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It't likes Morris Marina or Hillman .

I remember one of these triumph dolamite SE ) that was parked up in excellent condition in 1985 ) behind the back of a greengrocers, and was left there to sadly deterioate until the early 90's untill it was taken away. I believe the elderly owner died and the old guys widow couldn't bare to sell it, so just left it there to rot" i remember thinking at the time thinking it was a rare model as I've probably only ever seen a couple of SE model's.

Thank you so much for this review. I was the person who mentioned the Dolomite 1500 SE originally. My father owned many new Triumph saloons, replacing them every August 1st, so he collected COF 322V on August 1st 1979 and I only ever saw 1 other on the road which we followed home from a holiday in Wales. The wheels were taken from the Spitfire which looked amazing with those chrome trims and the the front spoiler taken from the 1850 HL/Sprint models. Apart from the paint and stripes it was the inside that was very unique to any Dolomite as the grey seats were only for this model, the deep cut pile carpets were unique as was the real burr walnut dash and door cappings. Even the dash mounted cigarette lighter was an SE only feature along with a standard push button radio. As a push to move standard square headlamp models with the flat dash, the SE was a moderate success as they only sold just over 2100 of the expected 2500 but I have very happy memories of this and other Triumphs that my father owned while I was a young child in the 1970s so thank you for covering this car on your excellent channel.

One of my favourite specials ever, so classy and understated. Seen quite a few of these, all of them on V plates. Our neighbours had one, registered January 1980, and I was always a bit envious of it as a youngster because it looked so smart. The list price (no doubt decent discounts were offered) sounds reasonable and of all the Dolomites I think this would be my choice. The carpet covered 'Womble's nose' gear lever looked a bit odd though! I wonder if this car maybe inspired the Fiat 132 Bellini which followed ~12 months later?

Do you have any details of Cortina MK4/5 fitted with the Business Pack? Recaro fishnet seats and spot lights based on the 2.0S?

Another great vid, I always enjoy the brochures with the more obscure cars although I remember this being the era when Audi’s in general became a bit more common on UK roads. I always thought this generation of Audi 100 was a cross between the MK2 Granada and the Peugeot 604 in looks. A neighbour had a bottle Green one of these and I always remember the metallic paintwork was way better quality than my Dads Granada !

Oddly no side repeat indicators for Granada in its first 12 mnths.

O.K. the 1.3 had near pathetic "power" and was dropped by July '76 when the 1.6 became standard. That gave good performance and by July '77 you could even get the 2L in the GL 2 and 4 door models (standard on the Ghia). This gave the car cracking acceleration and in 2 door GL form gave more bang for your buck than any other car in that price range and made a Corolla/Mazda 323/Datsun 120Y look like they were going backwards. The Escorts fit and finish may not have been as good as their Japanese counterparts and basics like a glovebox were not in any spec escort except the Ghia. The Escort and Cortina WERE quite popular in Australia; there was still some resistance by some in the community in the 70's against the Japanese and their cars with the erroneous view (held by those that had never owned one) that they were "Jap Crap". Japanese cars didn't rust as badly as in the U.K but dashboards cracked and paint faded.

Great choice for a special edition so hats off to whoever chose this. I dont personally remember this special edition to be honest, but it sure is a nice one. Im guessing this was for tax reasons that it used a 1500 engine rather than the 1850? Or maybe they just had a load of the 1500s and they needed to sell them for the end of the production run which was coming up soon. Also remember the 1500 had a flat dashboard but the HL had a curved one so the walnut dash would have been specially made for this model. Plus this did not come with a tachometer either. The nice seat trims looked good though. Nice video as always.

Yay! I saw the Saturday Special episode on Saturday night here in Cagayan de Oro City Mindanao. I don't remember seeing the Dolomite in Australia, although it may have been sold there. At best in very limited numbers and probably imported. It's funny to see a special edition labelled "a Black Beauty", because this is exactly what my siblings and I called my late dad's 1965 Morris 1100. Good old ADO-16. In the sixties and seventies we were really a Leyland family. My only experience of the Dolomite was that I owned a SAAB 900 two door sedan (1989 model) in the noughties, and it had the amazing slant four 1.85 litre Triumph Dolomite Sprint engine. It was a real goer. I know you would have loved the Dolomite for its quarterlights.

nice too see this 79 triumph dolomite brochure 1500 se model, this the best model that time, uk now is this model still on the road until now

The Panther Rio was a lovely luxurious car based on this.

