Automotive bull5hit facts thread

[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.

 

[MorrisItalSLX]

K.I.T.T. was supposed to be an MG Maestro, but due to importing difficulties a Pontiac Trans Am was used instead.

[martc]

On ‎12‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 7:39 PM, Billy - Medhurst said:

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

In the mid 70's Bert Hyundai, fed up with nailing together old Cortinas and wanting his brand to become both more upmarket and sporting, asked his design team to come up with their own equivalent to Ford's Pony car.

The rest, as they say, is history.

[ProgRocker]

Wanting to move away from using the titles of noblemen in their model names, in 1979 Vauxhall employed the services of the famous Astronomer Patrick Moore. He came up wirh the Astra and Nova names for their 1980s hatchbacks. 

The saloon version of the mark 2 Astra was going to be called 'Red Dwarf' but while the sitcom of the same name was in development, the BBC caught wind of it and forbode Vauxhall to use it, hence Belmont. 

[vulgalour]

An unfortunate quirk of Patrick Moore's involvement with Vauxhall is why so many are seen with only one headlight working, an homage to the great man's eyewear of choice.

[andy18s]

21 hours ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

K.I.T.T. was supposed to be an MG Maestro, but due to importing difficulties a Pontiac Trans Am was used instead.

Indeed,it was going to be named Austin Rovers Greatest Hero.

[Formula Autos]

The Asquith, a Ford Transit derived “retro” van from the early ‘80s was originally a movie prop, designed for a reboot of the “Confessions of” series of films which was to be called “Confessions of a Kit Car Builder”. The proposed star of the film, Robin Asquith, reprising earlier roles, stipulated the name of the vehicle in his contract. Although the film never materialised, canny old Robin received royalties on every Asquith produced. 

[martc]

3 hours ago, Formula Autos said:

The Asquith, a Ford Transit derived “retro” van from the early ‘80s was originally a movie prop, designed for a reboot of the “Confessions of” series of films ...

I'm fairly certain an Asquith van did appear in 'Confessions of a 1920's Hermes Driver'. It was kitted out with a bed and was used for the 'action' scenes. Unfortunately Robin snagged his bare arse once too often on exposed wood screws and had a mega strop. The Asquith was replaced with Corporal Jones' Butchers van from Dad's Army. The gun ports in the side allowed special 'voyeur' scenes to be filmed for the extras section of the 'Deluxe Gentleman's XL' Super8 print sold to selected Soho peepshows.

[JeeExEll]

General Motors wasn't a real person.

[quicksilver]

On 12/15/2019 at 9:26 AM, Billy - Medhurst said:

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.

That's true and here's the proof

VEV 997L - 1972 Morris Marina 1.3 Super Deluxe Coupe by Adam Floyd, on Flickr