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A good place for a chat about unusual sightings of cars/trucks/bikes.
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 22 Jul 11 at 00:59
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Metallic bluey green Imp/Chamois outside a house 4 doors from mine which has just had new owners move in.
Wonder if it's theirs...I'll keep me eyes peeled to see if it's there a lot.
Ted
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A G-Whizz.... Damn thing was traded in against a real small car!
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Over the weekend, a rather well kept and if I dare say immaculate (not dents or rust to mention) V plate Rover 800 Coupe in the local Tesco car park. A rare find indeed as you dont see many 800's about full stop. Couldnt tell what engine (just badged as 800) but judging by the twin tailpipes either the KV6 or the 2.0 turbo nutter model.
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Could have been a straight 2 litre as that also had twin pipes.
The turbo is badged Vitesse so my guess is either a 2.0 or a 2.5 V6. The Vitesse also has pretty big alloys compared to the standard car.
Think id have the Honda engiend 2.7 V6 if I had the choice though only the earlier coupes had that engine.
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>> Could have been a straight 2 litre as that also had twin pipes.......
Whatever it was, it was a stylish looking, handsome beast unlike the plain looking saloon. Shame about how Rover went down the pan, tin hat on!
As per TG's slating of the new MG6, I rather like the look of that.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 27 Jun 11 at 13:15
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Its just a chinese car though thats already behind the times before its launched. The badge is just a badge - remember when Rover stuck a badge on a Tata. That was crap and so will this one be much as it pains me to say it.
Rovers peak was a long time ago.
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>> Think id have the Honda engiend 2.7 V6 if I had the choice though only
>> the earlier coupes had that engine.
>>
No, later saloons as well, had a blue ex police driving school facelift saloon with that lovely engine, manual box too....was a couple of years after facelift the 2.7 was replaced by an inferior 2.5.
One of the best and most reliable cars i've owned, it would cruise at a genuine 145mph and still pulling...apparently.
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Fri 1 Jul 11 at 18:39
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On the m6 this morning pair of Vauxhall vivas one HB and one HC on some sort of charity run so plastered with signage, both looked in nice condition.
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Hillman Minx - looked very rough but a daily driver in the village of Lourdata in Kefalonia, Greece.
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A Fiat Punto sporting a pair of these: carlashes.com/
Its driver looked *exactly* the sort of person to like these...
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An original L reg Porsche 911 in Wishaw tonight.
Looked really tiny compared to modern cars.
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The last interesting car I saw on the road was last week: a two tone green Morris Major Elite, presumably still in daily use and looking very tidy.
My two most unusual sightings (both some time ago) would probably have been a Triumph Mayflower in Sydney's peak hour traffic and a pre WW1 (I am assuming that because it had a brass radiator surround and brass lights) Model T Ford, going through the Sydney CBD on a weekday in the early afternoon.
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I saw an unusual open roadster today at lunchtime but I'm not sure what it was. It looked like the illegitimate offspring of a Lotus and a Porsche Boxster...
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Welcome to our little world, Franfran...
Perhaps one of these...looks like a Boxster at the back.
s479.photobucket.com/albums/rr152/1400ted/pgo/?action=view¤t=pgocevannes.jpg
A PGO Cervannes.
Ted
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Hi Franfran, are you Sydney based, the "CBD" is a good hint, as are the timings of your posts.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 1 Jul 11 at 18:35
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>>are you Sydney based>>
Hi
Yes I work in the city - not far from Central Station.
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A very nice (not too smartly turned out) Citroen DS19 (i think it was the 19 version) - RHD on a 1972/3 plate - a perfect study in shabby chic. Nice car.
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Citroen Maserati today between Nantwich and Tarporley in Cheshire. Like this one. Same colour. Nice.
motorsnaps.com/key/Citroen+Maserati?g2_itemId=906
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They are lovely aren't they Humph. And very nice in that dark blue metallic (I was afraid yours was going to be one of the much commoner gold ones). I don't like the way those Kamm-tailed specials look though (one assumes they go all right).
Always fancied one, never had the bottle to try to get one. They were very cheap at one time. But you would have needed another car and a small fund in case of complications. If living in France, within shouters of the right garage, one might have considered it seriously...
Quite a few drivers didn't like the very light, very high-geared spaceship steering. I would love to have tried to get used to it.
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Ugly looking blimming thing ~ I'd rather have the DS next to it.
