Spotter's delight?

[Johnso]

Now I think my spotting skills have improved, the seats and engine bay vent are mk1a but colour coded bumpers are mk1b

I am not sure about what happened first. Did the bodywork move to mk1b before the engine? So is this a mk1a with a b body kit?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3214946509...84.m1423.l2649

[cchrysos]

All correctly spotted! What you have actually spotted is a very late Mk1 crossover. It also has the mk1a steering wheel, chrome tipped air balls and wiper/light switches.

The body is not a full mk1b as it has mk1a front valances and lower lip. The bumper is also flat faced like the mk1a rather than raked.

All of this spells factory crossover model.

[Johnso]

Thanks for pointing out the other differences, I guess a lot of parts that are clues can be changed by the owner, so it is good to know as many as possible.

[Martin42006]

There are a couple of other differences as well, the ashtray is in front of the gearstick in the MK1a and the fuel gauge doesn't have the smaller lines between the 1/4 marks which are present on the MK1b

[jimi]

What you have actually spotted is a very late Mk1 crossover.

I'm not sure it is a crossover car, it looks like a 1a with side skirts (quite common in later 1a's) the interior is straight 1a, exterior looks all 1a apart from the side skirts (ie engine bay intake, roof aerial, front bumper, alloys) crossovers were more like 87 and even early 88 and were more 1b body with a 1a engine. It's also had the bump strips and decals removed when it was resprayed

[Boondougal]

is that pin stripe detailing original?

[Master-B]

is that pin stripe detailing original?

Could be, I've seen other early cars with very similar stripes. But it does look like its had paint, so might not.

Verdict: Who knows.

Ive posted some useful* stuff in my time, but this has to be an all time winner

[jimi]

I'd say it's not, all the original decals and pin striping have been removed when it was sprayed

[charged]

In my experience - The only true mk1a's are the 85 models. Anything later is a cross over or b.

[cchrysos]

In my experience - The only true mk1's are the 85 models. Anything later is a cross over or b.

If you mean the only true mk1a's are 85...then i would agree that my experience is the same. They are all B and C reg cars. There are some C reg 86 MK1a's around as they were in the showrooms for some time.

I'm not sure if the pinstrip was ever an option or factory / dealer fit but i have seen quite a few over the years with it fitted.