Crap cars of the past - your hypothetical ultimate ****box project?

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by slowsnake

Hillman Imp, lol,hahaha or its 70's lookalike Vauxall Viva, a mate tried to hot one up a bit, didn't work!


Cheers King Billy

2 of the greatest crap cars alongside the Triumph Herald.Don’t know which would be rated as the worst

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

The 3.9 with a 5 speed was actually a pretty quick bit of gear for the time. 15.7 quarter mile if i remember correctly.

The 3.9 set all kinds of speed records.

Fastest Return to Dealer.
Fastest Disposal.
Fastest Trip to the Wreckers

[oldel]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

I find the 1980s interpretations of 'the future' absolutely fascinating with those weird and wonderful designs where everything was square and everything went 'digital'.

I love the eccentric Japanese electronic dash cars.

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Also if you look at the end of the 1980s through to mid 00s Mercedes seemed really intent on designing cars that looked like they were targeting old men who wear beige cardigans and drink tea.

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that! Better to be who they are rather than mould into a blob that looks like some other marque. I love those mercs like W124, W201. Later ones are OK but less reliable so I'm not interested.

[kevino]

Re the Vauxhall Viva.
There was a spin off coupe I think with a 2.3 called Firenza.
A few came to NZ.

[slowsnake]

Originally Posted by nstg8a

An imp looks nothing like a viva though?

My old man put a cf Bedford motor in one of his old vivas. Went ok for what it was.

They looked ok to me as a lad catching the bus to work,, lol..and they "sorta" looked similar, if the sun was in ya eyes, or 1/4 mile distant, ha!
Like the difference between a dog and a fox, after a bottle of Rum!

Cheers King Billy

[ford71V8]

......

[Citroënbender]

I’m quite tempted by this one, spotted the other day - was still registered a month later, so presumably an uninsured accident.

Plenty to do on it, and when you’re done it’s still nothing special.

[FroudeyBrand]

My "dream car" is a black XC falcon with the Square headlights with a purple interior and "underglow" lol

[hayseed]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

I’m quite tempted by this one, spotted the other day - was still registered a month later, so presumably an uninsured accident.

image

Plenty to do on it, and when you’re done it’s still nothing special.

Looks Like Ol' Mate was Too busy texting & ran underneath the rsend of a Tray Truck ...

[Sar4890]

I reckon I would pick a Rover SD-1 V8 as my crap car project. It really was only abysmal build quality of 1970's Uk manufacturing and all the issues they had back in the day which totally thwarted what on paper was a great car.

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by hayseed

Looks Like Ol' Mate was Too busy texting & ran underneath the rsend of a Tray Truck ...

still registered

[Ross 1]

Originally Posted by kevino

Re the Vauxhall Viva.
There was a spin off coupe I think with a 2.3 called Firenza.
A few came to NZ.

This was my first car, mechanically and interior wise it was great, exterior it was rust free but 97% primer. 0-60 eventually

[Interceptor]

Yet another thread mine.....
2 options, both of which nearly became starters for me except the bank balance wasnt agreeable.....
1984-ish HJ47 landcruiser ute, mechanical 1HD turbo diesel, 5 speed part time 4wd driveline with 6cyl 79 axles & brakes, engel & swag on the tray, retro ARB bullbar & high mount warn winch up front, and you have a tough as nails 4wd that will go just about anywhere you're dumb enough to try taking it, theres parts everywhere, and even in the middle of nowhere, if you cant find someone to fix it properly, someone will know a bush mechanics fix using fencing wire and a stick.....
1983 VH Vacationer wagon, metallic brown, originally a 253 & 4 speed, drop in an alloy block & heads COME racing 383 stroker setup, 4 barrel throttlebody & EFI, hide it all under a big chrome air cleaner & a HDT cold air tray, and you've got a 500+ HP streeter that would be a hoot to drive, and invisible to the cops!

[mondeomatureguy]

Hi Everyone,
I remember going to a car show and talking to a bloke. We got on the subject of crap cars and he told me " when he was younger he had a Triump Stag.

he told me "Lucky my old man was well off" because he paid for the repairs on his car.
He said " the water pump went first, then the main bearings went and then later in life the Timing chain Broke.

He said "The worst V8 engine car he had ever had"

[MrEL]

I've already had my ultimate ****box car.
Had it on my P plates.
VB Commodore L.
Was a factory 253 with M20 4 speed.
Had a Commodore cup 253 with M21 in it when I got it.
Was painted Godfrey's Vacuum cleaner blue with what we reckon was a Godfrey's Vacuum cleaner gun.
Floor was crack through underneath the seat rails as they all did.
Handled great , didn't stop and something broke everytime I looked at it.
But it used to happily hit 8000 RPM coming out of the M4 toll gates.
Wish I still had it.

[Sprintey]

Crap cars of the past... we've just done maybe 3000km round trip in the young fella's 1994 Discovery with 3.9 V8, it didn't miss a beat and thrummed at 2600 revs at 110 like those scale model V8 motors you see on youtube...

Got a 12.7L/100km on the Hume run back down, that's a new best score

Got to fang it on long beaches at 20psi, it absolutely loved the soft sand and sounded glorious doing so. You think it's gutless but it has the torque where it's really needed. The sand driving was an absolute hoot, a trip highlight as we don't get too much of that here because rules and hooded plover genocide

Consumed 0.5L oil on the 1500km+ up, and the same on the way down. Started every time. Body honestly feels more solid than 1990s Fords and Holdens we have/have had - maybe that's the ladder on frame and solid chassis. What isn't really measurable is the character the car has, and in spades.

We hit the heaviest rain I've experienced in years somewhere between Cowra and Bathurst, it kept raining hard all the way out until we appeared from the national park mountains in the Hunter (great drive!) There were two moments when the non ABS, no nothing safety Disco did begin to slide on right corners going down into a valley, but good driving response and the full time 4wd saved any panel damage on the chicanes... We saw what was left of a BA that hadn't been so lucky...

Also did obligatory laps of Bathurst in the rain, it struggled to top 40 up the hill lol, but we got to be part of the thing that is the V8 legend of Bathurst haha

And this wouldn't be an unreliable Land Rover story without something going wrong - Lucas Prince of Darkness took the indicators somewhere near the town with the Oberon class submarine on the way back... 12 midnight through the Melbourne ring road meant the need for only a couple of stealth lane changes...

Overall, I'm falling in love with the little Rover V8, could happily have another in maybe the form of a late Classic Rangey. It's not very powerful, thirsty, antiquated, obsolete - and goes about being itself with lot of character and fun.

[Sprintey]

For around town, I'd love to get a decent Rover 75. It seems time is being kind to it's legacy, and the KV6 appears to be very characterful as well as annoyingly complex to do timing belts on. Elegant and comfortable. I wouldn't change it at all, just keep on top of the maintenance. I guess it falls under the '****box' category now as of the used pricing, being Euro in Oz, and being unusual. But I'd unironically take it as a G-Town commuter over almost anything new I can see to buy in town.