Spot of the day - Part 7

[Spiny]

On 22/08/2023 at 20:23, Windy37 said:

The same company that thinks most car buyers can afford £50k electric cars , while leaving their loyal customers to look elsewhere for affordable cars ....

Gary .

At the risk of turning this into the "Grumpy Old Men" thread, judging by what my younger colleagues say, it's not a case of £50k electric cars but of £500 per month electric cars. And if you're not shelling out the whole lot in one go, it (superficially at least) doesn't seem such a scary amount of money.

 

The problem pretty much applies to any manufacturer, and won't change unless the price of batteries comes down. So don't be surprised come 2033 to see a load of articles in the news bemoaning that the average age of cars on the UK's roads is at a record high - the economics of spending money to keep an old banger on the road will still be better than those of buying an electric car for a lot of people.

[Admiral Puff]

I'd very much like to go electric, but here (as seems to be the case elsewhere) the price is still prohibitive, and support infrastructure is still a bit light on. 

 

The batteries are a very expensive part of the equation, but I live in hope. After all, look at what's happened with 3D printers over the past ten years - the price has come way down, the performance has gone way up. Batteries seem to be going the same way.

[Pete in Lincs]

Off to Norfolk today. I delivered a couple of empty barrels to a chap just outside of Norwich. In his garage was a convertible Jaguar XJS. 

After a chat about it being a non runner I set off down to the roundabout and another convertible XJS went by. What are the odds?

I saw a red hard top about an hour later!

Plus a Mk1 MR2 sometime later. What is it about the design that makes me think of origami?

Spot of the week on the way back. Eastbound on the A17, a DUKW. 80 years old and still looking good! Except for all the traffic stuck behind it

[Farmer matt]

 

 

Yes please.

 

Matt

 

[Vince1159]

1 hour ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Except for all the traffic stuck behind it

That's their fault for not thinking outside the box,if they were 'stick your fingers in a socket and hope it starts' it'd sink anyway....

[keefr22]

3 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

What is it about the design that makes me think of origami?

 

That's never struck me before, but I see exactly what you mean...!!

 

 

2 hours ago, Farmer matt said:

Yes please.

 

That is very tasty!

 

Keith

[Windy37]

2 hours ago, Farmer matt said:

 

 

Yes please.

 

Matt

 

Alpina wheels are timeless things of beauty imo 👌 

Gary 

[keefr22]

17 minutes ago, Windy37 said:

Alpina wheels are timeless things of beauty imo 👌 

Gary 

 

Agreed, but I bet they're a swine to keep clean...!!

 

Keith

 

 

[Admiral Puff]

17 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

 

Agreed, but I bet they're a swine to keep clean...!!

 

Keith

 

 

Volvo had something similar - they called it the "Sunburst" wheel. I had a set on my 264, and it took 15-20 minutes to clean each one properly - longer if you went to the trouble of taking the wheel off and cleaning inside it!

[keefr22]

9 hours ago, Admiral Puff said:

Volvo had something similar - they called it the "Sunburst" wheel. I had a set on my 264, and it took 15-20 minutes to clean each one properly - longer if you went to the trouble of taking the wheel off and cleaning inside it!

 

The missus' focus has a copy of a BBS type wheel - I give up trying to clean each of those properly after about 10 minutes....!! (and would never dream of taking them off to clean the inside...!! 🤣 )

 

Keith

[Black Knight]

Simples; I take my car to the local car wash run by fore-iners. £5 to get the car washed and I ask for them to clean the wheels very good, and I give them an extra £2 or £3. They do an excellent job. I'm known for giving them the tips so they look forward to me coming! My mental well being is worth more

PS. No.1 son keeps changing the wheels on my car! He deals in 2nd hand Beemers so I get odd sets put on until he sells that set then I get a different set. BMW have several interesting wheel patterns

 

Back on topic

This morning an ex-RUC PSNI 'Snatch', aka 'Meat Wagon', Land Rover drove around and through my estate.