Pty Ltd = proprietary limited. It's a type of company structure here in Oz.

Orbost is in country Victoria a state in Australia.

I had a 1978 2 litre manual Ghia for 2 years. Bought in 79 as an Ford executive car, and was the most unreliable car I ever owned. I think 3 times I had to get it towed back to the dealers after servicing, because it did not get home. Every part fitted by the ford dealer was faulty and had to be replaced. The air conditioning was very problematic and the compressor kept breaking bolts and falling onto the distributer, stopping the car. It needed retuning every 1800 kilometers, just suddenly dropped power, needed new points and condencer every time. Could not wait to get rid of it.

No need for a station waggon - had cortina or falcon waggon options. Leyland - destroyed brittish reputation for reliability thus the suspect the German focus. Pty Ltd = abbreviation for Propriety Limited (private company) I think PLC in the UK. Seat belts for all passengers were compulsory for all new cars from about 1972 as were front seat headrests. Side mirrors would have been from the falcon parts bin (saves getting a new dirrerent part). Yes vinyl seats, all base models of most makes had these for some reason, (cheaper or encourage upgrades?). The UK van with windows I suspect something to do with the UK car tax 'is this vehicle not a vehicle with windows to the rear of the drivers seat' - does not apply in Australia. GS pack was avialable on all ford models, so assume they just followed convention. Detailed description and comparison of the brochure.

Unusual if not unique to see a photograph of the designer responsible for the vehicle in a Ford brochure. Uwe Bahnsen was the chief stylist amongst others for these Ford vehicles too. 1972 Ford Granada Mk1 1974 Ford Capri Mk 2 1977 Ford Cortina Mk4 1977 Ford Fiesta Mk1 1978 Ford Granada Mk2 1978 Ford Capri Mk3 1980 Ford Cortina Mk5 1981 Ford Escort Mk3 1983 Ford Sierra Mk1 1985 Ford Granada Mk3 1986 Ford Transit Mk3

Pty Ltd is our usually business type and stands for proprietary limited.

I had only gotten my driver's licence in March 1975, and I was a first year university student at the time. I couldn't afford a new car until 1978. I remember having a brochure for the Ford Escort range for that year, which I remember included the Sundowner panel van. You were right about the popularity and reliability of Japanese vehicles back then. I ended up buying a brand new Toyota Corolla coupe. Interestingly, it was assembled in Australia. It was a two door pillarless hardtop in Mustard Gold with black side stripes. Four speed manual floor shift of course, and 1.2 litre four cylinder engine. Like the Escorts, it was rear wheel drive. Those bucket seats featured in the Escorts in the brochure were usually called "tombstone buckets". Basic versions of many cars had them, and they were usually vinyl. From 1971 on, it was mandatory to have front seat head restraints. My Corolla coupe was a little bit upmarket. The bucket seats in the front and the rear seats had houndstooth pattern cloth facings. Luxury! A pushbutton radio was standard. It was cool to drive around with all the windows wound down because of the pillarless hardtop design. I would have liked either a Corolla Liftback, or T-18, but both were imported models and none were in stock at the local dealership. In reference to your question about "Pty", that's the Aussie abbreviation for "Proprietary". Companies in Australia are often "Proprietary Limited". You will see either "Pty Ltd", or "P/L" after the company name. If a company is incorporated, the company name is followed by "Corp". I don't know what the differences are between the two.

At 18:52 For your information, the gentleman sixth from the left in camera shot is Peter Withe, a striker who played for Aston Villa from 1980 to 1985. He was also capped for England 11 times between 1981 and 1984.

Thanks for video. We had a 2.0 Ghia. PTY LTD = proprietary limited. Aussie side mirrors possibly same as Falcon & Fairmont.

I wanted one of these so badly when I was young. Nearly got a panel van. Wish I got it

Actually, even your Cortina, got a European touch, in 76 , with a Taunus front , except on the base model , and the 77 model, was fully designed in Germany.

