What older cars do you notice on the road

JP08

Haven't seen him around for a couple of years now, but there used to be a guy who regularly picked his other half up from the station in his Austin 7 (dryer days only).

For a large chunk of the 90's I ran a 1960 Super Snipe as my only car - not needing it for travel to work was handy.

I think the guy that took the biscuit was the one at a classic car show a few years ago who had a 1914 Prince Henry Vauxhall that was a light duties workhorse - shopping etc, and even had a towbar fitted so he could trailer rubbish to the dump.

NBLondon

knightstyle wrote: »

There is a reliant Robin, the 4 wheeled one.

A Reliant Kitten or Fox... probably rarer than the Robin and Rialto.

With this thread in mind, I looked carefully on a 10 minute walk round the block this morning, A double handful of 02-53 plates - Corsa, Fiesta, Astra, Peug 405, Honda something. There was an N-plate MX5 bit that might be a hobby car; the oldest likely to be daily drivers were another Corsa (Y), Ford Galaxy (R), Volvo V70 (R) and a Saab 9000 (P). One of my neighbours has just acquired a B plated Capri to replace an 80s Merc 280CE but I think that's also a hobby car.

Pewmouse

I used to commute in a '78 MG Midget. My neighbour has an MG B and an Austin A30 which he uses most weekends. I've now got a 2003 MK1 Leon Cupra (Diesel). MK1 Cupra's are fairly rare but I see a petrol R most days on my commute.

Stoke

How old are we talking here? 20 years? 30 years?

I regularly see those 90's era VW's that were built like military tanks but with the refinement of a modern car.... i.e. Lupo's, MK3/4 Golf's, MK3 Polos etc. Lupo's (especially diesel ones) in particular seem to last a lifetime, having owned one myself.

Ka's are still common as muck aren't they? Not sure how, considering they all suffer from chronic rust issues. That said, the howmanyleft figures are staggering for Ka's. They're dropping by the thousands every few months. I think the 90's ones don't really exist anymore, and the 00's ones are all on their last legs if at all.

Not many MK1 Punto's around anymore either, which is a shame because they did a great model based on the Uno Turbo, but the early MK2's are still around. I think they were a little bit better built.

I did see a Ford Escort the other day, but it's the first I've seen in years so I doubt they're common. As for anything like a Sierra or Granny, haven't seen one in donkeys years.

That said, when I moved to my new house about 6 months ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see a guy driving a 90's Jaguar XJR as his daily driver. It's a right big beauty and he seems to enjoy himself in it. Very classy car inside (Yup, I had a peak one day as I walked past).

Zola.

My VW Bora is 2002 reg and has 226,000 miles on the clock.

Going strong so far. In two minds to drive it to the death, or replace?!

Stoke

Zola. wrote: »

My VW Bora is 2002 reg and has 226,000 miles on the clock.

Going strong so far. In two minds to drive it to the death, or replace?!

It's a Bora. It won't die mate.

jase1

The number of older (mundane) cars still on the road is largely a function of how many were sold in the first place.

I could not get this simple logical truth through to my dad no matter how many times I tried. "How many old Mitsubishis (say) do you see on the roads, there are far more Vauxhalls". Yeah, there's a good reason for that :think:

Gloomendoom

JP08 wrote: »

I think the guy that took the biscuit was the one at a classic car show a few years ago who had a 1914 Prince Henry Vauxhall that was a light duties workhorse - shopping etc, and even had a towbar fitted so he could trailer rubbish to the dump.

A chap in my village has one of those that he uses fairly regularly. Dark blue.

Stoke

jase1 wrote: »

The number of older (mundane) cars still on the road is largely a function of how many were sold in the first place.

I could not get this simple logical truth through to my dad no matter how many times I tried. "How many old Mitsubishis (say) do you see on the roads, there are far more Vauxhalls". Yeah, there's a good reason for that :think:

Hence, the trick is to use howmanyleft, which will show you the rate in-which they're 'disappearing'. In Vauxhall's case, the rate in-which they're probably breaking down.

JP08

jase1 wrote: »

The number of older (mundane) cars still on the road is largely a function of how many were sold in the first place

What is quite odd though, is how quick the tail off can be. Ford Sierras that someone mentioned earlier a good case in point. At one time aged ones were everywhere, over the space of about 2 yrs they disappeared off the road.

Boxy Volvo 240s and 740s did something similar. You could see old ones, pushing well into their late teens, running around every day. In the space of 3 years in the middle of the last decade something just beamed them all up !