: I have similar fond memories of my '59 DS19, but I know that it's a : performance dog by today's standards, or even by the standards of 20 : years ago.
Ah, but how about the standards of forty years ago?
I find my DS23 very acceptable - but there is quite a lot more power there.
Ian
Michael Kilpatrick ( snipped-for-privacy@mtkilpatrick.SPAMWITHEGGSfsnet.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
It certainly is for Dyson's unreliable heaps of crap...
You want a Henry. Designed & *properly* built in the UK. Half the price, twice the quality of a PlaySkool MyFirstDyson.
Pete M ( snipped-for-privacy@blue-nopressedmeat-yonder.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
development of one of a pair of Pininfarina styling concepts also ripped off by Citroen for the CX and (most obviously) the GS.
I was about to say the same thing. A friend is currently having fun fitting one out of a Montego into his Series 3 Landrover. This is such a popular conversion that rusty diesel Montegos and the like are now worth well into three figures!
When that man dies, I want to be at his funeral, and I will wet myself laughing. I'd ideally like for him to be buried in the same plot as MGR.
What British Leyland cound and should have become is the VAG of Britain, but with their 20002 style breadth of range in 1972.
Instead of Battlin' Business Units, they should have been working together; the SD1 6 cylinder powered by a detuned Jaguar XJ engine, the Stag powered by the Rover V8, the 1300/1500 FWD Triumph platform ditched in favour of Austin ADO16 Nomad type running gear and chassis. They had some incredible ideas. Riley should have been killed off, Wolesely developed as the Audi alternative (or perhaps vice versa, actually), MG as the sporty alternative, Austin as VW/Skoda, Innocenti as Seat, Morris as commercials, Triumph as BMW, Princess/Vanden Plas as Mercedes alternatives (such as taking the Austin 3-litre and screwing it together properly).
They could have taken the best platforms and built upon them. Instead of the Marina being a revamped Morris 1000, it should have been a Triumph Dolomite chassis. Instead of the 3-litre being killed off, it should have been replaced with the P76. Imagine a P76 Vanden Plas... 4.4 litre...
Wouldn't have saved them, as the management would still have screwed up, the workers would still have forgotten to paint the cars and left sandwiches behind the dashboards, and Red Robbo would still have used BL for his own political aims - though had the firm been successful, I think the management would have had the balls to kick him out before he reached that level of power.
Richard
And the classic Mini lasted how long? And with hardly any advertising ..
In news:Xns96365255C9C0Dadrianachapmanfreeis@204.153.244.170, Adrian decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows
I don't agree.
Personally I think the SD1 owes more to the Ferrari Daytona than the Pinin
1800.Apart from the C pillar design, the SD1 and P1800 don't have much in common at all.
As I said, the SD1 was a David Bache design which evolved from the P10 project.
The P1800 is far closer to the GS than to SD1. To say the SD1 is derived from it is like saying the Bentley Arnage is a direct crib of the HA Viva, due to being a "three box" design.
It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Howard Rose saying something like:
Are the Chinese making the diesel version also? And where on the web may we find these wondrous creatures?
Pete M ( snipped-for-privacy@blue-nopressedmeat-yonder.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
Certainly the nose treatment is a straight ripoff of the Daytona. And none the worse for it.
I can see a very strong resemblance, and I'm currently holding the Matchbox Pininfarina Landcrab in my hand.
No, the GS is a straight copy of the Pininfarina ADO16.
I'm presuming you're not referring to the Volvo P1800...?
Grimly Curmudgeon ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
I have no idea about the Chinese Maestro, but I have a brochure pack for the DongFeng Fukang 988... - the Chinese CitZX-with-a-boot...
It's in top quality Engrish, and full of references to "the fukang car"
Ford collect 'posh' names, as there's is anything but. They bought Jaguar too. But since they're gradually changing both into Ford based products, it's only the names they really wanted. Not the manufacturing or design skills. They just hoped for the customers.
BMW were already a 'posh' name, and didn't need another.
They kept nothing but the name - a brilliant one. Perhaps the best known car name in the world. Then produced a totally new car which only bore a slight resemblance to the old Mini. Which turned out to be a winner - and is made in the UK, so saving or creating lots of jobs here.
It's common for 'developing' countries to buy decent but out of date models. History is full of such things.
Because certain parts of the company could be profitable. As a whole, it could never be. Or rather not without the sort of vast investment the large companies put in their bread and butter models. But most of these are losing money too, as there are simply too many cars of this type being made.
I've got an early Akai tape recorder with one of those manuals sort of being a direct translation from the Japanese.
It says something like:-
"For service, see your dealer, or the main agent for your country stamped on the backside."
I'm not too sure if there is a diesel versions. The car badge was that of FAW
I can't find any info on the web, not even on Chinese sites!
-- Howard Rose
1966 VW Beetle 1300 Deluxe 1962 Austin Mini Deluxe 1964 Austin Mini Super DeluxeDave Plowman (News) ( snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
It's how BMW and Nissan got started - by licence building the Austin 7.
Sounds about right for a Citroen.. heh
Not surprised though, DongFeng usually make commercial vehicles. Out of interest, which market was your English brochure intended?
-- Howard Rose
1966 VW Beetle 1300 Deluxe 1962 Austin Mini Deluxe 1964 Austin Mini Super Deluxe
And Datsun with the Austin Devon...
-- Howard Rose
1966 VW Beetle 1300 Deluxe 1962 Austin Mini Deluxe 1964 Austin Mini Super DeluxeHoward Rose ( snipped-for-privacy@lycos.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
No idea. I was sent it by the Chinese manufacturer. Hong Kong?
Howard Rose ( snipped-for-privacy@lycos.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
Datsun *AND* Nissan? Blimey, who would have thought it... What a remarkable coincidence.
Sadly lost in a house move many years ago - my bottle of whisky, bought in Hong Kong, labelled "Genuine Old King Victoria VIII Highland Whisky, Bottled In Buckingham Palace".
Geoff MacK
Geoff Mackenzie ( snipped-for-privacy@acsysindia.freeserve.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
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