The noises old shite makes that you recognise.

[kinkersaab]

Today I was waking down the street and heard a noise, I instantly recognised it and without looking knew it was an old Golf Automatic turning over, they have a very distinctive noise must be something to do with it being an auto, older BMW autos are similar but not so loud. Another one is the clunk/click of a volvo 240/740.340 etc as the driver disengages reverse, it is a noise like no other that is instantly recogniseable. There are others like a subaru engine, an a series engine etc etc, but they are a little obvious, anyone got any others, oh the noise of a skoda estelle front boot being slammed is another.........

[eddyramrod]

Bedford HA. Way back when I was a roadsweeper, the council used to provide the Cleansing Inspectors with vans; each one had his own. They were BT-yellow HAs and I could recognise that engine from two streets away! Those were the days, eh, when your local council took rate money off you and actually did something with it, without "agencies" and "contractors" soaking up all the dosh!

[Vinylseats]

My bedroom when I was a child was on the front of the house and had only single-glazed windows. I could recognise most cars that went up the hill by the sound of their engines without looking - Beetles were perhaps the easiest to identify, along with Minis, Citroen 2CV, fantastically whiny Allegros and Metros, hollow tappety Fiestas, Rover SD1 auto, Range Rovers...

 

I miss the days when you could identify a car by the sound of its engine - most sound the same these days.

[RoadworkUK]

How about the flatulent exhaust note of a Valencia engined Fiesta? I've been able to recognise that sound since I was eight.

[kinkersaab]

As a child i also remember I used to try and recognise cars in the dark by their headlights, pug 505s were easy.....

[fordnut]

MK2 Fiesta XR2s have a very distinctive exhaust note.

 

Leyland Nationals and Bristol VRs can easily be identified by the sound of the engine.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

How about the flatulent exhaust note of a Valencia engined Fiesta? I've been able to recognise that sound since I was eight.

 

I was going to say that!!! Very recognisable noise from those old crates.

[dollywobbler]

The rattle of a Kent engine? The fart of a Morris Minor/Sherpa (love the fact that even the Peugeot engined Pilots maintained the trumpet exhaust). The very-French nature of Renault/Peugeot and Citroen small four-pots.

[barrett]

How about the flatulent exhaust note of a Valencia engined Fiesta? I've been able to recognise that sound since I was eight.

 

'Flatulent' is the word I'd use to describe small Reliants, which is something I can recognise a mile off. The last Talbot product I saw being driven on the road (a Horizon, about 4 years ago) sounded as tappety as they're supposed to, too

[scaryoldcortina]

How about this?

Which I recorded yesterday, because it sounded exactly like a late night minicab in 1990....

 

edit... also, I had a talbot horizon, which sounded exactly like this..

[Vinylseats]

Just listen to the highly recognisable whine of this Morris Minor as it drives off.

 

[Lankytim]

The Ital my parents owned had a very distinctive sound, as did all Marinas/Itals. I can almost hear it now!

 

After I fixed the Maestros engine I fired it up for the first time and the whine the starter made took me back to my Mums one, owned from new in 1988 and scrapped in 2002ish- Its a sound only the Auto 1.6 variants seem to make.

[Albert Ross]

Pre-1971 Land Rovers with the straight cut 1st, always remind me of a Tube train starting off.

Morris 1000 on the over-run.

The Transfer gear whine on a real Mini.

Ford V6 Auto cranking over...

Early BMW 3 Series with a 6 in it, as it changes up, there's a little crackle.

Deltics. Choppers. Whistlers. Tractors. Duffs. Hoovers. Westerns, Warships and Hymeks.

Lancasters... Spitfires etc.

 

And tonight, I heard a noise I hadn't heard in years. A rear diff on a Transit pickup, whining it's tits off. Was 4 years old!

[VWPowered]

early fiestas and transits both a unique sound

[Cavcraft]

V6 Fords (Capri and Granada for example) also 8V Vauxhall engines being started or thrashed, whatever wheezy lump of shit went into the wheezy lump of shit Ford Ka and Lambrettas.

Oh and although it's been yonks I still reckon I could tell a Talbot engine as they all seemed to sound like an explosion in a ball bearing factory.

[Albert Ross]

As for the Fiesta engines, the best description I can think of, is "A skeleton wanking in a biscuit tin"

[ProgRocker]

Oh yes, the tappetty Talbot Horizons (& Alpines too?) like my parents' POS 1.3 LS

 

Also - I recall Vauxhall Chevettes and HC Vivas engines having a distinctive whine-like sound...I assume a characteristic of the 1256cc engine

 

As for the Fiesta engines, the best description I can think of, is "A skeleton wanking in a biscuit tin"

 

 

[Pete-M]

Heh, old Fiestas are a given.

 

There's another level to this sadness. I can recognise Vauxhall (Mk3 Astra / Mk1 Vectras mainly) central locking servos without seeing the car. 'orrible noise, that.

[j-j]

I always spot 1.9 XUD Pug/Cit diseasels at 40 paces. I just 'know' that deep rattly chug.

