Cabriolets

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Profpointy

Legendary Member
tyred said:
I would love to have a 1980s Skoda Rapide convertible.
Back in the time when Skoda were quirky and interesting rather than dull:becool:
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They always did well in rallying (not the convertible obviously) and could be made to go rather quick. I used to read the magazine Car and Car Conversions, which had and engineering & motorsport bias rather than being petrol head porn. They did a series on turning a rear engined Skoda Rapide ( or 130) into a Group something rally car. When testing it on the motorway after tuning there was a tale of flashing their lights to get a BMW to move over to get past doing 120+. It didn't have any rally stuff or extra lights at that point, and it was very much the era of Skoda jokes, so who knows what the sales manager in his Beemer must have thought with the scruffy Skoda clearly much faster than his status symbol ...

A mate had a (very ordinary) one and it did have a certain appeal, and it was built like a tank, and felt quite OK to ride in, though I never drove it. On his the gearbox was faulty so he only had 2nd and 4th so he had to slip the clutch like crazy on hill starts, rev it like anything in 2nd until he was just fast enough to go into 4th. To be fair most of us didn't have the dosh to have good cars or even fix cars properly back then so it wasn't really a Skoda thing per se. I think he was rather proud of keeping a two speed car going rather than fixing it which probably wouldn't have been that hard, unlike today's vehicles
 
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Profpointy

Legendary Member
marzjennings said:
Good, do it. I'm thinking about get a cabrio myself, something about enjoying the journey more. Just found this locally for about six grand and I'm very tempted as I don't drive much these days.

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Ah yes, the Morris Marina convertible :-)

Still, its nicer than later rubber bumper ones or the MGB, and a lot less dosh than the TR3 I rather fancy
 
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Accy cyclist

Accy cyclist

Legendary Member
Location
The hills of Accrington
A nice brand new soft top Mini i spotted out on my walk this afternoon.

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Accy cyclist

Accy cyclist

Legendary Member
Location
The hills of Accrington
Phaeton said:
That's not new, if it were new it's have a 70 plate on it,

If it were 9 days old as above it would have a 70 plate on it
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How old does a car have to be before it stops being new?🤔 If i remember rightly,you could buy a car cheaper if it was a pre 'new registration' yet it hadn't been out the showroom. Maybe i'm wrong.🤔
 
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Deleted member 26715

Guest
Accy cyclist said:
How old does a car have to be before it stops being new?🤔 If i remember rightly,you could buy a car cheaper if it was a pre 'new registration' yet it hadn't been out the showroom. Maybe i'm wrong.🤔
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No idea, but that car could be over 6 months old & as the new plate is out it can hardly be guaranteed to be new. But on saying that I've done about 600 motorway miles in the last 2 days & not seen a new 70 plate.
 
figbat

figbat

Slippery scientist
Location
South Oxfordshire, UK
Phaeton said:
No idea, but that car could be over 6 months old & as the new plate is out it can hardly be guaranteed to be new. But on saying that I've done about 600 motorway miles in the last 2 days & not seen a new 70 plate.
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I always used to see new reg plates either the day they were released or sometimes a day or two before. These days it’s usually some time after release that I see the first one. I saw two 70-reg cars on Sunday.
 
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Deleted member 26715

Guest
figbat said:
I saw two 70-reg cars on Sunday.
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I was beginning to wonder if I had got the wrong month & had to check it wasn't October rather than September when they are released, but no, so all I can assume is that new cars are not on everyone's priority at the moment.
 
mustang1

mustang1

Guru
Location
London, UK
Profpointy said:
They always did well in rallying (not the convertible obviously) and could be made to go rather quick. I used to read the magazine Car and Car Conversions, which had and engineering & motorsport bias rather than being petrol head porn. They did a series on turning a rear engined Skoda Rapide ( or 130) into a Group something rally car. When testing it on the motorway after tuning there was a tale of flashing their lights to get a BMW to move over to get past doing 120+. It didn't have any rally stuff or extra lights at that point, and it was very much the era of Skoda jokes, so who knows what the sales manager in his Beemer must have thought with the scruffy Skoda clearly much faster than his status symbol ...

A mate had a (very ordinary) one and it did have a certain appeal, and it was built like a tank, and felt quite OK to ride in, though I never drove it. On his the gearbox was faulty so he only had 2nd and 4th so he had to slip the clutch like crazy on hill starts, rev it like anything in 2nd until he was just fast enough to go into 4th. To be fair most of us didn't have the dosh to have good cars or even fix cars properly back then so it wasn't really a Skoda thing per se. I think he was rather proud of keeping a two speed car going rather than fixing it which probably wouldn't have been that hard, unlike today's vehicles
Click to expand...
I really enjoyed that mag and particularly the columns by LJK Setright. Oh and the Hans Lammay photographer story was the best.

When I was a kid, I recall one of the neighbours had an orange Skoda Rapide. I wasn't aware of Skoda jokes back then but always kinda liked that car's oddly sporty shape.
 
Bad Machine

Bad Machine

In the garage .....
Location
East Anglia
Pale Rider said:
I had a Focus CC3 Cabriolet.
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Saying goodbye to my 2008 CC3 next month, and will definitely miss it when it goes. :sad: HUGE boot swallowed all my work kit, and ferried me around the country as the main work car for a couple of years. Unlike other cars I've had, I kept it rather than traded it in - just for fun days out (high mileage and age depreciation meant it hasn't lost much value over the last few years anyway). As you found, being a Ford Focus, it wasn't an unpleasant drive. And more fun than the standard hatchbacks. Ford had a really bad time with its reputation to leak - but thankfully I got one of the good ones, and only ever got wet when opening the door.

My daughter's currently got it to drive for a week as a "reward" for getting an A* in her Sociology (she got the A* grade even before last month's Government U-turn on grades). A promise is a promise :rolleyes:

Heated seats made a difference. Business trip, Yorkshire 2010.

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MrGrumpy

MrGrumpy

Huge Member
Location
Fly Fifer
It’s quite new 2019 model and it’s white with black roof. Had a loaner for 24hrs , so plenty time driving about with the hood down lol
 
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