Early Risers.

[Coombe Barton]

My cars over more then fifty years
Austin 1300

Mini Countryman (frilly Front)
Cortina Mk3

Several Fiestas

Citroen something 

MG Metro

Then onto company cars, , Cavalier, Astra Estate, Escort estate, another Citroen 

Then back to owning them, Corsa (too small) 

Several Astra estates
Focus Estate

Vectra Estate

and two Insigna Estates, called Sport. first one written off by someone driving into me, this one an SRI variant, the one paper most powerful car I have ever owned.

I need the power for towing the caravan

 

 

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by Coombe Barton
typo

[tigerburnie]

2 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

For those discussing the extras on modern cars. Its actually cheaper and quicker to fit them to every car coming down the production line than to a selected car.

That wasn't the case in the car factory I worked in for 12 years.

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

Hindustan Ambassador

Aditi’s mother’s family had one or two. They employed drivers for them too. Aditi’s cousin in Delhi has an Audi but keeps a Mercedes for his parents to be driven about in. Aditi’s Dad learned to drive in a Model T Ford. Unfortunately he then had to relearn everything when he got more normal cars. 

[Dunsignalling]

My first car was a sit-up-and-beg Ford Pop (103E), which began as two, a well rotted 1953 with a recon engine, 12v electrical conversion and a lovely pair of chrome Lucas

King of the Road headlamps, plus a clean 1959 with a clapped Ford 8 motor in it. Paid a fiver each for them and made up a good one on the front lawn. Fitted the 8hp head on the 1172 motor to bump up the compression a bit, which was a common dodge at the time. Was still using a bike at the time and an accident/conviction increased the insurance so much I couldn't afford to run both. With a full bike licence and only provisional on the car, the Pop had to go, but not far, to my younger brother! A year or so later, a work move meant a winter commute and I needed a roof, sharpish. Still hadn't got my car licence, so the next vehicle was a Reliant 3/25 which kept me going until I did, and enabled a leisurely search for a good four wheeler. A nice old gent who was a customer at work decided to give up driving and I bought his very tidy Renault 10 for his reasonable asking price. Only problem was it was red but faded almost to pink on one side because it had always been parked the same way round. Super little car, nippy, discs all round and average over 45mpg plus fully reclining seats which came in handy! 

 

Three years on, I made the mistake of buying a car I'd always fancied but shouldn't have been able to afford if it had been any good; A Vauxhall Firenza 2300 Sport SL in Bluebird, just like the Oxford Diecast model. Spent the next year gradually rebuilding the knackered suspension as it turned out the previous owner had treated it like a Land Rover. A very distinctive car, and everyone knew exactly where I'd been! That changed when I rolled it after putting a front wheel in a deep pothole on a corner at 35mph. It's replacement was another Renault, this time a completely anonymous 12. That lasted until somebody in a Mk2 Escort fell asleep at the wheel and rammed it. By now I liked Renaults and the next was a 18GTS, lovely car fast, comfy, economical but it could have done with power steering! I basically wore that one out but the final straw took me by surprise and I needed a cheap motor quickly. A mate in the trade came up with a one-lady-owner 8-year-old Fiesta with 13k on the clock. Worst car I ever had, slow (just as well given the rotten handling on its stupid 135 tyres) and far thirstier than anything that boring had a right to be. After sticking a set of 155s on it I put up with it long enough to save for something decent, which I decided was going to be a Renault Clio, they'd been out about three years and just about affordable.

 

Unfortunately, it's hilly round here and I wanted a 1.4. Problem was, I could only find 1.1s. The salesman at the Renault garage offered a solution. Chucked me the keys to a Peugeot 205XS and told me to take it for a decent run and bring it back after lunch. This I did, and Richard started filling in the paperwork as soon as he saw me arrive - I'll never make a poker player, apparently I was grinning from ear to ear! Kept that one from 3 years old to 13, sold it to a mate who kept it another four years and it now belongs to a mechanic the garage I later switched to. Not a 1.4 any more though!

 

Next was my second one-owner Pug, this time a 206 D-Turbo, under two years old but with 22,000 mainly motorway miles on it. Liked it lot but it almost felt like I was being unfaithful to my 205 for the first couple of years! This turned into another ten-year keeper and I traded it in on a whim which I later regretted. Decided an estate car would be useful because my trailer was getting on bit, so I bought a 207sw. Nothing really wrong with it but it never gave the pleasure its predecessors had offered.

