(Originally posted 4 August 2018) Car shows come in all shapes and sizes, from the adhoc gathering outside a pub on a summer evening with relaxed, informal conversation to the full Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance with its remarkable and unattainable selection of some of the most beautiful cars in the world. But how about a car show that sets out to celebrate the ordinary, to let us show our enthusiasm for the successful, and unsuccessful, mundane, the fondly remembered but plain, examples of the cars our families used to drive on the real world, the cars you thought were best because they were what Dad drove? Not always classics, but Curbside Classics.
If this appeals, then this is the show for you – the Festival of the Unexceptional featuring the tightly but good naturedly contested Concours de l’Ordinaire, organised by Hagerty Insurance, one of the UK’s leading classic car insurers. This for free, or the Goodwood Festival of Speed for “How much?” Maybe for today we can call them Kerbside Classics?
This first report will focus on the UK brands and UK built vehicles; the second on the European and Japanese brands.
First up is perhaps the ultimate unexceptional – the Ford Cortina. In this case, a 1977 Cortina Mk4 2.0GL. By 1976, the Cortina was a direct twin in all except name with the German built Ford Taunus and was a re-body of the 1970 Mk3 “Coke bottle” car.
Dad was doing quite well if he had either bought or been given by his employer a 2 litre Cortina in 1977. This was Britain’s best seller throughout its life, through to 1979, when the closely related Mk5 or Cortina 80 took over. But it, and the Cortina in general, was never a great car, or even a good car, in absolute terms.
From 1980, Ford in Europe declared that the cars were going to be better. Bob Lutz was in charge, and the cars did get better, if not immediately great. The 1980 Escort Mk3, closely linked with the first American Escort, was the first one, and apart from a pretty harsh ride and some cheapness in the interior was a complete eye opener for Ford customers.
This is an early Escort Popular, the entry level model, and never was a car more astutely specified to get you into the showroom to buy the next one up the ladder.
Ford followed up in 1982 with the Sierra, which brought independent rear suspension and aerodynamic styling to the everyday customer. This car was a complete step change from the cheerful if lowest common denominator Cortina, albeit at a substantially increased price.
Our feature car is a 1983 Sierra 1.6L, essentially the datum Sierra for many a private buyer.
The interior was just as much of a change for Cortina owners, and remained essentially unchanged for 11 years.
Ford of Britain’s last solo big car was the 1966 Zephyr and Zodiac range. This is a 1967 Zodiac with the 3 litre Essex V6, with understeer to match, and Ford’s first independent rear suspension. These cars are not considered to have been a commercial or technical success, and were succeeded by the European Granada in 1972.
Here we have a 1976 Austin Maxi 1750, with the larger engine and rod operated cable gearbox. Many people remained ambivalent at best about the Maxi for its entire life; others swore by and bought it repeatedly.
Alongside it is a 1984 Austin Maestro 1.3L, competing directly with the Ford Escort albeit with a few extra inches in the wheelbase for more space and more production cost for BL.
The Maestro replaced the unloved (I think that is fair, even kind) Austin Allegro. No such event could be quite complete with a selection of Allegros, and no report therefore complete without them either.
First, a 1975 Allegro 1100 Deluxe – entry level to Allegro-dom – in one of those 1970s BL colours that you can’t name and probably don’t want. Fair dues to the owner for keeping it the way it is, and for sharing his enjoyment of it in public.
You could still have that colour in 1979 as well, if you really wanted.
And this is a 1973 Allegro 1500, with the Maxi’s E series engine and five speed gearbox, and a vinyl roof. The car behind is a Peugeot 309, the British built successor to the Talbot (née Chrysler) Horizon.
The Allegro’s great counterpart was the Morris Marina, perhaps the worst British car of the 1970s.
Here is a 1978 Marina 1.3 estate, trapped awkwardly between the Escort and Cortina on size, and behind both on practically every criteria.
Unusually, this is a later 1983 Ital pickup, visually distinguished by the revised door handles and new front grille and lights. 1983 makes it one of the last Morris vehicles – this was the last year of the Marina/Ital and the Morris brand.
Of course, Ford and BL did not have a duopoly on the unexceptional. Chrysler’s UK arm, formerly the Rootes Group, had something to offer to.
First, the Hillman Imp. CC has seen the Imp and its backstory before, and despite its commercial failure it does have some interesting technical and social aspects.
But it was, in terms of market achievement and technical completeness, at least unexceptional and possibly worse.
