Faults:

Rust! Needs welding for MOT's every year. Beware of rust in the sills! By far the biggest problem.

Endless problems with the Weber carbs, they seem to love getting blocked up, for no apparent reason.

Head Gasket went - easy to change, adjustable rockers.

Wobbly driveshafts.

General Comments:

The cheapest car I have ever owned. V. easy to get second hand and pattern parts for at the moment. You must be willing to look after it yourself though, and learn how it works if you want it to be cheap.

The comfort is wonderful, still felt nice to drive after a 18hr run from Glasgow to south of France.

Performance is surprisingly good, the car is very light for its size.

Massive load capacity - you can put a single mattress flat in the back and 2 people can sleep in comfort.

Series 1 interior is much more robust and nice to use than the newer Series 2 cars. Stainless steel bumpers are very practical!

Faults:

Nothing so far... I have had 3 of these cars in the past, and apart from one exhaust which fell off at the ball joint under the crossmember (CX owners will know what I'm on about), the cars have been virtually trouble free... INCLUDING the electrics.

General Comments:

This car was totally mis-understood in the UK by journalists who didn't spend long enough with it to report its virtues. Consequently, it didn't sell well enough to become familiar to the dealers and service people who then painted a bad picture to the public about the car's reliability. Poor rustproofing of the early cars didn't help. A downward spiral ensued.

Hindsight and the remaining owners now paint a better picture... the cars are generally very tough and the hydraulics don't give too much trouble...

As for the design itself, what other car inspires such emotion from its owners? I have not yet had a passenger in mine who doesn't go wild over the superb comfort of the softest comfy seats in the motoring world. They also marvel at the unique design approaches on this car, which to the un-initiated seem off-beat, but when understood make perfect sense. My passengers are so frustrated that they can only be obtained in a rare car that ceased production in the late 1980's!!

I think the value of these cars is set to climb as they become cherished (there are less than 1000 runners left in the UK).

Faults:

Electrical, electrical, electrical!

Poor running took 6 months to cure. In the end, after spending £1200 on new parts, it was the alternator at fault.

Other than that, expensive to run but free of major faults.

General Comments:

Those responsible for the design of this car were geniuses. Those responsible for assembling the wiring should be punished severely!!!!

I wouldn't drive anything else though.

Graceful, smooth, swift, solid, beautiful and a true individual. We won't see the likes of it again in mainstream car manufacturing.