Factoids.

[Negative Creep]

A couple more myths dispelled

 

The Model T was available in many colours, not just black

The Starion is not a mistranslation of Stallion but rather an amalgamation of Star Orion. It was to be called the Orion but this had to be changed for obvious reasons

Although the Allegro is more aerodynamic in reverse, this is common of most cars from the period

[Dave7601]

Spare wheels wern't included with new Reliant Robins,or it would have put the car over the weight limit to allow the owner to drive it on a motorcycle license,the spare wheel had to be bought seperatley to the car.

[Justin Case]

Reliant built the Ford RS200 in its tamworth factory

 

 

Almost. Only the bodyshells were built by Reliant; the cars were assembled in the Norton factory in Shenstone. They had spare capacity as a version of the Wankel engine for light aircraft had failed to take off *(dreadful pun deliberate )

 

The Ford RS 200 bodyshell moulds were later purchased by kit-car company Banham and used to make a Maestro-based kit car.

 

* Fact, I went round the factory when they were being built

[autofive]

Reliant built the Ford RS200 in its tamworth factory

 

 

Almost. Only the bodyshells were built by Reliant; the cars were assembled in the Norton factory in Shenstone. They had spare capacity as a version of the Wankel engine for light aircraft had failed to take off *(dreadful pun deliberate )

 

The Ford RS 200 bodyshell moulds were later purchased by kit-car company Banham and used to make a Maestro-based kit car.

 

* Fact, I went round the factory when they were being built

 

 

ah-hem

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topi ... e%20scenes

[Justin Case]

 

ah-hem

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topi ... e%20scenes

 

The evidence for the defence:

http://www.classiccar.co.nz/articles/tu ... ford-rs200

 

I was also lucky enough to see the production facilities whilst the cars were being built, which was done at two factories in the Midlands, the GRP body at Reliant in Tamworth, and assembly in the ex Norton factory at Shenstone in the West Midlands. Two hundred cars were built and another 12 subsequently built from parts.

 

I think we need an adjudicator. Does any one know a BMW lover with a head full of useless facts

[Pete-M]

the first turbo diesel engined car was produced by Mercedes Benz in 1978.

 

Sorry Trig, the Pug 604 was also '78, but it came out before May, when the 300SD was launched

 

80 bhp Indenor FTW!

[Guest]

The Olds 442 which rolls over and explodes in the intro to Bodger and Badger is actually a 6-cylinder Cutlass painted up to look the part.

[M'coli]

The Italian Job's sewer shots were filmed in Coventry's sewers.

[Pete-M]

The Mk2 Escort development code name was 'Brenda', Mk3 was Erika.

 

First British car with alloy wheels as standard was the Dolly Sprint. First with colour coded plastic bumpers was the Maestro.

[martc]

It looks like the Starrion factoid was about as accurate as some of Steve Wrights. And possibly the 3 diamonds one as well - according to wikipedia Mitsubishi actually stands for 3 water chestnuts! And so to more facts....

 

We can add Piaggio, Rover and Innocenti to the 4 wheel/2 wheel interface.

 

Fiat, Skoda and Leyland also made/make trains.

 

BMW, Bristol, Hispano-Suiza, Napier, Renault, Alfa Romeo, Daimler-Benz, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Fiat, Rover and Volvo all made/make aeroplane engines.

 

Bristol, Mitsubishi, Subaru (as Nakajima), Ford, Saab, Honda, Armstrong-Siddley, Piaggio and Aermachhi made/make complete aeroplanes.

 

Saab aeroplanes use Volvo engines.

 

Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha and Volvo make marine engines.

 

Suzuki also make pre-fabricated buildings.

 

Reliants are called Reliants because when they took over Raleighs car business they had lots of parts stamped "R", they therefore needed an appropiate name. Talking of which,

 

Spare wheels wern't included with new Reliant Robins,or it would have put the car over the weight limit to allow the owner to drive it on a motorcycle license,the spare wheel had to be bought seperatley to the car.

 

I believe the spare was a "no-cost" extra and was included with all cars after they were weighed.

[Rocket88]

Triumph Stag designers deliberatley engineered the engine cmpartment so that a Rover V8 wouldn't fit .

 

Never heard that one before, maybe RV8's are smaller these days but they fit just fine.

 

I am sure that there was conciderable brand pride but I read that Rover v8 was considered for the Stag but with P5, P6 and Range Rover models all making huge demands on the RV8 production line in 1970 - output could not be increased to accomodate the forecast annual sales for the Stag.

