Am I Getting Old?
Discussion
There was a time when I knew every car on the block.
The difference between a VX4/90 and a Ventora, an Alvis TD21 or a Bristol 410, a Siddeley 346 and the Star Sapphire, the nuances were a challenge and a delighted pride at getting them right.
The Observers Book of Autombiles was my childhood bible. I could identify the whine of a failing layshaft in a Morris 1100 and the rattling obscure Renault Duaphine was -well- pah! a mere child's test.
Last night however I found a great Australian website called Performance Forum's(.com) ; did I have a diddy clue about what they were driving? -
not a chance!
Some of the easier one's:-
An AE86 with a S2000 F20C
SR20 KE30
2GR 3.5L V6 Sprinter
MY06 Exec L76
I think the Telegraph's crossword is easier to decipher
I lost a few hours trawling through it and there are some really nice cars including this
one.
The difference between a VX4/90 and a Ventora, an Alvis TD21 or a Bristol 410, a Siddeley 346 and the Star Sapphire, the nuances were a challenge and a delighted pride at getting them right.
The Observers Book of Autombiles was my childhood bible. I could identify the whine of a failing layshaft in a Morris 1100 and the rattling obscure Renault Duaphine was -well- pah! a mere child's test.
Last night however I found a great Australian website called Performance Forum's(.com) ; did I have a diddy clue about what they were driving? -
not a chance!Some of the easier one's:-
An AE86 with a S2000 F20C
SR20 KE30
2GR 3.5L V6 Sprinter
MY06 Exec L76
I think the Telegraph's crossword is easier to decipher
I lost a few hours trawling through it and there are some really nice cars including this
one.
Carsie said:
There was a time when I knew every car on the block.
The difference between a VX4/90 and a Ventora, an Alvis TD21 or a Bristol 410, a Siddeley 346 and the Star Sapphire, the nuances were a challenge and a delighted pride at getting them right.
The Observers Book of Autombiles was my childhood bible. I could identify the whine of a failing layshaft in a Morris 1100 and the rattling obscure Renault Duaphine was -well- pah! a mere child's test.
Last night however I found a great Australian website called Performance Forum's(.com) ; did I have a diddy clue about what they were driving? - not a chance!
Some of the easier one's:-
An AE86 with a S2000 F20C
SR20 KE30
2GR 3.5L V6 Sprinter
MY06 Exec L76
I think the Telegraph's crossword is easier to decipher
I lost a few hours trawling through it and there are some really nice cars including this
one.
It would seems so. Hours of fun reading about cars? MMMMMMM.The difference between a VX4/90 and a Ventora, an Alvis TD21 or a Bristol 410, a Siddeley 346 and the Star Sapphire, the nuances were a challenge and a delighted pride at getting them right.
The Observers Book of Autombiles was my childhood bible. I could identify the whine of a failing layshaft in a Morris 1100 and the rattling obscure Renault Duaphine was -well- pah! a mere child's test.
Last night however I found a great Australian website called Performance Forum's(.com) ; did I have a diddy clue about what they were driving? -
not a chance!Some of the easier one's:-
An AE86 with a S2000 F20C
SR20 KE30
2GR 3.5L V6 Sprinter
MY06 Exec L76
I think the Telegraph's crossword is easier to decipher
I lost a few hours trawling through it and there are some really nice cars including this
one.
Carsie said:
There was a time when I knew every car on the block.
The difference between a VX4/90 and a Ventora, an Alvis TD21 or a Bristol 410, a Siddeley 346 and the Star Sapphire, the nuances were a challenge and a delighted pride at getting them right.
The difference between a VX4/90 and a Ventora, an Alvis TD21 or a Bristol 410, a Siddeley 346 and the Star Sapphire, the nuances were a challenge and a delighted pride at getting them right.
Carsie, I know exactly where you're coming from.
Of course, in the good old days, we had proper car designers like Palmer and Issigonis and their individual designs stood out. Nowadays the computer is king and if you put in a certain number of parameters you'll get a similar answer each time. Plus of course manufacturers are trying to cut costs and sharing floorplans etc so cars look even more the same.
We're all getting old and perhaps our glasses are rose tinted but I miss the "good old days".
SV8Predator][quote said:
Nowadays the computer is king and if you put in a certain number of parameters you'll get a similar answer each time.
You honestly think that computers design and style cars? How does that work then?iva cosworth said:
Around these here parts you are supposed to also know every BMW E number too.
To answer the OP question .......NO.
To know every engine code and model designation puts you firmly in geek territory
basically, one man's hobby is another man's mental illness, and there's doing a bit of research, there'd joining a one make forum, to find out a bit of information, there's joining in a one make forum, followed by attending shows and then there's setting up your own one make forum, because you know too much to keep it to yourself. To answer the OP question .......NO.
To know every engine code and model designation puts you firmly in geek territory
One make forums I have visited, joined participated in and quietly left.
Novaload
Mk2cav.com (got a bit obsessed for a while)
cavmk3.com (still got the car, but don't frequent it much
cavturbot
ts.com (banned because I wanted to buy either a Turbo or V6 and suggested that a V6 might be more practical)TypeAscona.com (I'm still waiting for the answer to my first technical question)
mx5nutz.com (still go there, but don't find much of interest.
Themultiplaownersforum or BUTTUGLYCLUB.com or something like that. I joined for a laugh. They were seriously mental. Discussions about putting an alfa JTD 24V 2.4 5 cylinder Diesel (chipped) into a multipla taxi. I don't doubt that it's possible, but WHY ?