This is a 1975, so close to the end as the UK government bailout loomed.
This is a 1974 car, and the photo gives an overall impression of the event as well, in the grounds of Stowe House, now Stowe School (fees £37,000 per year).
The Hillman Avenger was perhaps the mainstay of the Chrysler UK range in the early 1970s.
Our unexceptional Avenger was this 1974 Avenger Super 1600 estate, in quite splendid condition.
Also present was this 1981 Talbot Avenger 1600. Yes, the Avenger had three brand names, Hillman, Chrysler and Talbot, in the home market, and many others round the world. After the Peugeot takeover of Chrysler Europe, the Talbot name was used on the remaining cars, including the last year or so of Avenger production.
The other Rootes highlight was this 1971 Humber Sceptre saloon. The Sceptre was the upscale version of the Hillman Hunter, using the Humber brand. Rootes’ Buick, if you like.
And it was in the colour of my Dad’s 1971 Hillman Hunter, so this was as close as reasonably expected to that definition of unexceptional.
The Hunter (or Arrow) family was effectively replaced in 1975 by the Chrysler Alpine, a UK market version of the Simca 1307 and 1308 hatchback. This car was a derivative or evolution of the Simca 1100 (and 1204), sharing the drivetrain and suspension on a longer Roy Axe styled body. For the UK market, Chrysler assembled the car in Coventry.
This was a show about cars your Dad drove. Mine drove three of these, including one of the first series as this red car. He did indulge, though, in the 1442cc engine rather than the 1294cc of this car. Some will claim it was underrated; others will highlight the noise, the tappets that needed adjustment every 5000 miles and the low geared and heavy steering with the awkwardly positioned wheel.
Still, this car was chosen as the winner of the show, so credit to the owner for that and the car’s preparation and presentation, which was very impressive.
GM’s UK branch, Vauxhall, has had its share, maybe more than its share, of the unexceptional. Perhaps the pinnacle of Vauxhall’s unexceptional pedigree is the Vauxhall Viscount. Take a Vauxhall Cresta with its 3.3 litre Bedford van engine and add a vinyl roof, Powerglide and many interior trimmings and you get the Viscount. Against the Ford Zodiac, Rover 3500, Triumph 2500 and the bargain that was the early Jaguar XJ6, the commercial result was fairly predictable.
Later Vauxhalls were less unexceptional, probably because of their Opel base and association. The first front wheel drive Vauxhall was the first Astra, or Kadett D, seen as a striking 1982 special edition (Astra EXP, no less) with two tone paint and alloy wheels. In 1982, this was a statement.
The first Opel to form a basis for a Vauxhall was the Ascona B, which sired the original Vauxhall Cavalier in 1975 and was built in Belgium, not Luton, initially.
On road sightings are now very rare indeed. This is a 1980 1.6L version, the default Cavalier for any Cortina owner tempted to change. And there were many, as Britain learned that affordable family cars did not have to be inadequate.
And if you were very lucky, Dad would have had a Cavalier Coupe, an Opel Manta under another name and a car that showed up the Capri in practically every way.
Premium brands were there too – how about a Rover 213? This was the first Rover (and second BL car) to be based on a Honda, and was in fact little more than re-badged Civic, complete with the Honda engine and gearbox.
The Rover succeeded the smaller Triumphs, such as this 1975 Triumph Toledo. The Toledo was part of a family of cars, converted from front wheel drive to rear drive, from the Triumph 1300 originally launched in 1965, to the Dolomite Sprint.
I always look for a Toledo at a likely car show, as much of my learner driver time was spent in Mum’s Toledo, which fortunately wasn’t hearing aid beige. But it isn’t really exceptional for anything else.
My first car was an Austin miniMetro 1.0 litre, a 1982 car in bright blue with a beige interior. It seemed quite tasteful, colour wise, then.
This show has its share of Metros, most note worthy was this 1982 1.0 litre version.
If accountancy training was going well, you could have an MG Metro, like our friend Big Paws did. A 1.3 litre engine, alloy wheels, well trimmed interior and red seat belts. All you needed in 1983.
By 1988, you could have a two tone Metro, as BL tried to move upscale and progressively adopted the Rover brand.
And with a wood and leather trimmed interior.
And to close, two cars that tell part of the story of the British industry through the 1970s to the 1990s. First, a 1991 Rover 820i with Vitesse style bodykit. Based on the first Honda Legend, this car’s style was based on the last truly iconic Rover, the SD1.
