Top Gear's Quentin Willson takes a look at buying a quality banger in a 1997 edition of Top Gear. This was the days before the internet and cheap PCP's.
bill Bloggs - legend has it ,that within a canyon deep in Petra Jordan resides a man who is 657 years old who writes all the “legend has it” jokes until legend has it, the chosen one arrives to banish him and take his place and honour the 3000 year old tradition that is the “legend has it” joke.
I actually miss Quentin on the telly. Was always my favourite presenter. Was nice enough to reply to a letter I wrote to him as a kid too asking how to be a motoring journalist. I turned out as a Solicitor but still love my cars.
Quentin is , and was , on Top Gear , a class act . Without him and Tiff Needell , the programme wasn't the same and , as someone else said , it became more of a comedy show than a serious car programme .
There's nothing to say about post 2015 Top Gear because it ceased being a show worth watching but the post 2002 New Top Gear with Jeremy, James, and Richard was probably the best show to ever exist on Television. It makes not a bit of difference that it wasn't a serious car show; there was and is plenty of good serious car shows. What there never was was a fun to watch, hilarious show about cars with people that felt like your friends doing what we could only dream of. There's no reason to even bother about it not being serious or like old Top Gear because new Top Gear was a legend and was the most popular show, worldwide in the history of television. That's why it continued in the form of Grand Tour and every Top Gear fan loved it. Did they love Top Gear anymore, heck no. No one stuck with the show. My point is this was a great show and so was new Top Gear with James and Richard with Jeremy.
Sadly the Gov't scrappage scheme put paid to a lot of the good old cars. I always had bangers, never paid more than £500, ran it for a year, if it passed the MOT, drove it for another year. Trying to buy a decent motor for this money today that isn't a whole heap of trouble is very hard. Best one I had was a Mk1 Seat Ibitza bought for £75.
What he says about old people taking care of their cars is true. My grandma has a 1978 dodge sportsman van. Shes owned it for 32 years. The engine is still good, body has a dent here and there, but overall it is worth a lot more than the value kelly blue book has to say about it. That tank of a van will last forever if well maintained.
@@moonbluebob tiff was proper and well liked, people of my age and from this trade will always remember quentin as a con artist - he was a car dealer from leicestershire convicted of clocking fleet cars fact, his latest con is writing a columns in classic mags and using the space to big-up certain models - the very cars he has just bought or owns long term, he's a proper smug spiv.
Bangers? I don't think so, those cars look absolutely fucking mint! Wow! Nearly new with low mileage? I'm completely gobsmacked! It's almost like the owners had used their garages as time capsules lol!!!
Great presenter with genuine enthusiasm for the subject. Excellent cars shown here. I have not always driven bangers but have preferred them overall in terms of value for money. Had a 2002 Mitsubishi Colt in 2014/15 for about 8 months (£320) and followed it with a 2000 Toyota Avensis for a year (£685). Followed those two with a £1525 van for four and a half years - got half my money back when I decided to change back to cars. I've done OK.
Decided to check whether the cars still exist, the results are as follows in chronological order: Talbot Sunbeam - Hasnt been taxed in over 10 years but not registered scrap Volvo 330 - F26 something or other, cant see enough of the plate! MORRIS OXFORD (FARINA) - Been off the road since 2012 but not scrap it seems Triumph Acclaim - Off the road since 2016, still about though! Volkswagen Polo - Hasnt been taxed in over 10 years but not registered scrap, probably scrap though due to new system change, you never know though!
Thanks, saves me the job of checking. I had a feeling the Truimph would still be around, they seem to attract cult enthusiast types. I suspect the Volvo would be gone by about year 2000. I reckon the Talbot will long gone too.
That bit about not being specific about the car was golden. I honestly never figured that out for myself but I am glad I learned it now. It's more relevant nowadays than ever as well.
I was relatively young when this was first broadcast and didn't appreciate the humour and substance as much as I can now. Very much enjoyed watching this and many other older Top Gear videos on CZcams.
6:15-6:26 what i find amazing is that JC used this very footage to _slag_ on the Acclaim to the words of something like this: _The Triumph Acclaim succeded in what even the TR7 didn't....and finished off the Triumph brand for good_
I can't complain since I just recently snatched a 2004 A6 Avant (Quattro, 2.5 TDI 180PS, Auto, ex. white cross) for 300€ with less than 200t km, but damn, it sure has become more of a crapshoot with used cars those days. Part of which surely is because even cars from 20~ years ago had plenty of tech that could go wrong in every possible way, but I also feel like sellers used to be a bit more honest back then. Also, the idiotic scrappage programs surely took many good cars off the road.
