Car Talk

[oldgregg]

Perfect place for storing a handy biscuit should he get hungry 

[FlyingFortress]

2 minutes ago, oldgregg said:

Perfect place for storing a handy biscuit should he get hungry 

He is a Labrador

He is always hungry 😁

[YnysMon]

Anyone need any bubble wrap? No. 1 son is wanting to get the Wolsey Hornet that’s sat in our garage for almost 30years back on the road. He hit a snag trying to unlock the fuel cap, but once he did get it off realised that the tank looked very rusty. A rather large parcel arrived today…replacement fuel tank. Very, very well wrapped. Unwrapping it was a bit like a pass the parcel party game.

[CeePee1952]

I used to have a Hornet back in the 70's! I was stationed at Bovington Camp and when we were posted to Detmold in Germany, it got us all the way there without any problems! I kept it for about another 6 months and then swapped it with an army mate for a Ford Taunus. The Hornet was a great little car in its day 

Chris

[Regulo]

I had a Riley Elf - same thing, Mini with an extended boot! Mine was automatic, and drove very nicely, until the rust got so bad it had to go!

[ChrisB]

My only claim to Mini fame was a Clubman. Judith and I drove it to Andalusia twice in 1972 and it was faultless. The only mod it had was an oil cooler as we often drove for hours on end and I rec. The extra pint of GTX ( a great leap in oil tech)  would do it no harm.

At Aix les Thermes hotel in the Pyrennes at the start of the climb up the Col de Puymorens. Snow at side of road in July. I was 23 then, 51 years ago!   

[kpnut]

Can’t believe I’m posting on a car thread! I had a mini in the late 70s, the one with the wooden bits in the frame that was a bit like an ‘estate’ version with double doors at the back. Was it called a ‘traveller’?

Anyway, it only had second and fourth gear plus reverse until I went to the scrapyard to get a replacement gear selector. 
One evening, I was very loaded up with caving gear for 12 people-lights, helmets, carbide etc plus my own stuff and a passenger with her stuff. I was trying to get up a steep hill in the Mendips and got down to the bottom of second gear, nothing to change down to, so had to reverse back down the hill, turn round and reverse up. On a main road, I’m not sure I’d do it nowadays! 

[ChrisB]

Nowadays there is a tunnel. Don't think that many make the drive over the top. It is in places, actually a lot of places not for the faint hearted.

[kpnut]

I know roads in the alps like you describe Chris. Being the driver ‘on the wrong side’ is ok as you can see the drop next to you. For the passenger it’s a bit more scary!

We went up a hairpinny road between Bergen and Voss in Norway in a Montego estate so loaded up with camping gear that I thought the front wheels were going to lift off the ground. The steering was certainly extremely light. Made worse by all the lorries coming the other way without a care in the world!

[ChrisB]

I know the feeling well!

[Mouldy]

2 hours ago, kpnut said:

I know roads in the alps like you describe Chris. Being the driver ‘on the wrong side’ is ok as you can see the drop next to you. For the passenger it’s a bit more scary!

We went up a hairpinny road between Bergen and Voss in Norway in a Montego estate so loaded up with camping gear that I thought the front wheels were going to lift off the ground. The steering was certainly extremely light. Made worse by all the lorries coming the other way without a care in the world!

In 2010 my wife, mother and father in law and I drove to Provence in my Skoda Octavia vRS.  We were staying near Castellane to visit the nearby Gorge du Verdon.  I’d done some research on the area and found a tourist route called Route des Cretes (D23), which was supposed to offer magnificent views over the gorge, with various stopping places to get out and take in the scenery.  The start and finish are within a few hundred yards of each other and part of the route is one way traffic, so we started at the correct end to drive the entire way round.

It certainly lived up to the description - it was stunning, but my driving ability was slightly impaired by my father in law sitting in the front passenger seat, but was trying to sit on my lap!  I’ve had to ‘borrow’ the photo from Google, but here’s the reason:

[annv]

Hi Yousmon Suggest you remove the cardboard trim from the bottom rear side bins and spray with penetrating oil then Wax Oil this is where they corroid out of site until subfram becomes detached, difficult place to repair. John

[addicted]

We were staying with friends  just outside Cape Town. While you're here they said, you must see the Swatburg Pass.  So off we went.  The entire road was only slightly wider than than a single carriageway and had no proper surface to speak of. There were passing points every few hundred yards which resembled small platforms that stuck out over the sheer drop  of many  hundreds of  feet below.  Apparently  the road had been cut out of the mountainside by  labourers in the 1800's using pickaxes and dynamite and very little improvement had been made to it since that time.  Even though, as a child I had been with my parents when they negotiated some very hairy mountain roads all over the continent it was without  doubt the most frightening car journey I have ever made.  It wound up and up for what seemed like miles. About half way  up there was an area that had beeen designated as a stopping point for photographing the spectacular views. So we pulled in.While we were there a  hired Mercedes also pulled in, the driver got out looking somewhat shell shocked and approached our friends. Is there much to see he asked. is there any point in continuing. Clearly desperately hoping my friends would say no so that he could beat a hasty retreat, The look of disappointment on his face when they replied that he should definitely go on as Prince George on the other side of the mountain was not to be missed was tragic. I totally sympathised with him. I shudder to think what would have been the consequences of breaking down, There was no phone signal and it was miles from anywhere.