In this case, a 1983 Rover 3500SE. My thoughts on this car are well recorded on CC. Seeing one is always a treat; seeing one as good as this is truly a great delight and highlight.
Unexceptional – not really, any of them. These are Kerbside Classics!
A fabulous trip to the kerb, thanks for inviting us along.
That Cortina up top is a heartbreaker. In a different world, Ford would have sold that Stateside in place of the aging Pinto and had a winning entry when buyers were looking for small cars. But the Cortina had not proved very durable here and sales petered out just as the demand for small cars was starting to grow. And exchange rates would have made British imports uncompetitive pricewise.
That Austin Allegro was just butt ugly. I am really liking the Hillman Avenger wagon, though.
That’s a really nice shade of deep, metallic green on the Avenger. Would look even better on the fastback Rapier though!
That mk4 Cortina is a different car to the mk2 that was sold in the U.S. the mk4 used the German 1.6and 2.0 ohc engines that went into early pintos…in the 70s a cortina 2.0 was a quick car. They were very basic and easy to work on, I had loads over the years.
That Cortina up top is a heartbreaker. In a different world, Ford would have sold that Stateside in place of the aging Pinto and had a winning entry when buyers were looking for small cars.
While Ford US styling went so very wrong in the 70s, their European division was turning out some indecently attractive cars. I particularly like the Cortina wagon.
Plymouth Cricket in your world JP, did you have the wagon on offer?
Yep we got the wagon here, though only for less than a year (mid-1972 through early ’73, with all of the “’73” models built in 1972 as low sales didn’t warrant adapting it to the new safety and pollution regulations that took effect in calendar year 1973).
My family had a ’71 bought new, after bringing 6-year-old me around car-shopping (which I still vaguely recall; the only other car I remember being cross-shopped was some Fiat although there were likely others). The Cricket was at its most impressive sitting on a showroom floor as the interior really was roomy and comfortable, especially compared to its awful American competitors (Pinto, Vega, Gremlin). The biggest standout feature was the huge front door storage bins that were big enough to hold a box of Kleenex, a big draw to my allergy-suffering mom. I think that’s what sold her on the car.
Once under way though, it quickly turned into a heap of bolts. Endless automatic transmission and exhaust system maladies; the car never wanted to shift into second gear. I remember lots of noise and big jolts when the car finally upshifted into 2nd, which sometimes occurred after the car stopped and started rolling backward going up a hill. No air conditioning because it wasn’t even an option. After five years of misery it was replaced by…. a Chevette.
Awesome ’70s-tastic brochure graphics though: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leicester-vehicle-photography/15875252083/in/photostream/
Roger
Great show and selection of cars. I would have picked that show for a visit just to recapture the memories!
I forgot to mention that we rented an Imp on a trip to Cambridge in ’76. I recall that we ended up being on a first name basis with the local AA man! The garage in the foreground ended up subsiding from the attached house and causing all kinds of brickwork to split, due to the heatwave in the UK at that time. It caused the land underneath the garage to shrink enough for it to shift the foundation,
Not sure if it is just a coincidence but none of the “smaller” cars appeal to me. As much as I like the original Mini, it’s successor is just an unexceptional rebody.
The Ford Cortina is the one I would like to drive home of all the cars here. Though I must admit a big part of the appeal is the paint color.
I said just this week that THE worst two-tone paint job (if for no other reason than that it was done to death) was silver and maroon. I now know better. That two-tone brown(?) and gold Vauxhall is much more ugly.
BTW, that Chrysler Alpine is an interesting looking example, but the bumpers look “wrong”. It appears as though they were originally meant to be small, chrome units, then it was decided to “go another direction”. I can’t decide if they would look better a darker grey or body color.
AKAIK, those bumpers on the Alpine (aside from the colour, which does evolve with age) were always supposed to be like this, even at the early planning stage. After the Renault 5 came out with this regrettable innovation in ’72, it became all the rage.
The Alpine was one of the first cars to have “plastic” ( actually GRP) bumpers, and yes the colour didn’t suit. I painted them black on my Alpine.
You could buy aftermarket chrome covers for the Alpine bumpers, though I don’t remember seeing any.
Great show. But I think we hit every possible shade of beige imaginable. (grins)
A truly delightful assortment of cars so ordinary they are now extraordinary. Plus the setting is so much better than some random parking lot as seems to be the oh-so-tired practice here.
It appears you and Big Paws had first cars that were fraternal twins.
