Ordinary family cars spotted recently

BrianD3

On my travels I see thousands of cars every year but very few interesting ones. Here's a list of recent ones that did interest me somewhat
1) A blue Ford Cortina Mk5 spotted today on the N3. DI reg.
2) About 5 minutes later a silver phase 1 Renault 25. UZS reg
3) A white Peugeot 505 estate 90 D reg
4) Toyota Carina, 87 reg, red and looked in really excellent condition
5) Two AE80 Corollas in the space of about 5 minutes
6) A brown Mk1 Ford Sierra estate with an eastern European reg

Anyone else?

.

Silvera

Spotted a mint black Daihatsu Charade Van (SNI reg) in Enniscorthy last week- haven't seen one in years! ......surprised that any have survived, especially is such good nick!

Also saw several old-reg Corollas recently, including a hatch with it's original red rear plate (HZG reg)!

Also, the mint 1982 (old-reg) silver Renault 18 I mentioned here recently.

Wishbone Ash

I see a yellow marque II Ford Escort and a green 1970s Opel Kadett (marque I ??) on a regular basis. (Both driven by elderly gentlemen).

1275gt

Theres an old gimmer who lives on my old road in santry, still drives his yellow fiesta Mk1 every day. He bought it new and has never had any work (other than regular services) done. Its in amazing condition, considering its age. Mind you, the smoke from the exhaust seems to change colour on a daily basis, blue, green, white, red :rolleyes:

overdriver

Methanol, LPG, green diesel, Vegetable oil...whatever's the cheapest on teh day!

Anan1

There's a yellow coke-bottle Escort living in an apartment block near Dalkey, little old lady driving it. I've been seeing it around for at least 10 years, reckon she might have it from new.

Silvera

..spotted a mint MK 1 Fiesta at a show recently, RHI reg (will post a pic soon).

Also see a Mk1 Fiesta (with 19k miles!) for sale on this weeks Buy & Sell.

1275gt

Oh yeah, theres a family living up the road who still drive a Gold Ford Orion that they won on Murphys Micro Quiz’m back in the 80’s :D

BrianD3

These are some good stories I know of a couple of eldery people that have owned cars since they were new. Once is a circa 1986 Nissan Sentra. The guy that owns it says it's part of him and he'll never sell it.

When owners of such vehciles die they usually either get scrapped or get advertised in the B+S. Up until recently I would see a 1985 Renault 11 regularly in Co. Longford. Driven by an old guy. Then suddenly I didn't see it anymore - owner probably died.

Anyhow, every weekday for the next couple of weeks I'm going to post what I spot here.

1275gt

BrianD3 wrote:

When owners of such vehciles die they usually either get scrapped or get advertised in the B+S.

i hope when i die, i'll be in the buy and sell

ds20prefecture

I spotted a lovely Citroen Dyane in Monkstown being driven by an elderly couple. It was mint, and I tried flashing and waving them down (I was in the DS). They just looked at me funny and drove on - I reckon it was just their daily car.

BrianD3

1275gt wrote:

i hope when i die, i'll be in the buy and sell

LOL, I could have phrased that better

dubtom

Saw what I think was a Vaxhall victor today on the back road to the airport, looked in nice nick. All those stories reminded me, I used to see an old lady in ranelagh every day driving a morris minor. It was the mankyist looking car I have ever seen,originally black, the roof had turned green from sitting under a tree, and she never seemed to go over 10 miles an hour.I must of saw that car every day for 2 years at the same time, around 10.30 in the morning ( I passed at the same time every day)

overdriver

There's a Minor in the Tenters, Dublin 8, driven by an old couple who bought it new! Its drab green. Knackered.

Silvera

1275gt wrote:

Oh yeah, theres a family living up the road who still drive a Gold Ford Orion that they won on Murphys Micro Quiz’m back in the 80’s :D

Brilliant story !

Blue850

A freind of mine has a garage in Dublin and earlier this year an elderly gentleman walked into the workshop, told him he was giving up driving and would he be interested in his car he's owned from new an 89 Fiat Uno, my friend said no he didn't want to buy it and the old man said he wasn't trying to sell it, he was giving it to him as none of his family wanted it. Its rust free and runs very well. It'll be mine soon, once the tax runs out, currently the garage loan car:D

Wishbone Ash

1275gt wrote:

Theres an old gimmer who lives on my old road in santry, still drives his yellow fiesta Mk1 every day. He bought it new and has never had any work (other than regular services) done. Its in amazing condition, considering its age. Mind you, the smoke from the exhaust seems to change colour on a daily basis, blue, green, white, red :rolleyes:

He must have missed out on the 30th Anniversary offer. I think Ford were offering a new Fiesta for the price of the first model to any motorist who was still driving an original one.

spotted a mint MK 1 Fiesta at a show recently, RHI reg

Tipperary South Riding ?

yellow coke-bottle Escort

Excuse my ignorance but what is a 'coke bottle' Escort? I've never heard that expression.

