The familiar sound & smell of shite motors

[stilo_active]

Alfa Busso V6

Fiat 5 cylinder (Coupe, Bravo HGT etc)

[phil_lihp]

Not sure if someone already thought of it, but the high-pitched whine of an A-series engine is pretty distinctive, early Metros always sounded to me like they were being driven in reverse.

[alfetta]

old saab 99 900 exhaust burble and turbine like transmission whine...always loved that 'saab smell' too

[Pete-M]

Sierra Cosworth piston slap is pretty distinctive, same for E30 M3s. I always cringe when I hear those things from cold.

[martybabes]

At night or very early in the morning, in a Welsh forest, while waiting for First Car at a Time Control (or similar), hearing the distinctive sound of a twin-cam maybe several miles (and still several minutes) away. If it is a wet and muddy night, the smell of Welsh mud on a hot block too.

 

Doesn't give the same amount of excitement as a Beetle but I would suggest is just as distinctive.

 

Unforgettable sights, smells and sounds.

[Albert Ross]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GWHuRvkjyc

[MikeKnight]

I absolutely love the sound and smell of my Triumph GT6, it's half the fun of driving it.

 

A really lovely thrumming sound that's hard to describe and a pleasant oily engine smell. Love it!

[oman5]

Volvo 240 and 740 have a very distinctive wroouuff noise when the loud pedal is depressed. This is particularly excellent for scaring the bajeezus out of unwary pedestrians who haven't heard you trundling along looking for a parking space, far more effective than a press of the horn too.

 

I like to rev The Volvo's engine just after starting it up in order to hear the whoosh from the viscous fan

 

Spot on! I've just got a 240 and that fan whoosh is gr9!

[Pillock]

VAG pneumatic central locking.

The ticking injectors on a multipoint Polo.

[jonny69]

*Slips on the extra-thick rose tints*

 

I know the hot Rover V8 smell folks are referring to. My dad had a string of cars with RV8s and they all had that smell. Even the injected 4.2 in his hotrod has it!

 

The oily smell of BMC engines is pretty distinctive and quite different to the oily smell from worn Ford inline 4's. I've always assumed it was the SU carburettors that caused it because they've got oil in them that depletes - can anyone confirm?

 

I'd never really considered the smell of old vinyl interiors, but it's probably because my cars have all had old vinyl interiors. That said, if I haven't driven for a couple of weeks, I'll jump in the car and that first deep breath through my nose will suddenly make me feel comforted and at home. This must have been what it was like to get into Christine

 

I haven't got a garage at the moment, but I love that feeling you get as you open the garage door and there's the old car sat in there. Slight smell of cold, light damp and petrol and that dry feeling the surface of the car has when you touch it. Key in, open the door and the air inside the car is stale and musty, slide in, key in the ignition, pump pedal twice, crank and fire...

[dollywobbler]

The sound of Citroen BX central locking is good. Sounds like it'd rip an arm off if you were accidentally touching part of the locking mechanism at the time. The clatter of a Citroen hydraulic pump. The scream of a Citroen flat twin and its gearbox. The smell of exhaust fumes from a leaky heater...

[j-j]

Hydraulic Citroens with the Accumulator "Tick"

 

I always noticed the PAS - equipped BXs and all XMs and early Xantias also made a distinctive and quite noticeable hissing noise too. If I heard an XUD9 Diesel with an occasional hissssss-click i just knew there was a Xantia nearby.

 

Also: starter motor sound of Peugeot 106 and AX is unmistakable.

 

The first 'New MINI' petrol types with a really noisy (think) cold start injector. I notice some of the more recent ones still make this noise.

 

Saab 900 Turbo - one of my favourite turbo sounds because it's so noticeable at low speeds - unmistakable!

[chaseracer]

The sound of Citroen BX central locking is good. Sounds like it'd rip an arm off if you were accidentally touching part of the locking mechanism at the time. The clatter of a Citroen hydraulic pump. The scream of a Citroen flat twin and its gearbox. The smell of exhaust fumes from a leaky heater...

+1

 

 

 

(Beaten to it by a damp hairy bloke in west Wales!)

[Pillock]

The smell of a hot VW aircooled flat-four.

 

For the smell of new cars, a few years ago I used to work at a laptop repair place and we swapped couriers. The new courier supplied hundreds of bright pink plastic boxes with custom-cut foam insides and as soon as I opened the first one I thought "Mmmmm. Ford Escort". I suppose the glue used to stick all the bits of foam together to make the shaped insides was the same as Ford used for upholstery in the 90s, it brought back very vivid memories of my mum's Mk4 Escort.