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Irish motoring in the 1980’s

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    #302
    Technique
    Registered Users Posts: 1,370 ✭✭✭Technique


    Arthur Daley wrote: »
    Fewer second cars. A second car would have been seen as a luxury. Without the motorways we tended to travel less and stay local, meaning 2 cars were not really required even if people could afford to run a second car.

    It would be interesting to see how many miles are driven in Ireland in 2020 vs 1980, doubt anyone is measuring it. Would be an interesting take on the environmental arguments around cars.

    You can see it in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s housing estates, there was only room for one car at each house. Drive through them now and there are cars parked all over the pavements as each house has two or three cars.


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    #303
    alias no.9
    Registered Users Posts: 6,268 ✭✭✭alias no.9


    RandomViewer wrote: »
    The Aska

    A badge engineered Opel Ascona but it had a turbo diesel as its selling point. Very few sold, much less than the Gemini which sold very little.


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    #304
    Markcheese
    Registered Users Posts: 8,431 ✭✭✭Markcheese


    Technique wrote: »
    You can see it in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s housing estates, there was only room for one car at each house. Drive through them now and there are cars parked all over the pavements as each house has two or three cars.

    Not just the 80s ones ,there are 90's/ 2000s housing estates with cars a abandoned on every foot path ..
    My late 70s house had no car parking , just a front garden , a previous owner altered it for one car , and I'm hoping I might be able to squeeze a second in ..

    Slava ukraini 🇺🇦



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    #305
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    Technique wrote: »
    You can see it in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s housing estates, there was only room for one car at each house. Drive through them now and there are cars parked all over the pavements as each house has two or three cars.

    That's just the design of the estate. Lots of estates in every decade had estates with drives that took two cars. If you build an estate that had poor access to public transport and give it not enough parking it's just bad design. You also need space for visitors and deliveries. You can certainly choose to live somewhere with limited or even no parking if that's what you want.


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    #306
    zilog_jones
    Registered Users Posts: 6,641 ✭✭✭zilog_jones


    Arthur Daley wrote: »
    The piazza coupe was sold in the UK anyway. Limited numbers so probably didn't bother shipping it across. Think it might have been the Hino distributor who handled Isuzu.

    What's now Harris Group still are the distributors for Isuzu in Ireland (but no longer Hino, it seems), and they did sell the second generation Gemini and first Aska here. Isuzu pretty much gave up on passenger cars by the mid-90s, and sold some rebadged Subarus and Hondas in Japan for a while.

    Neither the Gemini or Aska were sold in the UK, possibly nowhere else in Europe except maybe Malta.


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    #307
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 17,728 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Break80 wrote: »
    This was my era of cars. Mate of mine had a fiat 127 special. Fast little car. The 127 sport was even faster.
    All the small fiats of that time were quick Greyhound cars they were known as. ALL GO NO BODY...................

    A Fiat Uno 45 was about 16 seconds to 60 and 45bhp..........

    A 127 special was a 1.3 and hit 60 in 12 seconds which was very decent in the early 80s of course but to say all small fiats of the time were quick is a huge stretch, they were as slow as Fiestas etc for the mostpart.


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    #308
    RINO87
    Registered Users Posts: 2,456 ✭✭✭RINO87


    Love this thread! A local BMW specialist back home in the Midlands still has the "Axe the Tax" stickers in the window of his garage. Everytime I see it I remember the auld lads Nissan Sentra.


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    #309
    swarlb
    Registered Users Posts: 1,244 ✭✭✭swarlb


    Augeo wrote: »
    A Fiat Uno 45 was about 16 seconds to 60 and 45bhp..........

    A 127 special was a 1.3 and hit 60 in 12 seconds which was very decent in the early 80s of course but to say all small fiats of the time were quick is a huge stretch, they were as slow as Fiestas etc for the mostpart.

