APOLLO Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 That's a mad story though, how can they work so quietly? I wake the dead with the noise I make doing something simple like changing brake pads...!! Not only that - how can they do it so quick - It takes me half an hour to change a side light bulb !!!! Brit15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 I can understand (but dislike) the tealeaves nicking parts of expensive cars like Beemers Mercs and Jags, but Vauxhalls !!!I wouldn't nick a complete brand new one !!!!!! Land Rover Defenders are very hot targets for thieves at the moment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 In America the hottest car for thieves (has been for at least ten years) is the Honda Accord. Usually “parted” out. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Dread Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 My 1963 Glass's guide gives GFY 50-888 issued Feb-Dec 1949 and 889 to 999 issued Jan-Feb 1950. 1-49 were never issued. Come clean time, I have misread my 1965 Glass's Index, you are quite right London Tram and I am wrong. GFY was issued to Southport, starting in Feb 1949 and reaching 888 by the start of 1950. The registrations finishing in Feb 1950. Sorry about that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Not only that - how can they do it so quick - It takes me half an hour to change a side light bulb !!!! Brit15 My son's first car was a 95 Polo. He drove into the back of another car and, whilst still driveable, the front of his needed a bonnet, front bumper and reinforcer, landing panel and headlights. Purely by chance a scrapyard had a red Polo due in that Saturday so we went over. They had the parts off in no time at all, far quicker than I could have done. We had the rad and some other bits while we were there, only cost £75. Ed 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 In America the hottest car for thieves (has been for at least ten years) is the Honda Accord..... Isn't that one of the biggest-selling cars in the U.S., though? Thought thieves were a bit more imaginative than to steal a car which loads of people already have...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Isn't that one of the biggest-selling cars in the U.S., though? Thought thieves were a bit more imaginative than to steal a car which loads of people already have...... Yes - so many get smashed up and need spare parts, Ed. When your parts cost is merely the cost of taking them off an existing vehicle then it is very profitable. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr2 Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Yes - so many get smashed up and need spare parts, Ed. When your parts cost is merely the cost of taking them off an existing vehicle then it is very profitable. Best, Pete. That's why I can't understand this new apparent fad of torching Mini's - there's some very profitable bits on most good Minis.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted July 4, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 4, 2015 I doubt if the people who torch minis could tell one end of a screwdriver from the other. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 That's why I can't understand this new apparent fad of torching Mini's - there's some very profitable bits on most good Minis.... Time was, people just used to pick up the rear of your Mini and swivel it around Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prometheus Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 I can remember shifting a Renault 4 in much the same way. It was blocking a lane and three of us simply bounced it to one side. Tony 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr2 Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Time was, people just used to pick up the rear of your Mini and swivel it around There used to be a guy in my motor club who put a quick release steering wheel on his rally Mini & then said it was impossible to pinch as no one could drive it away. One club meeting I took a pair of mole grips, & with the help of a couple of friends to push, we 'drove' it about 200 yards away from the pub, me steering using the mole grips! His face was a picture at the end of the night! That trick also came in useful a good few years later when some scrotes tried to steal my Astra GTE & ripped the steering wheel off trying to remove the Krooklok! Recovery truck turns up, driver sees front wheels pointing left on full lock & no steering wheel. 'Can't do anything with that' he says 'no way to winch it on the truck if I can't straighten the wheels'. 'Got a pair of mole grips' says I....!! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
APOLLO Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Minis - never had one but passed my test in one. One of my mates had a mini, a very old one with rubber suspension which once well and truly collapsed when around seven of us piled in. Then there was the frozen door locks when leaving the pub - taking turns to pee on them Then he needed a new engine. He located one in a burned out car down in a brook up Rivington Pike near Bolton. A cold and desolate spot in the middle of winter. Anyhow five of us got the engine out one December Saturday afternoon and somehow man-handled it up to another mates van. After a shedload of ale Saturday night we set about replacing the engine Sunday afternoon. Took around 4 hours or so - AND it started first time !!! Good old days !! Brit15 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 There used to be a guy in my motor club who put a quick release steering wheel on his rally Mini .... I wonder if such steering wheels have ever come off whilst the car was being driven....!! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr2 Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Wouldn't have thought so, they're designed for competition use... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Wouldn't have thought so, they're designed for competition use... ....and passenger service use: http://youtu.be/gw-EXGqNlJ0 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted July 4, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 4, 2015 I doubt if the people who torch minis could tell one end of a screwdriver from the other. It depends on where you insert it when you catch the blighters. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted July 4, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 4, 2015 Come clean time, I have misread my 1965 Glass's Index, you are quite right London Tram and I am wrong. GFY was issued to Southport, starting in Feb 1949 and reaching 888 by the start of 1950. The registrations finishing in Feb 1950. Sorry about that. The Glass's guide is a bit ambiguous, I discovered that when I looked up some registrations for which I knew the correct registration dates. The guide refers to intermediate year when it means first year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr2 Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 ....and passenger service use: http://youtu.be/gw-EXGqNlJ0 Ooops...!! