The year is 1990....

Saab Ed

The year is 1990. You've just been made head of your department and transport have just given you the list of what car you can have. The list is as follows:


Citroen XM 2.0


Opel Omega 2.0


Audi 100 1.8


Renault 2.0


Saab 9000i ( Non Turbo )


Rover 820

De Hipster

Honestly think I'd be incluned to walk! Maybe the Audi (at a push)

or

Cookie_Monster

Cool thread.

I'd have to take the Omega myself

Greenman

Out of the list the Opel, but surely a Merc would be offered?

Saab Ed

Greenman wrote: »

Out of the list the Opel, but surely a Merc would be offered?

Nah you see that brings you down to a 190 and back in thoses days the barge was still king in middle management :D

VolvoMan

It's a very tough choice, I'm actually struggling to choose one!:D

Greenman

Saab Ed wrote: »

Nah you see that brings you down to a 190 and back in thoses days the barge was still king in middle management :D

Would a diesel be an option??

TomMc

XM was the only car of that lot, that ever appealed to me, although the Omega was always a very good car in its own right. With a bit more power than 2.0L though. Knew someone with a 3000, his son really thrashed it.

Saab Ed

Greenman wrote: »

Would a diesel be an option??

No you have to make upper management to even hear the word diesel mentioned.....which gives me an idea for when we are finished here

bostoncommon

audi

Biro

The Saab 9000i out of that list.

KamiKazi

BMW 3 Series please :pac:

Saab Ed

Audi, Opel , Citroen so far.......Does anybody love the Renault? :pac:

Saab Ed

KamiKazi wrote: »

BMW 3 Series please :pac:

Nope. Not allowed. Too small. Has to be a barge.

TomMc

Alfa 164 is missing.:P

Saab Ed

TomMc wrote: »

Alfa 164 is missing.:P

I did think about it and a Volvo 740 too. Now that I think of it I forgot the ulimate barge

tc20

tough choice Ed...
if it were 1990 i would have gone for the Omega and so thats what i voted for. However, looking at those cars again now, i'd like to think i'd be brave enough to go for the XM, but i'm drawn to both the Saab, and then the Audi.

edit: if the Alfa 164 is included, then that would get my vote

TomMc

Saab Ed wrote: »

Audi, Opel , Citroen so far.......Does anybody love the Renault? :pac:

With a V6 Turbo maybe or else the Safrane Biturbo a few years later.

Bitten & Hisses

Cool thread. I'd be torn between the Omega and the Audi, but the Granada would win hands-down if it was on the list.

TomMc

Saab Ed wrote: »

I did think about it and a Volvo 740 too. Now that I think of it I forgot the ulimate barge

and of course the Lancia Thema which was related to the 9000 & 164.

Seth Brundle

The oul fella used to have the opel and it was a good motor to drive so out of sentimentality I'd pick it!

Davidth88

You know in the year 1990 , I had a company car ....... it was a

Vauxhall Carlton ( Opel Omega here ) .

One of the nicest cars I ever had , the best motorway cruiser bar none.
I once did London-Edinburgh non-stop in about 6.5 hrs ( arrived at destination on fumes only ).

Nice thread , brought back some really good memories !

dragonsgates

F*ck me

Do I win a prize for owning 4 of those heaps over the last 20 years.

The 820 was the most fun, but it should have been sold with 3 free engines.

The 25 had the most electric gizmo's. (that didn't work!)

The XM was worse than the 820, I remember the drive belt going on the M25, no power no brakes no suspension (maybe I had BX?)

OPel Omega was a company car and I remember it was huge inside and fast (but my own car in 1991 was a Fiat Strada)

My cousin had a Granada Scorpio 2.9 in 94, it was a great looking car back then.

Saab Ed

dragonsgates wrote: »

F*ck me

Do I win a prize for owning 4 of those heaps over the last 20 years.

.

Yes...this....



So long as you're over 75 and accompanied by both your parents :P

mark renton

2.9i Ghia Scorpio

R.O.R

It was August 1989 that my Dad got his Brand New, G registered Vauxhall Carlton 2.0i CDX Auto. Black with the lovely multispoke Alloys - can't find a decent pic on-line but it was a great looking car.

Was a shame to see the back of the 740 GLE Estate, but that was only for 6 months because it was cheaper to send my Dad's Cavalier back rather than the Volvo.

robtri

for me it would have to be the omega.....
now if I could get the Carlton version.... :D:D

JHMEG

Nissan Bluebird is also missing. My uncle had one. Quadraphonic sound system with a joystick for controlling it, airplane style reading lights, and blue tinted windows. It rocked.

Saab Ed

JHMEG wrote: »

Nissan Bluebird is also missing. My uncle had one. Quadraphonic sound system with a joystick for controlling it, airplane style reading lights, and blue tinted windows. It rocked.

No... the Bluebird was a reps car. In the sierra / vectra / 405 class etc etc.

54321

Great thread!

