The holden Berlina station wagon was the ultimate standard family car and you can’t change my mind.
Could fit 3 kids and 5 people’s luggage, furniture/tools, or a family and the dogs. Standard sedan form factor. Towing capacity absolutely suitable for household landscaping/tip dumping/large furniture transport.
If the roads around you were paved and slope didn’t exceed like 50 degrees you would never need anything else. It fucking pissed me off seeing everyone say the needed an SUV “to take the kids to sport” or on holiday when these were being made. They were cheaper, more practical, usually had more storage, and more prosocial.
I still see some of those old Berlina’s kicking about here. Not as much as out east, but it’s nice to see how well those things have managed to hang on.
Our family’s kicked the bucket, it works but the cylinders are fucked enough that the rings don’t seal and it burns motor oil. Repair involves getting that engine out, resurfacing the cylinders, and modifying the pistons for a larger size of ring than can currently fit. Not worth it for a 20 year old car :(
I loved that thing. Never a job it wasn’t suitable for. It was amazing when we were teens and amazing to be able to borrow as adults moving/furniture shopping/rennoing etc.
That’s a shame, I see them at pick and pulls all the time, but piston ring failure claimed a lot of these things. My 2001 Mitsubishi Triton needs a ton of work, but at least the block is solid.
The holden Berlina station wagon was the ultimate standard family car and you can’t change my mind.
Could fit 3 kids and 5 people’s luggage, furniture/tools, or a family and the dogs. Standard sedan form factor. Towing capacity absolutely suitable for household landscaping/tip dumping/large furniture transport.
If the roads around you were paved and slope didn’t exceed like 50 degrees you would never need anything else. It fucking pissed me off seeing everyone say the needed an SUV “to take the kids to sport” or on holiday when these were being made. They were cheaper, more practical, usually had more storage, and more prosocial.
I still see some of those old Berlina’s kicking about here. Not as much as out east, but it’s nice to see how well those things have managed to hang on.
Our family’s kicked the bucket, it works but the cylinders are fucked enough that the rings don’t seal and it burns motor oil. Repair involves getting that engine out, resurfacing the cylinders, and modifying the pistons for a larger size of ring than can currently fit. Not worth it for a 20 year old car :(
I loved that thing. Never a job it wasn’t suitable for. It was amazing when we were teens and amazing to be able to borrow as adults moving/furniture shopping/rennoing etc.
Solid car.
That’s a shame, I see them at pick and pulls all the time, but piston ring failure claimed a lot of these things. My 2001 Mitsubishi Triton needs a ton of work, but at least the block is solid.