2 door Octavias

[Guest]

I can't see it happening because I think the market would be so tiny, it wouldn't be viable. I think different manufacturers are able to 'pull off' a certain type of car, and given that a coupe or cabrio is likely to cost several thousand pounds more than the standard car it's based on, I think they would price it out of the market.

I do think it's a little unfair to say Skoda are not innovative in recent years, given the Roomster and Superb II

I agree about the Roomster and the Superb has innovative features (i.e. saloon / hatch boot opening) but it's still a large family / executive car, like all the other mainstrem marques produce.

Volvo's XC60 or BMW's X6 are fairly innovative as they are new types of car not easily pigeon holed.

[James_H]

That's what the wink wink was for!

Your not James Hale the VW Beach Buggy guy from the magazine VW Ultra then I take it? I emailed you several weeks ago about a Beach buggy project I'm doing.

James Hale is the UK's top man in the VW & Beach Buggy scene

Nope, not me. There are far too many James Hs about - I need a more inspiring forum name.

[Banana-Man]

I can't see it happening because I think the market would be so tiny, it wouldn't be viable. I think different manufacturers are able to 'pull off' a certain type of car, and given that a coupe or cabrio is likely to cost several thousand pounds more than the standard car it's based on, I think they would price it out of the market.

I do think it's a little unfair to say Skoda are not innovative in recent years, given the Roomster and Superb II

I think you will see a radical shift in the way everything we take for granted is priced. I think there will be a lot more products available to people who could never traditionally acquire them.

Look at the Price of a Brand New out of the Box Ford Mustang with all the added extras. this is a cheaper car than than middle of the range Renault Clio with just a hand full of extras £13k buys you muscle. they do 20 to 25 to the gallon as well. New Pontiac GTO's (Aussie Minarros and Euro VX something or ruther) bargain at £15k Hummers have been all but sold to the a company in India - No one wants them. Brand new Corvette £25K. It will not be long before they all start realising that there is no place for expensive cars - if no one can buy them.

Here in Portsmouth Solent a main dealer with dealerships in Southampton to Brighton and everywhere between has gone bankrupt in the last couple of weeks. Citroen / Mazda and Nissan disappeared over night. I went along a couple of months ago to look at a car and noticed a Citroen grand picasso? It was full of cheap electronics - which in my logic and experience is more to go wrong - they wanted £26K what the hell! NO Citroen is ever worth more than about £5K after 3 years old, so no wonder they went under.

VAG will have to sure up its price list to. They will have to come up with innovative ways of extending their ranges lifecyles rather than invest heavily in totally new models. As for the Roomster? I went in to buy some Parts at Sparshatts in Fareham and took a squizz. What a pile of poo. They should have called it the Pooster. It is a van really with windows. It kind of resembles the old Renault Extra based on the Renault 5. A car made for someone to roll into the back in a wheel chair - a bit like the Popemobile?

It looks bulbus and how a car would be drawn by a 5 year old child.

Anyway back to pricing. Skoda could save money and increase the life cycle of the Octavia by either the Coupe, Convertible or lets face it a n Escort sized panel van if they wanted to. The factory is all tooled up and ready to push a few buttons on a C.A.D machine and away it goes - Bobs your unkle - you can add 5 years to a models lifecycle. This is what Ford done with the Escort and the Forcus - they were essencially the same cars ever since Dagenham opened. they just changed a few bits of rust around and you keep building a naf car. Citroen 2cv took it to another level and just spayed the wings every now and then another shade of hippy.

Truth is a car has to many middle men. The designers and testers to the parts delivered to the factory to the communist people who put it together even the transporter that takes his wedge to get the cars to the dealers. Then the dealer grims at you wanting to con you some more. This is why cars are expensive to buy new. I would bet if you took all the parts home raw of a new car lets say a Golf the total cost of all the parts and paint etc would cost £3k then they add another £15k for the agro of getting it put together and brought to you.

Watch the prices of ALL cars in the next year crash. They will all have to compete for business and will fall over themselves to shift the mountain of cars churning out of the factories - or they to will have to lay the staff building the cars off.

Edited 15 December, 2008 by Banana-Man

[TeflonTom]

i think the roomster looks strikingly similar to that renault spac wagon..

anyway on the original subject of 2 doors, i've seen it done to a vw bora, they cut all the spot welds off and the whole panel is removed the the 2-door side panels and b-pillars from a mk4 golf are grafted on.. it does look really good too especially when they change over the headlights and bonnet too

random pic from google image search

[Banana-Man]

Tom when did you get your internet back up an running - I thought the Feds were coming around to sort you out for downloading Take Thats new album?

It's Dangerous here. Do you like my 2 door It did on me Dell this morning? What are you doing about this Gokart for Zac that you want to build? and when do you want the bouncy castle back, it's killing the grass Bruv in the back garden - It's good having a bouncy castle in the back garden when you feel like a bit of a bounce with large breasted ladies. Take it back mate it's really killing the grass off - I will get a fleet of space-hoppers for the ladies and stick em in the garage.

