Soundwave

I wonder if they've got Jimmy Savile's old Rolls in stock...

Yeah, I think I'm oot this time. I'm not normally one to complain about ticket prices but that's a lot for what the show is.

Another zero-movement here. I did give some consideration to bean-canning the Rover, but then it went and passed its MOT. Also considered changing my daily, but honestly there isn't really much point. So, the fleet stays as it is:

Have we had this one yet? Many pounds, but also many acres of interior space. @eddyramrod https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/726181202885154/

Rover 200/400 series (R8) - I'm a big advocate of these. I have a shabby 216 and it's a great utility car - takes whatever grotty tasks I throw at it in its stride, and it only cost £350 a couple of years ago. Admittedly I have a modern as well, but the 216 is so nice to drive I could easily see myself using it daily if circumstances forced me to - very comfortable and easy to use. Mostly simple enough to work on yourself, qualifies for classic insurance, can still be bought for dirt cheap but there is a growing enthusiast base so potential for appreciation later. A K-series 214 will have cheaper tax, the Honda D-series 216 is a decent all rounder, T-series 220 is smooth but desirable (and therefore more expensive), and the XUD 218 is slow but very economical on fuel. Downsides are quite costly tax on anything other than a 214 - but if you keep it maintained, the reputed OMGHGF won't be as much of an issue as it's made out to be. Also not MOT exempt yet. So to sum up - very cheap to buy, but also very capable daily drivers. Just watch out for the tax man.

Can almost smell the interior mould from here. Looks very crispy around the windscreen, and has an interesting approach to front impact protection... https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1497961367628004 Obligatory @eddyramrod tag.

Rover 200 R8. Remember my mum having a proper shonker of a 216 GSi when I was a kid, so while the 200 series had some nostalgia value for me, I didn't think highly of them as cars. Fast forward a few decades, I picked this shabby 216 SLi up in 2020 as a bit of lockdown boredom relief: And frankly, I couldn't believe how nice it was to drive. Comfortable, yet could also corner nicely. Genuinely pleasant motoring. Sold it to a mate in 2022 as he needed a stop gap car. When he came to sell it 6 months later, I bought it back off him! Still have it now. Also on a slight modern tangent... SEAT Arona. Test drove one of these recently (not this exact one, this is just a pic off the internet) and despite disliking crossovers as a general rule... actually had a lot more fun with it than I thought I would. To the extent I'm considering one as a new daily driver...

Coincidentally, just had my modern Skoda insurance renewal quote through this afternoon. £566 up from £314.... I reckon I'll be comparing some meerkats tonight. The classics* don't seem too bad, my MX5 insurance didn't go up at all and my Rover was less than £160 all in.

A friend of mine has attempted to sign up, although apparently when he received the confirmation email there was no confirmation link to click. Can any admins assist here? I asked if it was just his email disabling hyperlinks, and he doesn't seem to think so.

Fedex managed to lose my parcel by delivering it to entirely the wrong address 5 streets away, thankfully the people there were honest and made sure I got the parcel in the end... but it's here now. All for less than £30, nice little restock for my lockup.

Really love that you're doing this, and your reasons for it. Sometimes, you've just got to throw economic sense out of the window and do what feels right!

Thanks for the heads up. Just ordered 10 litres of the basic 5w30 and 5 litres of Mannol G12 coolant for just shy of £30. Whilst I don't have a pressing need right now, always good to have fluids ready in case of unexpected emergency!

Ford Puma, especially the 1.7. The original Puma I mean, not the current pudgy little SUV thing.

Reckon that's a scam. Take a look at the seller's marketplace listings, absolutely rammed with cars way below their normal values...

Must be one of the earliest survivors in this country.

This morning, the Rover did this: I'll be honest, I'd had every intention of scrapping it this year, due to all its issues. Couldn't bring myself to do it just yet, decided to punt it through a test anyway and it goes and gets a clean pass. Not even any advisories. What does it take to kill this thing?! The one thing my MOT bloke did say is that the emissions were near the boundary. I'm guessing it's the oil combustion from its failing HG that's causing this. He also said it's structurally far more solid than it has any right to be!

I always seem to find this stuff when I don't have the money or room. Like when I found that white Xedos within a few minutes of the ad being posted... that one still stings even now.

Needs a bit of sparkly stick action and some fettling to get an MOT, but when did you last see one? https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202310132955048

Even more annoying are the persistent cunts who say "Everything is always for sale, mate" when you tell them it isn't. Used to have that problem with my old Beetle,

Sometimes also has a native American dream catcher hanging off the rear view mirror, and a spare wheel cover on the back of their dayvan with an image of an Indian chieftain on it.

Took this a few months back, one has since gone.

Bit of a niche one, and a bit cheaty since it's technically not a road user, but... The Phantom Emergency - only ever encountered after dark during November and December, and usually on twisty roads. As you approach a blind bend, you notice a flashing blue glow coming from around the corner. You pull over and wait, expecting an ambulance or police car to come barrelling around the corner at any moment. After a minute or so, the blue flash continues, but doesn't seem to have gotten any closer. You notice that it's pretty intense - perhaps there has been an incident around the corner, and multiple vehicles are in attendance. Unable to ignore your curiosity, you creep around the corner in 1st, bracing yourself for what scenes of horror might be unfolding on the road ahead... ... the road is totally clear, but some tasteless cunt has decked out their house with 20,000 "ice blue" LED Christmas lights, with every string of 50 flashing out of sync with the rest. Not only does it look shit, but to everyone within a 2-mile radius who can't see the house directly, it looks like the emergency response to a fucking plane crash is in progress. Inevitably, the house is a new build with visible cracks already appearing in the mortar and a financed Evoque outside. Please tell me it's not just me who's fallen for this before?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202310072749055 Behold, the greyest interior known to mankind!

Quick, post it on the blue forum, you'll be an instant hero!

Continuing a previous post... The Green Laner: Larval stage. The larval stage of the standard green laner is usually aged late teens to late 20s, sometimes even freshly qualified as a driver. Usually the offspring of an adult green laner, they'll have been raised in the ways of casual vehicular trespass and impractical suspension settings from an early age, and keen to get in on the action themselves. However, their insurer won't cover them on a shoddily bob-tailed Discovery 1 with a smokescreen tune, so they'll usually start out in a Jimny or Fourtrak. The especially cash-strapped may even plump for a Vitara. It'll have the same suspension and wheel mods as their dad's Discovery, albeit on a slightly smaller scale. It may also have a "hilarious" sticker that reads "Land Rover Recovery Vehicle", to mask their jealously at being unable to insure one. No TD5s here, just the standard engine with all the silencing removed from the exhaust and an MOT just as questionable as their parents' cars. Usually found wearing a North Face bodywarmer and rigger boots, before receiving their obligatory Hi-Vis jacket at the age of 30. This often coincides with their first LR purchase and metamorphosis into an adult green laner.