Opel Monza Anyone ?

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I had an '80s Maestro VDP with a digital dash that talked as well :D
Yes I remember those....
 
Can’t imagine any more than scrap value.
 
Hi,
These used to start rusting when they were less than 5 years old - can’t begin to imagine how much filler is in a 40 year old one!
Cheers
Steve
 
In the days of simple technology and no complicated electrics, it would have been quick and easy to change an SD1's steering wheel which is what probably happened here.

As long as the steering shafts were the same diameter (and as they were both BL it is likely that they would have been), you could pull off the steering wheel cover, undo the big nut underneath, pull off the original wheel, slide the square wheel from an Allegro onto the splines, replace the nut and fit the Allegro cover and within minutes you would have a modification that would surely be the envy of your family and friends.....
 
i like the Monza, especially the GSI which was the big GM GT car of Europe when I was in my early teens. The first car I bought after I got my license was an 84 Manta GTE coupe. It was black and had the 400 bonnet and twin headlights. It looked fantastic but terribly dangerous. The steering was so heavy that I would sweat driving it even at 40mph. It eventually got used it. The car is long gone but I still have the arms :)

My first car was an 87 Manta GTE Exclusive Hatch also with the 400 quad headlights.

I don't remember the steering being too heavy at all although it was certainly heavy than cars with PAS as I later found out.

Having had two Astra GTE 16s, with the crap digital dashes, I went back to a car without PAS and it was hard work in comparison.

Strangely got to know someone with a Monza 3.0 GSE whilst I had the first of the two Astras.

Sounded great on take off.

Interesting the plate on the OP is close to "HELLO ROT"... which is probably in attendance.

Same style wheels as the Manta B actually which I don't think I've noticed before - albeit without hub caps.
 
My first car was an 87 Manta GTE Exclusive Hatch also with the 400 quad headlights.

I don't remember the steering being too heavy at all although it was certainly heavy than cars with PAS as I later found out.

No, there was something seriously wrong with the steering. It used to shred the front tires every 3 months. Obviously I was a student at the time and had very little money and even less sense so I just drove it and bought part worn tires on it every 3 months for a tenner a time.

Funny story: During that time, my mother was looking for a car and asked me to test drive an 88 E30 318i. I was about to go to work so I didn't have much time so I quickly took it for spin around the block and told her that it was fine. I got home that evening and my father was waiting for me all pissed off. He asked me how I could let my mother buy a car without power steering. I honestly had no idea!!.

In any case, he made me buy it from my mother on a payment plan and I drove it from my 2nd year of University until I left the country for the states.
 
There was a nice Monza running about in Ayrshire a few years back registration 300 GSE, I think it belonged to a Doctor.
I ran an SD1 Vitesse until earlier this year, actually replaced it with the SL. The steering wheel is not square but off set and slightly oval shaped to allow better legroom, before Mercedes had the same idea with their AMG Design models I have to say !
British Leland, Austin Rover etc came up with many innovative ideas before many other manufacturers like concealed wipers in the 18/2200 (Wedge) series later renamed the Princess and flush fitting door handles in the Marina. They also produced the first 16 valve engine production car with the Dolomite Sprint.
 
There was a nice Monza running about in Ayrshire a few years back registration 300 GSE, I think it belonged to a Doctor.
I ran an SD1 Vitesse until earlier this year, actually replaced it with the SL. The steering wheel is not square but off set and slightly oval shaped to allow better legroom, before Mercedes had the same idea with their AMG Design models I have to say !
British Leland, Austin Rover etc came up with many innovative ideas before many other manufacturers like concealed wipers in the 18/2200 (Wedge) series later renamed the Princess and flush fitting door handles in the Marina. They also produced the first 16 valve engine production car with the Dolomite Sprint.
Ah, a Dolly Sprint, that's a blast from the past.:)
 
Remember them well as I worked with the Main Dealer at the time. Those twin exhaust pipes look ridiculously small by today’s standard.
I owned a Dolomite 1850 once which was a nice car in its day. The Marina door handles were adopted by Lotus and a few other Marques.
 
