Automobiles : Good,Bad & the Ugly.

[DB9]

Yes...Iirc it featured the song Grey Cortina by Tom Robinson Band.

They were good cars for the era, easy to work on, a lovely smooth manual gearbox. The back end on a MK III was prone to slide if you threw it into a corner(the Capri was the same) Great fun

Down side was they tended to be rust buckets.

Apparently they were suppose to have only a 10 Yr life span.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

Apparently they were suppose to have only a 10 Yr life span.

They had no rustproofing, plus their design trapped water under the front wings. Ford Granada’s of the era fared little better on the rust stakes.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

Apparently they were suppose to have only a 10 Yr life span.

They were easy to nick, especially the MKII one of the lads at work had a beautiful 1600E in metallic purple. It got nicked in Bristol whilst he was on a course. He got it back & sold it to another colleague, this time with hidden ignition cut off switch fitted. We travelled to Bristol in it, parked it in a Multi Storey with a attendant, all anti theft devices set....Guess what ? we got back to the car park that evening & it was gone ! .It was found on the back of a lo loader in Birmingham a couple of days later...This was in 1980.
That car did the rounds in the criminal fraternity in Bristol !

 

[DB9]

They were easy to nick, especially the MKII one of the lads at work had a beautiful 1600E in metallic purple. It got nicked in Bristol whilst he was on a course. He got it back & sold it to another colleague, this time with hidden ignition cut off switch fitted. We travelled to Bristol in it, parked it in a Multi Storey with a attendant, all anti theft devices set....Guess what ? we got back to the car park that evening & it was gone ! .It was found on the back of a lo loader in Birmingham a couple of days later...This was in 1980.
That car did the rounds in the criminal fraternity in Bristol !

In the programme it had John McVicar saying exactly that, How easy they were to nick and good for ramming too.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

In the programme it had John McVicar saying exactly that, How easy they were to nick and good for ramming too.

I remember when I had a MK III in 1979 a fella who was working in a house doing a rewire whilst I was assisting my colleague on the gas side, noticed I had a Cortina & gave me a key that he said would open any early MKIII (he had a bit of ‘form’ apparently) I tried it, yep opened mine & my mates.
Luckily the ignition key was a different key in those days.

 

[DB9]

I remember when I had a MK III in 1979 a fella who was working in a house doing a rewire whilst I was assisting my colleague on the gas side, noticed I had a Cortina & gave me a key that he said would open any early MKIII (he had a bit of ‘form’ apparently) I tried it, yep opened mine & my mates.
Luckily the ignition key was a different key in those days.

Wasn't that a common problem for cars of that era?

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

Wasn't that a common problem for cars of that era?

Yes it was...Theft of radios & Radio/Cassette players were a huge problem. I had a 2000E Cortina after my first MKIII which was broken into(no visible damage) when I was parked at the Uni for a gig at the Great Hall. I turned on the sounds when I got back, silence..The speakers had been nicked along with my compilation tapes, i was gutted about losing the tapes more than the speakers. Luckily the radio cassette was untouched.

 

[DB9]

Yes it was...Theft of radios & Radio/Cassette players were a huge problem. I had a 2000E Cortina after my first MKIII which was broken into(no visible damage) when I was parked at the Uni for a gig at the Great Hall. I turned on the sounds when I got back, silence..The speakers had been nicked along with my compilation tapes, i was gutted about losing the tapes more than the speakers. Luckily the radio cassette was untouched.

Amazing, Nowadays all radios etc are built in to the dashboard/touchscreen, these sort of thefts are a lot rarer.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

Amazing, Nowadays all radios etc are built in to the dashboard/touchscreen, these sort of thefts are a lot rarer.

Yes...Being built in really screwed thieves.
Most cars did not come with audio equipment, it was usually a optional extra. There was a gap in the dash, you fitted it yourself. My dad had a TR7 when they first came out, he was not interested in music or listening to the radio whilst driving so had no audio equipment. It was only when he changed it after a couple of years for another new TR, again without audio, that I fitted a radio cassette in for him having a spare one available from my car, plus when I drove it I could put a few tunes on

 

[Greyhound]

After seeing car reg D1 EXE the other day, I couldn't decide whether we're heading for the Premiership or staying in League 1.