company cars from the 80s

[Palfrem]

I passed my test in an Austin 1800 in the same blue as the middle one. OOP 46G

17 point turn with no power steering....

 

[isleaiw]

Company Cars:

Vauxhall astra 1.6L (F reg) - no choice
BMW 318iS (E30) - H reg - my choice as I couldnt have an Alfa....
Peugeot 405 GLDT Estate -different company and kids had arrived
Peugeot 306 XRdt - another different company and it was best handling I could get!
Peugeot 406 TD saloon - another company, but I'd liked the previous 2 Pugs so another seemed sensible.... it was slow!
Opted out and bought a Volvo Estate!
Change of jobs and back to company cars - a Vauxhall Sintra 3.0 CDX people carrier - well, I had a fuel card, wanted enough seats for the in laws and towed a caravan!
Another change and petrol not allowed - so Renault Grand Espace RXE 2.2dt - if you are going to have a big car, have a very big one. Slow, like driving an armchair. Lots of electrical issues....

Opted out after that apart from a couple of times when I had the obligatory 3 series....

My dad had an Austin Princess that I learned to drive in - in dark red with black vinyl roof pillars and a stick on pin stripe. It was a decent honest family car - but not coll when you are 15 and your best friends have a Scirocco!

Ian

 

[BTB 500]

Change of jobs and back to company cars - a Vauxhall Sintra 3.0 CDX

I remember the Sintra coming bottom in some survey or other, and Top Gear spraying one with manure. I had a 2.2 for five years and it was great - only issue I ever had was one headlight lens dropping off (I just glued it back on with epoxy and it was fine).

 

[isleaiw]

I remember the Sintra coming bottom in some survey or other, and Top Gear spraying one with manure. I had a 2.2 for five years and it was great - only issue I ever had was one headlight lens dropping off (I just glued it back on with epoxy and it was fine).

Sadly mine wasnt quite that reliable! I got it at the start of Aug 98 and immediately went on holiday to Devon, towing a caravan. It was faultless all week but on return developed a bit of a misfire. In the garage for 10 days with that - and that was the sign of things to come.

I absolutely loved it when working but it just wasnt very well made / had sat in a field for ages and developed issues. my job disappeared about 9 months / 25k miles later and at that stage it had a misfire (again) and an exhaust issue near the manifold....

Ian

 

[BTB 500]

Hmm, maybe it was the 3.0 version of the Sintra that caused the poll results! I also towed a caravan with my 2.2 ... only sold it in the end to get a replacement with 4WD (VW Sharan 4Motion) after I got stuck in a couple of muddy fields.

 

[PXW]

My Dad had a brand new (yellow) SuperMirafiori in 1980 as some kind of throw back to a previous 125S he'd owned in the early 70's... Apart from the nice sound of the Twin Cam when revved hard, my abiding memory of that car is the 4 or 5 visits to the dealer to fix rust issues in the 9 or so months he owned it!

My 80's company cars were an XR2, Nissan estate (can't remember the exact model), Sierra 1.8 GL, XR2 again and then a 205 1.9GTI.

My father in law had a supermirafiori in raspberry pink. He maintained it was red...but it didn't matter really, because after about 15 months the front doors were so rusty they had to be reskinned. Eighteen months later you couldn't tell them from the rusty unrepaired back doors...

That car also had a steel sunroof, operated manually with a lever you pulled down and then used to slide the roof back. There was a dodgy seal in the system somewhere, so on occasions you would take a bend and there would be a gurgling sound and then the front passenger would get a couple of pints of stale rainwater dumped on them!

 

[Spin_bowler]

I remember the Sintra coming bottom in some survey or other, and Top Gear spraying one with manure. I had a 2.2 for five years and it was great - only issue I ever had was one headlight lens dropping off (I just glued it back on with epoxy and it was fine).

My only experience of a Sintra was at the London Motor Show when after a four hour slog it was the comfiest seat in the house to catch our breath. Shut the doors and sat there completely unbothered by anyone for a good fifteen minutes.