Nice bloke Quentin tbh met him once in the services on the M40 I had a Volvo 850 t-5 at the time he said keep it as it be rise in value and never let u down I should of listened
Quentin Wilson touches of humour in his presentations seems to have bridged the gap between the rather serious by informative William Woollard to the clownshow Clarkson, Hammond, and May. Interestingly, Clarkson hated the Volvo 340. And while the Triumph Acclaim might look dowdy especially in beige, fast forward another 25 plus years and it just looks marvellously retro. Absolutely useful information!
Just an observation from an American: used cars can be ridiculously cheap in the U.K. while new cars are shockingly expensive. I doubt that I could assemble 6 cars here in my area that would be as attractive for the equivalent of $2,000.
Quentin just turns up like a bad man and starts inspecting some old codgers Triumph Acclaim then drives off like a gangster and trades it in for a VW polo! Wtf??
I bought a Volvo 340 vario matic from auction years ago £50 with no mot but it was mint, put 2 gallon of petrol in , drove home about 10 miles, nearly out of fuel, lol, took it for mot, passed, put it in local auction, got £340 for it, result
He does make it look so easy, in my experience most of the cheep cars i looked at in the day were rotten has a pair. best thing i every did was buy a mig welder.
2;18 "you could run this car two three years".....filmed in 1997 that blue talbot VKV659X was still on the road till its tax ran out in 2004!!!! so it gave someone eight years service., 4;22 blue morris oxford JSJ213 still exists and is on SORN, 6;25 beige triumph r325udm no details presumed scrapped, same with vw g756gdp
Bought a 2001 Saturn LW300 (Vauxhall Vectra) wagon from a neighbors estate sale. Paid $1500.00 for a loaded example with 38 k . New tires brakes and a complete service history including a timing belt change. Not the most exciting car in the world but as reliable as the sunrise and it costs pennies to maintain and insure.
I have a mate who subscribes to the whole bangernomics philosophy. He's had some interesting cars. He had a lovely honda civic coupe that was amazing. It lasted him 3 years. He had a Merc W124 that probably would have lasted him until he died but he wrote it off. He then had a Volvo s80 2.3 that was a really nice car with full leather and a nice raspy 5-cylinder. He neglected to change the oil for a couple years and the bottom end deteriorated to the point he was seeing metal flecks in the oil filter. To be fair it probably cost him as much as an oil change would have. He seems to have gone more conservative this time and plumped for a fairly new Fiesta. I don't think I'd go down the same route. I tend to buy nice cars at medium miles and care for them for many years. My last two cars; An Mr2 SW20 t-top went to over 150,000 miles and my next car I drove 147,000 miles. It was a Beautiful E46 BMW 320i which came with a BMW individual colour (Tourmaline Violet) and a BMW custom extended leather interior (Blueberry Nappa Leather). Gorgeous car. In the end just like the MR2 it was the bodywork that killed it. Rust ate it up. I live in scotland so salt on the roads just chews the cars up. Both cars were mechanically solid as they were sold presumably for spares or scrap. I'm now in a 2006 Z4 2.5si with a decent spec but this time I'm hankering after Boxster. I'm 3 years in on this car so maybe I'm allowed to sell it on and break my previous model. It's only gort 85,000 miles at time of posting. Luv and Peace.
If reshown today on the BBC it would come with one of those warnings: "This programme contains opinions & language which some viewers may find offensive, sexist or demeaning"
That Talbot Sunbeam if bought in 1997 for £595,and put into storage would be worth at lest £6000 today.Same is true for the equivalent MK1 or 2 Escort which back then could have been bought for the same money for a similar 1300 spec car in the same condition.
Had my 2001 Skoda Fabia for sixteen months and so far it's cost me the grand total of a fiver for a new bulb to go through its MOT. Will need a little bit of work very soon - coil pack - but sourced a second hand one cheap. Bought for £300, FSH, 110k miles but you can't argue with that for a day to day runner.
@@TheHorsebox2 it's a TV programme. It has producers, editors and writers, of course it's 'contrived'. They would have taken several days to film that short film sequence and recorded hours of footage. Did you think it was filmed in real time!?
Worthy bangers from Top Gear classic days - Quentin, Tiff, Jeremy and the fragrant Vicki Butler-Henderson. I know Willson have a whiff of dodgy dealer, but he does campaign to make vehicle ownership cheaper via FairFuel.
