Once ubiquitous vehicles you never see anymore

[Tom A]

Austin (Rover) Metros, Maestros, and Montegos.
Also Ford Sierras and Vauxhall Novas.

 

[HackneyE9]

Datsuns.

 

[gentlegreen]

Thankfully most Reliant Robins now seem to have expired

er, that's the Regal
I taught myself to drive in an hour in mine.

I had what they laughingly called a "saloon"

Clutch operating rod was from a flexiform filing cabinet.
When my front torsion suspension failed I had it repaired with a bit of rotary line post.

 

[gentlegreen]

The legendary C50 and C90

Best motorised vehicle I ever owned.

 

[zoltan]

this boxy beast

once everywhere on 1970's streets - no keys needed to get onto or drive away

sadly few left- the rest rotted or were used in banger racing

I was after one for a few years, but never got a good un that was worth spending the money on

 

[zenie]

I a Reliant Robin specifically for the expired a few years ago in Putney. A rather fun way to travel to the incinerator in my opinion.

I owned a black clubman estate that we nicknamed 'the hearse' still got a lime green one that needs selling

When I die I'd quite like a black countryman or traveller to have me coffin in the back of.

 

[Giles]

Sadly don't see many of these now. My mum and dad put me on the insurance of their 2300 just after I passed my test as a 17 year old. Very trusting of them!

I had a 1982 SD1 3.5 just after I finished Uni. Went like the clappers (145mph coming up the M2 one night, in those pre-Gatso days). All the electrics kept fucking up though, and it was a tad "thirsty". Very rare to see an SD1 at all nowadays.

Giles..

 

[Stanley Edwards]

...

sadly few left- the rest rotted or were used in banger racing
...

Used to see a lot of them at Hednesford

From same era. The Ford Corsair was a class stunt car in banger racing

Ford and GM good ideas just before the 1970's fuel crisis kicked in.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Most major police departments used to drive Chevs, like this one. Now they've mostly all switched to Ford Crown Vics.

 

[Poi E]

Datsuns.

They live

 

[untethered]

Hillman Imp:

 

[Pete the Greek]

an Allegro drove past me today. In shit, skid mark brown too.

QUALITY.

 

[Orang Utan]

powder blue three-wheeled spaz chariots

 

[cybertect]

an Allegro drove past me today. In shit, skid mark brown too.

QUALITY.

Move to Malta. It's like stepping back in time.

(I've a few more where those came from )

 

[cybertect]

Datsuns.

Probably something to do with a Corgi model I had when I was about five years old, but I've always had a huge soft spot for the 240Z.

 

[brixtonvilla]

Sadly don't see many of these now. My mum and dad put me on the insurance of their 2300 just after I passed my test as a 17 year old. Very trusting of them!

Glorious looking car, I always thought. Don't see many of these around these days, especially now that all the Cosworths have been thrashed or trashed...

Hard to believe what a radical design it was at the time after the straight lines and pin-sharp corners of the late 70s. Its influence can still be seen on 4-seater saloons to this day (unfortunately).

 

[Griff]

These

 

[pseudonarcissus]

do you still get rag and bone men with horses?

 

[pogofish]

One of these chugged alongside me on the way home last night.

A Volvo 544, In grey, driven by a bloke who looked like he just might have had it from new.

No idea how old it was but I see they went out of production in 1965 & were one of the models that cemented Volvo's rep as a maker of solid reliable cars.

 

[Spion]

do you still get rag and bone men with horses?

There's at least one in Bradford

 

[eoin_k]

 

[longdog]

Sadly don't see many of these now. My mum and dad put me on the insurance of their 2300 just after I passed my test as a 17 year old. Very trusting of them!

I used to have a V8. Frighteningly fast car for something with such soggy suspension. Like driving a 130mph sofa.

I managed to get from Kent to Hull in just short of two and a half hours in mine. This was in the days before speed cameras.

 

[ricbake]

The legendary C50 and C90

Got one of these in the garage that hasn't moved since 1984 -

 

[Mrs Magpie]

My Gran had a series of Renault 4s after she got rid of her Ford Anglia.

 

[bluestreak]

i love old cars. they've so much more character than new ones. growing up in west essex as i did i've got a very soft spot for the ford cortina. when i was a kid we had a hillman avenger. we drove it all over the country loaded with kids and dogs and luggage, probably didn't go over 60mph the whole time. when i was a teenager and went on holiday with friends for the first time in a car i was honestly dumbstruck by the fact you could do london to north wales in under nine hours....

an ex of mine used to drive a bluebird, a sky blue one at that. lovely vehicle but didn't like hills much. sadly we did, and found ourselves succumbing to gravity on country lanes on a fair few occasions. miss that car.

 

[pembrokestephen]

This one had a classic LC pilot in period costume - stonewashed denim jeans, dirty white reebok classics and ripped leather jacket. I suppose most LC riders from back in the day are either dead or doing stretches for armed robbery and consequently their steeds have long since bit the dust - thats why you don't see them anymore.

Got any others?

Nah, the reason there aren't any powervalves any more is that they all - yes, every last one - got stolen, thrashed to death on the racetrack, then sold back to numpty roadusers who dumped them in ditches when they blew up on the way back from the bloke they'd bought it off.

I remember going all along the Deceptives by Box Hill as pillion on one of those things. On the back wheel, driven by a nutter. I think it may be the last time I ever rode pillion...

 

[pembrokestephen]

powder blue three-wheeled spaz chariots

Not many people know this, but those things -

- were made by the same people who made this...

Yup, the AC Cobra. Made in Thames Ditton, just down the road from Hampton Court.

 

[Pete the Greek]

I used to have a V8. Frighteningly fast car for something with such soggy suspension. Like driving a 130mph sofa.

I managed to get from Kent to Hull in just short of two and a half hours in mine. This was in the days before speed cameras.

that car is so rude, it hurts

I love it. 'Specially the 3500 version!

 

[Roadkill]

Not so long back virtually every suburban street still had a MkI Fiesta parked up. Now they all seem to have gone. It's a shame, 'cos they were good little cars.

My mum had one as a runabout a few years back, after she gave up her lease car. It was the 1300 version so it went well, and it handled quite nicely too. She, I and my brother put 10,000 miles on it in a year with only one or two minor problems before a rusty suspension mounting failed it the MoT. She flogged it for £50 to a couple of enthusiasts, and according to the DVLA's car search website it's still registered...

 

[Roadkill]

Has to be said, as well:

How many MkII Escorts do you see these days?

Actually, loads ... if you go to rallies. It's amazing how popular the old 'scort still is. Which is one reason why it's rare now: all the decent two-door saloons have been bought up by the rally boys for spare bodyshells!

There's nothing quite like the sight and sound of an Escort in full flight, engine screaming, gravel flying from the rear wheels and tail hanging out at impossible angles...