So is this what the disco was based on originally

G'day Folks :)

Yes, the sales add, and the rear window sticker, "Some Car This Simca" the "Aronde", with 5 bearing"Flash" motor,the "Elese" with 3 bearing "Rush" motor they all had that plastic interior trim that warped in the heat, and other memorable (forgetable) cars, Renault "Dauphine" Lightburn "Zeta", Go GGo Mob ile (Goggomobile)in both the Sedan,Coupe & Dart:D Vanguard Spacemasters,"Guardsvan Spacewasters" the Morris "Marina", Hillman "Imp" (Aliminuum block, before knowledge of coolants) and the wonderfull, but misunderstood, 1100's 1800 "Landcrabs" a wheel at each corner;) beautiful comfortable cars for their size, but not capable of towing a 16 ft "Chesney" from Melbourne to Cairns :eek:

Gee Quiggers, that was when a car was identifiable, not a computer designed Eco Bubble:(

cheers

Yup, you'd never mistake a 120Y for anything else, UncleH!

I don't mind the look of the land crab, typical of the era....

My 13 yo son saw a Citroen DS23 sedan in a tv commercial (for Honda, work that out?) and didn't like it at all.... but I do....

generational, style is soo individual.....

I don't like much of the current stuff, (including the VE C'dore sedan) but some do, apparently.......

Wortho: Owning an AU Futura, it's not the look that's such a worry, but that the interior is noticeably tighter than the E body cars it replaced and the A pillars will smack you in the head if you're not careful......someone should've put decent seats in them tho', the drivers seat is a shocker......

GQ

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Originally Posted by 72pug

Remember seeing quite a few of those on the roads back in 'blighty'..........used to rust like B*******.

Were'nt bad looking for the time though....70's.

Pug

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Yeah worse than the TR7 and the alfa's.

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Originally Posted by seqfisho

If it was made by the french it must have a very strong high speed reverse gear:wasntme:




:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

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Nah you are thinking of the Itians :) :) :) . French would have long gone by the time an invador came along :) :)

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Originally Posted by DiscoTDI

The Matra Rancho is a leisure activity vehicle

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That would make it a LAV! Which is also short for...

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Originally Posted by Quiggers

The Maestro van, Ron.....

GQ

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This is a Maestro van , but this one has Freelander running gear. It is what Land Rover used to test the freelander running gear with out anyone knowing what was going on

http://www.dunsfoldcollection.co.uk/...ull1/MuleP.jpg

And here is a real one with the Disco back lights

http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/press/9-88-2127-c6.jpg

Another classic bit of Crap from Austin Rover , no wonder they are gone

Mate, that's bewwwdifullllllll:D :D :D (second pic)

The mule in the first pic is fascinating......

Where's the board racks and deep dish mags?:D

One of those (standard vers) got to Aussie, cause I knew a bloke who had one - he was a total loony.....(not me).

GQ

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Originally Posted by Quiggers

Mate, that's bewwwdifullllllll:D :D :D (second pic)

The mule in the first pic is fascinating......

Where's the board racks and deep dish mags?:D

One of those (standard vers) got to Aussie, cause I knew a bloke who had one - he was a total loony.....(not me).

GQ

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He must have been if he had one :) :)

Reads:

He was also the same guy who 'absolutely knew' that a limited slip disc (sic) was a diff which made one wheel spin wildly while the other one did nothing...:D :D :D

no-one could ever convince him otherwise

also 'knew' that fwd and 4wd was the same thing.......:eek:

there's one in every packet, the guys at Tech actually took pity on him, was known as the house loony - the bloke who has a left handed screwdriver and a can of striped paint....and the worlds best van, a Maestro.....

GQ

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Originally Posted by UncleHo

G'day Quiggers :)

That lovely little Simca was the Vedette;) with the pre-war (WW11) Ford sidevalve V8 of 221 Cu Inch, 17 stud head, Simca was owned by Ford prior to WW11, they were a nice comfortable fast car, but the plastic interior trims of the day couldn't take the Australian sun:(
Simca had all but left the Aust motor scene by 1963.

cheers

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Uncle Ho, not quite right - and I know this because my father had one. As you say a nice car - not much bigger than the contemporary Holden, but with vastly better brakes and handling, and better performance, and a huge boot - plus heater and reasonable instrumentation. Very good touring car. Never had any problems with the plastic, but worst problem was the gearshift conversion from LHD.

The Vedette factory was originally the Ford of France works, and the car was the French equivalent of the Zephyr, but retaining the V8 (in two sizes). The French did not buy many of them, and Ford sold the whole lot to Simca (which was originally a Fiat offshoot, or at least building Fiats under licence in France) in about 1955. Simca ditched the big V8, fitted the smaller one with alloy heads and crankcase, which enabled them to raise the compression to 7.5, and producing as much power as the big V8. The lower weight on the front wheels allowed the steering ratio to go from 5:1 to 3:1, they went from 13" to 15" wheels, brakes from 9" to 11", which enabled them to put the lower suspension and steering pivot inside the brake drum, doing wonders for the steering.

They did quite well on the Australian market (assembled with about 50% Australian content by Chrysler), and were a lot more suited to the roads than the Aronde, which went like a rocket but tended to fall to bits. However, when the Valiant appeared they were a direct competitor, and so were axed. The Australian version had spartan trim compared to the French version (similar to other Australian cars of the time) and the overdrive and automatic clutch were never sold here.

John