I have no idea what it actually is.
The description, from Dull Men's Club is:
In a local forest there is an old WW1 airship base in which there is also this old car wreck. Every time we see it we try and figure out what type of car it is, but can't work it out at all.
Seat belts and headrests are installed, the front lights were round, and there was a thick black rubber strip running right along the bottom of the side of the car. It looks much like a 70's Ford Ford Econobox or Cortina, but I can't find any Google images that match up with it. By the 80's it seems like these cars had square/rectangle lights. Anyone have any ideas?
I presume it is located in the UK.
The seat adjusters, head rests and steering wheel seems like good clues to at least the make. Probably some weird European Renault or something.
I give it about 30 minutes for someone to narrow it down here...
johndej
UltraDork
3/25/24 1:29 p.m.
Cheated a bit by finding the original post from yesterday, popular opinion is a Vaxhall Astra
I believe that is a Renault 18.
That's based on the steering wheel and the weird door lock directly beneath the handle.
I think the headrests are a red herring. I believe the cloth has been removed / deteriorated and that is just the frame.
https://www.carandclassic.com/auctions/1984-renault-18-ts-OnYYan
johndej said:
Cheated a bit by finding the original post from yesterday, popular opinion is a Vaxhall Astra
Door key is in the wrong spot.
edit to add: Apparently I was looking at the wrong vauxhall.
wvumtnbkr said:
I believe that is a Renault 18.
That's based on the steering wheel and the weird door lock directly beneath the handle.
I think the headrests are a red herring. I believe the cloth has been removed / deteriorated and that is just the frame.
https://www.carandclassic.com/auctions/1984-renault-18-ts-OnYYan
it mentions that the car had round headlights so maybe an older version of the Renault 18?
ClearWaterMS said:
wvumtnbkr said:
I believe that is a Renault 18.
That's based on the steering wheel and the weird door lock directly beneath the handle.
I think the headrests are a red herring. I believe the cloth has been removed / deteriorated and that is just the frame.
https://www.carandclassic.com/auctions/1984-renault-18-ts-OnYYan
it mentions that the car had round headlights so maybe an older version of the Renault 18?
I'm guessing the round headlight comment was due to the rusty metal bucket shapes behind where the headlights reside. I'm pretty sure the square fixed beam headlights still had a sorta rounded shape to them.
It ticks every box as a Vauxhall Astra / Belmont but... they did not have round headlights. (that I could find)
Steering wheel, door handle / key relationship, and side marker all match. To the point that I wonder if the round headlights are a red herring.
Shadeux said:
It ticks every box as a Vauxhall Astra / Belmont but... they did not have round headlights. (that I could find)
Steering wheel, door handle / key relationship, and side marker all match. To the point that I wonder if the round headlights are a red herring.
Ohhh... Belmont! I have never heard of that until you just wrote it.
I'm pretty sure that is it!
Good work!
This is supposed to be a 1990 Vauxhall Astra Belmont LXi estate, I can't find any pics showing the headlight bucket from the back. Cowl trim also matches.
Looks likely to me that the headlights merely had a round access opening from behind the bucket. I think that's the support/backing panel you see in top left of the lower pic. Headlights could have been any shape and I absolutely agree with the Vauxhall Belmont steering wheel in this pic:
Of course, to counter with basically the same car, the Opel Kadett Pirsch was an off road station wagon built on the exact same chassis as the Astra/Belmont. Might be more likely to be found wrecked a long way from pavement...
In reply to wvumtnbkr :
Having grown up riding in the passenger seat of my dad's Fuego first and then an R18, the glove box door and the headrests don't match my memory, the rest is pretty interesting, including the steering wheel.
I don't have time right now, but try searching HVAC boxes of the candidates to see if they match? That's a pretty distinctive chunk.
84-91 Astra front inner panel.