BrianD3

Saw two circa 1986 starlets already today, one with a red rear plate. Both cars looked in very good condition.

Also saw a couple of AE90s, an 88 Nissan Sunny in very good condition,a Mk2 Golf and a couple of 1989 Mk4 Escorts.

Re: the coke bottle Escort I believe this is the Mk1 which has more curves than the squarer Mk2.

8~)

The 'coke bottle' reference is used for the MkIII Cortina (1972ish-1978ish) because of its shape, where there's a curve along the rear door to rear flanks area. The expression was never used to describe an Escort... until now.

Spotted a long parked but apparantly complete Ford Anglia just outside Portumna yesterday, alongside an '86 Nissan Bluebird for sale.

I notice there are some older cars that are in regular use but just not noticed in modern traffic - Bluebirds and Mazda 626 in particular.

8~)

Late Pug 505 GTI spotted in Doolin last weekend. Parked in the village and looked to have been for some time, though in good nick with a (current?) NCT cert in the window.

I'd like one of these, but space and cash being used for other things at present.

opeldave

1275gt wrote:

Theres an old gimmer who lives on my old road in santry, still drives his yellow fiesta Mk1 every day. He bought it new and has never had any work (other than regular services) done. Its in amazing condition, considering its age. Mind you, the smoke from the exhaust seems to change colour on a daily basis, blue, green, white, red :rolleyes:

ah i know that car well (still capable of doing the shopping-run)I love mk1 fiestas!had a mk2 & mk3 but would love a mk1 if one came along at normal money ie cheap as a 25yr old semi classic should be

seen that mini of yours on malahide rd looked very well:cool:
mate of mine has a spotless 90' restoed checkmate


dave

breanoh

There is a 505 doing the rounds in Ennis, might be the same as the one you saw in Doolin? There are also a couple of mk1 Fiestas still in use around the town, and an Old Kadette (the last model before the astra) but it must be an early one, with the old red rear plate. There is also a couple of old 309's driving around. I dunno, but there are alot of the mid to late 80's cars driving around Clare still, haven't been caught by the NCT yet!

Anan1

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Excuse my ignorance but what is a 'coke bottle' Escort? I've never heard that expression.

I'm not sure where I picked that one up from, but I've just googled it and come up with this:http://www.channel4.com/4car/feature/feature.jsp?id=1686&page=2 The expression seems to be in use for both the Escort and the Cortina. I'd imagine, given the iconic status of the coke bottle shape, that it doesn't stop there either.

8~)

Well, you live and learn. I'd never heard the expression for describing anything other that a Cortina.

Co. Clare seems to be a place to see older cars, alright.

corktina

8~) wrote:

Well, you live and learn. I'd never heard the expression for describing anything other that a Cortina.

Co. Clare seems to be a place to see older cars, alright.

me too......

BrianD3

Drove 200 miles today, didn't see anything remarkable.
-88 Mazda 323,
-89 Bluebird
-a battered Mk2 Golf driven by an old guy who pulled out in front of me and cut me up
-4 or 5 of the obligatory Corolla AE90s all with a nice smell of burning oil following them around

PS I know that mentioning the above vehicles in a "Classic Cars" forum is pushing it

mike65

Banned!

Someone in the Waterford area has a very nice looking Pug 505 GTI, ruby red from '89. Years back I did hanker after one.

Mike.

Blue850

Pity the low tax /nct exemption is at 30 years, if there was a 2nd rate of tax at 20 years, say to the same as 1 litre tax but with NCT, a lot more original Irish reg cars might survive beyond 15 years old.

breanoh

Yes, Clare is certainl the place to be, I have also seen two Karmann Ghias yesterday, along with an early Renault 25. There is an orange Citroen Dyane doing the rounds in Limerick and Clare, and I also saw a french reg'd Renault 11 in the carpark in UL today along with a 2CV and an MGB, I don't know how I haven't crashed! There is an '85 Corolla in Newmarket on Ferghus aswell as a couple of mk3 Charades. 3Ford Capri's and an Old Granada, Saw a MK1 escort RS2000 yesterday and a really nice old Beetle! I saw an early Micra parked on Lower abbey street in Dublin last week and there are also a couple going around Ennis (red reg plate) and saw an English mk1.5 on road to Limerick today.

BrianD3

Similar story today - a few Corollas. Micras and Starlets from around 1986-1990. A Fiat Uno too.

Also saw a silver Carina II (circa 83-87 model) which looked in very good condition but I didn't get a close look as he was ahead of me and breaking the speed limit by a fair margin on a road where there are often speed traps. I decided it wasn't worth risking penalty points just to get a look at an ould Carina

The final thing I saw was a 1958 tractor (don't know the make) hauling bales.

