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Sept 21, 2009 15:09:11 GMT
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Just spent 2 weeks in the sunny climes of the Costa Dorada and seriously, there is nothing of any age out there at all. About the oldest cars I saw in use were a couple of early 1990s Opel Omegas, a couple of cabro Golfs, a BMW E30 and a Mercedes 190. Compared to Italy which was awash with Fiat 500s, 600s, early Pandas, odd old Lancias, Ladas, Autobianchi, etc. it was a total bust. There was a dissapointly low "local" content as well, yeah there were Seats on the road (we had a rental Leon of which I saw many) but the Japanese, Koreans, French and Germans seem to have the market sewn up with the predictable range of small saloons and hatches. Other than spotting odd Renault Clio LWB things and a booted Citroen I don't think we get here it was all pretty dull. The only local metal was two 1970s EBRO vans and an old Fire engine being used as a promotional thing for a local holiday parc. As per ^^^ No kidding average age of cars there were probably younger than I see daily in the UK. As for the non runners, I saw an abandonned 2CV and a Capri on blocks on someones driveway. Seriously slack spotting for 2 weeks on the road. I did see a holiday park called Els Prats and a fashion shop called Loop Poop. I chuckled. I was disappointed when I spotted the Hotel ORLY and the next establishment was not the hotel YA,RLY. Where are Spain's retros? The climate there must be condusive to cars remaining on the road for ever. So why all the new cars? Here's some old spanish cars (not my spots) to make up for the poor pic count so far... Spot the "Fiat influence"... I didn't even see one of these...
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Spain - devoid of retro?BenzBoy
@benzboy
Club Retro Rides Member 7
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Sept 21, 2009 15:20:53 GMT
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I found the same situation in Portugal - there was a definite "newer is better" mentality over there, perhaps more so than in the UK. There must be a classic car "scene" over there of some description - perhaps it's just not as large or has members who use their classics all the time.
I don't know if Spain has or had a similar scheme to our Cabbage Scheme - if so, it's possible that it's claimed many a daily-driver Seat or suchlike.
I was amazed at how many white cars were in Spain - blimmin loads of them - I suppose it's the best colour to avoid the interior reaching nuclear temperatures in the sun when parked up.
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Sept 21, 2009 15:24:47 GMT
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funny you mention Portugal. My recollections from some years ago were of W115, fintail and earlier Mercs, lots of Austin-Rover Minis, Autobianchi things, Pandas, and the like. All gone now?
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Spain - devoid of retro?BenzBoy
@benzboy
Club Retro Rides Member 7
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Sept 21, 2009 15:38:07 GMT
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funny you mention Portugal. My recollections from some years ago were of W115, fintail and earlier Mercs, lots of Austin-Rover Minis, Autobianchi things, Pandas, and the like. All gone now? Seemingly, although my boss at the time was confused as to why I went completely mental after spying a Savage Cortina underneath his mum's house. It was just his dad's old car to them!
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Rob M
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,915
Club RR Member Number: 41
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Spain - devoid of retro?Rob M
@zeb
Club Retro Rides Member 41
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Sept 21, 2009 15:41:44 GMT
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There are actually more classics than you think out there. I suspect that they are just not used to the degree we use them. I spent over two years living in Mallorca and saw plenty of classics from Renault 4s/10s to old Mustangs. Early in the year the Island plays host to Classic car rallies. I did visit one event down the road from where i used to live and saw plenty of cool cars, I did take loads of pics and if i can find them ( unlikely) I will post them up. I used to by the magazine "Classico" out there, I still have the odd copy tucked away,their enthusiasm for old cars is no less than ours. The reason that there are so many new cars is purely down to cost and the fact that they all drive like lunatics meaning that cars, generally, don't last as well as ours, so many are dented and mechanically challenged that buying new is more economical. As for rust, well, they do rust, particulary costal/Island cars to the extent that I saw an Orion with a severely corroded roof...
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Carter
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,535
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Sept 21, 2009 15:48:57 GMT
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'77 Chevy G20
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Sept 21, 2009 15:54:17 GMT
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you were just in the wrong place akku. the retros are all inland, up in the mountains.
and Portugal has probably one of the strongest classic toyota following in europe - after Ireland.
