What would you buy & why?

[rich.]

taxi!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/33250726 ... rmvSB=true

[JPB]

Way too tiny but nice idea, I heard that Noddy & Big Ears put their names on the waiting list. Suzuki's Kei class Renault 4 clone, based on the Lapin, is more suitable as I actually fit inside..


Now that's better than a Mitsuoka Viewt, don't you think.

[rich.]

if i had money the choice would be easy.. id have all of them ive seen those renault clones advertised but never in person
talking renaults my truck is poorly & has been staying with renault truck saumur.. they must like it as they have had it 10 days now

[rich.]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123029394610

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLKSWAGEN-P ... rmvSB=true

Er, if that VW Polo is a bread van, what's this?
bread van.jpg

austin k8 3 way van?

[rich.]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOMICA-LIMIT ... Sw5dNWmiWX

[JPB]

*Squawks excitedly*

Ooh! JDM model, with the obligatory bench seats and column shift automatic. That gives me an idea.

Thanks mate.

[Atodini]

I've never understood the fascination people had with Prairies or the later Serena which replaced it..... A close friend (female with 3 kids) of ours loved them, had 3 on the trot through the mid-late 80's, all bought new, followed by a Serena in the 90's. I, alas, was unfortunate to have do drive all of them at some time.

OK, the Serena wasn't too bad, vastly better than the Prairie.

How can I put this without seriously upsetting you young John?

Well I doubt that many Prairies have survived. They has a well deserved reputation for tin-worm even back when they were current, not surprising considering the almost total lack of rigidity in the monocoque. All suffered from scuttle shake on the move, something you really don't expect in a people carrier..... All 3 she had had visible rot when sold and none was more than 4 years old.... Easy to sell though, the local minicab chaps (Asian guys, she lived in Plaistow at the time) snapped them up like a shot.....

The driving experience was awful, reminded me of driving a knackered 1959 CA Bedford van, just as uncomfortable, even more rattles and squeaks and certainly no faster. Getting back in my Kitten it felt like a rocket ship in comparison and it was still bog standard back then......

My friend finally came over all Gallic and had a couple of Scenics followed by a Picasso and now the birds have all flown drives a Jazz. The French cars were never as reliable as the Nissans were but still looked good when traded in and so much better to drive and who can fault a Jazz?

Oddly, nowadays our "daily" is also French - A Citroen Berlingo. Mainly the xyl's ride though, I prefer to drive the Kitten.

The model Prairie though is excellent, but much cheaper in the UK as you can get Tomica models fairly easily here too!! I have a couple of their 1/43 models in my collection. Neither is a Prairie though!

John

[JPB]

...who can fault a Jazz?

Our brave & fearless leader from the west?
And speaking of Mr M and other RKR stalwarts past & present; The late Captain Bill Dick was running a Prairie among his many other vehicles when I went down to Watford to help in the effort to get some of his Rebels and kittens running pending the redevelopment of their storage facility, that example had the almost obligatory crack from one corner of its screen to the diagonally opposite one, it smoked like a refinery fire, was untaxed and generally falling apart, but when we went to Berwick Station (the one by Brighton, not the one along the road from me) to collect Professor Ertl's collection of rare Reliant Rebel (and Ford Capri, Hillman Husky, etc.) parts - in order to add to the existing pile of stuff needing to be removed from the Watford location - that Prairie swallowed the entire contents of the single garage-sized cache of quality spares. The weight, of course, caused the already knackered engine to breathe even more heavily and a front tyre had developed a significant egg somewhere along the M25 stage of the trip, but it nevertheless impressed me because it did, as you suggest, drive like a worn out CA and as such, reminded me of the ice cream van that I had owned some ten years earlier, but the Datsun had a radio and at least went reasonably well for a vehicle that must have weighed the guts of two tons once filled with automotive ephemera. The CA's dribbly old pushrod Victor engine was sweet enough in spite of its massively incontinent water pump but was seriously underpowered and that wasn't an issue when the van's main rôle was sitting still and keeping frozen goods frozen.

[Atodini]

Wee Brian's Jazz is getting a bit crusty round the edges now, rear arches, sills the usual places but it is about 15 years old and he's had it quite a while and racked up a lot of miles in it. He did tell me a while back that he was looking to replace it. I suggested a Berlingo as they are surprisingly alright to drive, most have the excellent XU series diesel and automatics are available (and quite popular) with the "Multispace" versions. Access is also good and the sliding rear doors great for loading in supermarket parking bays.

Best thing about Berlingo's where Brian is concerned though is that they are Citroens, which he likes, and have been around a very long time now. They also make brilliant vans, in fact I can easily get a C90 in mine complete (as I have!). Our 09 reg "Multispace" however is a rare petrol one, and, even rarer has the twin ohc 1800cc engine which should have made it a bit of a rocket ship except that they used the same gearbox and diff ratios as the 1400cc ones so its not at all economical at motorway speeds, in fact it's far better around town than it is on a run...... 70mph is a whisker under 4000rpm - same as the Kitten! We had a virtually identical (57 plate) Partner before but that was a 1400 petrol "wheelchair" version, (which struggled a bit to even get to 70!) when we were looking after Sue's (now late) mum. Sold that after mum passed (at 96!) but Sue liked it so much that when we got rid of the "money pit" Suzuki SX4 SZ5 (yes even the Japanese can make "Friday" cars though our one was actually made in Budapest and was the most unreliable heap we have ever owned - and we bought it new!), a Berlingo or Partner was the natural choice, as it's far more hers than mine.

Also important is to get a post 2008 facelift model, these being far better built than the one they replaced. OK, being French, reliability could be an issue but post 2008 they have Bosch electricals so that bugbear should have been put to rest. Ours has been OK thus far but I will have to renew the serpentine belt tensioner pulley soon as it's screaming a bit now..... The main dealer does not list this separately, only being prepared to supply the whole tensioner assembly (just under £100) but I took down the numbers on the offending pulley, Googled and found a replacement pulley easily and cheaply from Euro parts, under a tenner!

John

[rich.]

how about...
https://petrolheadism.com/new-all-elect ... ssic-mini/

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1969-Dodge-S ... 0009.m1982