When others comment on your shite

[Guest]

Do YOU get hassled by mongs when your park up your shite?I do!I get it quite a lot. From people who know jack shit. Especially in the Volvo.Ones I get a lot include:'Can't get parts for them' (You quite clearly can, bell end).'Those were two stroke' (No, you're thinking of the early Saabs, since when the fuck has an Amazon been FWD?)'You should paint it red' (Fuck you, I think I'll just keep it this colour to annoy you).'That would look great as a hot rod' (Really? Would it? Is is 1975? Are we discussing Street Machine?)'You should chop the roof on it' (Is it a '49 Mercury? Stop talking shit).'Oh, they're not worth much' (It's worth more than your shitty Suzuki Bandit).Then I get berated by the pedantic Volvo originality bores, like that choad at a car show who was horrified I'd drilled into the clutch master cylinder cap (so I can bleed the thing properly dickhead, you can't just by pumping because of how the pipe curls up and over) and that I had 'non standard mirrors'. How about because the originals FELL OFF and because I don't want to drill into my doors? And that there's no such thing as 'correct door mirrors' because they were all fitted by the dealer when they landed in the UK?Usually I feign interest, or if they're doing it to provoke me, like the idiot mechanic near the Co Op who delights in telling me the sills are knackered (and then gets back into an Escort that looks like he's driven it head on into a salt water tank) I normally tell them to go and buy one themselves so that they can do all these amazing things I keep hearing about.The Piazza just seems to incite blind hatred. I was started on in an empty petrol station by a flid in a Mercedes C Class because I was 'in the way' or something.Or perhaps it was because I flipped him and his shitbag wife the bird when he honked at me, and told him to go and fuck himself, I wasn't sure.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Cheer up Wat! You seem to take this old car lark, and all the peripheral guff that goes with it, very personally.

[pogweasel]

Rarely get hassled TBH. Current 'grot' is actually quite modern-looking and tidy so very innocuous.Have had some great comments in the past though. The disgusting Humber Sceptre I rocked about in for a bit was good for that... me & my mate painted it satin black on a sunday afternoon and took it to the Knebworth show the next day (bank holiday). Comments were very varied from the man from the ARCC who rushed over waving his arms excitedly and was pleased that we'd saved it, to the snooty old gits who were initially shown to the spaces adjacent and then subsequently moved elsewhere muttering words like 'sacriledge' 'abomination' and 'junk'. This caused high levels of ROFFLING. Then the 18,000 people who would tell me how the Sceptre was quite posh in it's day. Zzzz. I think maybe I deliberately blott out any negatives though, yes, I know it's an Old Piece of Crap, but I do not care so why does it bother you?The good comments are always worth hearing though, I used to use some really quite ancient kit for stuff like collecting car bits or DIY materials, taking junk to the tip etc, always pleases folk to see old grot working hard though it's usually dodderers who want to chat to you... usually at great length.

[Rocket88]

And so he should. I think we should do our best to insult as many ignorant f**kers as we possibly can. As a lapsed hot rodder, I thoroughly enjoyed parking my 7.5 Buick powered sit up and beg Pop at a classic car show, and standing 20 feet away, wait until a crowd of old giffers gathered round it and starting slagging it off,and then stride purposefully back to polish a valve cover or something. Old people move really fast when they want to!

[Guest]

Cheer up Wat! You seem to take this old car lark, and all the peripheral guff that goes with it, very personally.

Naah Mr.B, it just wears me down hearing the same old crap repeated ad nauseum.I am just a miserable bastard who's old before his time. And finds your eBay feedback piss funny.

[VWPowered]

i scare the neighbours they dont talk to me

[Monkey_boy]

You have three options for these folk who are causing you such upset....1: Kill them using nothing but your car as a weapon2: Kill them using nothing but your car keys as a weapon3: Kill them by force feeding them their own feet.

[Guest]

To be honest, I largely get positive comments on my fleet of crocks, surprising given their boring boxy dullard looks. The only thing you have to do is make them look really clean, then general public opinion instantly changes from "weird old banger" to "really nice".

 

Have to say the Galant does well for positive comments, obviously old people and taxi drivers like it, but it has proven somewhat popular with young ladies, much to my utter disbelief. Pimpin' aint easy etc. Must be the shiny wheels or something.

 

Got to mention this one though, the other day Vicsmith was driving around in my Galant with me as passenger and we stopped for fuel. To save some bother I sorted it out, I stuck a tenner in the tank and went to pay. Whilst I was in the queue some youth further back went to his mate "Hey look at him in the Grand Theft Auto car!" which I found faintly satisfying.

[Father Ted]

The bonnet on the K11 is seriously shot blasted and crappy, so very seriously giving thought to a tin of paint, a "rally door" number 42 that I have and possibly some bonnet pins.

 

It will really piss the wife and the MIL off.

 

(The K10 will shortly find itself going the way of the bay.)

