Driving classic cars not fun anymore?

[SiC]

1 hour ago, BorniteIdentity said:

car scene

Car enthusiasts suck.

(Imo a "real" car enthusiast loves or finds all cars or vehicle transport interesting. There are not many true enthusiasts about that fit that definition.)

12 minutes ago, Bazfr69 said:

Anyone worried about the safety of their Classic has no business on a bike. 
Most of my circle who rode regularly have packed it in because of their perception of other road users. 

I'd love to ride motorbikes but I also love to keep my limbs still attached to my body.

"Sorry mate, I didn't see you"

[chadders]

I like driving my old cars but then again I never take them on a motorway, the MGB is only knee high to some teutonic 4wd penis extension that weighs 3 tons.

They're great for driving around here and the relative, compared to 'modern' cars, lack of acceleration doesn't matter as given the sightlines most of the time I'd probably struggle in a 959.

For any long journeys our Roomster is perfectly fine.

 

[LightBulbFun]

surely if a large part of the problem is how small and vulnerable one feels in a classic car vs modern traffic,, then the solution is to get something like a Routemaster bus no?

 

somewhere @Yoss posted a great picture of himself in traffic in his RM, behind another 6 cylinder vintage car, a Triumph I think? and I remember thinking "look at that view proper king of the road driving position" and no ones going to fuck with you if your in a 27-30ft long double decker bus

well I mean they can try, but they will be the ones coming worse off! 

 

 

[chadders]

Well it's definitely not an invacar is it especially if you don't have much real world experience on the roads?

I'd much prefer an Alvis Stalwart to a bus.

If you want a high driving position...

[Tommyboy12]

4 hours ago, SiC said:

Car enthusiasts suck.

(Imo a "real" car enthusiast loves or finds all cars or vehicle transport interesting. There are not many true enthusiasts about that fit that definition.)

The car scene is a real problem in general at the moment. It's either an astra estate with a dpf delete and tacky canyards stuck on or it's some bellends doing doughnuts in a carpark.

Otherwise, it's some high and mighty old duffer in his over polished chrome bumper MGB at a classic car show.

Shows like Shedfest and Rustival are a nice break from that but then you just get some clapped out old Fiesta instead 😅

[Bazfr69]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

Car enthusiasts suck.

(Imo a "real" car enthusiast loves or finds all cars or vehicle transport interesting. There are not many true enthusiasts about that fit that definition.)

I'd love to ride motorbikes but I also love to keep my limbs still attached to my body.

"Sorry mate, I didn't see you"

The car enthusiast thing could just as easily be applied to non scene people. The OEM and rivet counter squad. 
 

I don’t like what some folks do to their motor but I can appreciate the fact that they love it all the same. 
 

I’m not a massive fan of large wheels or pan scraping but it doesn’t mean those folks aren’t car enthusiasts. 
 

I love cars and agree that there’s a lot of snobbery and indeed reverse snobbery out there. 

[Matty]

1 hour ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

But these things can be fixed with a more powerful engine and higher gearing.

Currently being there/doing that. I'll report back when, y'know, I've got something positive to report 😭

[Bazfr69]

23 minutes ago, Tommyboy12 said:

The car scene is a real problem in general at the moment. It's either an astra estate with a dpf delete and tacky lanyards stuck on or it's some bellends doing doughnuts in a carpark.

Otherwise, it's some high and mighty old duffer in his over polished chrome bumper MGB at a classic car show.

Shows like Shedfest and Rustival are a nice break from that but then you just get some clapped out old Fiesta instead 😅

I must admit that I really do not like the dirty diesel crew. It’s big over here especially among young blokes and I find the idea of a Bora or its ilk being an aspirational car for a young lad baffling. 
 

I’m a shitty car enthusiast myself in that case. 😄

 

We really do suck. 