The van was still being sold as the MKI for a short time and may have been grouped with other commercial vehicles by Sales. Australian model strategy was influenced heavily by a number of factors: local content quotas, safety regulations and small market size being foremost: the Escort (and Marina, Cortina etc.) had to be moved upmarket as cost and economies of production would have priced those "Fleet Pack" models HIGHER than well appointed Japanese cars. Escorts are fondly remembered here: while possibly not as bulletproof as a Datsun, they earned a reputation for toughness and being fun to drive.

Really brought 1975 back to life for me . Great time to be alive in Australia 🇦🇺.

Very nice video again and nice choice too. Wow the Australian models were so much different to what we got in the UK. Those bucket seats look like Capri Ghia seats, retrimmed with that fabric. The Escort Mk1 had the XL model so i guess they just carried this on for the start of the Mk2. That sport GS pack does make, what could be just a standard model, look really nice. Yes the steering wheel in the sport one is the same as the 1300 and 1600 sport in the UK. I think the Mk2 Escort sold better in South Africa than Australia as there are still quite a few of them in South Africa today. It doesnt say it has leaf springs on it either like the UK version. Nice editing too.

Excellent video as always, i would agree and say these were rivals with the Mercedes W123 and maybe the Ford Granada GXL/Rover SD1? They were really smooth cars to be in. I remember being a rear passenger in one back in 1979 and it was a nice car, the seats were very comfortable. Later on my friend had one in the 90s and it was still a nice car then. Its nice to see the tag line from before the vorsprung durch technik logo. In America this was called the 5000, and the next generation of the Audi 5000 had a controversy attached to it which is a story in itself, if you look it up you will see it damaged Audi's reputation in America quite a bit. Back to this series though and it was really well made and they were nice cars.

Another fantastic video! (Pty) Ltd. = Proprietary Limted, a type of privately-held company common in South Africa and Australia. Uwe is pronounced "ooh-veh". The South African "Brenda" Escort was launched in July 1975 and came in three variants: The 1300 L in two- and four-door forms, and the 1600 GL four-door, with the 84-hp engine and optional automatic transmission. The GL featured square headlights, vinyl side strakes, and full wheel covers with colour-matched centres from the Cortina XL. The UK-style "sport road wheels" were a popular option across the board. The Escort "30" van was the light commercial variant. In 1977 the "30" van became the "35" van and a year later changed again to the "45" van. South Africa had gone decimal some years earlier and those sub-designations (I'm assuming they're based on some archaic "hundredweights" or such) were meaningless. The country's political crises resulted in an econonic slump in 1976 and car sales fell during the year, prompting manufacturers to cook up "specials" to woo buyers. Ford introduced the daring "Kinky Escort" special edition for the four-door L and GL which came in a choice of five eye-catching paint/stripe combinations in two different designs: one was a hockey-stick theme - more Allegro Equipe than Starsky & Hutch, the other was a more tasteful design with nose-to-tail surfboard-style stripes along the waistline and a contrasting colour section down the middle of the bonnet. The scheme was copied by other makers, with the "Dazzle Datsuns" and Chevrolet "Sunbird" models appearing in 1977, a year that saw virtually every carmaker introducing a raft of special-edition "lipstick-and-mascara" models to attract buyers. At the end of 1978, the 1600 Sport two-door was added and was an enormous success, becoming the top-selling variant in the range. Early 1979 saw the introduction of the RS 2000 and at the end of the year, the two-door "L" was removed from the range. Around the middle of 1979 the 1600 "Leisure" van was introduced, effectively a van version of the 1600 Sport with the half-bumpers, spot lights, sport seats, full instruments, etc. and it lasted about a year. Late in 1980, there was a limited-editon run-out model, the 1300 SE with two-tone paint and the usual fitment upgrades to use up leftover parts. The rear-drive Escort gave way to the front-wheel-drive "Erika" replacement in May, 1981.

Interesting, i never like chrome mirrors because sun reflection plus hot to touch in summer time. Another interesting is word F O R D not simple Ford badge which i would prefer. Nice car, i have look back Holden small car few vids ago to see if they offer "luxury features"?

nice too see this Australia spec mk2 ford escort brochure model 75,this a best model that time, in Australia now this models is no more on the road now, in the uk now how many this models let now

Thank you for bringing these things back to life.

