80s revival?

[Fiatchris]

Hi all, not Alfas.... but I seem to be increasingly in the world of Practical Classics Magazine... driving to work the other morning I saw a VERY tidy Mk 1 Fiesta parked in Halfords car park and an immaculate beige Maestro flashed and waved coming the other way, a young lad in a lemon yellow Chevette waved in Eastwood and then yesterday pulled into petrol station in Gedling behind a Morris Ital! Now, all pretty lame cars..... or are they? They are still on the road , still waving and many a Top Gear brainwashed pleb has told me how rubbish Suds are.... so well done them and each to their own! Are we seeing a revival here?

Chris

[Johnboy]

Old school is cool not everyone has good taste , people are more bothered by how new there number plate is. Than what there driving

[alfasuddriver]

The old type mini seems to be highly in demand, particularly with new drivers...at one point it was Corsa sxi's and fiestas. Perhaps 80s cars are making a come back because cars these days are a bit hum drum and look the same?

[Fiatchris]

Yeah, id noticed that too.... secretary at work is selling an immaculate Mini 40.... wants 7k!!!!!! she has just bought a new Abarth 500. nice.
People who say Suds rot and fall to bits haven't owned a mini!!

Chris

[Kegsti66]

I don't mind what make it is. If someone has kept an old motor roadworthy fair play.
Value can dictate the fate of so many old motors. Thankfully, there are nutters like us who do it for their love of the car, not just if it is worth saving.
Mind you, we do have the best taste !!

[KevJTD]

this immaculate fiesta xr2 made strong money at king's lynn recently, mind you it was a peach. relly nicely done.

most classics should be saluted, takes all sorts. mind you.....i still hate beetles

[PETROLHEAD]

I don't mind what make it is. If someone has kept an old motor roadworthy fair play.
Value can dictate the fate of so many old motors. Thankfully, there are nutters like us who do it for their love of the car, not just if it is worth saving.
Mind you, we do have the best taste !!

Bravo! i think that says it very well Keith


But like Kev, i still dont see what the fuss is all about with Beetles

The best thing about the VeeDub lads n lasses is that their dedication is second to none, but very closely matched by the Ford Fans,

Cant fault that though can we really

[KevJTD]

I don't mind what make it is. If someone has kept an old motor roadworthy fair play.
Value can dictate the fate of so many old motors. Thankfully, there are nutters like us who do it for their love of the car, not just if it is worth saving.
Mind you, we do have the best taste !!

Bravo! i think that says it very well Keith


But like Kev, i still dont see what the fuss is all about with Beetles

The best thing about the VeeDub lads n lasses is that their dedication is second to none, but very closely matched by the Ford Fans,

Cant fault that though can we really

apart from them being idiots

[PETROLHEAD]

Well ok, I'll give you that!

[Kegsti66]

Have to be honest, I grew up with bugs !!
My parents had two, so I grew up only knowing them. They never had an engine in the front of a car till the mid '80. First car they had was a Fiat 600.
Shrew, did you see the message to Jix ?
I think I found his ideal first car.

[Fiatchris]

I too am a VW family refugee, I spent many hours looking for the adoption papers...... If you had spent as long in a VW camper as I have over the years you wouldn't think they were "Iconic" we suffered a Beetle and worst of all Karman Gear, the very definition of "All show and no go" dreadful.
Nearest I came to GBH was when someone said my Sprint was a SCRIOCCO......

[PETROLHEAD]

Shrew, did you see the message to Jix ?
I think I found his ideal first car.

Sorry mate, no

Which thread or was it a pm?

[Kegsti66]

It was a pm.

Page 2 of the sud, 33 pages.
STEVE5M posted on Sat Jan 10th "Sprint door mirrors v tall people.
Lovely motor from Alfasud1978.

[Fiatchris]

Gold Porsche 924 this morning!

[alfachris]

Saw a mint fiesta mk1 on a y plate last night going down the M42........I overtook it in my lorry which is limited to 52mph bought memories of my old supersports and mk1 xr2's that I've owned

[Veesix75]

There is definitely a revival of 70's and 80's cars, even 90's with beemers .

Sadly, I trawl eBay classics every week seeing what is around as I like most models...soft spot for firenzas and e21 BMw

I spent most of my early years having burn outs with the ford gang in sud ti's, my brother owned an early xr3, and other mates had golf gti's. A rare one was a mates mkI Astra GTE.

Don't beat me up for this, but I fancy an old M5.....

[Johnboy]

Delete button at the ready

[Veesix75]

Ha ha......lots of Hail Mary's and/or sack cloth underpants in penance .

[Kegsti66]

I remember taking on a 3.0 Capri S in my old Sud 5m.
Left me on the straights but reeled him in on the twisty stuff. He later stopped and wanted to know what was under the bonnet .
That was probably when the Alfa bug bit me.
28 yrs later and I now, still have a 5 speed Sud.

