Partridge Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 I saw the topic of these brought up on Faceache tonight, and got thinking about them. Apprently they peaked in the 50's, but were killed off in the 60's when actual ferries got faster and cheaper.The idea of them was just the same as floaty ferries, enabling you to take your unreliable BMC shitbox on holiday with you so it could break down abroad, and you could be towed back to Calias by a laconic foreigner.Anyway, the closest I will ever get to see one is on the cover of a 60's Matchbox playset I think they could have worked until at least the 90's, if they could fly further afield. Imagine being able to fly to Australia and drive off the plane in your shite? I think if saftey fears and The Daily Mail didn't kill them off, the credit crunch would have sadly, though. Anyway, enjoy these stolen pictures and listen to this song for best results. That was taken at Southampton airport, down the road from me. Jim Bergerac, Vince70 and Twiggy 3
trigger Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 You might find this interesting too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37eizC7zW7s Partridge, scruff, morris_ital_lover and 1 other 4
Mr Lobster Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 I suppose the main problem was that if each plane could only take three or four cars then the cost of even a relatively short channel crossing would be very expensive relative to the cost of a ferry crossing though. Be handy if you could drive on a plane in Manchester then drive off in Paris a couple of hours later. I'd be up for a bit of that. It'd make foreign tat collection missions much easier as well Cavcraft and Partridge 2
daveb47 Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 The Carvairs were converted at southend,nice site with lots of info herehttp://aviationtraderscarvair.comRemember getting an airfix kit for the Bristol 170 for my birthday when i was about 8. . Partridge 1
Partridge Posted February 18, 2014 Author Posted February 18, 2014 The Carvairs were converted at southend,nice site with lots of info herehttp://aviationtraderscarvair.comRemember getting an airfix kit for the Bristol 170 for my birthday when i was about 8. .Interesting link, Dave
Richard Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 That Look at Life DVD is highly recommended. Each episode is about nine minutes long but has as much content as a one hour documentary on Channel 4. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Look-Life-Volume-One-Transport/dp/B0030A0Z6Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392757628&sr=8-1&keywords=look+at+life+transport Hurry, only 8 left in stock! trigger 1
Jim Bergerac Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Love these. Proper aeroshite, but I think they look cool. From the thread title I was thinking it was going to be about these though: Partridge and saucedoctor 2
Twiggy Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Crikey Trigg, £20 in 1963? In 1963, petrol was 5/- (25p) a gallon. Today it is roughly £5.75 a gallon, 23 times as expensive. So...£20 in 1963 is roughly equivalent to £20 x 23 = £460 in today`s money... trigger and Partridge 2
mercrocker Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 I was hoping for slant six caramel honey beige shitery too! Rented one in Canada it was the bollox! Never mind, I will happily settle for Dean and Silver City. I also remember them flying from Eastleigh, friend of mine worked for them and has spun me many tall tales.... Partridge 1
Station Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Dean Martin looks like he is joyfully rolling a bogey up he has just removed from his nostril. Vince70 and Partridge 2
DSdriver Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 I went on the three car Argosy? type when I was a kid. Unfortunately gaffer tape and zip ties had not been invented then so they were mainly held together by bailing twine and prayers. We skimmed the waves from an airfield near Dungeness to Le Touquet in France. Any lower and it could have been called a ferry. I think there was an RAF saying about forty thousand rivets flying in loose formation which could easily have been adopted. tooSavvy, Vince70 and Partridge 3
Partridge Posted February 18, 2014 Author Posted February 18, 2014 In 1963, petrol was 5/- (25p) a gallon. Today it is roughly £5.75 a gallon, 23 times as expensive. So...£20 in 1963 is roughly equivalent to £20 x 23 = £460 in today`s money...Bloody hell, £460 would go quite far if you want to travel within Europe today. Twiggy 1
Twiggy Posted February 19, 2014 Posted February 19, 2014 Bloody hell, £460 would go quite far if you want to travel within Europe today. Out of curiosity, I wondered just how far you could manage on £460... The cheapest way of crossing the channel seems to be ferry, Dover > Calais, car plus four people £48 return.That leaves £412 for fuel. Assuming (I have to, I have no knowledge of fuel prices on the Continent) that petrol costs the same over there, you would be able to buy 71 gallons of fuel. Assuming 35 to the gallon, that would give a total mileage of 2485 miles.Interestingly, when I looked at the Channel Tunnel site, I found that vehicles fitted with LPG kits are not allowed.The cheapest crossing through the tunnel seems to be a 5 day offer of £104 return, with as many people as the vehicle you are travelling in is constructed to carry.
Partridge Posted February 19, 2014 Author Posted February 19, 2014 When I'm richer (by that I mean not broke) I'd like to try that as a "How hard can it be?" challenge.You can go from Saint Pancras to Paris for well under a £100 now, leaving you with over £360 to buy a car when you're there
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now