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.....a baulky bottom gear, which should speak highly for this version of the always-likeable VW Golf. The LD met snow down in Wales, which its torque, f.w.d.-traction, and Michelin ZX tyres combined, coped with very well.
Another German car came next, in the form of the Audi 100GL 5S. This turned out to be a good all-rounder but a somewhat too-gimmicky car for me, but it was comfortable, with a good heater and clear-to-read instruments and was quick about the place. Perhaps its handling should not have been assessed so soon after I had been driving the sure-footed Ford Granada and Opel Senator! Anyway, I was grateful to the VW/Audi folk for allowing me to sample a car with five cylinders, because in the past I have driven those with from one to 16 of them. . . . For most of this time it had been more or less a precarious business obtaining a fill-up of petrol, and as the cost of this essential fluid was rising, I decided that we ought next to take a look at some true economy cars - I am told I am by nature something of a motoring-masochist!
Ford-of-Britain, a company that has for so long fully understood the exacting requirements of those to whom motoring is primarily transportation, besides contriving to win the big rallies and other competitions and give enthusiasts some very acceptable sports saloons, were quick to provide me with a 53 b.h.p. Ford Fiesta 1.1S (1100S), this model providing the best economy (36 m.p.g.) combination, combined with the stiffer sports-suspension for enhancing handling. I have a high regard for the little, unobtrusive, but so useful, Ford Fiesta, which caused almost as great a sensation at its debut and its production in the fine new factory in Spain, as did the Model-A Ford when it replaced the immortal Model-T in 1927, or when Henry Ford emphasised his dislike of six-cylinder engines by introducing his lively Ford V8 not long after the Model-A had been bora. I took the Fiesta to see some far-older small cars tackling Welsh gradients during the VSCC Light Car Section's annual trial, and then used it for all manner of ordinary errands. It died when a cable between the starter-motor and starter-solenoid severed, which I do not think is endemic of the model, and it had a fierce clutch, which is common to too many Fiestas. But it was waterproof in torrential rain, had Ford's famed heating and ventilation, nice seats, and a usable Hatchback. So I stand by the heading of the report I wrote at the time, namely, "The Car We Shall All Soon Be Wanting" - and petrol then cost only just over £1 a gallon.
There are now so many small cars for the economy-minded or economy-necessitated and the fuel conservationists to choose from that I am glad my wife solved the problem some time back, by buying a Reliant Kitten with its non-rust estate body, a British 50 m.p.g. package that is more durable and less under-rated than some people suggest. With small cars, mostly otherwise all of the transverse-engine, FWD layout, from Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Japan to weigh up, the task of deciding what to invest in is astonishingly difficult. The Ford Fiesta stole a considerable march, timewise, on General Motors' new Opel Kadett, which Vauxhall are to sell, rebadged, as the German Vauxhall Vesta. My impressions of the FWD Kadett appear in this issue, so no more need be said here, except that this GM World-Car is notably roomy (a "large-small" car), just fails to be a scaled-down Senator in its handling qualities, and is perhaps too noisy at Motorway speeds, when the aforesaid Fiesta begins to quieten out. Your "winner" in the small-car sales-stakes may depend on how much store you set on having a Hatchback and of course on comparative prices. But it seems certain that this sector of the market will expand rapidly under prevailing and future economic conditions, no matter that the Motor Industry claims to make no profit worth having by manufacturing the smallest of cars.
Continuing this theme, the Ford Fiesta was followed in my 1979 small-car sequence by an Alfasud 1.5 Super. I have liked all the Alfasuds I have driven. But they all lacked the power from their flat-four o.h.c. engines that the outstanding Alfa Romeo roadholding and cornering factors could have handled. This had been put right in the 84 b.h.p. ll/2-litre edition which enthusiastic Barry Needham now provided for me. You really shouldn't nurse the charming little Alfasud, to save fuel. It is essentially a car to drive hard! But, in my case, I had to, because for most of the test, the stuff was almost unobtainable! Using the fifth speed to good effect from this viewpoint, I achieved petrol-consumption figures within less than 2 m.p.g. of those I had got from the Fiesta. The Alfasud's price at the time was £12 less than that of the 1.1-litre Fiesta-S, but the Italian car had a number of minor inconveniences and it wasn't a Hatchback. However, for its precise steering, the comfort of its seats, its outstanding small-car performance, fine roadholding, and its low 70-80 m.p.h. noise level, I suppose, had I been in the market-place, I would have bought the 'Sud. However, as I have said, the choice is very difficult when you are shopping for an economy car and early in 1980 I am to see what I think of an unrated 1.3-litre Ford Fiesta, which may or may not add to the confusion. . . .
The covetable Alfasud was used to see part of the Bugatti OC International Rally and to attend the memorable BOC dinner in Cheltenham on that occasion. Then later, in the stately luxury of a Vauxhall Royale A, I drove away from Luton, went in it to the Midland Motor Museum (always a worthwhile expedition, highly recommended), and attended the luncheon Rolls-Royce gave in Manchester to commemorate the historic meeting there between Henry Royce and the Hon. Charlie Rolls. Having been enormously impressed with the Opel Senator we tried in 1978, especially from the point-of-view of its impeccable handling and roadholding, there is little to say about the very similar Vauxhall which Derek Coalman produced for us as expeditiously as Ken Moyes had earlier allowed us to test the two new Opels, Senator and Monza. The Vauxhall Royale has a 2.8-litre, instead of a 3-litre, overhead-camshaft engine but is nevertheless endowed with a top pace of 116 m.p.h. and is able to reach 60 m.p.h. from rest in 11.4 seconds. For comprehensive equipment, a handsome appearance, and a fuel thirst that was at times as low as 22.8 m.p.g., this biggest and most luxurious model in the Vauxhall range is worthy of very high marks.
I then got back on the economy-car bandwagon, by trying the intriguing Renault.....
Captions -
Top-Right - The Ford Granada 2.8iGLS Estate . . . a very impressive combination of safe-handling fast car and admirably useful load swallower.
Bottom-Right - The Audi 100GL 5S, a good all-rounder but somewhat too gimmicky
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