Chunkychucky said:
Carsie said:
Some of the easier one's:-
An AE86 with a S2000 F20C
SR20 KE30
2GR 3.5L V6 Sprinter
MY06 Exec L76
An AE86 with a S2000 F20C
SR20 KE30
2GR 3.5L V6 Sprinter
MY06 Exec L76
I got the Corolla with the S2000 engine, but wtf are the others?!
SR20 KE30 - KE30 Corolla (mid-1970's) with a 2.0 Nissan motor
2GR 3.5L V6 Sprinter - same as the first Corolla with a 3.5 Toyota V6
MY06 Exec L76 - 2006 Commodore thing with the 6.0 GMH V8
When a wee bairn back in the late 50's & 60's I used to sit with me Dad near to where they later built the Coast Road, North Shields and could tell him what the cars were that passed. Ford Anglia, Austin of England (A35) etc
In the 70's I used to walk back from the pub listening to the engine note and guessing the car from the engine note.
Jumpers for goalposts had nothing on my childhood
In the 70's I used to walk back from the pub listening to the engine note and guessing the car from the engine note.
Jumpers for goalposts had nothing on my childhood
Carsie said:
There was a time when I knew every car on the block.
The difference between a VX4/90 and a Ventora, an Alvis TD21 or a Bristol 410, a Siddeley 346 and the Star Sapphire, the nuances were a challenge and a delighted pride at getting them right.
The Observers Book of Autombiles was my childhood bible. I could identify the whine of a failing layshaft in a Morris 1100 and the rattling obscure Renault Duaphine was -well- pah! a mere child's test.
Last night however I found a great Australian website called Performance Forum's(.com) ; did I have a diddy clue about what they were driving? - not a chance!
Some of the easier one's:-
An AE86 with a S2000 F20C
SR20 KE30
2GR 3.5L V6 Sprinter
MY06 Exec L76
I think the Telegraph's crossword is easier to decipher
I lost a few hours trawling through it and there are some really nice cars including this
one.
I still have my Observers Book of Automobiles from 1963 - bought as a present for my 9th birthday.The difference between a VX4/90 and a Ventora, an Alvis TD21 or a Bristol 410, a Siddeley 346 and the Star Sapphire, the nuances were a challenge and a delighted pride at getting them right.
The Observers Book of Autombiles was my childhood bible. I could identify the whine of a failing layshaft in a Morris 1100 and the rattling obscure Renault Duaphine was -well- pah! a mere child's test.
Last night however I found a great Australian website called Performance Forum's(.com) ; did I have a diddy clue about what they were driving? -
not a chance!Some of the easier one's:-
An AE86 with a S2000 F20C
SR20 KE30
2GR 3.5L V6 Sprinter
MY06 Exec L76
I think the Telegraph's crossword is easier to decipher
I lost a few hours trawling through it and there are some really nice cars including this
one.
Wonderfull things like a Zil or Zaphrophet or Bogward.... I love the comments about "fins now less obvious" etc and it has my all time fav. A Chevrolet Impala with the folded fins. Oh joy. My parents dismissed it as "Ostentatious" I loved it, and still do.
Maybe my "bucket list" should be to own every car in there. Must be about 50% of the way by now.
Skyedriver said:
When a wee bairn back in the late 50's & 60's I used to sit with me Dad near to where they later built the Coast Road,
"The Coast Road!" Why aye man! now you're talkin' Oh my! that's my old stompin’ ground albeit I was from the posh end "doon the coast" at Whitley Bay!For those of you not in the know, The Coast Road is in fact a six lane carriageway in a dead straight line from Jesmond in Newcastle down to Coast Road Motors roundabout in North Shields a distance of about seven miles
It's many a year since I left but your comments made it all flood back with a massive grin to my face - Geordies are magic!
My dad used to give his Jag its head coming out of the bottom roundabout and then redlining it all the way up through the box; I think he used to reign it back a bit once we'd reach a healthy ton plus at the three tower flats (don't know if they're still standing).
Jam sandwiches used to sit in the lay by in their 3ltr Granada Mk 1's, and also across the bridge a long way up, just past the Wills factory.
When I was old enough I used to blast up from Tynemouth in the morning in my TR6 and if you timed the traffic queues right you could gun it onto the roundabout in second, give a little squiggle/squirm with the IRS as you booted it out of the roundabout, past the by-standers at the bus stop on the left and using overdrive 2nd (150's had that
) boot it onwards and up through the gears chasing some poor Cortina GLX - Oh cripes! lol! How childish and young eh? Great fun!: laugh:Ok - Skydriver, I think you might have just answered my question
, I really am getting old! It’s all coming flooding back- I used to serve petrol at Davidson's on Albion Road in Shields with the pumps across the pavement- I was 14 then. Turnbulls funeral parlour next door had two beautiful black Phantom Fives and an older Phantom in the garage- sigh
Palmy days Still buggered if I know what a R32 gtst is!
(I do really- still a petrolhead! )Carsie said:
V8FOU - I've just read your Profile and website- What can I say? How sobering compared to my flippancy- my deepest condolenses.
Glad you're back on your feet, it's a friendly crowd on here
I too still have my Observers Book!
Much appreciated. I have gained a lot of pleasure on here and a few friends too! Hopefully I will see some of you at the shows. Just going to get my right knee fixed first!!Glad you're back on your feet, it's a friendly crowd on here
I too still have my Observers Book!
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