Well, he liked his so I bought one.
In fact, I had two Metros. A bog basic City (no glovebox, no passenger sun visor basic), which was a great fun and then, an indulgence after the grind of accountancy training, an MG exactly matching the one in the post.
It had great front seats, which was just as well as I spent a lot of time in them waiting for the AA van. Frankly, it was a relief when someone nicked and torched it, and I could stretch to a two year old Golf 1.3 in hearing aid (sorry, Nevada) beige.
I watch a YouTube channel called “Hub Nut”, featuring a fellow named Ian. He took his Invacar to the Festival of the Unexceptional, and posted a fun video worth seeing.
He also went to another show called “Shitefest”, which is another show worth seeing.
Me too.
Such fun and very self aware. He gets great fun out of his old bangers and eccentric cars. This summer he went to Romania and bought a 30 year old Dacia and drove it back to his home in Wales.
The Avenger had yet another name in the U.S., when the four-door sedan was briefly imported as the Plymouth Cricket in the early 1970s. My wife’s older sister once owned one, to her dismay.
Another car, for some damned reason, I’d love to own.
Like Charlie Brown, I’m fascinated with failure.
The Avenger actually lasted in production until the 1990 in Argentina, ending up as the Volkswagen 1500. Ironic given that Lord Rootes thought the VW Beetle had no value…
The cup for the winner is a cute idea. Ordinary all the way!
Another noticeable difference from most old car shows: the audience is almost entirely young. Normally the watchers and wanderers are old coots like me.
Some impressive stuff in this lot! These are unlikely to have been restored. If you’ve ever seen a ’70s Simca/Chrysler product look as good as that red Alpine, it was probably during the ’70s.
Never seen or heard of that Morris Ital pick-up variant. Must be the rarest of the bunch.
But the only one I find myself really liking, aside from the Imp, is the Cavalier. It’s weird, like I’m noticing it for the first time, though I saw a few back when I lived in the UK. So much sleeker than its Opel / other GM versions… and that little red griffon badge. Was it the last Vauxhall to be noticeably different – in terms of sheet metal – from the Opels?
Very cool post – expecting lots more goodies in part two!
That Vauxhall Viscount looks like a 3/4 scale AMC Ambassador to me. I also like the Rover 213 maybe because it’s mostly all-Honda and the Buckets (Boo-kays) drove one in “Keeping Up Appearances”.
I had the exact same thought about the Vauxhall Viscount. Funny that a GM product came out looking so much like an AMC. I think “3/4 scale 1965 GM B-body” is what they were really going for.
Being from the U.S., I don’t know enough about most of these vehicles to offer much comment on them, but it’s great to get a glimpse of all these vehicles representing the British auto industry’s version what this site celebrates, from the late ’60s to the early ’90s. Looking forward to the next two installments.
Some thinner, chrome window frames would have done wonders!
“Mind the cyclist, Richard!”
The Viscount was a symptom of a problem brewing at GM – they were building four completely different cars (it, the Holden, the Opel Kapitan and the Chevy II) roughly the same size and just different enough to ensure maximum duplication of engineering effort with minimal interchangeability of parts.
The replacement for that PC series Cresta/Viscount was cancelled about one year from production, but it would have shared much of the under skin structure with the Opel KAD B series.
The doors of the PC were largely shared with the FC ‘101’ Victor, the front door being identical save for the waistline chrome trim being at a different height while the rear door shared the same inner panels but with new outer skins with a kick-up in the waistline.
Crestas and Holdens shared a showroom where my Dad worked they were extremely different cars to drive, the Vauxhalls being the more expensive of the two,
NZ could have been one of the few markets where GM and Ford offered competition of themselves at the same shops we got British and Australian cars plus full size American cars from the cheaper brands, great range on offer back in the day.
Thank you. THIS is what an antique car show should look like, a cross section of what actually sold back in the day, not a pack of high school fever dream lies.
One of the little desires of my life, that will probably go undone because I’m probably never going back to England again (unless Blackwell’s Regiment, Third Company decided to get back together) is to finally get to drive an Austin Allegro. For a car with the international reputation that it has, I really want to know if its actually THAT bad.
I already have driven a (Austin) Marina, as my brother-in-law owned one when new, and he was dating my sister. For years now, I’ve been looking for one over here, for the express purpose of putting it in his driveway on Christmas morning with a big red bow of the roof.
And he’s promised physical violence against me if I ever do it.
No, Allegros aren’t that bad, they drive just like a big metro.
