The motors you miss.

[beef 1]

Isuzu trooper 3.1

 

[Willie adie]

We have had Fourtraks for years on the farm and I've had 2 of my own. First one was a leaf sprung one which was brilliant, but sadly was full of filler when I came to weld it up. My last one was a 95 Forester which I absolutely loved. It would tow anything, good off road and did everything I asked of it. Sadly it got stolen 2 months ago and I've never seen it since. Currently using a Freelander which is alright but not a patch on the old Daihatsus. If they are welded properly they will run forever.

I've got another G reg Fourtrak at the moment as a project, but it'll have a bit more power than a standard one, since its got a V8 out of a Range Rover in it.

Was it not only the landrover and 4traks could pull 3.5 tonne.
My one didn't like to pull a trailer without overheating, but again no issue, just wait for it to cool down and top up water antifreeze and the carry on as normal,
Also anything over 70mph the 4 trak would shake, like a dog shitting bones

 

[JockCroft]

Yes i didnt reliase their was an older model other than the siera based

Yes, think it stood higher than the Sieara ones, but petrol 1600 engine. To be fair wasn't any harder on fuel than the Escort we ran at the same time. Unless towing. Even towing 20 footer with 12 empty tattie boxes.
Was good work horse, Cargobox rusted bad but chassis and front was ok.
Real dangerous bit was hand brake was pull type left side of steering coluom

 

[TheTallGuy]

Mk III Granada 2l Twin cam - damn that thing could tow! Previous motors struggled with the 16ft caravan, but the first time out with the Granny I wasn't overtaken by much on the A14 & there was barely any snake or wobble - sadly went the way of most fords of that vintage and rusted out. My original 2.3 Galaxy was great too as you could fit so much into it, although not great at towing. I also kind of miss my £200 MK I Mondeo that just wouldn't die - I did a lot of miles in that motor & very little maintenance.

 

[Gong Farmer]

Had a Nissan Terrano for many years, well into its second lap of the clock. A bit plasticky inside but a great ride and good pulling power. It was a company car so when it had to be replaced the company agreed to sell it to my father, who was in the trade. He kept it as his own for a few more years then had it confiscated by customs on a trip back from Eastenders in Calais. Heartbroken he was.

 

[DrWazzock]

Citroen Visa 17D bought off a council estate on the fens for £400 in 1991. Did up the pump and injectors and got another 40,000 out of it. When diesels were unspoilt and reliable. Small Citroens went downhill fast after that with cramped driving position and small pedals that couldn’t cope with wellies. The saxo was a disaster in that respect. Worst car was BMW116D. Fault after fault and sciatica driving seat.
Best car lately is wife’s old Toyota RAV 4. 120,000 miles of nearly faultless motoring over 14 years.

 

[hoyboy]

Peugeot 306 d turbo 2.0hdi, remapped, would reek like a steam engine until turbo spooled up. Would do 120mph but would been game for a lot more if it had taller gearing. Handled very well, would give a MK4 golf GTi a hard time in the twisty bits.

 

[michael N123]

Old 3dr Toyota starlet SR modded to death was like a go kart

 

[Martin Holden]

Miss my Datsun 120Y from 1978.
Back then, you didn’t buy a British car unless you liked breakdowns and German cars were too expensive

Datsun never missed a beat and was the ideal starter car

But weren’t they rust buckets though!! Great mechanicals

 

[Lincs Lass]

98 S reg Subaru estate auto ,AWD ,,standard 2lt ,went like a rocket .
It's went through all the snow of the 09-10 winter .

 

[Bald Rick]

But weren’t they rust buckets though!! Great mechanicals

Didn’t keep it long enough for it to rust out as swopped it for a 1.6 Capri with fold back sun roof.
Now that was a PoS … junctions navigated on a wing & a prayer

 

[fermerboy]

For me I have had no better motor than my Daihatsu 4trak, why were these things allowed to be discontinued.
The only off roader I ever was in as good as it was an old Subaru forester we used for going round parks at home,
So anyone else miss the old 4 tracks?

Yep, really rated the FourTrak, ours took some abuse before the rot got it.
I saw it completely off the ground more than once with the old man rounding up cattle, wish I'd had a camera phone, never needed a spring or a ball joint in the time we had it.
Ours went a big end due to lack of oil, but I got another engine out of a newer one and she did well after that.
Ultimately not enough power for towing 3.5tons but the ball hitch was right on the back axle on the SWB ones and it handled the trailer well.

We used to run VW caddy trucks before that, christ they were hardy, clearance was the issue, old man took the sump off more than once.
Little more clearance and 4wd, and other than heavy towing they'd do everything that we all need Rangers and Hiluxes to do now.
Abuse and rot did for them all, wish I'd have kept one decent when you see the price today. Sold our last one to a lad who was going to modify and customise it, despite my old mans efforts to customise and modify it in fields!

 

[nick...]

Had a couple of MR2 toyotas in early 90s,both were great cars but impractical for transporting diesel to my avatar at the time.had a Subaru few years before that that was also a great go anywhere vehicle but rust and rot was its downfall
nick...

 

[fgc325j]

I worked as a technician for a daihatsu garage and worked on the F50 when they were new and when the F70 was introduced. Great trucks to work on and very capable - as you say, a shame Daihatsu pulled out of t

I worked as a technician for a daihatsu garage and worked on the F50 when they were new and when the F70 was introduced. Great trucks to work on and very capable - as you say, a shame Daihatsu pulled out of the market.

I remember the story going around that the reason Daihatsu stopped making the 4Trak was because the factory was destroyed in an an earthquake in Japan. !!!!

 

[nick...]

I remember the story going around that the reason Daihatsu stopped making the 4Trak was because the factory was destroyed in an an earthquake in Japan. !!!!

Didn’t Toyota buy out diahatsu or own them.if that’s the case they maybe stopped production so as not to be in competition with the landcruiser
nick...

 

[Universe]

Miss the mk2 Hilux (would go forever except plagued by metalworm, pug 205D (similar story, but flat as a fart & so had to be thrashed everywhere), fourtrack (metalworm, & really needed a raised 4th & 5th gear).
Yamaha DT175mx. Awesome tool

 

[Further a field]

One I miss a Subaru Justy great little hatch back...one I don't ;Austin Montego!!

 

[Martin Holden]

Didn’t keep it long enough for it to rust out as swopped it for a 1.6 Capri with fold back sun roof.
Now that was a PoS … junctions navigated on a wing & a prayer

Aha. We had 3 in the company at the time and I had to use one to collect an engineer from Felixstowe and bring back to Gloucester one weekend. What a tail happy crap brakes car!!

 

[JockCroft]

Isuzu trooper 3.1

Great on Tarmac, disaster on snow. Too heavy. Really upset Bob, just got one, we were looking for a second one, he went out first, small drifts had packed a little, the Troop bellied. I was following with the Nova drove out and passed him.
There were lots of injector problem on the later ones.

 

[Will 1594]

Best Van 205 pug , cooked its engine one day , towing more than it shoud , so transplant of 1.9 d turbo in it , put 225,000 miles on it in ten years ,wish still had it , not much to catch it with the spanner remap ,
best pick up little fiat fiorini ,and 97 redg 2.8 isuzu twin cab ,
best car , 08 fiat sedici ,bought with engine problem , got it sorted ,was egr dpf issue , so had it doctored ,different intercooler and turbo and remapped way beyond it should of been but derv doctor said it would be ok , 117,000 before it died , so got a suzuki sx4 2 ltr 16 valve diesel same car and had that done same , 250 brake ,
and current navara ,and td 5 project , next week should see body finished then lights to do and get through test