24 posts tagged “1982”

I remember at the time there was quite a lot of excitement around this car—then as the years went by, we realized it was another boring bread-and-butter bubble. All the Ford Telstars made it on to Autocade today, and here they are. This is, as far as I can tell, more accurate than the claptrap on Wikipedia.

Ford Telstar (GC/AR/AS). 1982–7 (prod. unknown). 4- and 5-door sedan. F/F, 1587, 1789, 1998 cm³ (4 cyl. OHC). Mazda Capella (GC) with new front and rear ends and Ford badging. Mechanically the same. No coupé. Five-door badged TX5. Big technological advance on Cortina, which it replaced in Australia and New Zealand, though in the latter market, a station wagon variant was missed. Popular and a welcome all-rounder in the mid-sized market at the time, and Ford’s main entrant through most of the Asia-Pacific, but more seemed to be affectionate toward its predecessor. Sold at Autorama dealers in Japan.

Ford Telstar (GD/AT/AV). 1987–96 (prod. unknown). 4- and 5-door sedan, 5-door wagon. F/F, F/A, 1587, 1789, 1998, 2184 cm³ petrol, 1998 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. OHC), 1789, 1998 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC). Mk II Telstar, introduced alongside Mazda Capella (GD), and with a stronger resemblance to the donor vehicle. Station wagon for the first time from 1988, but sold only in Japan and New Zealand; sedans appeared more mature, larger. Five-door still called TX5. DOHC and four-wheel-drive models for this generation, as well as a larger 2·2-litre unit. Improved on its predecessor in terms of quality and refinement, but more of a domestic appliance. Station wagon continued as part of closely related GV series after 1991, while sedans went to GE platform that year; GD wagons were still assembled in New Zealand into the mid-1990s.

Ford Telstar (GV). 1992–7 (prod. unknown). 5-door wagon. F/F, F/A, 1789, 1998 cm³ petrol, 1998 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. OHC). Instead of coming up with an all-new wagon for the GE-series Capella and Telstar, Mazda put the GD through an extensive facelift, and sold the result alongside GE. The effect was somewhat incongruous—bumpers and plastic trim looked like afterthoughts and blended poorly with the original shape—but GV kept the company in the mid-sized wagon market in Japan for much of the 1990s, when it faced financial difficulties. Mid-term revisions in 1994.

Ford Telstar (GE/AX/AY). 1991–7 (prod. unknown). F/F, F/A, 1789, 1991 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC), 2497 cm³ (V6 DOHC). Another variation on the Mazda Capella (GE)—Mk III for want of a better term—as before with relatively few changes from original Japanese model. Overall a bread-and-butter bubble with typical rounded styling of the late 1980s–early 1990s. Telstar II launched in Japan in 1994 and overlapped standard GE run. GE built also in South Africa by Samcor, 2·0 and 2·5 only.

Ford Telstar II (CG). 1994–7 (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan. F/F, 1789, 1991 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC). Odd amalgam of rounded centre section of GE-series Telstar with formal front and rear ends favoured by traditional Japanese sedan buyers. Mechanically a GE four-cylinder. Same sheetmetal as contemporary Capella. Introduced in Japan after Mazda’s multi-brand strategy collapsed, and front end meant to ape Mazda Sentia; Ford simply took what was available for the Japanese domestic market and badged it a Telstar.

Ford Telstar (GF/GW). 1997–2001 (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan, 5-door wagon. F/F, F/A, 1840, 1991 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC), 1998 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. OHC), 2497 cm³ (V6 DOHC). Final Telstar, but very conventional. Mazda Capella (GF) twin was developed as a reaction to the company’s overambitiousness of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and resulted in a very plain car. Telstar had four-door sedan and wagon; no five-door. Diesel from 1998. Sold in Japan, and not widely exported as Ford shifted to promoting the Mondeo and Contour in most markets.

This was a bit disappointing. What is the 900th entry on Autocade?