First, all the best from Greece! The Aussie Ghia in the gold car photo had rear seat belts

I liked the "new" Audi 100 and thought it looked handsome in an understated way. I do remember that road tests said the ventilation was feeble. The later 5 cylinder petrol and diesel options were impressive and sounded great. Very capable cars for 1976.

The Fairmont GXL was fitted with the 5.8 Litre 351 Cleveland as well. The 4.9 and 5.8 were optional on all models. All bolsters on seats were usually vinyl with cloth inserts. They never made a GT in the XC model however they made the Cobra Hardtop roughly half were fitted with the 4.9 and half with the 5.8.

Was the fiesta festival available in the UK does anyone remember my sisters first car if memory serves me correctly was an 1981 ford fiesta festival in red over here in Ireland

I Vaguely remember “Vorsprung durch Technik” for later 100's. A architects car like Saab. yet unlike Saab, Audi has parent company Volkswagen, basically it's a stretched VW Passat. With majority of the same parts.

My lovely Dad had this Zephyr in MAROON. 1959 MODEL with bench seats and column. change, We only have a pic of it in black and white sadly. I looked up the registration on DVLA but no joy so it must have been scrapped.

The headmaster of my old primary school, Bush Hill Park in Enfield, north of London had a brand new Audi 100 at the end of 1976. The poor man loaded 6 of us 10/11 year old school football players, kit & spare balls to take us to our away matches. The other half of the team travelled in the PE teachers beaten up old Austin 1800. By the end of the season in Spring 1977, the Audi’s interior was battered & filthy. A beautiful car was destroyed by muddy & ungrateful lads. We finished second bottom of the division so it wasn’t worth it. Poor Mr Hall.

I don't know why you feel you may not get many views...I'm not into Audi's but still found your vid highly enjoyable. I personally think they are a beautiful model.

A very good looking car and a class up from the V6 Capri. The one to have was the Monza Coupe 3.0E (injection).

Had a few cars with headlight washers or wipers. I believe they were of particular use in Sweden due to the amount of snow, hence the amount of Volvos and Saab vehicles that had them. My father had a Sierra Ghia with wipers on the lights that were quite effective. I believe that the move away from glass headlights to more scratch-prone plastic ones prohibited the use of the wiper blade. However in my personal experience, the washers themselves are really ineffective and just speed up the use of your washer fluid.

Am loving the videos, I noticed the 604 was actually smaller than my 2013 308!, how times change, loved the dual headlight wipers 👍

Used in the film ET

In the seventies in Australia the Volkswagen Passat was relatively popular, but I don't have any experience with the Audi 100 or 5E. At the time these came out I was driving a 1963 model Morris Mini, so, well, Audis were out of my league. I would have preferred the five door Avant model to the saloon, but I've always preferred hatchbacks and estates. Of course, the Audi everyone remembers is the Quattro.

Audi/Volkswagen brochure's from this period did photoshop, touched up or reverse images . Audi 100's from this time never had right hand drive wiper set up as shown in the images for the UK market.

In ‘85/‘86 when I was looking for my first car I was interested in a late ‘70’s Audi 5000/100. I found a few in the AutoTrader for around $2000. My day quickly nixed this option. All US cars were 5 cyl. And fairly high spec. They were not viewed as reliable in the USA. Probably wise to skip as a first car but I was disappointed nonetheless. What did I buy? A very cheap and ratty ‘71 VW 1301 “Super Beetle

Great video my parents had a 82 Audi 200 rare car then. ⭐️👍

Audi 100, no nonsense upmarket saloon, and unusually for a big car front wheel drive and I think five cylinder engine. One famous person who owned an Audi 100 was Terry Wogan.

I fell in love with Audi during my teenaged years after traveling in an Audi 80 Sport and then an Audi 100 CD Avant with the 2.2 litre 5 cylinder engine. I was impressed with Audi for many reasons. There was the 5 cylinder engline in addition to proving that they could make a viable luxury car with a 4 cylinder engine. There was the 4WD. There was the Procon-ten safety system. There was the fully galvanised steel bodies. There was the aerodynamics on the Audi 100 Mark 2 (for similar reasons I am a fan of the Sierra). I was impressed with their diesel engined technology too. The first time Lands End to John O' Groats was achieved on a single tank of fuel was with an Audi 100 Turbo Diesel.

I am surprised by a 100 mph speedometer in a car with a top speed of 111mph.