I had incredible luck the first car I bought was a mint Chevy Monza with only 60,000 km on it for 800 bucks in 1989, drove it for 4 years sold it on for 300, owned by a mechanic and kept in a garage. If you really shop around and are a good negotiator you can find amazing deals on cars my buddy just bought a Chrysler 300 in decent shape for 1000 bucks and a not so great Escort GT in trade
280 pounds for my mk2 1995 Seat Ibiza. Have owned it for 3 years now. Even though the paint is fading, the tops of the sills are starting to rust, it still stops and starts like it's only done 10.000, even in winter at minus 10 degrees it starts within a second, even though it's actually done nearly 140000 miles :D Love the little red beast to bits! :D
The Triumph is, as I type, SORN'd but MOT'd! Yes this stuff still does apply today, but of course with the internet as it is nowadays "the search" is even easier.
I used to buy the auto trader and highlight cars I wished to own...it was as mich fun as owning them...in my head 🤯....did it with motorbikes too....these days I watch youtube videos....I've owned every car there ever has been...also been to many amazing places....but I'll settle for my pos these days....
I watched and heeded Q's advice in 2000 and bought an old but low mileage Merc with FSH... and it's still doing well. So I'm happy with his main line and I don't care whether some of the cars shown are still running. Just two remarks: Though I liked the Morris, too, I don't share Quentin's enthusiasm about a 1961 spare tyre because it can't be used any longer. And the lifespan of today's bangers is limited by environmental regulation more than mechanics - so the film is a bit dated now.
I bought a Ford Escort in 2006, which at the time was P reg (registered in Sep 1996) for £500 with one lady owner, in pristine condition. The car had 61k on the clock and ran without fault till May of this year when the cylinder head crack. I put 85k on the clock with MOT bills of around £200 per year. The car 'failed' once when it developed a slight drip from a brake hose which cost £3 to replace. I loved that car! I have a Volvo V40 which isn't half as good, with it's rubbish Renault Engine!
I've got a Corsa C I bought that had supposedly 83,500 on the clock but the previous owner had the whole engine changed and that engine only had 27,000 miles done. He drove it for 2 years until I bought it off him. Price? £750 and it's a factory LPG car too. Score!
For a car that supposedly would last for ever, the G-Reg VW Polo didn't last too long: The vehicle details for G756 GOP are: Date of Liability 01 10 2000 Date of First Registration 24 01 1990 Year of Manufacture 1990 Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1272CC CO2 Emissions Not Available Fuel Type Petrol Export Marker Not Applicable Vehicle Status Unlicensed Vehicle Colour BLUE Vehicle Type Approval null
thats how i buyed my car, 1991 FIAT tempra brand new with only 60.000km always serviced on FIAT, air conditioned, alloy wells, 200km/h on the highway, all for 500Eur. i buy it 7 years ago and no problems at all.
The blue Talbot is no more... The vehicle details for VKV 659X are: Date of Liability 01 12 2004 Date of First Registration 10 09 1981 Year of Manufacture 1981 Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1295CC CO2 Emissions Not Available Fuel Type Petrol Export Marker Not Applicable Vehicle Status Unlicensed Vehicle Colour BLUE Vehicle Type Approval null
I got me a 1993 Daihatsu Feroza for 2.3k NZD One of the best purchases I've made Doing the GB, diffs and engine oil currently, only issue is the fill on the gb is stuck Will ask while to crack bolts it's on the hoist as mech and has better tools. Always do ya fluids when buying a used car especially a farm one like mine
Just bought a 95 Primera with ABS, air con, electric mirrors and windows, brand new front brakes and tires and 89 000km on the clock for 1150€ so yeah, do what Quentin says and you still can end with an awesome budget banger ^^
This was c.September 1998 by the way... that copy of FHM on the shelves in the newsagent is the October 1998 issue featuring the stunning Denise Richards.
Oh yeah, actually that model Volvo is excellent if you don't mind rust-busting... I know somebody that has one since new and still drives it, you'll be amazed how low the maintenance costs are if you don't count preventing and removing rust. And it does a respectable 1:16,5km, insurance costs absolutely nothing.
+ewandougie I doubt it. He now hosts "the Classic Car Show" along side Jodie Kidd. Both GREAT shows for very different reasons. And great to see that even in old top gear, they were taking the piss out of "letter writers". That gag has continued through the years. Clarkson (and Tiff) were also BOTH Top Gear hosts at the same time as Quintin. They're all mates in the industry.
