Back in the day

[puggy]

Ah true eoin but mine had both door mirrors and a tilt and slide
sunroof and i put an MG interior into it , such luxury and yes welly
everything fookin banged when you shut it

The Turbo was quoted somehing like just under 7 secs 0 - 60 time Powaahhh !!!!

[Welly]

The Turbo was quoted somehing like just under 7 secs 0 - 60 time Powaahhh !!!!

Just shows you how light it must have been! they 'only' had 150bhp didn't they? mind you if you crashed one it had all the structural rigidity of a crisp packet

You've got me thinking about my mate's Astra GTE 16v now

[eoin27]

Many Irish mechanics will tell you that this was the best car ever made



Very reliable, economical and comfortable car. I remember sitting in the back seats when we first got our one in 1993. It was unbelievably comfortable (even moreso than a 406). We had traded in a 87 sunny for it. This carina had something called power steering as standard which was a huge hit with my parents as it was the first car my mam drove that had PS.

[Welly]

Funny isn't it, Jap cars are great for their quality electrics/mechanics etc but they're just so boring

I've not really seen a Jap car with what I would call a 'quality' interior and they have funny switches with "POWER WINDOW" and stuff like that written on them the 3 Jap cars I've had have only been 'average' at best and the parts were mega money

[eoin27]

TBH for 1988, the Carina II mark 2 was an attractive machine. Especially compared to the ugly machines that were the 405, Bluebird, Cavalier and Renault 21. Although i generally agree with you on the quality of Jap interiors, this car was a major exception. Velour upholstry everywhere (even the door cards). Decent dash too. Very modern

I'm sorry but yes, i remember thinking that the Peugeot 405 was one ugly machine back when i was a nipper.

[swiss]

Oh hell yeah

[STALLED]

Oh hell yeah

Ewwww - Palamino Bronze

[HDiAndy]

I didn't used to think much of Pugs in general. In 1995 i was on a pushbike (which i still have after 17 years so far) and my dad had a Renault 19 and it was the 1.7 TXE version at that. quite a tasty car in it's day. I got a shot once when i was 13. I remember my horror when he was talking of trading it in for one of those Pug 306 things but in the end got a lower miles Renault 19 GTS instead

[TooT]

Hmmm 1995.... i was 17, that means i was thrashing the sh*t out of my mums spanking new M reg 306 1.4 XL and my dads company spanking new M reg Mondeo 1.8 LX.

What a lucky boy i was

[lofty]

I remember the Launch of the 406 in 1995 very very well. I was employed as a Fleet manager at the time for a sizeable construction company in the west mids, running a number of 405's (1.9 GLD's mostly), amongst the cavaliers/mondeos etc etc. From memory the Vauxhall Vectra was launched a few weeks before because i had one on demo from GM at the time (a rio verde green 1.8 LS 5dr) and went to one of the 406 fleet launch days at Oulton Park race circuit in cheshire.

Reasonably low key for what it was, we all had to watch the feature length TV ad on a big screen, then some guy from Pug UK gave us the chapter and verse on the 406.

We could then try the new 406 1.9 TD LX's (all 4 doors) and the 1.8 LX's on the roads and see how they drove. My over riding memory was of notchy gearboxes and smooth comfy ride.

In the afternoon we drove the 406 petrols for 10 laps of the track, then they had a number of Mondeo 1.8 LX's and new Vectra 1.8 Ls's to drive back to back on the track. I remember the "drivers" from Pug all slating the Mondeo saying the engine was harsh, but in all fairness the mondeo handled better than the 406, round a track at least.

It was another 3 years before we actually had any 406's on the fleet, took a number of 1998 S reg 1.9 td LX estates (d8's) and they went down a storm with the drivers, who by this time were sick to death of unreliable vectras etc etc.


Was a really good day, didnt get any freebies though! LOL

[eoin27]

Must have been a breath of fresh air in 1995 to see the 406. Although the new Vectra was very good looking too... TBH, I never noticed the 406 until 2000 when my dad was changing his spacewagon for a diesel. It was a toss up between a mondeo, a new octavia, the D8 406 and a passat. I'll admit, i wanted him to buy a new octavia but i'll never forget how impressive i thought the D8 looked. Such a good looking car i thought. And the D9 that came out that year? Fantastic 'angry' looking car

Needless to say.........

[lofty]

I was always a massive fan of my old company 405 GLD (late one on an M reg), Doom blue in colour, it was just Sooooooo comfy it was unreal. Bit of a plodder with it being N/A but never ever let me down in 60k of driving. I never had a 406 as a company vehicle for some reason, i always ended up with the manufacturers long term demos (usual 6 months at a time, Fords/vauxhalls)

I left the fleet managers job in 2002 and ironically went to work for Skoda, and was then running round in an Octavia Tdi. Things go full circle cos ive just sold an unreliable Octavia TDI to get my D9 Lx 110 hdi!

I agree that the frontal view of a D9 is quite imposing. like you say, it does have a hint of menace about it?