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Sept 21, 2009 15:58:31 GMT
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1984 Subaru GLF Hatch 1983 Skoda 120LE Super estelle 1977 Subaru DL Wagon 1978 Datsun 120Y Coupe 1995 Skoda favorit estate
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Sept 21, 2009 16:08:02 GMT
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There are a bunch of retros on Ibiza each year, followed a very nice open top Mustang through the South of the Island on our way to our villa once,.. thought it was a much better way to travel than our hire Lancia Epsilon (with Juicy Couture style interior).
Also got a couple of issues of Classico magazine.
Be nice to find some more event photos and websites.
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Nathan
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,649
Club RR Member Number: 1
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Spain - devoid of retro?Nathan
@bgtmidget7476
Club Retro Rides Member 1
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Sept 21, 2009 16:16:18 GMT
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Must of been your resort mate, as I frequent to Calvia (majorica) and Solu (SP) every year and the retro content was staggering.
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dungbug
Posted a lot
'Ooligan!
Posts: 2,852
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Sept 21, 2009 16:17:45 GMT
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Go to Cuba bud, I saw plenty of retro content over there. ;D
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Past: 13 VW Beetles from 1967 - 1974 Bay Window Campers (1973 & 1974) Mini's (1992 Cooper lookalike & 1984 '25 Anniversary) MK2 Polo Coupe S (1984 & 1986) MK2 Polo Breadvan (1981 & 1984) MK4 Escort (1989) MK2 Granada Based Hearse (seriously) Fiat Uno 60S (1986) Punto 60S (1998) Cinq (1997) 1998 Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat 2003 Ford KA
Current: 2004 Ford Focus (barely alive)
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Sept 21, 2009 17:01:18 GMT
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Still plenty about but a definite diminution of retro. Some of this years haul, taken between Malaga and Tarifa, coast and inland. Not everything but a representative selection- The sign in the window of this beauty reads "This is a classic car under restoration. It has not been abandoned" Saw plenty of these- Saw plenty of these- Saw a couple of these- Saw a couple of these Saw a couple of these- Saw this beauty- Saw a few of these- and a couple on French plates to finish- There were comparatively few retros compared to those I photographed in the same area two years ago and according to one ex-pat I spoke to it's all because of these little beauties- Don't know whether it's some sort of local scrappage scheme or dealer promotion but the bloke I spoke to said the locals can get a good price for their old vehicles against the Aixam's and the like
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Sept 21, 2009 17:35:54 GMT
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Must of been your resort mate, as I frequent to Calvia (majorica) and Solu (SP) every year and the retro content was staggering. Menorca has an annual rally, and lots of retros arround, especially small 4x4 and 2CVs
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Sept 21, 2009 19:17:31 GMT
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I was in Salou, Barcelona, Taragona, Cambrils...
I was driving most days and saw nothing. I normally have a good nose for finding stuff, I was spotting all day in Italy every day.
I couldn't even find a classic or modified car magazine in any of the local shops. Best I could manage was a Max Power type magazine (Max Modified I think) in a big newsagent and a copy of Classic And Sportscar in the "English Language" section of the airport LOL.
Maybe they heard I was coming and they all hid
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Ratchet
Part of things
The user formerly known as Thomas
Posts: 710
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Sept 21, 2009 20:42:11 GMT
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I noticed a lack or retros when i was in Barcalona a good 5 years back, pretty much all i saw was a beaten up fintail merc, a seat 850 (i think) parked outside the hotel which was equally battered and never moved the whole week plus a few marabellas and the like, other than that most cars seemed to be citreons (including stuff we didnt get here, saxo and zx vans for example) and german tin
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Competition is the law of the jungle, but cooperation is the law of civilization.
