Perfect Retro MTB hauling car?

Talbot Matra Rancho would be the vehicle of choice surely!?

Oh, well done sir, well done indeed

Except production ended maybe a decade before MTB’s were a thing, they were made maybe 1974-1980?

Grandpa had one – running rural healthcare in Zambia….as you do.

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A few Subaru choices, Impreza, Legacy or……

Other than my Nissan Prairie posted earlier I’d say any of my current fleet would qualify!

This was great, pendle bike carrier on the back when out with a mate, or bike stashed in the boot on solo missions.

I miss it greatly, but not enough to get another, just yet.

Would love a jensen, and that volvo may have turned my head.  But right now, my sweet deo does all I need, and is far more comfortable 😀.

@Daffy, that would ground in just about every MTB car park I’ve been to.

It would ground on the first pothole out of the drive.

Prairie or the espace for me. Make a statement be bold.

Actually how about a renault avantine

I turned up to many DH race in the mid-nineties  in one of these

Volvo 940 Wentworth. Just swallowed up bikes, kit, camping gear, everything and still plenty of space on the back seat.. Adjustable air suspension on the back as well, so if it did get slightly overloaded it was just case of pumping it up a bit.

Id have my 1995 diesel fez back in a heart beat.

Faster and more economical  than anything my mates had at the time (they mostly had early 90s 1 litre coke cans.

Front wheels out and the forks dropped.behind the front seats and you could get two full DH bikes in.

At the time a.full tank was 22 quid. And you could go to fort William both days of the weekend from home cheaper than staying over and at the time we didn’t worry.about 5am.starts

Wasn’t cool . Wasn’t fast. But shit that thing took us places. 120000 (s)miles for 800 quid.

Except production ended maybe a decade before MTB’s were a thing, they were made maybe 1974-1980

Oh shut up you 🙂

If we’re going modern (and I win the lottery) then a Taycan Cross Turismo 4S.

@munrobiker, do you still have the roof rack?
Rare as rocking horse poo.

My 86 951 is my bike carrier of choice when I can stomach the fuel cost.

Could get to 26ers in it, these days only one modern bike fits inside.

Id have one of these bohemoths.👌

If I could post a picture I’d be putting up a Z3 coupe somewhere about here 👇🏿

The bike is long gone, but the car is still bike transport.

For when the pope gets a sudden urge to hit the lifts at BPW?

All the cool stuffs been suggested, so I’ll give the Mk1 Mondeo estate a shout, ran one just like this as a shed spec daily workhorse for years with no probs. GLX spec so lots of lovely 90s velour, Massive load area and decent to drive too. Mine had more dents/gaffer tape obvs.

A mate has a Jumbuck (not his pictured)

Zagato/Fiat Z-Eco

A mate has a Jumbuck (not his pictured)

I had the hatchback version, the Persona, as my first car, 1.6XLi, 1996, which I bought in 2005 for £200. Surprisingly good car, decent suspension, disc brakes all round and weighed next to nothing so actually quite nippy for a 1.6. And not bad as a bike car, it was nicknamed the Tardis, you could fit a surprising amount of stuff in there. Head gasket killed it after 8 months/12k miles, total depreciation of £140 as I got £60 scrap for it.

https://images.app.goo.gl/WqZJmLNCnwA1Dhpi8

Get the one with the Holbay tuned 1725cc with twin Webers and enjoy that induction

For an estate though, there is only one answer
I know it’s blasphemy but they’re not really that fast and the awd versions push the front end way too much

More than fast enough on the majority of British roads; 237bhp back then was quite adequate in a car that size.

Gotta say, I’ve had a huge crush on ‘55/‘57 Nomads, particularly the 57’s, although having the rails chopped and running it down in the weeds like that ‘55 is just not practical on our roads – I hit a virtually invisible speed bump earlier today at the posted limit, and it certainly jolted my car, imagine on our potholes!

You’re wrong!… 🙂

https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C1651001

Best mate at primary school’s Dad had a Rancho. I think we thought it was a Land Rover at the time.

Subaru Brumby was my first car in Oz. Sometimes the throttle cable would get stuck on full beans … not that you could tell much. Could just sleep in the back.

Surprisingly hard to get even two bikes in the back… but Isuzu 2.5 engine helps for driving.

How I used to roll… looked best when I had a Kona Hei Hei Trail in matching colour

Christ, look at the shut lines.  Quality British engineering that. When they said they “cleverly incorporated the rear screen from a Citroen Ami into it”  was cleverly by way of crashing into it?

polo bread van with a g40 conversion FTW, or an Uno  Turbo.

KramerFree Member

@Daffy, that would ground in just about every MTB car park I’ve been to.

It’s on air ride suspension.  You can raise and lower it.

We had one of these when I was young. Vauxhall 101 estate. Same colour as this one and the same year I think 1965

Ideal vintage barge for your steel Kona

https://x.com/midnightdorifto/status/1792794934858408420

Citroen BX Estate (or BX mistake as we called it) would fit the bill date wise, I had a rather tired 2.0TRi version when the kids were young – embarrassing when I had to jump out & turn the starter a smidge to get it to crank over, but great for us on our camping trips.

Except production ended maybe a decade before MTB’s were a thing, they were made maybe 1974-1980?

Grandpa had one – running rural healthcare in Zambia….as you do.

But surely any self respecting mountainbiker spunked any spare cash on the bike leaving them carting about their pride and joy around in a shitbox rust bucket.

We had one of those big Peugeot 504 estates for years. I could sleep in the boot without having to fold the back bench seats down! And it would easily do a ton in super smooth comfort. I wondered where they all went to until I went out to work in north Africa. I think 90% of all prodection endd up there eventually as taxis! I have a 1983 Land Rover One Ten which is a pretty cool MTB carrier though it is surprisingly small in the back for modern LLS bikes. But it is tax and MOT exampt and only costs £100 for historic insurance!

Christ, look at the shut lines.

TBF, the ones that are left have often had some pretty dodgy “restoration” work happen to them. They weren’t that bad originally.

Citroen BX Estate

Ohh, good call. We had one when I learned to drive in 1991. Loved the quirkyness and waftyness. Ideal for bikes too.

Dad then bought a sporty ZX Furio which I took on honeymoon – again a great car to zip around the Highlands in for a fortnight with boots, bikes and bride…an Estate one would have been an perfect bike hauler.

But it is tax and MOT exampt and only costs £100 for historic insurance!

And how much of it is actually still 1983?

And how much of it is actually still 1983?

The good thing is that that information is completely irrelevant to it’s historic vehicle status as long as it’s like for like

The bike is long gone, but the car is still bike transport.

Pretty sure Jackson Goldstone has a battered 80s Porsche.

Dad then bought a sporty ZX…an Estate one would have been an perfect bike hauler.

I had one and they were until they tried to kill you. The passive rear wheel steering (basically, the back axle was mounted in the middle on a big block of rubber that flexed when going round corners) meant that if the rear wheel caught a deep puddle at speed the axle would turn. This happened to me with 3 bikes in the boot and 2 mates as passengers one June evening, after a very heavy storm. Trashed the car completely, which was a real shame as it was normally a lovely car to drive.

I desperately want that zacato z eco.

Like can i just build myself one? How fast and loose can i play with doctoring the structure of a car?