alastairq Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 Ancient Mustang front seats cannot be fixed in the upright position.....right from new. Ford didn't make them lockable!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 I read recently that a similar thing can happen with 996 and 997 model 911s and Maserati QPVs due to the battery running down through lack of use, so you're in good company Jenny! Watching the latest new car adverts on TV it strikes me that in nearly all of them the lifestyle associated with the hipsterish audience they seem to be aimed at is being pushed to the fore, with social media connectivity and somewhere to put your choco-mocca-latte-with- rasberries-on-top way and above any engineering or physical attributes the car itself has to offer. The 1969 brochure bummff for the Lotus Europa has a different take on it, although there is a very slight element of 'lifestyle' to it... '''World Champions have a better way... Lotus Europa, the natural translation into practical roadgoing terms of the Championship winning Lotus Tradition. Designed and engineered as a practical, no compromise, two seater car, the Europa can carry you, and one selected companion many thousands of miles in luxurious, smooth riding comfort wit hall you require for a holiday tour or normal daily use. Engineered for safety, styled for performance, the Lotus Europa tells the world quietly who you are, it is not brash, just an example of your good taste and discrimination. Europa can take you to an all out 115mph on your Continental holiday, storm the passes like a rally car or tour slowly through a picturesque village turning heads with its advanced undated styling. Equally at home outside the most exclusive club, discotheque or cathedral, the Lotus Europa is a young car for all ages. EUROPA - the better way by Lotus''. Where do I sign...? I suspect that, in any given category, all modern vehicles are, in practical terms, pretty much the same. Indeed, with production rationalisation and the consolidation of the industry to a tiny group of large parent companies, many will share major components too. So you're not going to find a Unique Selling Point in the dynamics or engineering, even if more than a tiny minority of buyers actually cared. So image and toys get the emphasis. Anyway, it's severely frowned upon, if not actually illegal, to mention anything related to performance these days. Clearly its fine to play with a touch screen while driving as long as you're not enjoying the driving part of the task. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Jenny, best to take your car for a hard run on the motorway, cover your ears as you may not like the noise it makes at 70 mph in 2nd or 3rd gear. Blows all the crud out, best to wait till there is a new BMW behind you fill with new petrol though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Jenny, best to take your car for a hard run on the motorway, cover your ears as you may not like the noise it makes at 70 mph in 2nd or 3rd gear. Blows all the crud out, best to wait till there is a new BMW behind you fill with new petrol though. ....and add some Redex or similar as well before flooring it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr2 Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Ancient Mustang front seats cannot be fixed in the upright position.....right from new. Ford didn't make them lockable!! Luckily they'd probably be MoT exempt now though...!! I do wonder how you drive one though, when you're flat on your back on the rear seat looking at the headlining....?! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted April 3, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 3, 2018 The new rules sound like an opportunity for unscrupulous garages to hold car owners hostage for expensive repairs. Totally unreasonable. Far better to apply the stop only on finding of faults deemed in the dangerous category. Before I retired I used to get my cars MoT'd in my employers workshop. By doing MoT's for other than their own fleet it made the test station viable. The advantage was of course that as they did not do repairs you knew that any repairs neccessary were just that. Another bonus was that when I came to collect my car I would find such things as the handbrake adjusted and other minor jobs done. Regretably the workshop has been replaced by a block of flats. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted April 3, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 3, 2018 I do wonder how you drive one though, when you're flat on your back on the rear seat looking at the headlining....?! I thought that was how most Americans drove their cars. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 ....I do wonder how you drive one though, when you're flat on your back on the rear seat looking at the headlining....?! Watching the way that some drivers sit well back in their seats, that's clearly not a problem! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve K Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 According to my son's mate who owns our local MoT station it has actually always been the case but is another 'non enforced law'. Makes sense when you think about it, as once a car fails the test it's deemed to be unroadworthy & therefore to drive it away from the centre after a failure is technically illegal, irregardless that there might still be a month left on its previous cert...!! The simplest way to avoid being penalised by this rule (and as you say, it was probably ever thus, but just not enforced) is not to have your car MOTd too early. Book it in a week or so before the ticket runs out, time enough to get any jobs fixed. For most people, that will probably work out fine, though I understand that you could get caught out by a previously-unknown problem, and find your car off the road. But then, if it's not safe, wouldn't you want to know, rather than drive around like that? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 No - all I've heard recently is the relaxation of the rules for cars 40 years old. Grumble... it used to be free tax for 25-year-old cars until that stingy Mr Blair came in, but at least classic cars owners are getting something now... Anyway, do tell, but in the meantime, here are a couple of oldish cars I've spotted in the North Birmingham area recently: IMG_20180401_135241.jpg IMG_20180210_151123.jpg IMG_20180210_151103.jpg Great spot Steve, a genuine Mk2 Austin Cooper 1275S by the look of it / checking on the DVLA site, and a fairly late one too, registered in November '69 (the last few were built in February '70). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Jenny, best to take your car for a hard run on the motorway, cover your ears as you may not like the noise it makes at 70 mph in 2nd or 3rd gear. Blows all the crud out, best to wait till there is a new BMW behind you fill with new petrol though. Oi I drive a BMW Actually you are okay because mine is an old one! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr2 Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 The simplest way to avoid being penalised by this rule (and as you say, it was probably ever thus, but just not enforced) is not to have your car MOTd too early. Book it in a week or so before the ticket runs out, time enough to get any jobs fixed. Exactly what I did this year - it was only a few months ago that my son's friend made us aware of the upcoming 'rule change' - that isn't really a change, but I thought I may as well get in the habit! If anything had needed doing I'd have just left it with him to sort. It suits me fine to always take my car to him for the test - he's not the cheapest (or the most expensive) but I do know he'll do a proper, fair test on the car. And luckily it passed first time again last month, this time with no advisories either! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 The simplest way to avoid being penalised by this rule (and as you say, it was probably ever thus, but just not enforced) is not to have your car MOTd too early. Book it in a week or so before the ticket runs out, time enough to get any jobs fixed. For most people, that will probably work out fine, though I understand that you could get caught out by a previously-unknown problem, and find your car off the road. But then, if it's not safe, wouldn't you want to know, rather than drive around like that? Except with the MOT being computerised these days, you can be pulled by the police for it, as it will flag on their computer that you have had a fail and they can see what on as well. As said they haven't tended to enforce it, but if they're having a bad day, who knows? better not to risk it in such situations unless you are going to the garage for the retest. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted April 3, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 3, 2018 If I were to have a Lotus, I think I would rather have one of these: I'd like the small hatch which came later 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 The Marcos factory in the late '60s... 1970 / 71 brochure... 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolseley Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 I'd like the small hatch which came later Or that one too. I do, although I am not a huge fan of Fords, have a soft spot for early Cortinas - I drove one when I was in Scotland in the mid 1970s. here it is in the High Street in Edzell: 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 (edited) Luckily they'd probably be MoT exempt now though...!! I do wonder how you drive one though, when you're flat on your back on the rear seat looking at the headlining....?! Not quite as bad as that..but the rule refers to the seat back, being able to be 'locked' in the upright position....and not tip forwards! The Mustang seats normally cannot recline....but they do need to tip forwards...there is no standard locking mechanism to prevent this. The angle of the seat back is adjustable, to a limited degree....since the 'stop' which prevents the back going down too far to the rear, is a simple bolt [ with lock nut] with its head bearing on a thin metal late at the rear of the seat base. Very simple...as one would expect from Ford? Which reminds me, I must 'make up' [scratch build??] a 'stop' bolt for the passenger seat..which currently goes as far as the frame tube. Seemed to be acceptable to the Authorities...at the time of manufacture......which is the all important caveat with the MoT..[very little C&U regulation is retrospective.] I have had the back of the driver's seat collapse backwards on me, at 50 mph, whilst driving a coach....interesting! More so for the passengers in the seat behind...one of whom had my head almost in her lap!! Edited April 3, 2018 by alastairq 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 I wonder what the percentage of our current middle-age generation, owe their conception to the back seat of a Cortina?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 I wonder what the percentage of our current middle-age generation, owe their conception to the back seat of a Cortina?? Well, they say that 9 out of 10 people are caused by accidents. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted April 3, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 3, 2018 Or that one too. I do, although I am not a huge fan of Fords, have a soft spot for early Cortinas - I drove one when I was in Scotland in the mid 1970s. here it is in the High Street in Edzell: Again not a Ford fan, but I quite looked Rootes Group stuff 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted April 3, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 3, 2018 Can't find any computer pictures, but I used to drive an old Chrysler Sunbeam, rebuilt with 1600 running gear, rally suspension and lumpy cam. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 I wonder what the percentage of our current middle-age generation, owe their conception to the back seat of a Cortina?? I think Ian Dury had something to say about that . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolseley Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Here's another photo of the Cortina I had in the mid 1970s. This time at Dundee - I took the photo from an upstairs window in Claypotts Castle. As for Rootes vehicles, the first car we had after we arrived in Australia was a Hillman Minx Mark VIII, followed by a Hillman Minx Series II. I have some photos somewhere and I'll see if I can find them. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolseley Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 I found another photo of the Cortina, this time in the company of some other cars that were then near new, but are suitable fodder for this thread now. I took the photo in 1975 at Boat of Garten on the Strathspey Railway. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolseley Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 The Cortina isn't in this photo, but it does have an interesting collection of cars nevertheless. Bank Street, Galashiels in 1975. 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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