Autoshite cliches, myths and old wives tales...

[Junkman]

Badermatics can't be towed nor tow started.

[Bren]

Mitsubishi shogun's never break down, and diesel ones do 40 mpg - even pulling a caravan.

 

Or so I was told by a bullshitter from Salford.

[quicksilver]

Forgive me if we've had this one but it's a PHAKT that the Rolls-Royce engine in the Vanden Plas Princess 4-litre R came out of an armoured car. Completely untrue but it did damage the car's reputation. It's also PHAKTUAL that the R in the name stands for 'Royal'.

[oldford]

 

There's a lot of reason to fuel filler location - on the Kangoos we have at work, the fuel filler is on the left hand side unlike Renault's cars, presumably to make it easier for the left-hand side commercial driver to fill up.

If you remove the filler cap on a Kangoo, you can't open the left hand sliding door.

[simmo]

If you are attacked by a shark just hit it on the nose.....

 

This may also be a myth but I thought this came from the manual used by US pilot for when they have to ditch at sea, along the lines that sharks are cowardly scavengers and a punch to the nose will shock them in to retreat, they obviously Know it nonsense,  About as effective as duck and cover in an A-Bomb attack.

[Vince70]

A mate had an 05 Cooper S. First time I had a go in it on billiard smooth Spanish roads I thought it was terrific and wondered why he despised it. Then I had a go on the roads near where he lived and found it to be the worst riding car I'd ever experienced.

An ex girlfriend had a cooper on a 07 which was 3 years old at the time and I do know what you mean about the ride..

 

We were in the car and hit a pothole at 50 with those horrible concrete run flats.. It didn't damage the tyre or wheel but two weeks later I got a phone call saying the heater doesn't work.

 

What had happened was the gearbox linkage gubbins had gone through the radiator hose due to the force of the pothole and bad design so she had been running it air-cooled and didn't notice the warning light on the dash.. Luckily as it was a cold spell the car hadn't ended up boiled up on the side of the road..

 

But she did get the hose replaced then quickly traded it in on a lease deal as I could see once the weather warmed up the car would have done a K series.

[drum]

Driving at 56mph gives you the maximum mpg in ALL cars.

 

 

If you piss on a Volvo Amazon a parasite swims up your piss and locks onto the inside of your cock.

[daveb47]

Was a total goon.... Wonder what happened to him?

 

Probably became a politician....

[overrun]

Allso, the reg no was JJZ which made me happy.

I retract my previous statement.

[inconsistant]

The M25 forms a loop around London

[minolman]

BMW designed the 'new' 'mini'.

 

I guess the recently discovered prototype which pre dates the final BMW take over puts paid to that?

 

Apart from the fact its not actually a mini. Everytime I see one I imagine Alec Issigonis spinning in his grave.

[trigger]

I saw photos of that "Mini", it even had Rover stamped on the glass.

[scruff]

Link anyone? I'd love to see that

[Dave_Q]

http://www.motoringfile.com/2013/12/03/pre-production-rover-r50-prototype-shell-shows-up-on-ebay/

[brickwall]

I'm sure I remember the interview, on radio 5 I think, with the American guy that designed it and I seem to also remember he said his design was for Rover.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I think Frank Stephenson the American was,when he came up with the MINI a BMW employee based at Rover in the UK. When the BMW board chose his design over the Rover proposals he was transferred to Rover and all development was carried out at Gaydon,the only BMW input after that was the platform and back axle. This supposedly pissed off a lot of BMW people who thought they should have been doing it in Germany.

 

This is from memory and maybe inaccurate, my info comes from a fascinating book by Simon Garfield on the story of the original Mini and the MINI told through the memories of Cowley workers over the last 50 years. The author obviously knows fuck all about Minis and cars in general which somehow makes the book more honest and without enthusiasts prejudices.

[dollywobbler]

BMW designed the 'new' 'mini'.

 

I guess the recently discovered prototype which pre dates the final BMW take over puts paid to that?

 

Apart from the fact its not actually a mini. Everytime I see one I imagine Alec Issigonis spinning in his grave.

 

BMW took over in 1994. The Mini IS a BMW design, by Frank Anderson as mentioned in this thread. The Rover engineers preferred the Spiritual concept, which I still love. Rear engined! It was a Smart way ahead of its time (in short and as here, long wheelbase form).

