Automotive bull5hit facts thread

[JimH]

Contrary to popular belief Peter Stephens and Shakin' Stevens are related. Shakin' had to adopt a different spelling of the family name to get his Equity card.

Listen to "This Ol' House" and tell me those lyrics don't apply to eveything cousin Peter has done.

[JimH]

Bollocks. I made a mess of that one, didn't I?

Turns out I've been spelling his name wrong.

[JimH]

It was a starter motor in the reports I saw.

[Dobloseven]

TVR is a very profitable non car maker. When they went through their T phase, Tuscan, Taimar, Tasmin etc. they had the foresight to register all possible six letter words begginning with T. Now every time Volkswagen make a Touran, Tiguan or Toareg, they have to pay TVR a fiver,which they pass on to the buyer. This means TVR make more money not making cars than they ever did making them. The planned factory in Wales is merely a ruse to avoid paying too much tax. 

[Parky]

Irradiated car parts from Chernobyl are highly prized in the Ukraine.  They are shredded into small pieces and used to line the edges of major roads where their “glow in the dark” properties act like cats eyes.  

They also reduce traffic as Ukrainians will do anything to avoid breaking down on the side of major roads

[Leyland Worldmaster]

38 minutes ago, Parky said:

Irradiated car parts from Chernobyl are highly prized in the Ukraine.  They are shredded into small pieces and used to line the edges of major roads where their “glow in the dark” properties act like cats eyes.  

They also reduce traffic as Ukrainians will do anything to avoid breaking down on the side of major roads

Some of these shavings were also used to decorate the headlining on cars; a popular Aftermarket Conversion. Yes. They invented the 'Night Sky Constellation' headlining copied by Rolls Royce Motors. 🤓

[Parky]

Harris Mann started his own filtration company with his friend Colin Hummel back in 1974.  Mann & Hummel pioneered the wedge shaped air filter and oil filters which were more aerodynamic going backwards than forwards.  

Eventually the firm fell into European ownership when Harris was himself bought out in a reverse takeover by Man SE.  As part of the deal Harris had to drop an “n” from his surname and identify as a mid sized bus.

[Formula Autos]

The Gaelic word for Car is Volvo.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

On 9/3/2021 at 10:20 AM, JimH said:

It was a starter motor in the reports I saw.

Yes and the pub doorman was sacked for allowing him to take it into the pub.

At his tribunal he said “ Yes, I saw what he was carrying  and I told him it was OK as long he didn’t start anything”

[DavidB]

Brake fluid is “hygroscopic”

Hygroscopic is Latin for ‘hygro’ which means floor, and ‘scopic’ which means ‘will seek out immediately without fail under any circumstances’.

[goosey]

Anyone remember that old Peugeot advert where the Salesperson shoots a disinterested customer in the back of the head execution style because he wouldn’t sign the deal on a 206 ? 
 

think the tag line was “buy a 206 or we’ll fuckin kill you!”

anyone ? 

[Metal Guru]

Audi are collaborating with Peugeot on a new van, to be called the Audi Partner, aimed at cowboy builders.

[New POD]

Puegoet are so with their decision to leave Coventry without it's massive car plant at Futon, that they have decided to return to the city.  They are going to set up a mega plant in Tile Hill near the station. It will be 100% Automated.  There will be no operators, no managers, no maintenance staff and no engineers. It will employ a small  army of Big Cats, and robots to run the factory. One on the cats will be given a stop watch in order to time the robots. If they don't work fast enough the cats will chastise the Rob o ts and implore then to work faster.

They will call it the Lion the watch and the Robot factory. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by New POD

[bangernomics]

Friends dad when we were kids reckoned the Italian job minis were a video effect as they’d instantly be doing whatever speed they hit the ramps at and therefore accelerate straight through the coach.

Not really a fact but definitely bullshit.

[New POD]

1 hour ago, bangernomics said:

Friends dad when we were kids reckoned the Italian job minis were a video effect as they’d instantly be doing whatever speed they hit the ramps at and therefore accelerate straight through the coach.

Not really a fact but definitely bullshit.

I think he might have a point. 

[Metal Guru]

12 hours ago, bangernomics said:

Friends dad when we were kids reckoned the Italian job minis were a video effect as they’d instantly be doing whatever speed they hit the ramps at and therefore accelerate straight through the coach.

