Irish motoring in the 1980’s

Panrich wrote: »

Chrysler Sunbeam as well was popular. Lots of rear wheel drive cars at the time. Probably contributed to the statistics posted earlier as many found a ditch trying to drift around corners.

Car colours were far less muted than today. I remember in 1987 looking out of a train window somewhere around London and seeing a sea of grey cars in a huge new car lot and marvelling at the lack of colour.

Sunbeam engine was soft , not liked, wee 1200 cc Opel engine would take serious abuse. No ABS and 155 x 13 tyres might be as much to blame as anything, also remember roads were poorly surfaced as local authority was broke.

L1011 wrote: »

It could have been quite regional depending on what firms there were big employers - any UK firm or multinational with a lot of UK exposure did it; lots of US multinationals did. Think some of the banks did too.

I know people who worked in Motorola in Cork who got company cars until the late '90s or so, just engineers with desk jobs. Seems completely unheard of these days unless you have a reason to travel for your job.

Arthur Daley wrote: »

The main reason they prospered and went on to lead todays PSA.

Uhh, Peugeot *are* PSA. Peugeot Société Anonyme (public company)
They bought out bankrupt Citroen in the '70s, Chrysler Europe, and more recently FCA. They've always been essentially the owners of the group.

Tazio wrote: »

- FOR REG - hand written on cardboard instead of a reg plate.

Before the 1987 number plates, I can only assume this was done purely for tax dodging? I can't imagine anyone was waiting for the next sequence of letters, because most people didn't know or care about them.

I didn't live in Ireland in the '80s but did visit family in Limerick frequently, and these were the cars owned by around '89:

• Toyota Carina II (T150), a taxi
• Volvo 340
• Volkswagen T2 van (bay window, no idea how old it was)
• Nissan Vanette (may have been a Datsun)

I travelled all the way from the south west of England to Limerick in the back of the Vanette in the early '90s. Kids being thrown in the back of vans or hatchback/estate boots was acceptable in the UK too back then.

RandomViewer wrote: »

Renault 21 Savannah and Espace were both 80 s and 7 seater

Nobody could afford them and even if they could, the default family transport solution was telling the kids to push in.

Savannah was very rare, especially in the 80s and Espace only became a little more common in the 90s.

2nd gen Nissan Prairie ('88ish} was 7 seat too but even coming from a town with a Nissan dealer, I didn’t know of anyone who had one, a 200sx might be seen in the showroom occasionally but never a Prairie.

Mitsubishi Spacewagon was another 7 seater that existed but only became common in the 90s when it became a popular jap impirt.

Some brands were hugely popular in Ireland then that have gone into decline. Opel were massive then, as we're Fiat. Renault has made a comeback of late back to its 80s levels. Nissan algadva great selection in the 80s compared to the limited range they have now. Patrols were cheaper than landcruisers too which helped sell them

TrailerBob wrote: »

Some brands were hugely popular in Ireland then that have gone into decline. Opel were massive then, as we're Fiat. Renault has made a comeback of late back to its 80s levels. Nissan algadva great selection in the 80s compared to the limited range they have now. Patrols were cheaper than landcruisers too which helped sell them

That's more the general situation of those brands rather than their performance in Ireland specifically - Opel/Vauxhall and Fiat have been in dire straits recently, and both have been acquired by PSA Group. Nissan's vast model line-up was a contributing factor to their financial troubles in the '90s and subsequent "alliance" with Renault. Mitsubishi seem to have largely forgot how to make cars - I couldn't name a single model in their current lineup besides the Outlander.

Renault were just selling a lot of ****e cars in the 2000s. Things like the Megane II seemed like nice cars, but had too many niggly faults. I think similar can be said for Peugeot for most of that decade, all the x07's were bland and not particularly reliable, lots of lemons out there.

