Automobiles : Good,Bad & the Ugly.

[Oldsmobile-88]

A advert for the Austin Princess from August 1979.
A much maligned car from British Leyland,even so they were incredibly comfortable for the time. A nice drive from what I remember.

The Ad is a bit naughty.Petrol was around £1.05 a gallon for 4 Star at the time(23p/litre) The advertising department at BL were no doubt playing on the upheaval in Iran at the time which had pushed Petrol prices above a pound a gallon a few months before.

 

[Alistair20000]

A friend had a BL Princess around that time. It was comfortable but bleddy unreliable.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

A friend had a BL Princess around that time. It was comfortable but bleddy unreliable.

Little wonder the Japanese started to chip away at BL market share around this time.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

A friend had a BL Princess around that time. It was comfortable but bleddy unreliable.

I’ve never owned one but was allowed to borrow a friends if my car was off the road for any reason.
He did not have a great deal of problems iirc.It was one of the later models a Y reg(1982) HLS,one of the last ones.
He got a Rover 3500 SD1 after ..Gotta be one of the worst build quality cars of that BL era.
A great engine(from GM-Buick) but for bits falling off of it & not working electrics it was something else.

 

[Avening Posse]

A friend had a BL Princess around that time. It was comfortable but bleddy unreliable.

My Dad had one of these. It was the last "British" car he bought. He had the 3 or 4 previous cars BL rolled out and I think he had problems with them all and the Princess was the last straw. It was very comfortable sitting in the back as a 12 year old though !

 

[Mr Jinx]

This made I larf. Would love to go to one of these...

Mass gathering of mundane motors at the Festival of the Unexceptional

The unique event is a celebration of all motors that you'd consider far from desirable but have been cherished by owners who have restored or maintained them in stunning condition.

mol.im

I swear I saw one of those Protons when driving around Exmouth this week.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

A car I remember my parents having which is a rare sight these days is a Sunbeam Stiletto.They had a dark blue one(E reg) from 1969 to 73.
Bought from the Rootes garage on Paris St Roundabout where the Vue Cinema is now.
It was towed during a weeks holiday in London(Staying at Allied Services Hotel in Waterloo)
A car park had to be vacated by 6pm for some reason,my Dad got held up going to move it to a side steet,got there at 6.30pm & it was gone.
Luckily it was not the sort of extortionate fee payable these days.Just inconvenient trying to find the pound.
The next car he bought was a new Renault 4 which would have been right at home in Jinxys post !

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

E10 petrol is being rolled out across the forecourts,replacing E5.
E is for Ethanol a substitute for gasoline.The 5 & 10 stand for the % of Ethanol in the fuel.

Any Petrol vehicle in the UK sold post 2000 should be comparable with E10.
Older vehicles may have to use Super Unleaded(97 octane)
If you own a classic car it may be worth checking if it’s compatible with E10 to save possible damage to the valves & seals in the combustion part of the engine.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

Never been a lover of gull wing doors !

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1426847045818757121

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

^^^^
Does anyone know what make of car that is ?
It looks like a Tesla,but I don’t think they do a Gull Wing model.

Surprised there were not all sorts of warnings & sounds from the dashboard sounding off to the driver if the Gull Wing was open as you engaged gear & drove away.