Not forgetting the venerable Austin Montego. Surprisingly spacious, smooth and quiet. They had a reputation for wonky computers and tin worm but the one my dad ran worked great, it started first time every time, cost buttons (both to buy and run), was rot free and was only finally killed when leaded petrol was withdrawn and the unleaded ate the valve seats. And even though it was smoking like mallard and the valves were halfway through the cylinder head by the end it still started first pull of the key. Was a shame to send it to squashville but it cost less when bought five years previously than repairing the engine repair would be :)

I had a couple of those as well, both estates with 7 seats and surprisingly quick; especially the 2 litre one.
(My car history is leaking out I've realised and it's a bit random as most of it is company chariots :o )

Sorry. Can't agree about the Leyland (BLMC) stuff being any good.
I've had most of them and yes, their engines were good and torquey, and they were good at firing up. But next to a Ford or Vauxhall... no comparison.

The BLMC gearboxes were a joke. Generally the only way to get into first was to lift the clutch until it bit. Escorts, Cortinas and Capris, on the other hand, had slick, fast and tight gearchanges. None of your long wobbly gearsticks there.
Brother of mine bought a new Allegro 1750. Piece of crap. The hub caps were glued on so it wasn't possible to change a tyre with the equipment then generally in use. The wood on the dash peeled up round the edges (it was printed foil). Another brother purchased a Maxi 1750 (both 1974 cars. The entire dash used to vibrate violently with the cars harmonics at about 70mph. My Capri 1600 (1974 as well), Just good engineering at a price to be affordable and great looks.

BLMC owners were a bit like the Skoda or Reliant Robin owners of yesteryear, on a mission to justify their frankly irrational choice.

Rant over ;)

Ah.. I still remember my old Montego 2.0 fondly.. The size of a barge, and the handling of a barge. Only had it six months before I got a company car, but it never let me down in all that time, just the odd rust issue and a dodgy thermostat.

Just like the door trims on the D2. :ROFL:

There's a guy in Bourne End near Marlow with a black 2002 FL D2 S8 and a 1995 928 GT. Always smile when I drive past. Very nice combination.

Z

I read the Classic Car Article yesterday after being given a copy by my father-in-law. In a nutshell it said what we all knew anyway; the D2 S8 is super-cool, fast, well-built and amazing value for money, tempered by being potentially expensive to run and maintain.

I still can't see how some others made the list (Ford Probe I'm looking at you).

Talking of the father-in-law; I might be lending him the S8 for a few weeks as he can't drive an manual after a foot op. He knows it shifts; I don't think he knows just quite how fast it is. I will report back on his reaction.

Looking forward to hearing this :D What's his usual wheels?

Some sort of 2007 era Merc 1.8 Kompressor Estate. He does like to lug loads in comfort rather than balls-out speed.