I remember my Dad's cars from the late 70's - 80's:

Mark 2 Escort
Fiat 127
Hillman Hunter
Datsun 200L - his favourite ever car. I remember how cool it was. It seemed to be enormous after a Fiat 127.

The my mother learned to drive and we had Fiesta's, Starlets and Corollas.

RandomViewer wrote: »

They gave out licences a few times when the backlog got too big, people with HGV licences who never passed a test

There was only one amnesty and that was in October 1979. Contrary to popular belief, you could only benefit if you were on a second provisional licence in category C (now category and had applied for a driving test by the cut off date which was six months before the announcement was made by Sylvie Barrett. There are so many myths and untruths told about that amnesty such as people rushing out to apply the day of the announcement. Bullshít. I'd say less than 1% of current drivers benefited.

Regarding HGV's - I'd say you are confusing the amnesty with the pre-test era. Prior to 1964 there was no driving test. You simply bought the licence and ticked the categories you required. My mother had all the categories even though she never drove.

AlfaZen wrote: »

I remember many cars from my childhood in the 80's. My parents owned a few ropy cars but my Dad had access to company cars from time to time which were often something special.

Owned:

• Red Chrysler (Hillman) Avenger with a black vinyl roof and a hole in the floor
  1980 FIAT 124 - I remember been given out to for making the rust holes with my fingers :eek:
  White Chrysler Sunbeam with red plastic seats that would scald the arse off you in summer but it was ok - it would never start. I think the guy that bought it off us turned it into a rally car
  1987 - Toyota Corina Liftback - First brand new car we owned - very exciting.
  1990 - Toyota Corina Saloon -

Company/Managing Director Cars that we regularly had for weekends/holidays:

• Gold Rover SD1
  Metallic Blue Pontiac Trans-am T-top with American Eagle decal on the bonnet/Hood - that thing was not built for Irish streets or roads
  Silver 1985 BMW 535i - that thing was a rocket
  Green 1986 Jaguar XJ6
  1987 Red Saab 900 turbo - 3dr
  1989 Dark Blue Mercedes SL convertible
  Plus various Toyota Hi-ace vans that would bring the football team to matches

An 1980 Fiat 124 ?? Or you had one in 1980 ?

As another poster said my father in law started getting Audi in the 80s company cars and said people used to stop and look at it

1980s nostalgia for me:

Front suspension of what I guess was an SD1 collapsing and coming through the bonnet

Massive ball and pin towbars on small cars, usually for bringing milk to the creamery

Letters and numbers falling off number plates

Sitting into a friends dads Fiesta and realizing microseconds after he moved off that my feet were on the road.

Unlocking my grandads Mk2 Escort with a lollipop stick

Lengths of hydrodare pipe in behind the front seats for walloping cows

Vinyl seats in the summer

Gutter bolts holding the rear lights of our then 7 year old Corolla onto the car because the rear panel was so rotten.

AXE-TAX stickers

Neighbours with two identical cars with the same number plates.

Wondering what the LMMUU buttons on the radio did

My dad practically giving away a quite new Datsun 120y because it had literally fallen apart.

Clothes hangers for antennas

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

There was only one amnesty and that was in October 1979. Contrary to popular belief, you could only benefit if you were on a second provisional licence in category C (now category and had applied for a driving test by the cut off date which was six months before the announcement was made by Sylvie Barrett. There are so many myths and untruths told about that amnesty such as people rushing out to apply the day of the announcement. Bullshít. I'd say less than 1% of current drivers benefited.

Regarding HGV's - I'd say you are confusing the amnesty with the pre-test era. Prior to 1964 there was no driving test. You simply bought the licence and ticked the categories you required. My mother had all the categories even though she never drove.

There was a re-classification of licenses sometime in the late 80s or early 90s.

I had passed the test for a D licence, for rigid trucks and suddenly was licencedyto drive buses, artics, the lot.

