Stuff we've seen on the road

[ilovedmymantas]

Hmm this had me head scratching.

I thought a Dutton Kit car but could not find any pictures with the correct front wheel arch fairings.

I had almost totally discounted the Morgan series..
Again, mainly due to the front arch shape. The Morgan has a fully-enclosed arch fairing.

But I know there is one of these knocking about near me too.

UPDATE -
The nearest model that I can find to resemble the car in the image is a late model MG TF. Circa 1949 to 55.
So I am guessing it is a replica of that...
or a very good 70 year old car.

Thanks Robsey
I logged it as unknown morgan type as It looked too good not to be a kit. Unusual but not my kind of car

[ilovedmymantas]

Nice spot
I love all the chrome and the whitewalls, very flash for the times

[ilovedmymantas]

My preparation for seeing the touring cars on sunday was a bit weird.
Saturday night i went to my local garage to put in petrol and do the tyres because the car felt a bit funny, just as well , the nsf tyre was 20 instead of 34
In the queue to pay a guy asked me if it was my car at the pump so we got talking all the way out. At the same time he pointed out a Mk3 astra , the owner was driving slowly and admiring the car then stopped in front ( no dash pics 'cos the ignition was off ), so it was now a three way conversation The astra owner had only had the car a week, he looked in his thirties so there's hope yet for these old cars.

Sunday morning, up bright and early ( not really, more like bleary eyed and early! ), i barely noticed these. It must have been subconscious because i locked the recording



On the trip up i was passed by a clean looking low mileage toyota starlet. Little did i know i would see it again



On the approach road to knockhill - three miles of standstill traffic, i came across it again, this time stopped with steam billowing from the open bonnet!
I asked if they needed water as i overtook and got a yes, so i stopped and gave them the water i had, a couple of litres.
I always carry a couple of litres of water and a litre of oil, you never know
I don't know if the young couple made it as we were in the camping area, overspill for disabled parking, hope they did

[ilovedmymantas]

I'm not sure I'd thank my employer for this graphic

[Robsey]

Could be a lot worse, I suppose.

Could be an image of a pink-rinse curly haired granny with a leaky continence pad. - ha

I saw a 1995 Astra-F (mk3) yesterday... it looked so different to the modern pap.
A very rare sight these days.

Like many others, I can never get pictures, as I am usually driving, so cannot stop to photograph.

[ilovedmymantas]

I swear by ( and sometimes at when it fails ) my dashcam.
Today i wished I'd had the planned rear one fitted.

I was third at the lights that had just turned green. As i was about to move off a dishevelled looking guy in his 30's pulled up beside me in the cycle lane. I tried to pull away slowly to get him on the dashcam but he stayed parallel then pulled off at a garage just after the lights so no pics, as I saw him in my rear view mirror
He was on a scruffy Sinclair C5 never seen one in the flesh before, wish I'd got a shot
Here's the rest of my once a week visit to Auld Reekie ( Edinburgh )

Typically, like buses, you wait ages then two come along




My mum's assisted flat overlooks some garages in the railway arches. This was taken from her window so not very sharp. A merc 190E, 1993


Same street ( i've dubbed it vw alley )


Ok. There's a Nissan cube but they're rare too

[vexorg]

Imported cube

[Robsey]

Sinclair C5 eh?
I did my YTS at Ferranti PLC in New Moston, North Manchester. (In 1984 and 85).
Although I was at the training school, the main factory built control units for the C5's.
Along with Tornado navigation units, electricity meters and telephones... oh.. and they developed the scatter-bombs used by Vulcans in the Falklands conflict.
a real strange mix but hey ho
The whole factory is a housing estate now... has been for 30 years or so.

As for the VWs, I assume you have a type 2 specialist located within the industrial units in the arches.

And the Cube - damn they are ugly.

[ilovedmymantas]

YTS, that takes me back

I did mine as a photographer (my hobby at the time way back in the 35mm days) in a project to raise money for ambulance defibrillators, a sort of it's a knockout for donating company teams. Best thing I ever did!
I always wanted to drive but couldn't afford it and because I would need a licence to be a photographer YTS paid for my lessons & test. Seven weeks later I passed - I really wanted it

There's a vw specialist in one of the units but I've only seen it with the gates open a couple of times, looks like a scrapyard made entirely of campers but I'm sure they're all someone's project waiting their turn, there must be at least twenty!

"And the Cube - damn they are ugly."

- But spacious .
I couldn't possibly comment more, I know an owner very well.

