Car Talk

[floydraser]

Steering wheel glove. The one where you had to wrap the rubbery "lace" all the round the wheel between the holes in the foam. Can't remember the brand name but I may get another since the Corsa heated wheel packed up and it now takes the heat out of my fingers!

Scented thing. A bit of card with a bubble on it which you pierce and hang in front of a vent. Not if I'm in the car though; they make me feel sick!

Stick on heater for the rear window.

Rubber door edge guards with reflectors (posh version).

Little ally panel with two extra gauges below the dash - people think you're a rally driver now don't they? Er, no.

Tiny chain dragging along the road under the back of the car to prevent car sickness. Yeah, ok.

Locking petrol cap.

Wolfrace wheels.

Polished chrome exhaust tailpipe, bigger than standard. Rally driver eh?

Wind deflectors on the front door windows.

Wickerwork picnic set.

Dent's genuine kid leather stringback driving gloves. Tick.

Starting handle.

[dom]

If you owned a RWD Ford in the early 80s, jack-up blocks for the rear axle - and in some cases an extra fog or break light mounted to the axle.

Autoplas slatted rear window covers - particularly popular on Minis and Chevettes.

Mountney steering wheels - obligatory for every serious car enthusiast in the 70s and 80s, especially Ford or Mini owners.

"Steering aids" - the bolt on spinning ****, which fitted to the steering wheel and allowed easier one handed manouvering. At one time, I worked for a company with several car accessory shops, where we knew the former as "suicide knobs" because of their tendency to detach at the least opportune moments.

[dom]

21 minutes ago, floydraser said:

Scented thing. A bit of card with a bubble on it which you pierce and hang in front of a vent. Not if I'm in the car though; they make me feel sick!

Feu Orange. One bubble, but three coloured circles like a traffic light. I'd all but forgotten about them!

[ExSurveyor]

The plastic sun visor across the top of the screen with his and her names on. 😂

A stocking to replace the fan belt in an emergency.

A piece of 1/2" copper tube and two Jubilee clips for an emergency hose repair.

The joys of Cortina 1600E ownership.

[MargeandParge]

The under seal creeping up like a flooding tide from under the door sills. Of course for any blemishes (rust holes) above the stick on pin stripe there was STP stickers and checker tape wihch could be topped off with a vinyl roof. 

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

[Mouldy]

7 hours ago, dom said:

Feu Orange. One bubble, but three coloured circles like a traffic light. I'd all but forgotten about them!

But they were a little more refined than the cardboard ‘magic’ tree, dangling from your rear view mirror! 😁

[bucket]

The top accessory, in what was the first of my now nine Volvos.......(a fabulous 240 GL estate).....was an orange plastic potty. Kept behind the front passenger seat, perfect for the children on a long drive......

[Woodie]

Cassette player with separate graphic equaliser. Still one in the garage roof somewhere.

and I wonder why I’m deaf!

[Regulo]

Great recall everyone! I'd forgotten about the Smiths stick on heated rear window - one summer and it assumed the look and consistency of a rasher of bacon. Oh, how I miss those days, every weekend spent covered in oil/paint/blood (or all three) with bits of car all over the floor. 

[Bikertov]

Retrofit electronic ignition unit - fitted one to my Capri

And the obligatory Furry Dice - I had a massive yellow set in my Capri, later moved into my XR3i. Only got rid of them after my then girlfriend (now wife) complained bitterly. In hindsight, I clearly made the wrong choice 

[grendel]

14 hours ago, ExSurveyor said:

The plastic sun visor across the top of the screen with his and her names on.

my transit parcel van had the blue plastic sun visor- half way up the windscreen (just the right spot to keep the sun out of the drivers eyes - I remember it vividly, as when a lorry flicked a stone up into the windscreen shattering it, the sun visor held enough glass together to wrap around my head when it hit me.

[Regulo]

Just as an aside, I've always remembered this snippet of conversation, overheard of two old boys, as I passed them in the doorway of a car accessory shop. 

". . . and when I finally pulled it out, it was bent, and of course I couldn't get it back in then, no matter how hard I tried. . ." 

I really hope it was car related. 

[ExSurveyor]

Big whip aerials, after market mud flaps, plastic wheel covers and a bit of go faster striping, I even had a bit of custom sign writing.

My first few cars looked like I had ram-raided all the local car accessory shops.

[ZimbiIV]

I must be getting old, nobody has mentioned 8 track players.

I remember fitting one (negative earth) to a positive earthed Mini.

Making sure no metal bits touched and crossing the feed cables.

It worked but the unit chewed tapes.

pa

[MargeandParge]

11 minutes ago, ZimbiIV said:

I must be getting old, nobody has mentioned 8 track players.

