This weeks Classic Irish bargains that I'm not buying

Duke O Smiley · 06-05-2015 7:11pm

I think he wanted 800 for the Maestro then which was ludicrous money. If I had the cash I'd seriously buy it for the lolz

ba_barabus · 06-05-2015 7:18pm

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

I think he wanted 800 for the Maestro then which was ludicrous money. If I had the cash I'd seriously buy it for the lolz

That sounds about right, the Safrane was 600 iirc.

Given I missed out on a mint Safrane a few weeks previously that had nct & tax that went for less I wasn't biting.

ba_barabus · 06-05-2015 7:20pm

w124man wrote: »

I drove the first Maestro prototype out of its assembly bay back in early '78 !!

Jealousy doesn't describe my feelings right now :cool:

w124man · 06-05-2015 9:13pm

ba_barabus wrote: »

Jealousy doesn't describe my feelings right now :cool:

Did I really post that?

Anyway there were two SEP's (SEP 4 & 5) made at the same time and they didnt look a bit like the finished article! The first SEP's were Allegros with proper suspension.

winnie the schtink · 06-05-2015 11:36pm

i sold a good few of these maestros to a fella down in wicklow,he was converting them to diesel as apparently they have a golf gearbox

Duke O Smiley · 06-05-2015 11:39pm

winnie the schtink wrote: »

i sold a good few of these maestros to a fella down in wicklow,he was converting them to diesel as apparently they have a golf gearbox

How long ago was that?

RobAMerc · 06-05-2015 11:47pm

off topic but...
I remember watching a program about UK reps and their company cars.
One guy when asked about his Diesel Maestro burst into tears and sobbed "the company has basically pulled down their pants and shlt on me!":eek:

You couldn't argue in fairness.

Duke O Smiley · 06-05-2015 11:53pm

RobAMerc wrote: »

off topic but...
I remember watching a program about UK reps and their company cars.
One guy when asked about his Diesel Maestro burst into tears and sobbed "the company has basically pulled down their pants and shlt on me!":eek:

You couldn't argue in fairness.

I remember watching that!

welder · 07-05-2015 7:59am

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/volkswagan-jetta-austin-maestro/9313417?offset=8

Maestro anyone?

Wish I'd seen that a few weeks ago to reshell my racing Maestro....before I sent it out for extensive welding and bodywork !

unkel · 07-05-2015 10:59am

RobAMerc wrote: »

off topic but...
I remember watching a program about UK reps and their company cars.
One guy when asked about his Diesel Maestro burst into tears and sobbed "the company has basically pulled down their pants and shlt on me!":eek:

You couldn't argue in fairness.

Here it is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMCFeoR9oSg

w124man · 08-05-2015 9:26pm

winnie the schtink wrote: »

i sold a good few of these maestros to a fella down in wicklow,he was converting them to diesel as apparently they have a golf gearbox

They didnt have a Golf gearbox but if I was to say that there were a lot of Golfs in the Longbridge prototype shop around that time you might follow the drift. We had the first GTI Golf in the UK at the time. It was a very early LHD car and was such an amazing experience to get behind the wheel of something like that.

winnie the schtink · 09-05-2015 2:06am

just did a bit of googling and they had a vw gearbox for sure as did the montego,no secret just bought in

w124man · 09-05-2015 9:27pm

winnie the schtink wrote: »

just did a bit of googling and they had a vw gearbox for sure as did the montego,no secret just bought in

It was a licensed copy of the VW tranny, the casing was bought from the same factory and some of the internals were the same and it was to be assembled off site. I left in 1980 so never saw them on the assembly line. They also had a licence on the rear torsion beam for production. Some the early prototypes used one straight out of the VW parts bin along with the front bottom arms and struts. They wanted to make a car that handled like an Alfasud, was a comfy as a Citroen GS and built like a Golf. It didn't happen.

