Cars in 1980's Ireland !

Silvera

Were there particular cars you liked when you were growing up in 1970's/1980's Ireland ?

I'm thinking here of cars of the period you would see 'everyday' (or occassionally) on our roads.

A few of my favourites when I was a nipper !

(There was an Opel dealer near where I lived hence I saw a lot of nice Opels when growing up !)

BrianD3

Well, for starters, how about this:

Seth Brundle

DeLorean
Lotus Esprit
Golf GTi
Porsche 911
BMW E21 & E30 esp M3
Ford Capri

Silvera

The Rover was something of a 'motorised sofa' alright. I didn't like them back then, but now I do

I'm thinking more of kinda 'bread and butter' cars, if you know what I mean. But all suggestions/pics most welcome, regardless of rarity:)......... Just an excuse to remenisce (spelling?) really

A few more 80's cars I liked -
(Is it possible to display 'attached' pics in a post ? It does so on another site I use)

BrianD3

When I was in school the cars that everyone wanted to own when they grew up were a Lambo Countach or Magnum's Ferrari 308. If we couldn't have one of those then an Opel Manta or Monza or the Capri from The Professionals were the next best thing. The BMW 6 Series and Rover SD1 Vitesse were also much sought after.

Another one I liked lwas the Fiat 131 Supermirafiori (sp?). Someone posted a pic in the Corolla thread.

Going back to more bread and butter stuff I also liked the Renault 18 and this beauty

mike65

A big round of applause for.....




Mike.

Renegade_Archer

Delorean. Had to be the Dolorean.

Silvera

Good choice Mike65 !
I wasn't too keen on the Fuego when they were about in the 80's - but they have 'grown' on me

I have recently returned from New Zealand and it was strange/amazing/nice to see lots of older cars there like the Bluebird in Brian's pic, Fuegos, Corolla K30's, 1979 era Toyota Cressida's, etc etc etc.

...another 80's car ...well, 70's car that was about in the 80's

mike65

Silvera wrote:

I have recently returned from New Zealand and it was strange/amazing/nice to see lots of older cars there like the Bluebird in Brian's pic, Fuegos, Corolla K30's, 1979 era Toyota Cressida's, etc etc etc.

I've heard that NZ is the place where old cars go to die, or more likely thier geographically "tricky" location means cars cost a lot and so ppl keep them going.

Mike.

mike65

Built by robots driven by optimistic fools, but this one looks pretty good!

Mike.

glynf

mike65 wrote:

A big round of applause for.....




Mike.

Theres a blast from the past!
always wanted one when I was a lad

Invader Zim

Mazda 323F

mike65

More 70s maybe but loads around in the early 80s.



Mike.

unkel

Ritmo sucks, but I always liked the fuego

How about the humble but honest R5?

Silvera

AFAIK, the 323F wasn't sold new in Ireland til c1990/91 - though I did see some 89 reg 323F's (used jap imports) in the late 90's.

Ahh, the Fiat Ritmo ! .......forgot about those. Saw a few of them in NZ also.

As for old cars in NZ, I'm not sure why there are so many about, as cars are relatively cheap there. I bought an immaculate 1988 Bluebird for $900 (€450) (it was different than Brian's pic above. A bluebird model that wasn't sold in Irl).

I reckon it's a combination of the lack of rain in most of NZ, the excellent roads (cars don't get 'shook' as quick as in Irl. Potholes are as rare as 'hens teeth' in NZ !!) and Kiwis (in general) tend to look after their cars pretty well.

.......remember these ?
I recall two of them new in the small town I grew up in, owned by two brothers !......they had a rich daddy !!

BrianD3

Also, what about the Renault 12. Always liked them (distinctive shape) and there were loads of them around in the 80s. I remember there was one modded one around the North Kildare area which was loosely based on a R12 Gordini except it was yellow and black instead of blue and white. It was a bit like this factory original R12 Alpine although that model was only sold in Argentina.

Silvera

standard Renault 5.....yuch !

.......now if it was a R5 Alpine
(though I didnt see any of these in Ireland when I was growing up!)

glynf

Silvera

Brian !!.........nooooooooo!!!! :eek:

I HATED Renault 12's - and still do.
They're terrible looking cars !

And that is the worst R12 I have ever seen !! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Silvera

nice one glynf !!

no words necessary !............the picture speaks volumes !!!

is_that_so

Ford Capri
Ford Granada ( The Sweeney!! )
and Nissan 240

Silvera

pics pics pics !

we demand pics with every car mentioned !!