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 It's already worse in much of South Wales. The lovely mountain road between Brynaman & Llangadog was made 40mph along its whole length earlier this year. Most of the nice A & B roads on Gower have been 40 for years. Now, they may need it with all the grockels in the summer, but on a lovely sunny winter morning? What a pain. And putting 40 limits on the mountain roads is a total joke... But anyway, any pics of the Dellow? already happend in greater Manchester all the cross pennine roads woodhead standage snake isle o Skye (A635) are now 50 upto the border with Yorkshire them magically become national speed limit .same road same terrain so why the difference? Nothing to do with the specialty created parking bays for scammera vans most of which seem to be positioned just after the first bend or blind crest after the speed change hmmmm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 already happend in greater Manchester all the cross pennine roads woodhead standage snake isle o Skye (A635) are now 50 upto the border with Yorkshire them magically become national speed limit .same road same terrain so why the difference? Nothing to do with the specialty created parking bays for scammera vans most of which seem to be positioned just after the first bend or blind crest after the speed change hmmmm Will Hay has a lot to answer for Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 already happend in greater Manchester all the cross pennine roads woodhead standage snake isle o Skye (A635) are now 50 upto the border with Yorkshire them magically become national speed limit .same road same terrain so why the difference? Nothing to do with the specialty created parking bays for scammera vans most of which seem to be positioned just after the first bend or blind crest after the speed change hmmmm .Maybe West Yorkshire constaboolery ...and the Local Authority...simply don't care if folk wipe themselves and others out? Especially if they're escaping leaving Lancashire? What people ignore on the roads is, the physical distance they can see clearly ahead.....and the effect closing speeds have on them, as individuals. It's all a matter of time. If two vehicles are approaching one another at, for example, 30mph....[especially if they not visible to each other]....the closing speed is 60mph. The way it affects each driver is...the time each driver has to respond to the presence of the other, is as if each driver were travelling at 60mph. If the width of carriageway is restricted...and either or both drivers have failed to anticipate the presence of another [as yet , possibly, unseen] vehicle, then the only response must be one of dramatic evasive action. Dramatic evasive action is definitely not good. It lacks finesse. It lacks accuracy of positioning.... And in all likelihood, neither driver would dream of approaching the above situation, at 60mph! Yet, observe how many 'get away with it?' Observe how many actually place [too much] reliance on assumption? The 50 mph limit allows for a significant opportunity for drivers to further minimise the risk.......the risk they themselves pose to others...and vice versa. Of course, a straw poll will uncover that very few drivers recognise that they themselves pose a level of risk to others, do they? Everybody else is an idiot, except us, eh? Well, me, at any rate!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted July 5, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 5, 2015 Mind you with the limit at 50mph instead of 60mph the head-on closing sped is only reduced to 100mph - which wouldn't make much difference compared with a head-on at 120mph. So surely if we really want to prevent drivers being a menace to themselves or others the speed limit should be reduced to one which allows the safest impact speed - anything faster than that would be illogical as the risk has not been reduced to lowest reasonably practical level. The interesting question is what speed level would provide the lowest reasonably practical level of risk (and I bet it's a lot less than 50 mph)? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted July 5, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 5, 2015 Is it not so much the speed, but the fact that in modern cars, going at speed is easy, quiet and detatched? Driving SWMBO's Galaxy is pleasant on the annual visit to France, but it's not an enjoyable experince. It is so quiet that you can barely hear the engine, so that you have next to no indication about what speed you are doing, unless you look and the speedo. The rate of acceleration is eye-wateringly quick, and i find that is is a teadious car to drive.... Compared with my GPO van, where going about 55mph is loud and you can hear the engine working hard, where the steering has proper feedback (and not completely lacking like the galaxy), and you can tell that you are pushing it..... If modern motors were restricted in BHP to something sensible (Say 100BHP) with gearing that prevented speeds in excess of 90mph, and the removal of the things that make modern motorist feel invincible, then I think a lot of accidents would stop happening.... Andy G 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Mind you with the limit at 50mph instead of 60mph the head-on closing sped is only reduced to 100mph - which wouldn't make much difference compared with a head-on at 120mph. So surely if we really want to prevent drivers being a menace to themselves or others the speed limit should be reduced to one which allows the safest impact speed - anything faster than that would be illogical as the risk has not been reduced to lowest reasonably practical level. The interesting question is what speed level would provide the lowest reasonably practical level of risk (and I bet it's a lot less than 50 mph)? The above is based upon the assumption that drivers do not realise, the speed limit is not a target speed. Neither is the speed limit deemed the 'safest' speed to travel at. The 'reasonably practical level' you mention has to be the decision of each individual driver. Of course, the reason why we have 'limits ' is to restrict, by Law, the overall highest speed....a Court is quite happy to decide whether a given speed is the 'safest' or not...[ie, that which a 'competent careful driver' might travel at?]...and that speed will depend on the vast number of variables prevalent at that particular time. But one would hope each driver varied their speed to suit the road & traffic conditions, within the overall limit for their vehicle. When dealing with closing speeds, [and unseen road users], the other, [possibly more important?] action to take concerns one's road position. The driver of a wider vehicle has this issue all the time.....but car drivers...who are rarely faced with width problems.....often fail to realise its importance when on a 'narrower' carriageway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now