1984 Ford Orion GL 1.6 petrol from UK and Ireland
Summary:
A solidly-built, reliable car which seemed to go on forever, a bit like the Queen Mother!
Faults:
I bought an 84B Orion 1.6 GL in September 1990 for £2,000. It was a good car from day one and I owned it until December 2001. The engine was still running as smoothly as ever, but the bodywork was starting to rust. It's now a pool car and can be seen driving around Dudley and Tipton in the West Midlands.
The bodywork, like I said, starting rusting by the time the car was 15 years old and the once comfortable seats started to wear away so bad I needed to replace them. All the brake fluid leaked out after 16 years, but the engine marched on and I sold it to a 17-year-old (the same age as the car) for £25.
The insurance was about £250 a year when I bought it, but I stopped paying insurance in 1997 because I'd lost my job and realised that the insurance was more expensive than my car. For 4 years I drove with no insurance!
General Comments:
The Orion was an extremely reliable car and it was only after about 15 years that the bodywork started to show its age. The engine lasted though.
The ride and handling were both excellent when I bought it and they still match the standards of the new Ford Focus. The build quality was good in its day, but of course it started to show its age in the end. The interior was hardly a style statement, but it did the job.
When I sold the Orion I bought a 95N Renault Clio 1.2 RT for £1,000. It lasted 18 months before the engine blew up and I sold it to a mate for £75. It's now in a scrapyard in Walsall because a gang of joyriders smashed it into a lamp post.
I'm now driving a 99T Vauxhall Astra 1.6 LS which I bought for £2,500. It's a great deal better than the wash-out of a Renault I had just sold, but the mechanicals are really rattly and it's no match for the brillaint Orion. The insurance is good value - £200 per year. Well worth the money because it's about 10% the car's value, not 10 times more than the car's value like the insurance they want me to pay on some cars!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 21st January, 2004
20th Feb 2004, 05:38
Driving without insurance is nothing to boast about!!!
18th Jun 2009, 08:46
I also have an Orion 1600 GL, but mine is an 83 build being built in Germany in September of that year..
I have owned the car for 11 years and have just replaced the engine, which was still running after 175000 miles..
I paid £200.00 for my Orion, and the funny thing is that all my friends thought it an old banger at the time.. They have had around 5 cars or more in the last 11 years and still my Orion goes on..
She is completely original and is not a poxy Escort MK3 as most people believe.. Finding parts for her is almost impossible, as being one of the first off line, a lot of changes were then made.. Mine still has the original chrome banding around windows and grille which soon vanished.. And yes.. I have been offered a lot more than £200.00 for her and still receive offers every time I take her out.. Now that's value, yes???
20th Feb 2004, 03:57
Sir, you are a very selfish individual. When you buy car insurance, you are not buying it for yourself, nor to repair your vehicle if it is damaged. You are buying it to financially cover the damage you represent to the life of another human being. If you can't afford insurance, do not drive a car; it is as simple as that.
If your details on file are legitimate, the owner of this site ought to inform the police so that you may be prosecuted for your crime.