20 years ago....

colm_mcm

Hard to believe the following cars were launched in 1995:

Fiat Bravo/Brava Fiat Barchetta
Alfa 146
Nissan Almera
Suzuki Baleno
E39 5 series
Ford Galaxy/VW Sharan
SEAT Inca/VW Caddy
Peugeot 406
Renault Megane
Volvo S40/Mitsubishi Carisma
Honda CR-V
Mercedes E Class
Toyota Picnic
Rover MGF/45/25

colm_mcm

I reckon the most groundbreaking one at the time for the masses was the Bravo/Brava - it was a radical departure from the Tipo, and in a different decade style/technology-wise to the Escort/Sunny/corolla/whatever it was competing against.

In retrospect, the e39 was probably the best all rounder on the list and has aged the best.

The Galaxy aged well too.

Bpmull

I have always been fond of the mgf. My dad had one for years as a weekend car around 2005. It was a 98 British racing green 1.8 vvc 145bhp. We always had such fun with it tinkering with it and went to a few of the meets and loads of trips with it. Not a seriously fast car but great craic to drive.

carzony

colm_mcm wrote: »

Hard to believe the following cars were launched in 1995:

Fiat Bravo/Brava Fiat Barchetta
Alfa 146
Nissan Almera
Suzuki Baleno
E39 5 series
Ford Galaxy/VW Sharan
SEAT Inca/VW Caddy
Peugeot 406
Renault Megane
Volvo S40/Mitsubishi Carisma
Honda CR-V
Mercedes E Class
Toyota Picnic
Rover MGF/45/25

out of the list the only one i had was the almera. was a great car although not the fastest.

CiniO

colm_mcm wrote: »

I reckon the most groundbreaking one at the time for the masses was the Bravo/Brava - it was a radical departure from the Tipo, and in a different decade style/technology-wise to the Escort/Sunny/corolla/whatever it was competing against.

When I was a teenager, in 1998 my friend's mum got a new Bravo 1.6. It was kinda car of dreams for us then.
In 2005 I managed to get one like that myself and even though car was 8 years old and designed 10 years before, it still looked modern enough both inside and outside. I had to sell in in 2008, as I was moving to Ireland, but then in here straight away I got another Bravo (this time it was 01 Bravo 1.2) which I still have and regularly use. And I don't plan getting rid of it anytime soon.
Had it for 7 years now, and can clearly say it was my best car so far.

colm_mcm

I had a Brava HSX back in the olden days too. Loved it.
Had a 146 for a while too, not as modern as the Bravo, essentially a Tipo with a nice engine.

mickdw

Was the audi A4 launched in 95 or did it creep into 94.

colm_mcm

Yeah, it was late 94.

Rightwing

Never had a fiat.

I remember when the Alfa 156 came out, that was a great design for its time.

CRV probably the best out of that list.

colm_mcm

CRV was always overshadowed by the Rav4 (rightly or wrongly)
They were quite advanced at the time.

Long Time Lurker

Ah 1995. When Talbot Solaras, Morris Marinas and Renault 21s were still to be seen. God thems were the days. Just doesnt seem that long ago that I was longing for a Mazda 323f GT or an MG Montego Turbo, both getting on a bit by 1995 I might ad :-)

Special Circumstances

colm_mcm wrote: »

CRV was always overshadowed by the Rav4 (rightly or wrongly)
They were quite advanced at the time.

Which was? Which was first?
Good few gen 1 crvs still on the go, not many rav4.
Had a crv and a bravo. One was more reliable than the other no prizes for guessing! Still, no better motivation to get some way handy with a socket set...

Crazy to think the bravo was designed then when you look at other designs of the time.

The engine in those crvs was quite impressive actually. Decent grunt for 2.0 without any vtec at all.

Celly Smunt

I've had a love affair going on with bravos since their release.It was the first car I ever bought brand new and loves it from day one,even if it had the dreaded 1.4 engine,sold it in 1999. Bought a 2001 1.2 in 2003 and still have it. In 2005 then I bought my first HGT,then another,and another,and another. The first HGT I sold in England,second one I played belt roulette with and the other is my fun car these days for when I have the need to be frightened.

The HGT is a scary scary car,2 litre engine and as light as a feather but I love it.

colm_mcm

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Which was? Which was first?
Good few gen 1 crvs still on the go, not many rav4.
Had a crv and a bravo. One was more reliable than the other no prizes for guessing! Still, no better motivation to get some way handy with a socket set...

Crazy to think the bravo was designed then when you look at other designs of the time.

The engine in those crvs was quite impressive actually. Decent grunt for 2.0 without any vtec at all.

I was saying the crv was quite advanced.

Original Rav came out in 1994, and crucially offered a swb model which opened up a whole load of young people to SUVs (suzuki were already at this for ages, but the Rav4 was more car like) many of these ended up in lwb SUVs once they had kids.

Then toyota lost the plot with the 06 model, the qashqai came out, and the rest is history.

ba_barabus

colm_mcm wrote: »

Rover 45/25

Tut tut tut

Fiat were really on a roll at the time weren't they. Lancia had just left the Irish market the year before too. I remember being in all those cars on the list at the ploughing championships. I remember the rovers smelt lovely and the Baleno was, errrr, boring. The Volvo S40 was also a lovely feeling car.

