The Night Mail

[Dave Hunt]

Maybe we should bear in mind some more of Reithian thoughts as inscribed in the BBC - Nation shall speak peace unto nation.

?

Dave

[Hroth]

13 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

 

There is a British company that rebuilds Mk. II's (and S types) as convertibles. They also update the electronics and brake systems.

 

It does seem there is somewhat of a market for retro styled vehicles. The new generation Fiat 500 being a very good example: whilst very much a modern car it has certainly stayed very true to its styling and handling roots. Unlike the “reimagined“ VW Beetle that strayed from its roots (e.g. swapping rear mounted engine to front mounted engine)  it must have sold well enough as  the VW group has come up with an all electric modern version VW van “inspired” by the classic VW van. However, the BMW group “Mini” is anything else but mini (more like a Mega Maxi). A cheap compact runabout it ain’t. .Issigonis must be spinning in his grave.

I quite agree, the Beetle and the Mini are abominations whereas the Fiat 500 is nicely understated, as was the reincarnated S type Jaguar which was much underrated.

 

And changing a headlamp bulb.

 

 

I believe it is possible, once the seats have been removed, to erect the body shell of an original Mini Minor inside one of the larger BMW "mini" travesties.

 

Must admit I wouldn't like to attempt getting into an original mini nowadays!

 

[MrWolf]

Apparently the New Mini is virtually the same size as the old Austin Maxi.

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

Maybe we should bear in mind some more of Reithian thoughts as inscribed in the BBC - Nation shall speak peace unto nation.

?

Dave

 

Not sure that Reith (being more of an EU guy) would approve entirely but some researchers at GU have made a very interesting discovery.

 

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a32957250/aliens-black-hole-generate-energy/

 

It's not a case of "free energy". It's a case of energy transfer. Really pushing things one helluva lot it might turn out to be a means of extracting atomic energy using neither fission nor fusion (just my crazy notion.)

 

[SM42]

Not sure if it's early or late. 

 

Getting readg to hit the road. 

 

 

Radio silence about to commence for the next day or so.

 

Andy

[iL Dottore]

6 hours ago, Hroth said:

Must admit I wouldn't like to attempt getting into an original mini nowadays!

 

Not to mention quite a few other cars that I had (childish) dreams of owning. The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupé being a good example.

 

Returning to the Mini for a moment, with the benefit of hindsight and (what passes for) maturity it is now obvious that a part of the appeal of the Mini during the Swinging Sixties for the cool cats of the day was the sight of the dolly birds in their miniskirts* getting in and out of Minis…

 

There’s a saying “Youth is wasted on the young” and now - at the wise and mature age of XX years - I can confirm it is true. When I was a spotty yoof although I didn’t have the wherewithal to buy something like a 300SL, I certainly had the eyesight, reflexes and physical dexterity to drive one. Now that I do have the wherewithal to buy something really sporty - the eyesight, reflexes and dexterity are most certainly below par. 

You don’t get many 50+ fighter pilots…..

 

* i’ve always thought that the miniskirt was an overrated fad for the simple reason that most women do not have the figure (or the legs) to wear a miniskirt in such a way that it flatters them. Whereas with the popular “granny dress“ or “hippy chick dress“ the flowing lines and roominess of the dress flattered and enhanced any woman who wore one.
 

Then came the 80s and Lycra leggings -  of which no more should be said at Breakfast time….

Edited August 15, 2023 by iL Dottore

[jamie92208]

5 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Apparently the New Mini is virtually the same size as the old Austin Maxi.

Ah the Maxi.  Ad ertised as having a rear that folded down to make a double bed.  That was then condemned as encouraging immorality by Mary Whitehouse. Great cars though.

 

Anyway

A friend is arriving later with his wife.  The girls are planning g to have some G and T's and we menfolk have been ordered to go to the shed.  Not a bad thing to look forward to.  Of course I do have a shed. 

 

Jamie

[polybear]

9 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Is Donk suffering a Tail Injury?  We need to know.....

 

56 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

* i’ve always thought that the miniskirt was an overrated fad for the simple reason that most women do not have the figure (or the legs) to wear a miniskirt in such a way that it flatters them. Whereas with the popular “granny dress“ or “hippy chick dress“ the flowing lines and roominess of the dress flattered and enhanced any woman who wore one.

 

Bear once saw a Mother n' Daughter at one of the Preserved Railways wearing 1950's Roll n' Rock dresses - and "rather nice indeed" (and some) they looked too.

[Joseph_Pestell]

22 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

 

 

 

And changing a headlamp bulb.

 

 

My big bugbear with modern cars.

 

Our Nissan Qashqai was bad. Various waterpipes had to be removed to get at the bulb and then reassembled afterwards. Needless to say, with such a heat source next to it, the bulb (LH) never lasted long.

 

The VW Beetle is even worse with the bulb very difficult to access. Local Kwik-Fit refused to even try.

[jamie92208]

19 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

My big bugbear with modern cars.

 

Our Nissan Qashqai was bad. Various waterpipes had to be removed to get at the bulb and then reassembled afterwards. Needless to say, with such a heat source next to it, the bulb (LH) never lasted long.

 

The VW Beetle is even worse with the bulb very difficult to access. Local Kwik-Fit refused to even try.

My Volvo V70 is very difficult change dpedobeam bulbs on. One garage in the UK used to take the fronf bumper off to do it. 

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 

 

There’s a saying “Youth is wasted on the young” and now - at the wise and mature age of XX years - I can confirm it is true. When I was a spotty yoof although I didn’t have the wherewithal to buy something like a 300SL, I certainly had the eyesight, reflexes and physical dexterity to drive one. Now that I do have the wherewithal to buy something really sporty - the eyesight, reflexes and dexterity are most certainly below par. 