Have kept all the categories up to date. Just in case.

we were taken to school by tractor after the Capri died. My father bought a Carina 2 after and left any reliability worries behind

The Yuppies were driving around in Peugeot 205Xrad vans.

I don't think anyone has mentioned the MII Escort RS2000 - we called it the 'fanny catcher'.

Darwin wrote: »

...Setting off on a family holiday from Dublin to Kerry in a Renault 18, the engine caught fire and we got stuck in Naas...

Jesus you've just reminded me that I went to Kerry with a crowd of lads in Renault 18 around 1987. I think it was the 'America II' special edition as it had a few extras such as electric windows. The bloody thing kept breaking down and we had to stop at several garages to get repaired. It took us about 12 hours to get there. It was the first time I heard the word 'banjaxed' as that is how one mechanic described the engine.

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I don't think anyone has mentioned the MII Escort RS2000 - we called it the 'fanny catcher'.

Jesus you've just reminded me that I went to Kerry with a crowd of lads in Renault 18 around 1987. I think it was the 'America II' special edition as it had a few extras such as electric windows. The bloody thing kept breaking down and we had to stop at several garages to get repaired. It took us about 12 hours to get there. It was the first time I heard the word 'banjaxed' as that is how one mechanic described the engine.

Sounds like that would have been perfect for an episode of Top Gear if it had of happened a few decades later.

I don't remember all the cars my parents had but there was a mini which I do remember and an Opel I think it was that we took to the Isle of Man and the poor thing struggled up the hills there. It was full with 8 of us in it lol. We were stopped by the police there one day and he could not believe his eyes but let us carry on when he heard we were Irish and on holiday. We also had a big Citroen CX That was a cool car unfortunatly do it was not very reliable and it got changed for a Megane during the scrappage scheme. Another car I remember really well was my Uncles Volvo 440. It was very cool but he eventually scrapped it for a Mondeo under the scheme.

Arthur Daley wrote: »

Saw quite a few 1st generation Nissan Prairies when they came out. Talk about a box on wheels. Also the Nissan Stanza, a niche model that was popular for a few years, sitting between Cherry/Sunny and the Bluebird.

Nissan Patrols were a common enough sight too. Would have taken a lot of original Land rover sales, and more popular than the Landcruiser if I recall correctly.

Datsun/Nissan I'm sure had a much higher market share 40 years ago than they do today, I even think they may have outsold Toyota up until about 1988, it seemed that way anyway.

Think Nissan were the first Japanese brand to come to Ireland, Daihatsu and Toyota followed with Honda last. FJ Landcruissr was old school, New model in 85 changed the market.Hilux would have started to sell in numbers around the same time.

alias no.9 wrote: »

Nobody could afford them and even if they could, the default family transport solution was telling the kids to push in.

Savannah was very rare, especially in the 80s and Espace only became a little more common in the 90s.

2nd gen Nissan Prairie ('88ish} was 7 seat too but even coming from a town with a Nissan dealer, I didn’t know of anyone who had one, a 200sx might be seen in the showroom occasionally but never a Prairie.

Mitsubishi Spacewagon was another 7 seater that existed but only became common in the 90s when it became a popular jap impirt.

I forgot about the commonest 7 seater, though not an official conversion, the Toyota Liteace.

in the 80's my dad had a couple of Opel Rekords and then a 2.8l Granada Ghia. The Granada was a lovely motor. He swapped that for a 1986 Sierra Ghia 2.0L Automatic - hatchback with a big rubber spoiler on the back. I loved that car

My auld lad had a 1980 Toyota hiace in grass green. Later painted black (with a brush)
It was a 1.6 petrol / LPG with a Switch under the dash to switch between the 2 fuels.
4 speed box I think.

It was rear ended on the athlone town bridge by a truck in 1983 and the back door was in bits.

It remained that way until he sold it in around 1990, door held closed with a piece of 2x1, back of it full of band gear too.

He upgraded to a talbot express after that.
2.5 diesel, 4 speed box.