Irish motoring in the 1980’s

RandomViewer · 02-07-2020 11:42pm

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.

Wishbone Ash · 02-07-2020 11:43pm

AMKC wrote: »

... Another car I remember really well was my Uncles Volvo 440. It was very cool ...

There was nothing cool about the Volvo 440. I had a 460 (the saloon version). By a long way the most unreliable car I ever had. Anything that could go wrong did. They had Renault engines which probably explains a lot.

RandomViewer · 02-07-2020 11:48pm

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.

RandomViewer · 02-07-2020 11:48pm

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

There was nothing cool about the Volvo 440. I had a 460 (the saloon version). By a long way the most unreliable car I ever had. Anything that could go wrong did. They had Renault engines which probably explains a lot.

Shared a lot with the Renault 21, which was never a good thing

Panrich · 03-07-2020 7:11am

RandomViewer wrote: »

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.

Mazda were also big enough sellers here at the time.The 323 and then the 626 cane in mid 80s if memory serves me.

California Dreamer · 03-07-2020 8:07am

I think we were really lucky and 'rich'

My dad had a selection of cars including 3 Ford Granada. The last one in 1987 had a car phone which was really posh! He traded it in 1990 to buy an 1987 Mercedes 200E.

My mother had a Fiat 128, then a Ritmo before getting a new Ford Orion, which I learnt to drive in.

I remember in the late 80s/early 90s Ford Fiesta Vans were all the rage as they were a lot cheaper and looked cool.

Good times!

whippet · 03-07-2020 8:17am

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

cml387 · 03-07-2020 8:25am

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

There was nothing cool about the Volvo 440. I had a 460 (the saloon version). By a long way the most unreliable car I ever had. Anything that could go wrong did. They had Renault engines which probably explains a lot.

Because we worked in a Swedish company, a colleague bought a 440 to impress his Swedish boss (they all drove 240 series Volvos)

He was a bit let down when told he'd bought a Daf with a Renault engine. Good heater on them though.

Lewis_Benson · 03-07-2020 9:17am

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.

Comhrá · 03-07-2020 9:18am

I spent most of the eighties in Mk 1 & Mk II Golf GTIs and a Peugeot 309 GTI. All great fun cars but all were somewhat unreliable too, compared to today's offerings. The Peugeot was a thirsty motor. Exciting times. Built more for comfort nowadays.

JoeA3 · 03-07-2020 10:50am

California Dreamer wrote: »

I remember in the late 80s/early 90s Ford Fiesta Vans were all the rage as they were a lot cheaper and looked cool.
Good times!

Yes! I remember those, the "Flair" Fiesta van. I think Ford put an XR2i style bodykit on them and they were dirt cheap to tax/run, so they were all the rage with young lads with a few quid around that time... I definitely had a spin in the back of one a couple of times.!

road_high · 03-07-2020 10:59am

JoeA3 wrote: »

Yes! I remember those, the "Flair" Fiesta van. I think Ford put an XR2i style bodykit on them and they were dirt cheap to tax/run, so they were all the rage with young lads with a few quid around that time... I definitely had a spin in the back of one a couple of times.!

Carvans in general were very popular in the 90s. The 305 van seemed to be everywhere.

iHungry · 03-07-2020 11:03am

...was going into the motorfactors in the ilac centre as a boy and drooling over spotlights and dreaming of them on my dad's Bluebird.

Philb76 · 03-07-2020 11:22am

iHungry wrote: »

...was going into the motorfactors in the ilac centre as a boy and drooling over spotlights and dreaming of them on my dad's Bluebird.

This just brought back another memory watching fellas trying to wire up cibie spotlights to there escorts seemed a complicated job cos would walk past two days later and they were still at it or the rally sunstrips on the windscreen the shell ones were popular definitely great days

RandomViewer · 03-07-2020 11:23am

road_high wrote: »

Carvans in general were very popular in the 90s. The 305 van seemed to be everywhere.

No need for a 4 x4 when you had a 305, brilliant van

Jimmy Garlic · 03-07-2020 11:26am

Passenger wing mirrors optional.

RandomViewer · 03-07-2020 11:30am

Jimmy Garlic wrote: »

Passenger wing mirrors optional.

No radio or rear seat belts,
mudflaps and plates extra

Philb76 · 03-07-2020 11:34am

RandomViewer wrote: »

No need for a 4 x4 when you had a 305, brilliant van

There's a mint red one that goes around kildare regularly

markfinn · 03-07-2020 11:50am

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater wrote: »

My abiding memory is of a brown Toyota Corolla my parents had. It was a right looking yoke but would have been a grand car at the time.