 

I ALWAYS know if it's a Xantia as opposed to a 306/ 405 etc due to the occasional "rrrrrrr- click" sound of the hydraulic pump and regulator. Sadly a much less heard sound these days - I can't tell one modern car sound from the next (except for the first generation BMW MINIS with the ridiculously noisy cold start injector "wheeeeeeeee")

 

I could always tell if there was a Citroen XM or Xantia mark 1 in the immediate area due to the surprisingly audible hissss noise that also is heard alongside the 'rrr-click' noise of the hydraulics. BXs do this hiss thing too, something to do with the 'normal' PAS being operated off the high pressure hydraulics through a distributor valve.

 

I can always tell if a Metro is approaching.

 

I also know the sound of the starter motor of 1.1 petrol 106/AX they sound exactly the same. Possibly learned due to my mum having 2 AXs and Saxos in a row all with the 1.1 lump.

[trigger]

The 2.5Di Transit Van, You know it's one of those from a mile of, and the Metro whine as well.

[Guest]

As for the Fiesta engines, the best description I can think of, is "A skeleton wanking in a biscuit tin"

 

[Lord Sterling]

MK2/3 Cavaliers for thier low toned but wheezy exhaust notes.

 

Mk2/3 and some 4 Fiestas with thier tappety engine and whiney driving engine notes.

 

V6 Honda-engined Sterlings, particularly fond of those.

 

Metros/Montegos sounded a bit like Cavaliers though in a more conservative way. Frighteningly tappty Beetles sounding like a petrol mower on a Sunday afternoon. Ford Orions/Escorts/Fiesta XR3s/mk3 Transits being ragged by thier bold builder/carpenter owners and various other 80s/90s cars, all cars that had thier own character, identity and particular sound.

 

Moderns just mostly all sound the same.

[CreepingJesus]

While modern cars don't make distinctive noises, the odd old 911 or Beetle is a bit of a treat. I learnt to count, identify colours and read, by all things motor; and according to my mum, I could identlfy all the neighbours' cars by noise alone. Seeing the pics of EL's Simca brought all that back!

I still hear the odd rattle of a big BMW starter, and the trumpeting of an MGB exhaust - there's a few of each round here. My real audio treat, was sitting having a smoke towards the end of last summer, when I heard the unmistakable gruff bark of a 6-pot Gardner. Then another, and another...yep, it was a vintage truck rally. They were all there - Gardners, 14-litre Cummins, Karrier 2-strokes; even an AEC V8, and a Detroit 2-stroke Kenworth.

I would've taken pics, but my phone's useless on moving stuff, and I wasn't running in to get the digi camera! Couldn't chase them either, as I'd had a couple of drinks...

Now to find me a Mk5 'Tina with a noisy diff; that'll have me straight back to 1990 and learning to drive.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

early fiestas and transits both a unique sound

 

The 2.5Di Transit Van, You know it's one of those from a mile of, and the Metro whine as well.

 

Yeah, even common rail Transits have that old school direct injection diesel cackle. It must be engineered into them to retain the 'trademark' sound.

[M'coli]

While modern cars don't make distinctive noises,

IIRC the BINI gearbox was designed to emit some whine in first - not a lot, but enough to nod to tradition.

[Jon]

From my days as a Royal Mail driver, I fondly remember the farty exhaust note of LDV Pilots, when pushing on a bit (relatively speaking, of course) after changing from 1st to 2nd gear. Sadly, the noise only lasted up until the 51 registered ones and my round at the time (which included having to drive up The Shambles in York, scaring tourists since I had to bump up the kerb half way along!) was an 02 reg and they'd 'rectified' it. Also the 'WHOOSH' noise when changing gear in early Daf 45s, lost about the time that they became mechanically similar to a Eurocargo, so I've been told.

 

The central locking in my AX GT (see avatar) had the best comedy noise, which amused my mates - sort of a high speed sneeze, which always sounded violent, as if the solenoids were going to push the door knobs out of the door. Still, at least it had it! Most recently though, I've been relishing in the noise that the Commodore makes when opening the door - a sort of 'layered' door latch noise which is identical to our Cavalier estate. Always makes me feel at home

[wuvvum]

The Nissan 2.7D in late FX4s has a pretty distinctive sound. I can also recognise an XUD and a Perkins Prima a mile off. And the five-pot diesel in the higher-end Merc Sprinters (as used as ambulances round these parts) has its own warble, especially when being thrashed.

 

One of my old evo magazines has an article bemoaning the fact that all modern car engines sound pretty much the same - I think Fiestas, 2CVs and Talbot Alpines got a mention as having easily recognisable engine sounds. Probably the only time an Alpine has got a mention in evo.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Any regular car that has a bit of an engine note is deemed unrefined, so most cars sound like household appliances now.

The worst for this are some of Peugeot's recent small engines, the soundtrack is a weird muted electric whine.

[Vinylseats]

Frighteningly tappty Beetles sounding like a petrol mower on a Sunday afternoon.

 

Olde Beetles have a sort of whistle to the engine too. Whenever I pass a Beetle or Camper on the road I always wind my window down to hear that sound of delightful retroness.

[Shep Shepherd]

The loud whoosh that most four-pot Volvo 200s, 700s and 900s make when they are revved just after a cold start, due to them being fitted with viscous fans and massive fan cowlings