So, Where’s Jalopy now? actually, Jalopy is elsewhere catching up on where he is/was… but this time it was Rhodes in Greece.
For those of you who don’t know Rhodes is one of the Greek islands sandwiched between the Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea and it’s not somewhere I’d ever been before, so it seemed like a good idea to go. And, of course whilst there, see what vehicular wildlife I could find.
My first interesting encounter was with a pair of Skoda’s, one of which, the Favorit, was designed and developed entirely before Volkswagen got their hands on them. Even the Felicia next to it was mostly Skoda, apparently early on in the Felicia’s life VW only changed 3% of the car. Wiper blades and light bulbs most likely. These two had seen better days and judging by the amount of dust the Favorit hadn’t moved in a while.
Next up, and parked to the right of the Felicia was a rather well preserved Renault 16. A bit dusty but in really nice rust free condition. Must have something to do with the climate there. I’m a bit of a fan of these, the best ones seem to be left in warmer climates, they haven’t survived so well in the UK unfortunately.
Opposite this trio was the ubiquitous Mercedes W123, possibly the worlds greatest automotive survivor being incredibly well engineered and made and outlasting everything else. Amazingly Mercedes didn’t start galvanising until well after they finished making these.
Now what was I saying about the climate helping to preserve cars and keep the rust at bay… This was one of the worst examples of an Alfa Sud, this one in Sprint guise… what’s left of it.
Look at how this one is turning into a full length Webasto sunroof car without any human intervention. Metal quality on these was reputedly poor and if the Renault 16 could survive there that has to really say something about the Alfa. It’ a shame as these are a fantastic car.
Now this seemed quite at home there, the 2CV is a favourite of mine and this was the only one I came across on the street. It’s the right kind of car for Rhodes, a relatively small island without and high speed limits. Narrow roads and tracks and some fairly poor surfaces in place, where there were actual surfaces. Having said that the main roads were pretty good, just a little lacking in grip.
This Opel Kadett was left lying around at the side of the road, probably having been there for quite some time. It did look like it could be made to go again, if anyone was prepared to put some work in. This looked like a Kadett B Berline or Limousine depending on where in the world you lived. Both sounding much more sophisticated than saloon….
Opposite in a field was a Mk1 Transit pickup. Now these are getting quite rare and collectible,if anyone’s interested I’ll draw you an approximate map and you can go and rescue it. Before it does something similar to the Alfa, although I think you’ve got many years with that.
Lastly of older metal I found this vintage Ford Sierra, no I’m not being flippant when I say vintage, they really are now. This one had been put out to pasture, probably long before it was taken off the road. Impossible to tell with the slight customisation, but this may be a late 80’s variant and may have as much as a 1.6 under the bonnet. The owner having delusions of a 2.8 V6 XR4i, unless it really has got a Cologne V6 in it….
It could be salvageable, but at a cost greater than it’s worth sadly. Quite a decent car and you hardly see them now, certainly in the UK.
That’s it for now, where next?
Simon
Next up, and parked to the right of the Felicia was a rather well preserved Renault 16. A bit dusty but in really nice rust free condition. Must have something to do with the climate there. I’m a bit of a fan of these, the best ones seem to be left in warmer climates, they haven’t survived so well in the UK unfortunately.
Opposite this trio was the ubiquitous Mercedes W123, possibly the worlds greatest automotive survivor being incredibly well engineered and made and outlasting everything else. Amazingly Mercedes didn’t start galvanising until well after they finished making these.
Now what was I saying about the climate helping to preserve cars and keep the rust at bay… This was one of the worst examples of an Alfa Sud, this one in Sprint guise… what’s left of it.
Look at how this one is turning into a full length Webasto sunroof car without any human intervention. Metal quality on these was reputedly poor and if the Renault 16 could survive there that has to really say something about the Alfa. It’ a shame as these are a fantastic car.
Now this seemed quite at home there, the 2CV is a favourite of mine and this was the only one I came across on the street. It’s the right kind of car for Rhodes, a relatively small island without and high speed limits. Narrow roads and tracks and some fairly poor surfaces in place, where there were actual surfaces. Having said that the main roads were pretty good, just a little lacking in grip.
This Opel Kadett was left lying around at the side of the road, probably having been there for quite some time. It did look like it could be made to go again, if anyone was prepared to put some work in. This looked like a Kadett B Berline or Limousine depending on where in the world you lived. Both sounding much more sophisticated than saloon….
Opposite in a field was a Mk1 Transit pickup. Now these are getting quite rare and collectible,if anyone’s interested I’ll draw you an approximate map and you can go and rescue it. Before it does something similar to the Alfa, although I think you’ve got many years with that.
Lastly of older metal I found this vintage Ford Sierra, no I’m not being flippant when I say vintage, they really are now. This one had been put out to pasture, probably long before it was taken off the road. Impossible to tell with the slight customisation, but this may be a late 80’s variant and may have as much as a 1.6 under the bonnet. The owner having delusions of a 2.8 V6 XR4i, unless it really has got a Cologne V6 in it….
It could be salvageable, but at a cost greater than it’s worth sadly. Quite a decent car and you hardly see them now, certainly in the UK.
That’s it for now, where next?
Simon 