[FredTransit]

I only get hassled in a Mk1 transit, was hounded on the M40 once a few weeks ago when out in the crewcab beavertail, to the point I thought something was dropping off, or smoking, then the bloke pulled up in the middle lane and gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up, then shot off. Bless. I also (and never have done this before) pulled in to have a chat with a bloke in a Mk2 transit harvey frost recovery when I was out in me Mk2 LWB. It was the same van I was in when we went to the Classic Commercial show at Donnington and got royally stared at whilst driving across the vast car park, it's the first and only time I have actually get self concious about being stared at in a classic. Turned out there was a grand total of 2 Mk2s there, the other one belonged to me mate who had come to meet us from Sheffield, he got exactly the same treatment! Like nobody had ever seen one before! Weird.....

[wuvvum]

I used to use some really quite ancient kit for stuff like collecting car bits or DIY materials, taking junk to the tip etc, always pleases folk to see old grot working hard though it's usually dodderers who want to chat to you... usually at great length.

I had that reaction when I was moving house last April and was using the JU250 van to cart stuff to the dump. It turned a few heads - especially on the adjoining pikey site - and everyone over the age of 50 wanted to come and talk to me about it.

[dollywobbler]

One phrase for you. TRY OWNING A 2CV!!!!Then you'll learn about getting abuse from passers by, colleagues, friends. Pretty much anyone! Oh and school children will occasionally throw more than just insults at you as well. Though things have improved in recent years. A lot. Some kids waved at me the other day!My all time favourite though was when I'd filled it up with PETROL and went to pay. The chap behind the counter asked if it was a diesel!! "Yeah, that's why I've just filled it with 95RON you farking loony!"(Note - best to do this once you've got your payment card back...)

[BrianDamaged]

The funniest one I ever had was when I had the Oxford....a bunch of us went down to a localish pub 'Classic Car Night', and I got accosted by some wrinkled old prune who took great delight in telling me I'd "put the wrong wheels on" (they were wide steelies off a mid-60's Reliant Scimitar).After 10 minutes of listening to him berate anyone who DARED to change anything from original spec I lost it and cracked up laughing...not at his diatribe of reactionary invective, but at my mates who had by now gathered behind him with their trousers round their ankles, pulling a mass moonie.Strangely, the old cnut spent the rest of the night resolutely avoiding eye contact.....

[Guest]

One phrase for you. TRY OWNING A 2CV!!!!Then you'll learn about getting abuse from passers by, colleagues, friends. Pretty much anyone! Oh and school children will occasionally throw more than just insults at you as well. Though things have improved in recent years. A lot. Some kids waved at me the other day!My all time favourite though was when I'd filled it up with PETROL and went to pay. The chap behind the counter asked if it was a diesel!! "Yeah, that's why I've just filled it with 95RON you farking loony!"(Note - best to do this once you've got your payment card back...)

I have had this with the Volvo. Once from smart arse 'It's a 2 stroke' man, the second from a pleb in an Evo 7 who laughed when I filled it up with Optimax. And then stalled pulling away and scraped his exhaust on the kerb. The sodding thing was DESIGNED to run on high octane TEL fuel, to my engine 95 Unleaded is the petrol equivalent of flat Carling with a piss top.People may laugh, but you're still faster round Mallory than me!

[Guest]

Can you imagine the compliments, insults, and other general ballache resulting from being the driver of a tidy-ish 25 year old XR2 with a bit of tarp permanently gaffataped over the leaking sunroof? Actually neither can I, haven't used the damn thing since buying it

[Mr_Bo11ox]

TBH Optimax does seem like a bit overkill in an amazon, its got no lead in it for a start, and the 'engine management system' of an Amazon is unlikley to optimise the timing to take advantage of the higher octane.Did they sell amazons in the states? If so you'll probably find that it will be fine on ordinary unleaded, as thats all theyve had over there since the dawn of time.

[155V6]

My daily driver's a bit new really,but I have had "you should get your camshaft checked".No,that's what a 141,000 K Series VVC sounds like,maybe he was thinking of an old Pinto.My Brother,when he had his Beta MonteCarlo on the road,was asked "Is it a Delorean?". Well,it is silver

[Guest]

TBH Optimax does seem like a bit overkill in an amazon, its got no lead in it for a start, and the 'engine management system' of an Amazon is unlikley to optimise the timing to take advantage of the higher octane.Did they sell amazons in the states? If so you'll probably find that it will be fine on ordinary unleaded, as thats all theyve had over there since the dawn of time.

They did sell Amazons in the States, but only the 122S.They generally get away with standard valve seats, and I've come back down to standard unleaded because I'm tres brassic.You're right, I'm probably deluding myself, in a tired 43 year old engine on original rings the performance difference is probably marginal.

[Guest greenvanman]

Most people leave the Astra well alone lest they get tetanus from one of the rusty bits or just dirt on their clothes. That said, a woman at work (who drives a BMW Mini FFS) saw me getting out of it one morning and remarked "that looks a bit rough". "Not as rough as you, you cheeky old trout" I thought to myself.