 

After a couple of years, I had a drive in a Skoda Yeti and decided that was for me. Took me over a year from then to find exactly the one I wanted though. A five-year-old CR170 Elegance 4x4, one owner, 32k from new which is now seven and just about properly run in at 48k. Another keeper? You bet.

 

John

 

 

 

 

[Tony_S]

3 minutes ago, tigerburnie said:

That wasn't the case in the car factory I worked in for 12 years.

I was reading about how the Dacia Sandero can be made so cheaply. Using some Clio bits means more components can be ordered bringing the price down due to quantity discounts. 
My Evoque wasn’t new but I know that some options are only specified at build time, they can’t be fitted afterwards as the bits they need to interact with are not there. 
So I suspect where it is cheaper to fit something to all models they will but if it isn’t they don’t. 

[Tony_S]

11 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

Renault Clio

We had a Clio 1.6. Nice little car. Eventually traded it in for the Fiesta that Aditi still has. She really liked the Clio, but an uneconomical repair estimate persuaded her to let it go.  She immediately liked the Fiesta. I had chosen both the Clio and Fiesta so she only saw them when collecting them. She is perfectly capable of buying a car but on both occasions was “too busy” to sort it out. She had been very useful when buying out other cars though. She enjoys a bit of bargaining. 

[tetsudofan]

On 26/01/2021 at 13:27, tetsudofan said:

Well, everything went well this morning, I got my first AstraZeneca jab. Turned up outside the venue at 10.10am and was on my way home at 10.35am. Just missed being filmed by the BBC.

 

The venue is in what was the Debenhams store in the middle of town taking up what was most of the ground floor. To gain access one needs to produce details of the booking, I used my booking form printed off when I did the online booking. There were also a group of rather burly guys standing outside to ensure that only those who had bookings could enter. 

 

Once inside you followed the arrows to the "consent area" where your details on the system were located and checked and your medical history was discussed. Think there were around 10 desks so 10 people could be processed at the same time.

 

When that was done you followed some more arrows and ended up at the "jabbing area" with a similar number of jabbers. Personal details were checked again, you got jabbed (did not feel a thing), was given a credit card-size jab record card and a "I've had my covid vaccination" sticker as well as a common side effects leaflet.

 

After that I headed for the exit where they checked that I was ok mentioning that I should not be driving a car for at least 15 minutes - no problem there as I walked to and from the venue.

 

All in all, I was amazed at how smoothly things went, all the staff and the voluntary helpers could not have been more helpful and they all seemed proud of what they are doing.

 

Personally I just can't believe that a few days ago I was wondering when I would be getting the jab as I had not received any written invitation or contact from my local GP surgery. It was only on Saturday that one of my friends sent me the link to make the booking which I followed through even then thinking that maybe I was not entitled to make the booking so much so that (after feedback on here) I even phoned 119 to ensure that I could make the booking.

 

Keith

 

 

 

Further to yesterday's posting, during the afternoon received a telephone call from my GP surgery, would you like a Covid-19 jab whilst this morning received a letter from the NHS (dated January 22nd) telling me that I'm able to book my free NHS coronavirus vaccine now.

 

It doesn't rain, it pours......

 

Feels a bit sore where they did the jab yesterday, other than that all's ok.

 

Keith

[grandadbob]

A'noon all,

Late today due to all sorts of other mundane things getting in the way.

Also late joining the car list party but here goes.

 

First driven:

1965 Vauxhall Victor (Learnt in it with BSM)

1965 Vauxhall Cresta 3.3L column change (Dads - amazed he let his 17 year old son drive it)

 

First owned from 1966:

1947 Morris 10  then 1953 Austin Somerset (another column change and worst car I ever had), 1966 Austin 1100 (rust bucket) Hillman Minx Series VI. (Steady but reliable)

 

From 1974 -2000 I moved on to company cars:

Mark 1 Escort, Hillman Avenger, Vauxhall Chevette (like driving around in baked bean tin), Cortina Mark V (or Mk IV 80 for it's official name), Sierras x2, Turbodiesel Mk 3 Escort,  Cavalier, Mondeo. (All good except the Avenger and the Chevette)

 

From 2000 changed job within company so had to go back to buying my own:

Rover 2.0L 600SLi Manual, (Good)

Ditto but Auto (Loved it but changed because I found the Lexus)

Lexus IS200SE loved it even more and best I had (until now) Beautiful car to drive but had to change it because it needed some very expensive work doing,

Focus,  (OK)

Dacia Duster ( Liked it but it was basic and a diesel and I wanted to get back to petrol)  Really good to drive though.