I used to hate him to, but the more I watch him , the more you actually realise that he's quite right alot of the time in what he says about used cars, he's also the only TG presenter who did the informative investigations into buying/evaulating new cars and other things. Sometimes he's abit of a snooty pr'ck but he's actually not that bad a fella really. He still does work for the consumers on motors.co.uk
22,000 miles? Only running for 4 or 5 more years???? Psh here in America, cars run a lot longer. I'm a valet at a hotel and I've parked vehicles with 350,000 miles that still run great. You need to adopt some cars from the USA my friend.
Mileage on 2nd hand American cars is much higher on average & the value seems to retain better. I think it's cultural, cars are used much more there as outside certain major cities public transport is inferior & the walking culture is less well ingrained compared to Europe. Therefore a car is more of a necessity & maintained & invested in longer. In the United Kingdom cars are scrapped at a younger age & the secondary market value plummets sooner. British people are much more inclined to give up on a decent low mileage older car with minor issues because they won't get the resale vale of preventive maintenance.
Legend has it that Susan is still trying to find the registration and MOT documents.
joshua clark Hahahah coughed my tea on my phone.
CZcams is full of these legend has it jokes. Yawn.
lafingas555 - legend has it you’re still yawning
bill Bloggs - legend has it ,that within a canyon deep in Petra Jordan resides a man who is 657 years old who writes all the “legend has it” jokes until legend has it, the chosen one arrives to banish him and take his place and honour the 3000 year old tradition that is the “legend has it” joke.
@@lafingas555 The world is full of people like you with no sense of humour. Yawn.
“As tight as a trampoline” - Crisp little box” - “Lovely virgin engine compartment, never been stuffed”. Yep, definitely a BBC programme then 😂
"They honestly don't come much better than this." Q was on a roll that day.
Ha ha 😂😂👍
Should have got Jimmy saville to present the show.
Gareth Coppell yep, Jimmy knew a thing or two about tight little boxes. As Q says in this video... “well dash my buttons” 😂
Pure filth before the watershed too!
I actually miss Quentin on the telly. Was always my favourite presenter. Was nice enough to reply to a letter I wrote to him as a kid too asking how to be a motoring journalist. I turned out as a Solicitor but still love my cars.
@Henry Discipline ok... and that makes him a bad person how?
@Henry Discipline only when driving that Polo
Class act that man, Wilson.
Quentin is , and was , on Top Gear , a class act . Without him and Tiff Needell , the programme wasn't the same and , as someone else said , it became more of a comedy show than a serious car programme .
5th gear existed for that to replace top gear
Literally, comparing this to modern top gear is an insult to old top gear.
There's nothing to say about post 2015 Top Gear because it ceased being a show worth watching but the post 2002 New Top Gear with Jeremy, James, and Richard was probably the best show to ever exist on Television. It makes not a bit of difference that it wasn't a serious car show; there was and is plenty of good serious car shows. What there never was was a fun to watch, hilarious show about cars with people that felt like your friends doing what we could only dream of. There's no reason to even bother about it not being serious or like old Top Gear because new Top Gear was a legend and was the most popular show, worldwide in the history of television. That's why it continued in the form of Grand Tour and every Top Gear fan loved it. Did they love Top Gear anymore, heck no. No one stuck with the show. My point is this was a great show and so was new Top Gear with James and Richard with Jeremy.
I couldn't have said it better. 👍
Quentin is my favorite Top Gear presenter from the old days. He simply said it as it was, and if a car had faults, he was quick to call them out
This Morris is still on the road in 2018. Fantastic!
The first car died in 2004, the volvo I couldn't find the reg of, the morris survived until 2012 and the triumph is still alive and kicking.
there is another upload of this video somewhere on CZcams and a person said that the polo died in 2000
PCgeek486 What Polo?
+BiggerByte the polo at the end of the video if I recall correctly
+BiggerByte The Polo at the end died in 2000, the Triumph Acclaim is still alive on a sorn and the others I haven't checked yet.
+BiggerByte The Morris is still alive, it's on a sorn though and has been since 2012 so I'm guessing it's in someone's garage waiting to get restored.
Sadly the Gov't scrappage scheme put paid to a lot of the good old cars. I always had bangers, never paid more than £500, ran it for a year, if it passed the MOT, drove it for another year. Trying to buy a decent motor for this money today that isn't a whole heap of trouble is very hard. Best one I had was a Mk1 Seat Ibitza bought for £75.
Thank you - classic Quentin Wilson style and precision.