........no, seriously.

glynf

Silvera wrote:

I HATED Renault 12's - and still do.
They're terrible looking cars !

And that is the worst R12 I have ever seen !! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Agreed. But my Dad drove one of these until '83.
The first car I 'drove' (around a field) aged 11.


1979 R16

dcGT

Silvera wrote:

...another 80's car ...well, 70's car that was about in the 80's

Ah I love that Alpina! Classic looks.

As for run-of-the-mill cars - Remember these? The Datsun Cherry (120A) and Nissan Cherry - they were around in the 70s and 80s





A bit rusty?

dcGT

Don't forget the 1980s Escorts. From the mean looking Escort Mk. 2 to the 1980s kings - The Escort RS 2000 and RS Turbo...nice. Damn I love those RS Turbos!









Some other pics...
http://www.rallye-bohemia.cz/1981/images/Droogmans_Geron_Ford_Escort_BDA.jpg

http://www.youngtimer-portal.de/escort_3.jpg

unkel

Silvera wrote:

I HATED Renault 12's - and still do.
They're terrible looking cars !

My sentiments totally! They're better left alone in Romania....

glynf wrote:

1979 R16

And the very luxurious TX in your picture, if I'm not mistaken. Leccy windows complete novelty for normal cars at the time

How about that other French common man's luxobarge of the 70s:

BrianD3

Ah leave the poor R12 alone It was a v. comfortable and distinctive car and ahead of its time in a lot of areas including safety and aerodynamics. Most people realise that the R16 was and advanced an innovative car in its day but the R12 gets forgotten. It was also very mechanically strong and long lasting and had a long production run 1969-1980.

I like most of the older Renaults anyway with the possible exception of the Renault 14 aka "the Pear"

De Hipster

This baby is a dream...



...and dress her up & stick a mad woman behind the wheel...

unkel

Yeah R14 is pretty rotten as well. Remember these ones? - very rare even when new:

alias no.9

BrianD3 wrote:

Ah leave the poor R12 alone It was a v. comfortable and distinctive car and ahead of its time in a lot of areas including safety and aerodynamics. Most people realise that the R16 was and advanced an innovative car in its day but the R12 gets forgotten. It was also very mechanically strong and long lasting and had a long production run 1969-1980.

I like most of the older Renaults anyway with the possible exception of the Renault 14 aka "the Pear"

I've always thought the seat leon was a modern day R14

dcGT

unkel wrote:

Doesn't the front of that Renault look uncannily like the front of a Dodge Charger...



Damn copy cats!

DC.

The Muppet

I had A 1.6l Chrysler sunbeam mid eighties that was a nice car for a youngster on the prowl until i wrapped it around a truck that is. Insurance cost me £600, i I was 19 at the time and on a prov license.

glynf

unkel wrote:

And the very luxurious TX in your picture, if I'm not mistaken. Leccy windows complete novelty for normal cars at the time

Lol. you know your Renaults

mike65

The Muppet wrote:

...until i wrapped it around a truck that is.

Tree or elephant?




An evergreen Frenchie and (whisper it) prolly better than the 2CV in the "Massiff Central Yeomenry" league.

Mike.

unkel

mike65 wrote:

And that was my Dad's car before the Simca 1100!!

dcGT wrote:

Doesn't the front of that Renault look uncannily like the front of a Dodge Charger...

Now you mention it! Lovely 70s yellow/black two-tone on both cars anyway :rolleyes:

2 Espressi

Wow all these cars are really bringing back some memories!
My Dad had three cars that I'll always remember growing up that I'll always remember.
Fiat 127 Sport (black, just like the one above)
BMW 520 (canary yellow, 'very thirsty')
MK2 Escort (1600, don't think it was anything special like an RS, but cool!! )
Built in Cork, thrashed in Limerick!


I also remember the GTI's, (both the VW golf & Pug 205). Great Stuff altogether! Nearly wet my (short) pants the first time I sat into a Golf GTI, possibly the first car I was ever scared in! (well I was only 7!)

Plenty of Mini's , Beetle etc. as well....

My nana had a Datsun Cherry, it sounded like it was in reverse, even when it was going forward!!

mike65

The mum of a friend had one of these for a few years. It did'nt matter what speed it was doing or what gear it was in, this bambino always sounded likit was teetering on the edge of a loud nervous breakdown/small explosion.



Mike.

