Imports?

[avgas]

Hmmm interesting thread.

I wonder if my landcrab came with power sterring when it was sold new here or was that option only on the home market cars?

Don't be too hard on the British cars Yellow Dog....but then again I know you owned a TR7....

BMC was good in the 50's and 60s. Problem was that they didn't re-invest and failed to do research to what joe blogs wanted. They just assumed they would blindly buy their cars. What reason would they assume otherwise? the public lapped up the mini and 1100/1300 like hot cakes. Not to mention Mr. Issigonis wasn't to be questioned!

Then when the 1800 failed to get the same numbers did they start to think "wait a minute...." lol

I think BL summed it up best with the wedge..... 'The shape of things to come!'

-Indy

A little. But you have to remember at the same time 2 things happened that killed the BMC.

America and Japan.

While in the past America had built gas gussling tanks that handled like a tug......the late 60's was a complete revival of design for the american cars. Gas concerns were raised, and people wanted a sporty feeling cars - so hot 6's came into flavor. While the marketers were pushing the "muscle car V8's" the factory was pushing out 1000's of 6's that were just as quick, and looked exactly the same. So if the customer bought a mini and wanted more power they looked at a Dodge, GM or Ford 6 - none of this elegant boat with an 1800. Give me 3L!

The other side to this was the japanese had figured out that building shit air-cooled cars was getting them no where, so what they did was got fancy people to design their cars. They then took all this IP and remade the cars as cheap as possible. The result was amazing. Small cars that people wanted. They drove well, they didn't fail and best of all - the went just as quick as their strongest competitors.
By the time Mazda, Datsun and Colt were putting hot motors into Coupe's (late 60's - early 70's) - BMC was crying to the greats to save them in the race. Cooper and Chapman were the saving grace to BMC's performance woes.....but the writing was on the wall.

[ducatilover]

My old man would have kept his 91 Lux, but I kinda fucked it up nicely taking a 90degree turn at 110kph with no power steering.
It never was the same after that.

I am currently driving a 2009 Ford Focus TDi. Heap of shit. Give me a 10 year old import anyday - will drive a shit load better than this. Don't get me wrong - I do have good moments with the focus, but my god it has a big collection of bad design features. This is the 4th euro we have had, they really know how to fuck it up good.

Dad's is a poverty pack '93 LWB 2wd 1.8 petrol beasty.
I'm not a fan of the Focus range, except the 5cyl ones. A 96 onwards Honda Integra type R out performs the lot of them, rides nice, stupidly reliable, rust free, holds its value well and is far better to drive, how the car makers have gone backwards so far.... The EP3 Civic R was pure brilliance, the Pug 306 S16 was disgustingly fun, why aren't the new ones?
My flatmate has a '10 Corolla wagon as a work car and it's poorly built, gutless, not that good on gas and crap to drive, his '89 Celica is nicer to steer....

[YellowDog]

1800 B series is one of the best they made

Very rarely do you see a TR7 with it's stock engine...

YD knows why this is lol

didthe headlights both pop up or did the prince of darkness, AKA Lucas, work his magic lol



-Indy

Headlights were great. You could flick them up & down continuously so that the servo delay meant that that would start performing alternate winks

[Edbear]

Headlights were great. You could flick them up & down continuously so that the servo delay meant that that would start performing alternate winks

Hmmmm... Wonder what would happen if I tried that on the MX5..?

[Indiana_Jones]

While in the past America had built gas gussling tanks that handled like a tug......the late 60's was a complete revival of design for the american cars. Gas concerns were raised, and people wanted a sporty feeling cars - so hot 6's came into flavor. While the marketers were pushing the "muscle car V8's" the factory was pushing out 1000's of 6's that were just as quick, and looked exactly the same. So if the customer bought a mini and wanted more power they looked at a Dodge, GM or Ford 6 - none of this elegant boat with an 1800. Give me 3L!

The problem in the states was that the Yanks hated and still do, competition. They make it harder for imported cars to meet requirements etc.

-Indy

[slowpoke]

A little. But you have to remember at the same time 2 things happened that killed the BMC.

America and Japan.

While in the past America had built gas gussling tanks that handled like a tug......the late 60's was a complete revival of design for the american cars. Gas concerns were raised, and people wanted a sporty feeling cars - so hot 6's came into flavor. While the marketers were pushing the "muscle car V8's" the factory was pushing out 1000's of 6's that were just as quick, and looked exactly the same. So if the customer bought a mini and wanted more power they looked at a Dodge, GM or Ford 6 - none of this elegant boat with an 1800. Give me 3L!

The other side to this was the japanese had figured out that building shit air-cooled cars was getting them no where, so what they did was got fancy people to design their cars. They then took all this IP and remade the cars as cheap as possible. The result was amazing. Small cars that people wanted. They drove well, they didn't fail and best of all - the went just as quick as their strongest competitors.
By the time Mazda, Datsun and Colt were putting hot motors into Coupe's (late 60's - early 70's) - BMC was crying to the greats to save them in the race. Cooper and Chapman were the saving grace to BMC's performance woes.....but the writing was on the wall.

Your time line isn't quite right and your rose coloured glasses are slipping!

