Oh Dear.. now I know I'm old

[echo beach]

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]

... 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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[*_ash_*]

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.

 

I can't work out whether - in 1966 (and you were abroad too!) - there were amazing garages to perform this huge task twice in a fortnight, or you were unfamiliar with the area and got done over twice

 

When in England, (though it was a Fiat), it took me about 3 weeks to get this problem sorted when it happened to me. ONCE!

 

Which country were you in?

[echo beach]

I can't work out whether - in 1966 (and you were abroad too!) - there were amazing garages to perform this huge task twice in a fortnight, or you were unfamiliar with the area and got done over twice

 

When in England, (though it was a Fiat), it took me about 3 weeks to get this problem sorted when it happened to me. ONCE!

 

Which country were you in?

 

Yes *_ash_* I was in France at the time en route to the Spain.

1st breakdown just outside Carcassonne in France; 2nd on the return journey a few miles south of Orleans and the final one in the UK at Watford Gap on the M1. It was a fairly new car by the way.

The first and second attempts at repairing the car were obviously superficial fixes so, in that respect I suppose I was 'done over' as you say. All of this happened in a fortnight. A memorable holiday for many reasons.

 

echo.

[bullerboY]

Echo beach,here is the crunch,i was a specialist in NSU I didnt mention them on perpose because the first thing people say is Oh that wankel thing that was crap,no it wasnt as Mazda Proved and i lot of marine Wankels are still in use today.Anyhow if you had a Prinz 4 then the people who put it right the first time didnt know what they were doing I had extensive training on all NSU cars and worked on them for many years.The early p4s had camshaft problems due to the wrong metal used after free modification they were fine,head gaskets were not a problem on these cars the main problem being the wavy washer behind the dynastart it used to break and the clutch would appear to need adjusting which the uneducated did and in a few cases if not found early enough would cause crank failure because this silly washer kept the oil holes in line once it broke the oilways would be out of line therefor reducing oil pressure.As for head gaskets they needed tightening the correct way then they were fine.We never had an head gasket blow on the 4 cyl engines.what you say about the British cars Landrover being the exeption is true but they made them down to a price and consequently they became cullinders and furnace fodder if there was anything left of them.All cars have faults but the main one in Britain was quality and lack of investment.

[LLAN]

Haha... no John, I'm not the slightest bit embarrassed or ashamed:) Its just these little things that crop up to remind you. I'm past retirement age by almost a couple of years. As a fellow muso, you'll appreciate that as a drummist of this parish, my first vehicles were vans...A35 and A55...on occasion my dads 12 seater Bedford Kenebrake or his Vauxhall 101 estate. One time, between vehicles, there was me and a girlfriend...bass player and his girlfriend, half my kit and a double bass crammed into a Hillman Minx...now those were the days:hihi:

 

Hillman Minx! yes those were the days.

The heater packed up on my workmates Minx, he solved the problem by replacing the heater with some central heating.

He ran a half inch copper tube from the heater hose connection flow out along the gap between the door and the top of the footwell and back to the heater return:loopy:(yes he was a heating engineer). We managed to get 80 out of the old girl on the road to Worksop just passed Van Dykes Garden Centre(no speed cameras there in 66).

Another mate had one of those belt driven cars "can't recall the make" but he loved explaining how it worked to any one who'd listen.