Ey curumber look at the time - I got to be up at 6 and dressed in the VRS to savage Portsmouth Christmas shoppers

[TeflonTom]

Tom when did you get your internet back up an running

orange mobile broadband:)

I thought the Feds were coming around to sort you out for downloading Take Thats new album?

download:O it was the 2000 people i seeded it to that they were more concerned about i think

What are you doing about this Gokart for Zac that you want to build?

when i'm finished doing panto i'll get onto it

and when do you want the bouncy castle back

yeh i need that soon actually, but at least it stops you having to mow the lawn

[Banana-Man]

Tom when I get another car - obviously not the Fiat Coupe on the Drive. Do you fancy having a good go at actually welding the back door up on the VRS and doing what I said I wasn't going to do to Lummox, and do it in my garage. how hard can it be - probably near impossible. I saw it done on teleschnizzle the other day - it looked easy

If we totally balls it up we could either take it to Dave at West End Body Shop to finish off of torch it on the insurance? I hate having 4 doors - it means people get in

[TeflonTom]

i'm liking the torching it idea, it's been years since i've torched a car...

i reckon set her a'flame then roll her off portsdown hill into somebody's living room in paulsgrove

[Banana-Man]

i'm liking the torching it idea, it's been years since i've torched a car...

i reckon set her a'flame then roll her off portsdown hill into somebody's living room in paulsgrove

Won't be much of a special occassion though will it?

they do this twice a day as it is! there must be a couple of thousand hooky cars under the chalk pit below the MOD DERA building?

I would give it to Clarkson for a Top Gear Minicab special. then it would be wrecked.

[fluffmeister]

As for the Roomster? I went in to buy some Parts at Sparshatts in Fareham and took a squizz. What a pile of poo. They should have called it the Pooster.

Yep ... poo them Roomsters, ugly, ill handling totally impractical and lacking any real flair in their design

[Banana-Man]

Tom when I get another car - obviously not the Fiat Coupe on the Drive. Do you fancy having a good go at actually welding the back door up on the VRS and doing what I said I wasn't going to do to Lummox, and do it in my garage. how hard can it be - probably near impossible. I saw it done on teleschnizzle the other day - it looked easy

If we totally balls it up we could either take it to Dave at West End Body Shop to finish off of torch it on the insurance? I hate having 4 doors - it means people get in

Just kidding!

[Banana-Man]

Most cars do handle really well for us mere mortals. and do look really stylist too.

but then you can make really awful cars handle really good

Enjoy = click on link

YouTube - Top Gear - Lotus Lada

[S41NT]

Came across this picture in a thread a while back, wondered if it was some sort of prototype and i also wondered at the time why they dont do a 3 door coupe.

Looks like the MK1 octy front but it still looks nice. Now i've got a nipper though i think its 5 door only, for the next 18+ years anyway.

[chavdarlk]

It is a concept car - Skoda Tudor

[dan_the_v8man]

the way i see it is, the octavia is more shapped like the jetta/bora than the golf, kind of saloon-hatchback unlike the golfs which drop away at the back. from my experience 3 door cars in the octavias market all have drop away ends, i.e. focus, golf, A3. Have you ever seen a jetta/bora 3 door?

[Banana-Man]

Yeh they could pull the rear window towards the back slightly and drop the roof an inch or two. would look nice.

[Bodge]

i'm liking the torching it idea, it's been years since i've torched a car...

i reckon set her a'flame then roll her off portsdown hill into somebody's living room in paulsgrove

Haha I've been up Portsdown Hill! Wink wink nod nod

My ex was from Fareham, so she took me up there. Literally....

[billybskoda]

yeah, she took me there too...

[shark_90]

As what, the Octavia II? No it aint, completely different type of chassis.

Good to see someone talking sense, there's a lot of people on here that seem to state fact thinking they know what they're talking about despite being categorically incorrect! :thumbdwn:

[chavdarlk]

[Scathel]

I found this picture of a MK1 Octavia:

which is, according to the poster in this thread, a 1.9TDi Elegance.

There is also a certain black Mk1 vRs with green detail,that has been much admired in that thread too...............as well as some errr, ummmm, customised to personal tastes, shall I say :P

Edited 10 January, 2009 by Scathel
Clarifying mark

[George_Couser]

Real photo - no photoshop.

[George_Couser]

And one small photo of real prototype Octavia 3D from 2002.

[Paul007]

That just looks rubbish...

[blackspaven]

Yeah. Perhaps they're right: you should never realise your dreams, you'll only be disappointed!

I once saw an article in The Golf or Golf+ or whichever name it was running as at the time, where a bloke had gotten a standard MkII VW Jetta and ordered a set of complete new sides from VW and welded them in to give a two door car before spraying it pastel blue. Looked good, unlike the octavia above unfortunately.

(the photoshop version earlier in the thread looked much more appealing!