Imports?

[Edbear]

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.

The little 253 could be made to perform with a bit of work, Brockie did wonders with both capacities. The only real weakness of the standard motors were the cams which were too weak and would last about 60,ooo miles. Replaced with a stock grind Crane camshaft and problem solved.

My Premier was rated at 240hp and I could get 24mpg on the open road if I didn't open the 52mm secondaries.

[ducatilover]

The little 253 could be made to perform with a bit of work, Brockie did wonders with both capacities. The only real weakness of the standard motors were the cams which were too weak and would last about 60,ooo miles. Replaced with a stock grind Crane camshaft and problem solved.

My Premier was rated at 240hp and I could get 24mpg on the open road if I didn't open the 52mm secondaries.

Yeah, I've seen a few hot 253 toys running a mild 308 cam, which seems to get the little buggers singing. Sadly, they aren't so cheap these days and finding a decent one is proving difficult.
That's fairly good economy for a 308 really! Considering the Rover did 16mpg from Taupo to Eketahuna, although, it was in desperate need of a tune and new needle and seats that were leaking....

[Edbear]

Yeah, I've seen a few hot 253 toys running a mild 308 cam, which seems to get the little buggers singing. Sadly, they aren't so cheap these days and finding a decent one is proving difficult.
That's fairly good economy for a 308 really! Considering the Rover did 16mpg from Taupo to Eketahuna, although, it was in desperate need of a tune and new needle and seats that were leaking....

Yup! My mate with his 302 Fairlane was getting 15mpg! Mind you I could extract 36mpg from my '67 XR Falcon with the 200 Pursuit motor, too.

I'd love to get a bit of my history back, but can't afford it either!

[ducatilover]

Yup! My mate with his 302 Fairlane was getting 15mpg! Mind you I could extract 36mpg from my '67 XR Falcon with the 200 Pursuit motor, too.

I'd love to get a bit of my history back, but can't afford it either!

It's a bit shitty how it's all becoming harder to find nice older cars of the years before my youth (Which will never expire ) Must be time for another Morrie Minor and I will own an MGB GT pre '73 at some point and never sell it, one of only two cars I have lusted after since first sighting

[Edbear]

It's a bit shitty how it's all becoming harder to find nice older cars of the years before my youth (Which will never expire ) Must be time for another Morrie Minor and I will own an MGB GT pre '73 at some point and never sell it, one of only two cars I have lusted after since first sighting

I learned to drive and went for my licence in Mum's '61 Minor thou sedan! We both loved that car! I recall the local Council used to run the last of the 1100cc vans and utes and I dearly wanted one back in '71!

[ducatilover]

I learned to drive and went for my licence in Mum's '61 Minor thou sedan! We both loved that car! I recall the local Council used to run the last of the 1100cc vans and utes and I dearly wanted one back in '71!

I had a 52 side valve coupe with Lucas lights replacing the trafficators.

[Edbear]

I had a 52 side valve coupe with Lucas lights replacing the trafficators.

Wots the green one in the back?

[ducatilover]

Wots the green one in the back?

27 Chrysler boat tail racer The picture is from the private collection I got Le Morrie from.

[Edbear]

27 Chrysler boat tail racer The picture is from the private collection I got Le Morrie from.

Nice! I like!

[avgas]

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....

Don't get me wrong - you can have fun in my car. But it has the most stupid computer in the world. It tries to drive the car for you at low speeds......which would be great if it was auto - but mine is manual. Its horrible. Revs go all over the show, and if you try and take control it tries to take the control away from you (aka cut the gas).
However it hugs the high speed stuff fine.

Other problem I have is the cupholder. Its right behind the stick......making it fucking useless. You can either drive or put your drink there. What kind of designer moron bother with a cupholder which can hold no cup if you need to change gears????

Don't even get me started on post-94 BMW dashs........ make a mig with Russian gauges seem more user friendly.

[avgas]

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

Waaaa waaa waaaa.
The Japanese got into the states fine thank you very much. They just went under American brand-names (good earner for Chrysler) a few years later (it would have been around 1970 by then). I think it was Toyota and Mazda whom got in first under their own names - all they had to do was setup their own factories.

Likewise the rest of Europe got in there eventually. Except the horrible mishap with Audi in the 80's.

It was just the poms who were blocked......

JDM market is very popular in US right now. But its seems expensive purely cost you can get brand new cars over there dirt cheap.

[ducatilover]

Nice! I like!

Went pretty well too!

Don't get me wrong - you can have fun in my car. But it has the most stupid computer in the world. It tries to drive the car for you at low speeds......which would be great if it was auto - but mine is manual. Its horrible. Revs go all over the show, and if you try and take control it tries to take the control away from you (aka cut the gas).
However it hugs the high speed stuff fine.

Other problem I have is the cupholder. Its right behind the stick......making it fucking useless. You can either drive or put your drink there. What kind of designer moron bother with a cupholder which can hold no cup if you need to change gears????

Don't even get me started on post-94 BMW dashs........ make a mig with Russian gauges seem more user friendly.

My 94 BMW 3 series had a nice dash, easy to read and nice looking in my biased opinion, I was not a fan of the E30 dash, the gauge covering was too reflective, not that you noticed because the cracks in the dash distracted you as you rubbed rust out of your eyes.
I found the Focus dull and boring, especially for the marketing hype and the reviews. The nicest out of that genre was probably the Pug, but, it'll explode. The Focus, Corolla, Civic (Non-type R) etc were shit, the Hyundai Elantra wasn't too bad though, don't hit me. The Imprezza feels tacky...Citroen was vulgar, Renault was as boring as hell...Why can't they make fun in small cars? Mk1 Golf, Pug 205/309 GTi, 306 S16 etc. All of them were brilliant!


My Hyundai Lantra had the cup holder behind the stick, but, it never got in the way unless you needed the ash tray, so I wound my window down (That was also another top car in it's class, ABS, driver air bag, very comfy, wider tyres, good handling and a great stereo, I'd own another as a daily driver)

[avgas]

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

Check my timeline again. Wasn't talking about the oil crisis......there were other reasons there was no money fella.
Just don't mention the war.......

As for the oil crisis playing into the hands of the Jappa's.......YeahNah (cause/effect or irrelevent?). While it was cheaper to run a jappa - they also built slightly better cars for the price. While USA errrr built exactly the same cars with new panel work. Notice that same thing is happening again in US with Japan vs Korea.

[oneofsix]

Waaaa waaa waaaa.
The Japanese got into the states fine thank you very much. They just went under American brand-names (good earner for Chrysler) a few years later (it would have been around 1970 by then). I think it was Toyota and Mazda whom got in first under their own names - all they had to do was setup their own factories.

Likewise the rest of Europe got in there eventually. Except the horrible mishap with Audi in the 80's.

It was just the poms who were blocked......

JDM market is very popular in US right now. But its seems expensive purely cost you can get brand new cars over there dirt cheap.

yeah just don't beat them in their country or things will go wrong for you, just ask Toyoda san. Funny how that as soon as his car brand became number 1 they had soooo many issues. Wonder where the problematic components were built

[Indiana_Jones]

yeah just don't beat them in their country or things will go wrong for you, just ask Toyoda san. Funny how that as soon as his car brand became number 1 they had soooo many issues. Wonder where the problematic components were built

The French aren't much better.

I'm not saying, BMC/BL got blocked out of the U.S. but rather they made it too hard for them to keep up. Look how the U.S. fucked up the MGB for the rest of us....

-Indy