I know the low quality video must be masking some nasty damage, but it seems like it held up quite well. Bumper still in place, tail lights apparently intact... the little bugger appears to be tough!

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill car restoration; if they want to restore it without rendering it completely worthless in the process they’ll have to spend quite a bit on research and consulting, especially when it comes to making the steering setup in the trunk functional and true to the original. And the artistic…

Yeah, I remember it now (I think). For some reason I thought it was Bollinger that got served with a lawsuit for not licensing JLR’s design. Makes sense that it’s Ineos, it’s got all the signs of an unlicensed design (which I should’ve really taken a minute to think about before assuming they licensed it; of course…

Didn’t it come out less than 2 years ago? How can there be any of these out of warranty yet? How short is the warranty on these, and is it a Jeep Thing I Wouldn’t Understand?

Well, there’s the answer to that :) It still feels kinda silly to call it derivative in a negative way, it’s basically the entire point of its existence.

You come up with a few valid points against the Grenadier, but the design being “derivative”? That is the whole point of the design. I’m not sure if derivative is the correct word, because it’s just a slightly different Defender. I can’t even tell if they’re making it slightly different to avoid a lawsuit or if they…

Yeah, I was gonna say... His career was much more than that single win. He was a great driver who never had a chance behind the wheel of a truly competitive car (he almost joined Williams instead of Ferrari in 91, I wonder what he could’ve done behind the wheel of championship-winning cars like the FW14B or the FW15C).

I’ve been through some shit with another french car, but the Quatrelle has actually been reliable. Only needed to get towed once in the couple of years that it’s been in my possession, and everything that’s gone wrong with it over time was an easy/cheap fix even when I didn’t do it myself.

I have learned so, so much from my daily driver/permanent project car (a 1991 Renault 4 GTL that needs some cosmetic fixes and doesn’t always run properly - but normally gets to the mechanic under its own power). Older cars just tend to be so much easier to do small fixes on. I can change all the lightbulbs and…

The original ran for two seasons, albeit in the shorter season format that british TV uses (6-7 episodes per season). But I don’t mean to nitpick, the american version was its own thing, no discussion.

Yeah, and I think it’s what we have right now in terms of nostalgia for the 90s. It’s organic, and has that dirtier edge that probably won’t be there when we get a second wave of 90s nostalgia.

Yeah, I was going to say the same, born in 82, nostalgic for the 70s from some point in the mid-90s onwards, especially with cars and music. And I loved the first wave of 80s nostalgia back in the early aughts, not gonna lie. This second wave of 80s nostalgia feels concocted in marketing briefings, it’s much cleaner…

You may want to fix that title. For a moment there I thought Nissan UK in the 80s came up with a slightly different name for the Bluebird (which sounds like the most British Car Industry thing ever this side of a bottle of Lucas Wiring Harness Smoke).

I don’t see myself as old, I’ve yet to turn 40, and I’ve preferred old, used looking cars to shiny marvels of modern technology fresh out of the showroom since I was a kid. And this is about aesthetics, not a tech thing; I love rowing my own gears in my 34hp Renault 4 but I’d do an EV swap in a heartbeat if I could…

Yeah, not dire enough sadly. Briatore managed to have a French court overturn his indefinite ban from any FIA-sanctioned event, and just last October there was talk of him making a return to F1 soon. As a Renault fanboy all I can say is: fuck that guy.

Literally my first thought. That this would spark conspiracy theories, not that there was one, mind you.

This is the one advice that matters above all others. It’s ok to be really into some specific area in car culture, just don’t let it blind you to the point that you outright dismiss any or all other areas as inferior. Taste is subjective and people are different, which is awesome.

Yup, still one of my favourite rally cars ever, but a Group B Panda would be next level bonkers. But still, I can’t even decide whether I like the 131 Abarth best with the iconic black and yellow Olio Fiat livery, the iconic tricolore Alitalia livery or the iconic plain white and blue. I love it pastel pink too.

I love the OG Panda so, so much. There were actually a few rally Pandas, mostly 4x4s doing the Paris-Dakar back in the 80s and 90s.