The Motor Show

[isisalar]

Now you have got the cogs turning, those east European cars really were awful, and who can ever forget the so aptly named Wartburg, well I nearly had.
A good friend of mine started an apprenticeship at a local dealer with a Moskovitch franchise, the tales he told were truly terrifying. As with most cars in those days they had to come back for a first service at around 1000 miles, part of that service was to re weld the front suspension back on!

[CitroJim]

part of that service was to re weld the front suspension back on!

[myglaren]

Now you have got the cogs turning, those east European cars really were awful, and who can ever forget the so aptly named Wartburg, well I nearly had.
A good friend of mine started an apprenticeship at a local dealer with a Moskovitch franchise, the tales he told were truly terrifying. As with most cars in those days they had to come back for a first service at around 1000 miles, part of that service was to re weld the front suspension back on!

They did all seem to be rather crude even compared to some of BL's horrors.
I think perhaps Tatra may be the exception here.

When VAG took over the Skoda works I was working for QA qualifications and was acquainted with a fellow from TRW doing the same.
He was sent to the Skoda factory to help improve quality assurance there.
One of the first things he saw was a couple of workers pushing a Felicia out into a field which was full of them - literally hundreds.
When he asked about them he was told they were all scrap - straight from production line to scrapyard

The ones that didn't make it to the field weren't much better.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Now you have got the cogs turning, those east European cars really were awful, and who can ever forget the so aptly named Wartburg, well I nearly had.

Oh dear... I have just looked up Wartburg to post up an awful picture of the hideous tat from the 70's and what came up...this rather gorgeous looking 2-tone from an earlier period!



Not the quite image of a Wartburg I remember!

regards Neil

[CitroJim]

That Wart is lovely

I well remember the 70s one though... Complete with very smoky exhaust...

Word was the engine was basically a rip-off of the Saab two-stroke...

Truth was that it was one of the better Iron Curtain cars. Doesn’t say much for the rest though...

The best and the outright leader by an order of magnitude was always the Skoda, despite the jokes..

[NewcastleFalcon]

Another of the "Foreign" cars felt worthy of a few seconds in the British Pathe 1973 Motor Show film was this:-



Yes the DAF! A few classics in the stable? Maybe not but some surprises.

Michelotti for one was involved in this



and this



but also this



Some of the little DAF's were surprising workhorses on the evidence of this



regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Some new ideas presented at the 1960 Commercial Motor Show including nice sleeping facilities for the athletic lorry driver



regards Neil

[Zelandeth]

My observations of the Skodas from the 70s and 80s is that the engineering within the limitations of the resources they had to work with was actually first rate. Unfortunately the same could not be said of how well the cars were assembled.

Ladas were much more obsolescent cars, but generally seemed better bolted together. Nothing critical has ever fallen off any of my Ladas, same cannot be said of my Skodas (driver's seat detached itself from the floor halfway around a busy roundabout).

Being totally honest, I've run three Ladas now (97 Niva 1.7i, 98 Samara 1.3S and a very rusty 95 Riva 1.5E) and provided you followed the maintenance schedule (which wasn't extreme compared to a lot of cars from years gone by) I found all of them - even my utterly knackered Riva to be totally reliable. Think that's partly where they got such a bad name...

Because they were cheap to buy, they tended to be bought by people who would just buy them and that was that. They were cars based on a design from the 60s, and had a maintenance schedule to suit. You couldn't just ignore it for a full year like a Vauxhall Nova or similar...if you did, it was bound to cause you problems.

Would buy another Lada tomorrow (in fact, keeping my eyes open for a Riva 1.5 Estate), but not so sure about the Skoda. It's actually a lovely and fun little thing to drive when working well, and has a lovely engine. Just seem temperamental and parts are getting hard to get now.

Now if you wanted a truly dire car from that era, try the FSO Polonez. I've driven three of them, and I tell you...they make a Riva feel as well put together as a current VW Golf and as dynamically advanced as a Lamborghini Aventador. I have never driven anything has horrible, and I have driven a lot of odd cars in my time! Which is a real shame as I love the look of the Polonez, and wanted it to be so much better. To me it feels like the rolling models they build for motor shows...looks the part, nice interior etc...but only designed to drive onto and off the stand...really is unfinished under the skin. That's what the Polonez feels like to me.

Skoda did their best though, and especially at the time when parts were readily available wouldn't have been a bad car really. Can't speak about the Favorit or later as my experience is only with Estelles/Rapids.

Lada I still reckon were really good cars for the money. The caveat was that you had and have to treat them like the 60s car they really are, and that means more preventative maintenance than most people were used to by the 80s.

Still planning to have a Riva Estate on the drive next to the Xantia someday. ...and a Silver Spirit on the other side...just to really confuse the neighbours. I blame the same gentleman who introduced me to Citroens (he had a 2CV and XM V6) for the Rolls obsession. See...just because I like Ladas doesn't mean I don't have taste!

...Guess it just means I'm a bit odd...though that's hardly new news!

[Hell Razor5543]

[NewcastleFalcon]

This was the showcase of the British Motor Industry in 1962 the last one before the commentary assumed we would be joining the "Common Market" De Gaulle had other ideas though vetoing our entry.

Nice coverage of what was available at the time and tremendous variety of cars, and in Techniocolor!



Regards Neil

[bobins]

This was the showcase of the British Motor Industry in 1962.........
Regards Neil

Ah, the simpler times before EGR valves, dual mass flywheels, EGS gearboxes, diesel particulate filters .........

[van ordinaire]

I think that was the last one I attended - still got either the Mail or Express guide, somewhere.

[Gibbo2286]

I took a friend and her children to the trade day at the Earls Court show, she had a habit of taking cuttings from any plants she saw, we were up on the upper level and she reached over to nip a cutting off one of the pot plants that were part of the display and the pot wobbled ominously above the head of James Callaghan who was doing the opening speech below.

[Hell Razor5543]

I took a friend and her children to the trade day at the Earls Court show, she had a habit of taking cuttings from any plants she saw, we were up on the upper level and she reached over to nip a cutting off one of the pot plants that were part of the display and the pot wobbled ominously above the head of James Callaghan who was doing the opening speech below.

If it had been Tony Blair or David Cameron I would have pushed the pot over!

[CitroJim]

If it had been Tony Blair or David Cameron I would have pushed the pot over!

And in doing so you'd have saved the world from an awful lot of grief James