Automotive bull5hit facts thread

[PhilA]

The actress Shirley Temple is named after the location her parents brand new Land Rover broke down at after leaving Solihull hospital with their newborn child.

She was nearly named Catherine Le Barnes but the GPS malfunctioned and initially sent the family in the opposite direction after having set the destination as "Hollywood"

[New POD]

49 minutes ago, PhilA said:

The actress Shirley Temple is named after the location her parents brand new Land Rover broke down at after leaving Solihull hospital with their newborn child.

She was nearly named Catherine Le Barnes but the GPS malfunctioned and initially sent the family in the opposite direction after having set the destination as "Hollywood"

The Shirley Temple is a restaurant I have eaten in. Fact.  It was 1995. 

Shirley Temple
https://maps.app.goo.gl/J8JDXDWwceDJk7d97

It is now permanently closed. 

[dozeydustman]

The ‘Suitcase’ engine was so named as the prototype was found on the baggage reclaim belt at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport by a Peugeot engineer.

[MikeR]

The original Audi badge was to have 5 rings , but when the prototype was delivered one ring was missing , some one said the 5th ring piece was on the driver's seat but it was never found ...

[Metal Guru]

16 hours ago, MikeR said:

The original Audi badge was to have 5 rings , but when the prototype was delivered one ring was missing , some one said the 5th ring piece was on the driver's seat but it was never found ...

The original Audi badge did indeed have 5 rings but was made out of Hula Hoops and the designer got peckish one day.

[stuboy]

ford's v6 duratec will get 100mpg when tested by Volkswagen engineers

[MikeR]

1 hour ago, stuboy said:

ford's v6 duratec will get 100mpg when tested by Volkswagen engineers

and the emissions will pass the latest standards ...

[martc]

On 7/17/2022 at 5:46 PM, MikeR said:

The original Audi badge was to have 5 rings , but when the prototype was delivered one ring was missing , some one said the 5th ring piece was on the driver's seat but it was never found ...

You're sort of on the right track. There are in fact 9 rings in the Audi badge, but spread out. 

4 rings at the front, 4 rings at the back. The 9th ring is indeed on the drivers seat but it's the 9th ring of hell that reminds the driver that working for Wernham Hogg  trying to flog photocopier paper to disinterested purchasing clerks is not the career path they expected. In fact all Audi drivers expected to be chisel chinned muscle bound grand prix sex gods but in reality all Audi drivers are lower to middle ranking stationary salesmen.

However, all Audi drivers think they are chisel chinned muscle bound grand prix sex gods.

I think it's been mentioned before but the devil works at Audi in the naming department. Naming all Audis after paper sizes is just rubbing salt into the drivers wounded ego.

[MikeR]

the idea for the clock /cog based images on the introduction to Dr who , did not come from a clock or a car gearbox

but was actually taken from the cog system used on the Hercules sleeve valve engines

used on the Bristol Beaufighter ..

meanwhile on the set of the Crow they decided to use a car that would reduce costs and not take any gleam from the actors and it was decided to use a Yugo 45

in the chase scene , its damage in the end crash meant it got wrote off and used for tins cans , this one was not driven by Bruce Willis.....

 

 

[davehedgehog31]

The Ford Aerostar was penned by Ford's head of design as a tribute to Simple Minds' Charlie Burchill 

A striking resemblance, I'm sure you'll agree. 

[Metal Guru]

1 hour ago, davehedgehog31 said:

The Ford Aerostar was penned by Ford's head of design as a tribute to Simple Minds' Charlie Burchill 

A striking resemblance, I'm sure you'll agree. 

I think a thread of cars that look like people might be fun.

[Dobloseven]

MINI are planning a new variant aimed at " permanently running late school run mums." It'll have cereal bowl holders, slots for toast and tiny desks for last minute homework. The MINI Onesie. 

[Dobloseven]

To celebrate 10 years of the dour Northern crime drama,Land rover are planning a "Vera" special edition based on a SWB Defender, with faded blue paint and off white roof with discoloured steel wheels. Production will be strictly limited to 500,or how many they can sell, whichever is the greater. The lucky buyers will be entered into a prize draw with the winner getting a" Vera Experience Day". This comprises of driving round the north east on a cold and rainy day dining on petrol station sandwiches and coffee in paper cups. Culminating in a showdown in a windswept derelict farmyard where Vera confronts you. "You murdered him/her in cold blood didn't you pet, because you couldn't bear the thought of him/her being with anyone else". This is your cue to run away, straight into the arms of Veras sidekick who's been in something else on the telly as well, but you can't think what. As an alternative, you can opt to blow your brains out with a shotgun, with Vera shouting "Give yourself up, pet, it's not worth it!". Five runners up will receive a Land rover branded raincoat and hat worth £875.

