1974 Dolomite Sprint

[John F]

Oh yeah, I understand that.

But most kids in the early 1980s would rather spend their paltry wage on a 2-door 1.3 Escort festooned with fake rally tat than a fast but dull old man's car.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

AVO Escort running circles around a standard Dolomite shocker. Don't you remember what miserable piles of pure unadulterated horse cart sprung bottom of the barrel shit regular Escorts were?

Yes.

The only cheap RWD car that actually handled properly was the Kadett/Chevette.

I like Dolomite Sprints. Time has been very kind to them. As a performance car, straight out of the box, it wasn't as good as an RS1600. That's reflected in values now although the gap is too large. Drive either now and you will have your arse handed to you on a silver platter by a mid range diesel Golf. Therefore the actual 'which was better' thing is slightly irrelevant.

Folk do forget about sixties and seventies BMW's being fragile. It wasn't really until the E28 that rustproofing was taken seriously and the cars became robust. Old ones were basically a Munich Alfa with a slightly slower rate of oxidisation. Seventies Mercs could rot like a pear as well.

[John F]

Hmmm... I owned a C-Kadett 1.2 S and a Mk 2 Escort 1.3... they felt fairly similar to me in terms of handling & performance.

[Warren t claim]

The Dolly Sprint was my disposable car of choice back in the day. I'd buy them at auction for a couple of hundred and kill them within the following weeks. I think I've owned five of the poor fucker.

The only one that survived was a white auto example that I bought in error, meaning I didn't bother looking inside the car before chucking in a winning bid. I swapped it for a Fiat 131 Sport in black with a misfire that was down to arcing plug leads. I loved it and it had a five speed box that was light years ahead of the four speed plus overdrive fitted to the Triumph. Handled better too, even with terminal corrosion.

[Junkman]

Oh yeah, I understand that.

But most kids in the early 1980s would rather spend their paltry wage on a 2-door 1.3 Escort festooned with fake rally tat than a fast but dull old man's car.

That was indeed different here and there, then. In early 80s Munich you bought a shonky BMW 2500 or Opel Commodore after passing your test, unless you were a girl. I can' remember any period in time when Escorts were deemed anything but hopeless there.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Hmmm... I owned a C-Kadett 1.2 S and a Mk 2 Escort 1.3... they felt fairly similar to me in terms of handling & performance.

There was something wrong with the Opel. I drove a 1978 1.3L Escort for a couple of years as well and used to drive a very early Chevette loan car we had. Originally gold, it was a very early one with a Luton HVS***N number plate. You could just throw it about and take liberties with it that you couldn't in an Escort.

The secret was the rear axle apparently, very well located with a long torque tube. Better than ANYTHING Ford made at the time.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Oh yeah, I understand that.

But most kids in the early 1980s would rather spend their paltry wage on a 2-door 1.3 Escort festooned with fake rally tat than a fast but dull old man's car.

That was indeed different here and there, then. In early 80s Munich you bought a shonky BMW 2500 or Opel Commodore after passing your test, unless you were a girl.

And Septic Youths bought a 390 Galaxie or one of a million old Mustangs, Chargers etc.

[Warren t claim]

Hmmm... I owned a C-Kadett 1.2 S and a Mk 2 Escort 1.3... they felt fairly similar to me in terms of handling & performance.

There was something wrong with the Opel. I drove a 1978 1.3L Escort for a couple of years as well and used to drive a very early Chevette loan car we had. Originally gold, it was a very early one with a Luton HVS***N number plate. You could just throw it about and take liberties with it that you couldn't in an Escort.

The secret was the rear axle apparently, very well located with a long torque tube. Better than ANYTHING Ford made at the time.

The Chevette was an incredibly good handling car, much better than the Scrote on any surface.

GM had some decent grasp of chassis dynamics back in the day, the Manta handled more like a 924 than a Capri.

[Junkman]

Oh yeah, I understand that.

But most kids in the early 1980s would rather spend their paltry wage on a 2-door 1.3 Escort festooned with fake rally tat than a fast but dull old man's car.

That was indeed different here and there, then. In early 80s Munich you bought a shonky BMW 2500 or Opel Commodore after passing your test, unless you were a girl.

And Septic Youths bought a 390 Galaxie or one of a million old Mustangs, Chargers etc.

Septic youths did a paper round and worked at the car wash after high school and bought brand new Camaro SS 396es or Pontiac GTOs. I never understood how they did it, but they did.

[Warren t claim]

That was indeed different here and there, then. In early 80s Munich you bought a shonky BMW 2500 or Opel Commodore after passing your test, unless you were a girl.

And Septic Youths bought a 390 Galaxie or one of a million old Mustangs, Chargers etc.

Septic youths did a paper round and worked at the car wash after high school and bought brand new Camaro SS 396es or Pontiac GTOs. I never understood how they did it, but they did.

And promptly drove their Camaro into a lake one to be found 45 years later.