Ford Telstar (GC/AR/AS). 1982–7 (prod. unknown). 4- and 5-door sedan. F/F, 1587, 1789, 1998 cm³ (4 cyl. OHC). Mazda Capella (GC) with new front and rear ends and Ford badging. Mechanically the same. No coupé. Big technological advance on Cortina, which it replaced in Australia and New Zealand, though in the latter market, a station wagon variant was missed. Popular and a welcome all-rounder in the mid-sized market at the time, and Ford’s main entrant through most of the Asia-Pacific, but more seemed to be affectionate toward its predecessor. Sold at Autorama dealers in Japan.

   Well, at least, unlike the Wikipedia entry on the car, it’s accurate.
   A hundred to go and then I’ll announce the site more widely.

There’s a thread on Facebook on a New Zealand group, on the topic of advertising that we still quote. I volunteered this list:

Schweppes: ‘Alone Again, Naturally’; and Doris (drag queen)
2ZM (Wellington): ‘Fun, fun, fun in the big city’ (1978)
Territorial Part-Time Soldiers: done to the theme of ‘Born to Be Wild’
L. V. Martin & Son: Alan Martin
Ches & Dale (in colour!)
John Walker selling Fresh-up: ‘It’s got to be good for you’
Suzanne Prentice: ‘It’s cheaper, cheaper, cheaper at Wardell’s’
Leyland Princess 2: ‘It’s a triumph’
TV2: ‘Bringing the world to you / On 2’
Lands for Bags (of course)
AA Mutual: ‘Double-A-M-U-T-U-A-L / We’ll make sure you’re OK’
Sports and Recreation: ‘Try it now, do it more, things you’ve never done before’
Swim safety PSA with that guy from MASH
Fire safety PSA with Dick van Dyke (obviously made in the US and reused here)
And the karate ladies from Cut Price Stores (the real discounters)—‘Grocery prices must come down!’

And can add that ‘Bushell’s instant coffee puts the life in you.’ I still have a few of the above on video cassette, but, sadly, I cannot find them on YouTube.
   Any other Kiwis want to volunteer some memories?

I think the BBC may have been premature uploading photographs from next week’s Ashes to Ashes. Do not scroll down if you don’t want a spoiler. I’ve tried to put the most revealing pic at the bottom of this bunch.

The second series (or season to our US friends) finalé to Ashes to Ashes looks very good indeed.

Forget Chuck and Di, this was the big news in the early 1980s as far as I was concerned. When the Ford Sierra was launched, it looked like the future had arrived. Some conservative British fleet buyers were less than impressed as the reps couldn’t figure out where to put the fish paste samples. But as a kid, I sketched this car a lot and had quite a few scale models of various versions.

Next week’s Ashes to Ashes in the UK:

   Nothing much stands out in this clip. I was hoping to see Morph (who makes an appearance). I still like the fact that Spanish Ray in La chica de ayer is called Raimundo.

A slightly odd Ashes to Ashes on Monday night. There are clues that Alex has been found by the emergency services and that a crash crew is two minutes away, furthering her first-series theory that she could literally be living seconds of her life while days whiz by in 1982.
   Last night, Matthew Graham’s script was good for some of the Gene Hunt lines, and the freemasonry parts were suitably spooky, but there was relatively little from the stalker that we saw in Ashley Pharoah’s first episode last week. I don’t have too much to add, other than the use of a Leyland Princess for the opening car chase, to which Gene utters, ‘Death of a Princess’—again tying in with the Lady Di boat in the first episode last year, and the many Princess Diana references last week (Pont de l’Alma, England’s rose, and 1982 TV footage). And why does Alex keep hearing a helicopter?

   Alex’s body in 2008 must be somewhere connected with Diana—maybe the pier is named for her? Anyone a bit more familiar with the Greenwich–Milwall area?
   Next week, the preview indicates that Morph will appear, in the same manner as the Camberwick Green parody in Life on Mars and Zippy and George last year. Roland the Rat is also scheduled for an appearance in this second series.
   The cast of Ashes to Ashes has been told the entire plot and Marshall Lancaster (whose role has been expanded this year—and I like this direction) has been quoted as saying it is far more complicated than we expect. I think we can presume that it’s “real” and not just in her head—Alex has somehow done a Quantum Leap into someone in 1982. Unlike Life on Mars, there are scenes without her, indicating that the characters have lives outside of her mind. But is there any spiritual meaning behind Gene Hunt?