+1. Chuckled at “high school fever dream lies”
If you drove an Allegro, especially the 1500 five speed you would wonder why it has such a bad reputation. It is quite refined at speed , rides and corners well , especially in comparison to the conventional rear drive live axles Fords and Vauxhalls, and rusted less than the competition. Not great but nowhere as bad as the reputation,
The ‘Marina’ van and pick-up were quite smart, though that pick-up has non-original wood on top of the sides. The original capping was smoother:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4569/38340639002_9c33d97d0e.jpg
The Vauxhall Carlton in its original 1978 form was probably the last significantly different Vauxhall having a similar droopsnoot look to the Chevette and Cavalier (spoilt a little by using the standard Rekord headlights that had a different angle to their face so were recessed at the bottom) and larger bumpers as well as rear tail embelisher between the lights.
How laughable is that brochure’s(?) description of the Ital pickup’s …..styling? I’m not sure anyone outside of an extremely greedy adman would call these light duty vehicles “…..uniquely attractive….” .
The rear not-quite-3/4 view of the Ital pickup in Roger’s pic really plays up a resemblance to the Dodge Rampage. It’s probably mostly from door length; for whatever reasons most car-based European light trucks used the short doors meant as front ones for a four-door while the Rampage (and El Camino, Ranchero and Subaru Brat) used l-o-n-g coupe doors. The Marina/Ital split the difference because there was only one compromise door length across the whole line.
I remember the Ford Zodiac when I was a kid from the Matchbox version. Also, did anyone notice that the hubcaps look like a ’62 Ford’s?
That one looks almost the same colour as my (pre-Superfast) Zodiac too.
Handling may improve if you put the spare wheel in the back 🙂
It looks like the Matchbox model is better finished in the smaller scale than the larger Dinky example.
IIRC, the Dinky Zodiac was (almost?) unique in having 4 opening doors
I had the one with 4 opening doors and the back doors would only open if the front doors were open first. I wish I still had it but it was 40+ years ago.
The Dinky RR Shadow also had four opening doors like that. Two others did too but they were limousines, RR & Mercedes, the former with ‘suicide’ rear doors, the latter with a panel between them.
An unexceptionally exceptional article! We had a name for that Allegro 1100 color – “baby sh!t yellow”.
Wonderful post – my kind of car show! Even if all these unexceptional cars are in quite exceptional condition. Kudos to all concerned for keeping them alive.
Hagerty puts on a similar series of shows in the US, the Concours d’LeMons. I checked out the one in Monterey (described as “An ugly oil stain on the Pebble Beach Auto Week”) three years ago (this year’s show is August 25). There were a few Japanese cars at least one Hillman Minx, and a French trio of 504, Panhard and Ami6 but mostly domestic stuff like Vega’s, Pinto’s, Gremlins, Edsel, Studebaker, etc. In hindsight, I think the US show is less serious, with more ratty and tastelessly modded cars; a true American equivalent would have had more base model Chevelles, Falcons and Ramblers vs Vega’s, Pinto’s and Pacers. But to show that beige hatchbacks weren’t just a UK thing in the ‘80’s, here’s a Toyota Starlet from the 2015 show:
I also had the Matchbox version of the Ford Zodiac it was about the same color as the ‘67, a spare tire was stored under it’s long hood/bonnet. Those are ‘62 Galaxie hubcaps on the Zodiac, or at least very similar.
If I could have any of the cars pictured it would be hands down, the Rover SD1, or what I assume would be more reliable the ‘91 Rover 820i.
Thanks for presenting a great collection of beigemobiles. As with the US scene I’m sure these base spec cars and unloved models are very rare today but deserve to be celebrated as what was actually on the street.
Just from my visits to the UK in the 80s and 90s, the base engines and L (or equivalent) was the norm and big engines and sport or luxury trim was rare. This didn’t mean a penalty box, since a Metro City X with the 1. 3 was pretty fun to drive, aside a from a gearshift that felt like it was full of wet cement.
The US was the same, while a car show makes you think everybody had big block GTOs or Chevelles in the 60s, the base 6 cylinder or small block was far more common.
Wonderful show and superb post. Brought back fond memories of “Z Cars” and “The Sweeney”…
Thank you for a well written feature. So many interesting cars in the UK back in the day.
I have a soft spot for the Cortina which we had for a few years in Canada. Really like the little red MG Metro. I suspect at my age the back muscles would hurt getting in and out. Another favourite of mine is the Vauxhall Cavalier.
