No ‘elf and safety!

This thread is like a episode of Life On Mars!

The Princess was originally going to be a hatchback but BL changed it to have a boot so it wouldn’t compete with the Maxi or SD1

My dad had a Vauxhall Viva….. i know british cars got a bad rep, but i dont remember much slagging off of the Viva.

Biggest disappointment of my 70s childhood life was i wanted a Raleigh Chopper, and on my birthday, my mum went to go buy me one from Halfords. They didnt have any, shortage!!
Ended up with a Raleigh Meteor road bike instead.

Maybe we should start a STW Raleigh Chopper race team….

@Murray incredibly ugly cars. I’d see these relics in the 80s when I was a kid; they were normally driven by retired folk. Also, Allegros and Maxis as you say.

Surely cauliflowers are sold each not per llb (adjusted to imperial for 70s realism)

The Princess was originally going to be a hatchback but BL changed it to have a boot so it wouldn’t compete with the Maxi or SD1

Was that not the Allegro?

The Princess was originally going to be a hatchback

Anyone remember the Austin Ambassador – basically a posh Princess and had voice assistance. However it was utterly shit an unreliable and you’d generally have to drive along with the thing constantly telling you that you needed to refuel and put your seatbelt on.

And don’t nobody diss the Maxi – the 1750 engine was one of the first circa. 100bhp engines in such a family car – it was actually relatively swift with a 0-60 of just over 11 seconds.

We had better bread in the 70s!

I disagree! 🙂

Thin sliced bread seemed to be the go-to in my area.

There were bakeries everywhere that sold good crusty bread, not the plasticky, bouncy stuff you get in supermarkets these days. Sliced bread was just one option, although baguettes were another thing yet to be invented, and as for croissants, well that’s just foreign muck!

@ johndoh

I thought voice assistance was on the Montego/ Maesto not the Ambassador?

And don’t nobody diss the Maxi – the 1750 engine was one of the first circa. 100bhp engines in such a family car – it was actually relatively swift with a 0-60 of just over 11 seconds.

I don’t recollect mine or my mate’s father’s Maxis being ‘relatively swift’. We both drove them after passing our tests. Steady, loud and tank-like was how they felt.

although baguettes were another thing yet to be invented

And yoghurt. I remember when my mum brought home a pot for the first time, we sort of sat round looking at it, as though we were expecting it to speak.

johndoh
If you half close your eyes,it almost looks like a Delorean 🤣🙃🤣

American cream soda – no connection to either america or cream…

American cream soda – no connection to either america or cream…

But drop a scoop of cheap vanilla ice-cream in there and suddenly you had something so sophisticated. 😀

And playgrounds with concrete or tarmac bases, none of this rubber nonsense

We had a 3.5ltr Rover SD1 and a Range Rover – good job petrol was cheap.

You’d also run up a tab at your village petrol station and pay it off ‘whenever’! 🙂

The Dad of a friend of mine drove a black Ital.

@SSS I distinctly remember one of those old roundabouts on my local park had those timber side panels all kicked it. Kids could get their legs trapped on the inside. 😀 I think it was burned down eventually.

Kids used to piss down the slide too.

I don’t recollect mine or my mate’s father’s Maxis being ‘relatively swift’. We both drove them after passing our tests. Steady, loud and tank-like was how they felt.

I am talking about the 1750HL version (not the more common 1500). It had twin SU carbs and was quite quick for its time.

I thought voice assistance was on the Montego/ Maesto not the Ambassador?

I stand corrected – I never even sat in one but my brother used to work at the local BL garage (Nidd Vale Motors in Harrogate) and used to drive brand new ones around and he’d come home and tell us all about the useless voice assistance.

And playgrounds with concrete or tarmac bases, none of this rubber nonsense

And everyone knew somebody who’d broke their arm or fractured their skull falling off the top of the slide onto solid concrete

At which point they were given a plaster and told to stop being so soft

Frozen half a baguette boat shaped pizza that removed the roof off your mouth first bite then walls ice-cream wrapped in cardboard
Corned beef or spam tins with the key that could give your first finger a deep slash

There were bakeries everywhere that sold good crusty bread

Living in the sticks & baker used to deliver, mum used to get upset coz we’d bite the corners off the loaves.

Double Diamond beer & party 7 tins.

At which point they were given a plaster and told to stop being so soft

BIL sent my neice to school with a broken arm once – stop yer bloody whining…

Dolomite Sprint – great car for the times. 70p a gallon and 27p for a pint of Guiness. Loads of fit birds not the bloaters I see around here these days 🤣

Those certainly were the days 👍

I am talking about the 1750HL version (not the more common 1500). It had twin SU carbs and was quite quick for its time.

We both had 1750s, but not twin carb versions. As I said, the standard versions were definitely not quick. The Cortina which followed it felt sportier – I can’t remember which version that was.

That John Noakes video gets me every time.  Thats just a bit too much exposure for me

Cortina/Allegro/Viva – ticks

We both had 1750s, but not twin carb versions. As I said, the standard versions were definitely not quick. The Cortina which followed it felt sportier – I can’t remember which version that was.

I *THINK* there were two versions of the 1750 and the one in the HL had the Twin SU. We also had a Cortina – a Mk 4 2.0 Ghia and that was quick – my brother could make it wheelspin in second (and it could also get to 60 in that gear). Unfortunately my dad sold it before I passed my test so I had to make do with his 1.6GL Sierra.

Watney’s Red Barrel – and Babycham for the ladies…

i dont remember much slagging off of the Viva

I think you miss-remember… it was the butt of jokes, and deservedly so. My first car. Didn’t even keep it long enough to take my test. Awful thing in every way.

We got married in 1977 , Jaws was playing in the cinema over the road ? 🤔 £600 deposit for our first house 😳 only able to buy because Wimpey had an arrangement with a company that could lend us what the building society couldn’t . They would only lend us £7,500 we needed £9K !
Might sound heavenly but it’s all relevant me and the Mrs were earning £60 a week each . We experienced 15% mortgage rates for a while . Always lived by the mantra if we couldn’t afford it we didn’t have it , hand me down furniture my old 14″ black and white TV not the latest and greatest on tick , that’s just how life was back then . But we were happy, try telling the young ‘uns today and they won’t believe you! 😁

Was I the only one on here who had a Keegan perm?

If it really is the 70s, I’m going to buy a load of sporty fords and stick them in a barn

Cortina spinning a wheel in second gear it either must have been snowing or a diesel spill at a wet roundabout, they handled like a barge in stormy sea
Vinyl roof was an extra or even go faster stripes
Girls in nudie books had this big triangle of hair

I stand corrected – I never even sat in one but my brother used to work at the local BL garage (Nidd Vale Motors in Harrogate) and used to drive brand new ones around and he’d come home and tell us all about the useless voice assistance.

Wasn’t it the Vanden Plas that got the turd version of Kitt, rather than the specific model? My Grandma had a VD Allegro followed by a VD Metro. Think it was the Metro that spoke so I reckon the later VP Ambassador could well have too…..

Girls in nudie books had this big triangle of hair

clearly visible through white knickers in the underwear pages of the Grattan catalogue too……

i loved the way BL downgraded the princess’ social status to ambassador as time went on. reminds me of how The Black Adder fell down the social structure through the generations. (sorry for 80’s reference)

Sorry, I just had to go answer the door. It was the bloke collecting the little charity envelope with pennies in.

I was 99% sure the talking car was the selling point of the Maestro, but after reading comments I’m second-guessing.