 

[wivenhoe]

In 1981 (aged 26) I worked for a UK company in Saudi Arabia. As petrol was virtually free and new cars had no tax (they were about 30% of the UK price) the company was very generous in its car policy. I had a Datsun 280z Coupe where I lived and a Chevrolet Impala in Riyadh for when I visited plus use of a Nissan Patrol when we went to the beach ! This came to and end in 1982 and when I transferred back to the UK and into a recession, to be provided with an Austin Metro as a company car - oh how my wife laughed

 

[richard300]

Having been born in 1975 i was never old enough to drive in the 80's (although it's my favorite decade for cars) However i remember all my dads company cars from the 80's

MkV Ford Cortina 'Crusader' Estate
Ford Sierra 2.3 Ghia estate
Ford Sierra 2.8 Ghia Estate
Ford Sierra 2.8 Ghia 4x4 Estate
Ford Granada 2.9 Scorpio 4x4

I guess that's why my first cars were fords.....

Ford Orion Ghia Injection
Ford Orion 1600e
S1 Escort RS Turbo
Escort Cabriolet SE500

 

[Scott_F]

Having been born in 1975 i was never old enough to drive in the 80's (although it's my favorite decade for cars) However i remember all my dads company cars from the 80's

MkV Ford Cortina 'Crusader' Estate
Ford Sierra 2.3 Ghia estate
Ford Sierra 2.8 Ghia Estate
Ford Sierra 2.8 Ghia 4x4 Estate
Ford Granada 2.9 Scorpio 4x4

Unless my memory fails me there wasn't a Sierra 2.8 Ghia - at least not for the UK market. The 2.3 V6 engine was the largest offered for Ghia models whilst the 2.8 and 2.9 litre V6 were the preserve of the XR4 and XR4x4.

 

[kjk2205]

Regrettably (????????)
Mine never had the Talking Dash
I wonder if any still exist as I recall none of my BL Cars gave any problems would like to see some looked after in later life

Like these ? Pride of Longbridge 2012 - YouTube

 

[The Polisher]

Unless my memory fails me there wasn't a Sierra 2.8 Ghia - at least not for the UK market. The 2.3 V6 engine was the largest offered for Ghia models whilst the 2.8 and 2.9 litre V6 were the preserve of the XR4 and XR4x4.

Not quite.

The did make a 2.8 Sierra but it was only in the range topping 2.8i Ghia 4x4 estate. I know, my Dad had one as a company car for about 12 months before he got promoted and had a new 2.9 Scorpio 4x4. IIFC, the Sierra version never sold well as it was almost as much as the equivalent Granada..........

 

[MLAM]

I only got company cars in this side of the decade and being a Sales Exec for MINI you can half guess what I drove...

...Mainly MINI Cooper or Cooper D's, my favourite though was the Cooper S as it flew!

I was lucky enough to take home the old BMW too, great drivers cars.

Though I am not in that job anymore so I'm back to running my own car.

 

[tali]

My Maestro VDP was an 85/C and had it ...

Yes - seems i was thinking of MG1600

Not quite.

The did make a 2.8 Sierra but it was only in the range topping 2.8i Ghia 4x4 estate. I know, my Dad had one as a company car for about 12 months before he got promoted and had a new 2.9 Scorpio 4x4. IIFC, the Sierra version never sold well as it was almost as much as the equivalent Granada..........

1990 prices
Sierra 2.9i Ghia 4x4 estate £18960
Granada 2.9i Ghia x 4x4 £ 23850
Sierra 4x4 estate is rare - but Granada 4x4 far more so

 

[BTB 500]

Yes - seems i was thinking of MG1600

There was a story about a motoring journalist who managed to roll one into a ditch, and as he hung there upside down in stunned silence the computer primly announced "warning - low oil pressure"

Actually mine said that once on the M4, just for a bit of a laugh I think as all was fine and it never did it again.