Are You Me?

We moved to the brown Corolla from the blue Renault 4 with the silage barrel bits tied to the seats to hide/replace the missing floor bits.

road_high · 03-07-2020 11:50am

RandomViewer wrote: »

No need for a 4 x4 when you had a 305, brilliant van

I suppose they had high ground clearance, good towing ability and cheap to run. Farmers loved them.

cml387 · 03-07-2020 11:57am

We may be sliding back towards the 1970's now.
By the 1980's very few cars came without a radio at least, many were fitted with radio cassette:eek:

The Escort MkII RS2000 was the babe magnet of the seventies, the Escort XR3i
was its eighties equivalent (and the Mk3 is still in my eyes the best Escort).

Arthur Daley · 03-07-2020 12:39pm

Not sure how many Escort MkII RS2000s made it to Ireland. Many remember it as Doyle's car from the Professionals. Loved it, with the wire mesh headrest. Worth a right few quid today

Marcusm · 03-07-2020 2:00pm

Arthur Daley wrote: »

Not sure how many Escort MkII RS2000s made it to Ireland. Many remember it as Doyle's car from the Professionals. Loved it, with the wire mesh headrest. Worth a right few quid today

I saw a bright orange one in Dubkin a few weeks ago. Lovely stuff.

colm_mcm · 03-07-2020 3:02pm

JoeA3 wrote: »

Yes! I remember those, the "Flair" Fiesta van. I think Ford put an XR2i style bodykit on them and they were dirt cheap to tax/run, so they were all the rage with young lads with a few quid around that time... I definitely had a spin in the back of one a couple of times.!

In-laws only got rid of theirs that they bought new. Too much rust to save.

begbysback · 03-07-2020 3:07pm

Marcusm wrote: »

I saw a bright orange one in Dubkin a few weeks ago. Lovely stuff.

There’s another thread around here regarding r kings draws, a few vintage escorts have popped up there, have bought the odd ticket meself, was surprised to hear a 1600 sport was now valued in the 20k neighborhood. I’d absolutely love a decent old escort.

jimgoose · 03-07-2020 3:22pm

Mmm. My father had a couple of Mk.I Granadas, with the 2-litre Pinto engine. They were a magnificent thing back in the day, considered the king-dick as 'twere, at a time when Mercs were seen as a slightly oddball car from Eastern Europe. After that he had a 2.8l Mk. II Granada Ghia, with Cologne V6, automatic transmission, deep-pile carpet, aircon, etc. My mother had a couple of escorts as well as a Fiat 127 - the latter had terrible gearshift linkage problems, causing the otherwise rather saintly lady to swear like a wounded Dutch pirate. :pac:

Diesel cars were few and far-between, consisting mainly of the Peugeot 504. A local GP did have a diesel Golf at one stage, which was considered a very unusual and expensive Teutonic masterpiece around where we lived.

The Hillman Hunter was highly regarded among the young gentlemen about-the-place, as was the Corolla K-30 a little later-on - I had one of those. They did tend to crumble into dust, but those engines were astonishing. One friend-of-a-friend had one with the driver's door welded shut. The same fella would happily drink ten pints, hop in via the window like the Dukes of Hazzard gone wrong, then trundle away home. But that was alright, because his brother was a guard - "Mike! Mike!! If I catch you driving in that condition again, I don't care who's brother you are, I'll fuckin' do ya!!" :pac::pac::pac:

If I think of any more, I'll post again. :cool:

AngryLoner · 03-07-2020 3:25pm

AXE TAX STICKERS!

jimgoose · 03-07-2020 3:25pm

AngryLoner wrote: »

AXE TAX STICKERS!

That reminds me - ISTR no-one really giving a shit about tax, including most guards. :pac:

Fritzbox · 03-07-2020 3:28pm

jimgoose wrote: »

They were a magnificent thing back in the day, considered the king-dick as 'twere, at a time when Mercs were seen as a slightly oddball car from Eastern Europe.

Were Ford Granadas also built in Germany as well, in Cologne?

Edit: just checked, Granada was also produced in Dagenham until 1977 - so that would mean the Mk.1 as you mentioned.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Granada_(Europe)#Mark_I_(1972%E2%80%931977)

jimgoose · 03-07-2020 3:31pm

Fritzbox wrote: »

Were Ford Granadas also built in Germany as well, in Cologne?

Yes. The Mk. I was built in Dagenham as well. But as far as everyone was concerned back then, Fords were Irish cars!

Irish motoring in the 1980’s

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