Not Another Orion!
Discussion
There I was browsing the world wide web, minding my own business, when an image appeared that I knew could cost me some money. I regularly browse Mathewsons website in the lead up to an auction, and there she was, the car that I covered my maths book with in 1985. Now most 11 year olds dream Ford in 1985 would have probably been an Mk2 XR2, maybe a Series 1 RS Turbo, or even a 2.8 Special Capri. No, not this 11 year, mine was a Orion 1.6i Ghia in Rosso Red.
Fast forward 39 years and here I am, staring at a 1985 Rosso Red 1.6i Ghia in all her glory! The estimate seemed very reasonable, so the following week a 210 mile round trip was carried out to have a look. It needs some more work than first thought by watching the video and pics on the website, but would be a nice little project over the coming months if I was lucky enough to be the winning bidder.
Anyway, the auction was last Thursday so I'd registered to bid by telephone. I'd never purchased a car at auction before, so it was a little scary aswell as being quite exciting! At the end of it I was the proud owner of another Orion. I say another Orion as I currently have a 1989 Mk2 1.6i Ghia in Tasman Blue. I will probably have to sell this at some point in the future, as I'm sure the jealousy of having 2 Orions will be too much for most people!
Here's a few pics from when I went to have a look at it. I'm due to collect it in the next week or so, so I will update the post when it's back home and I've got my list of jobs to carry out. It's currently sitting on some 7 spoke RS alloys, which will be replaced with the original 13" wheels which are in the boot.
Here's my current Orion, I'm sure they'd make a nice pair if I keep it!
Fast forward 39 years and here I am, staring at a 1985 Rosso Red 1.6i Ghia in all her glory! The estimate seemed very reasonable, so the following week a 210 mile round trip was carried out to have a look. It needs some more work than first thought by watching the video and pics on the website, but would be a nice little project over the coming months if I was lucky enough to be the winning bidder.
Anyway, the auction was last Thursday so I'd registered to bid by telephone. I'd never purchased a car at auction before, so it was a little scary aswell as being quite exciting! At the end of it I was the proud owner of another Orion. I say another Orion as I currently have a 1989 Mk2 1.6i Ghia in Tasman Blue. I will probably have to sell this at some point in the future, as I'm sure the jealousy of having 2 Orions will be too much for most people!
Here's a few pics from when I went to have a look at it. I'm due to collect it in the next week or so, so I will update the post when it's back home and I've got my list of jobs to carry out. It's currently sitting on some 7 spoke RS alloys, which will be replaced with the original 13" wheels which are in the boot.
Here's my current Orion, I'm sure they'd make a nice pair if I keep it!
Edited by Darren390 on Sunday 18th February 08:53
Edited by Darren390 on Sunday 18th February 09:25
Good to see people still running these
I know Orions take some stick, but I did 95,000 miles in mine, most of them on the wrong side of the speed limit. I bought it at 55,000 and traded it in against a nice Golf.
However, it had some repetitive problems.
Gearboxes
Plug leads
Rear wheel bearings
Alternators
Simple and easy to fix though.
I know Orions take some stick, but I did 95,000 miles in mine, most of them on the wrong side of the speed limit. I bought it at 55,000 and traded it in against a nice Golf.
However, it had some repetitive problems.
Gearboxes
Plug leads
Rear wheel bearings
Alternators
Simple and easy to fix though.
bucksmanuk said:
Good to see people still running these
I know Orions take some stick, but I did 95,000 miles in mine, most of them on the wrong side of the speed limit. I bought it at 55,000 and traded it in against a nice Golf.
However, it had some repetitive problems.
Gearboxes
Plug leads
Rear wheel bearings
Alternators
Simple and easy to fix though.
I had a colleague with one, very precious abouy it. An easy wind up he could spend ages explaining how it was completely different to an Escort and definatly wasn’t an Escort. I know Orions take some stick, but I did 95,000 miles in mine, most of them on the wrong side of the speed limit. I bought it at 55,000 and traded it in against a nice Golf.
However, it had some repetitive problems.
Gearboxes
Plug leads
Rear wheel bearings
Alternators
Simple and easy to fix though.
Exasperated after one hour long tirade, Bob from the stores walks into the room. 'Oi mate your Escorts in the way' 'Shift it'
I grew up with Orion’s, we had a grey boxy G plate and then a silver one on maybe an L I think when they were a bit rounder, family moved to Mondeo’s after that but that silver Orion was the first that I went to the dealership with my parents to choose - the dealer gave me some of the rub on decals that went over the black plastic Orion badges so I put them on my bed.
My name is Ryan so “oh Ryan!” Followed by a b
king was a fairly common thing to hear in our street - the car name was perfect to me!
Good luck with the new purchase, enjoy it.
My name is Ryan so “oh Ryan!” Followed by a b
king was a fairly common thing to hear in our street - the car name was perfect to me! Good luck with the new purchase, enjoy it.
Nice looking thing.
I had a 1.6 auto whilst at uni which was a nice steer in it's day, but it died when I had to do an emergency stop and the bar lever thingy that goes from the brake pedal to the brake servo on the passenger side tore away from the bulkhead. Pedal sank straight to the floor and I had to swerve to avoid the accident and ended up in a brick wall.
I had a 1.6 auto whilst at uni which was a nice steer in it's day, but it died when I had to do an emergency stop and the bar lever thingy that goes from the brake pedal to the brake servo on the passenger side tore away from the bulkhead. Pedal sank straight to the floor and I had to swerve to avoid the accident and ended up in a brick wall.
Well I've arranged to collect the Orion on Saturday, probably on a trailer just to be safe. A previous owner has sent me a few pictures when he owned it, with the original wheel trims that will be going back on. My first purchase has been an October 1985 Ford brochure, the bonus was the relevant page had a Rosso Red one displayed. Hopefully it will look something like this in the not to distant future!
Well I collected the Orion from Mathewsons this morning. Wasn't brave enough to drive it so hired a trailer. Arrived to find it parked in front of the main building so took the opportunity to take a couple of pics. Had a chat with Dave, nice guy who was very complimentary about the Orion, which i told him I didnt appreciate while I was bidding on it!
Gave it a quick once over when home, there's a few things I'd missed when I had a look at it prior to the auction, but hopefully no nasty surprises as work commences. Looking forward to getting it how I want it.
Gave it a quick once over when home, there's a few things I'd missed when I had a look at it prior to the auction, but hopefully no nasty surprises as work commences. Looking forward to getting it how I want it.
stevemcs said:
It looks like a good base to start with, stick the original wheels on, give the inside a good clean and I presume sort the OSR out
Pretty much my plans! Not sure what the RS alloys are worth, whatever I get for them will go towards the work. The interior is in really good condition, but needs a real deep clean. I'll take the seats out as the drivers seat needs a small repair anyway.Hub said:
Nice, the early ones must be pretty rare now. Orions in general seem rarer than Escorts, even accounting for fewer being sold to start with - so you probably own a reasonable percentage of surviving examples!
Love the blue one, always liked those Ghia i's in that colour
Mk1s are super rare, you just dont see many coming up for sale. I always wanted a Rosso Red one, so it was now or never. I really don't want to sell the Mk2, but I'm currently separating from my wife so not sure my bachelor pad, whereever that may be, will have room for 4 cars!Love the blue one, always liked those Ghia i's in that colour
Edited by Darren390 on Saturday 24th February 19:25
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