
that wasn't meant to start a jap/euro war of words!
Sailor wrote:Believe it or not, the Sierra looked weird and futuristic when it first came out
I believe - I remember! But underneath, it was still an archaic tractor in comparison to the jap stuff (drivetrain, suspension, engine etc.) and with terrible interior trim. Went well in V6 and Cossie form of course and yes, I'd still like to have a Sapphire Cossie.
Sailor wrote:and the Fiesta had an XR2 version.
Badly built, very badly trimmed, bum droppings engine that started smoking after about 30k.
Sailor wrote:Vauxhall had a great deal of success with the Cavalier Mk2
Doesn't mean it was good. drokking AWFUL interior (though decently durable unlike the Fords) and an outrageous rot box, with jobby turning circle and a gearbox/shifter straight out of a tractor. The engine was the only thing that was good about that car! (genuinely good) and it looked ok, especially in SRi form
Sailor wrote:Peugeot had the 205,
Good car.
Volkswagen had the Golf.
Decent car, if massively overpriced / under equipped.
Sailor wrote:The Jap invasion was building a reputation for reliability similar to that it had managed a decade earlier,
Not just reliability, better engineering all round - more fuel efficient, better handling, better gearboxes etc etc. The Japs insistence on vinyl interiors didn't do them a lot of favours on the image front back then I think.