For those interested in old cars.

[PhilJ W]

Hmm, so when mainland UK cars get to the stage where they might not pass the British MoT, I wonder if they could be SORN'd then pensioned off by re-registering them in the IoM for a second life? It would be a similar scam to the one that Romanians and Bulgarians use (as well as Hungarians and Poles, I've noticed recently) when they re-register ex-UK RHD cars on their national plates, thus neatly evading all the usual requirements.

German MoT failures go east and when they fail in Poland they go even further east.

[New Haven Neil]

Hmm, so when mainland UK cars get to the stage where they might not pass the British MoT, I wonder if they could be SORN'd then pensioned off by re-registering them in the IoM for a second life? It would be a similar scam to the one that Romanians and Bulgarians use (as well as Hungarians and Poles, I've noticed recently) when they re-register ex-UK RHD cars on their national plates, thus neatly evading all the usual requirements.

 

No, it doesn't work that way.  If you bring a vehicle to the island over 3 years old, it has to be tested.  The test is like an SVA, much more stringent than an MOT.  Then unless it is untaxed for two years it doesn't need another test.  Once off the road for over 2 years a re-test is required.

[Rugd1022]

Job's caped today, can't be bothered to do the allocated chores so it's time for yet more random old car rubbish...!

 

The very last Rover P6 came off the line at Solihull in March '77 - a lovely 3500S belonging to the treasurer of the P6 Club, seen here at Gaydon where it used to reside many years ago...

 

Surely one of the prettiest shapes ever to come out of Italy, the Alfa 105 series Bertone coupe...

 

Mr.Sellers with one of his many cars...

 

Tom, Eng and their manager with newly acquired wheels...

 

German swish factor...

 

Hurry up ladies...

 

''That's my pad over there, the wife's out for the day...''

 

I rather like this one off 'Carmargue' from Citroen...

 

 

Edited February 6, 2017 by Rugd1022

[steve1]

I can 'see' the SM in that Camargue.

 

steve

[Horsetan]

....German swish factor...

BMW 0d653db77e_b.jpg

 

E3 saloon. Not many left out of the not many sold in the UK! Can't remember the last time I saw one, let alone the 3.0Si variant.

 

Succeeded by the E23 7-Series, but not in looks - the E3 was to my eyes a better-balanced design which didn't look as heavy as its successor.

[Rugd1022]

E3 saloon. Not many left out of the not many sold in the UK! Can't remember the last time I saw one, let alone the 3.0Si variant.

 

Succeeded by the E23 7-Series, but not in looks - the E3 was to my eyes a better-balanced design which didn't look as heavy as its successor.

 

Those pesky E numbers are like a secret code to me...! One of my Grandad's friends, a theatrical agent in his '80s had a similar shaped (I think) 2800 in the mid '70s, he bought it for his wife as she didn't like driving their XJ12 or Silver Shadow 'in town' (Barnes and Hammersmith, mostly). To me it seemed equally as plush as the XJ and Shadow, it was metallic brown with beige cloth trim and was definitely much more exotic than Grandad's Mk1 Granada estate. Looks wise I don't think BMW have ever bettered their late '60s and '70s ranges.

[Horsetan]

I remember reading somewhere that there are fewer than 30 E3s left in Britain that are still on the road. It might even be down to single figures by now.

[w124bob]

This caught my imagination, from the Phyllis Niklin collection. Probably a perfectly harmless scene but I can just imagine a smoke filled backroom full of dodgey looking villians! Bells Farm, Druidsheath.

 

[PatB]

I'm fascinated that BMW once thought that associating their vehicles with a nuclear power station would enhance their appeal. I understand the modern, hi-tech implications but I would have thought that was more 1950s than 1970s.

 

As for the Citroen Camargue, I think I remember a Matchbox model of said beast. I always wondered if it was based on something real.

[Horsetan]

I'm fascinated that BMW once thought that associating their vehicles with a nuclear power station would enhance their appeal.....

