Cars of the seventies and eighties that you still like the look of

[Reynard]

I knew Dr Reynard wouldn't let me down

There is advantage to being a nerd and having lots of books.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I know it is not in the class of some that have been mentioned

but I loved a series of cars I had in the 80s

Started with a Nissan Sunny coupe - A reg - basically just a Sunny bit with a glass hatchback type window going from the top of the roof to the top of the boot
had some blue strips on it and looked way better than a Sunny should

Then I traded it in for a proper SUnny Coupe - E reg - which was a normal Sunny (1.6 standard type engine) but with a much sleeker body shell
the garage that originally sold it - which is co-incidentally about 1 miles from where I live now - had put a subtle graduated grey strip below the rubbisg strip which made it look far sleeker
It was white and georgeous!!
but very annoying as the windows were designed to be flush with the body
but at motorway speeds they gradually slipped down just a tiny fraction - just enough to make an annoying wind noise
and as it had manual windows I couldn;t easily reach the passenger one to stop it
and it had a sunroof that whisytled when the wind speed over it was about 70 - and I was doing a lot of motorway driving at the time

I also got a massive overtime payment - so I swapped it for a Sunny ZX Coupe - 1.8 Fuel injected 16 valve engine plus a few spoilers

looks - and was - way faster than teh standard Sunny - would leave a Golf GTi behind at lights
great car


and finally a Nissan 100NX - basically the same as before but looked even less like a Sunny but not as flashy an engine - lovely car but naff all room for a baby - sold it for an estate car

but I loved those 4 Nissans

 

[Drago]

The 100NX was an odd one. Pretty much a Sunny with a different body plonked atop. The 1.6 wasn't bad, but was spoiled by the horrible electronically controlled carburettor. It was a bit of a let down after the N13 Sunny Coupe.

 

[Jameshow]

Freind has a nissan bluebird and loved it!
Was a bit of a tank but reliable I think?!

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

The 100NX was an odd one. Pretty much a Sunny with a different body plonked atop. The 1.6 wasn't bad, but was spoiled by the horrible electronically controlled carburettor. It was a bit of a let down after the N13 Sunny Coupe.

In a way it was - but it was more comfy to drive and I was getting a bit fed up with the ZX coupe being stiffer and having firmer seats

It also had a great removable glass roof - almost converted it into a convertible which was great going home in hot weather through the Mersey Tunnel!

 

[Chris S]

Yep. Spanning the early 50s through to the early 60s.

Kieft used the engine in their F3 cars (driven by Stirling Moss), as did Lotus. Kieft also built climax-engined lightweight sportscars and took several class wins at Le Mans.

At the time, F1 was also a 1.5 litre formula, and Climax engines have the distinction of powering the first win by a rear-engined F1 car (a Rob-Walker-run Cooper driven by Moss in 1958), and thence also powering Jack Brabham to the first ever driver's championship won in a rear-engined car a year later.

While were on the subject of Climax-powered racers ... the Clan Crusader!

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

As I am getting older I have had - and before that my Dad had - quite a few cars

is it weird that I know the reg number of all of them - not all of my Dad's but most from when I started Secondary school until I left home???


on a side note - when I was seriously depressed and all that - one of the symptoms I noticed was that I forgot all the reg numbers of these cars

 

[Gunk]

As I am getting older I have had - and before that my Dad had - quite a few cars

is it weird that I know the reg number of all of them - not all of my Dad's but most from when I started Secondary school until I left home???


on a side note - when I was seriously depressed and all that - one of the symptoms I noticed was that I forgot all the reg numbers of these cars

I remember the reg numbers of most of my old cars

 

[dicko]

Yes indeed! It was designed as a water pump motor, which meant it had to run flat out from stone cold and run reliably at high revs for long periods. This meant the Coventry Climax engineers had to pay close attention to materials, tolerances, etc.

They pulled a blinder to be fair, other than being a on the the thirsty side for oil it was strong and powerful for its weight.

They were so chuffed they showed it off at one motor show or other and people thought, "aye aye, that'd make right sweet race engine" and it quickly ended up on the track. The engine was further developed for road and track, and if memory serves they had a go at designing a V8 version.

I'm not super au fait with the imp so don't know if the engine problems there were a result of cooling inadequacy of a result of shoving it at the back, because it worked well enough in other applications.

I owned four Imps and never had any cooling or oil consumption problems. As for driving stop/start that never happen the 60s, 70s or 80s there was never much city traffic around, unless you drove in London of course. I did race my Sunbeam Imp Sport mate down the strip at Santa Pod on a Cars and Car Conversion (tuning magazine) test day no problem and won a gallon of Castrol GTX for our troubles.

 

[Conrad_K]

1970s and 80s that I still like the look of:

DeTomaso Pantera (original, without flares or wings)
Lamborghini Countch (original, without flares or wings)
Lancis Stratos (base model without "rally" gorpage)
Aston Martin Vantage
5th-generation Toyota Corolla (1983-1986)
Capri (I and II)
Austin Marina
Triumph Spitfire
Mazda RX-7
Subaru Brat 4x4
VW Rabbit pickup

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Interesting that a lot of folk like the Lancia Monte Carlo, renamed Montecarlo on the later models.

A very pretty thing and while not super quick it was still hairy chested fun. The brakes were dicey- on the series I cars they were well over servo'd and difficult to pilot in the wet without locking them up.

After hearing the complaints Lancia took it out of production for two years while they investigated the problem, only to solve it by removing the servo and leaving the model instead with virtually no brakes, a fix worthy of British Leyland.

’Monte’

 

[dicko]

The lights on the Imp were mounted too low to comply with regulations. This was realised late in the day as the car was nearing production so rather than do it properly and retool to make a new front panel Rootes instead slapped on taller springs to raise the cars height.

To be fair the Coventry Climax engine went pretty well considering it's origins driving a water pump for firefighting.

I think you’ll find in actual fact, Drago, you are talking about the MGB and MGB GT whose headlights were too low for the US market and their suspension was raised accordingly. The Imp range had no such problems Lord Rootes would never let a detail like that happen to his motor manufacturing empire.

 

[mistyoptic]

the MGB and MGB GT whose headlights were too low for the US market and their suspension was raised accordingly

I seem to remember a lot of hilarity at the time. MG advertising slogan was "you can do it in an MG"

After the suspension mod, some wag changed it to "you can do it under an MG"

 

[Drago]

Freind has a nissan bluebird and loved it!
Was a bit of a tank but reliable I think?!

The original T12 ones were. The later T72 models were British built and while they were plusher their rep was nowhere near so stellar.

 

[Chris S]

Imagine pulling into Tesco's car park and opening the doors in this