Vehicle Spotting #4

[Module 79L]

From time to time I gather enough material for one of these, so here's the latest installment.

 

[kamkar]

Toyota
Opel
Excalibour
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excalibur_(automobile)

Pretty much THE car for people that cant afford the real thing, still nice, i would not mind flaunting one if i could afford it, and if i could shoehorn in a Merlin engine i would not complain.

 

[DashcamDPR]

UK only started using the Opel variant names later on, so the Vectra was a Cavalier til 2002, and the Corsa was a Nova until 1993... The Skoda was a Favorit here until the facelift came out and then called a Felicia...

I like seeing common cars with alternate names. I rebadged my VW bora to "Jetta" years ago.... just sounds better!

 

[Gibson99]

Here some owners like to change the badging to match what they sell it as overseas. I've seen the mid-2000s Pontiac GTO with Holden Monaro badging. Lexus IS300 becomes Toyota Altezza, Lexus ES300 = Toyota Windom, even saw a Lexus RX300 badged as a Toyota Harrier. I have yet to see any Prado badges/tire covers on any toyota SUVs though. More common is 80s and 90s Land Cruisers to have their FJ### chassis code proudly written somewhere on the body, ever since the FJ80 became popular and the FJ Cruiser came out.

Meanwhile, I learned to drive in a turd brown 1978 corolla - so many of those mid-late 70s japanese compact cars look alike, esp with the little round sealed beam headlights and small steel wheels.

i liked that celica with the WRC paint scheme. my brother had a celica that body style for a few years, but he didn't take care of it so it died.

the car you couldn't ID looked like some form of kit car based off a small 1980s american sedan, simply based on the shape of the windows. i've seen a few of those here as well - they look (and sound) really weird.

 

[Module 79L]

The Skoda was a Favorit here until the facelift came out and then called a Felicia...

Actually, you're right. It was a Favorit, not a Felicia. I trusted my judgement and screwed up.

 

[Module 79L]

Meanwhile, I learned to drive in a turd brown 1978 corolla - so many of those mid-late 70s japanese compact cars look alike, esp with the little round sealed beam headlights and small steel wheels.

As you can see in the video, those little" turds" are still out and about.
That last one must be one of the first 1200 because until 69-70 there was only the 1100:


It's also one of the few 4-door around. The large majority are the 2-door version, even the station wagons. I don't recall ever seing a 4-door wagon over here.

i liked that celica with the WRC paint scheme.

I'm not 100% sure but I think it's one of the Carlos Sainz replicas that Toyota issued after he won the 1992 WRC.

the car you couldn't ID looked like some form of kit car based off a small 1980s american sedan, simply based on the shape of the windows. i've seen a few of those here as well - they look (and sound) really weird.

@kamkar1 already identify it: it's an Excalibur Phaeton.

 

[Dashcam Georgia]

Meanwhile, I learned to drive in a turd brown 1978 corolla - so many of those mid-late 70s japanese compact cars look alike, esp with the little round sealed beam headlights and small steel wheels.

Quality wise, the Corollas were hit and miss, POSSIBLY depending on what day of the week they were built...

My Dad bought Mom a used 1971 Corolla (white) in 1973 and it was a GREAT car until someone t-boned her circa 1975 [Mom was OK, but very sore the next day.]. So, to replace the white Corolla, Dad bought another 1971 Corolla, appropriately painted pale yellow. Terrible car from almost day-1; VINs indicated both the white and pale yellow cars were produced within days of each other. I loved driving the white one; it was a tight well-built car, and the 1600 engine seemed to have plenty of pep. Couldn't say the same for the yellow one; hated driving that car.

In the interest of being fair to the Japanese Toyota employees who built those cars, the reason for the delta-quality between the white Corolla and pale yellow (I'll call it the yellow "turd") Corolla may have been due to the degree of care exercised by their original owners; that's an argument for buying "new" if you plan on keeping a car for a long time.

 

[Module 79L]

I know exactly what you mean, @Dashcam Georgia. I had the chance to drive a blue 1974 Corolla 1200 SW between 1994 and 2000. The engine that came with the car wasn't already the original and died in a year after the car was bought (I don't know if the kms on the clock were real or not but anyway, who knows how many engines the car had in 20 years), and it was replaced with a complete unit (engine and gearbox) from a 1972 white sedan version that was scrapped due to an accident that warped the chassis. That engine was in much worst shape externally than the original one (rust, grime, parts missing, etc) and we were concerned it wouldn't last long or even run but it was the only one we could find. The mechanic replaced what was missing with parts from the dead engine, gave it a thorough cleaning, replaced some of the sealants, put new fluids in and it never gave a single problem from its first start to the day the car had to be scrapped. It even "sailed" smoothly through the transition from leaded to unleaded gasoline (as of 1996 all leaded gasoline was prohibited) without having to use any additives, only a small adjustment on the distributor to avoid self-ignition. The only limitation was that it had to be set to just one of the gasoline types, 95 or 98 octanes, so we could only use one of them.
In a nutshell, it confirms that the white Corollas were the best.