 

The development went from the UK, to Munch, then back to the UK. Fascinating reading as ever.

http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/mini-bmw/mini-2/the-cars-mini-development-history/

[sierraman]

I've a few... I realise the sports exhaust noise is intrusive but you get to a certain speed and you can't hear it... The 1991 BMW 3 series is NOT designed for DIY repairs...

 

The absolute corker has to be found in the 1980 Morris Ital owners guide... Although your Morris Ital will provide years of reliable service, it will require timely maintenance from time to time...

[Ghosty]

Driving at 56mph gives you the maximum mpg in ALL cars.

 

My mother is fond of this one, and it's not half infuriating (I sometimes make her late so she does 70 to make up time).

She also claims that the person who originally said this is Jeremy Clarkson...

[Pillock]

The absolute corker has to be found in the 1980 Morris Ital owners guide... Although your Morris Ital will provide years of reliable service, it will require timely maintenance from time to time...

 

This is merely a typo. It should read

 

"Although your Morris Ital will require years of timely maintenance, it will provide reliable service from time to time"

[Cavcraft]

'When Vauxhall introduced the Calibra, Ford said it would take them years to come up with a rival'

 

Year of manufacture of both suggests different, but driving and looking at them suggests it's true.

[minolman]

One of my favourite myths...

"all the people who paid money to subscribe to buying the peoples car [volkswagen] after it came out lost all their money because it was a scam for the war"

 

Unfortunately for myth a prominent legal case was bought by a huge number of former KdF Wagen subscribers who formed a society, and they either got a percentage of their money back, or a voucher for money off a new Beetle.

[barefoot]

Wasnt the engine in the MINI a Chrysler thing, bought in because it was cheap?

[Junkman]

BMW was relegated to build 500cc wooden cars right after the war and Bristol built cars made from pre-war BMW tools given to them as war reparation.

[John F]

£1,600 isn't a bad price for that BINI prototype... they've got a strong following, so there's every chance it'll fetch a lot more than that once it's restored.

 

That 'Spiritual concept' AR thing is a total gopper though. 'Ugly transport' just about sums it up.

[STUNO]

BMW took over in 1994. The Mini IS a BMW design, by Frank Anderson as mentioned in this thread. The Rover engineers preferred the Spiritual concept, which I still love. Rear engined! It was a Smart way ahead of its time (in short and as here, long wheelbase form).

 

The development went from the UK, to Munch, then back to the UK. Fascinating reading as ever.

http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/mini-bmw/mini-2/the-cars-mini-development-history/

 

This looks VERY like the Mitsubishi I Car, that is Smart powered afaik

[Station]

http://jalopnik.com/unique-bmw-mini-prototype-found-on-ebay-proves-rover-or-1474761064

[John F]

^ reeee-post

 

(higher up this page)

[Jim Bergerac]

Wasnt the engine in the MINI a Chrysler thing, bought in because it was cheap?

 

Not quite. The Tritec engine was a Chrysler and BMW/Rover joint-venture. It was designed to be low cost and I believe was also intended to do service in other Rover cars as well as the then forthcoming MINI. Of course, the BMW/Rover divorce put paid to that and it was just used in the MINI and some Chrysler products. It was also used in the Neon but not in the UK market.

 

The joint venture was bought out by someone else since and the engine now used by another maker. For some reason Fiat rings a bell?

[inconsistant]

A 1.6 in a car the size of a Mini should have been a great combination but the engine was definitely, definitely the weakest bit of the Mini. It produced 90bhp which for a (newly designed) 1.6 was rubbish. Bear in mind before our Mini Won we had a Polo 16v with a 1.4 engine and 100bhp, and a bubbly Rover 200 with a 1.4 that did 103bhp. Both these engines were fab and surprisingly perky.

The Mini engine was flat and dull, and didn't like being revved. I had a go of a Cooper too, and despite having an extra 25bhp there was very little difference. It's almost like they designed the engine to replicate the least endearing characteristics of the A series and succeeded magnificently. I reckon that engine was bad enough that without the great handling and TLC servicing package the Mini might have bombed. BMW were right to dump it at the first opportunity.

 

 

It was used in the PT Cruiser too.