Idnes · 09-05-2015 10:53pm

Hi Lads,

just wonder anyone know anything about that Skoda from sixties in Tipperary at Three Bridges motors?? Its sitting there for long time now. Looks like interesting machine,whats d parts suply and general knowledge of them??

26000 Elephants · 10-05-2015 11:14pm

welder wrote: »

Wish I'd seen that a few weeks ago to reshell my racing Maestro....before I sent it out for extensive welding and bodywork !

If you are looking for clean rust free maestro shells, look in the south of Spain. Some were reg'ed there as late as '01. And all in white. You see the odd one driving around still.

RobAMerc · 10-05-2015 11:30pm

w124man wrote: »

It didn't happen.

Understatement of the year ?

_Brian · 11-05-2015 6:00pm

w124man wrote: »

It was a licensed copy of the VW tranny, the casing was bought from the same factory and some of the internals were the same and it was to be assembled off site. I left in 1980 so never saw them on the assembly line. They also had a licence on the rear torsion beam for production. Some the early prototypes used one straight out of the VW parts bin along with the front bottom arms and struts. They wanted to make a car that handled like an Alfasud, was a comfy as a Citroen GS and built like a Golf. It didn't happen.

Indeed it didn't, I only drove one once, and its a long time ago, but I'm fairly sure they achieved NONE of those aims.

hamburg · 11-05-2015 11:53pm

w124man wrote: »

They didnt have a Golf gearbox but if I was to say that there were a lot of Golfs in the Longbridge prototype shop around that time you might follow the drift. We had the first GTI Golf in the UK at the time. It was a very early LHD car and was such an amazing experience to get behind the wheel of something like that.

just wondering, do all manufacturers do this? buy their rivals models and take them apart to see what makes them tick?

hi5 · 12-05-2015 11:33am

Yep, reverse engineering.

Red Kev · 12-05-2015 11:47pm

hamburg wrote: »

just wondering, do all manufacturers do this? buy their rivals models and take them apart to see what makes them tick?

Of the first 40 Lexus LS400's that were sold in Germany in 1989/90 12 disappeared straight away. A further 5 (or 6) racked up well over 250,000km in the first year.

They were more than likely purchased by BMW, Mercedes, Audi/VW then stripped down or tested over a year or two.

26000 Elephants · 13-05-2015 8:19am

hi5 wrote: »

Yep, reverse engineering.

Austin rover were the best in the world at this.

Alas, it was with the 4 forward gears that they fell down. :rolleyes:

26000 Elephants · 13-05-2015 11:09am

Red Kev wrote: »

Of the first 40 Lexus LS400's that were sold in Germany in 1989/90 12 disappeared straight away. A further 5 (or 6) racked up well over 250,000km in the first year.

They were more than likely purchased by BMW, Mercedes, Audi/VW then stripped down or tested over a year or two.

You wonder why they would bother. The Lexus was well known to have been a reverse engineered merc at the time. What differed between them was the manufacturing technology used - how they were put together, and the quality checks during assembly. Europeans didnt cop onto this until the end of the 90's.

John Larkin · 13-05-2015 11:26am

26000 Elephants wrote: »

You wonder why they would bother. The Lexus was well known to have been a reverse engineered merc at the time. What differed between them was the manufacturing technology used - how they were put together, and the quality checks during assembly. Europeans didnt cop onto this until the end of the 90's.

I recall reading an article in Car magazine (I think) in the late 1980s that Mercedes Benz bought four Lexus LS 400 cars when they were introduced and dismantled at least one of them. The magazine quoted a story that MB engineers were examining the bare steel frame of one of the Lexus front seats and pointed out disparagingly that the welds were not polished back as they were in Mercedes cars. One MB engineer had the courage to ask why MB polished hidden welds when it added no material benefit. I seem to recall that the same article claimed that a Lexus LS 400 took about five hundred manhours to manufacture, and the MB S Class took about eleven hundred man-hours.

