Gen-you-wine Shite Accessories

[MrDuke]

Many, many moons ago, before the age of ubiquitous internetz, I was a member of the Lada Owners Club, and received a photocopied newsletter through my letterbox every month. One such installment alerted me to the fact that an ex-Lada dealership was clearing out their stock, and I duly filled out the attached request form and posted it off along with a cheque for (IIRC) £20ish.

 

In return, I received:

• Branded headlight protectors.
• An actual leather gearknob.
• Branded mudflaps.
• Tailored seat-covers, front & back, in grey towelling with red piping and an embossed Lada logo on the front.

I rapturously fitted them all to my beige Riva and rolled like a boss, right up until I literally abandoned it for a Mk3 Cav. Needless to say, I'd properly wet myself if I happened across any such items now, and I'm fairly sure a good proportion of the AS massive would respond similarly, but at the time they were even more worthless than the car itself. I feel especially bad about the seat covers, as they fitted so well that they genuinely looked like the actual seat fabric.

 

 

 

So, what (if any) accessories or OEM products do you regret not hanging on to? I'm not talking about VW or Ford stuff that could've netted you ££££ if you hadn't skipped it, I'm thinking of proper shite products that only the members of this forum, and maybe a couple of hundred eastern bloc residents, would likely appreciate.

[plasticvandan]

Nylon dipstick for a Trabbie petroil tank

[Lord Sterling]

I've got a thing for OEM floor mats, all of my cars must have thier OEM floor mats almost right down to the right type of carpet/rubber mat. Rover Sterling's and some high spec 820i SE's came with 3 deep-pile mats, there wasn't one for the drivers which I always substituted with an OEM rubber floor mats (as it was the most used side) not really much else to add to the OEM pile, though I do have a pile of spares.

 

My G-reg Sterling didn't have it's original mats, but I managed to find some from a mate who breaking the same car with the same coloured interior that did have it's original mats.

 

OEM stereos are also something I like reinstating. I dislike the jazzy chav-fest aftermarket stereos and will seek original radios where I can. Sadly sometimes aftermarket stereos are the only way forward. I fitted a CD player to the Micra and recently a Pioneer to my Merc as it had a USB port for plug and play music.

 

The K11 Micra originally came pretty spartan, certainly devoid of any extras. After some eBay and scrapyard visits it now boasts more OEM extras that it might have come with had Ma known about these things when buying the car new. It has Japanese Nissan March carpet mats with small mat that goes over the transmission tunnel too, it has rear OEM speakers, A-pillar tweeters (though only one side works as the other side connector seems to have disappeared) I also fitted higher-spec rear trim cards; there are 2 rear interior trim card types, one with a half-arsed arm-rest and the other with a useful cubby-hole. Took me about 10-mins each side to fit. I also fitted some rubber strut-top covers which some Micras got but others not, a rear ashtray, plus an OEM cigar lighter which is useful to power up a Shat-nav when needed.

 

I wanted to fit later K11 door card bins to it as they have the a cup holder moulded into it but never got around to it. I also wanted to fit front-fog lights but; the facelift K11 "spot" fogs are very expensive to buy, they don't even come with the wiring kit and you have to buy and indicator stalk with the correct function on it. Seems like a rear shit just to get the gear and fit it.

 

I'm having a small dilemma with the Merc mats. I've bought some OEM rubber mats for £cheap, certainly alot cheaper than the ones on there are at the moment. I'd also bought a set of front Grey carpet mats which suit it well but I've never been able to find any rears. I have however bought a set of W124 cream mats recently, might see if anyone on one of the clubs are willing to do a swap.

 

I never chuck any OEM parts away, I've got floor mats for cars I don't have, bought/got given them at the time because they were cheap/free. This is why scrappies are good, OEM stuff can be got for £cheap and can certainly make a huge difference to your car.

 

Personally I think it's fun to collect little OEM bits that you can easily add yourself. Stuff you might have got from dealer and stuff that doesn't really alter the appearance of your car too much or take too much time to fit/wire-in, but you know it's there and that's whats important.

[barefoot]

Nylon dipstick for a Trabbie petroil tank

 

I dropped mine into the tank in error, couldn't be arsed to fish it out & used a bamboo garden cane instead until I sold the car.

I chucked some Viva hubcaps away recently...

Really though, it's the stuff I fancy but can't get hold of anywhere;

 

A pipe holder to stick to the drivers side window, a triangular sandwich holder to slip between the window & felt and a Vauxhall dash mounted barometer (for the Astra with the big glass roof).