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

[grldtnr]

I auditioned for a band called Carlos Fandango.

Any relation of Clem Fandango? He of Stephen Toast fame
'Stephen , this is Clem Fandango, can you hear me......?

 

[mistyoptic]

I know people go for the fast one, but I'd happily settle for a GT. Luvly!
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I had a Delta. Just the standard one, in Antibes Blue. My first “new” car, W reg. Loved it

 

[mistyoptic]

In no particular order:

Alfasud Sprint
Jensen Interceptor
Ford Capri mk1
Lancia Delta
Lancia Beta Monte Carlo
De Lorean
Opel Manta
BMW 630CSL
Fiat X1/9
Mercedes SL (pagoda roof)

 

[Gwylan]

Two of the best cars we have ever owned.

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That's a Hillman Imp in drag

 

[Jameshow]

In no particular order:

Alfasud Sprint
Jensen Interceptor
Ford Capri mk1
Lancia Delta
Lancia Beta Monte Carlo
De Lorean
Opel Manta
BMW 630CSL
Fiat X1/9
Mercedes SL (pagoda roof)

Forgot about 6 series what a car!

Reminds me of Brucey hope he's ok?🤗

 

[FrankCrank]

My youngest brother had an Allegro for his first car. Sort of a blanched turd colour as I recall.
He pranged it early on, and I was a fabricator/welder at the time, so attempted to straighten it out.
Slapped some underseal on to hide my pathetic bodywork repairs, and he seemed happy.
Have to say it really was a pile of sh*te, even before the accident.
Cars of this period were unbelievably bad, definitely a low point of British manufacturing.

 

[Drago]

My first car was an Allaggro 1750HL. I'm surprised it didn't put me off driving for life.

 

[dicko]

That's a Hillman Imp in drag

Singer Chamois Sport or Sunbeam Imp Sport. Both have tuned twin carb engines special camshaft and cylinder head oil cooler etc plus upgraded suspension with negative camber steering.

 

[Drago]

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.

 

[rogerzilla]

Lots of them: Escort Mk1, Cortina Mk3 and 4, Capri Mk2 and 3, Renault 5, Opel Manta, the big Vauxhalls of the 80s (Royale etc), Dolomite, Lancia Beta, Alfasud, Fiat X1/9 (all three Italian cars are terrible rotters), Datsun 240Z.

I like a lot of early 90s cars too, but it gets really bland after that.

 

[grldtnr]

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.

Always liked the Imp, but by the time I started driving, they were waiting to be scrapped to .some Zanussi washing machines!
Particularly liked the Husky version, Estate/ Van body styled.
I am weird ....so don't care!

 

[grldtnr]

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.

Wasn't the Climax engine used in motor racing as well,it was found to be a good little engine, stop /;start town driving showed up it's flaws, as the ally engine head couldn't cope with heat up and cool down cycles,and the head warped.
A sign of the times ,lack of investment, plus A history of government intervention, insisting the car was built in Scottish Shipyards to support employment, plus the shuttling of bodies to Coventry to have the mechanicals fitted.
Result, bad build quality, Ship builders aren't going to produce the close tolerances of motor engineering.

 

[Drago]

Wasn't the Climax engine used in motor racing as well,it was found to be a good little engine, stop /;start town driving showed up it's flaws, as the ally engine head couldn't cope with heat up and cool down cycles,and the head warped.
A sign of the times ,lack of investment, plus A history of government intervention, insisting the car was built in Scottish Shipyards to support employment, plus the shuttling of bodies to Coventry to have the mechanicals fitted.
Result, bad build quality, Ship builders aren't going to produce the close tolerances of motor engineering.

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.

 

[Reynard]

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.

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.

 

[Drago]

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.

I knew Dr Reynard wouldn't let me down