 

There wasn't a great deal on the mass market that could hold a candle to that kind of performance, although I'd take the 220hp claim with a pinch of salt. The fuel-injected 3-litre M30 engine didn't really develop more than about 200hp in domestic use, and it wasn't until it was bored out to 3453cc (later 3430cc) and given more advanced Motronic management that 218hp became possible.

 

Import duty, etc. back then made BMWs very expensive compared to British-built cars in the same category, and BMW didn't exactly help their own case by charging extra for just about every little extra. They didn't even give you a radio unless you paid for it!

[Rugd1022]

I'm fascinated that BMW once thought that associating their vehicles with a nuclear power station would enhance their appeal. I understand the modern, hi-tech implications but I would have thought that was more 1950s than 1970s.

 

As for the Citroen Camargue, I think I remember a Matchbox model of said beast. I always wondered if it was based on something real.

 

Yes they did the Camargue... it certainly has a touch of the Gerry Andersons about it...

 

 

They also did the Lamborghini Marzal and the Maserati Boomerang (both in the wrong colours!), being a kid in the '70s was fab wasn't it...

 

 

Edited February 7, 2017 by Rugd1022

[PatB]

There wasn't a great deal on the mass market that could hold a candle to that kind of performance, although I'd take the 220hp claim with a pinch of salt. The fuel-injected 3-litre M30 engine didn't really develop more than about 200hp in domestic use, and it wasn't until it was bored out to 3453cc (later 3430cc) and given more advanced Motronic management that 218hp became possible.

 

Import duty, etc. back then made BMWs very expensive compared to British-built cars in the same category, and BMW didn't exactly help their own case by charging extra for just about every little extra. They didn't even give you a radio unless you paid for it!

 

Interesting that BMW somewhat overstated their power figures. I'm more familiar with their motorcycles and, in that field, their quoted horsepower figures have always tended (or used to, at least, as I've lost track somewhat) to prove fairly accurate when their bikes were dyno'd by third parties, vs Japanese claims which usually proved to have been...erm...massaged somewhat.

 

As to BMW optional extras, I remember Dad speccing a 3-Series for his company car back in the mid-80s and making the same comment. Even the ciggie lighter was extra.

[runs as required]

This caught my imagination, from the Phyllis Niklin collection. Probably a perfectly harmless scene but I can just imagine a smoke filled backroom full of dodgey looking villians! Bells Farm, Druidsheath.

 

bellsfarm1969birminghamphyllisnicklin.jpg

Very Withnail & I 

 

Where is that Carmargue photographed? Presumably French - but it has something of that mad megalomaniac Ducal palace at the very centre of Karlsruhe's circles and radial spokes city plan.

dh

[Fat Controller]

Very Withnail & I 

 

Where is that Carmargue photographed? Presumably French - but it has something of that mad megalomaniac Ducal palace at the very centre of Karlsruhe's circles and radial spokes city plan.

dh

It could be Versailles.

[Horsetan]

....As to BMW optional extras, I remember Dad speccing a 3-Series for his company car back in the mid-80s and making the same comment. Even the ciggie lighter was extra.

BMW weren't the only ones to charge for everything extra, but they were probably the most notorious. VW/Audi did it too. Eventually they softened their stance somewhat, because the Japanese stuck just about everything in as standard.

[keefr2]

BMW weren't the only ones to charge for everything extra, but they were probably the most notorious.

All manufacturers did it at one time. I was amused to read recently that when the Mk1 Escort Mexico was introduced, front seat belts were a non delete option - i.e. you had to have them but Ford made you pay extra for the privilege! And prior to that a heater was an option on the Anglia, & I believe many other cars of that period. And I can't remember what vehicle it was (might have been a commercial) but I recall reading a passenger side windscreen wiper was a paid for option!

Edited February 8, 2017 by keefr2

[PhilJ W]

All manufacturers did it at one time. I was amused to read recently that when the Mk1 Escort Mexico was introduced, front seat belts were a non delete option - i.e. you had to have them but Ford made you pay extra for the privilege! And prior to that a heater was an option on the Anglia, & I believe many other cars of that period. And I can't remember what vehicle it was (might have been a commercial) but I recall reading a passenger side windscreen wiper was a paid for option!