    A 127 Special had a 903cc engine. It was a variant of the 1st series 127, having a different grill, body mouldings, tailgate and a few other different bits and bobs.
    I think you might be confusing it with a 127 3rd series Sport or 'GT' that had a 1.3 engine.
    'Quick' is a misnomer, 127's felt 'quick' as similar as the original Mini felt quick..... maybe 'zippy' might be closer the mark.


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    #310
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 17,728 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    swarlb wrote: »
    A 127 Special had a 903cc engine. It was a variant of the 1st series 127, having a different grill, body mouldings, tailgate and a few other different bits and bobs.
    I think you might be confusing it with a 127 3rd series Sport or 'GT' that had a 1.3 engine.
    'Quick' is a misnomer, 127's felt 'quick' as similar as the original Mini felt quick..... maybe 'zippy' might be closer the mark.

    Quite likely, the chap said it was a fast little car so I presumed he wasn't on about the small engined ones. ........ which most definitely weren't quick.


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    #311
    swarlb
    Registered Users Posts: 1,244 ✭✭✭swarlb


    My recollection of motoring in the 80's, is that for the most part, people drove bangers from the 70's or earlier. The first time I owned an 80's car, was in the 1990's...


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    #312
    CoBo55
    Registered Users Posts: 8,849 ✭✭✭CoBo55


    swarlb wrote: »
    My recollection of motoring in the 80's, is that for the most part, people drove bangers from the 70's or earlier. The first time I owned an 80's car, was in the 1990's...

    Exactly my recollection too. Max power windscreen visors and whiplash aerials was the full extent of modding cars..


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    #313
    RandomViewer
    Registered Users Posts: 6,191 ✭✭✭RandomViewer


    CoBo55 wrote: »
    Exactly my recollection too. Max power windscreen visors and whiplash aerials was the full extent of modding cars..

    Must have depended on county, Alloys or wide steel wheels were a must and lots of cars would have had engine swaps, boot spoiler and front splitters were on every second Escort and Nova.


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    #314
    RandomViewer
    Registered Users Posts: 6,191 ✭✭✭RandomViewer


    Technique wrote: »
    You can see it in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s housing estates, there was only room for one car at each house. Drive through them now and there are cars parked all over the pavements as each house has two or three cars.

    One income would keep a family in the 80's and many women of a certain age didn't drive, so one car was all they needed


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    #315
    RandomViewer
    Registered Users Posts: 6,191 ✭✭✭RandomViewer


    MAX Power didn't exist until 1993


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    #316
    Technique
    Registered Users Posts: 1,370 ✭✭✭Technique


    Cibie spots. With the covers still on. Two above and two below, especially on smaller hatches like a Kadett or a Fiesta.


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    #317
    RandomViewer
    Registered Users Posts: 6,191 ✭✭✭RandomViewer


    Technique wrote: »
    Cibie spots. With the covers still on. Two above and two below, especially on smaller hatches like a Kadett or a Fiesta.

    Rallygiants if you couldn't afford Cibies


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    #318
    Technique
    Registered Users Posts: 1,370 ✭✭✭Technique


    Getting white paint and filling in the writing on your tyres was a thing for a while. I remember a local guy did this on his Cortina, including the word 'Remould'.


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    #319
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 17,728 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    ........ seat covers


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    #320
    CoBo55
    Registered Users Posts: 8,849 ✭✭✭CoBo55


    RandomViewer wrote: »
    Must have depended on county, Alloys or wide steel wheels were a must and lots of cars would have had engine swaps, boot spoiler and front splitters were on every second Escort and Nova.

    Yes!! I forgot about engine swaps particularly on Fords I should have remembered having assisted in doing a few myself, sticking twin choke carbs on 1100 escorts and imagining it's a road rocket... Spot lamps, many many spot lamps and those bloody red fog lamps in the back window that would cut the eyes out of you. Not much in the way of alloys in these parts. Stripping a higher spec model in the local breakers to up the spec of your own jalopy was a frequent occurrence too. Myself and the father GTS'd our lowly TL Renault 18 from an English one that bust a con rod hauling a gigantic caravan from rosslare harbour..


