Metal Guru

On 16/04/2024 at 18:51, MiniMinorMk3 said:

1969 austin 1800 towing a routemaster bus

Looks more like the Hindustan Ambassador.

On 15/04/2024 at 22:23, High Jetter said:

U Wot?

Wot Delboy drove.

14 hours ago, Cavcraft said:

Rare Classic 1969 Notin Vedette French Vintage Caravan 1of2 in UK Retro Sleeps 6 | eBay

'Q: Can I come and see this tonight around 7.30pm?'

'A: Soz, M8

'

 

I’m notin’ it’s a bit shit.

8 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

I spent many many weekends and summers in Hastings in the 1970s as we had a static caravan in a park near Battle. We used to go to the chip shop that was on the corner opposite the car park for our tea.

We used to go to an Italian ice cream place further along for Knickerbocker glories.  

I saw a shark washed up by those fisherman’s huts. It was probably about 2-3 foot long but seemed huge as I was only about 7 at the time. There was a big crowd there , must have been the most excitement in Hastings since 1066. 

7 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

That’s pretty terrible even for two strokes. What’s the mix 1:1?

1 hour ago, Timewaster said:

I'm old enough to remember old fellas that would have a football club or political party like loyalty to a brand and would happily tell you "I'm a Vauxhall man" and had only ever owned Griffin badged cars in their 40 years of driving.

Then another chap, usually someone's brother in law would pipe up and say he had only ever have a Ford and wouldn't consider anything else.

I don't remember any Morris Austin or BMC advocates, but we were well in to the Leyland era by then, so I'm not surprised. 

My Dad was a Ford man like that. Popular , Cortinas , Granadas but “deflected” to Volvo (740), because they stopped making estates with the mk3 (Scorpio).

20 hours ago, Rocket88 said:

I would also point out that the constant worshipping at the altar of BMW / Mercedes / Audi makes my teeth itch

German quality engineering innit.

1 minute ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

It is the East Cliff Lift in Hastings, with the black fisherman's huts at the end of the car park

Used to go there a lot when I was a kid but not been there for nearly 50 years.

29 minutes ago, purplebargeken said:

Trying to get hold of a useful person at virgin media is nigh on impossible. Useless twats.

Try ceoemail.com. I’ve used it for several companies when customer (non) service have been useless. I’d assume CEOs do not want to deal with such matters and are pissed off to receive  such emails and someone further down the  food chain get a rocket.

Usually works well but I’ve never used Virgin .

1 hour ago, High Jetter said:

It's the rock, or cliff, that identifies it. Not sure it's in Sussex.

Definitely Hastings. I thought it might be from the cliff lift but several places have them. Zooming in though I can see the black fisherman’s huts.

1 hour ago, Richard_FM said:

The southern hemisphere is a hotbed for odd badge engineered cars!

I like that 2 door Orion, closely related with another space themed name. Some resemblance to a 80s BMW 3 series at the back.

12 minutes ago, purplebargeken said:

Reliability and marketing win every time.

Let’s face it. We (this forum) are a minority. Most people aren’t that interested in cars other than the convenience of getting from A to B (or B&Q), without going via C and D  and smelling other people’s BO.

They prefer internet connectivity to handling  and cup holders to performance. 
Brand snobs are even worse. They pretend they know about cars but they wouldn’t know a 118d from an M3, all they know is their BMW is better (I.e more expensive) than your Ford.

2 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Hastings?

4 hours ago, Yoss said:

 

He's not wrong though is he. British Leyland cars were always way ahead technologically, except the Marina obviously before anybody buts in, but that was there because they could see Ford were outselling them with their horseless carts and thought they'd have a go.

But by the early seventies BL had FWD, five speed boxes, fuel injection, 16 valves, hydraulic suspension (and proper springs on the ones that weren't hydraulic) and self levelling suspension. And not just Leyland, most of the continental manufacturers were dabbling in these things too.

