Your iconic 'car of my youth' to buy now...

[Ian]

Yeah loads do/did. Often it was just a manifold vacuum pressure gauge!

It was still amusing showing friends just how low mpg could go on a V12 jag (ouch ££££)

[Mr. Dazzle]

I remember getting a Corvette down to 1mpg on the instantaneous readout

[Slenver]

I remember getting a Corvette down to 1mpg on the instantaneous readout

I saw the same on the first car I ever drove with an MPG meter (digital too!), A Ford Scorpio Cosworth. The ugly one.

[Mr. Dazzle]

There was a non-ugly one?

[Slenver]

There was a non-ugly one?

I believe so.

Funnily enough, I just googled it to remind myself of the various body shapes, and the Wikipedia page mentioned that the Cosworth one was famous for its terrible fuel consumption.

[Ian]

Eeeeww! I had forgotten the blobby headlight one, why did I google that

[ChrisW]

Just watching the Daily Rider review of the 1300GS & it has an econometer, albeit a bar not a needle.

[Bigjawa]

There was a non-ugly one?

I believe so.

Funnily enough, I just googled it to remind myself of the various body shapes, and the Wikipedia page mentioned that the Cosworth one was famous for its terrible fuel consumption.

I had the non ugly one, it averaged around 19-21 mpg but I was heavy footed.

[KungFooBob]

When I used to go to my mate Dave's house to play on his BBC Model B, I walked past a Scorpio Ghia. The one that looked like a bigger Sierra.

[dern]

There was a non-ugly one?

I believe so.

Funnily enough, I just googled it to remind myself of the various body shapes, and the Wikipedia page mentioned that the Cosworth one was famous for its terrible fuel consumption.

I had the non ugly one, it averaged around 19-21 mpg but I was heavy footed.

I really loved my 99 wrx wagon until it shat its engine on a track day.

[KungFooBob]

A car I saw on the telly that reminded me of this thread.

It was an episode or Wheeler Dealers, they were doing a TR7 and it was a bit of a piss take about how shit they were.

When I was in Junior and Infant school I used to pass a house with one on the drive every day (I don't think it ever moved). It was in BRG and I thought it was the coolest thing ever... until I was allowed out to play a bit further and used to hang out at Blackies wood, which involved a walk down a slightly posher street where there was always parked up a Red Lotus Esprit.

So with the benefit of hindsight, I've changed my mind. I reckon I could actually afford a Lotus (non-turbo) now... even if I couldn't fit in it.

EDIT:

It would have been the late 80's early 90's, so just like this!!!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276008944295

[ChrisW]

Buy it! I've always sort of wanted an Esprit, especially that era.

[KungFooBob]

The X180's seem almost affordable.

Shame the 2.2 doesn't have the muscle to backup the styling.

Any the V8's are still proper spendy.

[ChrisW]

Any of them would be fun.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Surely any potential lack of performance is made up for by being able to drive underwater.

[Ditchfinder]

Did someone say Manta?



https://retroshite.com/2024/07/18/1981-opel-manta-v8/

[dern]

The X180's seem almost affordable.

Shame the 2.2 doesn't have the muscle to backup the styling.

Any the V8's are still proper spendy.

I don't think the 2.2 would be too slow, it's a very light car and the handling should be excellent. I'd love one.

[dern]

Did someone say Manta?

This show the main problems with finding one... they've either rusted away to nothing or someone has turned one in to an abomination. Fortunately this is just a hatchback which were always horrible.

The sweet spot for me is a relatively unmolested GTE coupe, maybe with quad headlights, possibly with a redtop but definitely not a 400 'tribute'...

[Taipan]

We had a few Lotuseses come through the showroom where I worked. They are a bit meh tbh. A real bitsa car. They had lots of British Leyland bits on them, door handles from Allegros type of thing and the gel coat on most of them used to crack or craze. ISTR the twin 40s or whatever carbs they had, were lumpy at low revs and you'd have to rev them higher than you normally would to pull away or they'd bog down.

[v8-powered]

We had a few Lotuseses come through the showroom where I worked. They are a bit meh tbh. A real bitsa car. They had lots of British Leyland bits on them, door handles from Allegros type of thing and the gel coat on most of them used to crack or craze. ISTR the twin 40s or whatever carbs they had, were lumpy at low revs and you'd have to rev them higher than you normally would to pull away or they'd bog down.

Mate of mine had an Esprit, late 80's model with the 2.2 engine, at the same time as I was running a TVR 350i - my TVR looked well constructed in comparison, more reliable too!