I remember fitting one (negative earth) to a positive earthed Mini.

Making sure no metal bits touched and crossing the feed cables.

It worked but the unit chewed tapes.

pa

Must have had its wires crossed should have played them. 

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

[Bikertov]

Of course the other late 70's / early 80's big thing - CB Radio ... with Mag mounts on the roof of your car, and maybe a PA speaker under the bonnet.

[kpnut]

I do remember the foot operated windscreen washer pump on the floor in my mini. Wish I still had it as the electric one in my BMax is playing up. 
 

15 hours ago, ExSurveyor said:

A stocking to replace the fan belt in an emergency.

I was pondering this the other day as I needed to tighten the belt on the domestic battery alternator on the boat, and sort of remembered how to do it. 
When you tie the stocking, how does the knot get round the flywheel?

I asked the lad at Boulter’s about it when I was discussing what number belt I needed as a spare, but he was too young to know what I was on about 😂 

 

8 hours ago, bucket said:

was an orange plastic potty. Kept behind the front passenger seat, perfect for the children on a long drive......

We had a pale pink one in my parent’s Consul. It had a splodge of white paint on it and I HATED it! Made me feel sick even looking at it. 

[Karizma]

How many of us got somebody to cut a big hole in the roof - to fit a sun roof, before cars started getting fitted with AC?

Also cutting two big holes in the parcel shelve to put two large speakers in the back!

[JanetAnne]

How about the Webasto sunroof (one of which I have just taken out of a 1966 Ford being got ready for respray.

The steering wheel covers were either Alexander or Paddy Hopkirk by the way. One made them in leather and the other in leatherette (vinyl to you and me)

[Turnoar]

A lot of this is before my time, driving time that is, as I was alive and kicking for most of the 1970s!

Stickers was definitely a thing in the late 80s: Fat Willy’s Surf Shack, My other car’s a Porsche and red ones that looked like a bolder version red text rear window heater lines with “COSWORTH” emblazoned inbetween. I remember these clearly as they passed by whilst on my push bike.

Dare I declare my car history, must say I’m jealous of those of you who seemed to have gone through more cars than I have push bikes, I have as many bikes now as the total number of cars I’ve ever owned... all cars petrol unless stated otherwise.

So first car was car of the year in 1993, albeit ten years earlier, the door wedge that was the Renault 9, in beige so known to my friends as the banana car. Comfy though and with a nod to carbon reduction with a traffic light dashboard equivalent to the econoscope.

Number two. Volvo 3 series, tank like but reassuring to would have been would be in-laws as not exactly a boy racer car but safe pair of hands.

Number three the ubiquitous Peugeot 205, a turbo diesel in serrento green which I sold for peunats due to boredom, it went on for years but didn’t like my move to the big smoke whence it became smokier. It survived a couple more years.

Number four Audi Coupe in deep black with Quattro alloys. Fave car. Only got rid of it because I was forced to take a company car so traded it in for something practical... the company offering was a Mini Cooper which was fun though in parallel for a short time with....

Number five Suzuki Grand Vitara Limited V6 2.5 TC, 8 years old 26k on the clock, another 80k over ten more years and only the tin worm got the better of it in the end, final trip to the breakers yard under its own steam, still got the jack which comes in handy.

Number six, and present workhorse, a Zafira A with 87k, originally motability in Wales, on its second clutch when I bought it, second ECU a few months later (Astra secondhand part) but nothing much since, odd brake bit, tyres, exhaust otherwise as reliable as the Suzuki.

This listing excludes my wife’s motors including those I’ve bought for her...

Car keys on the table forumites, let’s hear your recollection.

[ExSurveyor]

Ford Corsair, Cortina 1600 GT, Cortina 1600E, Volkswagen variant, NSU 1200, Ford Escort 1300,Ford Escort Estate. Rover 3500, Allegro,
Marina, Austin 1100, Austin 1800, Austin Princess,Triumph Dolomite sprint, Daf variable drive ( rubber bands ). Nissan Sunny, Talbot Horizon, Sierra,Volvo 245, Volvo 740, Cavalier, Toyota Cressida, Suzuki Grand Vitara, Renault 25, Honda Integra, Honda Prelude 4ws, Honda Legend coupe, Chrysler neon, Jeep Cherokee, Chrysler PT cruiser, Chrysler 300, Mazda estate, Mercedes C class, Mitsubishi Gallant, Lexus RX300 Lexus 400LS, Lexus 430, Jeep Commander, BMW X5, BMW X1, Volkswagen Touareg. Volkswagen Sharan.

1963 Mercedes 190, gorgeous car.

Probably a few more that I have forgotten.

