build up of ice, maybe they have it to stop it from clogging up with leaves.

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