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    #321
    mayota
    Registered Users Posts: 1,545 ✭✭✭mayota


    Augeo wrote: »
    ........ seat covers

    Hairy ones


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    #322
    Old diesel
    Registered Users Posts: 5,788 ✭✭✭Old diesel


    CoBo55 wrote: »
    Yes!! I forgot about engine swaps particularly on Fords I should have remembered having assisted in doing a few myself, sticking twin choke carbs on 1100 escorts and imagining it's a road rocket... Spot lamps, many many spot lamps and those bloody red fog lamps in the back window that would cut the eyes out of you. Not much in the way of alloys in these parts. Stripping a higher spec model in the local breakers to up the spec of your own jalopy was a frequent occurrence too. Myself and the father GTS'd our lowly TL Renault 18 from an English one that bust a con rod hauling a gigantic caravan from rosslare harbour..

    Was upgrading the 1100 to a 1300 a regular thing on Mk 1 Escorts. Because someone told me that - 1100 not strong enough for the job of pulling the Mk 1 apparently.


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    #323
    zetecescort
    Registered Users Posts: 5,055 ✭✭✭zetecescort


    mayota wrote: »
    Hairy ones

    a couple of my uncles at different times had tiger print ones


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    #324
    RandomViewer
    Registered Users Posts: 6,191 ✭✭✭RandomViewer


    Old diesel wrote: »
    Was upgrading the 1100 to a 1300 a regular thing on Mk 1 Escorts. Because someone told me that - 1100 not strong enough for the job of pulling the Mk 1 apparently.

    1.6 crossflow ,could be bored out to 1740, twin Weber carbs . Strong little engine, some dropped in the OHC engine but not as common and if you were stopped the guard's would know the difference, BDA engine would've been the holy grail of Escort engines


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    #325
    swarlb
    Registered Users Posts: 1,244 ✭✭✭swarlb


    I think this thread is beginning to get a bit weary..... stories of uncles who knew fellas who heard about some guy who reputedly did something to his car 'in the 80's' .....
    I suppose a few major things happened, one in Dublin at least was the reversing of traffic flow on the quays, as well as side streets being made one way, Capel Street was one in particular I remember.
    Datsun changed it's name to Nissan and sponsored a bicycle race to benefit from the publicity.
    Bus conductors disappeared, along with the old 'green' busses where you jumped on and off at your peril.
    Works on the M50 began, albeit at the end of the decade.


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    #326
    horseofstone
    Registered Users Posts: 238 ✭✭horseofstone


    zilog_jones wrote: »
    What's now Harris Group still are the distributors for Isuzu in Ireland (but no longer Hino, it seems), and they did sell the second generation Gemini and first Aska here. Isuzu pretty much gave up on passenger cars by the mid-90s, and sold some rebadged Subarus and Hondas in Japan for a while.

    Neither the Gemini or Aska were sold in the UK, possibly nowhere else in Europe except maybe Malta.
    The Isuzu Aska was actually a pretty cool looking car for its time and would be a nice car to own nowadays as a classic.


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    #327
    RandomViewer
    Registered Users Posts: 6,191 ✭✭✭RandomViewer


    swarlb wrote: »
    I think this thread is beginning to get a bit weary..... stories of uncles who knew fellas who heard about some guy who reputedly did something to his car 'in the 80's' .....
    I suppose a few major things happened, one in Dublin at least was the reversing of traffic flow on the quays, as well as side streets being made one way, Capel Street was one in particular I remember.
    Datsun changed it's name to Nissan and sponsored a bicycle race to benefit from the publicity.
    Bus conductors disappeared, along with the old 'green' busses where you jumped on and off at your peril.
    Works on the M50 began, albeit at the end of the decade.

