Mike Humble:

Let’s take a moment to savour the times when you could buy a proper car. Not a hybrid or E.V, stuff from back in the days before the phrase ‘range anxiety’ had ever been heard of. Buckle up and enjoy the ride as I ramble on about some of my all time favourite motors of yester-year.

This time, we’ll focus on small family saloon cars. These are my faves so I hope you enjoy and comment!

BMW 320i (E30)

“One of the most smile inducing cars of its era with a manual gearbox – fact!”

Current BMW’s in all honesty do little for me. Compared to what they were like a few decades back, they have become problematic and expensive to put right when they go wrong. If there was ever a car that simply showed every other manufacturer how to engineer a car, satisfy the owner and build a machine that would last forever with little more than a yearly service, it was an eighties BMW. I’ve always had a soft spot for the E30 shape BMW 3 series despite all of the models drawbacks. Vices included them being expensive yet with little standard equipment and really poor interior space – especially in the rear.

Yet with a lovely sounding straight six fuel injected 2.0 engine, a gearshift quality unlike so many other cars of its generation and tail wagging road manners if you went hard at it, the 320i was a hoot to drive – trust me, they really were. For sure you could get bigger options such as the 323 and latter 325i but they were a bit of a handful for inexperienced drivers. The standard injected 2.0 was just right – gutsy, reasonably frugal and an utter joy to be tooling around in. All the ingredients were there and the sums added up – 6cyls + manual gearbox + rear wheel drive = FUN FUN FUN.

Ford Orion 1.6i Ghia (Mk4)

“Just mutton dressed as lamb really- only Ford could pull that off“

It has to be the Mk4 version – post 1986 and it has to be fitted with those cutesy pepperpot style alloys wheels. Think of an XR3i but with any vulgarity, add a bit of velour upholstery, give it a nice two tone paint job and you have what Ford used to excel at doing – making a silk purse from a Sow’s ear. Just the tag ‘Ghia’ used to make young boys and grown men go all wobbly in the knees, so much more a cut above the usual LX or GL flavour. Just telling someone in the pub that your recent Ford purchase had those cheeky little shield badges on the front wings notched you two rungs up the class ladder right away.

The Orion, despite having the same driveline as the XR3i, had a bit more class, was a bit more quieter inside and generally was a very smart looking package. Should yours have been specified with the optional trip computer, well, you were genuinely THE man about town. Forget the fact the CVH engine sounded horrendous on full chat, forget the gear change was vague and imprecise, forget the handling and ride was rubbish and forget they could rust worse than the forth bridge – it was an Orion injection Ghia, a lesson in marketing from the folks who knew everything about marketing.

Rover 216 Vitesse (’87 facelift)

“Just for a while, a short while, it looked like Rover were coming good with Honda onside”

Austin Rovers second collaboration with Honda brought us the first 200 series car in 1984.Initially only a 1.3 version, you had to wait til the following year for a 1600cc model which was lifted straight from the Montego. The standard and Vanden Plas models, in my opinion, were a bit blue rinse and Readers Digest for my liking but along came the Vitesse with its snappy alloys and Lucas fuel injection. Facelift models for the ‘87 model year saw the Rover become a really impressive package with its faux Recaro seats, deep front bumper and a sprinkling of walnut on the interior.

Blessed with a rather choppy ride, like the Orion – a frighteningly nasty habit of rusting and the 1.6 ‘S’ series that usually had more of its oil on your driveway as opposed to being in the actual engine, the ‘Vitty’ had good performance. Also, there was a lovely deep grumble from the induction when you made it pull from low revs. I cannot put my finger on why, but the 216 Vitesse still tickles my fancy today – a class act!

Vauxhall Belmont 1800GLSi

“I once drove one of these really hard. I was truly shocked at how quick it soaked up long distances”

Stop sniggering at the back! The Belmont GLSi was a very underrated car. As per the Orion and Escort, the Belmont was based on the Mk2 Astra and in lower trim levels offered all the appeal of an acute nosebleed in a restaurant, but for some reason the GLSi had a certain charm. Nice velour interior, plenty of standard equipment and a boot larger than you could possibly imagine not forgetting effortless high speed cruising made the range topping Belmont a bit of a hidden gem at a time when Vauxhall were really giving Ford and Austin Rover a slap around the chops for market share.

Early models were not that fast off the mark owing to over-high gearing – in fact, you could go from a standing start to just over the legal seventy with just one gearchange and on to a top whack of well over 120mph. Revised lower gearing made it a properly lively car without harming its high speed cruising – throughout most of the mid to late 80’s, the Griffin was flying. Its pudding looks however stopped it being a real sales success, but ask anyone who owned a fuel injected Vauxhall Belmont back in the day… and they’ll put you right!

Volvo 360 

“You really wouldn’t think a car with such an antiquated suspension design could drive so well for such a big engine. But they did you know”

I had the chance (more than once) to have one of these, and I bitterly regret not taking the plunge. The solid design of the car and a torquey 2.0 engine allied to a more luxurious trim gave the 360 an air of exclusivity that could match the likes of VW and BMW for quality. The ‘sporty’ GLT models featured a lower ride height and a more aggressive looking front bumper. GLS versions were carburettor units with lovely draylon type seat fabric whereby the GLT had a 115bhp fuel injected engine and sportier gearing. Having the fuel tank under the back seat and its gearbox mounted within the rear axle, the 360 was a secure and stable car to drive at high speed.

Despite the rear suspension being leaf sprung, the Volvo 360 had superb traction and better than you would expect roadholding for a car with such an ancient chassis design. Sadly they tended to fall into the hands of either banger racers or drift enthusiasts, but for a short while in the late 80’s and early 90’s they were unbeatable value for money second hand. Post 85 cars that featured the revised B20 engine could be known for managing intergalactic mileages with only routine servicing.