The lady that popped inside to get the registration documents & MOT for the Volvo never returned! Probably still searching now....
What he says about old people taking care of their cars is true. My grandma has a 1978 dodge sportsman van. Shes owned it for 32 years. The engine is still good, body has a dent here and there, but overall it is worth a lot more than the value kelly blue book has to say about it. That tank of a van will last forever if well maintained.
Love the genuine happiness on his face when he sees the Oxford
this guy was the greatest top gear presenter in my opinion
I agree with you, Quentin was amazing.
Quentin was The Man...
@@Zapple7 not so, more a proven con artist.
Was Tiff not better
@@moonbluebob tiff was proper and well liked, people of my age and from this trade will always remember quentin as a con artist - he was a car dealer from leicestershire convicted of clocking fleet cars fact, his latest con is writing a columns in classic mags and using the space to big-up certain models - the very cars he has just bought or owns long term, he's a proper smug spiv.
Bangers? I don't think so, those cars look absolutely fucking mint! Wow! Nearly new with low mileage? I'm completely gobsmacked! It's almost like the owners had used their garages as time capsules lol!!!
Back when Top Gear was actually about cars, rather than a comedy show.
Yes, but it died, because nobody watched it...actually, I'd quite like to have this kind of Top Gear and also the show off one too.
Fifth Gear took on the mantle but that too had to move past this style as it didn't get the views either.
Michael Burke and not even a funny one
Soooo agree there Michael.
It's about blowing caravans & Stupid boring Play adventures in Prestige cars.
It's Emabrassing, boring & Childish.
😣😣😣😣
Agreed. It became a rich peoples comedy car show instead of a regular peoples real car show.
Great presenter with genuine enthusiasm for the subject. Excellent cars shown here. I have not always driven bangers but have preferred them overall in terms of value for money. Had a 2002 Mitsubishi Colt in 2014/15 for about 8 months (£320) and followed it with a 2000 Toyota Avensis for a year (£685). Followed those two with a £1525 van for four and a half years - got half my money back when I decided to change back to cars. I've done OK.
This shows that Quentin is impressively good at ducking and diving on the used car market
Decided to check whether the cars still exist, the results are as follows in chronological order:
Talbot Sunbeam - Hasnt been taxed in over 10 years but not registered scrap
Volvo 330 - F26 something or other, cant see enough of the plate!
MORRIS OXFORD (FARINA) - Been off the road since 2012 but not scrap it seems
Triumph Acclaim - Off the road since 2016, still about though!
Volkswagen Polo - Hasnt been taxed in over 10 years but not registered scrap, probably scrap though due to new system change, you never know though!
The Creepiest Of Pasta I'd say the sunbeam disintegrated years ago, possibly flew apart while on a journey somewhere
Thanks, saves me the job of checking. I had a feeling the Truimph would still be around, they seem to attract cult enthusiast types. I suspect the Volvo would be gone by about year 2000. I reckon the Talbot will long gone too.
Rare VHS uploads talbot is still about apparently with 29k on the clock
Do you have a friend at the DMV or is this publicly available info?
public info in the UK.
imagine finding that Sunbeam for sale now for £595!
Imagine finding one at all! Most rusted away sadly. I recall my Scout Master's rather fit daughter had one in the 1980s, same colour too.
That Morris Oxford would now be worth £15000 not £1500
It wouldn't... £6000 tops
That bit about not being specific about the car was golden. I honestly never figured that out for myself but I am glad I learned it now. It's more relevant nowadays than ever as well.
0:59 The Selly Sausage cafe was open until recently too. Closed in 2016.
No dents, no dings, no scratches on the Acclaim... except for the big one on the right rear wing at 5:45... ;o)
pogly100 No that's the daytime position light
"Crisp little box". oh my
"tight as a trampoline"
Lovely virgin engine compartment, never been stuffed😂
Ooow Matron
never been stuffed
Well-dash my buttons!
I was relatively young when this was first broadcast and didn't appreciate the humour and substance as much as I can now. Very much enjoyed watching this and many other older Top Gear videos on CZcams.
6:15-6:26 what i find amazing is that JC used this very footage to _slag_ on the Acclaim to the words of something like this:
_The Triumph Acclaim succeded in what even the TR7 didn't....and finished off the Triumph brand for good_
I can't complain since I just recently snatched a 2004 A6 Avant (Quattro, 2.5 TDI 180PS, Auto, ex. white cross) for 300€ with less than 200t km, but damn, it sure has become more of a crapshoot with used cars those days.