The Austin Marina was imported here for a very brief time. They disappeared quickly if not from rust certainly because of mechanical issues.
Certain mechanical issues?
Their power train was more reliable than a Vega’s.
End of positive things to say about the car.
Rubbish.
You’ve forgotten to add that it came with wheels, of which some were round.
…and a roof, which kept the occupants mostly dry.
Its funny you mention the wheels, back in the day friends of the family had a Marina sedan, I remember a long dinner conversation about all the things wrong with it , one of which, was that the wheels were not exactly round !!!
And I swear i’m not making that up.
Great selection, all those cars were sold here the Viscount in very limited numbers though our local GM assembly only did the cheaper Cresta, That 3.3 never appeared in a van from memoey but was used in the lightest Bedford pickup the JO series and by GMNZ it was assembled into the FD Victor, the Crestas were nice cars not as technically advanced as the MK4 Ford but better cars all round than the Zephyr Zodiac range, From 67 untill the death of the big UK Ford range only the 3.0 engine was used here the smaller 2.5 was deleted and thankfully the four never appeared, comfortable cars to ride in but ponderous handling and many mechanical faults built in at no extra cost. A 3.3 Vauxhall PB still holds the 6 cylinder record at the local drag strip now closed so it will never get beaten.
Cortinas and Escorts sold in huge numbers here the Escort 3 never came here though Ford sourced its small cars from Japan untill the 90s, Cortinas were sold as fleet cars to every govt dept in huge numbers only the 2.0 though the smaller engined cars were only for private consumption so my only experience is with the big engined version, good cars it seemed but unremarkable and prized today with kids to restore.
All the BL efforts were on our roads some even now its amazing how many survived.
Rootes products from the 70s are still fairly common in Hunter and Avenger guise they proved quite durable unless rust got em, and of course the mechanicals from the Hunter fit earlier cars I have a cast iron head Hunter estate engine from 73 in my 59 Minx,
Surprisingly or not most cars shown are much more common here.
Did ever a nation have a better knack for naming cars than the British? Every car here is dismal, but they all have wonderful monikers. Hillman imp is so much better than gremlin. Cortina is fairly dashing. Allegro is beautiful. Sierra is much better than xr4ti, although conflict with gm prevented Ford from using Sierra in the u.s.
I think my favourite car moniker has to be Sunbeam tiger. How could you NOT want to drive a Sunbeam tiger?
That allegro is a particularly 70’s and loathsome colour. I expect that if you really want to experience pre Thatcher Britain, this would be it.
I know that old car shows in the us typically feature mustang after Camaro after Corvette, but anyone who is involved in the old car hobby knows it takes just as much money to keep a 35 year old chevette going, possibly more due to scarcity of parts, as it does a 35 year old mustang. It’s not economical or fun at a certain point to keep an ordinary heap that wasn’t fun in its day going.
Keepinf an old car stock is extremely difficult, I tried and failed several times, my 63 Holden got a transmission update which improved it immensely, and my current toy features mechanicals ranging from original in 59 up to 73 just because I drive it in modern traffic,
I recently followed a series3 Minx along highway 2 returning from Wellington it was keeping a constant 80kmh and rolling along just fine but from experience thats about all you can sustain in them, mine cruises happily at a legal 100kmh with acceleration and more speed just under you foot and nobody can tell by just looking at the car,
Rootes merely altered engine capacity and main bearing count, lowered the rear axle ratios and improved gearboxes and brakes with subsequent models to mine so I just harvested the appropriate parts and installed them. %hat seems to be common to all old British cars no new ideas just upgrades in performance as speed limits increased over time, 70s BMC Marinas are full of parts to upgrade Morris Minors from the 50s
Richard and Hyacinth Bucket of Keeping Up Appearances had a light metallic blue Rover/Civic, which I always thought was a somewhat wrong choice. The next door neighbor lady had a Metro. Hyacinth’s sister Daisy and her husband Onslow had a clapped out Ford Cortina Mk IV. All those cars are pictured above.
Hyacinth’s sister Violet who was married to a rich fetishist had of course a Mercedes, swimming pool/sauna and room for a pony
Trvia: Geoffrey Hughes, who played Onslow, was the voice of Paul McCartney in Yellow Submarine.
What would you have had them drive?
I thought the 200 seemed in character as it came from a purportedly respectable, upper middle-class, British brand.
