Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Oh aye. Remember the Allegro Vanden Plas? A very shiny turd indeed.
KneesUp is right. Morris were the first to do it with the Minor, it reduced tooling costs for left and right hand drive versions. They did the same with the Mini.The actual 'point' of the central dash is it's apparently 'easier' to glance across, than to glance down - less eye strain .
A million opinions cant be wrong but I had an Allegro 1750HL i think it was, twin carbs. TBF it was comfortable, accelerated really well, did what it needed to do as a typical banger I'd buy at that time.Oh aye. Remember the Allegro Vanden Plas? A very shiny turd indeed.
There is a 2006 Mazda 6 at a neighbours for £800......
A million opinions cant be wrong but I had an Allegro 1750HL i think it was, twin carbs. TBF it was comfortable, accelerated really well, did what it needed to do as a typical banger I'd buy at that time.
340s are now highly coveted by the Drift crowd, AIUI. Funny old World.In the mid 90's I was changing jobs and needed a car quickly for a few months.
I acquired my father's old Volvo 340, the small eurobox thing, not a proper Volvo. Terrible car, it would cut out going downhill and would only re start if you depressed the clutch.
Anyway I soon got rid of it, traded it in for a Citroen Volcane sporty number.
A few weeks later on a Sunday evening I had a call from someone with a broad Norfolk accent.
It turned out to be the local constabulary questioning if I owned a Volvo reg number etc ...... I thought this was a wind up.
Apparently it had been used to ram raid a chemist in Norfolk for drugs. I still wonder how it got to be 300 miles away.
Probably bought at an auction.
I hope it was an Equipe - now there was a car...allegedly.My first car was an Allaggro 1750HL! It was indeed quite sprightly, sometimes as regularly as 2 orm3 times a week it would run properly. Dreadful design in most other regards though. Problem is, in the 70s people didnt have a lot of choice - the Japanese vehicles hadn't established full marketplace acceptance, so it was be a weirdo with a continental car, buy a British car and a tow rope, or get the bus.
"this Equipe was fully restored by the vendor in 2010-2011 at a cost of over £10,000" - you're not kidding.I hope it was an Equipe - now there was a car...allegedly.
And just to prove that there is madness amongst us:
http://classiccars.brightwells.com/viewdetails.php?id=4906
It does defy any sort of logic. If it was something like an Alfasud I could sort of get it, but it had no merit, it still has no merit - but hey, someone wanted it, and I assume they got satisfaction from it, so there you go."this Equipe was fully restored by the vendor in 2010-2011 at a cost of over £10,000" - you're not kidding.
And yet a man in his 50s automatically becomes a Classic, I think you (we) will find, ehAnd that definitely raises a valid point. Just because a car is old, does not automatically make it a classic. It needs some redeeming features or characteristics to make it so.
If it's a diesel, run like hell. There seems to be an inordinate amount of them about with knackered engines.
My 'secret' fetish is buying/owning/selling really appalling cars. Today was fabulous...
View attachment 477206
And the reason is, beauty is In the eye of the beholder.And that definitely raises a valid point. Just because a car is old, does not automatically make it a classic. It needs some redeeming features or characteristics to make it so.
My Uncle had one, the 1750 version. That certainly went like one off a shiny shovel compared to other cars at the time.Oh aye. Remember the Allegro Vanden Plas? A very shiny turd indeed.