Cars of the people. Part two tonight at 9.

[dugong]

There is a 'laughing at crashed BMWs' thread on a certain British cars-biased forum to be fair...

And the inverse snob brigade would smash German cars up if the money was there.

 

I get why apologism exists; it's a weird mixture of fusty nostalgic nationalism (enjoying an ugly rebirth as a UKIP cornerstone), bitterness and a Clarkson backlash. He went too far and the opposite end of the spectrum endlessly foam to try and redress the balance.

 

Unfortunately my internet connection cut out half way through last night's Cars of The People. I blame the migrants.*

 

Blanket positivity is as useless as all-round negativity. This is why Retro Rides grates 'pon my bosom.

[garbaldy]

Most car based forums stick the boot in when top gear wrecked an old car big deal unless it's the last one in existence of course,

Take a close look at the tv and you will find its not just tg that wreck cars,

did they not trash a load of Toyota's a Citroen and a load of VWs, oh no they couldn't have done that as they only pick on BL.

[dollywobbler]

I thought it was very enjoyable. Good telly. I know he's upset all of the Allegro owners, but that's because they don't seem to be able to comprehend that Allegros are a bit shit. They are! So much potential ruined by a bloody heater and a stupid too-tall engine. Would I still like to own or drive one? Of course! I like dreadful cars. I enjoy their dreadfulness. Sure, a Golf or Mazda 323 would be a better car, but better isn't always fun.

 

I don't think he overly panned the Allegro either. To me, he just sounded annoyed that it ended up such a mess - and angry about the state of the British motor industry at that time. I agree with him entirely.

[Pete-M]

Inverted snobbery is just as bad as snobbery. Pointless and destructive, with the added stupidity of being deliberate.

[dugong]

Most car based forums stick the boot in when top gear wrecked an old car big deal unless it's the last one in existence of course,

Take a close look at the tv and you will find its not just tg that wreck cars,

did they not trash a load of Toyota's a Citroen and a load of VWs, oh no they couldn't have done that as they only pick on BL.

It's almost as if some (not all) BLARG fans enjoy being victimised, often over events that happened before they could even drive. DEBATE IS BAD AND WRONG.

 

I find it very weird.

[garbaldy]

Inverted snobbery is just as bad as snobbery. Pointless and destructive, with the added stupidity of being deliberate.

That is so true and I never actually admitted to owning Audi's and BMW's for that very reason even though they are pretty good cars,

Scuttles of to put flameproof suit on.

[SiC]

To be fair, top gear are not the only one killing off classics and they've killed far less classics than the banger guys have...

 

Incidentally, Googling banger racing comes up with this former Cav mk2.

 

Survived apparently. But ouch.

 

(source: http://www.migweb.co.uk/forums/car-talk/255416-3-reasons-y-not-banger-race-cav.html )

[dugong]

Banger Racers, BL apologism and Top Gear in one thread.

 

Garbaldy isn't going to be the only person needing nomex at this rate.

[SiC]

I quite enjoyed it. Something to fill a late Sundays evening before bed.

 

The criticism, is that I find the whole we won the war thing is getting a bit boring nowadays.

 

Oh and I found his jab at Top Gear near the start pretty funny if anyone noticed it.

[Pete-M]

I've owned some proper shit cars, and some stuff that's a bit lovely. At the end of the day they're just cars, but you'll always get people who judge you by the company you keep, the shoes you wear or the car you drive. It's pointless.

 

Bloke I know has a lot of very very expensive old cars, Ferraris, Maseratis, Jaguars and Rolls Royce. His usual cars for rattling around town are a scruffy Honda Acty pick up and an old Audi A2. He restores old Foden two stroke lorries for fun.

 

He isn't a snob of either the inverted or traditional sense, he's just a normal bloke with bad hair yet people will judge him for driving his Ferrari or his Honda. Which just shows how stupid snobbery is.

[SiC]

Cue kneejerk John Gacy/Osama Bin Laden "people killed" comparison and thread rolling onto 15 or so utterly futile pages before being locked.

One thing I think the owners clubs moaning about destroying classic cars miss, is that by the act of doing so there is one less one around - thus increasing their cars value a tad more.  

 

Plus it supplies a few more parts into the mix.

[dugong]

One thing I think the owners clubs moaning about destroying classic cars miss, is that by the act of doing so there is one less one around - thus increasing their cars value a tad more.  

 

Plus it supplies a few more parts into the mix.

OCs and banger racers are as bad as one another. For every ovalist trying to sell parts, there's a 'true enthusiast' who thinks the spares should be buttons. The bad vibes have built up from there.

[For Fiats Sake]

His argument was that basically the demilitarised "beaten" countries of WWII ended up being the victors of modern car manufacturing.  

 

Doesn't really explain why TaTa own Land Rover though does it? 

 

I'm taking heart from the inclusion of a Fiat Panda on the opening credits for further episodic exploration of Italian chod.

If he could bash up a few and make mine worth what I paid for them I'd be very grateful.

[Louise2cv]

I don't know if I've ever* mentioned this before but I had an Allegro and it was one of the best and probably the fastest car I have ever driven.

 

Therefore, as per the unwritten rules of the internet and boosted by the fact that I have neither seen the programme or really read the thread, I can successfully claim that you are all wrong.