[vexorg]

I was in japan 10-ish years ago, oddly all the youngsters had cube shaped cars (there are many other like it in japan) blinged up with small wheels and lowered right to the ground. Definitiely not the F&F I was expecting.

[Robsey]

There's a vw specialist in one of the units but I've only seen it with the gates open a couple of times, looks like a scrapyard made entirely of campers but I'm sure they're all someone's project waiting their turn, there must be at least twenty!

Hmm - do you think that they would notice if I helped myself to a huge rake of parts for my van project?
Parts for campers are stupidly expensive.

As for the Cube... hmm the Japanese and Koreans have a lengthy history of designing boxes on wheels.
Kia Soul is another such vehicle.
Although we cannot blame them for the later Combo Yeti, Belingo and Transit Connect vans that have all followed the "Cuboid" trend.

[James McGrath]

I quite like the Nissan Cube. Not my personal idea of a good looking car and I wouldn't want one for myself but I commend Nissan for selling something different.

[James McGrath]

Spotted this Volvo 440 GLE yesterday. Injection with a catalyser no less!

Looked quite tidy to start with. I followed it for a bit and saw/heard the rear back box was loose and the suspension looked a bit lopsided. Still, nice to see.






Also managed to photo this Sierra in Robertsbridge high street. I see it quite often. Has a very similar number plate to my dad's CD auto (H475).



Acording to the DVLA, it's only done 53,000 miles although I'd never believe it in the flesh.
The mot history of this is quite funny too.

[Robsey]

Not seen a jelly-mould for a while, so this was quite nice to see - owner looked like a lank, long haired version of me - lol.
Typical 80s / 90s petrol head look, but clearly now in his 50s.



Had an awesome exhaust note. I thought it sounded like an Impreza when it came burbling into the petrol station behind me.
Obviously fiited with a wide-bore fart-pipe on the back.

Badged up as a 4x4, but not kitted out like the XR 4X4.
You cannot miss the whale tail on one of those.

[vexorg]

I had a friend with an XR4x4, it had the same/similar spoiler

[ilovedmymantas]

It's been a while since i've seen a sierra on the road, it looks pretty good.

Although a popular colour i don't think white does the car justice, the black trims look like they've been designed by three people who didn't talk to each other.
That spoiler looks far better than the whale tail, what were they on when they thought that up?

[Robsey]

The thing that caught my eye was the huge panel gaps between the top of the bumpers and the bodywork.

The rear bumper gap was adjustable if I remember correctly.
None the less, still nice to see.

I have to admit that my favourite Sierra was the blue incarnation of the Sapphire Azure. But then what do you expect from a fella with a fleet of blue cars.

[vexorg]

That spoiler looks far better than the whale tail, what were they on when they thought that up?

Grip, there's was a wheeler dealers where Ant added another spoiler part to between the other two as that was the original look.

[Robsey]

That spoiler looks far better than the whale tail, what were they on when they thought that up?

Grip, there's was a wheeler dealers where Ant added another spoiler part to between the other two as that was the original look.

Downward force on the rear...to assist with traction.
The modern version of bricks or a sack of concrete in the boot of the Capri.

That dual tail looks a bit rediculous on that Escort. But then I am an old fart.

[chrisp]

And, since the car is front wheel drive, the spoilers do nothing to help with traction!

[Robsey]

Regardless of drive format, the rear weight loading (concrete / bricks / wind deflector spoilers) still helps to prevent the rear end from skipping out or skidding sideways when cornering at speed.

Your comment regarding front wheel drive format is only relevant where traction of the drive wheels is not assisted by the rear end loading - when "powering through" a turn at speed.

But traction gains would be realised where power is being sent through the rear wheels (4WD and RWD) to reduce wheel spinning.

[vexorg]

And, since the car is front wheel drive, the spoilers do nothing to help with traction!

The sierria was rear wheel drive, and the 4x4 variants had two thirds power to the rear.
I knew someone with a modded sierra cosworth 4x4, the power split meant it still behaved more like a rear wheel drive than 4wd

[Robsey]

I think he was inferring about the Escort in the last photo.

[vexorg]

The escort cosworth was the same as the sierra cosworth, same floor pan, same 4x4 system

[ilovedmymantas]

This era of vehicle keeps popping up, is there a portal somewhere



03 nissan figaro


and this


The last two are a bit earlier. I've three 128gb cards that i rotate, sometimes it takes a while to catch up