Max_Damage

I saw a 1984 Nissan Micra (real old model) a few weeks ago, rarely ever see any that old anymore. I sometimes see a 1985 Jap import black-on-grey March (Micra) around the Templeouge area aswell.

Hell, even my own 1990 Micra is slowly becoming a rarer sight on the roads.

breanoh

and a pity it is! The mk1 micra is still a great car, and probably a future classic. They remind me of the Bug, Nearly every family in Ireland has had one, and nearly everyone has learned in one! I personally have three, '87 and '88 jap's, and '92 Irish.

1275gt

breanoh wrote:

and a pity it is! The mk1 micra is still a great car, and probably a future classic. They remind me of the Bug, Nearly every family in Ireland has had one, and nearly everyone has learned in one! I personally have three, '87 and '88 jap's, and '92 Irish.

...and ever dublin one was robbed at least once in its lifetime

i love em too. drove one a couple of years back with over 300k on the clock, was like new!!

BrianD3

91 Citroen BX spotted today on a country road. First one of these I've seen in several months. This one was in bits (farmers car ) Every panel was dented and scraped, some of the lights were broken, the plastic tailgate was cracked and gouged.

Max_Damage

breanoh wrote:

and a pity it is! The mk1 micra is still a great car, and probably a future classic. They remind me of the Bug, Nearly every family in Ireland has had one, and nearly everyone has learned in one! I personally have three, '87 and '88 jap's, and '92 Irish.

Indeed they are great cars. Mines going well, although it does need some work to be done on the carburettor and the engine (it burns copius amounts of oil), other than that, it starts first time, even on freezing winter mornings. I'm going to try and get mine to at least the 20 year old mark.

Back on topic, I saw a red VW Scirocco with 'SI' plates, and a white Mk1 Fiesta with 'ZP' plates today. Both were in good condition.

mike65

The BX dissapeared so quickly I think, they were everywhere on the country roads esp 19 RDs and late Turbo estates then "Pouft" - gone.

Mike.

jozi

BrianD3 wrote:

On my travels I see thousands of cars every year but very few interesting ones. Here's a list of recent ones that did interest me somewhat
1) A blue Ford Cortina Mk5 spotted today on the N3. DI reg.

What year would this have been? My mate recently inherited a Cortina, could have been him driving to/from Eniskilen to dublin?

Jozi

EDIT: just google for a Mk5 Cortina, looks alot like his car (is DI reg '81)

Max_Damage

mike65 wrote:

The BX dissapeared so quickly I think, they were everywhere on the country roads esp 19 RDs and late Turbo estates then "Pouft" - gone.

Mike.

I think it may be because of the hydropneumatic suspension they had. My uncle had a '88 BX before, the suspension use to keep breaking on him, and they weren't the most user friendly to fix either. Also, the 1.9L diesel (non-turbo) engine it had could only do 75mph flat out!

On topic, saw a grey Mitsibishi Colt today, I think it had a 'ZG' reg, can't remember rightly.

BrianD3

Today in Athboy I saw a beige VW Derby. Never really liked these but they are an unusual sight these days. Don't know what year it was - it had plastic bumpers, squareish headlights and a pre 87 reg.

On the Ford Cortina - don't know what year a DI reg would be but a 1981 Cortina would certainly be a Mk5 model. Teh Mk5 I saw was blue and looked like it could be an original unrestored car.

Also today saw a Corolla KE70 van with a ZS reg. The KE70 saloon was replaced by the AE80 circa 1983 but I think the KE70 van/estate continued on in production for a few years.

Max_Damage

Saw two more 'classics':

A red Triumph Acclaim in Drumcondra a few days ago. Only saw it in the distance, but it had the old type plates on it. That's a car that I haven't seen in well over 5 years.

A mint condition red 'ZG' reg Ford Escort Estate 1.6 Diesel in Rathfarnham shopping centre. It was pretty much in show condition.

G Luxel

What Ive seen recently and occasionally see around.

a red hillman avenger estate with red plates, i think the owner also had
until a few years ago a series 2 Hillman Minx estate, now thats like gold....
I also spotted an IU regd yellow hillman Avenger 2 door with a black sunroof.
A Mini,probably a yellow sand colour, until i noticed a Morris badge on it
meaning it was built between I968 to I969. Still in use by its elderly owner.
Two Citroen GS, series 2, both Irish regd and still on the road.
How about a Yellow Fiat I27 series 2 hatchback from I980 and still a daily driver. And this one i spotted a few years ago, a red Mercedes 450 SEL with left hand drive and on original Irish plates, not sure what county though, it was towing a horsebox and looked more like a beirut style mercedes ....