Retro rides or interesting rides?

I might have wondered if I was feeling paranoid if you hadn’t mentioned my car specifically.

The rules are related to classifieds only, if any one wants to post details of their modern in readers rides they can, interesting or not, just need to be prepared for the thread to be ignored but not necessarily hated on.

My cactus build is also part of my as retro as it gets 1985 Honda acty so that will take over my thread again as soon as it takes priority when lockdowns are over and shows or even meets start up again.

The title clearly says 2016 citroen cactus so feel free not to click in their if modern stuff offends you.

RR is a broad church, and the overall focus is towards the "retro" vibe, embracing "interesting" for me is also a huge part of what makes the site what it is.

If there are threads that feel distant to your tastes, scroll on by, but equally diverse ideas may help ignite ideass to carry over to a retro build.

"Everything has potential" and its fascinating to see how RR members approach building a modern daily drive of what can be relatively mundane motors.

So this is one of ours I’m not going to start saying it is or ain’t retro but I’m here it’s mine I’ll share it with others and the build thread attracted many comments and followers
Personally my interest in late 90s early noughties stuff is huge and I follow all these types of cars here now, I’m 52 now but older stuff is way out of my budget and There’s a world of affordable modern classics out there for sensible money
Just my humble opinion

I'm guessing two of my cars fall into this camp, with one more than the other, at least from the interesting front.

I very nearly didn't put on one of them, as even I wondered if it was right for this place. But, a few folks said why not, on and off the forum, without me suggesting it at first. So I did. If the attention goes from it, it'll whittle down the board. But it does seem folks are interested in it. They're not seen anymore, and they have a cult status now, with numbers dwindling. Oddly, it's the one car, which I've had alot of people asking me

"Let me know when you are done with it, I'll buy it"
"I want a drive of it ; You may not get it back"

All for a car with a curse word badge! I only bought it as I fancied something to tinker with, relive some times of a previous car, and it was cheap and in my twisted mind, great value compared to alot of cars out there. The knowledge I had 10 years ago has come in handy for it, and I'm learning more. That's what makes the projects fun IME .



I think many would disagree with your initial paragraph, especially some of the more senior folk, but I agree 100 with that.

Admittedly, I fall into that camp. Alot of the cars I wanted which were affordable are now not so much. Those include

-Mini (£8k it seems now for one without oversills and still having a 1275?)
-Lotus Elan Sprint or a +2 (£20k?)
-Porsche 928
-Ford Escort Mk2
-Skyline R32.

I could sell the M3 and maybe get or partially fund one of the above, but here's the rub. I've poured alot of time and cash into that. I also have alot of fantastic and painful memories. They also seem to have risen. Bargains are still out there but few and far between. I doubt mine would get much as it was a daily early on, but that's what I did with retros when they were cheaper.

It's funny. I never used to see a Z3 as retro until now.



I guess that's supply and demand, but by then, the goalposts have moved out of reach for the 'everyman'. It's also a very very hard balance to strike between what is interesting and what is not and where to employ the cutoff.

I've been very lucky to have been offered cars at 'everyman' prices over the years. Maybe I'm showing my tightness ; the average I've paid for a car is around £1.5k. The 'retro stuff' I was putting on here? That was closer to £1k. The MGB Sebring Build cost me £7k over 10 years. I don't know of many cars which would offer that now. I can probably count the cars on one hand which I've stumped up more cash for.

The 205 thread I had when then had a very positive reception was about the same age as my ST220. So were the Volvo 740s. Christ, the Midget I had was only a few years older, but my ST220 post details that anyway.

25 years used to be the cut-off for classics remember until Labour came in to abolish that in 1997.

One of the best threads on here was the Teenage Dirtbag thread. Maybe that should have been canned? That MX-5 was only 17 years old during that post, and the oldest MX-5 would have been 21 years old at best. .

As for the 'go to Pistonheads' comment, this place is much better than PH. It has a framework, a means of people co-operating as well as more of a helpful vibe. I'm not saying PH doesn't have that, but there are only a few pockets of it. There is some interesting stuff on there mind you!

Oh, and unlike there, this place doesn't have a whiff of the gammon about it .

Anyway, it's time for a shot of what folks will call both retro and interesting!

forum.retro-rides.org/thread/171684/retro-rides-modus-operandi

Rule 7... let’s not go there again. If it’s interesting, fine. If you find it boring don’t open the thread to read. I’m not saying this forum would be amazing with a tonne of 57 plate vectras in the readers rides section but as long as the newer cars that are there are interesting (th cactus is a loony colour, very low and let’s be fair, there are some mad styling cues on that) and like likes of Grizz’s Chevy, you would borderline exclude that? I’d rather not, that’s not exactly a common sight. So yea. Don’t rock the boat

Photos to sum up my priorities.






1980s truck wearing new wheels, which is in the fore of the photo, fore of my priorities, and fore of my mind.

Left of photo are 1970s wheels waiting to go on my lowered teenies car.

I wouldn’t have the knowledge to do any of this if it wasn’t for stumbling across retrorides, and also the forum’s acceptance of moderns as I was driving a 2002 Nissan cube at the time, 9 years ago whilst explaining to a colleague that a Bedford rascal on air would be my dream car.

I would have lots more money and a healthier marriage but where’s the fun in that?!

Too many people are over-sensitive and too easily offended these days. In my experience offence tends to be taken rather than given.

I'm only a newbie to Retro Rides, but my two cents: I personally think interesting rides should be permitted, but may be bias, given my most recent contribution was not quite retro enough (2001). I am also a regular contributor on Pistonheads which has a different focus and vibe than Retro Rides, and imho it is important to ensure that Retro Rides retains its uniqueness or specialness i.e. unusual cars, modified cars, rare cars - if I wanted to read a Reader's Ride thread of an unmodified late noughties Mercedes, I would go to PH, which is a much broader church, but is probably worse for it. However, if someone had taken said late noughties Mercedes and done something a bit ridiculous to it, seems to me it would fit here.

Ultimately, you can just not read and engage with what doesn't interest you, so strict rules seem entirely unnecessary. 

The root of my interests is old stuff. Mainly cars, but old stuff in general. Its not like I'm a historian or claim to know everything about it, i just like it. Simple as that. Thats why this forum suits me, its not just about retro cars, but various other sections also interest me. The old stuff will always be there, and each year the newer stuff gets older, and just when you notice something is starting to disapear, it gets interesting. Some cars that were new when the forum started look different now, and even newer cars sometimes have something about them that makes them interesting, or a detail about them that can give ideas for a retro. Ive said before that I don't have a retro now, but that doesnt stop me being interested, or an enthusiast. My daily for example, not retro, not that interesting, not that unusual, its just a bit odd. Not interesting enough for its own thread, but i think i'll get away with posting a pic of it just for the sake of it.