 

Forecast annual sales for the stag = total production over 7 years

 

Had management not been such fuck heads they would have gone the Merc SL route and started out with 6 pots - triumph straight 6 looks quite at home in the Stag engine bay. they could have then sorted out the main bearing caps, and service shedule and got the v8 working properly.

 

Sorry, should have stated "wouldn't fit without a bonnet bulge" which, using the standard inlet manifold plus carbs, they don't. Totally agree with the "if Mercedes had built it " sentiment. Apparently there's a series 2 lurking somewhere with a Merc v8 in it. I had a Stag with a Triumoh straight 6 in it, it was fine, although not exactly quick. Triumph had intended to offer the straight 6 as a sort of "base model", but it never happened.

[flat4alfa]

SAAB used to make caravans. They were sold under the name SAABO

 

 

 

SAAB 99 was going to get the Stag V8. 40 mules were built. But instead they went with developing on the old Triumph four even further, which resulted in the Turbo engine

 

 

Which is nice.

[trigger]

Car phones have been about for a very long time...

 

1950s Carphone by Austin7nut, on Flickr

[morris_ital_lover]

Going on a previous point...

 

Morris made tanks and aeroplanes during WW2, they even had their own runway, now the site of Blackbird leys estate.

 

Hyundai also make ships.

 

m0rris

[flat4alfa]

That American car phone lady above. Before she was even born, a nice man called Mr Ericsson from Sweden had a telephone in his car back in 1910

 

[Volksy]

Could be German...

[Guest]

The Mid Night Club were a street racing gang who would race powerful cars down the Wangan Expressway between Tokyo/Yokohama. Members were required to keep their identities and careers secret. The group disbanded in 1999 and since then various former members have revealed themselves, including BBC Look North presenter Harry Gration, with his car of choice being a highly-tuned Porsche 959 which he claimed could achieve over 200mph.

[Pete-M]

The link between a steam powered car

 

 

and Jack Nicholson?

 

 

The Stanley Hotel, in Estes Park, Colorado. Built by F.O.Stanley, one of the brothers who made the steam cars, and the setting for The Shining.

[vicsmith]

The last Morris Oxford was sold in 1913.

 

1966 had ABS brakes.

 

The first turbocharged production vehicle was in fact Henry J. Ford.

 

Noel Edmonds owns more than one pair of shoes.

[Andrew353w]

C'mon! Car stuff!

 

I might be imagining this but is there a car which has a longer wheelbase on one side?

 

Renault 4 I think it is?

 

Yes it is, owing to the lateral torsion bars; one is fitted slightly in front of the other, thus making one side's wheelbase longer than the other. Is it really THE most terminally SAD thing that, not only do I know this, but that I am proud of knowing it?

[pogweasel]

Moira Stewart cannot drive a motor car.

Despite this, she does not post second-hand description of driving experiences on boring old car internet forums.

[Rusty Pelican]

C'mon! Car stuff!

 

I might be imagining this but is there a car which has a longer wheelbase on one side?

 

Renault 4 I think it is?

 

Yes it is, owing to the lateral torsion bars; one is fitted slightly in front of the other, thus making one side's wheelbase longer than the other. Is it really THE most terminally SAD thing that, not only do I know this, but that I am proud of knowing it?

How do you get the brakes checked at an MOT , the rolling bit wont work

[Andrew353w]

Not really a factoid but more of a meaningless statistic: GET THIS! Over 80% of all road accidents are caused by SOBER drivers! Apparently this IS true, based on drivers involved in road traffic accidents to which the police are called or attend in the course of their duties. All involved drivers are routinely breathalysed and the resulting information is collected and put in the computer.... And in this way one can state the above statistic! One COULD (could!) therefore conclude that, based on this statistic, one would be much less likely to have an accident if one drove around half cut....

 

Which only goes to prove that "there are lies, damned lies and statistics!"

[Pete-M]

Rover SD1s are 6mm longer on one side than the other due to a cock up in the design office.

[flat4alfa]

road test sufficent at that age isn't it?

[flat4alfa]

Could be German...

What could?

[Volksy]

The lady on the phone, seeing as it's a Mercedes..

[outlaw118]

Internet cables don't like being hit with hedge trimmers.

Which is why I've been off line ALL BLOODY WEEK!!!!!

 

The engine mounts in an FX4 cab line up with a Ford V6.

[scaryoldcortina]

MoT roller brake testers work fine on renault 4s. The difference in wheelbase isn't large enough to cause a problem on the roller, you just run both together to centralize (same as always) before starting to test.

 

If the car doesn't have a brake test weight specified, you can decelerometer test to determine efficiency after checking on the RBT.

[Rusty Pelican]

Thanks scary for the clarification