I agree, Hyacinth would have approved because it was a Rover and Richard, who had to keep everything under control, would have appreciated the Honda reliability.
And don’t forget the junkyard Avenger ? in Onslows front yard.
If it had been set a decade earlier, whatever current small Vanden Plas would have been perfect for Hyacinth Bookay.
But, yes, in their time, the 200 would have check the boxes for both pragmatist Richard and brand whore Hyacinth.
OK, I’m convinced.
My kind of show!
I used to read a lot of British car magazines, especially in the late 1990s and early 2000s, so I have an adequate amount of knowledge on the British car market.
What always fascinated me was the slow phaseout of Opel. The first Opel-based Vauxhalls – the Cavalier, Chevette and Carlton – had that unique dropsnout that was really rather fetching. I do wonder though, did the Cavalier coupe sell anywhere near as well as the Capri?
Then the 1980s brought the straight Opel rebadges, including the forgotten ones like Viceroy and Royale. But Opel stuck around until, what, 1988? With just the Manta. Were they just sold in Vauxhall dealerships?
Also very curious Roger (and our other British Kerbsiders), what kind of reputation did Talbot have? I know it was really just a renaming of the Chrysler Europe operation after they sold it but were they seen as being a cheap and cheerful brand or solidly mid-market?
Pity there was no Tagora there!
Also found it interesting how the Metro, Maestro and Montego kind of sort of became Rovers after the Austin name went away.
I wish I could’ve gone to this show!
Holden NZ latched onto that Royal badge and put it on early model Commodores, they’d given up on actual Vauxhalls here after the Chevette.
I don’t have the figures to hand but in the UK the Ford Capri would have continued to out sell the Cavalier Coupe and Opel Manta for as long as both had a full range. The Cavalier came as 1.6 and 2.0 until 1981, when the RWD drive Mk1 was phased out for the Cavalier Mk 2 (J car). The Manta stayed around as the only Opel in the UK until 1988. But, these cars were a big step ahead of the Capri in many ways, and sales of the Cavalier Sportshatch in particular were constrained by supply, not demand.
The slow phase out of Opel was also a rehabilitation of Vauxhall, from a brand with a low image, a reputation for poor reliability, corrosion and being not as adept as Ford to being able to offer Britain’s best sellers by the mid 80s. Keeping Opel alongside from 1976 to 1988 helped build the image, as Opel had a strong reliable (German!) reputation. Sales from around 1981 were alongside Vauxhall.
Talbot was supposed to be the car for aspiring, younger professional (yuppie if you want to abbreviate it) but it actually had very little image at all, and not much more recognition. Yes, they were the Chrysler Europe cars rebadged, apart from the Samba and Tagora, but the Horizon was up against the new Escort, first Astra and second Golf, the Alpine against the Sierra, Cavalier, Passat, Renault 18 and ageing quite quickly, the Tagora was DOA and the Samba clearly French. Peugeot were buying production capacity and market share, not the brand names. Some engines and the bones of the Horizon survived into Peugeot products.
The Metro, Maestro and Montego were ultimately badged as Rovers, in an act that did not convince the customers and badly damaged the Rover brand. “Rovers are re-badged Austins; please buy a Rover 800 Sterling” could not and did not work.
IIRC, the Austins never actually got Rover badges. The parent company morphed from Austin-Rover to Rover, the dealerships were rebranded and the Austin name was dropped. The Maestro and Montego soon became base model only, and the “new” Metro was rebranded as a Rover.
The Maestro, Montego, and Mini got badges shaped like Rover ones, but with no ship, and just the model name in all caps. Car magazines
occasionally referred to the “Rover Mini” but Rover Group never did.
When I was growing up in the 60s, my mothers anglophile friend, who she had known since her school days, and we used to call Auntie Elsie, drove a late 50s Hillman Minx, as her father had always driven Rootes Group products, believing quite rightly in those days, that they were well built quality cars.
I remember her saying that the Hillmans made after the Chrysler takeover were inferior to what had come before, she may have been right, but her choice of a Morris Marina in the 70s must have convinced her that British wasn’t best anymore, it was a Toyota Corolla after that.
I always looked forward to her yearly visits, because it meant a trip to the toy store where I always picked a Matchbox car, I remember her saying once, “are you sure you don’t want something better ” not for me, a new Matchbox car would keep me happy for days.
As a young teenager,I actually liked the Marina she had, it was a coupe in a pale blue color, with a beige interior, 4 speed, I used to sit in it and think it was quite sporty and handsome.