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A french friend bought one to restore about ten years ago AC. Well I say french, he lives in the Alsace so it's debatable. Anyway, he spent a couple of years and far too much money on its rebirth. Irony was that about a month after he got it back on the road it developed an electrical fault and incinerated itself.
What's french for "sick as a parrot?"...
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>> malade comme perroquet ?
Or strictly, comme un perroquet. But the term 'sick' has a different spin in English. There's a suggestion of vomiting. It doesn't simply mean 'ill' as it does in American.
However, 'dégueulant comme un perroquet' has a clunky ring to it. Anyway the French are more likely to say of something very annoying like that 'Ça me fait chier' (that makes me crap). But 'Chiant comme un perroquet' is no good either because it implies that the innocent parrot is very annoying.
I'm afraid there is no good translation of 'Sick as a parrot'. Just as there is no pithy English equivalent of the useful French concept 'Fuite en avant'.
Languages - don't they just keep you permanently wound up?
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Good, I'm glad that has been cleared up. I recall trying to sympathise with my friend Pierre about his Citroen in such terms and feeling that it really wasn't helping.
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I can order beer, petrol, food and a bed in French and that's about all ! But the BabelFish translation has the touch of the Delboy Trotter about it.......!
I think that the Americans would treat being called a Muppet slightly differently to us. Sounds like a home-grown insult that despite Kermit and friends being American...!
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Don't touch Babelfish or (especially) Google Translate.
You're better off speaking very loudly and waving your arms...
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You're right - I tend to speak Franglais in the style of Officer Crabtree !
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E reg Opel Manta GT/E, hatch, on the M25 this weekend. Showroom nick. What a lovely little car, although I preferred the saloon version.
Also many more pink cars and a Nissan 200SX with pink alloys. Yes, I had to go through the Bell Common tunnel to a foreign land again.
Speaking of Nissan, I often see a battered old Nissan Silvia Turbo on may daily commute at the moment, F reg. Quite rare these days, I imagine.
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B junior's school prom was last Friday. Bit of a contest for 'stylish' arrivals. A couple of Astons, a very old Buick, the inevatable couple of RRs and a beautiful Triumph Vitesse convertible.
Might see if I can upload a few pics to photbucket provided the driver/passenger's anonymity is not too compromised - mind you most of them are all over Facebook.
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>> B junior's school prom was last Friday. Bit of a contest for 'stylish' arrivals. A
>> couple of Astons, a very old Buick, the inevatable couple of RRs and a beautiful
>> Triumph Vitesse convertible.
I was away for our school prom this year, alas its now mostly stretch Hummer H4.
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>> I was away for our school prom this year, alas its now mostly stretch Hummer
>> H4.
There was at least one stretch but plenty of ingenuity as well. One lad arrived on a gig, another group in a landau type thing complete with attendants in full rig.
Half of one village's contingent had a farm trailer - dismounting via a stepladder was a trial for lasses in stilletoes though.
Junior & his three mates had a Morris Minor. My suggestion that he & partner could cut a dash arriving and synchro folding a pair of Bromptons was dismissed as uncool!!
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I saw a metallic green MG ZT yesterday - it looked as good as new. Have to say I prefer the Rover 75 though.
Saw a Holden Calibra Turbo this morning on the way to the station. I had forgotten that there was such a car - did they sell many of them?
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An ancient, matt-painted Seat that looked like a Fiat Ritmo (Strada) with a sticker in the back window saying 'Jesus is my airbag'.
I'd rather trust a Fiat airbag...
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That was likely a SEAT Malaga - based on the Strada and available as hatchback or saloon. There may have been a SEAT Ritmo before the Malaga badging appeared.
I'm off to Spain at the weekend and will be keeping a keen eye out for such relics!
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My pal the expert on the unloved says it was a Seat Fura - a bit like a Ritmo but actually more like a 127.
All I can say is, it's surely a rarity...
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>> My pal the expert on the unloved says it was a Seat Fura
Yep, these were based on the Mark 2 127 - the later car with the bigger bumpers etc. There was a FIAT 127 1300GT at one time, I still hanker after one of those.
SEAT's Ritmo (Strada) based cars were originally called Ritmo also, then rebadged to Ronda and Malaga after a facelift.
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VW in the sixties or seventies launched a special Nigerian model, the Igala. It was actually assembled in Nigeria from Brazilian-made CKD kits and was I suppose a rebadged version of a Brazilian model. It was a rear-engined 1600-1800cc aircooled flat-four car, two-door but much roomier than a Beetle, along the same lines as a 1500 or 411/412, but sort of tinnier. Although they bought it in large numbers the Nigerians fairly typically complained about it with relentless and ingenious bitterness.