Part of which surely is because even cars from 20~ years ago had plenty of tech that could go wrong in every possible way, but I also feel like sellers used to be a bit more honest back then. Also, the idiotic scrappage programs surely took many good cars off the road.
thank you for recording this on tape for us:)
Nice bloke Quentin tbh met him once in the services on the M40 I had a Volvo 850 t-5 at the time he said keep it as it be rise in value and never let u down
I should of listened
'hearing-aid beige' LOL!
Quentin Wilson touches of humour in his presentations seems to have bridged the gap between the rather serious by informative William Woollard to the clownshow Clarkson, Hammond, and May. Interestingly, Clarkson hated the Volvo 340. And while the Triumph Acclaim might look dowdy especially in beige, fast forward another 25 plus years and it just looks marvellously retro. Absolutely useful information!
“This Talbot is tight as a trampoline, tight little box”. Oooo matron.
Never thought i'd hear Mr Wilson talking about a 'crisp little box'...good work!
Clarkson learned his craft at the feet of Quentin.....
That oxford would be around £5k these days with such low mileage and good condition
Just an observation from an American: used cars can be ridiculously cheap in the U.K. while new cars are shockingly expensive. I doubt that I could assemble 6 cars here in my area that would be as attractive for the equivalent of $2,000.
Quentin just turns up like a bad man and starts inspecting some old codgers Triumph Acclaim then drives off like a gangster and trades it in for a VW polo! Wtf??
Didn’t someone phone the number for the Morris Oxford and got some guy who was really angry about getting continuous phone calls 20 years later?
We really need him back on TG
In the UK the word has many associations including a worn out, broken old car; a grilled / oven baked sausage; a loud firework.
varicose vein blue and hearing-aid beige. funnier than a lot of what top gear puts out today, i still like it though.
Triumph - A325 UOM
SORN
MOT - Expired May 2016
So sad, it lived so long...
Morris is still on he road though. Next test in 2018.
Its probably being restored somewhere.
"A Volvo 340 in Vericose Vein Blue"
I bought a Volvo 340 vario matic from auction years ago £50 with no mot but it was mint, put 2 gallon of petrol in , drove home about 10 miles, nearly out of fuel, lol, took it for mot, passed, put it in local auction, got £340 for it, result
"hearing aid beige"! 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂
He does make it look so easy, in my experience most of the cheep cars i looked at in the day were rotten has a pair. best thing i every did was buy a mig welder.
I want that Triumph Acclaim!
2;18 "you could run this car two three years".....filmed in 1997 that blue talbot VKV659X was still on the road till its tax ran out in 2004!!!! so it gave someone eight years service., 4;22 blue morris oxford JSJ213 still exists and is on SORN, 6;25 beige triumph r325udm no details presumed scrapped, same with vw g756gdp
Bought a 2001 Saturn LW300 (Vauxhall Vectra) wagon from a neighbors estate sale.
Paid $1500.00 for a loaded example with 38 k .
New tires brakes and a complete service history including a timing belt change.
Not the most exciting car in the world but as reliable as the sunrise and it costs pennies to maintain and insure.
I have a mate who subscribes to the whole bangernomics philosophy. He's had some interesting cars. He had a lovely honda civic coupe that was amazing. It lasted him 3 years.
He had a Merc W124 that probably would have lasted him until he died but he wrote it off.
He then had a Volvo s80 2.3 that was a really nice car with full leather and a nice raspy 5-cylinder.
He neglected to change the oil for a couple years and the bottom end deteriorated to the point he was seeing metal flecks in the oil filter.
To be fair it probably cost him as much as an oil change would have.
He seems to have gone more conservative this time and plumped for a fairly new Fiesta.
I don't think I'd go down the same route. I tend to buy nice cars at medium miles and care for them for many years. My last two cars; An Mr2 SW20 t-top went to over 150,000 miles and my next car I drove 147,000 miles. It was a Beautiful E46 BMW 320i which came with a BMW individual colour (Tourmaline Violet) and a BMW custom extended leather interior (Blueberry Nappa Leather). Gorgeous car. In the end just like the MR2 it was the bodywork that killed it. Rust ate it up. I live in scotland so salt on the roads just chews the cars up.
Both cars were mechanically solid as they were sold presumably for spares or scrap.
I'm now in a 2006 Z4 2.5si with a decent spec but this time I'm hankering after Boxster. I'm 3 years in on this car so maybe I'm allowed to sell it on and break my previous model. It's only gort 85,000 miles at time of posting.
