What Makes Shite, Shite?

[Jerzy Woking]

I just love this site-in all my years of reading car and bike forums, this is far and away the most entertaining. Maybe it's because the cars on here are those that my mates and I had when we were 17, when they were still relatively new.

 

In January I purchased a 26 year old Mercedes 300e for £420, 9 months MOT and clean as a whistle. But does it qualify as Shite? Feel quite a fraud being on here with mine now.

[chaseracer]

Ooh!  Another one!  Mine's definitely shite, so yours can be too 

[mrcitroen]

Brown, beige, Allegro etc etc etc

[MarvinsMom]

been old, cheap and generally not in favour with twat gear will all help car be autoshite 

[Inspector Morose]

Chaseracer, the different thing is his probably works all the time!

[Negative Creep]

Something that would be met with tuts and sneers if you were to turn up to a traditional classic car meet in it

[stripped fred]

In my opinion that qualifies. It's a nice old car, bought cheaply that will need work doing to keep it running and most of all has character that is lacking in a lot of newer cars. I love this site too. I stumbled across it a few weeks ago and I haven't been off it since! What I like most is the down to earth attitude, the humour and the knowledge. No-one takes themselves too seriously which is refreshing.

[dollywobbler]

See, my 2CV is a bit too popular these days, but I think it's mainly allowed in as it's probably the rustiest car here. But generally, the rule seems to be that here we worship the unloved.

[fred]

Any car which enters a workplace car park and looks notoriously like it has dumped by scouse gits who stole it the night before.

[jakebullet]

Anything that's fixed* when the general public would bin it off.

[DS20]

Vehicles that your neighbours don't like to see from their windows.  

 

Although for the record, my neighbours are v nice and say complimentary things if they say anything at all about my cars.  

[vulgalour]

'shite' is one of those terms that's a bit foggy.  Difficult to explain, but you know it when you see it.  I do get what you mean with the guilt thing too.  Now I've spent time, effort and some cash on the Xantia it doesn't feel like Shite, I feel like a bit of a fraud with it because it's competent and easy to live with.  But then the guilt evaporates when someone asks why I don't buy something newer and why I'm continuing to use a 17 year old car every day that nobody seems to be able to identify unless they've owned one themselves.

 

Shite is the thinking car owner's choice.  It's the car that does everything you need it to do but doesn't cost a fortune or it's the car that does nothing you need it to but makes you super happy and still doesn't cost a fortune.  Or it's a car that's fucked but you carry on throwing money at it anyway because you will not be beaten by a worthless hunk of ferrous oxide, tatty vinyl and lacquer peel.

[Jerzy Woking]

I bought it because I needed a cheap auto for a few weeks. Then I spent a quarter of the purchase price on changing the ignition components. And cleaned it inside, removing and jet washing all the carpets and spent absolutely ages cleaning and conditioning the leather. Washed the exterior, followed by a good polish and a few coats if wax. Never done that to my "modern" car in the three years I have had it, and that cost me 25 times more.

 

Now I find myself looking at the ebay thread and thinking "I like that" at any number of 1980's Japanese stuff. Later this year I will have my garage and driveway cleared, and my modern sold. I must resist, but just know I won't.

 

And I'll have all you lot to blame..........

[motormatt]

It's that special thing that you can't quite put your finger on. A car can be shit but for it to be shite then it takes something special. More than the sum of its parts.

[Junkman]

Basically shite is shite when you say it's shite.

[Bren]

Something not purchased on the drip.

 

Something beige.

 

Something unfashionable.

 

Something with a propensity to break down.

 

Something generally lost in the midst of time.

 

Something that looks like it will be driven by an elderly gentleman with a flat cap and a skin disease.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

For me, 'shite' is an interesting old car which is not particularly fashionable.

[Lord Sterling]

My Merc is younger than yours, I dont think it's quite as clean as yours but it is shite basically because its about 20 years old and a bit frilly around the edges but performs as well, if not better than a modern car:

 

 

Just need to learn my lesson and not let bodgers near it again.

 

My R-reg Sterling is also considered shite, but then, it is a Rover:

 

[fred]

Basically anything which can be paid for with maximum of two drawouts of the atm machine

[PhilA]

Often something you remember seeing large volumes of driving about in years gone by.. but these days can't be found on any car parts or insurance website drop-down selection boxes.

