quicksilver Posted December 30, 2016 Author Share Posted December 30, 2016 It's been a while but I managed to squeeze in one final unsung hero before the year is out. Something completely unlike a Gordon-Keeble, this time I'm looking at the Skoda Favorit and what it did to change Skoda's image: http://rustyoldrubbish.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/unsung-heroes-skoda-favorit.html Lacquer Peel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egg Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Nice article. I love my Fav. The softish ride is worth a mention, it's pretty good for a small, cheap car. A few survivors are being modded, making original examples rarer still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted January 7, 2017 Author Share Posted January 7, 2017 And now for something completely different as I reveal another dream car: the supercharged V8 version of the MG ZT. http://rustyoldrubbish.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/dream-cars-mg-zt-385.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rawy Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 And now for something completely different as I reveal another dream car: the supercharged V8 version of the MG ZT. http://rustyoldrubbish.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/dream-cars-mg-zt-385.html Nice read! I have a ZT260 and it is a great Q car, love mine, but things do have a habbit of falling off sometimes! And some of the parts are bespoke & out of stock, but the noise it makes is fantastic! Rawy Lacquer Peel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted January 15, 2017 Author Share Posted January 15, 2017 For this month's unsung hero I'm looking at the first four-wheel-drive road car. No, not the Audi Quattro - the Jensen FF of course. JeeExEll 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hooli Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 First with ABS too I think. Dunlop made the system if memory serves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcyonecorporation Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 Interesting car, I'd like to have a go in it. Article is ok but the facts vs. flam ratio is a bit unfavourable I've driven it. Slow ain't the word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Breadvan72 Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 First with ABS too I think. Dunlop made the system if memory serves. Dunlop MaxAret, it was called. The FF was a wizzo car, way ahead of its time in terms of safety. Stiff chassis and thick steel bodies made Interceptors and FFs rather more crashworthy than their contemporaries. Phacktoid, IIRC, the brake vacuum system ran through the chassis, so, if it rotted, the brakes stopped working. Skizzer and Lacquer Peel 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hooli Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 I didn't know that about the vacuum system. Pretty sure the ABS was robbed from aircraft & was single channel in modern speak. Nicola H 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 All this recent talk of Lady Penelope and FAB1 made me think of my own six-wheeled dream car. A bit of an odd choice but you have to love it for its sheer vulgarity, I give you the Panther Six: http://rustyoldrubbish.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/dream-cars-panther-six.html Skizzer and anonymous user 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted February 6, 2017 Author Share Posted February 6, 2017 Here's something of interest to BL fans, an alternative reality that would have seen a whole range of Maxis at the core of the range and to me makes much more sense than what happened in real life. This whole scenario is based on things that did actually or potentially exist and came about for two reasons really:1. Owning a Maxi and pondering why it wasn't a greater success, then realising the 1800 Landcrab was pointless once the Maxi 1750 came along.2. Spending far too much time on AROnline, making a few connections between the various things I've read and creating a whole new range that's completely different but I think entirely plausible. What do you think of my ideas? Comments on this one are particularly welcome! Read all about it here: http://rustyoldrubbish.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/making-more-of-maxi.html UltraWomble 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercrocker Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 Interesting reading.....However, by the time the Maxi itself was released it was already perceived as a five-year old design by virtue of its obvious grafting from Landcrab DNA. Could this basic frame have taken BL into the mid-Seventies? Maybe. I think you are right in pointing out the trick that was missed with the Maxi. Here was a five-door, FWD, 5 speed hatchback years before Vauxhall, Ford, or Chrysler-Rootes dealerships could offer what actually turned out to be the standard-issue format of the following decades. Unfortunately BL thinking seem to unravel after about 1970. timolloyd 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted February 9, 2017 Author Share Posted February 9, 2017 Interesting reading.....However, by the time the Maxi itself was released it was already perceived as a five-year old design by virtue of its obvious grafting from Landcrab DNA. Could this basic frame have taken BL into the mid-Seventies? Maybe. I think you are right in pointing out the trick that was missed with the Maxi. Here was a five-door, FWD, 5 speed hatchback years before Vauxhall, Ford, or Chrysler-Rootes dealerships could offer what actually turned out to be the standard-issue format of the following decades. Unfortunately BL thinking seem to unravel after about 1970.I reckon it could have worked with a clever reskin to hide the Landcrab origins or at least make them less obvious. Doing something with those doors would make a big difference and I'm sure David Bache or Harris Mann could have knocked something up. I think the Kimberley looks quite acceptable for the mid-late 70s. I've extended things a bit by suggesting getting Michelotti to style the Triumph versions using the same platform but with a different appearance. They would need their own names so I've suggested Triumph Vitesse for the 1750 and Triumph Vanguard for the 2600, while the Triumph version of the Allegro could be a new Herald. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercrocker Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 I think the Kimberley looks quite acceptable for the mid-late 70s. I've extended things a bit by suggesting getting Michelotti to style the Triumph versions using the same platform but with a different appearance. They would need their own names so I've suggested Triumph Vitesse for the 1750 and Triumph Vanguard for the 2600, while the Triumph version of the Allegro could be a new Herald. Agree on the Kimberley comparison. The look may have even weathered the coke bottle craze. If you look at what Ford did with the Mk IV Cortina which returned to a more "Mk2'ish" profile as did the contemporary Datsuns...... Not sure about the Triumph extension, I think RWD was pretty much de-rigeur for BMW chasing which is where the Dolly/sixes were pointing by this time. Imagine the change of fortune had Triumph been around to pitch a viable 3 series alternative at the right time.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squire_Dawson Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Seems to me that BL were the mad-house of the industry (in a good way) who would actually embrace different thinking and make something slightly more interesting; this was backed by the research they did into automobile engineering. Rootes could offer something else more ordinary but still different at least until Chrysler takeover. Ford and Vauxhall in the UK were always very conservative and followed age-old engineering practices, probably due to their U.S. masters. If you look at the T.V. adverts of the 70s the BL ads are (deliberately) like a comedy show whereas the other manufacturers are all serious! Perhaps BL were past caring by this stage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted February 18, 2017 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 I'm trying to feature an unsung hero every month and I've finally got round to publishing February's. It's a bus this time, something that could have beaten the Dennis Dart by over a decade but alas wasn't to be, the Bedford JJL. Felly Magic and Asimo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 Hopefully you've all seen my model of the holy grey grille in the Shite in Miniature II topic. Here's how it was done from a very unpromising and crude starting point. Angrydicky and Felly Magic 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted March 5, 2017 Author Share Posted March 5, 2017 Something far removed from base-model Sierras this time. How about a supercharged AND turbocharged Nissan Micra? Yes, such a thing existed and I'm ashamed to admit I'd never heard of it until my mate mentioned it. Here's the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Diggler Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 I've seen a good few of them here over the years; japanese imports were very common here in the 80s and 90s The 112mph top speed equates to a (removable) 180km/h per hour limiter; really common on JDM cars It's Starlet GTs and Glanzas that really are common (and completely overrated shite) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 Blimey, didn't realise I hadn't posted here for so long. Lots has been going on and the latest is another dream car, the SD1 estate. Plenty of other drivel from the last couple of months too at http://rustyoldrubbish.blogspot.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted May 31, 2017 Author Share Posted May 31, 2017 The FX4 is the archetypal London taxi that everyone loves, but what about its main rival, the under-appreciated Metrocab? I've nominated this as my unsung hero for May: http://rustyoldrubbish.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/unsung-heroes-metrocab.html Lacquer Peel and Supernaut 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted July 29, 2017 Author Share Posted July 29, 2017 I seem not to have updated this thread for 2 months even though new things have been written - not sure how that happened. The Septics think it's one of the worst cars in the world but if that's true why was it also the most successful model in its series? I'm talking about my latest unsung hero, the good old Triumph TR7. The Moog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted September 6, 2017 Author Share Posted September 6, 2017 In all the excitement of rescuing the Renault, the poor old Maxi has been a bit overlooked recently. We've now had it a whole year so here's a brief update on what's happened in that time (not a lot really as it just keeps doing its thing): https://rustyoldrubbish.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/a-year-of-maxi-ing.html SiC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spottedlaurel Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 Micra article has just made for a good lunchtime read. I wonder if I have anything about it within a JDM brochure?........ This purposeful-looking K10 pre-dates the Super Turbo, it seems to have gained extra power by the classic method of chucking in a bigger engine: Nissan March Super Silhouette (Micra K10) by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted September 28, 2017 Author Share Posted September 28, 2017 If you liked my piece about numberplates, you might like the latest one on a similar theme, lamenting the demise of the traditional trim level hierarchy. Six-cylinder and Lacquer Peel 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted October 28, 2017 Author Share Posted October 28, 2017 I was so genuinely amazed to discover you can still buy a brand new Suzuki Jimny to the same 20-year old design that I've decided to nominate it for the return of the unsung heroes series: http://rustyoldrubbish.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/unsung-heroes-suzuki-jimny.html Six-cylinder and Lacquer Peel 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted November 17, 2017 Author Share Posted November 17, 2017 Two new pieces this week! Firstly another dream car. Who wouldn't want to be able to say they had a Wankel engine, but there are plenty of other reasons to love the NSU Ro80 too. And something completely different. Inspired by RoadworkUK's post in the gameshite thread I've downloaded the comically shite Ford Simulator from my childhood and given it a review. Lacquer Peel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs6C Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Seems to me that BL were the mad-house of the industry (in a good way) who would actually embrace different thinking and make something slightly more interesting; Just spotted the car in the top RHS corner of the set of nice at the end of this Youtube video... what is it? An Innocenti Mini or something else more interesting from the BL mad-house? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felly Magic Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Yup that looks like an Innocenti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted December 10, 2017 Author Share Posted December 10, 2017 Oops, I forgot to update here with recent jottings. There's a bit of a Renault theme going on. A bit of history on Bob's other cars November's unsung hero, a strange Septic Renner Renaultvation progress Brodders, Lacquer Peel, ren12ts and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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