Peugeot 3008 My current conveyance since mid December and it's a bit early to say as I've only managed a 100 odd miles in it so far but I think it will be the best of the lot. 

 

Driven loads of others over the years and also got to play with many HGVs (only in our depots) and also loading shovels and fork lifts.

 

Yesterday we went to the local Asda and were confronted with 4 members of the constabulary inside, 2PCs and 2PCSOs,  checking people complying with face mask regs apparently.  Further up the road there was a police van and another 4 patrolling the streets,  Never seen so many around here apart from when there was a hit and run fatality in the adjacent road last year.

Went for a walk this morning but once again had to give up after about a mile.  Undercarriage is still protesting as I type.

Tonight we've got a family Zoom meeting which is something to look forward to as we haven't seen the kids for a while.

Have a good one (whatever's left of it)

Bob.

 

           

Edited January 27, 2021 by grandadbob

[Ian Abel]

HUMP day.

 

Nothing happened yesterday, like, absolutely NOTHING! I managed lunch and dinner and that's about it <yawn>

 

Today looks like a repeat of yesterday, at least it's consistent.

 

COLD is the order of the day weather-wise, -19 and overcast searching for the newspaper, a heady -11 the expected high. 

 

Tally ho...

[Sir TophamHatt]

After 5 days off, first day back is tough.

Was feeling quite positive on the way in but not as much now.  But then if my colleague wants to make it awkward then I'm okay with that.  I just sit here and do my job (as well as browse on here!) - luckily the quiet desk this week.

And even better is that I've just remembered I bought some sausage rolls on the way to work!  Nom nom nom.

 

Cars (my list is small - I'm only young-ish!)

 

Ford Fiesta

Ford Focus

VW Beetle (1967 classic!)

Ford Focus

 

That's right, a measily 4

Next is a Volvo V40 though - that'll be within the next few months as the current Focus (56 plate, 161,000, petrol!) is getting rather elderly.

Edited January 27, 2021 by Sir TophamHatt

[Tony_S]

6 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

, Vauxhall Chevette (like driving around in baked bean tin),

Our first car was a Chevette. It had been Aditi’s mother’s car. It was in terrible condition, rusty and badly serviced at great expense (we had all the receipts). When Aditi learned to drive her Mum said she could have the Chevette as she wanted a new car. Aditi took a couple of years to pass the driving test and the Chevette deteriorated somewhat. It was a truly horrible car but we loved it as we could go places. I then took a car driving test and was able to go to work in the Chevette on Tuesdays when Aditi went to London by train as she was doing a Masters at the Institute of Education. Later that year we became a two car family with a Cortina. The Volvo that MiL had to replace the Chevette eventually came our way as well. That was horrible too. I did persuade Aditi not to accept any more cars as gifts. I know that sounds ungrateful but dealing with cars that had been badly serviced was very stressful. 

[Barry O]

My time on Facebook as a contributor to the Warley live sessions was Ok but I am now worn to a frazz.

 

I missed a car for her indoors. She passed her test in a Nissan Sunny Manual. The following day they announced a train strike. She was deemed to be essential staff at work during the strike (she worked near Foyles at the time). So they lent her a company pool car..a shaluki Bronze 2l Automatic Cortina (iV or V)   despite one of the headlights failing she managed to get to and from work.. taking some  other essential workers from Stevenage for a week... 

 

Brave lass!

 

Baz

[Gwiwer]

Sir!  Sir! I'm here Sir!  *                                                              

 

Far too much life getting in the way today.  A new trainee was entrusted to my gentle coaching care at the House of Fun; if anyone showed less interest in a job they might be mistaken for a shop mannequin.  That made the morning harder than it needed to be.  Trying to engage, never mind enthuse, someone who clearly wasn't interested was demanding.  Quite how and why this person managed to get through interviews and assessments escapes me.  Not least given the fact that we currently have many more applicants for most external-entry vacancies than we can manage.  Were all the rest even worse?  Or what?  Which part of "Watch the train" suggests that the person is required to turn their back, walk away from me (and the train) and gaze into space?   And in what universe is the answer to the question "Which colour of signal must not be passed by a moving train?" ...... wait for it ...... "White???"  

