Oh Dear.. now I know I'm old

[bullerboY 10]

I spent 50yrs fixing this load of British crap even the A40 Farinas were crap give me the VWs any day yes they were not free of faults but a sight better than this rubbish we made.

[fuddyduddy4 11]

Remember the old Ford cars and vans fitted with windscreen wipers driven by pressure from the exhaust manifold,ludicrous when you took your foot off accelerator the wipers went ten to the dozen,when you pressed hard on accelerator the wipers stopped.

[echo beach 576]

I spent 50yrs fixing this load of British crap even the A40 Farinas were crap give me the VWs any day yes they were not free of faults but a sight better than this rubbish we made.

 

So bullerboY from what you say that 'British crap' kept you employed over a working lifetime.

Well, every cloud; sorry car; has a silver lining!

It's perhaps fortunate, therefore, that post war some of us were patriotic and bought British cars instead of those 'vorsprung durch technik wunder autos' which have come to the fore in more recent times. If that had been the case you might not have been so busy.

 

echo.

[francypants 441]

Over 50 years ago my father in law bought a car which had a manual windscreen wiper lever on the dashboard. When it rained he had to manually flip the lever left,right,left,right with his left hand whilst driving !!

[handypandy 14]

I spent 50yrs fixing this load of British crap.

 

In 1978 I drove the firm's new Datsun pick-up into British Leyland Longbridge. I pulled up outside the electricians shop and a crowd quickly gathered around booing and hissing (banter fortunately). "Pull the bonnet then, lets have a look"....."Flippin eck " (or words to that effect) "Its our A series engine!"

 

I remember thinking at the time... yes mate, no doubt built in a Japanese, state of the art factory and not in a place like this, where the lads have to work with equipment thats half a century out of date.

 

 

.

[kidley 48]

So bullerboY from what you say that 'British crap' kept you employed over a working lifetime.

Well, every cloud; sorry car; has a silver lining!

It's perhaps fortunate, therefore, that post war some of us were patriotic and bought British cars instead of those 'vorsprung durch technik wunder autos' which have come to the fore in more recent times. If that had been the case you might not have been so busy.

 

echo.

 

It would be interesting to know which "British" car you drive these days being as you are so patriotic? McLaren Maybe.

[echo beach 576]

It would be interesting to know which "British" car you drive these days being as you are so patriotic? McLaren Maybe.

 

A Maclaren? I wish!

 

No, I currently own a Japanese motor mainly because, as you know, the mass market British car industry no longer exists and, to give them credit, the Japanese manufacturers have built up a reputation for reliability which unfortunately, in the main, eluded ours.

If as a nation in the past we had been less self deprecating about our achievements in the motor industry and more patriotic in our buying habits, like the Germans, the French and the Italians then maybe British companies would still be making cars. A lack of investment to modernize our production facilities post WWII also didn't help.

 

My back up vehicle is, however a 1957 Morris Minor which is still going strong after 59 years and there's no way I see my current car being on the road in 2075. (Not that I'll still be around to witness it!)

 

echo.

[hillsbro 28]

... the Japanese manufacturers have built up a reputation for reliability...

That has certainly been our experience. I don't drive (well, nothing bigger than a motorbike, the last time being in 1972 ) but Mrs hillsbro drives our Nissan Micra. It's a 4-door automatic that cost us £6,350 from International Motor Company of Chesterfield Road in 2007. It was then 2½ years old with 5,700 miles on the clock, and it has now done a little over 42,000 miles. In the past nine years all it has cost us in maintenance is one new tyre (we have a spare wheel - see here!) and a set of brake pads.

... My back up vehicle is, however a 1957 Morris Minor...

Ah - now there's a classic car!

...there's no way I see my current car being on the road in 2075...

