Why are the young buggers going for the ole school

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pf, May 14, 9:12am
not so much senility, must be eyesight . I haven't seen any of the mentioned 'young buggers' driving FWD cars .
gazzat22, May 14, 10:14am
Remids me what my brother( who started at NZR then went on to greater things Uk/Saudi Arabia/Zimbabwe in fact was chief Engineer at projects all over the world said The saying was, english stuff was made by idiots for experts to work on,American stuff was made by experts for idiots to work on on.That could be why the pom motor industry has virtually disappeared I dont particularly like jap stuff but as i said its economical,reliable and doesnt stop in the rain.,and doesnt leak oil all over the driveway.
pebbles61, May 14, 10:35am
I assume you mean British owned marques?

As the UK is producing quite a lot of cars at the moment.

There's still Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Bentley, Aston Martin, Morgan, MINI and Rolls-Royce. lol Of course nearly all of those are luxury brands and not everyday cars.
franc123, May 14, 10:45am
British? They're American, Indian and German owned aren't they?
pebbles61, May 14, 12:10pm
Yup, such is globalization. I guess that means Speights and Lion Red are Japanese then etc.
scuba, May 14, 12:56pm
yes they are - but don't tell anybody -it's a secret.
scuba, May 14, 1:07pm
your last 2 sentences are the problem. . most of the BMC cars needed modification, improvement and replacement from the day they were PDI ed.
Once the Pre Delivery Inspection was done it was down hill all the way.
When NZMC started selling Hondas the PDI times dropped by 2/3rds you could basically take the plastic sheets off the interior and start ticking boxes.
Quality didn't drop till NZ assembly increased and even that was no where near as bad as British Leyland product.
pebbles61, May 14, 1:41pm
lol _b \The Japs would shut it down if they actually ever tasted Lion Red!
ozz1, May 14, 4:16pm
vw NO. but worth shit loads. nowa days. BUT xy/xw/xr COONs . grew up with them in oz . owned 17 XY/XW'S. HQ holdens looked sleeker. but you cant go past an old xy coon.fat & square. a true ozy classic. same breath give me a ht monaro and i may change.
socram, May 14, 4:38pm
As the British exported more cars last year than ever before, we know full well that the Brits always were capable of producing decent cars, whether British or overseas owned.

With BL, the combined might of accountants over-ruling engineers and selling cars before they were ready; ineffective management, too full of egos - and too weak to deal with Unions; who in turn, were hell bent on destroying the industry not building it (remember Red Robbo?), of course what they produced was less than perfect.

Nowadays, the Unions work WITH management, not against them. The 1970's were horrendous times in the UK for anyone with a passion for British cars as we had almost weekly strikes and supply disruptions.

Apart from a couple of makes/models, what cars built in the UK today are any worse than the opposition's?

The original Mini particularly, was conceived and built as a challenge to the bubble cars, following the Suez petrol crisis. Sure, they may not have been particularly well built - or quick - to start with, but it was never Issigonis' intention that they'd be used in competition. The fact that they out-cornered just about anything else on the road at the time was accidental.

Whether people like it or not, most of today's offerings owe a lot to the Mini and it would be a pretty poor show if they weren't better than the original!

Owning an Imp, Mini or Ford Escort was often an introduction to motorsport and only the Imp isn't seen around very often today.
elect70, May 15, 2:33pm
Perhaps theve had enough of forking over their pay packet everytime STI suby needs work , & going to simpler cars they can customise without costing a couple years wages . I miss my old Mk1 escort i put the seirra 2L& box in . . Great little car never let me down unlike several EFI cars ive had.
melonhead1, May 15, 2:40pm
Poor neat old cars. I hate seeing those weasels in them with their fart cans, ugly mags, no suspension rubbish.
bjmh, May 15, 2:58pm
I remember when. -
. what are we talking about
laspaz, May 15, 3:01pm
Old men being priced out of the classic car market or something?
mike1345, May 15, 3:59pm
Personally, I can't think of anything more boring than a Falcon, Holden or Valiant. Every Tom, Dick and Harry has one, it'd be nice to see a bit more individuality among blokes and venture into something a bit different.

Having said that, there are Falcons, Holdens and Valiants that I like, but I wouldn't bother having one as I'd rather have something a bit different to all the Tom, Dick and Harrys.

Though I'd have a Charger. Or a VE - VG Valiant. Or a Holden between FX - EH. And maybe an XA GT Falcon.
mike1345, May 15, 4:01pm
Though I could buy several other cool cars for the price of one of those.
nzdoug, May 15, 4:23pm
Old skool Dubs are soaring value wise.
dave653, May 16, 7:18pm
I bought an HJ Holden when I was 18.
Now, 30 years later, guess what. Yep, still driving it!
dublo, May 18, 7:23pm
No-one has mentioned British "young executive sports saloons" like Rover and Triumph 2000s. I bought my Triumph in 1973 when I was a young bugger (29) and before British Leyland's rot set in, and I still enjoy driving it!
mike1345, May 19, 6:40am
I like the old Triumphs, Rovers and MG's etc.

I've had tons of Triumph saloons over the years, the last one was a mint Rover V8 powered one.

It was fun, but my next one will have the original motor. Maybe a nice S with manual overdrive.
elect70, Jan 24, 9:40am
Ive been offered a 80 Daimler Jag , luxury interior walnut dash & trim , peperpots , for $500 rusted around rear windscreen& needs repaint &owner cant be bothered spending $$ to fix Still got a 4.2 good runner & box in it . Hate to see go to scrappy .