Rare and interesting car sightings

[homer9000]

a long time ago now was seeing first generation commodores used as taxis even in the early nineties.I recall in 1990 going to the airport with dad and my brother the greek cabbie turned up in his VH Commodore not sure what year exactly which was common in those days.nowadays it's mostly toyotas or nissans in the taxi world of all kind.

[scott]

In the late 90's, My dad travelled to Sydney for work regularly and once got a HQ Holden cab, in circa 1998.

Early 2010's Camry Altise sedans in white are popular as taxis in Melbourne now.

[Swift]

It's now gotten to the point where I'm surprised to see a Falcon sedan as a cab like the FGX I have seen twice in the last week!

[busrider]

Today's odd vehicle sightings for me were a Suzuki X-90 and a Seat Cordoba...

[homer9000]

one thing you don't see many of yet on the used car scene are Nissan Tiida's.you might come across a few but many are overpriced given they were not really popular new.TRYING to find one on the road for around seven to eight grand is rare that's no later than a 2008/2009 model before the series 3's arrived.

[Swift]

Those ads for the Datsun Tiida featuring Kate Catrall were nauseating and bizarre. Why the idiots dropped the well regarded Pulsar nameplate, is beyond me!

[scott]

And they revived the Pulsar and it was axed in the space of three years, they were selling more X Trails and Qashqais, so they axed the Pulsar and Micra.

We had one of the 1.8 litre Holden engined N13 Pulsars for a short time in the early 90's- it was a real goer.

I had a brief drive of a rental 2017 X Trail 2WD ST, not a bad thing.

[Swift]

How did you find the CVT?

[scott]

Not too bad in my opinion. I have driven my father's CVT equipped Dualis on and off, and it is quite similar. You have to give it the boot and it is an acquired taste, but once you adapt it is great. The Dualis had clocked 100,000km over 7 years and not one CVT issue, the fluid was changed at the 100,000km service.

My VY Commodore is now gone to a new home, find public transport and Flexi and Rental Cars more enjoyable than paying for endless tanks of fuel and insurance for a car I drove mainly once a week. Driven CVT Corollas and X Trails mainly.

[Swift]

If people would only realise what is going on, there wouldn't be so much ignorance around them. What people feel is slip is just very low gearing to allow the car to access the engines peak torque from the get go. it is basically mimicking how an electric car would behave with the same throttle input. They just need to work on durability, which is their archilles heel. You would think they had it right by now though. I'd love to see V8s with them.

[scott]

Fluid changes at the right intervals does a lot to keep them durable. Nissan specify every 100,000km for the Dualis/XTrail for example . It was done by a good independent mechanic, who bought the fluid from Nissan (he said never use aftermarket fluid), did not cost all that much apparently. Maybe a lot of the failures come from people who are abusive and expect too much. Nissan have had CVT's in OZ since the 1995 Micra.

Anyway, saw an FG X cab in Box Hill in Melbourne, a silver XR6. The production run from the FG X was around 12,000 units in 2 years.

Also some interesting sightings found online at my usual online source, too many to list individually, but highlights are a nice blue Cortina complete with rudimentary "air con", A Sandman, a HX One tonner, a FC Holden and another Cortina.

https://www.australianmusclecarsales.com.au/

[Swift]

Fluid changes at the right intervals does a lot to keep them durable. Nissan specify every 100,000km for the Dualis/XTrail for example . It was done by a good independent mechanic, who bought the fluid from Nissan (he said never use aftermarket fluid), did not cost all that much apparently. Maybe a lot of the failures come from people who are abusive and expect too much. Nissan have had CVT's in OZ since the 1995 Micra.

Anyway, saw an FG X cab in Box Hill in Melbourne, a silver XR6. The production run from the FG X was around 12,000 units in 2 years.

That info regarding Nissan's CVT is good to know. You have a good mechanic there making sure it it's the factory fluid used. I'm surprised the intervals are so long though. I'm not the type who likes to mistreat my cars. I might give them the odd flog now and then, but nothing excessive and never while they are cold.
Geez, the FGX is something of a modern day CM Valiant, with production numbers and being the final model of a long running body. Wow!
I hope they weren't put together carelessly from employees who had no future at the plant, as motoring journalist John Cadogan kept saying.