[SiC]

10 minutes ago, Bazfr69 said:

The car enthusiast thing could just as easily be applied to non scene people. The OEM and rivet counter squad

Rivet counters/OE only are same thing just a different "scene"!

 

[SiC]

1 minute ago, Bazfr69 said:

I must admit that I really do not like the dirty diesel crew. It’s big over here especially among young blokes and I find the idea of a Bora or it’s Ilk being an aspirational car for a young lad baffling. 
 

I’m a shitty car enthusiast myself in that case. 😄

 

We really do suck. 

While there are vehicles that don't hold too much interest to me and some I don't really like, I'd be more than happy to jump in one and give it a go to see how it drives. I don't like the association that macho, diesel and rolling coal goes together as I find it antisocial to others. But then I still find it interesting that people feel to express themselves that way. Even if it's to the detriment of others.

Let's face it, majority of cars and their actual real world use is to the detriment of others. 

[Sham]

I genuinely enjoy driving anything, anywhere. Doesn't matter if it's 5 or 50 years old.

But if I am just going for a drive and have nowhere to go, and the only consideration is pleasure, I'll take the bike. As has been said a few posts back, no car is as much fun on any road as a motorbike.

[Bazfr69]

9 minutes ago, SiC said:

Rivet counters/OE only are same thing just a different "scene"!

 

Not when it comes to certain forums ime. 
 

This place largely does not appreciate a modified car in the way RR would. 
When I hear ‘scene’ I immediately think of OEM pervs looking down their noses at the lowered etc. 

I feel the rivet counting is more the purview of the dreaded owners club  

I see what you mean though. 
 

[SiC]

49 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

surely if a large part of the problem is how small and vulnerable one feels in a classic car vs modern traffic,, then the solution is to get something like a Routemaster bus no?

As you get older and on the roads more, you see more near misses or even accidents. Maybe even get into one yourself. Then you hear friends/family/colleagues who have had serious accidents on the road. 

Most people don't want to die or be seriously maimed (personally I think that is worse). You realise as time goes by how easy that can be, especially on the roads. 

That distracted individual in a Tiguan pulling out of a side road onto a 60mph road? You naturally slow down and maybe even pull out wide when you see it. Same individual doing the same as just you're passing that junction with no time to react?

*BANG*

Classic you're dead or seriously injured for the rest of your life. That isn't just on small classics, big stuff too and even a routemaster. While the bus will have a lot of energy to push the vehicle out the way, that vehicle is likely going into the cabin you're sat at.

The distracted individual probably will be absolutely fine with maybe a bad neck or at worse a broken bone.

 

Same case with someone up your arse. You're driving along in an old car, idiot up your arse. Someone pulls out, you slam the anchors on to avoid them. Idiot in the back slams into you. Their airbags deploy and they get out raging at you for doing an emergency stop. You're either through the windscreen/face into the steering wheel, broken neck from no headrest or just plain dead. That applies to anything old, not just small vehicles but bigger ones too.

 

All stuff you are fully aware of when you're driving a classic and comes home to you as you age. Most of us take this risk when driving old cars as we enjoy or want to enjoy driving them. To reduce the stress or risk of it happening, we chose to do this where there are less of a chance of this happening.

[Cavcraft]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

I'd love to ride motorbikes but I also love to keep my limbs still attached to my body.

"Sorry mate, I didn't see you"

It's easy to say, but you have to try and not let that put you off. If you read the figures or thought too hard about it, you'd probably never get a bike. If people saw past that and rode one for a few weeks,  many would struggle to go back in their cars.

 

[Bazfr69]

1 minute ago, Cavcraft said:

It's easy to say, but you have to try and not let that put you off. If you read the figures or thought too hard about it, you'd probably never get a bike. If people saw past that and rode one for a few weeks,  many would struggle to go back in their cars.

 

I think this is easier in your 20s than 40s & 50s. 
I've pulled a muscle getting off the sofa the wrong way, I’m acutely aware of how well/poorly I bounce now and recovery time involved in the slightest of things. 
 