[twosmoke300]

Don’t forget the trousers with the waterproofed right leg only . 
 

[Metal Guru]

15 hours ago, Dobloseven said:

To celebrate 10 years of the dour Northern crime drama,Land rover are planning a "Vera" special edition based on a SWB Defender, with faded blue paint and off white roof with discoloured steel wheels. Production will be strictly limited to 500,or how many they can sell, whichever is the greater. The lucky buyers will be entered into a prize draw with the winner getting a" Vera Experience Day". This comprises of driving round the north east on a cold and rainy day dining on petrol station sandwiches and coffee in paper cups. Culminating in a showdown in a windswept derelict farmyard where Vera confronts you. "You murdered him/her in cold blood didn't you pet, because you couldn't bear the thought of him/her being with anyone else". This is your cue to run away, straight into the arms of Veras sidekick who's been in something else on the telly as well, but you can't think what. As an alternative, you can opt to blow your brains out with a shotgun, with Vera shouting "Give yourself up, pet, it's not worth it!". Five runners up will receive a Land rover branded raincoat and hat worth £875.

I’d rather go on a Sweeney or Professionals experience day, driving round disused industrial sites in 70s fast Fords would be brilliant. 

[ProgRocker]

In the early 1970s Hillman's marketing bods were devising a trim level for the Avenger. The 'Gay Look' edition - in tribute to the 1950s  Minx. However, a recent graduate advised them that meaning of the word had developed during that time and the plans were shelved. 

[MikeR]

Like the forgotten rifle ...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgotten_Winchester

Many car parts litter the countryside ,going undiscovered for years , like this long lost gear box and rod  ..

Lying undisturbed and forgotten untill a as member walks past , and clocks it ..

Where it's image is displayed to the hive mind in an attempt to I'd it , whilst it quietly rots away in the middle of a forest , far from any other remains ..

[Dobloseven]

Isn't that a steering box? 

[MiniMinorMk3]

Contrary to popular belief, the Ford Cortina was not named after an Italian ski resort, it was named after one of the paintshop boys got lucky with a girl from the trim shop.

[MikeR]

4 hours ago, Dobloseven said:

Isn't that a steering box? 

I suspect so ...

in many back wood places , cars would be stripped to make weapons , with the steering columm being a faourite for making rifles ,

this one  may have escaped that fate only to be left rusting in some back wood ....

[vulgalour]

The K11 Micra has a sealed-for-life engine, which is why you shouldn't ever change the oil.

[anonymous user]

On 9/24/2022 at 1:09 PM, Metal Guru said:

I’d rather go on a Sweeney or Professionals experience day, driving round disused industrial sites in 70s fast Fords would be brilliant. 

With cardboard boxes and fruit and veg stalls to drive through, count me in

[DavidB]

On 30/08/2022 at 22:51, davehedgehog31 said:

The Ford Aerostar was penned by Ford's head of design as a tribute to Simple Minds' Charlie Burchill 

A striking resemblance, I'm sure you'll agree. 

 

[62 Austin]

Open Jeeps will float as well as Volkswagen Beetles.

I saw a graphic demonstration of this in 1974, when a drunk couple ran a Jeep CJ-5 into Otto Lake, Alaska at 30 mph when a $100 bet was made that Jeeps would float as well as VWs.  The Jeep sank and ruined it's engine and the GF  beat the driver over his head with her purse, but.........
a) the Jeep did float for about 11 seconds

b) to be fair, there should have been a VW in the test for comparison

 

 

[62 Austin]

The imbedded wires in a Yugo rear window were added when customers requested heating elements there to warm their hands when pushing it.

[Metal Guru]

In the 60s , the pencil factory in Keswick had a bespoke version of the Bedford HA built for them, the HB.

[Metal Guru]

When Skoda originally came up with the Octavia name , they intended using it on top of the range models with V8s (Oct), akin to the Audi RS models. However , VAG bosses thought it encroached too much on Audi territory , the plan was ditched and the name assigned to the mid range erm range?

Anyway, Skoda needed a new name for their top of the range model, and held an in-house competition. The winner was “Fan-dabby-dozy” due to the Krankies being enormous stars in the Czech Republic. However, this wouldn’t fit on the boot lid , so management over ruled it and came up with the terminally bland “Superb”.

 

[Dobloseven]

4 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

In the 60s , the pencil factory in Keswick had a bespoke version of the Bedford HA built for them, the HB.

It still exists and has been converted to run on unleaded. 

[Motown]

Crab sticks dont actually contain any crab and from 1993 manufacturers have been legally obliged to label them 'Crab Flavoured Sticks'

[Metal Guru]

8 hours ago, Dobloseven said:

It still exists and has been converted to run on unleaded. 

The factory has been moved to Workington but the museum remains on the same site.