Stodge

[vulgalour]

There's a healthy amount of stodge on the forum of late, thought I'd see who and what I could remember and do a little list for folks to find more of the same.  Happy for folks to just dump a snapshot of their stodge in here too, regardless of whether or not you're keeping a thread on it.

@HMC Rover P4 80 and Austin Seven - https://autoshite.com/topic/29726-hmc-rover-p4-80/page/143/

@barrett Palladium and Friends - https://autoshite.com/topic/25407-37th-time-lucky-driving-a-car/page/21/#comments

@SiC Rover P4 110 - https://autoshite.com/topic/53198-rover-p4-110-new-arrival/

@vulgalour Lanchester LD10 - https://autoshite.com/topic/41744-1951-lanchester-ld10/

@Angrydicky Austin A70 Hampshire - https://autoshite.com/topic/39832-dicky’s-disastrous-debris-steering-wheel-restoration-3922/page/7/

@PhilA Pontiac Chieftain - https://autoshite.com/topic/32865-1951-pontiac-chieftain/

@320touring Morris Oxford - https://autoshite.com/topic/29795-320tourings-major-morris-manoeuvrings/page/27/?tab=comments#comment-2720705

Stodge: stuff that looks like it should live in the slow lane, mostly pre-1960 or pre-1960 style, even if it's capable of hustling with modern traffic.

 

[vulgalour]

I'm pretty sure I've missed some people above too. Nothing personal, my brain's filing system is just useless.

[HMC]

STODGE

[PhilA]

Requires stodge style, too.

Anything advertised with these folks next to an artist's rendering of the vehicle showing it as sleek, long, classy, extravagant (yet still sensibly priced).

[vulgalour]

Ah those classic advertisements that make the Austin Ruby look like a limousine that can comfortable seat five.

[Rocket88]

[wuvvum]

3 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

Ah those classic advertisements that make the Austin Ruby look like a limousine that can comfortable seat five.

The cars are drawn to scale, it's just that everybody in the 1930s was 3' tall.

[warch]

It used to be piss easy to make stuff up when they did artistic renderings of cars, instead of photographs. Weirdly the only thing drawn to scale in the above image is the dog.

[sierraman]

From the days of a good meal being mountains of boiled potatoes and one solitary sausage or if you were lucky chitling and bag.

[Soundwave]

10 minutes ago, sierraman said:

From the days of a good meal being mountains of boiled potatoes and one solitary sausage or if you were lucky chitling and bag.

Or if you were unlucky, stale bread softened with reheated dripping.

[Datsuncog]

You definitely wouldn't have deduced from the ad artwork that this car was about the size of a malnourished wheelbarrow.

[vulgalour]

Joy for 5 what, exactly?  Not people, surely.

[anonymous user]

7 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

Joy for 5 what, exactly?  Not people, surely.

Five finger shuffle?

[sierraman]

9 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

Joy for 5 what, exactly?  Not people, surely.

Be a burial for 5 if you hit so much as a hedge in that thing. 

[SiC]

That picture screams picking little Johnny up and waving at Mummy as Father leaves her behind as she doesn't fit in.  

Not surprisingly only five of the things were made in the end. 

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

Not surprisingly only five of the things were made in the end. 

There you go - so five people did find joy!

 

 

Sort of. Maybe.

[sierraman]

Imagine in the fifties, a young woman announcing to her family she is ‘courting’ as it was put back then. ‘Alan has a car!’ She might announce to her family, any ideas of him arriving in a Highline Zodiac firmly put to bed when he arrived in his piss stained demob suit that he also used like everyone in the fifties to do manual jobs like sawing asbestos sheets. Instead of the Cresta or the Zodiac he’s piloting the Allard Clipper. Her entire life is now set out upon seeing that vehicle, if she fucks off back in the house at once it’s possible she might avoid a life of Harpic, Frey Bentos pies, stays in boarding houses in Cleethorpes and having to endure Alan thrashing about on her once every six months appearing to any onlookers as if he was having a fit. 

[SiC]

Given petrol rationing didn't end until May 1950 and vehicles were still very expensive, they'd been impressed he owned a car, especially many men  would be only on a motorbike if they're lucky or failing that a push bike. 