You don’t get many 50+ fighter pilots…..

 

Judging by the number of young men who borrow high performance motors and proceed to do terrible things with them, they do have all the attributed skill sets to drive the car, excepting the virtue of common sense and the caution of maturity to drive them safely. 

 

Because I spend much of my driving time in Wales on single carriageway roads, I have always demanded a car that has fairly rapid acceleration, as I have found that when utilized sensibly the sudden available increase in speed makes overtaking less fraught.

 

Both our current cars, a BMW X3 and a SEAT Ibiza sport both have sub 10 second 0-60 mph if required but it is only required  occasionally.

 

The BMW is one of the very rare versions with working indicators which can be verified by DH, who as it happens probably was a 50+ fighter pilot, prior to his tour on the farce jet Sqn at RAF Cosford.

Edited August 15, 2023 by Happy Hippo

[NBL]

2 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 popular “granny dress“ or “hippy chick dress“ the flowing lines and roominess of the dress flattered and enhanced any woman who wore one.

 

 

You obviously haven't seen the ladies 'round my way wearing them.  Landbarges.

[Happy Hippo]

7 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

dpedobeam bulbs

No doubt used to illuminate a certain type of criminal?

 

[NBL]

28 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

My big bugbear with modern cars.

 

Our Nissan Qashqai was bad. Various waterpipes had to be removed to get at the bulb and then reassembled afterwards. Needless to say, with such a heat source next to it, the bulb (LH) never lasted long.

 

The VW Beetle is even worse with the bulb very difficult to access. Local Kwik-Fit refused to even try.

I wouldn't trust Kwik-fit to put a banana in a monkeys mouth

[Dave Hunt]

I always go to my local tyre & battery man for bulb changes as well, or at least on the one occasion that Jill’s Golf needed one. He’s a really friendly and helpful guy who also checks the tyre pressures for me without charge. He tells me not to go to the local garages and particularly not to supermarket garages to do it because their tyre machines aren’t regularly calibrated and can be very inaccurate.

 

HH is right. I held the dubious title in 2001 of being the oldest operational fighter pilot in NATO (or so my colleagues maintained) at the age of 54. What I lacked in reflexes and youthful speed and dexterity I made up for with experience and low cunning. There is a saying among the fighter jock brethren, though, that there are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are very few old, bold pilots.

 

Dave

[newbryford]

9 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

 

Must admit I wouldn't like to attempt getting into an original mini nowadays!

 

 

How do you get 4 Hippos elephants in a Mi...........................................

 

 

[Dave Hunt]

Regarding iD’s comment on Lycra leggings, I once was bought a drink by a chap in Belfast who overheard me comment to a friend outside a pub when a rather generously built young woman in a clinging black dress walked past, “Looks like a litter of puppies fighting in a bin bag full of blancmange.” 

 

Dave

[New Haven Neil]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

Is Donk suffering a Tail Injury?  We need to know.....

 

He's a donkey so of course his tail comes off, for party games.  Really Bear, you should understand.

 

It does however have a string attached so he doesn't lose it, as demonstrated here by Ducky.

 

It is held in its usual place with Doncro, invented for Adonko missions to the moon.

 

[Happy Hippo]

3 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

Regarding iD’s comment on Lycra leggings, I once was bought a drink by a chap in Belfast who overheard me comment to a friend outside a pub when a rather generously built young woman in a clinging black dress walked past, “Looks like a litter of puppies fighting in a bin bag full of blancmange.” 

 

Dave

But did any of them poke out their little pink noses for air?

[Flying Fox 34F]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

Regarding iD’s comment on Lycra leggings, I once was bought a drink by a chap in Belfast who overheard me comment to a friend outside a pub when a rather generously built young woman in a clinging black dress walked past, “Looks like a litter of puppies fighting in a bin bag full of blancmange.” 

 

Dave

Only this kind of comment would come from someone from Liverpool.  My Grandfather, born in West Derby, had a very similar way of describing things.  I love it!!!!

 

Paul

[Tony_S]

I think someone was out for a test drive on Saturday  in one of the Ford Mustang electric cars. They passed me at high speed joining a main road from a filter lane, instead of filtering in behind, then hit the brakes very hard, shot off again into the the next slip road to join the M25. I came up behind it again as it was doing accelerate, brake,  accelerate until it went really fast and left at the next exit. No signals ever. 
Tony

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, Flying Fox 34F said:

Only this kind of comment would come from someone from Liverpool.  My Grandfather, born in West Derby, had a very similar way of describing things.  I love it!!!!

 

Paul

 

Or if you came from the Midlands, the downhome phrase would be something like "looks like a bag of coal on a bike".

 

What I always find both amusing and depressing is the amount of people in "active wear" who are clearly anything but.

[Tony_S]

5 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

What I always find both amusing and depressing is the amount of people in "active wear" who are clearly anything but.

Active waistbands on trousers are I am sure designed for those of us who need to be more active. 

[BSW01]

1 hour ago, Flying Fox 34F said:

Only this kind of comment would come from someone from Liverpool.  My Grandfather, born in West Derby, had a very similar way of describing things.  I love it!!!!

 

Paul

Or even, a 2lb sausage in a 1lb skin! 

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

How do you get 4 Hippos elephants in a Mi...........................................

 

 

Simples, 2 in the front

Two in the back. 

 

How dyoget 4 giraffes in a mini.

You can't  because the elephants are in already  and the sunroof is shut. 

 

26 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

 

 

Or if you came from the Midlands, the downhome phrase would be something like "looks like a bag of coal on a bike".

 

What I always find both amusing and depressing is the amount of people in "active wear" who are clearly anything but.

The phrase about chapel hat pegs comes to mind. 

 

Jamie

Edited August 15, 2023 by jamie92208