These are rarely seen on our roads these days, especially in my area

I don't know if it was a PSNI one or one associated with the filming of 'Hope Street' police drama series being filmed in Donaghadee, called Port Devine for the series

[Vince1159]

A gorgeous dark blue 2CV parked on the south side,haven't seen it before (to be honest there's only three/four left over here now) so it may have just been imported....

[Zephyr]

I saw 3 HQ Holdens today.

Quite a rare sight. It's probably been at least a year since I last saw one being driven.

They ran from 1971 to 74 and most of those still on the road definitely fall into the category of cop bait.

There might be a car show somewhere near...

 

 

[Admiral Puff]

16 hours ago, keefr22 said:

 

The missus' focus has a copy of a BBS type wheel - I give up trying to clean each of those properly after about 10 minutes....!! (and would never dream of taking them off to clean the inside...!! 🤣 )

 

Keith

I never used to bother either (it was bad enough cleaning the outside of the things) until a mate in the tyre game suggested that I should. Apparently the small lumps of tar and other road grime that build up inside can throw out the balance if there's enough of them. It did make a difference ...

[keefr22]

8 hours ago, Admiral Puff said:

Apparently the small lumps of tar and other road grime that build up inside can throw out the balance if there's enough of them. It did make a difference ...

 

I've seen similar happen with mud on 4x4's and gravel rally cars. I'd just get the wheels rebalanced! 🤣

 

Having said that, there's a guy up the road from my son who over the last few years has had two Focuses with the same wheels as ours and he spends most of every Saturday cleaning the things and the wheels always look like they've just come out of the factory - and he was a tyre fitter too, so I guess he knew the same!

 

Keith

[Admiral Puff]

It may surprise you to learn that the only time the wheels come off my current drive (a Peugeot 208GTi) is when it gets fitted with new tyres ...

[Sabrejet]

Some nice stuff in the car park at Gurston Down today, including this MG SV, one of only 80-odd made:

 

 

[Stef N.]

In amongst some of the weaving idiots on the M40 I was passed by an ugly Ferrari. It was quick,I'll give it that.

 

 

[Sabrejet]

22 minutes ago, Stef N. said:

In amongst some of the weaving idiots on the M40 I was passed by an ugly Ferrari. It was quick,I'll give it that.

 

 

 

Noooooo! Not ugly but the most elegant expression of the '70s wedge. I love a proper GT, and the 400/412 line is one of my favourites.

[Pete in Lincs]

I liked that one too. A proper Grand Tourer with four seats and a boot. Also better looking than what they churn out nowadays.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And yes, I'm wearing my specs!

[keefr22]

6 minutes ago, Sabrejet said:

Noooooo! Not ugly but the most elegant expression of the '70s wedge.

 

+1

 

 

[keefr22]

8 hours ago, Sabrejet said:

including this MG SV, one of only 80-odd made:

 

Never knew of its existence - what a cracking looking car!

 

Keith

[Stef N.]

1 hour ago, Sabrejet said:

 

Noooooo! Not ugly but the most elegant expression of the '70s wedge. I love a proper GT, and the 400/412 line is one of my favourites.

In its defence, from the side it looks much better. I only saw it's back corner and butt as it roared past.

[Tyas]

2 hours ago, Stef N. said:

In amongst some of the weaving idiots on the M40 I was passed by an ugly Ferrari. It was quick,I'll give it that.

 

 

Used to dislike the 400s, but now I found a love for it. Never be as pretty as the 365 GTC/4, but unique in its own way.

[Zephyr]

OK, so, today I saw a Maserati Quattroporte and a Porsche 930/911 Turbo.

I don't know much about Porsches and I'm not so sure about that one, but it looked right...

With my limited knowledge I'd say it was a pre-1978 3.0 litre.

 

More in keeping with the general flavour of the place, I also parked next to a 1978-79 Ford F 150.

It was a manual with a gearshift knob made from a Ford 302 piston. Rather awkward but whatever floats your boat...

If I got the year right it would have a 302 Cleveland or the 250 six.

The V8 models usually had the fancy body trim which this trucked lacked, so probably a 250.