A road test of small cars from 1977.
A friend of my Dad's had a Mk I Fiesta in that same puke green colour with the same hideous seats for many years until it fell apart. My Dad was going to buy it from him at one point but bought a Cortina instead.
My one and only journey in an original model R5 was in one my uncle had bought as a cheap runabout c1987. The trip came to an abrupt end in pitch darkness on a wet, winter's night on a poorly surfaced country road when the rear suspension pulled out of the rusty bodywork and we had to walk to the nearest house to phone for help (for the benefit of any children reading this, cars often suffered terminal corrosion at alarmingly young age and once upon a time telephones were attached by wires and couldn't be carried in your pocket). Despite this, as a lover of cheap, quirky, small French cars, I have always fancied an original R5 (although I'd prefer an R4).
I think the Fiat 127 is ugly but I recognise it's advanced engineering.
The Polo is just so bland compared to the others IMO. It would probably have been the sensible choice at the time but today as something different to the norm with a little style and character it is just too boring.
A friend of my Dad's had a Mk I Fiesta in that same puke green colour with the same hideous seats for many years until it fell apart. My Dad was going to buy it from him at one point but bought a Cortina instead.
My one and only journey in an original model R5 was in one my uncle had bought as a cheap runabout c1987. The trip came to an abrupt end in pitch darkness on a wet, winter's night on a poorly surfaced country road when the rear suspension pulled out of the rusty bodywork and we had to walk to the nearest house to phone for help (for the benefit of any children reading this, cars often suffered terminal corrosion at alarmingly young age and once upon a time telephones were attached by wires and couldn't be carried in your pocket). Despite this, as a lover of cheap, quirky, small French cars, I have always fancied an original R5 (although I'd prefer an R4).
I think the Fiat 127 is ugly but I recognise it's advanced engineering.
The Polo is just so bland compared to the others IMO. It would probably have been the sensible choice at the time but today as something different to the norm with a little style and character it is just too boring.
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