Hi
Does anyone know where on the internet I can find resources about old models that still produced in developing countries(like the VW golf Mk1 in South Africa for example)?
cheers
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Heres a site that covers cars in China, there are some european models they produce now. digilander.libero.it/cuoccimix/ENGLISH-automotorus...m
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I can now replace my Maestro van with an Etsong!!
VB
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If its teh diesel engined version, then my dad will be delighted.
He had three and put between 150k and 250k on each with very little grief.
He's now retired but has a skoda van as his everyday runabout, cos he likes driving small white vans.
--
I read often, only post occasionally
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some of what\'s out there. Hopeless at links, so cut and paste time i\'m afraid:
www.austin-rover.co.uk - excellent site. On there are details of the Rover 2000 in India, Maestro in China, Montego somewhere else, and also quite a lot of information on BMC\'s operations worldwide before it went Pete Tong.
www.allpar.com/model/avengertiger - concentrates on Chrysler, with a good section on the Rootes group to Peugeot Talbot saga. The Hillman Avenger was sold as a Volkswagen 1500 in Argentina. And Hillman Hunters are the car of (non?) choice in Iran.
encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/ - entries for many european cars in varying details.
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Also the Morris Ital lives on in China
www.austin-rover.co.uk/
then look up "around the world" and then "licence to build"
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Alas (or not, depending on your point of view) the Iranian Peykan version of the old Hillman Hunter has now been supplanted by a new Peykan IIRC.
The original Peykan certainly soldiered on for over 30 years. When I worked in Tehran my company bought one -- it took 3 days' standing in line with my secretary to get the various permissions to buy from the various offices, I remember at one point we wited so long that she burst into crocodile tears and claimed she was infanticipating in order to get some attention -- then when we did get the car (the top of the line Javanan, in battleship grey) from the factory and my driver was driving it back to the office, the LH rear wheel complete with half shaft came out along Takht-e-Jamshid Avenue and was run over by a truck.
That was somehow fixed, then I took it to Esfahan for a weekend (about 180 miles I think). It used all its oil and the engine seized.
There were no dealers so everything had to be done back at the factory.
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What a nice idea - cars that can be serviced and mended with ordinary tools, by people with ordinary mechanical skills.
I wonder if it will catch on?
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You can search by country on www.autoindex.org and there are pictures of most cars made there.
Volkswagen kept quiet about the Avenger with a VW badge...
Gareth
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Thanks mate
Autoindex.org is what I was after.
Just wanted to see what available outside the UK.
The new Renault Logan for £3K make me think .. hey why not here?
Pepole do by cheap high quality supermarket value brands so why not a cheap set of wheels. The market is ready for it I think.
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What a nice idea - cars that can be serviced and mended with ordinary tools, by people with ordinary mechanical skills. I wonder if it will catch on?
A very good point.
My dad used to swear by Maestros, picked them up for a few hundred quid, ran them until they fell apart (he often got them to 125K, even an old 1.3 soldiered on for that long), sure he didn't look too classy, but he got the last laugh when it came to the overall cost of his motoring.
Didn't do much to them himself, but a "back door garage" down the road fixed them whenever anything went wrong, always seemed to cost about £50 to £100 to get stuff mended.
After my recent grief with a BMW (*everything* is expensive to get fixed on these things) - I think I'd quite happily chug around in a nice Maestro Vanden Plas......
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Not all the cars sold in the "3rd" or developing world are obsolete previous generation cars. In India, they have the latest model (US spec) Camry and Corolla. The Octavia, latest model Hyundai Accent, E-Class Mercedes, Honda Accord etc are all now available. Of course only the richest of the rich can buy these kind of cars but with 1 billion population, there are a lot of rich people. GM has opened a huge design centre in India, so don't be surprised if the cars of the future are developed and even released first in the "3rd world".
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That's your take - I very much read it as producing retro cars complete with 70's style quality control.
Anyway, I've got a theory that cars don't evolve, their owners
do! With our first cars, we were forever under the bonnet or any other part of vehicle we could get to, making sure everything was as it should (regardless of whether it needed it or not).
As time went on we ensured that if something needed doing we did it and went no further.
As more time went on, we could afford better cars that needed less attention, eventually we either bought new or got company cars and now we're lucky if we check the oil and tyres every month.
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Yep - the Golf 1 (aka CitiGolf) is still going strong here. Just had an 'upgrade' - new dash and windows. However, it ain't cheap. No cars are that cheap compared to the average wage.
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Try this one from www.thebrainstrust.co.uk
Chinese ecomomic miracle based on Morris Marina
The Chinese economic miracle of the 1990's was based upon mass production of the Morris Marina, as revealed in new figures released by Beijing. Looking for a cheap car to produce for the masses, China reportedly bought the rights to the Marina model from Rover for £10 in 1991. There are currently more than 40 million Marinas on Chinese roads. China's Industry Ministry, Wo Bli Ka, pointed out that the unreliability of the Marina was an asset, creating employment through the production of spare parts.
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"the unreliability of the Marina was an asset"
BL missed that angle, then!
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