I should have been a car dealer.

My favourites,

Toyota Cressida

Jeep Commander

Honda Legend Coupe

Lexus 430

 

 

[Regulo]

Morris 1100 (died of rust), Ford Corsair V4, Ford Cortina MK3 1600XL, Ford Granada 3.0GXL run concurrently with Mini 850 (died of rust). Next, another Granada 3.0GXL. Then a Rover 3500 SDI, another Rover 3500SDI (great cars, but rustbuckets). During the life of those last four I had at various times a DAF 33, a Riley Elf auto, and another Mini. Next came a Montego 1.6 followed by a Montego 2.0GSI (Both rusted at an alarming rate of knots). Fed up with cars rusting away under me, I then had a Volvo 760 Turbo Estate, which I ran for 12 years with minimal trouble, and sold with no signs of corrosion anywhere. Then a Volvo V90 Estate, Volvo V60 Estate, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, and now a Tesla Model3 LR.

Don't think I've missed any. To sum up: BMC/BL rusted from the inside out, Fords from the outside in, Volvos didn't rust at all. Later cars were the most reliable, but pretty boring, even if you were almost certain of reaching your destination, which was by no means the case in the 60's and 70's.

[dom]

7 hours ago, ZimbiIV said:

I must be getting old, nobody has mentioned 8 track players.

I remember fitting one (negative earth) to a positive earthed Mini.

I worked for Norfolk Car Audio in Norwich for a while, back when high end car stereos were still an expensive pastime for middle aged hi-fi buffs, rather than boy racers. One of our demo cars was a '73 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow. We fitted about £10k worth of CD player, amps, subs and speakers to it, all in nice wood veneer racks and custom leather door panels. We also left the original 8 track in place and hooked it up to the system - partly for a laugh, partly to demonstrate how an original system could be expanded. I suspect it was probably the highest spec ever 8 track system! It actually sounded quite reasonable, but the choice of music was a bit limited, as cassettes were already getting hard to come by. That's probably how I developed a bit of a taste for prog rock...

[WherryNice]

23 hours ago, floydraser said:

Steering wheel glove. The one where you had to wrap the rubbery "lace" all the round the wheel between the holes in the foam.

My boat currently has one of these, actually feels quite nice n soft on the old pinkies tbh......

Car history.....strap in.....Mk2 Escort 1.1L, Citroen AX 1.4 TZS,(Passed test) Mk2 Escort 1.3GL(crashed), Mini Sprite 998cc, Citroen AX(the same one), MK1 Fiesta Popular 957cc, Mk2 GolfC  1.3(crashed), MK2 Escort 1.3L, Nissan Micra Collette 1.0, Mk2 Fiesta 1.1 Ghia, Mk3 Fiesta 1.3 Ghia, Mk2 Golf GTI, MK3 Cavalier 2.0 CDI, Capri 2.8i, Mk2 Golf GTI(the same), Mk2 Golf 1.8GL, Jetta TX with the running gear from Golf GTI, MK 3 Golf GTI, Mk3 Golf TDI, Vento TDI, Frontera Sport 2.0, mk 2 Polo,  Toyota Avensis, LRDiscovery 200 TDI, LR Discovery V8, Passat TDI, Passat Estate TDI, Peugeot 406 HDI Estate, Citroen AX Spree 1.0, Ford Galaxy, Audi A4 Avant 2.5 tdi, Peugeot 206, Seat Leon Cupra, Mk 3 Golf Estate TDI, Citroen Xsara Estate, Passat TDI estate, VW Caddy van, Mk3 Golf GTI, , Saab 9-5 Aero, 2 x T-Roc R,  Merc Vito..... Plus others I have no doubt forgotten, many overlapped/got sold to mates/bought back etc......I'm 41

[NeilB]

Nothing really exciting, not included the family people carrier as my wife drove that most of the time.  Ford Escort Mk2 1.3GL, Opel Kadett 1.3S, Vauxhall Cavalier Mk2 1.8i GLS, Vauxhall Carlton 2.0CD, Vauxhall Cavalier Mk3 2.0CD, Saab 9000 CSE mapped 2.3 turbo - 2nd fastest car owned, 50 to 70 in the blink of an eye!  Astra Mk 2 GTE (8 valve), Citroen AX GTI ( go cart!)  Ford Fiesta Mk4 1.3, Fiat Punto 1.3, Ford Fiesta Mk5 Zetec 1.4, Ford Mondeo 2.0.  Following are company cars so not actually owned - Volvo S60 D5 (nearly as quick as the Saab!), Volvo XC60 D5 R Design, Volvo XC60 D4.  Currently driving a brand new V60 T6 recharge for the next 4 years.