company cars from the 80s

[ricardo62]

Hi just thought id start a thread on the company car entitlement from the 80s and what rank in the company entitled you to what vehicle.
My late father was a sales director of a company based in London called Tokyo electric company , it was a subsidiary of a small little known japenese company you might of heard of called Toshiba , Tec uk specialised in the supply of cash registers to major chains , anyway the salesman had Datsun 120 y , and the sales managers had a choice of either a Granada 2.3 or a Cortina 2.3 ghia , the directors had either Granada 2.8 ghias or as in my fathers case , and I persuaded him to choose it a Datsun 2.8 saloon , the 1 that looked like a big American barge! the chairman had a Mercedes , im not sure the model , but before my father was given his Datsun he had a rover 3.5 sdi . I remember driving his company cars as he got me a job working for said company and I was insured on company insurance , I was only 19 at the time ! it certainly impressed my girlfriend !!!!

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I'm not entirely sure what this thread is about?

Are you asking people what company car did they have in the 80's? If so, I had a Raleigh Burner.

 

[Charles Morgan]

We had a lease scheme through a specialist firm which the bank owned. As employees your grade from Assistant Manager upwards gave you a lease car allowance that increased with rank. We all got ripped off by the lease firm who offer our competitors far better deals, but my first car was a bright red Golf Gti 8v H reg as you could choose from a huge list (my boss had a 190 2.6). When that was nicked, a BMW 325i, then a Fiat Coupe, then I took the cash option and bought a secondhand Bentley Turbo R instead, which was much more the thing at 27.

 

[seven]

then I took the cash option and bought a secondhand Bentley Turbo R instead, which was much more the thing at 27.

Charles, you haven't disappointed me.

 

[bpsorrel]

As a car salesman I had use of whatever demo was around, although there was a certain hierachy as in managers got Granadas, salesmen Sierras or Escorts and Capris on offer if you did really well! Later when the Focus came out, every salesman wanted it!

The owner of the dealership had a Bentley....

 

[Benzowner]

1981 had a Mk 3 Escort 1600, 3 years later had a Vauhall Cavalier 1.6 then, just before I left the company an Escort XR3i. Went working on my own, and my first company car on my own in 1989 was a 260E and so began my love affair with Mercedes

 

[renault12ts]

Fiat Mirafiori, Vauxhall Cavalier, Alfa 33, Citroen BX, Lancia Delta, Escort XR3i, Sierra, Sierra... 8 years, 8 cars.

 

[Clkrichard]

XR3i, XR3i cabriolet, XR3i Cabriolet Turbo Technics, Sierra Sapphire Cosworth 2 WD ...... My bank, unlike Coutts, didnt stretch to funding Bentleys !

 

[GP801]

Never had a company car however my father had many. Started off with a Mark 1 Cortina in the 60s. By the late eighties he had worked up to the dizzy heights of a Renault 16, couple of Renault 18 estates and then topped it all with a couple of Volvo 245s. All of them pretty dreadful.

 

[ricardo62]

XR3i, XR3i cabriolet, XR3i Cabriolet Turbo Technics, Sierra Sapphire Cosworth 2 WD ...... My bank, unlike Coutts, didnt stretch to funding Bentleys !

In those days those cars would be considered the dogs danglys!

 

[flango]

Ford Sierra, then Austin Montego then Vauxhall Cavalier

 

[ricardo62]

Ford Sierra, then Austin Montego then Vauxhall Cavalier

So you were demoted then ! only joking ! Austin montego ?

 

[BTB 500]

We had pool cars for people (like me) who only needed cars on an occasional basis. Ones I remember ... Talbot Alpine and Solara (hideous), Avenger (much nicer despite being an older design), Cortina 1.6, Cavalier 1.6. I remember driving the very first Sierra and the very first Astra ... the latter was the car that everybody wanted to book! I had a brand new Triumph Acclaim once - that was nice, but a bit underpowered.

The sales reps had base model cars e.g. Cortina 1.3 (yes, they really made such a thing - most of them were badged as 1.6 though)!

Senior managers & directors had Jags, Daimlers, Granadas, the odd BMW (no M-Bs that I recall).

Company cars were offered to staff after 3(?) years - you put your name down for a particular model and when you got to the top of the list you were offered ones that came up for disposal. IIRC you could have them for the weekend to try them out before deciding if you wanted it or not - they came with a full tank of fuel so basically free motoring for a while if you were very 'fussy' about what you wanted!

 

[flango]

So you were demoted then ! only joking ! Austin montego ?

It was the facelift from the Austin Montego to the Rover Montego, Inside it was quite a nice place to be but probably even then a decade out of date felt more a 70's car, wheel bearings only lasted 6,000 miles which at the time meant one being changed every month, it had a stupid small fuel tank to get from Doncaster to Aberdeen and back you had to fill it up 3 - 4 times. Then in 1991 got my first Sierra Cossie

 

[BTB 500]

I had an 89/G Rover Montego 2.0SL estate as my own car - nice to drive and no problems at all mechanically (never had a wheel bearing changed that I can remember!), but serious rust by the time it was about 5 years old.

 

[davidjpowell]

I had a Laguna II - an early one. It was a nice enough car, but not a great experience. Our firm had an outsourced fleet management firm, and leased the car. My car was a problem car, but getting attention took some time. It eventually spent 6 weeks at the Renault Dealer local to the fleet management firm who kept rejecting it. Dealers had a special degree in customer service. One memorable conversation at 3PM was your cars not ready as it needs parts and no we don't care how you get home...

Briefly I also had a 318i Compact. The rumour was that it had been bought for one of the partners girlfriends, until she got tired of it, or he got tired of her. Was a pig of a car that showed it's miles. I remember attending a careers fair promoting surveyors. one particular cocky youngster asked what I and my colleague drove. He was happy with a BMW, but never asked which one...

 

[SilverSaloon]

From memory, my dad had;

- 1984 Rover 214
- 1986 Vauxhall Belmont
- 1988 Renault 19
- ~1990 Vauxhall Astra Belmont
- ~1991 Ford Sierra

The Ford Sierra had a car phone in it. Very cool at the time

Being a schoolboy at the time, it was always really exciting when he arrived home in a brand new car just collected from the $tealer a few hours earlier, especially as he got them when the latest reg plates were released.

 

[Paul/]

I had a Sierra Cosworth as an incentive to join a computer games company that I'd been doing contract work for. Automotive heaven for a year, then the company went bust so the car went back. I never got my last 3 month's salary either, so I bought a 2nd hand Uno70, at least I never had to worry about where I parked it (also it was actually a surprisingly nice drive).

 

[Dieselman]

especially as he got them when the latest reg plates were released.

I used to do that. I even took a trade in "loan car" from the dealer for a month so I could have the new plate.
When I booked a cross channel ferry to travel the next day, the Girl said...Oh, my first P reg.
Not really surprising as it was August 2nd.
Before it was 48 hrs old it had covered about 1200 miles.

 

[Dieselman]

It was the facelift from the Austin Montego to the Rover Montego, Inside it was quite a nice place to be

I had an 89/G Rover Montego 2.0SL estate as my own car - nice to drive and no problems at all mechanically (never had a wheel bearing changed that I can remember!), but serious rust by the time it was about 5 years old.

I saw a 1994 Montego estate only yesterday morning. Other than being dirty, it looked in good nick, with only a tiny bit of rust on the rear arch.