[Simonsud]

I remember a few races I had in my Sud had lots of mates with mk1 Astra gte they had better top speed but Sud could hold them off on acceleration and handling
But I did get a shock with a rough ford Capri that was playing with me I went to over take he put his foot down and I never saw it again it sounded like a tuned punto
Also avoided a nasty accident when racing a mk2 escort it over took me so I floored the Sud and we where side by side and evenly matched but a car was coming the other way I wasn't going to let the escort by , likely my Sud hit the Rev limiter and I stoppex dead and escort just got in front before a head on

[Kegsti66]

Boys will be boys

[Fiatchris]

indeed.... remember showing off to a girl in my Sprint back in the day.... old guy in an E Type Jag.
Erm. ... lesson learned!!!!!

[Veesix75]

Ha ha.....silly, if not reckless, when reflecting back, but similar to above I used to set off from the lights in my Sud and do 10mph in first, wait for the nob behind (usually a mk 2 escort or similar) to pull out to pass, and then floor it and leave them on the wrong side of the road.

I'm sure they thought I was a nob also, to the point I nearly got into fisticuffs.

I could rarely drive through my local town without at least one ford boy sitting on the boot lid, and it was my duty to spit dust, and a bit of oil, in their faces.....

Plus I was only 17 so young and stupid.

[Johnboy]

Lol
The first car was a Sud 1350 ti when I was 18, used to play with escorts and cortias . They could never get away from me good times

[PETROLHEAD]

My first own car was a 1300 Mk1 Astra Sport, and was surprisingly good.

Good enough to see off my mates many 1600 vw golfs and roccos over our first few years of skill honing!

If things got tough in town, and Jay was sober, we fetched his 1500hl delta, and because that thing just didn't stop revving, it was usually enough to deal with Waynes Escort and Gary's Capri! ha ha!

Still Struggling? Back to the Westdale Tavern to see if Aiden was in. He had a Mirafiori Abarth, a little bit sorted too, Rapid!

But then i fell in love with a certain little silver hatchback.

Quickest thing i ever came across for its size, was a particular Series 3 Sud, low, loud, and so frikkin fast!

Owned by Emerys, a garage owner and bouncer in Notts at the time, i later found out, only a couple of years back, that he'd built the car pretty much entirely from the BLS performance catalogue in the 80's! I know now that it was pretty much a large bored almost race ready motor, with all the period kit suspension to boot.

No flippin wonder he could just play with me in 3rd all day long!



It was the beginning of a fascination and affection still going on 30+ years later!

[BS25]

This thread needs photos!

My first car was a 1981 Sud that was a bitsa - SC headlamps but a 2 door shell and Ti boot spoiler. It was also rotten! Bearing in mind that the year was 1988, it was a 7 year old car with 56,000 miles on the clock that needed a rolling restoration! Over the next three years it had everything - sills, wing tops, front wings, rear wheel arch repair panels - and a full re-spray! It was a bit like the Forth Road Bridge - once done certain bits needed starting on again! Still, it was a great car!

I was about to say it wasn't very modified but in reality it was a very nice road spec - Konis, BLS road uprated springs, Yoko A001HFR's all round, 1600cc (1.7 pistons with a 1.5 crank), KN filters and a BLS stainless steel exhaust. I also did Alfa Romeo Owners Club trackdays with it so all the above made it great fun!

Shrew - I remember Em and his black Sud

[PETROLHEAD]

This thread needs photos!

My first car was a 1981 Sud that was a bitsa - SC headlamps but a 2 door shell and Ti boot spoiler. It was also rotten! Bearing in mind that the year was 1988, it was a 7 year old car with 56,000 miles on the clock that needed a rolling restoration! Over the next three years it had everything - sills, wing tops, front wings, rear wheel arch repair panels - and a full re-spray! It was a bit like the Forth Road Bridge - once done certain bits needed starting on again! Still, it was a great car!

I was about to say it wasn't very modified but in reality it was a very nice road spec - Konis, BLS road uprated springs, Yoko A001HFR's all round, 1600cc (1.7 pistons with a 1.5 crank), KN filters and a BLS stainless steel exhaust. I also did Alfa Romeo Owners Club trackdays with it so all the above made it great fun!

Shrew - I remember Em and his black Sud

Nothing changes really does it Bryan, your sud sounds just like so many we know about today!


Was Em's sud black? i remeber it as silver with black Ti kit

it was a long time ago now, and spent a fair bit more time in the Westdale Tavern i mentioned since then too! lol!


It made a lot of known good cars look rather silly, but having said that, i guess there would have been a few young lads back then, that if they ever managed to draw level with him, and see him, they'd turn left at next opportunity and scarper! ha ha!

He was a big fella eh, and rarely smiling!

[BS25]

He certainly wasn't a guy to be messed with - by appearance at any rate! Quite surprising that he managed to fit in a Sud actually - he looked wider than the car!

I'm sure his car was black but I would have been too scared of him to have taken a photo so no proof! Perhaps he wrote on off at some stage so we recall two different cars?

[PETROLHEAD]

ha ha!

quick street car anyway, regardless of colour, and cargo!


he's still about, and i know his brother in law, so when i've finished my sud, i intend on dropping in,

not completely unannounced i add!

[Kegsti66]

Thursday afternoon at work, happened to be outside as a Lancia HPE went past.
Haven't seen one of them for ages.