I saw some Igala-like cars in a second-hand car lot in Mozambique in about 1980. They were going for almost nothing but petrol was expensive and the economy was still recovering from the sudden departure of Portugal, so hardly anyone could afford a car.
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Thank you Ted. Rather Plain Jane isn't it? They didn't wear well and a couple of seasons as a Lagos taxi could leave them looking very shredded.
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Southbound on the A1 near Stamford yesterday saw a very ordinary looking Honda, looking chunky and a bit like a Defender (lumpy) It was an "Element" nothing special and apparently not available in UK. It was on UK plates and I didn't see what side the steering wheel was on!
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Another RR Evoque today in silver - parked at the fuel pumps. On VU plates so I assumed it was a factory car, driver was wearing a LandRoverExperience tee shirt so another assumption made. Nice car odd proportions, looked to be riding on wheels a little too big.
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A BMW X6. With a matt grey (battleship) paint job, matt black X6 badge and black and white BMW propeller badges. Blacked out windows (so dark they must be illegal). Bizarrely, it had a private plate, but not an X6 one (thought it was compulsory on X5s and X6s).
Hands up who thinks I was impressed?
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Of course you were Alanović. Especially by the illegal windows.
You were green with envy.
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I'd rather a frenchie off David Mellor.
Why would I be jealous of something I could afford, but choose not to?
Last edited by: Alanović on Wed 6 Jul 11 at 13:29
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Yeah, me think one doth protest too much.
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Uh huh. That'll be right.
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He wants one, but hasn't got the bottle to face the teasing from his buddies down the pub.
Just as well he's got us to keep him honest, eh?
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You do make I larf, AC.
:-)
Imagine the teasing I get for driving a Volvo 360. Mind you, it's marginally less than when I had a purple Mondeo Mk2 estate (before I had children). People used to stifle their laughter. Now they just roll their eyes. Those who follow fashion will never understand style (nor class).
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A55 today a very pretty, pristine 1964 registered Karmann Ghia - looked genuine enough but may have been a fake of course, but still an outrageously pretty car, probably the purest design VW ever cam up with.
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There are a few Karmann Ghias around (mostly the earlier type - in particular one red convertible) but I haven't seen any of them for a while. I did see an old Beetle with the small rear window on the weekend.
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RS200 with 8035kms on the clock.
Fully carpeted interior, 1.8litre producing 270PS.
Built in 1985.
This is the car: tinyurl.com/6ktdgc9
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Hmmm...link not working, try this: tinyurl.com/6x4luwc
The car in the report is the car I saw.
Last edited by: gmac on Wed 13 Jul 11 at 09:14
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A BMW 3 series. Not just any 3 though - it was an E21, on a trailer, looked like it was race prepared.
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Saw a lovely early E-Type soft top today, looking even better for having two very attractive young ladies riding in it rather than the usual bearded old man.
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A neat 1950s or 1960s two seat drop top.
Quite small, longish bonnet, upright radiator, badged Alpine or possibly Alpina.
It had a beige canvas top, and was bowling along on the A1(M) at about 60mph.
Perhaps a Talbot or Renault.
Any other suggestions?
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One of these, Iffs ?
Nearly bought one in the 60s but 2 seats killed the idea off.
wmspear.com/STA/
Ted
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...One of these, Iffs ?...
Much smaller with a shorter boot.
More 1950s than 1960s.
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I went after a lovely maroon Sunbeam Alpine (as above) in the early 1970s.
I said to my wife 'I'm not paying £600 for that'. Sigh...
Maybe the mystery car is a Singer from the early 50s?
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I realise my clues aren't up to much, but the car looked quite like one of these:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1953.mg.td.arp.jpg
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W reg Ford Ka in gold with no visible rust and all the body panels were the same shade!
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Seen today in Chertsey, snapped with the phone. Looks pretty tidy yours for 1500 quid.
s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt148/know_wun/princess%202/
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I'd like to test drive that Prin cess - just for auld lang syne, like.
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Ooooh!! I've seen that Princess in Chertsey before. £1500 is seriously tempting!
Far better than the Citroen C6 I saw the other day.
It was dark coloured (not sure if it was blue or burgundy) with a beige roof (possibly vinyl) and, wait for it ... the alloy wheels had been painted to match!!! :-0
Truely revolting and a real travesty.
