Cemaes, Anglesey,

Summer 1988

‘Some happy campers have made the best of things’

Yes, it really is summer. We know the well-wrapped pedestrians, leaden sky and choppy waves of north Anglesey’s Cemaes harbour don’t give that impression. But, hey, this is Britain. So some happy campers have tried to make the best of things by parking up for a sea view in their fetchingly brown and beige pop-top 1978 Volkswagen Type 2 van, with a blue and white CF Dormobile nearby. The VW survives today, albeit SORN. Interestingly, it’s the only vehicle here that does.

Other visitors to this windswept car park have turned up in less commodious transport (aside from the VW T2 panel van that, with its rust and lower repairs, has spent far too long exposed to salty air). That said, the Vauxhall Carlton estate in the first row looks huge, especially compared to the assembled Fords – a Cortina MKIV and MKII and III Escorts – surrounding it.

Rival bouts

Moving along, we have two of the fiercest UK small car rivals – an Austin Metro and Ford Fiesta MKII, both from 1985 – supporting the main bout between the executive competitors of a Y-reg Rover SD1 and an X-reg Vauxhall Cavalier. We reckon that the 3.5-litre V8 bruiser had the edge on the 1.6-litre Cav’ cruiser, even with a dented bumper. The Renault 18 on the right sports the two-tone black-over-silver livery of a plush ‘American’ special edition, only 1500 of which came to the UK.

The top row sees a Talbot Horizon sharing its grandstand view of Cemaes Bay with a 1985 Toyota Carina II Liftback, 1984 Lada Riva and 1979 Colt Lancer. We hope the sun came out for them all soon.