Cars in 1980's Ireland !

mike65

AGH:eek: Is that a Bombardier I see before me? What a fuss that created at the time...


Mike.

BrianD3

Continuing the OT theme, what about lorries and vans that were common in the 80's. Eg the Ford D-Series. Introduced in the sixties but still really common up until the late eighties. I hadn't seen one on the road since around 1995 but then a few months ago I saw one hauling bags of coal near Enfield.
Ford D-Series

Victor_Meldrew

mike65 wrote:

AGH:eek: Is that a Bombardier I see before me? What a fuss that created at the time...


Mike.

They were bad, but not as bad as the junk they replaced...

dcGT

Victor_Meldrew wrote:

They were bad, but not as bad as the junk they replaced...

Classic. Were they the old Vanhools? Also, looks like rear half of the old relaible Datsun Cherry on the left

DC.

Silvera

Check out The National Transport Museum's website for lots of classic Bus and Lorry pics/info -

http://www.nationaltransportmuseum.org


I bet you guys haven't seen one of these type of (Recovery) Towing Dolly's in use for many years (were popular in the 70's and 80's) -

Harvey Frost Tow Dolly


(Couldn't find a pic of an old Harvey Frost Dolly-This is a modern one used for Rally car recovery)

dcGT

Silvera wrote:

Check out The National Transport Museum's website for lots of classic Bus and Lorry pics/info -

http://www.nationaltransportmuseum.org


I bet you guys haven't seen one of these type of (Recovery) Towing Dolly's in use for many years (were popular in the 70's and 80's) -

Harvey Frost Tow Dolly


(Couldn't find a pic of an old Harvey Frost Dolly-This is a modern one used for Rally car recovery)

Towing an 80s Skoda....dear dear dear.

DC.

dcGT

There were a fair few of these still around in the 80s too....

The Morris Marina - Was this part of British Leyland?






and I remember these too - The Austin 1100. Remember the classic scene in Fawlty Towers where Basil beats one of these with a stick? ..Brilliant





DC.

FatherTed

We had one of these:


Then this:


Then this:

mike65

Fr Ted you should have phoned Childline!

Mike.

Silvera

dcGT,

I'll have you know that the Skoda is an 80's 'Rally' car


FatherTed,

Ah, the Opels - great cars.
I lived near an Opel dealer (actually the only car dealer in my town!) so I saw lots of Kadett's when I was growing up, like the 'City' edition you show above and the later Kadett 'D' .

Do you recall the SR editions (1.3 or 1.6) of the Kadett D ?
(usually yellow and black or red and black. Sporty models, haven't seen one in years. Always liked the look of them)

unkel

The Kadett D...

Funny that 3 out of 6 cars my dad has ever owned are now in this thread

dcGT, those cars are horrible. No wonder the last remaining mainstream British carmaker is old and dying...

Victor_Meldrew

I prefer this version of the '70s Opel Kadett..



Much nicer looking than its successors, I thought.

Silvera

Victor,

That's a Vauxhall Chevette (their version of the Opel Kadett City i.e the red one FatherTed posted bove)


Me, I like the Kadett C Coupe version (green in pic)

unkel

Silvera wrote:

Me, I like the Kadett C Coupe version (green in pic)

So do I

The Vauxhall versions have always apalled me though - don't like their front lights

glynf

Anyone remember these? few of these around in the early 80's.

mike65

Ah feck it if we're into old Opels/Vauxhalls then lets get big!

Essense of old barge...




Lock up your wimmin and children!.


Want one!


Mike.

Silvera

Great pic glynf !

I remember those cars well !!
In fact, I owned a 1978 yellow Manta Coupe (just like that Cavalier coupe). I bought it circa 1991 with the intention of restoring it, but due to lack of space I sold it c.1995, for the same price as I paid - £150.

Interestingly in Friday's Buy and sell I noticed the following for sale -

Fiat 128 3P (1976) - €4750
Opel Manta (1987) - €1700
Datsun 180B (1978) - c.€400
(The Datsun is in the 'Car Parts' section)


......good to see such cars are still about.

unkel

I liked the Monza 3.0 V6 at the time, Mike

glynf

Silvera wrote:

I remember those cars well !!
In fact, I owned a 1978 yellow Manta Coupe (just like that Cavalier coupe). I bought it circa 1991 with the intention of restoring it, but due to lack of space I sold it c.1995, for the same price as I paid - £150.

heh. the mother had a cavalier saloon in a fetching bright orange for a few years. :eek:
I used to be mortified going around in it. She loved it, but got such a slagging, changed it eventually.

dcGT

unkel wrote:

dcGT, those cars are horrible. No wonder the last remaining mainstream British carmaker is old and dying...