Last edited by: Boxsterboy on Thu 14 Jul 11 at 15:39
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The Princess says it's a 2000. That means 'O' series - a truly awful engine IMHO.
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Yes it was. I had both in Princesses, the 1800 B series which was fine and the 2000 O-series, which was horrible. My father had the 2200 E series 6-cylinder, which was nice though.
I really like that car - shame it's red.
Last edited by: Mike Hannon on Thu 14 Jul 11 at 16:22
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I thought the 'S' series was a truly awful engine, in which case I can't imagine how bad an 'O' must have been.
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My dad had an S plate 1800 version in the same colour, one of the first car I drove, a lovely car to be driven in, crackingly balanced but soft suspension and a huge head and legroom.
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Saw a mark 2 Granada estate and a mark 1 Astra on the forecourt of a local garage as I went past tonight - both looked quite tidy in the quick look I got. The Astra was marked up as £1495, I didn't quite catch the Granada's price as I went past.
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Re that Granada estate. There's a lichen green sort of coloured one for sale on a forecourt near Westland helicopters near Weston. I pass it every other week but never seem to get around to stopping. Not that I'd buy it but you know how it is.
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Quite probably the same one Humph - the garage at the top end of Banwell village? I'll be going past tomorrow or Saturday so I'll have a quick look and find out the price.
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That's the one. I'll be going past on Monday early AM I think.
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It can be yours for £2995 Humph - it's the 2.8 injection Ghia. Looked quite tidy in the quick look round I had last night (persisting it down with rain once again so I didn't stop long), clean interior and good bodywork.
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I once had a 2.9 Ghia 4x4 jelly mould Granada. Lovely thing to drive but only slightly less keen on drinking than my 3.5 litre Land Rover.
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And you needed beer goggles to appreciate its good looks.,.,,.
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Asda car-park in Llangefni (Waitrose too far and I was hungry) - a nice 70/71 Mk1 Escort, sort of a matt red, lovely little RS style wheels, seemed pretty standard apart from some rally style seats and an open face helmet on the back seat.
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After saying the other day that I hadn't seen a Karmann Ghia for some time, I saw one at lunchtime - a nice red coupe (the original rounded shape). I also saw a black Ford Falcon (early 1960s) and a Ford Escort Mk II panel van, which looked in pretty good condition except for the state of the paintwork.
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Waiting at the lights, what should pass in front of me but a Hummer....bright pink with about 7 doors down the side.
I nearly fetched me bread and milk up ! ( Pensioner's lunch ! )
Ted
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>> fetched me bread and milk up ! ( Pensioner's lunch ! )
It's because of where you live Ted. The ones who can't cope with ferrets and whippets and lardy cake and stuff like that have to get pink stretch Hummers to compensate. I expect Ratto to get one soon because I'm sure he isn't a whippet man.
Not keen on Hummers but I wouldn't say no to the right pink car, Porsche 911 RSR or similar...
However I am luckier than you. Just an hour ago, in the sort of cute little mini-rush-hour that they have in Storrington - lasts half an hour and happens in the middle of the afternoon when Londoners are all in the office or pub - I passed a very nice, well-used, tuned by the sound of it, wire-wheeled white Jaguar XK120. Can't swear that it didn't have numbers on the sides, sporting attire... but I couldn't really look because they make heavy weather of their little rush hours round here.
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singer_Vogue
A Singer (MK1) today, again an obvious daily drive. Must be quite an effort to keep these going these day. Glad someone cares though.
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Today saw an American pickup, 1950's I think filling up at a Total staion in Liverpool, didn't get a good look but it seemed to have dull dark bodywork, rat look possibly?
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Triumph 2000 estate at Swanage Sailing Club 2 days ago.
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They were nice. I could fancy a late 2500 (carburettor) estate even now.
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Yesterday at the local shops I saw a four door Datsun 120Y, white with a blue flash trimmed with chrome on the side. It looked as good as new. Saw another 120Y today, this time an orange station wagon, looking well used but still sound. Saw a really well kept green Morris 1100, a yellow Morris Minor utility and a hot rod (based on an early 1930s Ford perhaps?).
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Forgot to mention earlier that I also saw a yellow Citroen DS and the remains of a Ford Escort Mark II panel van.
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I had to get some milk (we don't normally have any in the house as we don't use it very often, and I needed some for a recipe I was making) so I walked down to the local service station. As I was leaving the shop, a VW Beetle with a small rear window drove in.