Yet Ford couldn't even manage FWD until 1977. But Ford knew how to sell cars and Leyland didn't. BL came up with lots of good ideas but never developed them properly. Any problems at the start of production tended to stay throughout the life of the car. And of course they were selling cars competing with themselves. Ford were selling simple to the point of ancient technology but people liked that because they understood it. 

Obviously Ford won by keeping it simple but there's no doubt everybody else was building better cars.

It doesn’t matter how technologically advanced or even how great to drive a car is, if it doesn’t start every time you end up hating it. Reliability sells . That’s how the Japanese got their foot in the door. Early stuff was weird looking and rusted badly even by 70s standards, but they started every time and people want that more than anything else.

1 hour ago, rattlecan said:

It’s a fuckin joke, virtually EVERY kind of sport is sponsored by gambling companies. They banned tobacco companies, coz it’s bad for health, yeh I get it, but do you know anyone who lost their house, business & maybe everything they own, coz they smoked a few fags? 
 

20 fags a day is at least £5k a year. Goes a long way to keeping a roof over your head.

15 hours ago, horriblemercedes said:

Took my car for an MOT today. Passed, no advisories. I'm very happy about that. 

This evening I decided to file the pass sheet and noticed the testers name. M. Thatcher. Nice to get a Prime Minister look over your Jaguar XJ

Can’t have been Mark Thatcher. He would have got lost on the way there.

29 minutes ago, Rocket88 said:

The Ford Capri is a vastly overrated car…. As is most Ford junk

Well it was just a Cortina really.

4 hours ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

My dad's first car (down near Stranraer) dissolved in about two years (I think) grit and the sea air got to everything. They grit here a lot and it's plain when you a get a 'city' owned car and compare the subframes/disc brake shields.

75 has replaced the Ovlov 940 and I'm liking the upgrade - more comfy - I do miss the badermatic but the Keeper of The Purse Strings is happy as it's way, way more economical - almost into Bini country which means I'm excused pouring the two of us and all the holiday clobber into a wee car

My car is 20 years old and spent all its life in Scotland. TBF it has had a subframe replaced , no brake shields left , 4 rusty arches and a bit of welding here and there to pass MOTs, but I’d say the condition is on a par with an Orion I had in the 80s , at about 5years . ( In Kent, saw much less salt).

1 hour ago, adw1977 said:

I believe Moskvich had the distinction of being the last car on the UK market for under £1000, a price point they managed until 1975, at the same time that a base Escort was £1300 and a Mini 850 over £1200.

Glass's Guide

Weren’t they often on Sale of the Century as the star prize because there was a rule at the time that TV game  shows could only have a max £1000 prize?

2 hours ago, D.E said:

A man is stranded on the hard shoulder of the motorway with a broken Morris Marina he just bought for £200. 

Is he asleep or dead in the last picture? Anyway, AI doesn't know what a Marina looks like either....

Yes I see a

Trabbie ? Pic1

2. Maxi 3.A35 4. A classic Mini made Bini size., but nothing resembling a Marina.

On 11/04/2024 at 15:56, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Kenssy Fried Chicken ffs.

3 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

That’s the best PT Cruiser I’ve ever seen.

5 hours ago, Supernaut said:

Nah.

You're just going over to mumsnet and making stuff up based on a cocktail of their latest topics.

There's no way one person's life is so full of drama and sheer fucking stupidity.

They just the scripts from Sorry!

13 hours ago, HMC said:

I really don’t think the Escort is there deliberately. Looks like they took it in a hurry and didn’t notice the background.

2 hours ago, omegod said:

I've flown Aer Lingus to USA, I was pleasantly surprised at how decent they were , Man-NYC-Man was  £350  

I once flew from Shannon to Manchester but you had to change planes at Dublin. The first leg was on an inbound overnight flight from America. It was awful , like walking into the aftermath of an all night party with everyone sleeping in chairs , snoring and farting. (Lots of farting on planes due to reduced pressure).

On top of that , as we took off , the cabin was filled with the smell of fuel and I was convinced we were going to crash. 
On the up side, on the leg to Manchester , I was sat a row in front of Alex Higgins. The bar service was brisk to say the least.