[sierraman]

1 minute ago, SiC said:

Given petrol rationing didn't end until May 1950 and vehicles were still very expensive, they'd been impressed he owned a car, especially many men  would be only on a motorbike if they're lucky or failing that a push bike. 

A bit like arriving to a date in an MG3 EV these days I suppose. 🤣

[egg]

I need some stodge in my life, less in my tummy, more on the road.

[warch]

10 hours ago, SiC said:

Given petrol rationing didn't end until May 1950 and vehicles were still very expensive, they'd been impressed he owned a car, especially many men  would be only on a motorbike if they're lucky or failing that a push bike. 

I suppose it’s preferable to one of those self build aircraft you could buy in the 1930s.

’Take to the skies for only 7s 9d!’

’All you’ll need is a common or garden motorcycle engine, some wheels from a wheelbarrow, some plywood, easily obtained from an old shed or wardrobe and some tacks and wood glue. You’ll be the envy of all your friends at the controls of your very own Hanley Thrush!’

[Matty]

More than likely fit this

[adw1977]

I don't know, Farinas are a bit too modern and stylish, didn't they mark a move away from stodge for BMC?

[sierraman]

The ultimate in stodge has to be the Triumph Mayflower. It looked terrible and by all accounts was pretty dreary. A meal of dry peeled potatoes that haven’t been cooked for quite long enough and a really small portion of meat that has been cooked for far too long and is now as tough as the sole of your shoe. Possibly a side serving of raw carrots. No condiments available except salt. 

[warch]

Man: (through gritted teeth) 'For Christ's sake stop waving, people are looking at us!'

 

Woman: 'What the actual fuck is THAT!'

[captain_70s]

39 minutes ago, sierraman said:

The ultimate in stodge has to be the Triumph Mayflower. It looked terrible and by all accounts was pretty dreary. A meal of dry peeled potatoes that haven’t been cooked for quite long enough and a really small portion of meat that has been cooked for far too long and is now as tough as the sole of your shoe. Possibly a side serving of raw carrots. No condiments available except salt. 

Pre-war mechanicals with a body that looked like a 10 year old Rolls had shrunk in the wash.

I'm saving up my pennies for a Vauxhall Velox E, that might be a bit too transatlantic to be properly stodgy though...

The Wyvern L however, big salted porridge vibes.

[vulgalour]

I think the A40 gets a pass here because it is to stodge what the last bit of oatmeal stuck to the edge of the bowl is to the whole bowl of porridge.  Transitional stodge.  Desperately trying to balance the knife edge of being modern enough to appeal to new buyers and old fashioned enough to be safe for existing buyers.  It's what the Mayflower wishes it could be.

[320touring]

@vulgalour I love the insinuation that the Oxford can keep up with modern traffic..

That is only possible if you like counting the valves as they come out the bonnet and you can cope with the diff singing High C..

At 80% of modern traffic pace, it's travelling at 116% of the available braking force🤣

[Matty]

2 hours ago, adw1977 said:

I don't know, Farinas are a bit too modern and stylish, didn't they mark a move away from stodge for BMC?

It doesn't feel that modern getting into it after an 07 plate fiesta 😄

[lesapandre]

In my rambles around the history of the British motor industry - its notable how much impact ill-conceived taxes had on its long term health and viability.

Car purchase tax from  October 1940 was set at 33.33%. This wartime rate was continued and  increased to 66% for cars costing over £1000 in 1947 and this rate was further extended to all other cars from 1951. In 1953 it was reduced to 50% - but it was still very high and throttled off demand.

The impact on the long-term health of the motor industry was immense.

It led to the proliferation of wacky 3-wheeler, kit and economy cars which mostly had no long-term viability in the real world - as well as inhibiting long term investment in the motor industry overall and thus future prospects  and output.

This all came to a head in the late 60's with the creation of BLMC.

Link that to refusing to allow the Midlands car factories to expand and forcing them to develop away from their heartland and you had a recipe for disaster caused by government interference. The rest, as they say, is history.