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Forgot to mention earlier that I saw about five or six 1960s Ford Mustangs parked outside a mechanic's workshop....
Last edited by: franfran on Sun 17 Jul 11 at 15:52
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>> five or six 1960s Ford Mustangs parked outside a mechanic's workshop....
Having their knackered clutches and transmissions replaced after a month or two of entertaining Aussie back-street wheelspin performances franfran?
Hardly ever saw anyone going fast when I was in Oz, but in towns heard - obviously deliberately induced - violent wheelspin and associated engine noise every day. Not really my idea of proper hooning I must say.
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>> Having their knackered clutches and transmissions replaced after a month or two of entertaining Aussie back-street wheelspin performances franfran?
They looked too good for that. And one of them had the bonnet, doors, boot and interior removed presumably in preparation for a respray. I think it might be a business that specialises in repairing and restoring "muscle cars".
Mustangs are a bit too expensive to attract that sort of person. They are more likely to be driving a Holden Commodore or Ford Falcon. In any case, changes to the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act a few years ago have greatly reduced this type of behaviour. The act now contains a section which states that "a person must not, on a road or road related area, operate a motor vehicle in such a manner as to cause the vehicle to undergo sustained loss of traction by one or more of the driving wheels (or, in the case of a motor cycle, the driving wheel) of the vehicle". I don't know the details but, as well as substantial fines, 12 month licence suspensions and, in the case of particularly serious offences, jail terms of up to 9 months, there are sanctions relating to the detention, impounding and forfeiture of motor vehicles used in connection with street racing and burnouts.
All of which makes me wonder what became of some idiot I saw a couple of years back. He came out of a car park in a two door 1970s Falcon, wheels spinning and smoking, scattering pedestrians all over the place. What he didn't realise (or what his limited intellegence failed to register) was that the Police station was two doors up the road from the car park. A Police car took off in prsuit, and he was stopped a couple of blocks away....
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In the Fens he would have had the local Police thinking it was their birthday:)
A few weeks later he would have appeared in our local paper in court facing a charge of 'Furious Driving'.
I had never heard of this term until I moved to this part of the country and it always makes me smile.
Pat
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Austin Maxi on the A500 Shavington by-pass earlier tonight. Tricked up with a huuuuge whale tail spoiler, rally stickers etc. and signwritten "Maxi-Power"
Brilliant !
:-)
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Citroen H van parked locally.
SWM saw it and reported back to me later...she described it well .
Ted
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Saw an early 1970s Chrysler Valiant at lunchtime. For some reason, the surviving number of Valiants on the road seems greater than you would expect....
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Not all that unusual really but not worthy of a new thread. I went to Liverpool on business this pm in my black Qashqai. Stopped for diesel at Morrisons in Speke. Bloke pulled in behind me in white Qashqai. He nodded at mine and said something which for the life of me I couldn't understand. It sounded a bit like someone choking on a fish bone ! Anyway, I pretended to be a bit more mutton geoff than I really am and said as casually as possible " sorry chum, missed what you said? " He coughed something out again and nodded at my car and then at his own and then smiled, well I think he was smiling. Still totally unable to interpret what he'd said but not wishing to appear rude I said something like "very good" This clearly confused him and he muttered something darkly to his wife in the car. Steadfastly refused to meet my gaze afterwards too and looked a bit miffed. Goodness knows I tried to work out what he'd said !
Hope I didn't offend him !
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If he sounded like someone choking on a fish bone he was probably Dutch. No offence Dutchie...
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In a back street of a little town in the Charente yesterday, a pretty little Triumph TR250 (American TR5), but jacked up with huge fake Minilites and chunky tyres. Ugleeeee.
The difference between British and French taste is not confined to Marmite...
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Saw an old Volvo 240 Estate today.
Wonder if the driver still gets flashed by other drivers to tell him he has got his lights on!
Kind of ironic that all those years ago, Volvos had permanent lights on but now when everyone else is having to introduce them by law, that I cannot think of seeing a new Volvo with DRLS !
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>> Kind of ironic that all those years ago, Volvos had permanent lights on but now
>> when everyone else is having to introduce them by law, that I cannot think of
>> seeing a new Volvo with DRLS !
>>
They are only a legal requirement on vehicles homologated for Europe after March this year.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 21 Jul 11 at 17:50
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A nice little scruffy MG Jubilee edition in BRG -also in the same car-park an immaculate S reg MG-R - lovely car that as well.
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