There's a local garage owner who worked for the Datsun importers here in Ireland.
His job was to patch up the rust on the cars when they arrived fresh from the factory before they reached the showrooms.
I always felt Lancia got the brunt of the "rotten-from-new" stick as their market share was relatively small, they were considered upmarket and doesn't everyone enjoy seeing the well-heeled fools making bad choices, especially the venerable media!
My first car, a 1979 BL Mini, all of nine years old when I bought it was so structurally rotten that the passenger seat migrated into the rear with the floor section still attached and my then girlfriend (now long-suffering wife) lying on her back looking stunned and less than elegant with her attire around her head.
On another occasion, i was driving home from her house when I heard a crash, the n/s headlamp went dark and I nearly crapped myself. Convinced I'd struck a pedestrian or unlit cyclist I stopped and went back to do whatever i had to with my heart in my mouth.
What had really happened was the headlamp had fallen out complete with bowl and small section of the wing and I'd driven over it.
Have you seen what people pay for Mini's these days?
Take a look at any classic car mag. and see just what's available in the way of body panels for these horrible (give me an Escort any day) puddle jumpers and tell me Betas were the worst things from the 70's.
While I'm on a roll here, I should mention the whole "Electrics" thing as well.
I have a Mk1 Golf GTI and the wiring is disgraceful with sufficient water in the fuseboard to keep a couple of goldfish in, connections and even actual wires failing and I've been reliably told by folks who had them when they were current, that they were born that way.
Oh yeah, sills, inner and outer, strut turrets, doors and floors all give way to the incoming tide and there is a wealth of repair panels available for them too.
So tell me, what's so unique about the Beta again?
Oh yeah, they RUSTED