 

[Gibson99]

Our 78 Corolla 4dr sedan still had the original engine and automatic transmission, with something like 230,000 miles on it and ran fine when we sold it in the mid 90s for $500. Only thing that didn't work was the AC, but the blower and heater were ok, plus it cooled down fairly quick with the windows down. Good little city car, never had any real trouble with it that I can remember. The only turd part was the original brown paint.

 

[kamkar]

I think Toyota have upped their game since the 70ties, here they always / in modern time been known as hardworking little cars.

My 1986 Opel kaddet D which i got in 1991 with 63.000 Km on it i sold in 1998 with +250.000 Km on it and a massive use of engine oil, sold it for 500 DKkr and a year after i sold it i still saw it on the streets of Aarhus now and then.
And i drove that Opel hard,,,,,,, really hard, not least the brakes, cuz where other people start to brake i lean back light a ciggy and then i brake, so brake pads and disks on the front had to be changed pretty often, the rear brakes not so much.

Never owned a Toyota, my cars in chronological order are, Volvo 121 / 1.8 L - ( 1967 USED ) - Opel kaddet GT / 1.6 L -( 1986 USED ) - Mitsubishi L 200 strada EXT CAB pickup / 2.5 L TDI ( 1996 USED ) - Suzuki Gran Vitara / 1.9 L TDI ( 2005 NEW ) - Suzuki Splash / 1.0 L ( 2012 NEW )

 

[Module 79L]

Our 78 Corolla 4dr sedan still had the original engine and automatic transmission, with something like 230,000 miles on it and ran fine when we sold it in the mid 90s for $500. Only thing that didn't work was the AC, but the blower and heater were ok, plus it cooled down fairly quick with the windows down. Good little city car, never had any real trouble with it that I can remember. The only turd part was the original brown paint.

See, I didn't even know that the 70's Corollas had a 1.6 L version, let alone that they had automatic transmissions and A/C.

 

[Gibson99]

See, I didn't even know that the 70's Corollas had a 1.6 L version, let alone that they had automatic transmissions and A/C.

The AC in ours was aftermarket - a little control box screwed into the bottom of the dash, with a snow flake on the knob. And the 1.6 was North American market only, according to Wikipedia.

 

[Dashcam Georgia]

The AC in ours was aftermarket - a little control box screwed into the bottom of the dash, with a snow flake on the knob. And the 1.6 was North American market only, according to Wikipedia.

I thought that was the case for the 1.6 (NA only) but wasn't sure. Our 1966 VW Squareback (the car I learned to drive with, during the HOT SUMMER of '72) also had aftermarket AC under the dash. That car with the AC on, me behind the wheel and stopped on a hill: BADDDDD combination!

 

[Module 79L]

Never owned a Toyota, my cars in chronological order are, Volvo 121 / 1.8 L - ( 1967 USED ) - Opel kaddet GT / 1.6 L -( 1986 USED ) - Mitsubishi L 200 strada EXT CAB pickup / 2.5 L TDI ( 1996 USED ) - Suzuki Gran Vitara / 1.9 L TDI ( 2005 NEW ) - Suzuki Splash / 1.0 L ( 2012 NEW )

My cars in chronological order are:

 

[DashcamDPR]

This is the point of the conversation where I step back in and say thanks for making me feel young again

 

[kamkar]

Since me and the Volvo was almost made the same year then of course it was very used when i got that one at the age of 17, but back then with Volvo that was not a problem.
I cant recall what milage it had, but if you exceeded 120 km/h the cabin filled with smoke, but otherwise it was solid as a rock and dident cost me a dime other than for gasoline.
Between the Volvo and the Opel there was also a gap where i was walking or bicycling as i was smart or stupid enough ( depending on how you look at things ) to spend my money and time on other things.

Volvo was rear ended and died in 1985 and i got the Opel in 1991.

 

[Gibson99]

My brother's first car was a 85 Volvo 240 turbo... But the turbo was coked up, and the auto Transmission was shot. He and Dad put in a junkyard transmission, and it still wasn't right. The car had so little power because of the frozen turbo, it could not go faster than about 45-50 mph, flat out. No AC and black leather seats. In Houston. Yeah that sucked.