One time relatively common cars that don't exist any more.

VolvoMan

Arthur Daley wrote: »

I can also recall the Solara being pushed heavily in Ireland at launch. Was there some assembly in Ireland maybe.

Yeah, it's where the Garda station is now in Santry.

I was thinking the other day, there is barely any trace of Rover R8's left. I even did a search on donedeal and couldn't find any except a Tomcat coupe and a couple of convertibles:



Moving up a few years, I am also finding early Alfa 156's extremely rare. '98/99 examples have virtually disappeared.

johnos1984

The R8 was actually a very good car being more Honda that the HHR that came after hence it's low survival rate is unusual. It was probably the high point of modern Rovers in terms of quality.

Mahatma coat

We had a 220 Diesel rover like the one in the photo, Jaysus it was some higgledy piggledy mismatch of bits to work on, AFAIR the Electrics were rover, the Cooling and Brakes were honda and the Engine was a Peugot, IFIRC there were also some ford bits in there somewhere

carchaeologist

VolvoMan wrote: »

Moving up a few years, I am also finding early Alfa 156's extremely rare. '98/99 examples have virtually disappeared.

The brother had a 01 156 lately at it was a horiffic thing, the nice 01**156 regplate was the best thing about it. There was loads of niggly electrical issues with it, and it was quite rusty underneath oddly.

bijapos

VolvoMan wrote: »

I was thinking the other day, there is barely any trace of Rover R8's left. I even did a search on donedeal and couldn't find any except a Tomcat coupe and a couple of convertibles:

I'd totally forgotten about them, reminds me of the Rover 213/216, there seemed to be a lot of them around in the 80's, the UK was full of them too.

Immortalised for eternity by Fr Ted's attempt at panel beating.

VolvoMan

carchaeologist wrote: »

There was loads of niggly electrical issues with it, and it was quite rusty underneath oddly.

Rust actually does seem to be a problem with the floorpan on these. In a recent edition of Car Mechanics they had a project car that needed a bit of welding (that said, the undercarriage of nearly all UK cars gets rusty at some stage).

carchaeologist

VolvoMan wrote: »

Rust actually does seem to be a problem with the floorpan on these....that said, the undercarriage of nearly all UK cars gets rusty at some stage).

True about the UK stuff, i was surprised at how bad the alfa was though,and the fact that if left untreated the car would be an NCT failure in a short length of time.

VolvoMan

carchaeologist wrote: »

True about the UK stuff, i was surprised at how bad the alfa was though,and the fact that if left untreated the car would be an NCT failure in a short length of time.

Yeah, they definitely do rust above average for a car of their time. They also apparently skimped on the rust proofing underneath on later models to cut costs.

shawnee

Drove a Volvo 244 this weekend for the first time in many years. Around 30 years old and almost without rust. Must have been well made cars !:p

furtzy

Anan1 wrote: »

Wasn't there an ad for them when they were new: 'I saw your Solara up on Leeson Street..' or something?

Yep....every day at school I'd get that I saw your Solara here there and everywhere mostly in the dealership getting the starter motor seen to!

The third one we had wasn't too bad. It was a "Talbot Solara Series 2 5 Speed". It had that emblazoned on the boot in big letters.

The next owner topped himself in it but I don't think the car influenced that decision!

prosmart

Just trying to think of my Dads old cars k30 corolla. Brown 79 mazda, there were loads around, toyota tercel(rustbucket) mk 2 granadas, toyota crown, mk3 granadas, hatch and saloon, Toyota cresseda, carina dx diesel, jetta diesel, astra diesel, volvo 740s. There were a lot of fiesta flair vans around as well in the 90s as well as the 340 volvo peugeot 305,505,309,205,mostly diesels and the renaults as usual, 4,5,9,11,18,20,21,25. Citroen c15 vans, ascona diesels, record diesels, big 2.3 jobs. the 2.3 diesel sierra, Just thinking back on my time with Paddy Mcallen in shannon, Mk 1 and 2 fiestas were big sellers as well as the escort vans and the 3 door record estate which seemed a bit pointless. Jetta diesels and nissan bluebirds, nissan sunny /sentra.
Would love any one of these now as a nostalgia piece

Pdfile

suzuki swift/baleno ( older shapes & RWD )

daihatsu charmant

fiat tempo

audi 80

Dades

Pdfile wrote: »

audi 80

My first car. They used to be everywhere.