We traded in a Pug 104 under the scrap page scheme and a 94 Corolla for a Carina E 1.6 XLI (most unreliable car we ever owned but Toyota stood over everything)

colm_mcm

The 25/45 weren't strictly new models of course!

ba_barabus

colm_mcm wrote: »

The 25/45 weren't strictly new models of course!

They were the 200/400 not 25 and 45! I'm disappointed with you Colm I still have it in my head however the 200 came in 96, maybe it was sales started in 96 and launch was 95.

Celly Smunt

ba_barabus wrote: »

Tut tut tut

Fuat were really on a roll at the timd weren't they. Lancia had just left the Irish narjet the year before too. I remember being in all those cars on the list at the ploughing championships.

They really were,its a shame as they really aren't designed for our roads/climate although the puntos did have a long run. The bravo was overpriced I feel too in comparison to competition as far as I can remember but they looked and drove great if not better.

colm_mcm

ba_barabus wrote: »

They were the 200/400 not 25 and 45! I'm disappointed with you Colm I still have it in my head however the 200 came in 96, maybe it was sales started in 96 and launch was 95.

Oops!

Rover 200 went in sale in November 1995 according to Parkers.

Celly Smunt wrote: »

They really were,its a shame as they really aren't designed for our roads/climate although the puntos did have a long run. The bravo was overpriced I feel too in comparison to competition as far as I can remember but they looked and drove great if not better.

When I was buying, a new bravo was 60% the price of the equivalent Golf. Its crazy how cheap fiat were back then, and how expensive some other makes were.



Another thing, the megane came out this year, it seemed like a reheated R19, and was in some respects. What nobody expected was a coupe, a cabrio, a van, saloon, hatch, an unsuccessful 4*4 and probably most important - the scenic, the car that defined the mini Mpv market. All were under the megane family name (but not all came out in 95)

Rightwing

colm_mcm wrote: »

I was saying the crv was quite advanced.

Original Rav came out in 1994, and crucially offered a swb model which opened up a whole load of young people to SUVs (suzuki were already at this for ages, but the Rav4 was more car like) many of these ended up in lwb SUVs once they had kids.

Then toyota lost the plot with the 06 model, the qashqai came out, and the rest is history.

Not sure I'd agree with you there. The Rav has improved massively on the 94 version. I don't know how that overshadowed the CRV, different class altogether as I could tell.

George Dalton

colm_mcm wrote: »

When I was buying, a new bravo was 60% the price of the equivalent Golf. Its crazy how cheap fiat were back then, and how expensive some other makes were.

They were trying to buy market share. It worked out well for them :pac:

colm_mcm

George Dalton wrote: »

They were trying to buy market share. It worked out well for them :pac:

Fair point. That said their products were a lot more attractive 20 years ago relative to the competition.

Do you remember how much a mk4 golf with electric windows was in 1999 george?

Rightwing

colm_mcm wrote: »

Fair point. That said their products were a lot more attractive 20 years ago relative to the competition.

Do you remember how much a mk4 golf with electric windows was in 1999 george?

They held their value though, unlike the fiats.

Kia/hyundai didn't help fiat's cause either.

JoeA3

The Nissan Almera was dirt! My dad had a couple of them as company cars. Awful horrid yokes.

The Mitsubishi Carisma.... lol.

Of that list the only ones that wouldn't require a brown paper bag for the driver's head today are the 406 and the E39 5 series.

colm_mcm

Rightwing wrote: »

Not sure I'd agree with you there. The Rav has improved massively on the 94 version. I don't know how that overshadowed the CRV, different class altogether as I could tell.

They were in the same price bracket selling to the same people. By overshadowed I mean in this country the rAv4 outsold the crv by a fair margin.
The opposite is true in other markets, such as the US.

Rightwing wrote: »

They held their value though, unlike the fiats.

Kia/hyundai didn't help fiat's cause either.

My point was that not only were fiat cheap, the bigger names could charge quite big money for basic cars, fiat had a USP. They no longer have this, and the bigger names have become more competitive with their pricing/equipment.

boardsuser1

colm_mcm wrote: »

Fair point. That said their products were a lot more attractive 20 years ago relative to the competition.

Do you remember how much a mk4 golf with electric windows was in 1999 george?

I've got a 00 golf sitting in my back yard! Fine car, immaculate condition for the year and mileage, well wear!!!!

JoeA3

VW were the absolute pits with standard equipment and spec in the 1990's. And with premium prices and arrogant dealers to boot!
My uncle was pricing a Vento in '94 or '95 and he noticed that the owners manual had an extra booklet for Irish customers (for the crap 1.4 paddy special edition). I remember being in the market myself in the early '00's and a MK4 Golf was so much more eye wateringly expensive than the competition and the standard spec was miserable.

Clearly, VW did not take the threat of Fiat and the likes seriously in the 1990's.

They've improved a lot since but in fact it's only in the last 6 months that they've gone the other way entirely and now a Golf looks like a very solid bet spec-wise compared to the usual competition. I suspect the success of Hyundai, Kia and the likes is a factor here but why couldn't Fiat scare them 20 years ago?

ba_barabus

Id actually like a Bravo. I think they've aged extremely well.

TrailerBob

Lets not forget the short lived precursor to the enzo that was the Ferrari F50....

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_F50

ba_barabus

TrailerBob wrote: »

Lets not forget the short lived precursor to the enzo that was the Ferrari F50....

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_F50

Would I be right in saying that's the Ferrari that has been most forgotten in recent times.

TrailerBob

I'd say so. It was a sales flop. I think it never lived up to the F40. Pity, I always liked them,