[homer9000]

i am surprised the only way you can get a nissan that's not a suv/ute now is via a car warehouse second hand.i have been looking everywhere for a replacement for my micra and nothing.cars in that segment if we exclude the ageing mitsubishi mirage and the current kia picanto are almost extinct.i am forced to consider used mazda 2's or series 2 tiidas.

[scott]

Saw two classics within a couple of minutes of each other. A very original looking stock HQ Holden Kingswood being driven by a P plater and a silver 1989 or 1990 build Nissan R31 Skyline Series GXE (the nicer looking ones) driven by an elderly guy with the 3 litre 6 still running very nicely.

[Swift]

Saw two classics within a couple of minutes of each other. A very original looking stock HQ Holden Kingswood being driven by a P plater and a silver 1989 or 1990 build Nissan R31 Skyline Series GXE (the nicer looking ones) driven by an elderly guy with the 3 litre 6 still running very nicely.

Don't depress me on that first one and I believe the Datsun Skyline you described came out in 1988. Very good looking car and goes even better. The diff was their Achilles heel thanks to Borg Warner Aust.

[scott]

I know the series 3 came out in late 1988, was going by the rego plate. My uncle had a December 1988 build one that he bought secondhand after it spent two years with a sales rep. No diff issues in the 10 years he had it, so must of been lucky, Nissan supported owners with subsidised diff replacements out of warranty.

Great car in it's time, remember riding in it as a kid and staring at the power shift light on the dash, instead of being the annoying kid asking too many questions, I borrowed the manual from the glovebox and found out for myself, finding out it was just the overdrive lock out on the transmission. Mum told my rather grumpy old grade 3 teacher that I taught my uncle the controls of his newly purchased Skyline and she said I should stick to the curriculum and not read technical manuals.

[Swift]

I used to ride in a burgundy example owned by a fellow member of the church and despite being of advancing age, she was no slouch in giving it a good workout. The smooth effortless power and interior appointments impressed me no end and the beautiful feel of the doors opening and shutting stay with me to this day.
A better car then the VL Commo with the same 3ltr Nissan inline six.

[homer9000]

one thing we have not seen in ages are low mileage for age last of the european barinas.i am trying to get me a 2003-2005 model with under 100,000km on the clock before the year is out.any problems can be fixed by a holden dealer or my local midas that is not a sports.I SEE them advertised for between $4,900 and $5,800 which fits my budget just nicely while I save for that new Renault Clio due next year but plan to buy sometime in 2023/2024 or the Volkswagen Polo that came out recently.Granted there are many post update facelift with the safety equipment upgrade TK's from 2009 onwards younger with lower miles on the clock,I want something that is safe with a touch of class.At a fraction of the cost of buying a Spark new why not.

[scott]

The last euro Barina (XC model) are the pick of the bunch before Holden dumped them in favour of the Korean garbage. Holden went with the Koreans largely because of exchange rates.

These won car of the year in 2001.

[Swift]

I would stay away from anything Opel sourced like the plague. I would rather put up with a Korean Barina TBH.
A nice 3 cyl Suzuki Swift based one from the 80s would be my pick if I could find one that hasn't reached 300k and beyond.

[homer9000]

I found in adelaide a 91 MH with 211,000km on the clock sold to a cheap car place by someone who can no longer drive due to his age and a 98 SB with 142,000 as well.gems like the Suzukis if you can cope without power steer can be found for a very cheap price,the opel models i have been considering have the dual airbags.what would i choose if both could be found for about a grand given the age of the cars?most likely the opel as the price for finding an place to do aftermarket power steer for a car that didn't have it new can be a hassle for the suzuki but then my uncle years ago had a suzuki swift(same car as the mh)and he coped with manual steer coming from a 76 volkswagen passat onto that in 92/93.

[Swift]

Can you cope with their phenomenal gas mileage, unlike modern Su-spew-kis.

[Swift]

VW automatic in spotless condition inside and out. The seats had a nice beige velour fabric. I actually prefer these to the popular older body.
Not often you see an EA -ED Falcon like this ED model the other night in Coogee.

[boronia]

In Kenso today, a 1974 Valiant Lancer. Looks like a recent new rego

valiant (Small).jpeg (112.9 KiB) Viewed 1476 times

[Swift]

Typical early 70s tinny rust prone Japanese fare. Great shot of this little survivor.