I’m not frightened of getting old but I’m terrified of not being able to look after myself. 

[Dyslexic Viking]

42 minutes ago, Matty said:

Currently being there/doing that. I'll report back when, y'know, I've got something positive to report 😭

Has it gone that bad?

[danthecapriman]

13 minutes ago, Bazfr69 said:

I think this is easier in your 20s than 40s & 50s. 
I've pulled a muscle getting off the sofa the wrong way, I’m acutely aware of how well/poorly I bounce now and recovery time involved in the slightest of things. 
 
I’m not frightened of getting old but I’m terrified of not being able to look after myself. 

Definitely some truth to that!

Since I did my back in, back in 2008 I’ve realised how easily you can hurt yourself. When you’re young you don’t think about things and you usually bounce! As you get older you think about things way more (sometimes even overthinking!) and you start to break instead of bouncing. 
Trouble is, now my backs knackered I’m stuck with it for life now and I have to think about what I’m doing.

I used to watch the apprentices at work doing things how youngsters do and always thought to myself ‘if you slip…’ or ‘if that goes wrong…’.     
The chances are it probably won’t happen of course but I don’t fancy trying my luck anymore!

[Bazfr69]

I’ve definitely become more risk averse as I’ve aged. I’ll freely admit it. 
I watched my dad go from a roaring bear of a man to a frail old fella dependent on help to do the most innocuous tasks in his last few years and I don’t want that to be me. Nor do I want my mrs to have to deal with it for me. 
 

I have a mate who’s the polar opposite. Almost 60, skis, snowboards and paraglides ffs. 
I admire him but I don’t want to emulate his behaviour. 😄

[Matty]

23 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Has it gone that bad?

Nah. It works brilliantly but arriving at the right solution for fueling is proving a cunt. That and I'm flat out at work and building at home. So no time. With a clear run at it a day or so!

[chadders]

32 minutes ago, Bazfr69 said:

I’ve definitely become more risk averse as I’ve aged. I’ll freely admit it. 
I watched my dad go from a roaring bear of a man to a frail old fella dependent on help to do the most innocuous tasks in his last few years and I don’t want that to be me. Nor do I want my mrs to have to deal with it for me. 
 

I have a mate who’s the polar opposite. Almost 60, skis, snowboards and paraglides ffs. 
I admire him but I don’t want to emulate his behaviour. 😄

I'm also more risk averse now.

I don't want to be a cripple that has to rely on my missus to wheel me around and so forth.

EDIT: I missed off the most important reason in my opinion, having kids. Mine are grown up now so don't rely on me, apart from things like financial advice, but they certainly did, as all kids do.

[Sham]

Bikes are more dangerous than cars, statistically, that's true - but most of the accidents are down to idiot riders, not the car drivers. 

You can also spot a car that's going to do something stupid a mile off. A good bike rider is no more likely to crash than an observant car driver in my opinion.

In 7k miles last year, I didn't need a single emergency avoidance on the bike. And trust me, with nearly 400bhp/ton I don't hang about.

[Vimesy]

I do feel very vulnerable when in busy traffic in the Spitfire, it's miniscule compared to almost every other damn thing on the road !

I put my back out lifting an Avenger short block the wrong way, well over 40+years ago now, it's never been the same unfortunately....

[vulgalour]

Some of it's the rose tinted specs at play isn't it?  I loved my Mk2 Polo ten-plus years ago, went everywhere in it including on the motorway, never really worried about it.  Wouldn't do it now, it'd just be super stressful and I'd be a lot less tolerant of the car's shortcomings.  As one approaches middle age, priorities definitely shift.  What you're willing to tolerate, and not tolerate, can be wildly different to when you were a young un.  Of course, if you're expecting the Mini to be only like it was on its best days when you were younger, you're probably forgetting the times it was a right arsehole for no reason.  It's a Mini, they're never perfect all the time, that's part of the charm.

