One For Classic Car Fans.....

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Profpointy

Legendary Member
Very very nice 60s Merc sports car today



70F99161-49F6-4AE5-B43B-A61215D3634F.jpeg



And a more rough, presumably non-runner Triumph Standard. My dad use to have one which my grandad originally owned but let my dad have. Following the tradition my dad's subsequent car, a 68 Cortina came my way later

0B0D52B9-65CE-42C1-B8A8-6369FC7A7111.jpeg


And a 50's American taxi nicely done up we saw fairly recently

A5E90C22-A39A-4D6A-B025-E816A8EB1631.jpeg

and in rather poorer condition



C387D504-0E09-4258-B979-2F0B858FF9FC.jpeg


and finally a rather nice Stag.

F165B031-EC8C-4277-B436-3B971A3FD565.jpeg
 

Ian H

Ancient randonneur
We passed a tiny FIAT Abarth of 1970s vintage on our way to the north (of Devon). Bright red, wide wheels and extended wheel arches. Engine hatch propped open. It would appear to have been either a genuine Abarth 695 SS or a replica. No pics as I was driving.
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member

A pal has a Stag, which he restored himself. It was owned by an old lady but had lain idle for years, and using patient cajoling managed to buy off her. Sadly a lot of people hang on to non-runners they are never going to fix for years until they become mere scrap, whether from sentiment (presumable her late husband's car in this case) or a inflated idea of the value of a doer-upper.

Apparently the years of enthusiasts and restorers have somewhat addressed the overheating dodgyness of the originally a bit flaky V8 engine. Apparently there was still original casting sand in some of the waterways when my mate stripped the engine down. Anyhow, he says one nuisance is people pulling out in front of him as an old geezer in a vintage car, despite it being a proper sports car with fairly powerful 3litre v8 driven by a quite enthusiastic driver.

Lovely looking car albeit I don't think I'd personally want to risk that engine. A straight six jag XK would be my limit as it's supposedly a sound if complex engine
 

BrumJim

Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)

Interesting collection of old, really old, and "can't be that old" cars.

But in retrospect, some of those "is that just parked there or is it part of the event?" cars are probably much older than many of the cars my Dad used to drag us around when we were younger. Great to see so many run-of-the-mill cars kept looking as good as they day they ran off the production line (70s and 80s UK cars - probably much better than that).
 

tyred

Legendary Member
Location
Ireland
Irish is correct, although being so close to the border, quite a few are showing UK registrations.

The Hillman Hunter rally car and the Honda Jazz are showing examples of what Irish registrations looked pre-1987. Each electoral area had it's own two letters. The IH on the Hunter is a Donegal registration, no idea where ZS on the Honda originated. It was similar to NI or the mainland UK prior to 1963 as nobody had bothered to change it.

After that, a new system gave the year and the county of registration. Older vehicles imported still got the year of manufacture even if was before '87, as can be seen on the black MKI Cortina - a 1963 car imported and registered in Donegal (DL) at some point after 1987. The red MKV Cortina is a 1981 car imported and registered in Roscommon (RN).

A lot of old vehicle collectors complained about this so more recently, there is an option of a ZV plate on pre 1987 imports like on the Samba and the Metro.

There is something very odd going on with the Rover 200 as I don't think it should have that plate as it's too modern...:whistle:
 

tyred

Legendary Member
Location
Ireland
The Rover's reg is fine actually. Any imported vehicle more than 30 year old can have a ZV plate it seems. I had assumed it would stop for anything after '87 as that is when the new system was introduced. Hard to understand why the Rover owner opted for something that would never have applied to the car when it was new but that is their choice.
 
Top Bottom