Silvera

.........a slightly better datsun Cherry !
(These cars were actually bought back by Nissan because of faulty/rusty rear chassis !.......even when the cars were 10+ years old !!
I know because I sold one to them back in the early 1990's!)

And we shouldn't forget the venerable Toyota Corolla KE30 !

Silvera

Another pair of 'forgotten' 70' cars..........but not by everyone, I photographed these two at Trim Car Show in July 2003 !

Remember these ?

Fiat 128 3p coupe (1975)
Toyota Corona 2000 MkII (1974 ?) (complete with original Kildare 'BZW' reg. I hadn't seen one of these cars before)

Enjoy !

unkel

Silvera wrote:

Remember these ?

Fiat 128 3p coupe (1975)

Indeed I had forgotton the 128 coupe. Thanks for the pics, Silvera

mike65 wrote:

The Bambino

FIAT at it's core competence

So sweet and imo a true successor to the original cinquecento, but it never reached that level

Fabritzo

Did anyone like the Alfasud, word has it they had a flat four engine, some lad's dad up the road from me used to have one, twas very exotic!

Silvera

Yes, I was - and still am - an Alfasud fan !

A very rare sight nowadays. Most fell foul of the dreaded 'tin worm'.
I remember Alfa's used to rust in the roof area BEFORE the rest of the bodywork rusted ! :eek:
Most cars of the period rusted from the bottom up - not from the top down

........I suppose cheap russian steel didn't help Alfa's case.

1977 Alfasud.


This is my favourite Alfasud model - the early 80's version (in black!).
(I will buy one of these someday !)

unkel

Silvera wrote:

Yes, I was - and still am - an Alfasud fan !

This is my favourite Alfasud model - the early 80's version (in black!).
(I will buy one of these someday !)

Yeah!!! The Alfasud was a great car. If memory serves me right, it had more bhp per liter than any other car (excluding supercars) on the market. One of my top 5 favourites at the time was the other car in your picture, the Sprint Veloce. Here's another one

unkel

Cold shower alert, the Alfasud Giardinetta :rolleyes:

mike65

A charmer I always thought. Can't remember when I last saw one though!

Mike.

Victor_Meldrew

Maybe I'm just a silly nostalgic bastard, but does anyone else feel a bit sad that none of these cars are around anymore? The scrappage scheme of 1997 killed most of the early 80s cars off, and then the NCT probably killed the rest of them.

When's the last time you saw...

a) A Datsun Cherry

b) A Ford Cortina

c) An Opel Ascona

d) A mk1 Toyota Starlet

During my childhood, they were some of the most commonly seen cars on the road. Now there's none, or at least very few left. Maybe there's still the odd preserved Cortina around, but I haven't seen a Datsun Cherry in at least 7 years.

Silvera

I agree, it's a pity that so few original Irish reg 1980's cars are still about.

Most 1980's cars at shows are usually recently-imported 'new style reg' cars

If you want to see loads of 1970/80's cars in everyday use, you would have to go to New Zealand.

Here's a 80-83 model Starlet I photographed in NZ in August this year. (It's the 'facelift' Mk 1 model)
Loads about there - even for sale in garages !......I saw a 1981 Stralet in a garage for $1250

Victor_Meldrew

I've heard that there's some reason why cars tend not to rust in Australia and New Zealand. Can't remember what it is though.

One more question - Are there any surviving Datsun Cherrys in Ireland? Surely they're not all gone

Silvera

Re: Aus and NZ - probably because of less rain !

Datsun Cherry's were bought back by Nissan from c.1991 because of rusty/faulty rear chassis. I know because I sold one to them c.1992 !
(Perhaps they were wary of possible lawsuits )

Therefore this probably cleared out most (all?) of the surviving Cherry's.

Having said that, I thought I saw one somewhere in Ireland within the last few years - don't recall where it was though
(I do spot one now-and-again in UK mags)

I recall driving the 'coupe' version. Strange gear set up - Reverse gear was where 1st would normally be :eek:

Did you see my Cherry pic above ?
If not, here it is again -

(Is this the model you are thinking of ?)

cheapthrills

when i was a youngster a friends dad got a brand new one of these....
it was the coolest thing i'd ever seen

BrianD3

The 1977-81 RWD Mazda 323 was also a very common sight on Irish roads. These started off with round headlights which were changed to rectangular after a facelift. The front indicators on the round light cars must have been quite vulnerable to damage as they were usually broken on the cars I used to see.