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darrind
Member Since: 04 Jul 2008
Location: In A World of My Own!
Posts: 2891
  
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Advertising was about as good as the cars.... Must stop buying shiny toys....
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 3rd Apr 2021 11:01 am |
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darrind
Member Since: 04 Jul 2008
Location: In A World of My Own!
Posts: 2891
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My Mum was a district Nurse and used to have a little blue Metro as a Crown Car - the most basic spec you could buy - even the herring bone checked seat pattern was printed onto the fabric not woven and the glass was clear so if the sun shone the car used to get baking hot but as everything got so hot the manual winding windows would stick and not open - the local garage service department said what do you expect when she took it in to get looked at - BL customer service at its finest  Must stop buying shiny toys....
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| 3rd Apr 2021 11:28 am |
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Dexter
Member Since: 21 Sep 2007
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 1394
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Thank for posting these classics 👍
I’m old enough to remember these being on the telly and in the cinemas. I loved the Nigel Manson one 👏
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| 3rd Apr 2021 1:38 pm |
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lynalldiscovery
Member Since: 22 Dec 2009
Location: Maidstone
Posts: 7274
  
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darrind wrote:My Mum was a district Nurse and used to have a little blue Metro as a Crown Car - the most basic spec you could buy - even the herring bone checked seat pattern was printed onto the fabric not woven and the glass was clear so if the sun shone the car used to get baking hot but as everything got so hot the manual winding windows would stick and not open - the local garage service department said what do you expect when she took it in to get looked at - BL customer service at its finest
My mum had a turd brown Metro, I have never seen a car rust so much!
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| 3rd Apr 2021 2:35 pm |
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john watson
Member Since: 10 Nov 2011
Location: lanark
Posts: 970
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Bought a new metro as my daughters first car. At 17:the attraction was free insurance and if one year without an accident she would get a full 5 years no claims bonus. Some idiot ran into her and when the car was being repaired it was found that no door seals had be fitted hence the water on the floor!
Soon as it was on the road sold and bought her a VW polo! Once you have defeated the idiots any job is half done. Pity there are so many idiots to defeat.
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| 4th Apr 2021 7:35 am |
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J77
Member Since: 03 Mar 2008
Location: Fife
Posts: 6270
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When my mum passed her driving test many years ago, my old man treated her to an Austin Maestro diesel van, ex British Gas. The first family car, a couple of cushions in the back for myself and the brother 
Oh them were the days! 23.5MY Defender 90 X-Dynamic SE D250 MHEV Pangea Green
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| 4th Apr 2021 11:01 am |
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Red Merle
Member Since: 30 Aug 2014
Location: Liskeard
Posts: 7441
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Thanks for posting those HWN 👍
Used to love my old Montego estates! A new 1.6 in 1986 and a near new ‘88 2.0 in 1989.
Nice to drive, so airy inside and could see all the corners. Very like the D4 and Fatty from that point if view. The interiors were really nice too, right up until it was cost cut to oblivion in the ‘89 facelift. The 1.6 rusted very quickly though and the exhausts / wheel bearings / shocks were consumable items. 18 months would see out an exhaust! 2011 - 2015: 3 x FL2
2015 - 2017: 2 x D4
2017 to date: FFRR SDV8
2023 to date: 2 x FL2 as “second” cars 🙄
2021 to date: Hinckley built ‘14 Triumph Trophy 1200
2022 to date: Hinckley built ‘14 Triumph Trophy 1200 & sidecar!
(One of only two known to exist in the world!)
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| 4th Apr 2021 1:43 pm |
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john watson
Member Since: 10 Nov 2011
Location: lanark
Posts: 970
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Got a Montego as a company car. Utterly reliable but that Perkins Diesel engine. Yes fantastic fuel consumption but the noise. Sounded like a barrowload of monkeys were hammering for all they were worth under the bonnet. Put this down to why I am slightly deaf today. Rear seating position was interesting. You seemed to be elevated somewhat. Next car was a Ford Scorpio what a heap of rubbish that was. Once you have defeated the idiots any job is half done. Pity there are so many idiots to defeat.
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| 4th Apr 2021 1:59 pm |
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Red Merle
Member Since: 30 Aug 2014
Location: Liskeard
Posts: 7441
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john watson wrote:Got a Montego as a company car. Utterly reliable but that Perkins Diesel engine. Yes fantastic fuel consumption but the noise. Sounded like a barrowload of monkeys were hammering for all they were worth under the bonnet. Put this down to why I am slightly deaf today. Rear seating position was interesting. You seemed to be elevated somewhat. Next car was a Ford Scorpio what a heap of rubbish that was.
I remember test driving a Maestro diesel van and couldn’t believe how noisy it was! The 2.0 petrol that it was based on was hardly the peak of refinement 🙄
Interesting that the Scorpio should have been so bad, why was that? 2011 - 2015: 3 x FL2
2015 - 2017: 2 x D4
2017 to date: FFRR SDV8
2023 to date: 2 x FL2 as “second” cars 🙄
2021 to date: Hinckley built ‘14 Triumph Trophy 1200
2022 to date: Hinckley built ‘14 Triumph Trophy 1200 & sidecar!
(One of only two known to exist in the world!)
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| 4th Apr 2021 2:58 pm |
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MrBrain
Member Since: 12 Mar 2014
Location: bucks
Posts: 472
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I don't agree with the general knock-bl-vibe at all.
I had many BL cars and thought they were fantastic when I was young. My mum had a Metro 1.3s that I learned to drive in and that was driven all over the country and was reliable, quiet, comfortable and frugal. It was fun to drive and much better than the fiesta I also drove from time to time.
Work then had an 1750 allegro and an old Morris 1300GT I recall - again real fun cars to drive - the allegro was soft, but hell you could throw it about and it remained utterly reliable.
I had a succession of Meastro and Montego cars via employers, and every one was reliable, roomy and fun. The Meastro and Montego MGs were fast, the estates capacious.
The worst we had were Marinas, but even they did sterling and reliable work. they were just noisy and boring.
it's easy to jump on a bandwagon, but Maestro and Montego particularly in my memory were very good cars - they rusted, but so did many of the competition of the era, and they don't deserve the beating they get nowadays in my view.
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| 4th Apr 2021 3:20 pm |
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al cope
Member Since: 08 Nov 2005
Location: Oldbury, WM
Posts: 10354
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I drove a 2.2 6 pot princess and the torque steer was so bad I swear it could leave the road if you didn’t hang onto the wheel tight enough, and if given full whelly the bonnet lift could be measured in feet.
Al Volvo XC90 B5 Plus Dark
Gone - MY18 D5 HSE - Corris on 22's with Black Pack
Now gone - MY16 D4 SE Tech, Loire Blue, Almond Leather, Privacy, plus some other goodies.
Old - MY12 D4 SDV6 XS Auto - Ipanema Sand with Almond Leather - Plus other niceties, and D4.com sticker
Older - D3 TDV6 XS Auto - Lugano Teal with Almond Leather, 20" Stormers, Shiny Tailpipes, DVD/TV - and obligatory D3 sticker
Ancient - D3 TDV6 S - Tonga with Ebony, 20" Stormers, satnav & DVD
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| 4th Apr 2021 3:31 pm |
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