red sean · 15-05-2015 10:51am

Not many Hillman Hunters seem to be knocking around anymore.
Heres one, 7 years younger than Tom seems to think: http://cars.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/hillman-hunter-dl/9409785?offset=10

Duke O Smiley · 15-05-2015 10:53am

red sean wrote: »

Not many Hillman Hunters seem to be knocking around anymore.
Heres one, 7 years younger than Tom seems to think: http://cars.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/hillman-hunter-dl/9409785?offset=10

That would make for one brave resotration

Tzar Chasm · 15-05-2015 1:47pm

John Larkin wrote: »

I recall reading an article in Car magazine (I think) in the late 1980s that Mercedes Benz bought four Lexus LS 400 cars when they were introduced and dismantled at least one of them. The magazine quoted a story that MB engineers were examining the bare steel frame of one of the Lexus front seats and pointed out disparagingly that the welds were not polished back as they were in Mercedes cars. One MB engineer had the courage to ask why MB polished hidden welds when it added no material benefit. I seem to recall that the same article claimed that a Lexus LS 400 took about five hundred manhours to manufacture, and the MB S Class took about eleven hundred man-hours.

I wonder if that conversation had any connection to the perceived drop in build quality of the 90s

ba_barabus · 16-05-2015 9:47pm

Anyone here own this?

http://cars.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/renault-5/9421626?offset=2

winnie the schtink · 17-05-2015 12:32am

no ,but i'd like to

Duke O Smiley · 17-05-2015 12:41am

Price is strong enough for a late model with no test.

I had a 92 1.1 Campus a year or two ago, was a great car

unkel · 17-05-2015 8:59pm

Ha, I suggested this car to someone looking for an older Renault on the for sale / wanted sticky last night at about the same time you started this thread

Hasn't been NCTd for a few years but I really like the looks of it. Great colour and very low mileage. If it needs little / no work the asking price isn't too bad imho. You're likely to get a few hundred off with haggling anyway. Keep us posted.

kev1.3s · 17-05-2015 9:42pm

I think that this car used to belong to an uncle of mine 7/8 years ago who coincidently is named John, at that time he bought the car to put on the road and it needed nothing but for one reason or another he never did, if it is the same car it is very tidy but if the john who is selling it is the same john it hasn't been on the road for a while.

ba_barabus · 17-05-2015 11:14pm

I suspect it hasn't been anywhere near a road in years and I also suspect that price is negotiable. I haven't annoyed the seller with a call yet. It's been up and down off donedeal for a while now but as it's the end of the school year and I'm flat out with leaving cert students and making exams I haven't the time to go and look at it. If it's still there in June then I'll pop round. Not having a trailer however is a proper pain in the neck as is having a tiny budget for the next car :mad:

macplaxton · 18-05-2015 12:31am

ba_barabus wrote: »

Not having a trailer however is a proper pain in the neck saving me from myself.

FTFY :pac::D

Don't do it! It's not as if it's a Monaco.:p

ba_barabus · 18-05-2015 1:03pm

macplaxton wrote: »

FTFY :pac::D

Don't do it! It's not as if it's a Monaco.:p

I need saving from myself at times. I have empty sheds, no cars in them and a wedding in 12 months.

ba_barabus · 19-05-2015 8:16pm

Seems these ads are getting *slightly* smarter about selling logbooks and donedeal aren't removing them when reported.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/vw-beetle-back-end-with-brown-book/9448240?offset=10

CianDon · 19-05-2015 10:08pm

http://cars.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/ford-fiesta-mk2-1984/9446888?offset=26

She looks like a mint enough wee car but with no mention of Tax or Test this is a mad wee sentence is crazy "Priced to sell: 3385.00 or 2250 for 24 hours only"

ba_barabus · 19-05-2015 10:16pm

CianDon wrote: »

http://cars.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/ford-fiesta-mk2-1984/9446888?offset=26

She looks like a mint enough wee car but with no mention of Tax or Test this is a mad wee sentence is crazy "Priced to sell: 3385.00 or 2250 for 24 hours only"

