I have never seen: #1 Talbot Tagora (1981-1983).

The first in a series of ramblings about cars I have never, EVER seen in real life but would love to. Not rare race cars, not supercars and not stuff we didn't see in the UK. These posts are dedicated to ordinary cars that roamed the streets in the retro-era yet have somehow eluded my eyes. Maybe I'll see one at a show, maybe I'll spot one lurking in a driveway somewhere. Who knows?

Number 1: The Talbot Tagora.




A big, bland, boxy, forgettable "executive" saloon from Talbot. An utter disaster for the company, they sold so badly that production stopped after two years. Who can be surprised? Looks like a scaled-up Solara and zero road presence. Not ideal for a company exec looking to make himself seen in a world of Granadas and Rover SD1s. The only interesting styling features are the squared-off arches. The interior is utterly dull, vast expanses of plastic and flimsy controls.

There were three main versions, a 2.2, 2.3 diesel and 2.6 V6.

If I'm going to see one, I want it to be the V6, just under 1100 were made. I bet there are less than a handful left! 19,400 Tagoras were made in total, Chrysler were hoping to shift three times that many in a year. No wonder I have never seen one, nobody bought them.

Not a bad car, just not good enough against the competition at the time.

VW Expo

Another good one! I had never been before, it's a fair old trek to Kent from up here in the sunny North West. Well worth it, a great collection of dubs on show and a great location.

Click for gallery.

Deva Dubs and Rods 2006

GREAT show! Based at Chester racecourse for the past few years, this VW and Custom car/Hot rod show was forced to move to a new venue in Shrewsbury for 2006. It's a great location, excellent facilities and the variety and quality of cars that arrived was as high as ever. Incredible weather (as is often the case for Deva) made for some stunningly gleaming motors.

Photo gallery here, as ever hosted at Retro-rides.

Three favourites:

Der See ruft!

Wörthersee 2006 ROCKED!

Uterly incredible. SO incredible in fact, that the full writeup will have to wait. In the meantime, hundreds and hundreds of photos are here: Click me!