RetroRides - Where did it go wrong and what are the lessons?

[vaughant]

On 27/12/2025 at 00:39, DavidB said:

The best forum I’ve ever been on was Migweb, a Vauxhall forum, I signed up in 2002 and had such a good laugh with meets etc and the forum was hilarious. I think it properly died when moderation became too overbearing and new members joined scaring off the old ones. The funniest post I saw was someone posted up a photo of him eating a big eclair clutching it in his hand with his mouth covered in cream very innocently saying this cream cake is crazy it’s just making such a mess, and someone posted ‘will be back in a sec’ and about a minute later posted up the same photo with a massive cock replacing the cake, I was in the library pre-broadband days and was just laughing my head off.

I learned most of the things I know from there and they had a very active community outside of the forum like Billing and Santa Pod, someone took his Carlton up the strip and did an amazing one minute thirty second run, one of the slowest on record  

 

Migweb wow that brings back some memories 🤣🤣🤣.

Agree though an excellent forum with some really knowledgeable people on it.

Stayed long after I didn't have a Vauxhall.

I can recall them absolutely fucking slating some guy who never gave anyone the parts they'd bought off him, I think a party was being organised to go and recover them from on him, someone had a rough idea where he lived etc etc then one day he literally turned up and he'd been in the army in a war somewhere 😬😬😬😬.... oops.

Everyone got their stuff 🤣🤣.

[vaughant]

On 27/12/2025 at 13:05, delux said:

You could offer them a tenner for nothing and they would want 2 five pound notes, that type!

Never heard that before, what a cracking saying 🤣🤣🤣. I'm going to steal that 🤭🤭🤭

[HMC]

17 hours ago, DodgeRover said:

Sorry to hear that

had no idea dave passed. IIRC he resurrected the server back when all around as were green fields.

[delux]

3 hours ago, vaughant said:

Never heard that before, what a cracking saying 🤣🤣🤣. I'm going to steal that 🤭🤭🤭

Pretty sure it came from my mentor when I was an apprentice. 

If someone was being a prick he would describe them as a 'special fish'! I asked him what it meant.

He explained 'Imagine an eccentric millionaire walked in and offered everyone a fish supper for their lunch...

 

 

 

...there would always be one cockwhisk who didnt want a fish supper, he would want a 'special fish' in breadcrumbs instead! 😄

Even though I am a comparatively old git now, its amazing how much of his shitty patter I remember! Was thinking about this a few days ago. 'Always tighten screws until they are angry!' At the time I remember thinking it was such a stupid thing to say but despite all the things I've fucked up over the years, none of them was caused by me leaving a screw slack!

Angry screw...

Not angry screw...

 

😄

[EyesWeldedShut]

11 minutes ago, delux said:

fish supper,

 now, that takes me back a couple* of decades (four and a half really)

[DavidB]

I just had a look and the for sale is pretty much dominated by KFG stuff.
I wonder if everyone else is put off wading through 8000 mile cars going for £40K to see something relevant. It's such a shame as it's obviously killed the for sale section, he's the only one regularly using it.

 

[JMotor]

7 hours ago, vaughant said:

Migweb wow that brings back some memories 🤣🤣🤣.

Agree though an excellent forum with some really knowledgeable people on it.

Stayed long after I didn't have a Vauxhall.

I can recall them absolutely fucking slating some guy who never gave anyone the parts they'd bought off him, I think a party was being organised to go and recover them from on him, someone had a rough idea where he lived etc etc then one day he literally turned up and he'd been in the army in a war somewhere 😬😬😬😬.... oops.

Everyone got their stuff 🤣🤣.

MIGweb!? 

Yup, I was also on there too. 

Even still have a MIGweb sticker on my Astra! 

The near neverending question of what MIG stood for 😆.

Was inspired by a few cars on there too. Like NoSpec the stripped out MK3 Astra or Benn's Uber clean Nova. Which still is the same now. 

[vaughant]

37 minutes ago, JMotor said:

MIGweb!? 

Yup, I was also on there too. 

Even still have a MIGweb sticker on my Astra! 

The near neverending question of what MIG stood for 😆.

Was inspired by a few cars on there too. Like NoSpec the stripped out MK3 Astra or Benn's Uber clean Nova. Which still is the same now. 

Yes wtf did it stand for? 

I guess we'll never know 🤣🤣.

I bought a cavalier V6 off there, only wanted the engine for my astra gsi as it had the Vauxhall head on it and was frankly a bag of crap performancewise compared to the cavalier GSi I had before it with a breathed on xe.

V6 conversions seemed to be all the rage back then. 

Car was ok but the seller was totally full of shit, a lad from Bristol who was quite prominent, his name totally escapes me. 

He picked me up from the station at parkway as part of the deal was I took him to pick his new car up in the Cotswolds. Some old duffer had him a kipper with a V6 omega that had a fucked top end, the old boy told him it had always been that way but further investigation and some receipts revealed a fucked cam diagnosed at the MOT he'd had done a few months earlier. Lying old cunt. 

Still, he was full of shit as well. Told me the car came with 6 spare alloys of various designs, spare panels etc but it had fuck all in it. When I questioned him he just said " oh shit, I'll meet you one day with everything" I think a week later I was able to meet you collect but if course radio silence for months on end.