 

Thank you.

[flat4alfa]

I had no idea there was new series

 

I thought it was repeat!

 

So decided to miss it.

[Alexg]

One thing I think the owners clubs moaning about destroying classic cars miss, is that by the act of doing so there is one less one around - thus increasing their cars value a tad more.  

 

 

 

I'm not sure, even if this is true, that they miss this fact. I think it's the case that most owners of Marinas and other such chod are in it for the love rather than the £85 yearly appreciation yield. They'd rather just see more on the road and available to own.

[Mike D]

I thought it was ok, beats another period costume drama anyways!

[xtriple]

Marinas and Allegros are shit.

 

I love them. I had an Ital and even though it was utterly fucked it still went like a rocket. It handled like crap but in a really fun way and the brakes were lethal and pulled one way or the other as the mood took them. I loved it but there was NO FUCKING way I would let my wife or kids in the bloody thing!

 

The Marina, really, bit of a joke by the standards of the day - sorry.

 

I quite like Agros, I thought they were okay motors but badly built by a militant workforce and designed and signed off by incompetent managers. The whole BL thing (like the British bike industry) was a cluster-fuck of ineptitude and hatred.

 

It was a bad time for us in the UK.

[Aston Martin]

TG dropped the piano on one Marina, but then Marina people complained and so the Marina piano dropping carried on.

[Lacquer Peel]

Marinas and Allegros are shit.

 

I love them. I had an Ital and even though it was utterly fucked it still went like a rocket. It handled like crap but in a really fun way and the brakes were lethal and pulled one way or the other as the mood took them. I loved it but there was NO FUCKING way I would let my wife or kids in the bloody thing!

 

The Marina, really, bit of a joke by the standards of the day - sorry.

 

I quite like Agros, I thought they were okay motors but badly built by a militant workforce and designed and signed off by incompetent managers. The whole BL thing (like the British bike industry) was a cluster-fuck of ineptitude and hatred.

 

It was a bad time for us in the UK.

 

UK Fords and Vauxhalls of the time weren't really any better, the companies and cars suffered from similar issues, they only survived with the backing of massive international companies, their budgets and savvy PR.

 

Anyway, I finished watching the James May thing and it's quite good.

[HH-R]

It was alright, talking to the American and Japanese factory workers was probably the most interesting bit.

 

The thing is with having Allegros and Marinas or other BL tin on the telly is that we get the same few facts and piss taking over and over. Allegro's heater affecting the styling and the Marina's handling was shit, etc (conspicuous in its absence in this one). My point is, thousands of car makers and models from all over the world over 100+ year span and we have to hear about the fackin' Allegro's heater or how it's got a square wheel for 400th time. Maybe in 2050 we'll be watching programmes about the Nissan Juke not having to accommodate a Marina heater but looking like it had to anyway or how the 1996-2003 Fiesta didn't get 24 NCAP stars. Actaully nah, a 100 year old Cockson/90 year old May/21 year old Hammond will still be talking about the Allegro.
 

[Andrew353w]

I watched the first series and loved it-particularly the Renault 4 programme. I've high hopes for this series going by last night's episode. James May's delighfully tongue-in-cheek comments are so spot-on that the humour appeals to those not really into cars as much as we all are. Let's hope the rest of the series lives up to these standards. 

[overrun]

Fuck me that Celica is pretty.

Not seen this. Was it a TA22 or RA28?

Hnnnnggg!

[trigger]

This probably says a lot towards why what happened to BL happened.

 

http://classics.honestjohn.co.uk/news/archive/1972-01/rainwater-strike/

 

'Four men who objected to walking through an inch of floodwater at British Leyland's car plant at Cowley, Oxfordshire, yesterday stopped production of the Morris Marina and led to 1,200 assembly workers being laid off.'

[carlo]

Enjoyable, superior to most car-orientated TV on nowadays and no doubt because of James May, who is fab.

 

Couple of minor gripes; do we have to have the Italian Job music on every time a mini is featured?  And secondly, surely it is pronounced Vanden Plas, not Plah.

[MrDuke]

 surely it is pronounced Vanden Plas, not Plah.

 

I think he was probably doing that on purpose - owners did actually pronounce it like that at the time. I remember my Dad laughing at them (from the front seat of his battered Landcrab)

[RoadworkUK]

I thought it was quite good.

 

I think the paper was a bit on the thin and cheap side, and there were a few too many adverts.

 

Also, though the Citroen XM buying guide was very comprehensive, it jarred somewhat with all the "affordable" TVR Griffiths being mentioned elsewhere.

 

If I see it next time I'm out and about I'll probably still pick up a copy.

[Chris2cv]

I enjoyed it. Although I knew about the demise of the British motor companies, it is interesting to hear some new information and different takes, like the American and Japanese angles on things.  The allegro bit was probably to be expected really but I didn't think it was overly harsh, I would still like an allegro!

 

 I will be watching the rest of the series. Any one know if the 2cv is in it? 

[strangeangel]

He said nice things about decent British cars and poked fun at (some of) the shit ones. Can't see what all the fuss is about TBH.

 

Will I watch next week's one though? Probably not.

[Arthur Foxhake]

I think the T.V programme was good and quite entertaining.

 

This thread made me laugh more though.