So... what car do you guys drive when not flying?

Buzzard said:
What about the Escort Mexico @Cossie?
I don't really know anything about the model but believe they were pretty hot and desirable.
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Ford started off with the Escort Twin Cam which had Lotus engine 1.6 litre carried over from the Lotus Cortina. They were fast but fragile. In the London to Sydney marathon event, 1968, Ford England ran Lotus Cortinas and had various issues including low grade petrol, these engines needed high quality fuel.

The twin over head cam, 16 valve engine developed by Cosworth (BDA) in the new RS1600 was derived from a F2 FVA race engine, so you can imagine they were temperamental as well.
A model called the GT1600 appeared with a Kent crossflow 1600 engine, overhead valves driven by pushrods.

So when the London to Mexico event appeared for the 1972 World Cup and fuel quality was a possible problem in South America, Ford decided to run the Escorts with a 1850cc crossflow engine instead of the 1600 or the BDA and therefore much lower RON fuel could be used.
Hannu Mikkola and Gunnar Palm won that event in this car.

As a marketing tool, Ford then released a model called the Mexico running the GT push rod 1600cc engine.
Then came the RS2000 which again was basically an RS1600, but with a 2 litre single overhead cam 8 valve engine, again for reliabilities sake, called the Pinto.

The model names continued through to the mkII Escort, although the Mexico had a 1.6 litre Pinto engine and the RS2000 had a 2 litre version, the BDA engined car became the RS1800.

Any model of the mkI and mkII Escorts are still very popular, there are at least 2 companies that will build you brand new ones with just about any specification you want.
 
I had ordered this back in March and took delivery of it yesterday. I never thought I would purchase an EV or PHEV but did so just for the tax breaks. It seems to run alright however the ride is not quite as refined as the German's or Lexus's that we have owned in the past. I am undecided if I will change/ upgrade the suspension given I only drive around 2K-3K Kms per year.

IMG_3099.jpeg
 
Matt_01 said:
No Oops over the past 9 years I have only averaged around 45-50 Km per week at best.
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Oh, of course, the chauffeur and butler attend to the mundane task of driving Sir. Silly me. 😁:p:p

During the 2.5 years of the Covid Terror, I averaged 33K clicks per year; in the 10.5 months since acquiring a new vehicle in late October last year, I've racked up 24K clicks.
 
Cossie said:
As a marketing tool, Ford then released a model called the Mexico running the GT push rod 1600cc engine.
Then came the RS2000 which again was basically an RS1600, but with a 2 litre single overhead cam 8 valve engine, again for reliabilities sake, called the Pinto.
Click to expand...
A friend had a MK 1 Mexico in Red when we were 18. At the time we were all impressed, but in retrospect, the fastest thing about it was the white “Mexico” stripe down the side and it’s Rostyle wheels
 
I was considering the other day as drove cousin around the lots looking at cars - that Ford has basically disappeared from Australia. Very sad presence left here now.

(Anyway after a whole day slogging through the shortlist it will be a Tesla 3 for her! Job done)
 
I've pretty consistently only driven 10K kms per annum for the past 15 years, maybe even less sometimes. Earlier this year I sold my car as I headed off on an o/s secondment of unknown length. Ended up being only 3 months and I'm yet to buy another car. Probably keen on an FBT-free EV, a Tesla Y or Volvo EX30 or Cupra Born could do the trick. Sure, we have a GLC200 in the household but I'm not missing having a personal vehicle, it's just one more thing to not worry about right now.
 
Cossie said:
A couple of interesting articles in the smh of late.
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I really only thought this was a kind of thing in Dubai. Unsure what condition these vehicles would be in - once I left my car in the SYD T2 P3 car park for 3 full weeks (I went o/s and T2 P3 was the cheapest undercover option, I think it was only $150). But the filth and dust on the car when I got back shocked me - undercover or not it got seriously dirty there.
 
It's not a car but my latest transport to get to office. Based on my simple calculations the scooter will need to be charged once every 3-4 weeks. Our PHEV maybe 1-2 times over a 2 week period. I am pretty sure I am now over range anxiety and think our next wagon/ car will be a full EV.
IMG_3163 (1).jpeg
 
EV first registered prior to 1Jan2024 in NSW (and where stamp duty was paid on the purchase) are forever exempt (so long as the registration is not transferred) from Road User Charge of 2.8c/km payable from 2027 or earlier if new EV registrations exceed 30%

(assuming the High Court of Au agrees with the constitutionality Victorian RUC legislation )
 
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