In later years, Mum asked me if TVs Hyacinth Bucket reminded me of anyone, there was only one person of course, it was our own lovable “Auntie Elsie”.
Psst! Don’t tell anyone, but I still reckon a Marina Coupe, in pale blue, isn’t an ugly car at all. Interior is not bad either, especially when contrasted with the Hippy-Baroque excesses of the Japanese alternatives. Gord bless your Aunt Elsie.
Mind you, I’d only have one now as an ornament. My sister bought a ’74 (a frumpy white sedan) in the mid-80’s, and apart from those lovely squisho BL seats of the time, it’s hard to describe how horrible that thing was to run or drive. Nostalgia ain’t THAT much of an anaesthetic.
Have to agree with the judges; that Chrysler Alpine is an outstanding example and – to my eyes – a better four-door fastback shape than the SD1.
Not sure about better than an SD1 but certainly better than Mk 2 Cavalier, visually. First series, strong solid colours would be my pick
How can an SD1 be ‘unexceptional’?
One further comment, for this article the Rover SD1 would have been better as a 2600 since they were far more common than the V8. That said, I’d want a Vitesse, or a restomod with a TVR 5.0 engine
Fantastic selection Roger! Other than the later Vauxhalls, all of the pictured cars were once common sights on the road here, and most are still seen occasionally (Cortinas more than the others). I think the MKIV Cortina is surely one of the prettiest cars of the time, the MkV even more so. But I drive a Sierra, so am not necessarily the best judge! And speaking of Sierras, even though I love mine, I’m not sure they could be considered unexceptional – a number of motoring magazines/journos have listed them as significant in the motoring world for bringing jellymould aerodynamics to the masses. The featured one is exceptional to me for featuring the chocolate brown dashtop, never seen here. Nice!
Fantastic show. I remember all these from when I visited in the UK in the 1980s. Always liked the Vauxhall Cavalier Coupes (early ones).
Always liked the Imps too.
My kind of car show!!
Thanks Roger! I’d seen some photos from the show but it was great to have a guided tour, so to speak.
It is illustrative of BMC/BL’s issues that the Austin Maxi is a 1976 when it looks like it should be from 1966 (if not earlier), and that it was still 5 years from going out of production at that point!
I spotted a Triumph 2500 estate in the background, something I’ve always thought was interesting and preceded the ‘sport wagon’ trend by a few decades.
The Chrysler Alpine looks amazingly similar to the Renault 20 – I wonder how that happened?
Just to pick up a small point, like a typical annoying internet commentator, the Rover 200 was in fact a rebadged Honda Ballade, not a Civic.
Brilliant piece Roger! and an event I knew nothing about – seriously considering a trip to next year’s now with my nephew and big brother (whose first car was a blue two door Allegro which he loved fwiw)
Looking forward to the next installment – hoping for a Panda or 127 in the European brands…
Roger mentions the heavy steering of the Alpine. At a time when most cars used positive steering offset – which would pull the steering to the right if you put a right hand wheel off the road – and Audi were starting to use negative offset, the Alpine used centre-point steering. Thus the steering was heavy and “dead” but very stable on poor roads.
I’m gonna be brutally honest here – I don’t get this show at all. Nobody would have looked twice at these cars back in the day. What makes any old car a “classic” these days? A movie isn’t heralded as a classic just because it’s 30 years old, we expect it to hold up today.
A select few cars from that era do hold up, and I get celebrating them, but a Cortina? A bloody Ritmo? People drove these because they could not afford better.
It’s like apprecating trashy b-movies (which I don’t get either) – why not just go for the bona fides?
@ stern, because these cars are like reviewing old family and neighbourhood photographs rather than photographs of the rich, famous, and beautiful or fancy neighbourhoods. I have a lot more connection with an ’85 Pontiac sunbird or ’74 Dodge dart than I do a gullwing Mercedes. I can look at this car and it brings back a flood of memories and nostalgia. A gullwing Mercedes is a neat car, but ultimately meaningless.
Speaking of Ford Cortina, remember that Cortina who appeared in the original (and not the American remake) tv series “Life on Mars”. 😉
The red Alpine is apparently one of only 7 left and was restored from a wreck. Attractive cars, but they fell apart really fast, I don’t remember ever seeing a non rusty one.
I still have a few Alpine parts in my attic, including a L/H rear door ( don’t ask) which has been there maybe 35 years, and is slowly rusting away in a fairly warm, dry environment.