 

Many people recall learning to drive in one just like you own, but a different color.

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Oh and "I love those cars, gotta love a {make and model not the car they just pointed at but bears a passing resemblance to one}!" comments from passers-by.

 

Which seems to be more common than "wot izzit?" ...

[alf892]

Shite?

 

 

Most of this stuff is normal because I fail to notice the passage of time...........I think of R plated stuff as moderns and anything that has electronic ignition is a magic although I am told one day everything will have it.

[Six-cylinder]

See, my 2CV is a bit too popular these days, but I think it's mainly allowed in as it's probably the rustiest car here. But generally, the rule seems to be that here we worship the unloved.

 

I have to take issue for the Rustiest car as we have a Spitfire with absolutely no boot floor or footwells and a Bond Equipe GT4 where the floors are gone and the drivers A post has disintegrated, Mrs cyl still wants to restore these.

 

I give you, yours is on the road and ours are not.

_______________________

 

 

Back to the original question I describe the forum to others, as for the appreciation of unloved low value cars.

 

All the answers I read seem to describe us well and there is a lot of variety within the forum and we can never really totally agree. I have found a bit of love the Citroen Visa but it’s not universally loved in spite of its orphan status.

 

P.S

 

I also have a 1990 Mercedes 200TE, it’s hard to call it a shite car as it is so reliable, comfortable and useful but as there are several on here I get a chance to talk about it.

[Justin Case]

A car that is less than the sum of its parts.

[jonny69]

Some good points here. Shite for me is particularly what Vulgalour and Phil A said, and there is a good strong following of the two-atm-drawouts that fred mentioned. But it's mostly not bangernomics, where you buy something cheap and drive it until it falls apart, because most owners on here will persistently fix something until it's fixed. And if they can't fix it, they'll offer it for sale here with the caveat 'fuck this for a game of soldiers, YOU fix it' or something along those lines.

 

See, my 2CV is a bit too popular these days, but I think it's mainly allowed in as it's probably the rustiest car here. But generally, the rule seems to be that here we worship the unloved.

 

Same for me with my Anglia and Ami on the popularity stakes. Neither of them are the typical sorts of cars you see on here because they are older than the general Autoshite scene. Additionally, the Anglia has been affected by the old skool Ford scene which is not popular here and has driven prices up so that most old Fords are out of the reach of a lot of people. I kind of feel like I work around that because I've had it since way before then, it is my daily and I know I resurrected it from death. The Ami has turned into a major resto job, but it will serve daily duty next to the Anglia with the added bonus that it will haul a LOT of crap because it's an estate. I have no doubt that it will be pretty rubbish.

[John F]

See, my 2CV is a bit too popular these days, but I think it's mainly allowed in as it's probably the rustiest car here. But generally, the rule seems to be that here we worship the unloved.

 

There are at least two old Maseratis in here, Ian...

 

I don't know what makes shite shite. A definition that works for one piece of shite might not work for another, and opinions can differ between shiters as to what actually constitutes shite. The best I can do is to define a generally accepted middle ground which is "ordinary cars that used to be everywhere on the roads but are now rarely seen".

 

 

[tooSavvy]

I am Savvy.... SO pretentious!

 

.... really... I bought a sample of britains most $hite car @ full retail

 

I blame my total obsession with the Hillman IMP (too expensive for me nowadays) for my $hite credentials, mind.

 

 

TS

[fordperv]

To me it's cars that were common place then seemed to dissappear over night because they were unloved, bought with cash, when purchased they usually have many problems as they were used as cheap transport and neglected. But occasionally people do find very good examples cherished by giffers.

 

Shite is what you make it

[HMC]

It's almost a sort of " what is a classic car?" Type question- different parameters but it's very subjective and whilst there are extremes there's a fair sized grey ( or should that be beige) area.

[DVee8]

It is a passion, not even for the underated or unlover.but it helps

Some are cars from our youth or past.

 

Some of us don't want financed white goods that all look the same,or are so complex that the only option is main stealers.

 

What will happen to all the fly by wire tech and multi filter systems in 10-20 years time.To the bridge? or will our play station kids think they are as easy as a old school ford?