Most irish car

Early ‘90’s the Opel Corsa was huge, I don’t know why but they were everywhere… so fûcking uncomfortable, my Dad had one… a box on wheels, little to no comfort, you could feel every bump in the road…. When he went with an Almera after I was overjoyed, the difference in comfort was unreal…

Car derived vans were a staple on our roads for an era. The only way for young eager chaps like myself to get on the road back in the day and a compromise for many a farmer and small business owner between actually having a van for their work, getting the "chape road tax", VAT reclaim, and having something more respectable to rock up in that resembled a car more than a van. Just a few notable examples;

That was the brothers first car way back in 1995 a Nissan Micra van that he paid 5000 pounds for. I thought he was ripped off with that price crazy. It was a very basic car van. No power steering, no electric anything, very basic radio and heating that took forever; no safety systems except for basic seat belts and brakes. A tiny little 900cc engine. It was great for doing handbrake turns in do. I should know I done loads in it on tar and out in the field behind our house this was only after he had got a new car and yet it the little Micra never broke or fell apart.

We had someone working for us who had a Megavan and what a great van it was. Not the most practicle maybe but comfortable and classy for a van as well as stylish. It done handbrake turns well too. I could never understand do why he changed the standard radio for some horrible aftermarket yoke. Did not make sense to me.

Never liked the look of the 306 van.

That is good you got in before the rush. Alfa were silly to rush them out like that. They should have just went with having a long waiting list but I guess things back then were different.

Well if not here certainly I am sure there is a few people in the UK and maybe up north thinking the same and minding or hiding one for when they do become classics.

Crazy example of a company not capitalising on a huge successful product. Fiat/Alfa seem to be masters at it. They could and should have addressed all build quality issues and got on with it. Even get the likes of Toyota on board if it was beyond Italian management. There was and is huge value in the Alfa brand but it’s definitely being exploited

Remember our school principal getting a brand new silver Alfa 156 in 2000 (anyone remember Cunningham’s of portlaoise??- they sold loads of them!). Thought he must have been so well off to afford one!! Was definitely a left field choice amongst the sea of Mondeos and Astra’s.

Another had a new Audi A4 and we all reckoned he must have been super rich! It’s amazing in the past 20 years how ubiquitous the premium makes have become. Skodas were only just becoming a thing with the success of the Felicia

There’s 9 on the first page alone.

I bought a Renault Supervan back in the early 90s. They were very popular at the time. I thought I was real cool driving around in a van😂 I loved it. I was playing a bit of music at the time so I'd throw my gear into it and off I'd go. Good times.

Starlet van? Yaris didn’t come until 1999. Yep remember car vans complete with cushions. That’s probably what killed them, the safety and insurance claims

Well 4 if not all 5 of them I think in my post #67 have Republic of Ireland registration plates if you look. A lot more of them in the thread have Irish plates too though.

That's 120Y of course.

surely a 1970's clapped out Cortina driven in the 1980's with fifty kids on the back seat, and the father driving it back from the dole office with a ciggie in the corner of his mouth and the window wound down and his elbow resting on the door😉

Car vans are/were very popular in France especially and on the continent.