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

[dicko]

You are correct about the MG, but the same fate had previously befallen the Imp. Indeed, it's probably where BL got the idea from, longer springs and increase camber to bring the wheels more diagaonally and raise the ride heaight a few more MM.

I can’t remember anything like that the Imp range sold well into the late 70s it had and still has a lot of followers and enthusiasts. The imp headlights were higher than Mini and spitfires both of which my family owned. It’s dis information about the headlights.

 

[Cavalol]

Far too many to list, but a Silver Shadow Mk1 is right up there. Such an understated, beautiful car which just whispered class. Unlike the horrible modern Rollers.

 

[gbb]

SAAB 96 both the 2 stroke 'Monte Carlo' 850 and the later V4
SAAB 99 but the 2 or 3 door body
Peugeot 205
Mini Cooper
Hillman Avenger 'Tiger'

Former colleague in the 1980s had a Saab 99 Turbo with polished ports, various bits done to it and as he described it...Water injection , effectively intercooling I assume.
It was ridiculously fast, he would leave a r/a locally, accelerate hard to the next certainly less than a 1,/4 mile and be exceeding 100mph.
The 99was a beautiful car...

 

[Conrad_K]

Quite liked the X19 in it's original spec without the silly US bumpers.
View attachment 758564

View attachment 758565

*Much* better without the silly US bumpers.

Though to see some true horrors, check out an American spec 1974 Capri, or some of the American-spec Lamborghini Countachs. For that matter, the rubber baby buggy bumpers stuck on the last MGBs were an eyesore too.

 

[mustang1]

I really like the sports Toyotas of the mid 1980s: MR2, Celica, Supra.

I recall when the Supra came out (the one just before the fast and furious one). I was at some beach resort and there was a white one parked there with a huge crowd of people surrounding it, checking it out, gawping at it.

 

[Drago]

I can’t remember anything like that the Imp range sold well into the late 70s it had and still has a lot of followers and enthusiasts. The imp headlights were higher than Mini and spitfires both of which my family owned. It’s dis information about the headlights.

To be fair Lord Rootes was probably too busy to consult you personally at the time. He used to say that his old mate Dicko was a stickler and he'd never get the car on sale if he kept stopping to gain Dicko's approval.

It's documented. The bit about them even dialling in more negative camber for a few MM was new to me though. Apparently they did this on the lauch cars to get the headlamp height within spec but it bestowed them with "interesting" handling on the limit, so they soon switched to lightly longer springs instead.

That's what happens when you launch a car before it's properly tested and developed - Lord Rootes wanted the brand new factory operating ASAP and not standing idle- but even then they only suffered a fraction of the problems of, say, the Mini.

I quite like the Imp, would have one over a Mini every time.

 

[Conrad_K]

In weather like we're currently having, it had the entertaining and forgotten problem of carburettor icing.

The "latent heat of evaporation" of gasoline is pretty impressive. I had read that the intake stacks of Indy cars would form coatings of frost, but it was seeing my brother's truck that brought it home.

350 CID Chevy, aftermarket intake manifold, 4-inch spacer under a 650 Holley.
Florida. Summer. >100 Fahrenheit.
100 yards from the beach.

Sitting there idling, engine temp 180F, hot air blasting back from the radiator and fan, frost formed on the carburetor spacer. You could put your hand on it and feel how cold it was.

Really high humidity can do some crazy things. You've seen aircraft contrails? You can also see them at the shooting range if it's muggy enough; subsonic bullets will leave a streak of fog behind them as they go downrange. Doesn't seem to happen with supersonic bullets for some reason. I would have expected it to be the other way around.

A friend had a Kawasaki ZX-10 Ninja. I was browing the service manual and noticed the British-spec Ninjas had spacers with electric heaters. There are places in America where those would have been handy.

 

[Gunk]

Anyone else remember the 'Chasseur'?

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Mk1 Cavalier. One of the nicest cars I owned and I think they would still look cool today.

When I was learning to drive/first passed my test, my father had a mk1 Cavalier
His was also yellow, but a 2-door saloon

I liked the William Lyons big Jags , had a lovely ring to from the starter motor , plush leather acres of room ,and the burr wood dash! Luvverly.
Also I liked the Austin 1100/ 1300 , with that hydragas suspension, I'd have one now if I had somewhere to park it.