Ford light vans even a passenger seat was an optional extra. Indeed a passenger side windscreen wiper was an optional extra on the 1953-59 Ford Popular, not that it made a great deal of difference with vaccumn operation.

[MJI]

BMWs reason for radios being an optional extra were giving the buyer a choice.

 

Seeing other makes of cars where there was a compulsary AM mono radio, or the Dolby fitted cassette deck was only on ONE car, it was a great idea.

 

You buy a car and there is some shoddy piece of rubbish in the radio slot, much nicer to choose a really good cassette head unit with FM stereo, Dolby B and C, optional amp, and later on CD came available.

[Kickstart]

Hi

 

Not so sure on that given how many things were optional. Such as a 5 speed gearbox on the 3 series in the mid 1980s (rather than the standard 4 speed) ,

 

All the best

 

Katy

[Horsetan]

Hi

 

Not so sure on that given how many things were optional. Such as a 5 speed gearbox on the 3 series in the mid 1980s (rather than the standard 4 speed) ,....

 

Depending on what model it was, you may have had a choice between standard 5-speed or "dogleg" 5-speed.

Edited February 8, 2017 by Horsetan

[runs as required]

It could be Versailles.

Nah!

The palace has a mucked-about-with dome at the centre - not true of either Versailles or Fontainbleau.

I've just wasted an enjoyable half-hour scrolling through French chateaux (only a couple with domes, they much prefer pointy hat roofs on their towers).

 

 

So I've finally come back to Karlsruhe. The tower was so the Duke could see every corner of his (rather small) realm from his room.

A German photo-op seems an odd choice for such a Frenchy lot as Citroen.

dh

Edited February 8, 2017 by runs as required

[Kickstart]

Depending on what model it was, you may have had a choice between standard 5-speed or "dogleg" 5-speed.

Quite possibly, but flogging a premium car with the standard 4 speed when relatively pedestrian cars came with a 5 speed does seem a way of boosting real prices. A choice of different 5 soeeds is rather different

 

All the best

 

Katy

[Danemouth]

Talking of optional extras my Father's first car was a 1959 Standard Ten bought in 1963. The heater was an optional extra and not fitted by the original owner. After the first winter a heater was fitted. Luckily my Mother ran the accounts office of the main dealer so was able to have it done at staff price.

 

Dave

[Sidecar Racer]

Nah!

The palace has a mucked-about-with dome at the centre - not true of either Versailles or Fontainbleau.

I've just wasted an enjoyable half-hour scrolling through French chateaux (only a couple with domes, they much prefer pointy hat roofs on their towers).

 

 

So I've finally come back to Karlsruhe. The tower was so the Duke could see every corner of his (rather small) realm from his room.

A German photo-op seems an odd choice for such a Frenchy lot as Citroen.

dh

 

I don't think that is the place , here is a google shot of it .

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Karlsruhe,+Germany/@49.0128056,8.4043068,3a,90y,3.67h,90.98t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-4_2022dKxfI%2FWA4soiIp9rI%2FAAAAAAAACYU%2FVtHUv4-zM1M0iP1rCU0wB1aiReDcf6ZiwCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F-4_2022dKxfI%2FWA4soiIp9rI%2FAAAAAAAACYU%2FVtHUv4-zM1M0iP1rCU0wB1aiReDcf6ZiwCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya54.064224-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352!4m5!3m4!1s0x47970648a2e07809:0xb6fc55734cb7ee7f!8m2!3d49.0068901!4d8.4036527!6m1!1e1

[The Stationmaster]

Nah!

The palace has a mucked-about-with dome at the centre - not true of either Versailles or Fontainbleau.

I've just wasted an enjoyable half-hour scrolling through French chateaux (only a couple with domes, they much prefer pointy hat roofs on their towers).

 

 

So I've finally come back to Karlsruhe. The tower was so the Duke could see every corner of his (rather small) realm from his room.

A German photo-op seems an odd choice for such a Frenchy lot as Citroen.

dh

 

I'm pretty certain that it isn't Versailles but not at all clued up about where it actually is.