FFS Buy it now. Whatever the price. Jeff Lynne will pay you magabux with that plate. ELO were at their peak in 1979.

But is it a living thing?

If it is, it would be a terrible thing to lose....
 
What Scott says! Had thirteen SD1's none with a square steering wheel

Ah, the Momo "Quartic" steering wheel. Because of the "low" (sic) roofline, SD1's had a Momo Quartic steering wheel to give space for the driver's legs.

Check out this wheel (ignoring the square centre boss): "Squar-ish?"





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I owned a Dolomite 1850 once which was a nice car in its day.
Yes I did too ... reasonably quick for a normal 'family car' as well. I had one funny incident - the linkage bar between the two carbs came loose, and the one that was no longer connected to the throttle cable sprang fully open. This was enough for the car to continue accelerating after I took my foot off the accelerator ... scary few seconds till I turned the ignition off.
 
Not wishing to be pedantic, but it was the Vauxhall Royale (the 'e' really mattered as it did with Concorde).
The Senator I recall was the Opel badged later models.
I had the Royale 3.0 Saloon which I think I loved (it was a company car) but do recall all the electrics having a life of their own.
Brother borrowed if for a (non-stop) drive in January from London to Glasgow. At Scratchwood Services (25 minutes after starting out) the window motor control blew out with all 4 windows lowered.
Ha! I thought it was quite funny.

From memory I was given the Vauxhall press car used for reviews, so thought it would have been treated like a jewel.
Only later was it explained that the reviewing journalists take great pride in seeing how quickly they can demolish them in order to have a great 'unreliable Vauxhall' story, or simply to bugger it up for the next reviewer to take it out.

I'm now remembering the stylish gold with the equally distinctive matching gold crushed velour interior.
Oh dear.
 
Remember them well as I worked with the Main Dealer at the time. Those twin exhaust pipes look ridiculously small by today’s standard.
I owned a Dolomite 1850 once which was a nice car in its day. The Marina door handles were adopted by Lotus and a few other Marques.

My car “career” went...
Marina (£20)
1850 (Free)
Sprint (£570)

The Sprint was a great if somewhat flawed car but then..RS200, what a wagon. I could never afford one when I was in my early 20’s. Probably can’t afford one now either now I’m in my mid 50’s lol.



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Yea, off a mate too :)
Luckily I only had it for two weeks, it had no teeth on the flywheel so had to park facing downhill everywhere plus it was that rather fetching colour “donkey shit brown”
Got £25 when I sold it though so that was a result lol.
Not the worse car I’ve ever had though, that was the MG Metro Turbo. What a pile of poo that was. Spent more time in the garage getting the gearbox rebuilt than it ever did on the road, closely followed by an Alfasud Sprint Veloce.
I thought that was the dogs gonads until I took it for an MOT. The fella testing it put a screwdriver in the cill near the rear wheel, ran it all the way to the front arch and the bottom fell out!
That was a brown car too. bit of a pattern started to emerge so never had another brown car after that.
I did get a rather good Fiat 132 with (not a lot) of rust for £270 off an old fella in Staines. It had “cruise control”.
This I found out was actually some kind of throttle locking device like a choke lever. You pulled it out at your desired speed, say 95, then twisted it.
When the brakes were applied it didn’t actually turn off, you just kept going lolz.
Scared the bejesus out of me the one and only time I tried it.
Kids today don’t know their born!!


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I did get a rather good Fiat 132 with (not a lot) of rust for £270 off an old fella in Staines. It had “cruise control”.
This I found out was actually some kind of throttle locking device like a choke lever. You pulled it out at your desired speed, say 95, then twisted it.
When the brakes were applied it didn’t actually turn off, you just kept going lolz.

I had a 1974 Fiat 126 (600cc :)) and that had something similar except it didn't twist. You pulled it out to a certain position and it just stayed there till you pushed it back in ... very odd device!

I drove that back down the A3 on one cylinder after the top of a plug broke off. Also drove it a short way home with one exhaust manifold hanging loose (the bolts had stripped), with flames licking around the flexible fuel hose :D

Happy days.
 

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