Classic car spotting this week.

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Spotted today at Cars in the park in Lichfield,
Ok everything is awesome except for the wierd mini e30BMW abomination.
Rs2000’s can’t be common in the UK either. Plus a real CSL.
 
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Anyone in the Los Angeles area, check out the Best of France and Italy car show on November 7th. It is held in the Woodly Park area of Lake Balboa Park in Van Nuys/Encino section of Los Angeles. It is free and open to the public.
 
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Rs2000’s can’t be common in the UK either.

Of the 200 RS200s built (plus maybe 20?) a lot will survive or have been rebuilt around a chassis plate. https://www.rs200.org/?page_id=599 Even this is being rebuilt!


RS2000s (Escort with "Pinto" 2.0 engines) are rather more plentiful.
Edited:
 
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One for sale on BaT currently...
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1986-ford-rs200-4/

1986_ford_rs200_1628172006bb353babe1986-FORD-RS200_WHITE_NO-WATERMARK-110-scaled.jpg

 
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You'd lose. Take a look here and even after removal of multiple photos of the same car I reckon there would be some hundreds. https://www.chevettes.com/gallery/va

I hastened the demise of one Chevette by trying to rip the door off. It was a rental car and I was reversing through a gateway with stout wooden posts on either side. I had the driver's door open to look out of because I was so used to cars where the rear view was restricted and the door caught on one of the posts. Maybe we should have a thread "Rental cars I have damaged"?
 
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Not sure if there are hundreds. There are probably a hundred of different variations of the model though.
 
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Not sure if there are hundreds. There are probably a hundred of different variations of the model though.
15 recorded variations




But over a hundred in what is probably the rarest of them 2300HS

 
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Amazed how they have held up. Not the greatest quality motors.
 
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Actually scratch that. They were of excellent build quality and there are 100s of them about. I clearly know little about 80s vauxhalls!
 
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Used to have these as work vehicles, they were fantastic for fast hill work and open road rallying 😉 and a close ratio gearbox made these a load of fun!
 
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Actually scratch that. They were of excellent build quality and there are 100s of them about. I clearly know little about 80s vauxhalls!
Don't worry, everyone everyone in the USA was under the same impression you were. We didn't realize that they were such good cars until now, years after they have all rusted into piles.
 
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The US Chevrolet Chevette was a really crummy piece a' junk. Sold cheaply as an "economy" car, it had a feeble engine with poor acceleration that got really poor fuel economy for the size and weight of the car, was awkward and cramped inside, rode like a soap box derby entry, was a death trap on the roads, was ugly as a mud fence, and dissolved into Iron oxide in short order.

I was a young banker and loan officer during the early Chevy Chevette years who was tasked with doing all the repossessing and retrieval of collateral on other loan officers auto loans. I drove 'em back to the bank from far and near.

Chrysler-300-JPG.jpg
We kept a '69 Chrysler 300 convertible back in early marriage that only got 10 miles per gallon less than the Chevette realistically did. The increased cost of fuel was worth it as the car had 375 horsepower, rode like the living room couch, and a Chevette could be parked inside its trunk.
eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250ZW50Lmhzd3N0YXRpYy5jb20iLCJrZXkiOiJnaWZcLzE5NjktY2hyeXNsZXItdGhyZWUtaHVuZHJlZC0zLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6MjkwfX19

A disappointing barn find indeed would be a Chevy Chevette discovered under some hayloft. One will never see a restored Chevy Chevette gracing an old car calendar. Those who remember the car won't want to be reminded and the generation since won't care.
 
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The US Chevrolet Chevette was a really crummy piece a' junk. Sold cheaply as an "economy" car, it had a feeble engine with poor acceleration that got really poor fuel economy for the size and weight of the car, was awkward and cramped inside, rode like a soap box derby entry, was a death trap on the roads, was ugly as a mud fence, and dissolved into Iron oxide in short order.
It wasn't just GM, Ford's small cars had the same problems too. I was frequently renting in the USA, UK & Europe so could compare their small cars directly. The difference in build quality between continents was vast. Hmm, don't remember ever getting a Chrysler Corp car as a rentarocket, I wonder why. While living in the USA I owned German-built VW Scirocco and then German-built Audi Coupe.
 
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Spotted today in exactly the condition I like them in. Still earning its keep, used regularly and not been tarted up to show at car meets.
 
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It wasn't just GM, Ford's small cars had the same problems too. I was frequently renting in the USA, UK & Europe so could compare their small cars directly. The difference in build quality between continents was vast. Hmm, don't remember ever getting a Chrysler Corp car as a rentarocket, I wonder why. While living in the USA I owned German-built VW Scirocco and then German-built Audi Coupe.

Chrysler Corporation hunks o' junk were the K-cars, the Plymouth Reliant and Dodge Aries. My dad kept a Plymouth Reliant for a few years as a commuter for a long commute into town. One day he called to say the Reliant quit on him while on his way to work. He loved to mechanic his own vehicles so did exploratory surgery. I asked what he'd uncovered. He replied that a valve had lost its head. I asked where he'd found it. "In the crank case:" he said. "Wow" I said. Where were you when it conked?" He replied: "Going down Highway 360 at 95 miles per hour."
 
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Chrysler Corporation hunks o' junk were the K-cars, the Plymouth Reliant and Dodge Aries. My dad kept a Plymouth Reliant for a few years as a commuter for a long commute into town. One day he called to say the Reliant quit on him while on his way to work. He loved to mechanic his own vehicles so did exploratory surgery. I asked what he'd uncovered. He replied that a valve had lost its head. I asked where he'd found it. "In the crank case:" he said. "Wow" I said. Where were you when it conked?" He replied: "Going down Highway 360 at 95 miles per hour."
"95 mph". Yeah. Right.

I did did get a Hillman Avenger once -- sold in the USA as Plymouth Cricket. Which I'd classify as entirely harmless.

Do I mean "harm"? perhaps "use".
 
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You'd lose. Take a look here and even after removal of multiple photos of the same car I reckon there would be some hundreds. https://www.chevettes.com/gallery/va

I hastened the demise of one Chevette by trying to rip the door off. It was a rental car and I was reversing through a gateway with stout wooden posts on either side. I had the driver's door open to look out of because I was so used to cars where the rear view was restricted and the door caught on one of the posts. Maybe we should have a thread "Rental cars I have damaged"?

A friend was vacationing in Italy. He was driving a rented Peugeot with 4,000 kms on it. It was a stick shift, and the clutch mechanism failed. It took hours for help to reach them, and the car was towed. When they received their credit card statement after arriving back home in Canada, he discovered that Discount Car Rental charged them € 1,800 for repairs to the Peugeot, plus the rental! He took it up with a lawyer in Italy who suggested they choose the cheaper alternative…..pay the € 1,880, and write it off.