 

 

Carole

 

[kpnut]

Carole, your tale has made me feel quite sick. The thought of using one of those passing places - ugh

[YnysMon]

8 hours ago, kpnut said:

Can’t believe I’m posting on a car thread! I had a mini in the late 70s, the one with the wooden bits in the frame that was a bit like an ‘estate’ version with double doors at the back. Was it called a ‘traveller’?

Anyway, it only had second and fourth gear plus reverse until I went to the scrapyard to get a replacement gear selector. 
One evening, I was very loaded up with caving gear for 12 people-lights, helmets, carbide etc plus my own stuff and a passenger with her stuff. I was trying to get up a steep hill in the Mendips and got down to the bottom of second gear, nothing to change down to, so had to reverse back down the hill, turn round and reverse up. On a main road, I’m not sure I’d do it nowadays! 

Ah, the type Dame Edna Everidge referred to as a 'half-timbered car' (when in Stratford-upon-Avon)?

Can't believe I'm posting on the car thread either!

8 hours ago, kpnut said:

We went up a hairpinny road between Bergen and Voss in Norway in a Montego estate so loaded up with camping gear that I thought the front wheels were going to lift off the ground. The steering was certainly extremely light. Made worse by all the lorries coming the other way without a care in the world!

The most scary one for me was the road from Voss to Ulvik on a bus. The bit where the road zig zags down what seems like a cliff! You do feel a out of control as a passenger, especially on a bus. Getting around those bends was fun - for the driver, not so much the passengers!

[kpnut]

1 hour ago, YnysMon said:

You do feel a out of control as a passenger, especially on a bus

That’s how I feel on the Konectbus 5B between Stalham and Ludham Bridge, hurtling along the road between Catfield and Ludham. Or at least it feels like we’re hurtling along, probably not. I never dare sit upstairs at the front like I used to as a child. 

[grendel]

I nearly bought a mini once, when I got in and tried to drive it and found that when i braked I also hit the throttle and clutch with the same foot, I decided against that idea.

[kpnut]

You should have done Grendel, mine had the added bonus of built in drain holes in the floor so all the rain coming in from the leaks could get out. Unless the puddles decided to come in through the drain holes too!

2 hours ago, YnysMon said:

the type Dame Edna Everidge referred to as a 'half-timbered car'

Exactly right! 

[Regulo]

5 hours ago, kpnut said:

That’s how I feel on the Konectbus 5B between Stalham and Ludham Bridge, hurtling along the road between Catfield and Ludham. Or at least it feels like we’re hurtling along, probably not. I never dare sit upstairs at the front like I used to as a child. 

Should try the bus round the Isle of Wight. Sit up top, and when you're not in mid-air, you're picking bits of tree out of your hair. 

[Boaters]

Went on th MATCH DAY bus to. NOrwich.  I am sure the. Driver. WasLewis Hamilton in disguise never forgot that one

[Bikertov]

The mountain section of the Isle of Man TT course is great fun, especially on "Mad Sunday"

Stunning views, and an amazing road to ride on. 

I managed to clock 165 MPH coming away from the Creg-Ny-Baa corner towards Brandish.

Exhilarating and scary at the same time. 

[kpnut]

A ‘worried’ emoji is most suited here Biker. 

[LondonRascal]

I've just come back from 3 nights away in the Yorkshire Dales - and took the 'good old tank' (Greta my Volvo XC70). Now at over 167,000 miles it remains one of the most comfortable cruisers and mechanically has been so reliable (electrics and my bad luck with things not so much lol). We averaged 153 miles a day, basically driving up and down Dale and going to some lovely, secluded roads and places. Truly stunning! The best thing was averaging 43.2MPG which ain't bad for a big old 17 year old diesel.

[BroadAmbition]

Out for a summers evening blast in Zebedee with Trevor

Griff

 

 

[MargeandParge]

40 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

Out for a summers evening blast in Zebedee with Trevor

Griff

 

 

Must have been a Yorkshire man's turn to buy lunch  Kindest Regards Marge and Parge