It's like an extinction level event killed them all off about 8 years ago.

Run_to_da_hills

Raskolnikov wrote: »

Has anyone seen a working Citroen BX recently? I haven't. I noticed one for sale on Donedeal recently.

Brother currently drives an estate version.

bijapos

Strange, I was looking for a new car about 6 weeks ago, and had a BX or a Xantia estate on the list, looked for 3 weeks solid, didn't find anything.

Got a Saab instead, old shape 900's are going up in price it seems.

shawnee

bijapos wrote: »

Strange, I was looking for a new car about 6 weeks ago, and had a BX or a Xantia estate on the list, looked for 3 weeks solid, didn't find anything.

Got a Saab instead, old shape 900's are going up in price it seems.

Had a bx Diesel but I doubt there is one still motoring in Ireland ?? Surprised to hear that anything is going up in price at moment :D

macplaxton

I've seen a couple of BX diesel vans in the country in the recent past and a couple of saloons, but nothing much else.

Pdfile

macplaxton wrote: »

I've seen a couple of BX diesel vans in the country in the recent past and a couple of saloons, but nothing much else.

i know a lad wo has a shed full of them, renault 4 vans ( ex esb ) and a several other vans such as the 19...

lovely cars/vans imho, why people didn't keep them for longer is beyond me

shawnee

Really enjoyed that bx dtr, great car , very comfortable , better than a zantia. Was previously owned by a judge so guards didn't bother me that much:D

Bitten & Hisses

prosmart wrote: »

the 3 door record estate which seemed a bit pointless.

These were popular with vets in the 80's. Tough old bus with plenty of carrying capacity.

b318isp

Dades wrote: »

My first car. They used to be everywhere.

It's like an extinction level event killed them all off about 8 years ago.

I passed a 1990 Audi 100 this morning on the N81, looked like an eastern european import.

JabbaTheHut

bijapos wrote: »

Strange, I was looking for a new car about 6 weeks ago, and had a BX or a Xantia estate on the list, looked for 3 weeks solid, didn't find anything.

Got a Saab instead, old shape 900's are going up in price it seems.

I know a guy that has a 900 turbo. One owner from new. He'd never sell it (I'm guessing) but he asked me if I was interested in doing it up for him. It's still driving, and is by no means a wreck. I told him no. I've done my fair share of those type of projects, and prefer to stay away.

r3nu4l

ahal wrote: »

Opel Kadett 1980 -> ... the ones commonly produced in 'fizzle stick' colours or brick red!

My Dad had a Vauxhall Chevette imported from NI. Same car iirc.

Thinkingaboutit wrote: »

Datsun Cherry,

One of the first cars I thought of on seeing this thread.

The Fiat 127 is one I've fond memories of, not driving one myself but a relative of mine had one.

At one time too it seemed that anyone buying a new car was buying a Fiat Rustmo Ritmo

Weirdly, about a week ago I said to myself 'It's been years since I saw a 2CV...two days later I see one on the A505 in Cambridge!

For me, living in England means that I get to see a lot of cars that seem to be entirely missing from Ireland these days. I think it's because there are som many owners and enthusiasts clubs over here. Seems like every make and model has a club dedicated to restoring a car and keeping it in living memory Go to any of the Country shows and you're as likely to see an old Morris or Austin as you are a new Massey Ferguson or a prize winning bullock

red sean

BX on DD:
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/vintagecars/3453552