Luv and Peace.
A lovley virgin engine compartment... never been stuffed.
If reshown today on the BBC it would come with one of those warnings: "This programme contains opinions & language which some viewers may find offensive, sexist or demeaning"
That Talbot Sunbeam if bought in 1997 for £595,and put into storage would be worth at lest £6000 today.Same is true for the equivalent MK1 or 2 Escort which back then could have been bought for the same money for a similar 1300 spec car in the same condition.
Had my 2001 Skoda Fabia for sixteen months and so far it's cost me the grand total of a fiver for a new bulb to go through its MOT. Will need a little bit of work very soon - coil pack - but sourced a second hand one cheap.
Bought for £300, FSH, 110k miles but you can't argue with that for a day to day runner.
5£ for just one bulb? I do an oil change besides that 😂.
I'd love to know if any of these cars are still on the road...
The Acclaim is currently for sale in Classic Car Weekly.
i like how the acclaim he pulls up and has the keys
Hillarious how he just walks up to the Triumph and straight up jacks it without talking to anybody :D
You're right. Never copped that. Just goes to show how contrived TV is.
@@TheHorsebox2 it's a TV programme. It has producers, editors and writers, of course it's 'contrived'.
They would have taken several days to film that short film sequence and recorded hours of footage. Did you think it was filmed in real time!?
@@apemoon1731 which was exactly my point. Did you think i didn't know that?
I had 4 Triumph Acclaims and loved them
It was my first car and it was a lot better than than anything in its class all so o had 3 HLS, CD, L
What is the music at 0:47? thank you
Crisp little box, lovely.....
Worthy bangers from Top Gear classic days - Quentin, Tiff, Jeremy and the fragrant Vicki Butler-Henderson. I know Willson have a whiff of dodgy dealer, but he does campaign to make vehicle ownership cheaper via FairFuel.
I like how it just looks like he turned up to the driveway of the Triumph Acclaim and the keys were just waiting for him ready to go lol
I had incredible luck the first car I bought was a mint Chevy Monza with only 60,000 km on it for 800 bucks in 1989, drove it for 4 years sold it on for 300, owned by a mechanic and kept in a garage. If you really shop around and are a good negotiator you can find amazing deals on cars my buddy just bought a Chrysler 300 in decent shape for 1000 bucks and a not so great Escort GT in trade
280 pounds for my mk2 1995 Seat Ibiza. Have owned it for 3 years now. Even though the paint is fading, the tops of the sills are starting to rust, it still stops and starts like it's only done 10.000, even in winter at minus 10 degrees it starts within a second, even though it's actually done nearly 140000 miles :D Love the little red beast to bits! :D
The Triumph is, as I type, SORN'd but MOT'd! Yes this stuff still does apply today, but of course with the internet as it is nowadays "the search" is even easier.
Quentin Willson is great!
I used to buy the auto trader and highlight cars I wished to own...it was as mich fun as owning them...in my head 🤯....did it with motorbikes too....these days I watch youtube videos....I've owned every car there ever has been...also been to many amazing places....but I'll settle for my pos these days....
I watched and heeded Q's advice in 2000 and bought an old but low mileage Merc with FSH... and it's still doing well.
So I'm happy with his main line and I don't care whether some of the cars shown are still running.
Just two remarks:
Though I liked the Morris, too, I don't share Quentin's enthusiasm about a 1961 spare tyre because it can't be used any longer.
And the lifespan of today's bangers is limited by environmental regulation more than mechanics - so the film is a bit dated now.
I bought a Ford Escort in 2006, which at the time was P reg (registered in Sep 1996) for £500 with one lady owner, in pristine condition. The car had 61k on the clock and ran without fault till May of this year when the cylinder head crack. I put 85k on the clock with MOT bills of around £200 per year. The car 'failed' once when it developed a slight drip from a brake hose which cost £3 to replace. I loved that car! I have a Volvo V40 which isn't half as good, with it's rubbish Renault Engine!
how much was the volvo
Best years of TopGear IMO.
Thats awesome!
I really miss those days were id look through the weekly inkies on a Friday for cars
Buying like this has almost all but died out, its a nightmare trying to buy private now
some cheap and beautiful collector cars in this c beautiful collectable cars to be exact
I've got a Corsa C I bought that had supposedly 83,500 on the clock but the previous owner had the whole engine changed and that engine only had 27,000 miles done. He drove it for 2 years until I bought it off him. Price? £750 and it's a factory LPG car too. Score!