 

The last of the snow is leaving the Hill of Strawberries in much milder weather but small heaps remain in shady corners.  Dr. SWMBO found the identifiable remains of a snowman* on someone's drive during her morning walk - a walk which has resumed after two days when it was decreed to be too slippery for her safety.  

 

The smouldering iron was dusted off and employed for a while during the afternoon with moderately pleasing results.  It's been a while.  And it needs to be employed much more often in the near future if I am to achieve progress with the unmentionable hobby.  

 

Then to the daily catch-up with news and stuff which has made depressing reading for far too long now and appears set to pass its first anniversary before anything much improves.  But it is important to keep up with stuff though perhaps not to dwell too much on the fluff-in-the-stuff and the blusterings of the BS-brigade online.  

 

I have been relieved of the requirement to procure flour from the corner shop in exchange for procuring delivered dining a little later; Dr. SWMBO feels that after her own day's work that cooking the complex meal she had planned would be too much.  I had agreed before she even spoke!  

 

Now to review the day's emails from all points of cyberspace.  Happy Hump Day.  Stay well.  Stay safe.  

 

*    (other genders are available) 

 

 

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by Gwiwer

[southern42]

39 minutes ago, Barry O said:

My time on Facebook as a contributor to the Warley live sessions was Ok but I am now worn to a frazz.

 

I missed a car for her indoors. She passed her test in a Nissan Sunny Manual. The following day they announced a train strike. She was deemed to be essential staff at work during the strike (she worked near Foyles at the time). So they lent her a company pool car..a shaluki Bronze 2l Automatic Cortina (iV or V)   despite one of the headlights failing she managed to get to and from work.. taking some  other essential workers from Stevenage for a week... 

 

Brave lass!

 

Baz

I set myself up to carry on with my magazine articles then got YouTube up to lighten the job & low & behold ‘Worley Lockdown - BarryO LIVE’ at top of column of videos to watch. By this time there was but only half an hour to go so caught up on the replay after it finished. Excellent and interesting. Well done, Baz! I have put a reminder for next weeks’ on my phone - I shan’t be going anywhere. 

[TheQ]

Never had a permanent company car, but was issued a car for up to a fortnight at a time with GEC.

So over the years I've driven...

RAF

Land rover series 3, long and swb

Landrover lightweight.

Land rover with trailer fire pump.

Land rover with built in fire pump. The OC MT tried to do me for speeding when I was blue lighting!!!

Landrover snow plough. Saved being out with a shovel!!

Mini's several.

Hilman hunter.. lost the back end on a bend managed to recover without hitting anything.

Cortina's several, the CO wrapped one round a tree after an officer's mess doo elsewhere iirc High Wycombe, he didn't survive.

Sherpa mini bus, interesting in an 80mph cross wind with nothing between you and the Atlantic Ocean to stop the wind.

Green Goddess on military sites only.

 

GEC,

Sierras, several, they were ok. They changed them to.

Ford escort estates diesel non turbo..slow..very slow, no acceleration, they saved money on fuel, and cost themselves a fortune in overtime.

Ancient Marina left clouds of white smoke...

Rover 800 V6 , I had to collect it from a manager who lost his licence.

All sorts of  hire cars , from a Micra to the best, an omega, with a built in telephone between the front seats.

Sherpa mini bus in Saudi.

Forklift often with a million pounds worth of radar on the forks..

An American pick up truck. Huge and unwieldy, didn't like corners.

 

I missed a private car off my list, in Saudi I had a Mazda 121 effectively the same car as a kia pride. Its AC was good...

 

Note the OC who tried to do me for speeding drove a moskvitch, which says a lot...

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by TheQ

[New Haven Neil]

The afternoon trip out in the van was pleasant, nice to see some sunshine after a miserable couple of weeks - it felt almost spring-like at one point.  76 miles, batteries got a decent charge.