I don't know if they are worth €2250 yet but I'd say they are creeping that way. But I hate that messing about with the price. You'd have to deserve it to be fooled by it.

oceanman · 20-05-2015 1:07pm

ba_barabus wrote: »

Seems these ads are getting *slightly* smarter about selling logbooks and donedeal aren't removing them when reported.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/vw-beetle-back-end-with-brown-book/9448240?offset=10

its his logbook to do what he wants with!

kev1.3s · 20-05-2015 1:26pm

oceanman wrote: »

its his logbook to do what he wants with!

Not that I really want to get into this because it's an issue that takes up way too much time in here and I couldn't give a šhite what he does with the log book but it's not his log book to do what he wants with, it's a legal document which belongs to the government that's supposed to be returned when the car is scrapped.

ba_barabus · 20-05-2015 4:40pm

oceanman wrote: »

its his logbook to do what he wants with!

kev1.3s wrote: »

Not that I really want to get into this because it's an issue that takes up way too much time in here and I couldn't give a šhite what he does with the log book but it's not his log book to do what he wants with, it's a legal document which belongs to the government that's supposed to be returned when the car is scrapped.

ba_barabus · 20-05-2015 4:53pm

I don't know if this is a classic or a bargain but I still think it's worthy of inclusion

http://cars.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/toyota-starlet-like-new-59k/9424572?offset=2

kyote00 · 21-05-2015 1:06pm

Comes with 256k Ram

http://cars.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/rare-sinclair-c5-electric-pedal-car/9462787?offset=2

(in 30 years time, this thread will be drooling over Nissan Leaf .... )

CianDon · 21-05-2015 1:33pm

ba_barabus wrote: »

I don't know if this is a classic or a bargain but I still think it's worthy of inclusion

http://cars.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/toyota-starlet-like-new-59k/9424572?offset=2

To be fair from looking at that it's almost as close as you'll get to a brand new 25 year old car. The thing is immaculate from the pics and I wouldn think the price is too far off really

Dades · 22-05-2015 11:11am

kyote00 wrote: »

(in 30 years time, this thread will be drooling over Nissan Leaf .... )

Not a chance! Mild curiously is the default reaction to 20 year old cars... to elicit drool requires some wow-factor above and beyond a bog-standard shopping cart!

Tzar Chasm · 22-05-2015 11:37am

I dunno, in 30 years time a new generation will be reminiscing about the cars of their childhood, for example i have an irrational love of Fiat ritmos and Sierra saphires

Tzar Chasm · 22-05-2015 2:28pm

Dont know about the i30, but the Yaris is a tidy little machine, nippy with decent handling if you felt the urge to push it on also a quirky enough mqchine to be interesting

Thinkingaboutit · 22-05-2015 9:19pm

CianDon wrote: »

http://cars.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/ford-fiesta-mk2-1984/9446888?offset=26

She looks like a mint enough wee car but with no mention of Tax or Test this is a mad wee sentence is crazy "Priced to sell: 3385.00 or 2250 for 24 hours only"

Vendor is taking drugs for shure.

w124man · 24-05-2015 12:09pm

kyote00 wrote: »

(in 30 years time, this thread will be drooling over Nissan Leaf .... )

Family history dictates that in thirty years time I will miss this event ......

Tzar Chasm · 24-05-2015 2:37pm

w124man wrote: »

Family history dictates that in thirty years time I will miss this event ......

Ah now no need to be pessimistic, medical technology is advancing at a pace which outstrips even our beloved automobiles.

3D printing will hopefully be so commonplace that a gearbox for a 71 zephyr and a set of kidneys for a 75 galwegian will be around the same price and lead time

kyote00 · 30-05-2015 7:20am

Looks fairly good, Irish reg also....seems to have a princess fetish

http://cars.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/austin-princess/9534327?offset=5

This weeks Classic Irish bargains that I'm not buying

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