Not really a fact but definitely bullshit.

As the coach is moving , the speed of the mini relatively low at the entry to the coach but whether it could stop in time is a another matter .

What is BS in the film,  is the amount of gold stolen is nearly 3 tons. Put a ton of gold in a mini and it is hardly going to out run the police is decent Alfas , assuming they could move at all with the suspension  collapsed or the wheels jammed into the arches. Also the floor of the car would probably fall through anyway.

[barefoot]

1 hour ago, Metal Guru said:

Put a ton of gold in a mini and it is hardly going to move at all with the suspension  collapsed or the wheels jammed into the arches. 

Although gold is difficult, you could put a ton of uranium into a mini and it'd be fine, because it's much more dense & therefore compact.

[motorpunk]

In her spare time, Greta Thunberg enjoys helping tune the twin carb’s on her Fathers Volvo Amazon. Sometimes they go to GSF to browse accessories and stop off for a bacon sandwich on the way. 

[Metal Guru]

8 hours ago, barefoot said:

Although gold is difficult, you could put a ton of uranium into a mini and it'd be fine, because it's much more dense & therefore compact.

Gold and Uranium have almost identical densities (19.3 v 19.5), so it wouldn’t make any difference.

In any case , the denser a material is, the less the load would be spread , so more likely to break through the floor.

Effect on suspension and performance would depend on mass loaded rather than density. ( Did you see Top Gear when they filled old BL cars with water?)

[outlaw118]

22 minutes ago, Metal Guru said:

Gold and Uranium have almost identical densities (19.3 v 19.5), so it wouldn’t make any difference.

In any case , the denser a material is, the less the load would be spread , so more likely to break through the floor.

Effect on suspension and performance would depend on mass loaded rather than density. ( Did you see Top Gear when they filled old BL cars with water?)

I believe you may* have missed the point.....

[anonymous user]

Talking of Minis, the Penny Lane Mini (covered with pennies) at the National Mint is not named after the street or Beatles song, but the former tea lady Penny Lane who worked there in the 1970s.

She was fondly remembered by the staff as she would let them have a cuppa and a custard cream even if they didn't have the money on them that day. When she died the staff purchased her old car and covered it in pennies to remember her.

 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

The exhaust systems of Buick cars are colloquially known as Arbroath Smokies.

[Metal Guru]

BMW refuse to employ anybody who can speak any English whatsoever.

Hence , they haven’t a clue what “Mini” means.

[barefoot]

The government has finally acknowledged that people who name their cars are utter twats.

https://www.gov.uk/gwirio-gwybodaeth-trwydded-yrru-rhywun

 

[DavidB]

On 11/11/2021 at 18:42, bangernomics said:

Friends dad when we were kids reckoned the Italian job minis were a video effect as they’d instantly be doing whatever speed they hit the ramps at and therefore accelerate straight through the coach.

Not really a fact but definitely bullshit.

That’s partly true, the production crew were concerned about the speed of the minis in case they would fly through the cinema screen possibly killing people watching the film

[motorpunk]

Almost 8% of Tesla owners have actually had real sexual intercourse with another human person. 

[DoctorRetro]

In the early 1990s, Peugeot were all set to release the 105, with an advert featuring Kylie Minogue but when Renault's Papa/Nicole advert came out, the executives threw a strop and cancelled all production. They didn't attempt a supermini until a few years later when the 106 was produced.

Here's a prototype.

 

[DavidB]

The Queen / David Bowie song 'Under Pressure' was about Roger Taylor's MGF's coolant tank.

"Watching some good OAT screaming
"Let me out!""

[Rab]

The Maori word for car is waka...which originates from the meaning..canoe...waka is also an aircraft...so their might be some misunderstanding when you try to park your Boeing 747 at the hospital....

[EyesWeldedShut]

On 11/19/2021 at 10:30 PM, motorpunk said:

Almost 8% of Tesla owners have actually had real sexual intercourse with another human person. 

The other 92% woke up to find out it was really the Tesla (c) wank-a-thon under dash doo dah working in automatic pilot mode.

Your 8% woke up, back home, car parked in the drive with wet knickers and believed the dream...