Automotive "Passenger Pigeons"

[cmcpokey]

you very very rarely see an original mini on the roads. and if you do. you only realise how gigantic the standard of vehicle size has become. atleast around my area, plagued with Q5's and Range Rovers etc. Yet you get the impression its still 10x more fun than any of these.

well, you don't see people frowning while driving minis... except pieter when he used to be driving across the top of UCP.

[henk4]

you very very rarely see an original mini on the roads. and if you do. you only realise how gigantic the standard of vehicle size has become. atleast around my area, plagued with Q5's and Range Rovers etc. Yet you get the impression its still 10x more fun than any of these.

I took this shot deliberately, both are four seat coupes, the don't differ that much in length, but apparently human beings have really grown fatty.

I realise this is slightly off topic, but cars like the one on the right would be my favourite carrier pigeon or dodos for that matter

[Runfromcheney]

this is very true.. but they also had the reliability of a yugo.. my neighbor had one, and she had to replace the transmission at 60k miles. terrible car.

I knew all about that. That is what I meant when I said that most of them are now shells; all of them are dead. I can't remember the last time that I saw a running one on eBay or Craigslist. All of the ones I see either are dead or have been so riced-out that you would be defaming yourself by driving one.

The ironic thing is though, I saw a first-gen Eclipse on the road today, bone stock as well. The first time in ages I saw one of those in the flesh.

[PRC777]

I knew all about that. That is what I meant when I said that most of them are now shells; all of them are dead. I can't remember the last time that I saw a running one on eBay or Craigslist. All of the ones I see either are dead or have been so riced-out that you would be defaming yourself by driving one.

The ironic thing is though, I saw a first-gen Eclipse on the road today, bone stock as well. The first time in ages I saw one of those in the flesh.

They're kind of abundant where I live. Hell, I've seen a pink one--like the color of the Pepto Bismol medicine (gross)--with "decked out" back/front bumpers, side skirts, fartcan muffler,etc. Pure cosmetics. Yeah, almost every 1st gen Eclipse is either a rice burner or dead in the garage (or sitting in a McDonalds parking lot)

[Ferrer]

I took this shot deliberately, both are four seat coupes, the don't differ that much in length, but apparently human beings have really grown fatty.

That's quite amazing. And sad.

Some more off topic, an interesting comparison would be Phantom FHC v Camargue or R-Type Continental v Brooklands.

[Kitdy]

I took this shot deliberately, both are four seat coupes, the don't differ that much in length, but apparently human beings have really grown fatty.

I realise this is slightly off topic, but cars like the one on the right would be my favourite carrier pigeon or dodos for that matter

I'm rather embarrassed to admit that I can't identify the car on the left.

What is it?

[LeonOfTheDead]

Momo Mirage (had to look trough the Villa d'Este report as I forgot it).

[Ferrer]

I'm rather embarrassed to admit that I can't identify the car on the left.

What is it?

Momo Mirage (had to look trough the Villa d'Este report as I forgot it).

Chaps, you've got no excuses. It was a main page feature not that long ago.

[LeonOfTheDead]

And that was precisely why it took me only 5 seconds to go in the Momo folder and check

BTW, I thought the Mirage was a pretty big car.

[AERO_HDT]

Important to note though that many of the so-called pigeon cars are no longer practical to own. A lot of them have experienced 20-30 years of daily use and many have been resigned to a junkyard somewhere. Very few owners would bother with the costs of restoration or the climbing service bills to keep these cars on the road as insurance companies would value them at possibly less than $1000.

I went through an extensive $35K ground up resto on an 80's car a few years ago and despite it being concours once finished, my insurance company was only willing to value the car at $1100 and would charge me $1000 per year to insure it.

Makes me wish I owned a Mini instead...

[johnnynumfiv]

I took this shot deliberately, both are four seat coupes, the don't differ that much in length, but apparently human beings have really grown fatty.

I realise this is slightly off topic, but cars like the one on the right would be my favourite carrier pigeon or dodos for that matter

Is that the momo on the left? We have one at work right now.

[cmcpokey]

Important to note though that many of the so-called pigeon cars are no longer practical to own. A lot of them have experienced 20-30 years of daily use and many have been resigned to a junkyard somewhere. Very few owners would bother with the costs of restoration or the climbing service bills to keep these cars on the road as insurance companies would value them at possibly less than $1000.

I went through an extensive $35K ground up resto on an 80's car a few years ago and despite it being concours once finished, my insurance company was only willing to value the car at $1100 and would charge me $1000 per year to insure it.

Makes me wish I owned a Mini instead...

what year and kind of car is it? i have my 81 RX-7 under collector car insurance, so it is only about $250/year and covered for a $10k value. it hasnt been restored so its more a sentimental value that high.

[AERO_HDT]

It's a 1988 VL Commodore. At the time, finding an insurer who would touch it was a nightmare as it wasn't old enough to be considered a classic and was at the lowest ebb in the used car cycle, with ludicrous theft rates, hehe. That and the fact that it was modified from a stock 200bhp to a more street friendly 350bhp.

I did finally manage to get it insured for 20K, but subsequently, cost me 2K per year for insurance, despite the fact that it was rarely driven.

I gave up insurance when I realised that each year they dropped the value of the car and increased my premiums.

It's now nothing more than a dust collector under an old cover in the garage.

[LTSmash]

first gen eclipses... havent seen one in ages.

Back in high school there was a Senior (I was a Junior at the time) who had one of these in auto-shop class. He worked on it the whole year "pimping" this thing out... in the most literal sense it was a complete piece of shit from beginning to end.

He put so much random stuff on it it was unreal: butterfly doors, purple fur/velvet interior (this is in Vegas...), candy-apple red paint job, one of those $80 light weight shift knobs, light weight pedals, TV screen in trunk, and the list goes on.

Quite ridiculous for women's car but he thought he was hot shit.