Indeed they were!

More of a 70s car this, but I remember a few of them in the 80s - The VW 411. There was also a similar VW I remember from this time, I can't remember what I was though. I'd know it if I saw it

DC






DC.

Alfasudcrazy

WOW - this is just an amazing thread with the most brilliant photos. I will post some as well but am working with a new computer with unknown photo programmes.
Its amazing that I own or have owned a lot of the cars here

Have owned
The Mk 1 Escort
The Fiat 128 3p (the one shown is actually a Fiat 128 CL coupe) I had two
Golf Gt1 - I had a mk 2 one

Currently own (of the cars featured here so far)
Alfasud 1.5Ti
Peugeot 504
Escort Mk 2 ( I have two)

What about the Triumph TR6 and the Alfa Gulia GT 1300 Junior - rare I know I only remember seeing one TR6 and never saw the GT Junior.

highdef

Hey Mike (Mod) - I so love the old Opel Senator - A fantastic car. I've always wanted to own one of those with the 3L engine. I don't know which mark is the one I love but in the pics you posted, it would be the light blue one. Fantastic looking car - especially the grille - I drive a Scorpio so I'm well into the quirky looking cars (it's a facelift dechromed toned down version). Drove a facelift Xantia before that (but really wanted an XM). I may be youngish (25) but I certainly don't pick my cars like a 25 year old!! I'll keep the Scorpio for as long as I can (not too far off 100,000 miles now). I reckon it could be a future classic. They were considered ugly at the time - frog eyed! Now they seem more mainstream. The new Lexus 400 (or 430??) looks so similar at the front. The car was way ahead of hits time. And of course, it is basically a Granada with a new front and ar*e - Another 80's classic. Can't really find any decent pictures but here's one:

unkel

dcGT wrote:

More of a 70s car this, but I remember a few of them in the 80s - The VW 411

The original VW Variant

I don't think they sold a lot of these, but the ones around seem to last forever (well almost)

unkel

Alfasudcrazy wrote:

Currently own (of the cars featured here so far)

Jaysis, how many cars do you own?

Alfasudcrazy wrote:

Alfa Gulia GT 1300 Junior

Love that car

Haven't seen one of them either for a long, long time

Alfasudcrazy

I own an adequate number of cars

4 classics - TR6. Peugeot 504, Gt Junior, and let me think for a min - oh yes
the alfasud ti

2 for sale cars - two Mk 11 Escorts

2 modern cars - my new GT (ist wk in Jan) and my VW Polo

1 VW Caddy van

Total of 9 vehicles - well they should keep me going for a while I hope :rolleyes:

dcGT

Plenty of these around in the 80s - The Peugeot 305. My brother had the estate van version of it. God I hate those door handles. They were straight off the Morris Marina



A van with a sunroof - very fancy!


DC.

unkel

I still see 305s on a regular basis - all of them diesels. Can't say I ever liked their looks though

Drove a 205 1.9 diesel with about 450k miles on it for a job in security when I was a student. Fair play to those awl Peugeot diesels

Alfasudcrazy wrote:

Peugeot 504, Gt Junior, and let me think for a min - oh yes
the alfasud ti

Do you have them stored in a garage / barn? Do they still drive? Any rust problems?

My father-in-law absolutely loves the 504. My grandfather had several of them and I remember the luxury of the upholstery and the rear arm rest

I haven't seen one in Ireland in the last 10 years iirc. There were plenty around in Tunesia when I was there in the 90s

Alfasudcrazy

unkel wrote:

Do you have them stored in a garage / barn? Do they still drive? Any rust problems?

My father-in-law absolutely loves the 504. My grandfather had several of them and I remember the luxury of the upholstery and the rear arm rest

I haven't seen one in Ireland in the last 10 years iirc. There were plenty around in Tunesia when I was there in the 90s

I have them in a garage but they are a really tight fit and if I have to do any work on them I have to wait for a dry day so I can take one of them out to make some room. I have a dehumidifier and never let them get wet so they are fairly rust free. I make a point of driving them at least once a week for about 10 miles if the roads are dry.
I am only after getting the 504 - a UK import as are all the others as well - its a real find as it only has 40,000 miles on the clock - pity it is only the basic L model though - the GL would have been much nicer.
Here are some pics of the 504 :cool:

BrianD3

That 504 is a real find alright. Pics look great and even if it is only a base model those seats look damn comfortable And I'd say there are more Ferraris than peugeot 504s on Irish roads these days, so what you have is very rare.

BrianD3

CrowdedHouse

Any one remember or have a decent pic of the Vauxhall Firenza,there was one in my town when I was a nipper.Thought they looked very sporty & cool!
Weren't very common(late 70's)-were they expensive at the time