One For Classic Car Fans.....

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I used to service a 1993 Escort van for a neighbour. Not a bad piece of styling but the early 1990s MKV Escort diesel must surely have been one of the worst cars of modern times.
They also had a cheap plasticky interior with unsupportive seats and were appallingly noisy once you went about about 30MPH.
Oddly enough I did drive one of the later sporty versions of that Escort with the 16v engine and it was unrecognisable. They had somehow managed to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. It was much faster as you would expect but they had tightened up the handling and fitted a faster steering rack. It drove really well and was a perfectly competent car. Whatever they had done to it should have been done to the base models too.
Where I used to work, in Leeds (photographic company '86 - 97'), we got a few new 'G plated' Escort Combis(?.... estate car, but blanked off sides & no rear seats)
They were diesels, I collected one of them from the sign-writers, with (from memory) about 20 miles on it
It felt good. but the seats were appalling
To get my position, the lumbar support was going to snap my spine, allowing for the spine gave me shoulder support that made me understand the phrase ' To Bend Over Backwards'
Not long after, I got a lift from a collegue who had a mk3 hatch on bigger wheels/low-profile tyres
My god, it was rough - it made a Series Land Rover on seized leaf-springs look like air-ride!!!

Between them, quite probably the worst seats & the worst ride of any car I've driven/been in................. until I had the grave misfortune to briefly drive a B*W X5 on big wheels:wacko::wacko::wacko:


That 1.7 TD Isuzu engine was a great powerplant. I've just always had mixed feelings about Opels, they are generally well built and very reliable and easy to maintain and drive well on main roads but their suspension struggles on the minor rural roads around here they pitch and bounce all over the place. You can see why a Golf costs more as they clearly put a lot more R&D into their suspension.
A friend had a mk3 Astra as a 'black & white' taxi
Apparantly, Wakefield Council states (or did) that 'B&Ws' have to be less than 5 years old (??)
Brian sold it, at that age, with over350,000miles showing (on original engine/'box) to a mini-cabber, who put another 100,000 on it!!
Yes, it was the Isuzu 1.7TD
 

Gunk

Guru
Location
Oxford
Spotted a Peugeot 305 while out on the bike today. Probably the best diesel car of all time.:becool:
View attachment 567008

A real forgotten hero is the Citroen ZX, our company used to give out the Turbo Diesel version as company cars and they would do inter-galactic mileages without any fuss.

back in 1993 I had the 16V 150bhp version and Mrs Gunk had the Volcane. great cars 👍
 

Cavalol

Legendary Member
Location
Chester
The Astra Mk3 was (is) a fantastic car, petrol or diesel. Even the misery spec 1.4SPi 3 door was a hundred times better than an Escort and far far better than the Golf Mk3, imho.
 
Apologies for quality, the shiney paper was throwing the auto-focus off

Is this the love-child of a DB5, & (the bloated greenhouse of) a series 3 E-Type?
'Viz'
Edition 302


Viz8123505_10222627313623808_8255744667988332795_n.jpg



On the cover, Mrs Brady Old Lady , states that she can see the Crematorium from there!
 

Gunk

Guru
Location
Oxford
Looks like it’s having a proper restoration
 

simongt

Guru
Location
Norwich
Used to fancy a G-Wagen when they were first launched, but was wary of the steel body as opposed to the Landy's alu one. Hmm.
But never went there anyway - !:rofl:
 

BrumJim

Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
The Astra Mk3 was (is) a fantastic car, petrol or diesel. Even the misery spec 1.4SPi 3 door was a hundred times better than an Escort and far far better than the Golf Mk3, imho.
My second car was an Astra Mk 3. Was a good car, even though I had the single-point fuel injection version of the 1.4 - a fiddle to get a few more production units out of the carborettor engine. I remember Escorts of the same age and price had a bad reputation so I avoided them. Never liked Golfs - always thought of them as over-priced for what they are, particularly second-hand.
 
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