FAO Spottedlaurel

[wuvvum]

 

 

Been a bit of a mixed weekend for the old gal - it now has a nice quiet exhaust, thanks to the welding skillz of 58classiccars of this parish, but it also has no rear wipers at all - the remaining one got stuck earlier this evening and now doesn't work at all. I didn't get a chance to look at the linkage as it was fugging horrible all day. Still, at least it doesn't sound like a barried Saxo any more.

[Spottedlaurel]

Wahey! 200k eh, and no doubt still feeling healthy enough? Presumably you'll be trying to get another year's ticket on it if you've had the exhaust welded?For AS newcomers/those who don't care/can't keep up with Wuvvum's car-buying, this is my old Camry estate. Probably the best all-round car I've ever had.Bluebird's doing sterling service as my daily through current crappy weather, the only things I miss are the loadspace, fuel injection (for consistent running when warming up) and ABS, for those panic moments on the country lanes. Certainly not ideal to get the Laurel out at the moment, so I have little choice. Did 440 miles in a Golf Mk5 in the week, which left me somewhat underwhelmed. I like being able to see out of a car, for a start, and why bother with a 6-speed 'box if the rev's aren't stupidly low on a cruise? SL's verdict: little progress on cars in the last 15 years, once you compare them to something equipped with ABS and injection.

[r.welfare]

Did 440 miles in a Golf Mk5 in the week, which left me somewhat underwhelmed. I like being able to see out of a car, for a start, and why bother with a 6-speed 'box if the rev's aren't stupidly low on a cruise? SL's verdict: little progress on cars in the last 15 years, once you compare them to something equipped with ABS and injection.

Thick pillars are the curse of modern "safety" standards these days. Everyone gets turned on by the passive safety ratings, e.g. NCAP, but don't seem to realise that active safety suffers. Doesn't matter how many airbags and doodads you have, if you're still going to hit something because your vision is obscured...With you on the 6-speed 'box thing - I hired a Fiat Bravo recently (the new one that looks like an overinflated Grande Punto) and it had one despite only being a 1.4 petrol, so unless you were doing 70+ on a totally flat road it was pointless, and not really suited to the M8...I did quite like the "cornering" fog lights but initially put it down to wonky Fiat build quality than an actual design feature!