Automotive Guilty Pleasures

[RandomCarGuy17]

 

[D.Kadettdriver]

shocking Rancho fact #1: As of today there are only four registered Ranchos remaining in the UK!

Shocking Rancho fact #2: the Rancho is just a Simca VF2 pick-up in disguise:

 

[Liquid]

One more vanity spoiler. (Plus it's a car I've always liked anyway)

Rover 800

The fastback is so good looking.

 

[Jet Badger]

90s Rovers really have a lot of charm and they're not really that bad, I've been wanting a 400/600 series one for a while. They hold their value worse than chinese kitchen appliances and they rust like nothing else but otherwise they're all-round more appealing than equivalent Honda counterparts. I'm yet to find a car interior more comfy than the beige faux wood glory of the 416. Forget about Land Cruisers and the S-Class.

 

[Liquid]

Rover does have a bad reputation, justified in many cases, but I've always felt they made good looking cars. Especially the later ones: SD1, 200 Coupe, 600, 800 and the 75.

I in fact do have a Hondrover, the Honda Civic which was joint engineered into the Rover 400. Definitely a safer option if you don't have much money.

 

[Brutaka]

I want to buy one (Or its Chevy/Dodge cousins) as my first car.

 

[Niku Driver HC]

I want to buy one (Or its Chevy/Dodge cousins) as my first car.

Now what is that car? I don't know what it is...

 

[Jet Badger]

The headgaskets in the K-engines are probably what they're know the best for. That and the rust.

Our 416 hatch had both of those problems and eventually ended up at the scrapyard. What a waste of perfectly good sexy C pillars.

 

[Brutaka]

Now what is that car? I don't know what it is...

1997 Pontiac Sunfire

 

[Niku Driver HC]

1997 Pontiac Sunfire

Oh, it's a Sunfire? Interesting, it looks kind of cool in my eyes. Although I'd prefer an Oldsmobile Aurora as a first car if I lived in the USA (yep, call me crazy, but I like that car, what can I say?)

 

[Nessy]

I find Rover Tomcats are quite appealing too. (220 coupe)

 

[Wiegert]

The headgaskets in the K-engines are probably what they're know the best for. That and the rust.

Our 416 hatch had both of those problems and eventually ended up at the scrapyard. What a waste of perfectly good sexy C pillars.

View attachment 305161

Always thought the 400 was the only late-90s Rover to lose any appeal in x5 trim. Quad headlights on a Hondrover just seemed to add 10 years to the looks.

The 200 on the other hand looked more contemporary (and classy) as a 25. Although both of those 'bubble-shaped' Rovers were more appealing than the MG ZR and the 2004 face-lift.

In fact, the Streetwise might actually be my favourite iteration:

 

[Jet Badger]

Always thought the 400 was the only late-90s Rover to lose any appeal in 45 trim. Quad headlights on a Hondrover just seemed to add 10 years to the looks. The 200 on the other hand looked more contemporary (and classy) as a 25. Both were more appealing than the MG ZR and the 2004 face-lift.

I agree, the quad headlights could have been a step forward but the excessive chrome (blergh door handles blergh) that they added and all-gray interiors just made the 45 a Casa Blanca edition of the Civic. The 25 pulled it off much better. Streetwise, anyone?

 

[Cano]

Damn I had forgotten that existed. I wish I still didn't remember.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

One of these. Sadly, they're heavily plagued by tofu/drift tax.

 

[Legro]

One of these. Sadly, they're heavily plagued by tofu/drift tax.

F Cup. (You probably need to be Finnish to get this)

 

[GTP_Ingram]

Always thought the 400 was the only late-90s Rover to lose any appeal in x5 trim. Quad headlights on a Hondrover just seemed to add 10 years to the looks.

The 200 on the other hand looked more contemporary (and classy) as a 25. Although both of those 'bubble-shaped' Rovers were more appealing than the MG ZR and the 2004 face-lift.

In fact, the Streetwise might actually be my favourite iteration:

Now that is a guilty pleasure, there a few cars I dislike more than the Streetwise

I've had experience with a regular 25. A couple of years ago an old lady I sold a car to had one as a trade-in. She'd owned it from new, and it had the BMW-derived 2.0-litre diesel. I drove from Edinburgh to Chester to collect it, then took the Rover back (via Harrogate, so the return leg was about 300 miles.)

I'm pretty sure that she'd never revved it past 1500rpm, because it was gutless. Like, couldn't-hold-70-up-a-gentle-motorway-incline gutless. The look from a guy in a 3 Series I overtook when I was flat out down a steep hill was priceless

Despite the terrible lack of power, the lights with the power of a birthday candle, the faulty alarm, the numerous buttons inside the cabin that didn't work, and soggy brakes which pulled alarmingly to one side, it was still infinitely more likeable than the first-gen Vauxhall Meriva I sold her.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

F Cup. (You probably need to be Finnish to get this)

Indeed, our beloved F-Cup.. One of my classmates is actually driving in F-Cup.

 

[Slash]

Shame you won't find many of these or it's fastback version that looks like a mini Firebird very often anymore, even in bad shape.

 

[CSMDuty11]

Im Russian, and i still like those American Nissans more than their European counterparts.

 

[axletramp]

God how I love the 400. Has to be my favourite Ferrari (run close by a 246 Dino), but I know she'd be a terrible mistress. The good times would be amazing - exciting, exhilarating and down right sexy - but when you needed to rely on her the most, you know she'd let you down. She's the on you'd love the most but ultimately have to let go.

Less than £20k too!

 

[Liquid]

It's an unusual looking car. I thought the 400 was the designation for the 4-door car they made?

 

[axletramp]

It's an unusual looking car. I thought the 400 was the designation for the 4-door car they made?

Not sure. I've only ever seen 2 door 2+2 versions, be it the 400, 400i or 412.

 

[Liquid]

Not sure. I've only ever seen 2 door 2+2 versions, be it the 400, 400i or 412.

Worked it out. I saw the similarity between the 400 and the Ferrari Pinin and got them mixed up. They have the same low A and C boxes.

 

[axletramp]

Worked it out. I saw the similarity between the 400 and the Ferrari Pinin and got them mixed up. They have the same low A and C boxes.

Oooo, that's nice. Reminds me of yet another one of my guilty pleasures, the Lancia Gamma.

What is is about 70s/80s Italian wedges that I love so much?

 

[Liquid]

The Ferrari Pinin is awful. That Gamma isn't so bad. Reminds me of a longer version of the Maserati Biturbo.

Vanity spoiler!

 

[axletramp]

Now you're teasing me... vanity spoiler or not.

 

[Liquid]

V6 twin turbo in a car smaller than a 3 series. That's awesome, even if the cars themselves aren't even worth the scrap they're made from.

 

[axletramp]

I would post a Ghibli II here now except that's not so guilty as they're awesome. 320bhp from a turbocharged 2 litre V6 - magic!

 

[Cano]

Shame you won't find many of these or it's fastback version that looks like a mini Firebird very often anymore, even in bad shape.

YES. I'd rock one of these every singe day of my life. Or until it imploded.