 

Mike, Debs doesn't want a different bow as she has now settled on a set-up that suits her.  It's complex as arrows have to match the bow and string, I hadn't realised how complex it was.  The length of the arrows has to be adjusted to suit your draw and the bow, and there's a funny spring loaded thing the arrow rests against too.  All way over my pay grade.  Interestingly the guy who is about the best archer outside of Lesley the world champion that runs the club, has changed several times and now uses a set up similar to Debs bow, trading off ultimate power for a more accurate and repeatable easier pull.

[BoD]

Evening all.

 

Wasted an afternoon trying to sort our house phones out.  We have two cordless phones (extravagant I know, but who cares) each with their own base station. The second one, sited in the bedroom, has stopped ringing but still works other than that.   I have tried all of the suggestions in the manual and ended up doing a full reset but no joy.  I am loathe to replace them for something which might easily be solved but the only time it is used it is usually important or even an emergency.  Valerie thinks we should buy new now, I want to waste a bit more time trying things.  First world problem I suppose.

 

Following on from earlier posts...

the first phone we had was ivory with a dial and a party line.

the second was a green trimphone - go on - impersonate one, I dare you.

the third was ... oh never mind.

[Tony_S]

6 minutes ago, BoD said:

trimphone

There was going to be a theme park (can’t remember which megacorporation)  near Rainham in Essex. Near enough to London to get London in its name. However it was too radioactive due to all the trimphones dumped there.  The glow in the dark feature was responsible.  

[Tony_S]

11 minutes ago, BoD said:

have tried all of the suggestions in the manual and ended up doing a full reset but no joy

I hope you don’t mind me making a suggestion you may have already tried. But have you tried swapping the phones over in case it a socket fault in the bedroom?

[BoD]

24 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I hope you don’t mind me making a suggestion you may have already tried. But have you tried swapping the phones over in case it a socket fault in the bedroom?

My next step is to swap things around but the one in the bedroom doesn’t use a socket.  It’s base station is basically a charger, I really must check how they communicate. They probably have far more features than I need but I’m not sure that you can get ‘simple’ phones these days.

[leopardml2341]

7 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

She said she thought it was an inner ear problem and prescribed a course of tablets. However she also wanted a scan to eliminate anything more sinister. Tablets have been got and the scanner booking process started.

 

Jamie

Snap, except I've had my scan and fortunately nothing sinister discovered. Still experiencing random balance problems though, referral to a new specialist in place.

[tigerburnie]

4 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I was reading about how the Dacia Sandero can be made so cheaply. Using some Clio bits means more components can be ordered bringing the price down due to quantity discounts. 
My Evoque wasn’t new but I know that some options are only specified at build time, they can’t be fitted afterwards as the bits they need to interact with are not there. 
So I suspect where it is cheaper to fit something to all models they will but if it isn’t they don’t. 

I've only been in a few car factories, but they seemed to be using the same sort of system, these days a lot of items require electrickery so basically it's a different wiring harness depending on the spec ordered, so retro fitting items can indeed be difficult, though not impossible. The name of the game seemed to be to have as many common parts as possible, like body panel parts to cut down on expensive tooling costs, this is why so many cars look like clones. You might not know, but a lot of parts are common to different manufacturers and not just things like wing mirrors and lights, I know of engines from different companies going into others cars.

[Barry O]

the Rover 214 types shared a Peugeot diesel.. and of course the 214/216 and 414/416 were Hondas rebadged..

 

And,, when looking into a Rolls Royce I noted odd bits of Morris Marina in there.. door handles from the Marina were used in Range Rovers and Aston Martins at one time..

 

Baz

[leopardml2341]

7 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I was reading about how the Dacia Sandero can be made so cheaply.

I can tell you the answer to that; it's because they're cr@p! 

 

Thought I'd better add, I say that with some authority what with owning one an' all that.

Edited January 27, 2021 by leopardml2341

[Barry O]

Had an interesting call earlier (post "film star" moment!). The team who I was involved in a 3 year clinical trial looking at diabetes and accelerated heart muscle degradation (it would appear this is not the case)have asked if I will take part in another clinical trial. (bearing in mind the last 3 month one has lowered my Hb1hbc and my weight by 5kg). More types of drugs to try.. 10 month trial.. I attend another MRI on 22nd Feb. It is good to try and help the medical profession suss out how to help with diabetes - especially for those who have type 2 due to genetics.

 

Baz