Automotive bull5hit facts thread

[sheffcortinacentre]

MK1 fiesta's were sold in the USA.

[New POD]

45 minutes ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

MK1 fiesta's were sold in the USA.

But called PeeEmSnooozes because 

[New POD]

The mk1 Ford Focus was not sold in the USA because no American was slim enough to sit inside.

[rml2345]

The Austin Metro was styled to resemble one of those beige polystyrene burger cartons you often get at roadside butty vans. 

[Noel Tidybeard]

 

On 10/11/2019 at 4:43 PM, Tamworthbay said:

People in white vans have a wife

On 10/11/2019 at 5:36 PM, anonymous user said:

Just not necessarily their own

edited

[New POD]

Lotus make practical cars. For people with large families who live off grid at the end of a ploughed field.

 

[paulplom]

Vauxhall hasn't sold a car in the private sector since the 70's. Lennny Squires bought the last one in 1975, a viva in mustard yellow with brown velour. 

[Parky]

In an attempt to improve BLMC’s chances against increasing competition in the sixties, MI6 trained hundreds of engineers, assembly line workers, and designers to deliberately make errors.  These staff were then to be planted in Ford and GM factories in order to hobble the competition.  

Sadly in typical fashion, a minor error was made by the MI6 typist (who was originally part of the BMLC programme) who was told to type “Please don’t sent this person to BLMC” on the files for the staff involved.  The deletion of the word “don’t” gave us Morris Minor suspension on the Marina, tall heaters, poor cable gearchanges, aand K series head gasket weakness.

Oddly Spen King was a Soviet agent sent to the UK to hobble our car industry.  Picked up by an unsuspecting MI6, their negative engineering training, added to the Soviet negative engineering created Kings double negative engineering meaning he was quite good.  

Did use the wrong side of the ruler for snapping the Range Rover plans though. Originally the Soviets planned a copy of the Range Rover but owing to Spen using inches and the Soviets using Cms, they ended up with the Lada Niva instead.

Harris Mann was a Mossad agent introduced to flush Spen out but that’s another story.  In fact Ian Fleming based Bond on Harris Mann as you will remember from the film “You only draw cheese shaped cars”

[Parky]

19 hours ago, ProgRocker said:

Ford decided to name their Escort and Fiesta models after the titles of two 'top shelf' smutty magazines. 

Likewise Austin Rover in the 1980s when they replaced their HL specs with Mayfair. 

 

Less well known was the French copied this thought process with the special edition Citroen AX “Readers Wives” 

Tata also offer an “Asian Babes” variant of the Nano in Mongolia

[Parky]

Van owners only wash their vans when someone has written “clean me” in the dirt on the tailgate.

Also there is only one girlfriend in the UK who is as dirty as a van so anyone’s wishing to have such a girlfriend should visit the third cubicle from the left at Tibshelf services gents toilet where her name and number can be found.  In fact, 38% of relationships in the uk now start from women receiving texts from men who found their numbers in motorway services toilet cubicles.  

[bunglebus]

The Talbot Solara was so named because it was designed as an early solar/petrol hybrid, the large flat bonnet and roof being intended to house solar panels. The engine was designed to only run for short periods and hence was not suited to it's ultimate use as the sole means of propulsion, due to escalating costs.  Premature wear is why they all sound like a tin can full of spinners rolling down a hill.

[Parky]

Later models had silent engines.  The rattle sound was a tape recording Talbot installed so pedestrians could hear it coming

[richardthestag]

1 hour ago, Parky said:

Less well known was the French copied this thought process with the special edition Citroen AX “Readers Wives” 

Tata also offer an “Asian Babes” variant of the Nano in Mongolia

You forgot the Volkswagen Jugs

[FakeConcern]

30 minutes ago, richardthestag said:

You forgot the Volkswagen Jugs

And SEAT Arouser

[Noel Tidybeard]

11 hours ago, FakeConcern said:

And SEAT Arouser

Honda Jizz

 

[Formula Autos]

13 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

Honda Jizz

 

Not forgetting the Isuzu Big Horn (AKA the JDM Trooper)

[Formula Autos]

On 11/14/2019 at 12:33 PM, ProgRocker said:

Ford decided to name their Escort and Fiesta models after the titles of two 'top shelf' smutty magazines. 

Likewise Austin Rover in the 1980s when they replaced their HL specs with Mayfair. 

 

Vanden Plas magazine was banned in the UK due to its extreme content.

Often involving much leather and wood.

[Parky]

Bongo Frendee were an obscure student rock band much favoured by the van design team at Mazda

[bunglebus]

In Chelmsford, Essex, 61.4% of second-hand cars for sale have automatic gearboxes*

 

 

 

 

*This is actually true according to the AA. Guess where I live?

[dozeydustman]

SAAB was named after its four founders. Sven, Agneta, Aunt Mary and Bill.

[dozeydustman]

Likewise Volvo was named after the founder’s favourite food. The Vol-au-vent

[Parky]

BMW was named by its Australian founder after his mums pet - Bills Mums Wallaby.

[Billy - Medhurst]

When Ford USA were looking for a new name for their "Pony car" they came up with mustang.

This was from a misreading of the pre production shakedown tests stating "Motor Under Strain Transmission Almost No Good" Which was later just the initials to save print.

[barefoot]

Embarrassingly, although I've known for years that the NSU K70 & Ro80 share the same doors, I have only recently learned that everything built on the many generations of Golf architecture over the years, share not only the ubiquitous floorpan, but also, quite astonishingly, the doors! Take a closer look at Golf/Scirocco/AudiA4/A3/SEAT Ibiza/Skoda Octavia etc. The cars may look different, but the doors on all of these seemingly disparate vehicles are identical.

[FakeConcern]

VW have announced that the only version of the New Golf available in the UK will be the Golf R.

[Billy - Medhurst]

The  Dukes of hazard Dodge charger should have been a Morris Marina coupe but the suspension used to snap on landing after the jumps. So the unloved old two for a dollar Dodge charger was used instead.

[rml2345]

The Phoenix Four were competent and there really was a conspiracy. 

[Noel Tidybeard]

The Phoenix Four is a series of books written by Enid Blyton under the pseudonym of Longbridge Northgate

 

funnily enough they never end happily everafter

[New POD]

On 11/15/2019 at 12:52 AM, rml2345 said:

The Austin Metro was styled to resemble one of those beige polystyrene burger cartons you often get at roadside butty vans. 

I think the burger cartons were copied from the metro. 

Both have the same strength IN an accident. 

Edited January 2, 2020 by New POD
In not I'm

[New POD]

On 12/16/2019 at 1:21 AM, rml2345 said:

The Phoenix Four were competent in pension planning.