Imagine getting a Talbot Sunbeam for £595 now!
There's a bit of rust emerging on the rear arch of that volvo 🤫
For not that long ago, the car search process seems prehistoric
When Topgear was a show for regular people instead of only the very rich.
Before top gear became like a soap opera
For a car that supposedly would last for ever, the G-Reg VW Polo didn't last too long:
The vehicle details for G756 GOP are:
Date of Liability 01 10 2000
Date of First Registration 24 01 1990
Year of Manufacture 1990
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1272CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Unlicensed
Vehicle Colour BLUE
Vehicle Type Approval null
I know everyone raves about Hammond, Clarkson and May... But the team of Clarkson, Tiff, Count Quentin and VBH was peak Top Gear for me.
thats how i buyed my car, 1991 FIAT tempra brand new with only 60.000km always serviced on FIAT, air conditioned, alloy wells, 200km/h on the highway, all for 500Eur. i buy it 7 years ago and no problems at all.
The blue Talbot is no more...
The vehicle details for VKV 659X are:
Date of Liability 01 12 2004
Date of First Registration 10 09 1981
Year of Manufacture 1981
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1295CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Unlicensed
Vehicle Colour BLUE
Vehicle Type Approval null
First question.
Has it been clocked 🤔
I got me a 1993 Daihatsu Feroza for 2.3k NZD
One of the best purchases I've made
Doing the GB, diffs and engine oil currently, only issue is the fill on the gb is stuck
Will ask while to crack bolts it's on the hoist as mech and has better tools.
Always do ya fluids when buying a used car especially a farm one like mine
Great stuff from Quentin there. Willson, Evans... there's no comparison is there?
Just bought a 95 Primera with ABS, air con, electric mirrors and windows, brand new front brakes and tires and 89 000km on the clock for 1150€ so yeah, do what Quentin says and you still can end with an awesome budget banger ^^
This was c.September 1998 by the way... that copy of FHM on the shelves in the newsagent is the October 1998 issue featuring the stunning Denise Richards.
Love the music because it reminds me of the Sin City movie, :D
Wouid love to get my hands on a crisp little box.
Oh yeah, actually that model Volvo is excellent if you don't mind rust-busting... I know somebody that has one since new and still drives it, you'll be amazed how low the maintenance costs are if you don't count preventing and removing rust. And it does a respectable 1:16,5km, insurance costs absolutely nothing.
This guy would have probably had a nervous breakdown when Clarkson rebooted it
+ewandougie I doubt it. He now hosts "the Classic Car Show" along side Jodie Kidd. Both GREAT shows for very different reasons. And great to see that even in old top gear, they were taking the piss out of "letter writers". That gag has continued through the years. Clarkson (and Tiff) were also BOTH Top Gear hosts at the same time as Quintin. They're all mates in the industry.
That blue Morris 😍❤️
Love the blues brothers music
aswer me, what do you need in a car?
Omg the Morris Oxford....wanted one of those acclaims when I was a kid. So cheap then.
the triumph is actually a Honda ballade so it is a good car underneath
I almost got a 340 until I realized what a clutch replacement would mean since the transmission is in the rear..
Clutch is at the front though, My 340GL 1.4 has done close to 200,000 Miles, still original clutch.
this is increadible how old tg episodes had become popular, waiting the new serie.
I used to hate him to, but the more I watch him , the more you actually realise that he's quite right alot of the time in what he says about used cars, he's also the only TG presenter who did the informative investigations into buying/evaulating new cars and other things. Sometimes he's abit of a snooty pr'ck but he's actually not that bad a fella really. He still does work for the consumers on motors.co.uk
HOLY SH*T! The Triumph Acclaim registration "A325 UOM" is still going today. Reg date 01/08/1983, expires 01/10/2013!!!
IT'S STILL ON THE ROAD!
22,000 miles? Only running for 4 or 5 more years???? Psh here in America, cars run a lot longer. I'm a valet at a hotel and I've parked vehicles with 350,000 miles that still run great. You need to adopt some cars from the USA my friend.
Mileage on 2nd hand American cars is much higher on average & the value seems to retain better. I think it's cultural, cars are used much more there as outside certain major cities public transport is inferior & the walking culture is less well ingrained compared to Europe. Therefore a car is more of a necessity & maintained & invested in longer. In the United Kingdom cars are scrapped at a younger age & the secondary market value plummets sooner. British people are much more inclined to give up on a decent low mileage older car with minor issues because they won't get the resale vale of preventive maintenance.