Omega all the way!

mike65

The Saab 9000, I'd wait 5 years for the XM!

bazz26

Nobody mentioned the Peugeot 605 2.1 Diesel Turbo:



Probably one of the best looking barges at the time. Used the same platform as the XM and 164. My old man's boss at the time had one of these. They had a poor image though as they were jsut seen as a big 405.

The popular weapon of choice though was the Ford Granada 2.0i Ghia or if you were the sales team manager you had the 2.9i Scorpio version.

mickdw

Surely that model Audi 100 wasnt out in 1990. I think it was late 91 when it came out. Maybe not.
Anyway, that would be my choice. We used to have one of those, fabulous car at that time. Interior styling & equipment would still pass today tbh.

mike65

Well the 100 became the A6 with a few very small detail changes, I drive a 1996 model and its still tight as a drum.

Fey!

I was looking at the Audi, thinking I used to love driving one, but then realised that it was the 1.8 rather than the 2.0.

So I went with the Rover (used to love the Vitesse version, especially the later 2.0 Turbo version). We had a Rover of that vintage a few years after that, and we never had much bother with it.

I never really liked the Citroen, we had a Renault 18 GLS that the electrics kept going bonkers on. I might have gone SAAB if it had been the turbo. My OHs cousin has an Omega in Poland with starship mileage (2.5TD), and it's a great car.

Would have gone for the Granada if it had been an option (a friends father had a GHIA version which was beautiful at the time). The I had a Peugeot 405, which would have been enough to put me off the 605 (I had the 1.9GLD).

Max Power1

The old man had a citroen XM, it was either 3.0 or 3.5 litre V6, and a BEAST.

Deffo take the XM, even if its only the 2L version

Cionád

Has to be the Omega.

Solitaire

Omegagagagaga!

junkyard

Mustn't have been a very good company if these were your choice of car.:pac: I'd go for a BMW 735 if I was buying.

Mr Benevolent

The Omega. There's no other choice among that shifty lot. Well, maybe the Audi.

unkel

It's a company car so I would never have to pay any bill? It'll have to be the XM so

If the 164 had been on the list too, I might have been tempted. Wait, with only a 2l engine that's a bit pointless for a large Alfa. It needs the 3lV6. So I'd still pick the XM :cool:

quattro777

The only way you'd be driving that Audi 100 in 1990 is if you had a time machine
A close one for me between this and the Omega, but I went for the 100

This is what you'd have
Audi 100 C3 (1982–1991)

L1011

Ooh, the Saab, I'll fit right in with all my customers (most of them still drive 9-5s!).

road_high

Great thread. Really illustrates the so-called "flight to premium" over the past 20 years or less; It's all Beemers, Audi, Merc and even Volvo now. They were exotic back then, now they are on every street corner.
Opel have long since dropped the Omega, only had that horrible Signum thingy . I think that was a sad end for a fine and well respected car.

VolvoMan

bazz26 wrote: »

Probably one of the best looking barges at the time. Used the same platform as the XM and 164.

They looked a lot like the 164 and were designed by the same design house, but that's where the similarity ends. The Peugeot 605 had absolutely nothing to do with the 164.

junkyard wrote: »

Mustn't have been a very good company if these were your choice of car.:pac: I'd go for a BMW 735 if I was buying.

I'm pretty sure that would've cost double what these cars retail at. These are base model executive cars and not at all in the same class as the 7 Series.

illdoit2morrow

Omega, always had a thing for them. They were flash back then in my books.

Saw an 87 WW 1 Omega parked up in Wicklow snot so long ago, covered in Moss...but still a handsome car...

Just on the Volvo...remember the 740 Turbo intercooler...sounded mental to a 15yo boy back then

mike65

mfitzy wrote: »

Great thread. Really illustrates the so-called "flight to premium" over the past 20 years or less; It's all Beemers, Audi, Merc and even Volvo now. They were exotic back then, now they are on every street corner.
Opel have long since dropped the Omega, only had that horrible Signum thingy . I think that was a sad end for a fine and well respected car.

To be fair Ireland was as poor as a church mouse back then, the only people who had decent cars were big farmers, politicans and the upper echelon of buisnessmen. I remember heading into Rosslare on the N25 in the early 90s one day as the ferry traffic came against me it was all UK reg shiney BMWs, Volvos etc while the local plates were tatty Kadettes and Corollas.

road_high

True enough Mike. I remember when I was a chap in the late 1980s we had an 85 Kadett-will never forget it- XIC 643! We used go allover the country in it, and not a seatbelt in the back between us . Crazy when you think of it now.

Today we would have had a Zafira or such like with seats and seatbelts, airbags allover the shop. Cars moved in so much in the last 15-20 years , especially in Ireland. I remember when electric windows were a major luxury item. Now even the most basic Panda will have 'em. Were probably just about standard on the cars in this thread at the time.

illdoit2morrow

Very true the last two posters...if the 'heres what i saw today' thread existed back then...we'd have very few pics

cruiser178

opel for me,had the 87 vauxhall one 2.9i,loved it.

alexmcred

My father had the a 91 (I think) omega 2.0 diamond in maroon as a company car he hated the thing lol he had a Galant before 2.0 before it.

My oldest brother loved driving it lol.