I would think that the vast majority of Morris Minors made in 1957 have long since gone to the scrapyard, but any car can remain serviceable if it is well cared for. Edited August 29, 2016 by hillsbro

[bullerboY 10]

I dont look at British cars through rose tinted glasses they were complete rubbish when MoT came out in 1960 I sent that many to Coopers scrap yard he should have paid me a bonus Volkswagen in there days were almost bulletproof at the side of the junk we made.Personally i had BMWs for over 30yrs and now they are trading on their past reputation of being a great car,now I bought a new Mark four Mazda Mx 5 Sport Nav and it is the best car i have ever owned an absolute dream to drive and the dealer had for more enthusiasm for their products than anyone i have known.Take a look in the scrap yards in the 60s-70s and look how good the British cars were and i dont just mean the bread and butter cars either.Yes they were good for my living I made a bit of money keeping them on the road for people who hadnt banked on spending a lot of money on them when they purchased them and found how unreliable they were. they were made down to a price thats when the unions allowed them to work and make cars.Sorry if you dont like how I see it but thats how it was in my opinion.

Edited August 29, 2016 by bullerboY

[trastrick 866]

I dont look at British cars through rose tinted glasses they were complete rubbish when MoT came out in 1960 I sent that many to Coopers scrap yard he should have paid me a bonus Volkswagen in there days were almost bulletproof at the side of the junk we made.Personally i had BMWs for over 30yrs and now they are trading on their past reputation of being a great car,now I bought a new Mark four Mazda Mx 5 Sport Nav and it is the best car i have ever owned an absolute dream to drive and the dealer had for more enthusiasm for their products than anyone i have known.Take a look in the scrap yards in the 60s-70s and look how good the British cars were and i dont just mean the bread and butter cars either.Yes they were good for my living I made a bit of money keeping them on the road for people who hadnt banked on spending a lot of money on them when they purchased them and found how unreliable they were. they were made down to a price thats when the unions allowed them to work and make cars.Sorry if you dont like how I see it but thats how it was in my opinion.

 

I agree, when I first came to Canada, I bought a car, but the first ones I looked at were British. They were popular with ex pats who always dreamed of owing them.

 

But they were totally unreliable, and unless you wanted to keep it in a garage, and polish it lovingly every day, it was no good for the normal challenges, and parts were unavailable anyway.

 

On any given hot summer Sunday going to the beach in those days, there were lots of new immigrant Brits with their Austin, Morris and MGs strewed along the highways waiting for a tow truck!

[mad-dad 28]

Was on 'Picture Sheffield' site other day and on a street scene photo I saw - and recognised - a Triumph Mayflower, one of which our neighbour owned back in the mid fifties (a black one) and also a Fordson E83W van similar to the one our milk and spuds were delivered in (dark green with black wheel arches).

 

Funny that I remembered these yet I haven't got a clue who I ever sat next to at school.

[echo beach 576]

I dont look at British cars through rose tinted glasses they were complete rubbish when MoT came out in 1960 I sent that many to Coopers scrap yard he should have paid me a bonus Volkswagen in there days were almost bulletproof at the side of the junk we made.Personally i had BMWs for over 30yrs and now they are trading on their past reputation of being a great car,now I bought a new Mark four Mazda Mx 5 Sport Nav and it is the best car i have ever owned an absolute dream to drive and the dealer had for more enthusiasm for their products than anyone i have known.Take a look in the scrap yards in the 60s-70s and look how good the British cars were and i dont just mean the bread and butter cars either.Yes they were good for my living I made a bit of money keeping them on the road for people who hadnt banked on spending a lot of money on them when they purchased them and found how unreliable they were. they were made down to a price thats when the unions allowed them to work and make cars.Sorry if you dont like how I see it but thats how it was in my opinion.

 

Hi bullerboY. Well, from what you say Coopers' scrap yard also made a small fortune out of British cars.

I fully accept that many a thing was wrong with car manufacturing in this country in the past and defer to your extensive first hand experience. If we had done things differently then maybe we'd still have a British owned car industry.

I just feel that we are all too eager to denigrate our own achievements and overlook our successes whilst extolling what other countries do.

Four of our successes that come to mind are:- the simple, cheap and reliable Morris Minor; the original and innovative Mini; the versatile Land Rover and its derivatives and the iconic E Type Jaguar.

In 1966 I owned a German NSU which blew a head gasket whilst abroad and failed twice more within a fortnight. Bullet proof? Well after that episode I would have willingly fired a shell into it! So, even in those days not all German cars were absolutely reliable and in terms of design many of the early Japanese imports were, at least in my eyes, hideous.

 

echo.

Edited August 29, 2016 by echo beach