Reading the motoring supplement in Dad's Which magazines was a great source of interest as a kid in the 1960s and early 1970s. Recently I've bought quite a few on Ebay to re-visit what was siad about the the old cars.
Truly brilliant stuff for a motoring obsessive child of those times.
Some example group tests I have here are...
Rover 2000 - Triumph 2000 - Humber Hawk - Mercedes 190 - Peugeot 404
Austin-Healey Sprite - Mini Cooper S - Triumph Spitfire - TR4 - MGB - Sunbeam Alpine
Fiat 1500 - MG 1100 - Cortina GT - Simca 1500L - Vauxhall VX 4/90 - Renault 8 Gordini
Mini 1000 - Fiat 600D - Honda N360 - Honda N600 - Relaint Rebel 700
And my favourite then and now the one that tested....
Citroen DS21 Pallas - XJ6 - Mercedes 220 - NSU RO80 - Volvo 164 - Rover 3500
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Yes,. but what do they *say*?
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That's the thing... they say so much.
As well as written fact/opinion on every aspect of each car there are spec tables everywhere including handling graphs and the most obscure details. Lots of good pics too.
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So which did they pick as the 'best buy'? Bet it wasn't the Citroen...
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>> So which did they pick as the 'best buy'? Bet it wasn't the Citroen...
Its like asking the womens institute panel what the most inoffensive chutney was. Really you want pickle that puts up a fight.
I dumped which 20 years ago when I realised it was making me old before my time.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 3 Aug 10 at 15:06
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>> the most obscure details
How come noone caters for this market anymore :-(
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because few people want it.
Only those that microfoam the car everyweek.......
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>> Only those that microfoam the car everyweek.......
Bah!
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Must admit I'm not a big fan of the Which motoring stuff... seemed to go downhill in the 80s/90s. And group testing of food mixers and the like left me a bit cold.
This old car stuff however is a real archive for the early motors.
Re: Citroen DS21 Pallas - XJ6 - Mercedes 220 - NSU RO80 - Volvo 164 - Rover 3500 group test parts of the summary read...
DS21 - One of the most idiosyncratic cars in the world. Overal not quite as good as the XJ6 or NSU but cheaper to buy/run.
XJ6 - Impressive to drive/ride in but loads of faults on delivery and in running.
MB 220 - Slow, too expensive but very relaible.
NSU RO80 - Impressive handling, steering & refinement. Very reliable (this was before anyone had discovered the rotor seal issues!). Best buy.
Volvo 164 - Fast and comfortable but handling/ride issues on bumpy roads.
Rover 3500 - Very fast, handled well, comfortable (for 4) with good ride. Many owners suffered transmission faults.
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Agreed Fenlander.
About 20 years ago the central library in Bristol had all the Which? motoring supplements from the late 60s and 1970s in the reference library. They were a source of distraction when I was supposed to be working. I used to read Practical Classics magazine back then and the Which? reports from back in the day complemented nicely.
I still have a photocopy of their damning 1977 report on the TR7 - shocking faults on a brand new car.
I guess the nearest on the internet these days is trawling through carsurvey.org to get real ownership experience.
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Which seem to have gone rather "tabloid" in their tests of cars. I've just dropped the subscription but have the latest annual round-up. For reminiscence purposes, I read a copy of the Motor 1966 annual: gems such as the 7 litre 385hp fwd monster Oldsmobile Toronado, with drums all round, the BRM/Rover turbine, Daihatsu Compagno Berlina, all 41hp of it (!), early Corona, various early BMWs.
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>>>7 litre 385hp fwd monster Oldsmobile Toronado
www.seriouswheels.com/pics-1960-1969/1966-Oldsmobile-Toronado-Jay-Leno-FA-1024x768.jpg
Know the Oldsmobile well. Guy in the flat below me had one in the mid 70s. Amazing to hear it rumble up the narrow passageway between houses. Spent hours drooling over it at weekends.
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Fenlander. That sound would be something to relish. Before I kick the bucket, I'd like to try a large, unneutered, V8, if only because they are an endangered species.
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>>>Before I kick the bucket, I'd like to try a large, unneutered, V8, if only because they are an endangered species.
Me too. Owned loads of Rover V8s but there is a certain appeal about the yank tanks. That one I linked to in the image belongs to Jay Leno the talk show guy... a real car nut. His is a twin turbo with over 1000bhp and converted to rear wheel drive.
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I was so unimpressed with the way they calculated the results I canceled my membership. I am now 3 pints of beer a month better off.
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>> And group testing of food mixers and the like left me
>> a bit cold.
>>
Blimey Fenlander, you lead life on the edge, don't you?
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Rattle it's an expensive "membership" and to be honest I used to disagree with the results of some of the tests....
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>>>Blimey Fenlander, you lead life on the edge, don't you?
At 10yrs old I decided you obviously had to be an adult to appreciate the finer points of food mixers whereas it was easy to drool over the nicer cars.
Once an adult I realised I was never going to crave the domestic appliance tests.
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>> Rattle it's an expensive "membership" and to be honest I used to disagree with the
>> results of some of the tests....
>>
If they test equipment relating to something you have a good degree of knowledge about you end up shaking your head in disbelief.
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I well remember being fairly impressed with Which until the time they 'tested' bog rolls and warned readers that they were likely to lose part of the savings on the 'best buy' because people using it would take a longer pull at the roll if they knew it was cheaper. I decided my life would be enhanced if I kept as far away as possible from people with that sort of mindset.
Some years ago I was in the pub when a friend introduced her boyfriend as working for 'Which'. I watched him carefully all evening but he seemed absolutely normal.
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I shouldn't think he was disappointed...
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Which? may have had some relevance when there were good and bad products.
Now most things are on a fairly level par.
There might be a dozen £400 washing machines at my local white goods shed, and I don't believe there will be anything much between them in terns of quality and reliability.
I think the same applies to most domestic goods, including cars.
The only decisions for the buyer to make are the personal ones the magazine cannot make for you.
The internet means Which?-type intelligence is widely available to anyone with a computer.
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I think many people took out the Which subscription in the early/mid 60s when the post war recovery really set in. It was a time folks could look forward with some optimism and risk consumer purchases like Radiograms, tape recorders, food mixers, portable transistor radios, dishwashers, elec sewing machines etc.
For the subscribers they saw Which as a godsend directing them to the best or best value item. As ifi says the net has changed the world and these answers are at our fingertips 24/7 now.
Which could never be accused of missing out on variety. The edition that tested the XJ6, DS21 etc also tested skiing holidays, paraffin heaters and hairpieces for men.
I'm pleased to see in another 1969 issue they even *tested* au pair girls!
You can tell I've had great value out of these old mags off the bay.
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Any Which fans can buy a quarterly Which Car magazine in newsagents. I have the Autumn 2010 edition which I bought to read on a train: plenty of information but much the same as the What Car and Top Gear road test summaries which you can also get, I think quarterly.
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"but much the same as the What Car and Top Gear road test summaries"
Surely that defeats the point. The USP of Which? was that it was unbiased.
I've not read it for a long time but hopefully it still has writers that don't pretend to be comedians also.
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i said last week but will say again any magazine that relies on subscription rather than going down smiths on a sarterday is a non starter for me
get out ask the right questions to the right people, write down the answers
if you cant do that then whats the point in asking the usual mates in the pub saturday afternoon the same old drivel
no point
next...................
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"get out ask the right questions to the right people, write down the answers"
I'm not, and never have been a suscriber, but which(!) of the current crop of motoring magazines do this?
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Which magazine 60/70s - motoring section. - FotheringtonTomas