The late 60's was still Gasoline Heaven, it wasn't until '73 that the Oil Crisis hit and muscle cars became dinosaurs and travesty's like the Mustang II sprung up on drawing boards in Detroit.

But nobody ever confused the "muscle car V8's" with the poverty pack 6's and "no way no how" did a 150hp 250ci 6 cylinder Camaro go anything like a 425hp 427ci COPO Camaro. And there were plenty of American sporting cars that handled well by our standards of the era.....but it's all about "fit for purpose" and the 'merican's made a car for every purpose. Cruising a few thousand miles across the country? Step this way to the luxo-barge aisle. Wanna daily driver that can also blow the doors off pretty much anything around a race track? Head over to the Trans Am series aisle for your Boss 302 Mustang, or Z/28 Camaro, T/A Challenger, AMX Javelin.

It's horses for courses: pretty much anyone driving a jap car of the day would say it was hopelessly out of it's element driving down any turnpike in the States and would look at one of those 'tugs' purring past them with unbridled lust.

Yes, the oil crisis played nicely into the Japanese manufacturers hands, but to pretend that all the japanese cars of the era "drove well, they didn't fail and best of all - the went just as quick as their strongest competitors" is stretching things a lil' far. Sure they made some good cars but they made their fair share of farkin' shockers too. Ultimately people wanted cheap, (still do) and on that criteria alone the japanese were unrivalled. For exactly the same reason today Korea is the new Japan: people don't want/can't afford good/sparkling/awesome.....they just want adequate.

[YellowDog]

Hmmmm... Wonder what would happen if I tried that on the MX5..?

The relays on the MX5 work at 3x the rate of the crappy Roots TR7 failure.

However hard you tried, you'd never get the 'Wink' effect.

Hence: The TR7 is a far better 'Winking' car than the MX5

[ducatilover]

Speaking of big American tanks, lookie at what I have listed on TradeMe..... http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...x?id=361298059

[Indiana_Jones]

Speaking of big American tanks, lookie at what I have listed on TradeMe..... http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...x?id=361298059

lol Jesus Christ, 6600cc!

-Indy

[ducatilover]

lol Jesus Christ, 6600cc!

-Indy

185hp of pure.....wait, whut?

It's not big enough if you ask me.

Hah, my P6 made more HP!!! Go the non emissions high compression 3500

[slowpoke]

Speaking of big American tanks, lookie at what I have listed on TradeMe..... http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...x?id=361298059

185hp of pure.....wait, whut?

It's not big enough if you ask me.

Hah, my P6 made more HP!!! Go the non emissions high compression 3500

Hahaha, ya gotta larf at the pre and post emissions/fuel crisis contrast eh? Cars got bigger/fatter/heavier while donks got more and more strangled, poor "wee" things.

Hey, it could be worse, you could have one of those 7 litre Caddy's with front wheel drive

[Edbear]

Hahaha, ya gotta larf at the pre and post emissions/fuel crisis contrast eh? Cars got bigger/fatter/heavier while donks got more and more strangled, poor "wee" things.

Hey, it could be worse, you could have one of those 7 litre Caddy's with front wheel drive

The Americans and the Aussies didn't do emissions controls very well for a long time. Huge engines putting out about the same as my Nissan Pulsar and guzzling gas like nothing else on Earth! Remember the HX-HZ Holden's? Absolute slugs!

[ducatilover]

Hahaha, ya gotta larf at the pre and post emissions/fuel crisis contrast eh? Cars got bigger/fatter/heavier while donks got more and more strangled, poor "wee" things.

Hey, it could be worse, you could have one of those 7 litre Caddy's with front wheel drive

Good lord they were a horrid vehicle....
This TransAm has no emissions gear at all, but, with the low C/R I doubt it's making much power anyway, torque...torque...heaps of it.

The Americans and the Aussies didn't do emissions controls very well for a long time. Huge engines putting out about the same as my Nissan Pulsar and guzzling gas like nothing else on Earth! Remember the HX-HZ Holden's? Absolute slugs!

Yes, but, a 500ci Caddy will do a burn out and read 100mph on the speedo... (Not that I have seen such dangerous things done....) Torque is delicious, plodding along in a million tonne Caddy at no more than 2000rpm, who cares about gas? Or the fact that it's 14 miles long and you can't fit in car parks? It's something one must experience.

[Edbear]

Good lord they were a horrid vehicle....
This TransAm has no emissions gear at all, but, with the low C/R I doubt it's making much power anyway, torque...torque...heaps of it.


Yes, but, a 500ci Caddy will do a burn out and read 100mph on the speedo... (Not that I have seen such dangerous things done....) Torque is delicious, plodding along in a million tonne Caddy at no more than 2000rpm, who cares about gas? Or the fact that it's 14 miles long and you can't fit in car parks? It's something one must experience.

Well, I've always hankered after a '77 Caddy, and I do miss my HT Premier 308...

[ducatilover]

Well, I've always hankered after a '77 Caddy, and I do miss my HT Premier 308...

I've done a bit of work on a 78 Caddy, 'twas a grouse machine. From memory the owner had a fair amount of trouble getting the stupid plastics that sit between the rear bumper and the body.
Ahhh I would love an HT, why was I born too late?
A red HT panel van, even with a 253 would be the tits.