1971 vw beetle 1200 1978 international loadstar 1700 4x4 1987 landrover 110 1994 Yamaha FZR600r 2010 honda CBF100GT
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Spain - devoid of retro?Robinxr4i
@robinxr4i
Club Retro Rides Member 143
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Sept 21, 2009 23:15:03 GMT
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Saw this beauty- I WANT THAT, a proper patina raddo
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Last Edit: Sept 21, 2009 23:15:22 GMT by Robinxr4i
Sierra - here we go again! He has an illness, it's not his fault.
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Sept 22, 2009 6:35:47 GMT
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I would be very surprised if many people are trading real cars in for Aixams. most are bi-cylinder diesel engined, and have a top speed to 50kph. A passenger and an uphill stretch will see that down to 30 - 40kph. I don't know if the laws are the same in Spain, but here in France you don't need a licence to drive them, so they are popular with the elderly and drunks etc who have been banned and don't want a moped.
As for the general lack of retro metal, the price of used cars is comparitively high compared to UK, and there are some very cheap deals on new cars from Renault, Dacia etc for lower spec models that are very popular. Plus, as someone mentioned, daily driver cars generally get the curse word knocked out of them, so older cars tend not to last as long.
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1986 Panda 4x4. 1990 Metro Sport. 1999 Ford Escort estate.
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Sept 22, 2009 7:19:12 GMT
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I'm always interested when people tell me that country X or Y has a massive retro/tuning/classic scene. I think we then fall into the gap between the misconception of the internet and the misconception of the evidence of our own eyes.
For example people are telling me here Spain has a good scene, yet I saw nothing. Now I'd at least expect to see some magazines on the shelves if there is much going on. Perhaps the Spanish scene is small but promotes itself well online? I dunno. Same with Benzboy's coments on Portugal and the follow up contradiction. Based on the fact that you've been there and seen this scene or because there are two or three active Portugeues guys on another forum always posting stuff....?
If you believe the internet then every second car in Japan is some kind of scene chariot. Yet my brother lived in Japan for 8-9 years (2 in Nagano, the rest in Tokyo) worked in Nissan HQ and for another company doing automotive components, so not completely divorced from the motoring world and his comment was he'd never seen a car older than 7 years on the road and had never heard of Bozosuko (sp?) at all. He knew of VIP (and interestingly the provincial yakuza favour pink and lilac over black and white for their Presidents and Celciors). Yet we know there are BIG events there and plenty of internet evidence of scene activity...
Hong Kong I am told often has a "huge" car scene yet I haven't seen anything other than one E30 M3 to evidence this and my bro who lives there (2.5 years now) says the only car culture there is "you don't have an S class Merc? you FAIL!!!!" so again this "massive" scene must be either fairly underground or perhaps somehow internet exagerated?
I know some countries are car mad. You can't visit Italy, USA or the UK for instance without seeing adverts for car accessories, modification stuff, loads of magazines even in Tesco/Walmart posters up for shows, old or modified cars in use on the streets, etc. Even when I was in Venice I saw posters for the Venice Classic Car Club anual show. Just think that one through for a moment...
I'm told same is true for Aus although I never have been there myself.
It also depends on what you class as retro. Several of the cars in these photos I would not class as retro, just as an old modern car.
I didn't see any Axiams in Spain. Plenty in Italy though. Citroen C2, C3, Renault Clio, Seat Leon etc. Kia Picanto, was what filled Spain's roads.
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Last Edit: Sept 22, 2009 7:20:13 GMT by akku
1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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berendd
Europe
why do I need 3 keys for one car?
Posts: 1,449
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Sept 22, 2009 8:39:07 GMT
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I'm off to Estoril, Portugal for a week by the end of october.. let's see what's going on there..
The classic scene is the biggest in the old EU country's like Germany, UK, Sweden, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium..
other country's have a lot of old stuff on the road but the scene is not so big, most people use old car's as daily bangers.. like France, Hungary, Crete, Greece, Norway
So it's not allways the car's you see in daily traffic that add to a lively car scene..
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Sept 22, 2009 9:52:18 GMT
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The classic scene is the biggest in the old EU country's like Germany, UK, Sweden, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium.. Not forgetting finland Just what I was going to say I saw loads of old tin when I went to germany
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Last Edit: Sept 22, 2009 9:52:58 GMT by ab5olut
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