I trundle about in old shit because I have to more than because I want to.  There's certain drives I won't do because I know it's going to be a miserable experience.  It's boring having Audis up your chuff, and SUVs randomly pulling out on you, and German Executive Cars doing whatever it is they think they're doing on the regular.  It's not as fun driving a forty year old car now as it was twenty years ago because the difference between a modern car then and now is so much greater.  People can set off and stop ridiculously quickly, comparatively, and they don't have the patience with an older vehicle that just takes longer to do basic tasks like setting off from a junction.  Old cars are noisy and smelly and don't have as much assistance, it requires a heck of a lot more concentration to pilot one, let alone safely, than something from more recent years.

It might just be the Mini is no longer the right car for you for where you are now.  Or it might be that you've just not had one of those magic days where you get to experience it at its best on a run where everything just falls into place nicely.

[loserone]

1 hour ago, Sham said:

A good bike rider is no more likely to crash than an observant car driver in my opinion.

Perhaps, but the impact of a crash might* be higher

[Sham]

1 minute ago, loserone said:

Perhaps, but the impact of a crash might* be higher

Oh, absolutely, but you have to hit something for it to be an issue.

[Yoss]

4 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

surely if a large part of the problem is how small and vulnerable one feels in a classic car vs modern traffic,, then the solution is to get something like a Routemaster bus no?

 

somewhere @Yoss posted a great picture of himself in traffic in his RM, behind another 6 cylinder vintage car, a Triumph I think? and I remember thinking "look at that view proper king of the road driving position" and no ones going to fuck with you if your in a 27-30ft long double decker bus

well I mean they can try, but they will be the ones coming worse off! 

 

 

Thank for the heads up, I hadn't noticed this thread. The trouble with driving a Routemaster anywhere off a regular bus route is you are constantly scanning ahead for trees. So if I was going to have a bus for everyday use I'd have an RF. Same quality interior but much lower and a couple of inches narrower too.

But back in the real world (what I actually do own now) I do still very much enjoy driving the Triumph but whilst it is still very small by modern standards it is considerably larger than a Mini. I don't use it as much as I should which is down partially to my laziness and partially the geography of the house. To get it out of the garage I have to move both Škodas off the drive and put at least one of them back afterwards as we have residents permit parking. But it sits there ready to go when I can drum up the effort and I'm quite happy to take it anywhere and I enjoy it when I do.

All this talk of safety doesn't really worry me but maybe that's because my daily drivers are both 30 years old too. People never used to worry about these things, at least not like they do now. I know accidents happen but they are very rare so I'm prepared to take my chances. There are still people from the 1970s alive today, they didn't all die in car crashes.

The thing I like about the Triumph is that you can feel it working. It's a bit like Triggers Broom in that I've had it 29 years so I have taken apart and put back together almost every part so whatever switch, pedal, lever etc I'm operating I know where it goes and how it works. Even the wiring loom is so simple I can picture most of it in my head and know what colour goes where.

I took it to Lidl the other day and when I came out it had disappeared!

And a Quashy isnt even a particularly big car these days is it?

Ah, there it is.

But small has it's advantages too. It's much more relaxing for town driving as you can just nip through gaps where everybody else has to slow down and it fits in all parking spaces. Those ones at Lidl are quite big but they're not all like that are they? My paintwork isn't very good so I'm not worried about parking dings.

[maxxo]

This is my daily 

perfectly useable every day, refined, comfortable and enough power

in my opinion this era is the absolute sweet spot

 

[Matty]

11 hours ago, warch said:

string on the furry dice has snapped.  

Scrap it m9 😄

[Matty]

Fit.

[sheffcortinacentre]

If I'm not driving the 22 year-old falcon Ute then it's a MK3 cortina & as said I use them as cars rather than toys & have no trouble keeping up with modern shite.