Car wasn't bad, had a fault at 4k when warmer that would lock it into limp mode but you could drive around it and it still went really well. Seem to think it was really good on fuel as well? 

White ex police so had literally nothing inside. Was pretty straight on the body, think it was k or l reg? Gave £400 for it from memory.

One other thing I do recall is the absolute trumpets that came to look at it when I was selling it, possibly, along with my MK1 MR2 and Porsche 924, the hardest car I've ever tried to sell. I can't even remember what I wanted, probably the £400 back but it had a really long MOT, still in daily use, I think I even put some nice wheels on it.

Just fucking Muppets turning up expecting a concourse motor for that money.

Had some prick from Ireland ring me getting all shitty because I'd "sold" it and the advert was still up..... That was the first time he'd contacted me and had apparently booked the ferry to come over. How that was my fault I don't know.

The twat who wanted it never actually came back either, then asked for his £50 deposit back 🙄🙄🙄... Which he never came back for either. Sold it to a guy in work in the end as they started checking cars parked in the work carpark and mine got a notice put on it 🤣🤣🤣. I wasn't going to tax it again 🤭🤭🤭.

Was a really good car though, amazed they weren't more popular as they went well and we're really good on fuel.

[Gompo]

It's easy to forget that when RR formed 20+ years, it was perhaps the only place to get that kind of content. I remember my honeymoon period with the site, being pleased I'd found somewhere that appeared* to follow my interests. Modified older cars basically, like when REVs mag first started.  Waiting forever on 56k for the show report or 'photo' threads to download is a lasting memory. It didn't take long to falter though, the forced moderation really grated; along with some members who just seemed a bit nobbish.

Some top members, cars and threads there over the years, admittedly.

 

 

[DavidB]

1 hour ago, JMotor said:

MIGweb!? 

Yup, I was also on there too. 

Even still have a MIGweb sticker on my Astra! 

The near neverending question of what MIG stood for 😆.

Was inspired by a few cars on there too. Like NoSpec the stripped out MK3 Astra or Benn's Uber clean Nova. Which still is the same now. 

Mike Ian Gareth web I think it was!

I bought a load of Astra GSis on there back when they were £250 - £1000, a Courtney sport Astra GTE16v that was £750. They were constantly getting broken on there for the engines and brakes. I bought a red GSi that I had for nearly 10 years for £750 I think - I got the train down to London (my first long distance purchase) with the money. Paid for it and drove home. I went to put petrol in and realised I had left my bank card at home and had no money.

I joined in 2002, I still have all my old photos and videos from those days on a CDRom, I do miss it.  

[New POD]

MIG web.  I bought a set of mk3 Astra Gsi front calipers with week old pads and discs along with front and rear shocks and springs off a guy that had bought a GSi off a dealer, but he immediately was lowering it and fitting willwood calipers. 

Stuck them on a 82 bhp 1.4LSi with 14 inch alloys. The front calipers were "snug" ... 2 or 3 mm to spare.  The car then sat lower by not alot but was so much firmer....

I used to frequent Cav Web alot, but it got fucked up with a name change to vauxhall online or something. Twas never the same.  It's where I first came across Billy. 

[DavieW]

1 hour ago, New POD said:

 It's where I first came across Billy. 

Oo err 😲😂

[adey]

Bit of a funny one, I enjoyed RR back in the day and still very much enjoy the events, even though my cars don't really fit in any more. Chilled vibe and something to do whilst looking at some metal.

A few of my posts were modified or ended up in the whinge bin, so I ended up using it more as a place to document what I'm tinkering with rather than a home or place to converse. Forced positivity is a little heavy, i think most people like to have a safe space to vent or moan.

When I first joined there nearly 20 years back it catered to my more rough/retro/hoodride style of car but the forum has shifted to a more clean almost JDM and American only style place now (at least at the shows) and a lot less budget friendly, or is that just the way of the world these days 🤷‍♂️I really don't think my stuff fits in there anymore though. 

I've only recently found this place and from reading it seems pretty chilled. I'm more of a lurker anyway these days

Forums in general have had a hard time over the last 10 years, the instant gratification the fb/insta/tiktok give seems to cater for the newer generations coming through into the car world, also getting a modern/new car seems to be the norm now, where as back when I was younger it was a case of buying what you could afford to pick up and making it work. Brand new or nearly new cars seem a lot more attainable than they ever used to be. That or I was just blind to it being a poor apprentice... 

Forums will always be the place where info is retained though likely a lot less active, most AI bots now reference forums when looking for car info or fixing problems too. Has the golden age for them ended, possibly yes, but will they stop completely, I really hope not 

Horses for courses and all that, we cant all fit in and like all the same things

 

[SiC]

On 19/02/2026 at 17:32, Gazza said:

Just checking through some of my old book marks and thought i would visit here to see what was going on.

Not sure if you all know but Daveb47 sadly passed away, back in 16th April 2022

I'm genuinely sad to hear this. Some may felt he left here under a bit of a cloud and his methods may have been a bit unorthodox but he did keep this place running for a good 5 years (afaik 2013 to 2017). A time when there weren't many others taking over the reins and a large growth period for the forum where many on here today joined around then (including myself). If he didn't, this place likely would have withered away from spam and/or fallen offline in time.

From from my reckoning he was 75, not that old nowadays.

RIP daveb47