[254575]

TBH Optimax does seem like a bit overkill in an amazon, its got no lead in it for a start, and the 'engine management system' of an Amazon is unlikley to optimise the timing to take advantage of the higher octane.Did they sell amazons in the states? If so you'll probably find that it will be fine on ordinary unleaded, as thats all theyve had over there since the dawn of time.

They did sell Amazons in the States, but only the 122S.They generally get away with standard valve seats, and I've come back down to standard unleaded because I'm tres brassic.You're right, I'm probably deluding myself, in a tired 43 year old engine on original rings the performance difference is probably marginal.

i thought the higher octane was to compensate for the fact that leaded was 97 ron and standard unleaded is only 95. or is the fact that v-power is 99 that makes it an overkill?

[reallyloud]

I have to say it really depends on the condition and nationality of the car - the Toyota, despite it being the coolest looking of my cars is met with indifference and some hostility due to its shabby paintwork, taped up wing and shagged interior. One chap insisted to me it was a Datsun, when it was parked up - I just agreed with him. The Datsun 100A is far more recognisable, and I do get people saying to me they learned to drive in one/their parents had one/lost their virginity in one. But there still seems to be an element of anti-japanese bias - particularly at car shows, no doubt fuelled by WWII history. Odd that German cars seem to more accepted though.

[simmo]

I used to have an ex Kodak (yellow and white) mark 2 transit 1600 ohv with sliding front doors. The only modifications it had were an orange rotating light and a towbar but it was a pikey magnate always coming up for a chat or flashing headlights. Did consider going the whole hog and having horse head stickers on the doors and lacey thingys hanging all over the place.

[Ratdat]

I generally get pretty positive comments. The R16 gets good vibes from people all the time. Everyone seems to remember them fondly it seems. Even the R11 has had a few nice remarks from people who've had them in the past. The old SD1 had a few positive remarks and no real negatives, despite being a car easy to critisise on many points. The Datsuns are often remembered fondly too but as DC says, there is still a lot of negativity from the duffer set at shows, who still haven't realised that the British car industry died of natural causes, not because of some evil auto invasion from the far east. Not that I really give a shit as their punishment for being so narrow minded is having to drive some old British grey porridge forever more:lol: I do hear the same old bullshit from people but it largely passes me by. Rumour of exceptional rusting on Datsuns, is one of the main ones, when in reality they rusted about as much as anything from Ford, vauxhall or BL did at the time. People still thing Datsun built Austin Sevens, a myth that still gets perpetuated by magazines. When people get carried away with bullshite and imaginary tales I just let it pass me by. It's not worth getting riled by the odd fool.Old cars are just cars. Wether it's an E type Jag, a Simca 1100 or a 120Y, they are still just a mass manufactured product like a washing machine or a telly, designed to make their creators and company shareholders a profit. Some are good, some are shit, some are just boring, but all old motors have some merit and are worthy of some interest. The classic car world is changing though. As the old guard die off and young blood comes into it, the interest in Japanese cars as well as previously unpopular 70's and 80's cars is growing. The internet has helped to make people aware of other marques and models of cars that they were not previously aware of too. I just wish mags like PC would bust out of their MGB, Triumph, BMC, Ford blinkers and take a look at the real variety out there. I wonder how many buyers guides there have been on A35's or Triumph Stags since I originally bought classic mags back in the 1980's?

[dollywobbler]

People may laugh, but you're still faster round Mallory than me!

Aye. I was so chuffed to beat someone!Think it was a close call on bodyroll level mind...

[pogweasel]

That last point is interesting. Look at old Practical Classics from the 80's. Full of Stags and MGB's, which wouldn't have been very old at the time. Now the same folk who probably championed those as classics at the time get in a hissy fit at the sight of a 19-year-old MX5 in a mag....

[shite_meister]

I always get "why are are you driving that old piece of shit?" and my answer is "what in fuck-me-butler's name has it got to do with you?"I could explain that I buy an old car, enjoy it, fix it, generally give it some serious lovin' then move it on usually making a small but worthwhile profit-a win-win situation no? although to be honest I don't rightly give a shit what anyone thinks now I'm in my thirties I'm happy to drive any old crap.depreciation? whats that?

[MrDuke]

Can't believe no-one's mentioned the all-time classic:"Course, the tax is free now innit?" "Look, you complete and utter fu....."

[dollywobbler]

That last point is interesting. Look at old Practical Classics from the 80's. Full of Stags and MGB's, which wouldn't have been very old at the time. Now the same folk who probably championed those as classics at the time get in a hissy fit at the sight of a 19-year-old MX5 in a mag....

Actually, I think there was a similar uproar in some mags that the Stag was being featured in the Eighties. "Why they only stopped making them ten years ago!"

[Mat.T]

I always seem to get positive comments about the Toledo, seems everybody and his dog owned one once. The mazda manages to be pretty invisible although i do occasionally get waved at by a mk1jetta owner! The toyota i havent been out much in yet, so who knows.As for optimax i have been running my toledo on it for the last 1000miles! It runs great and doesnt pink which it did do on normal 95+lead additive, even after i spent ages getting the timing right.

[Volksy]

When i had the old VW Fastback, i got so many people saying..'Nice Volvo'