Ahh
John Steeds 'Broadspeed' XJ12C


View: https://youtu.be/0zg5q8_Zwrs?si=N16rUf69WMVjPsiC

Range Rover (I'd stilll like an early 2-door)
Land Rover 101FC (okay!, not a car!)
Triumph Dolomite Sprint (in Mimosa Yellow)
FIAT 131 Miafiore Sport (in orange!)
Peugeot 504 estate (diesel)
Ford RS1800
Citroen 2CV (love it with a little diesel engine!)
LADA 1600 ES
LADA 1500 estate
Ford Capri 280
Ford RS2000 'X-Pack'
Vauxhall 2300HS
Opel Ascona (2-door saloon)
Rover SD1 Vitesse (or V8S, in green with gold wheels)
SAAB 99 Turbo
Ford Granda 'Chasseur'

Anyone else remember the 'Chasseur' estates
I'll also add to that list, Skoda S110 coupe

Whilst most of the truly stunning cars were from the 60s (or earlier) there are a few genuinely nice and / or good 70s cars

Landrover 101 - the army-only light artillery tractor. still aspire to own one one day. Same size and engine as the contemporary Range Rover

Jensen Interceptor. Needs no justification

Landrover TDi 200. OK the base vehicle is earlier but the coil sprung version is major redesign, and arguably the TDi 200 is the first really satisfactory engine it had. My ex had one for a good few years, to tow her horse around

Its Toyota Landcruiser rival of that era is also rather appealing. The last one for farmers and such before the Chelsea Tractor era

The humble but excellent astravan. We had the lowly 1300 version as a works van and it was brilliant to drive and quite quick. It is perhaps remarkable that none of us (then) hooligans managed to crash it or blow it up

70s and 80s Saabs (99, 900, 9000) and Volvos (240 etc) were all decent solid and rather appealing cars

Mercedes of that era were all a lot nicer and arguably better made than today's. My uncle had two or three as nice company cars, and I've been in still smart and solid European taxis with 600,000km on the clock

I'd say the early 80s Series 3 facelift of the Jag XJ6 is perhaps the nicest looking incarnation of the model

Hilman Imp maybe, and also the rear wheel drive (proper) Skodas, the 130 being a formidable rally car. I remember reading a series of articles in the magazine Cars &Car Conversions concerning souping up and prepping one for rallying. They doubled the power but hadn't yet fitted all the lamps and stuff and during a test run described flashing a BMW to move over at 130 on the motorway. For all the jokes they were built like tanks.

101FC........... yes, I'd like one too!!
Have driven a couple, & 20+ years on, I could still have cold-sweats thinking about bar-grips on a wet M62, at 65MPH............

Land-Rover 200Tdi; I had a 90 with that engine
I also had a ('L' registration/300Tdi) Defender 110, & a bit later, a 110Td5 Station Wagon

Toyota Land-Cruiser; I'd still like to own this model
4.2litre diesel, with 24v electrics

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Being a 911 Obsessive, I’ve always loved the Ruf 911’s Ruf to Porsche is a bit like Alpina is to BMW.

The 1980’s BTR IMO is to die for, absolutely stunning, this one recently sold for just under £400,000

View attachment 758555

There's one very similar to this, as somones 'weekend toy'/'indulgence' in the village I pass through on my way to work
It's black too

 

[dicko]

To be fair Lord Rootes was probably too busy to consult you personally at the time. He used to say that his old mate Dicko was a stickler and he'd never get the car on sale if he kept stopping to gain Dicko's approval.

It's documented. The bit about them even dialling in more negative camber for a few MM was new to me though. Apparently they did this on the lauch cars to get the headlamp height within spec but it bestowed them with "interesting" handling on the limit, so they soon switched to lightly longer springs instead.

That's what happens when you launch a car before it's properly tested and developed - Lord Rootes wanted the brand new factory operating ASAP and not standing idle- but even then they only suffered a fraction of the problems of, say, the Mini.

I quite like the Imp, would have one over a Mini every time.

Negative camber only on the Sport models.

 

[Drago]

All the first ones had negative camber to raise the ride height, and I quote...

"...the large degree of camber of the front wheels of early Hillman Imps was the result of a quick fix to raise the headlights to the required minimum height..."

The owners forums, of which there are many, and AROnline are treasure trove of info.

Imp Sport, Fastback and Husky models had 2.5° positive camber...

 

[dicko]

All the first ones had negative camber to raise the ride height, and I quote...

"...the large degree of camber of the front wheels of early Hillman Imps was the result of a quick fix to raise the headlights to the required minimum height..."

The owners forums, of which there are many, and AROnline are treasure trove of info.

Imp Sport, Fastback and Husky models had 2.5° positive camber...

Negative camber occurs when the top of the tire tilts inward, toward the car's center. While negative camber can improve handling and cornering at high speeds, it can also have negative effects on your car's tire.

My Singer Chamois Sport had negative camber for high speed cornering, the Imp range had positive camber. I did own four Imps negative camber is very easy to spot. Negative camber would lower the headlights.

 

[rogerzilla]

The craziest neg camber on a mainstream car was probably on the rear of a Calibra 4x4 Turbo. A fussy thing to look after - the tyres on all corners had to have near-identical tread depth, and even then the transfer boxes were fragile. Mind you, they were mostly driven by hooligans!

 

[Drago]

The craziest neg camber on a mainstream car was probably on the rear of a Calibra 4x4 Turbo. A fussy thing to look after - the tyres on all corners had to have near-identical tread depth, and even then the transfer boxes were fragile. Mind you, they were mostly driven by hooligans!

Aye, the tyres had to be rotated front-to rear something daft like every 1500 miles else the transfer box would lunch itself.