    If we are going that route, 5k of dual carriageway opened in Letterkenny in 1988, was supposed to be extended to Lifford and connect to the A5, still only 5k of dual carriageway 32 years later


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    #328
    zetecescort
    Registered Users Posts: 5,055 ✭✭✭zetecescort


    Grafton street pedestrianised in 82 or 83 I think


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    #329
    swarlb
    Registered Users Posts: 1,244 ✭✭✭swarlb


    RandomViewer wrote: »
    If we are going that route, 5k of dual carriageway opened in Letterkenny in 1988, was supposed to be extended to Lifford and connect to the A5, still only 5k of dual carriageway 32 years later

    Now your talking...... after all it was 'motoring in the 80's'

    My father used to visit his hometown every so often....
    Out from Dublin, through Inchicore, 2 sets of lights before you got to the canal, where another set was waiting, next ones at Fox and Geese, then Newlands Cross, a bit of a run to Rathcoole, then Kill, bit of a concrete 'carraigway' then more lights at Kill, wind your way through Naas, then Newbridge, a bit of a run across the Curragh, more lights in Kildare town, finally past the 'seashell house' (it's still there), then Monasterevin, Ballybrittas, Portlaoise, Mountrath, stop for a break in Borris in Ossary, Roscrea, and a turn off at Dunkerrin.....
    then the fun began, driving over single lane 'roads' with a grass covered ridge in the middle.... every now and again slowing to avoid bottoming out...
    and all this in a 1970's Triumph Herald.........
    I think the entire journey could take 4 to 5 hours at best, more if the car was full.
    And to think his previous car was an 850cc Mini, and a Minor before that.... all bangers, bought for a few quid.
    I have to laugh when I read of people here worrying would 'a 1.6 TD' be enough... I'll be doing 250 miles a week'......

    THAT... was motoring in the 80's....


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    #330
    RandomViewer
    Registered Users Posts: 6,191 ✭✭✭RandomViewer


    swarlb wrote: »
    Now your talking...... after all it was 'motoring in the 80's'

    My father used to visit his hometown every so often....
    Out from Dublin, through Inchicore, 2 sets of lights before you got to the canal, where another set was waiting, next ones at Fox and Geese, then Newlands Cross, a bit of a run to Rathcoole, then Kill, bit of a concrete 'carraigway' then more lights at Kill, wind your way through Naas, then Newbridge, a bit of a run across the Curragh, more lights in Kildare town, finally past the 'seashell house' (it's still there), then Monasterevin, Ballybrittas, Portlaoise, Mountrath, stop for a break in Borris in Ossary, Roscrea, and a turn off at Dunkerrin.....
    then the fun began, driving over single lane 'roads' with a grass covered ridge in the middle.... every now and again slowing to avoid bottoming out...
    and all this in a 1970's Triumph Herald.........
    I think the entire journey could take 4 to 5 hours at best, more if the car was full.
    And to think his previous car was an 850cc Mini, and a Minor before that.... all bangers, bought for a few quid.
    I have to laugh when I read of people here worrying would 'a 1.6 TD' be enough... I'll be doing 250 miles a week'......

    THAT... was motoring in the 80's....

    Carrying two spare wheels because the roads were so bad


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    #331
    CoBo55
    Registered Users Posts: 8,849 ✭✭✭CoBo55


    Old diesel wrote: »
    Was upgrading the 1100 to a 1300 a regular thing on Mk 1 Escorts. Because someone told me that - 1100 not strong enough for the job of pulling the Mk 1 apparently.
    The 1100 wasn't strong enough to do anything it was a dreadful engine, shockingly thirsty too. The clutch release bearing on the 1100 was wider than the one on the 1300, if you didn't change it the clutch remained permanently disengaged, no problem changing gears but no drive either:pac:. Yes it happened to me and to add insult to injury the 1300 went knocka knocka knocka about a month later and died..


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