An air of neglect about this car..
Constant MOT fails, seems to have been run on a shoe string

The L322 especially the early ones have "fallen" out of the circle of maintenance required for their value.. :)

L322's pop up for 2 - 5k and simply people aren't really hip to the idea of spending thousands and thousands repairing them..

It is a shame to see one sold on that will most likely be parted out..

Anyway onwards and upwards as they say ;)
 
This is why i reckon there won't be any future classics, new cars have a definitive lifespan whereupon it becomes too costly to maintain, added to owners not willing to spend more than the bare minimum to pass an MOT
That's not at dig at the OP, just a fact of the way things are
 
kermit_rr said:
This is why i reckon there won't be any future classics, new cars have a definitive lifespan whereupon it becomes too costly to maintain, added to owners not willing to spend more than the bare minimum to pass an MOT
That's not at dig at the OP, just a fact of the way things are
Click to expand...
I concur.+1
 
kermit_rr said:
This is why i reckon there won't be any future classics, new cars have a definitive lifespan whereupon it becomes too costly to maintain, added to owners not willing to spend more than the bare minimum to pass an MOT
That's not at dig at the OP, just a fact of the way things are
Click to expand...

I must be of a more positive school of thought. I am hoping that in a few years the Golden Girl will be on the road to being a future classic. I'm sure that others on here , who like myself, put time, money and effort , into their L322, are also thinking along those lines.
 
gold rover said:
I must be of a more positive school of thought. I am hoping that in a few years the Golden Girl will be on the road to being a future classic. I'm sure that others on here , who like myself, put time, money and effort , into their L322, are also thinking along those lines.
Click to expand...
I genuinely hope you're right! There is a world of difference between keeping an 50 year old series on the road compared to say an L322 when they reach 50
 
Much as I hate to say it I can't see how cars like the L322 with their complex electrics can survive too much longer. Yes while they are working they are great but as electrical spares become more and more scarce I fail to see how they can continue to be maintaned indefinately. At least for the majority of owners anyway.
 
kermit_rr said:
I genuinely hope you're right! There is a world of difference between keeping an 50 year old series on the road compared to say an L322 when they reach 50
Click to expand...
backinblack said:
Much as I hate to say it I can't see how cars like the L322 with their complex electrics can survive too much longer. Yes while they are working they are great but as electrical spares become more and more scarce I fail to see how they can continue to be maintaned indefinately. At least for the majority of owners anyway.
Click to expand...
Who knows maybe people from the 20s said the same in the 50s, when they saw how much cars had advanced.
As the vehicles advance, so does the knowledge base. In 40years, the vehicles we have now will be old fashioned and simple to work on. Just because they have electronics does not make them black magic. Plenty of people understand them now, and more and more people are becoming auto-electricians. Rather than mechanics.
Also it has never been about the 'majority of owners' when it comes to cars being maintained indefinitely. It has always been about the few. The few who will give up their precious time, or spend their hard earned cash, or a bit of both. The few who love their vehicles. The few who help a few vehicles make it through , year after year, decade after decade. Yes , most fall by the wayside but a few , will make it through. ( can you hear the music rising in that little piece :D )
 
I agree that for some where time and money are not a factor but, when was the last time anyone took a TV, Radio, microwave etc in for a repair. Yes there are still people out there with the skills to repair them but there will come a time when components are no longer manufactured. My first job was an electronics engineer and I wouldn't even think about trying to repair anything anymore, easier and cheaper to just by a new one.
 
A lot of old classics still exist because owners have upgraded the technology. Many old vehicles have been fitted with electronic ignition and uprated heads to run on modern fuel, so it will be with existing ecu's and the like. There will be a time when there is no more petrol and old cars will be adapted to suit, nostalgia and the sprit to preserve things is part of our human nature.

Col
 
For me, the big worry is the war on diesel. If they get their way and we all have to stop running our diesel versions. I hope there will be electric motors at Argos??
 
Colthebrummie said:
You can make your own diesel easily enough and cheaper than at the pump.

Col
Click to expand...
The problem is not a lack of diesel at the pump, but the ban on using older diesel powered cars. From this July, none of my cars are allowed in Paris where my wife's son lives. I believe the ban has been delayed, but very soon I will not be able to go to Paris, Bordeaux and several other cities in France.
 
Datatek said:
The problem is not a lack of diesel at the pump, but the ban on using older diesel powered cars. From this July, none of my cars are allowed in Paris where my wife's son lives. I believe the ban has been delayed, but very soon I will not be able to go to Paris, Bordeaux and several other cities in France.
Click to expand...
Every cloud
 
backinblack said:
I agree that for some where time and money are not a factor but, when was the last time anyone took a TV, Radio, microwave etc in for a repair. Yes there are still people out there with the skills to repair them but there will come a time when components are no longer manufactured. My first job was an electronics engineer and I wouldn't even think about trying to repair anything anymore, easier and cheaper to just by a new one.
Click to expand...

Again it comes to mindset. I believe in repair not replace. My main tv is as deep as it is wide, it is around 15yrs old ( not quite as old as the Golden Girl) It has been repaired twice. My smaller tv, which has followed me around the world, is also as deep as it is wide. I have repaired it myself when it was dropped. That's when I learned the inside wasn't valves and tubes , but a motherboard and bitsa. It is approx 20yrs old and still going, even after my hopeful repair.
As for the Golden Girl , it is not that time and money are not a factor, I doubt that many of us on here, or on other car sites, can say time and money are not a factor. In fact they are probably the biggest obstacles to overcome, for 99.99999% of us, but ways are found. Just like cars from the 30s, 40s, 50s, etc, clever people find a way to keep them on the road. With 3D printers getting better and better, there will nothing that cannot be replicated. Someone , somewhere, will already have a storeroom of new old parts, just in case. The danger to finding a vehicle of the early 21st Century on the road in 30yrs , is not parts, nor is it lack of clever or enthusiastic people. It is that most people, right now, who own any marque*, want to replace, not repair.
That's ok, though. Because they have always existed. It is why only a few Model Ts exist, why cars from the early 30s to 50s are rare, why there are only a few Mk1 Granadas, why a Volvo 480 is raraer than a Ferrari Enzo 2002, as is a Mazda MX-6, etc,etc, etc. Through every age of the car, most will replace, but a few will do what they can to repair. Those few that make it, will, long after I'm gone be , the barn find, the classic, the loved car passed through the family. I can only hope that the Golden Girl makes it :D


*make that anything
 
Mark Piercy said:
For me, the big worry is the war on diesel. If they get their way and we all have to stop running our diesel versions. I hope there will be electric motors at Argos??
Click to expand...

Agreed. Maybe one day , I will have to wrap up the Golden Girl , safe , in a barn, turn to something electric, and just hope that , in the future, she is allowed to be run as a 'classic' ;)
 
Old vehicles are simple, the technology was basic
There's no computer getting in the way. You can swap an engine or gearbox without difficulty as long as it fits.
Not so easy putting a random engine into another vehicle these days
 
@kermit_rr my point exactly. Mechanicals are relatively easy to reproduce but electronics are a totally different ball game. You can't make a computer chip in your garage.
 
backinblack said:
@kermit_rr my point exactly. Mechanicals are relatively easy to reproduce but electronics are a totally different ball game. You can't make a computer chip in your garage.
Click to expand...
what you say is true, but already there are generic ECU's that can be used if you have the knowledge to replace original ECU's.
 
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