For those interested in old cars.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

A proper dashboard!

 

Mike.

[peanuts]

On 08/06/2020 at 11:24, russ p said:

 

I don't think they are connected to the gearbox as a true 4x4 system think its something like the VAG haldex system where the rear wheels only drive when required unlike the proper quattro system where it was a permanent drive.

Wonder if anyone has made any true RWD conversations with these cars and inline engines 

remember coming across a calibra 4x4 minus its engine in a scrap yard whilst searching for bits apeared to be adiff housing off the drivers side drive shaft location with a shortened drive shaft on that side .

know of one conversion to rearwheel drive with a vauxhall Nova featuring a transvers 2.0 & box from an astra gte in the back . also if it counts had a friend who had spent some tim fitting an inline renault 2.8 v6 and box into the back off a clio only for renault to bring out  a factory version .

[Mountain Goat]

Something I want car manufacturers to take note. I don't mind computers being on cars but I HATE computerized electronic screen dials and gauges. I will never ever want to buy a car new or secondhand that has a tablet screen main display of speed, revcounter etc. A small seperate little computerized display screen to the centre of the car, if it is not too bright is ok. But my speed, rev counter, fuel gauge and a few other things HAVE to be MANUAL gauges. 

By placing a little computer to the side which is foe non essential information, it does not matter if it packs in as I still have my main reliable and proper instruments. But even if these screens they seem to fit today last 100 years I still would not buy them. They are just distracting to me and I would have to put a piece of card over the screen to drive and guess my speed etc. 

I just don't get on with electronic information in my main view as I am driving. It is just too bright and distracting even if it is turned down low, and it makes the car look so cheap and tacky. 

Edited June 9, 2020 by Mountain Goat

[Rugd1022]

[russ p]

1 hour ago, Mountain Goat said:

Something I want car manufacturers to take note. I don't mind computers being on cars but I HATE computerized electronic screen dials and gauges. I will never ever want to buy a car new or secondhand that has a tablet screen main display of speed, revcounter etc. A small seperate little computerized display screen to the centre of the car, if it is not too bright is ok. But my speed, rev counter, fuel gauge and a few other things HAVE to be MANUAL gauges. 

By placing a little computer to the side which is foe non essential information, it does not matter if it packs in as I still have my main reliable and proper instruments. But even if these screens they seem to fit today last 100 years I still would not buy them. They are just distracting to me and I would have to put a piece of card over the screen to drive and guess my speed etc. 

I just don't get on with electronic information in my main view as I am driving. It is just too bright and distracting even if it is turned down low, and it makes the car look so cheap and tacky. 

 

 

I actually retro fitted the digital talking dash to my maestro,  not really because I liked it so much it was just a thing of it's time. I got it for a fiver and didn't expect British electronics of the eighties to work after sitting in a damp van for over ten years but it did. It also came with the trip computer which looks so much better than the ashtray on analog models. When it's on the road gets a lot of interest at car shows

 

[alastairq]

1 hour ago, Rugd1022 said:

 

 

 Interesting style on Maserati floor mats of the day?

 

Not too  sure about the fringes, however? 

 

Plus, thanks for finally showing me what those little strappy things with fasteners, on driving gloves, are for?   I always wondered?

 

i wonder too, if those toggle switches ever tw@tted knuckles when changing gear?

I know the Trumpet Spitfire , with it's dipped dash right in front of the gear lever, caused me no end of barffed knuckles....

[Mountain Goat]

The best looking dashboard that I have seen is in the Renault 15. (I think the 17 may have the same dashboard). It was the coolest looking dashboard that I have seen. 

 

My last car had a digital speed thingie (Citroen C2 GT) and to be honest, though I didn't like it though it was a million percent better then todays flat screen computer dashboards that look more like a view of a computer games console pretend dials then a car.

 

I don't like the dial location on that Maseratti. They should have put the rev counter and the speedometer behind the steering wheel and moved the other dials elsewhere. It just looks too crammed in and annoying.

 

The Maestro is better but it reminds me of the Volvo 480ES I once had which after coming off those lovely Volvo 360GLT's, the 480 was dissapointing. It was however, unbelievably good in snow and the handling for high speed sharp corners was brilliant. It was the not knowing how much petrol one had when the LCD played up on the console, and averaging just 17mpg from the 1.7 Renault engine in sich a light weight sports car was stupid. My 2.0 360GLT used to get 43mpg towing a solid wooden planked floored and proper glassed windowed old caravan from South Wales to North Wales and back, but that did have the proper Volvo engine.

Edited June 9, 2020 by Mountain Goat

[Kickstart]

5 hours ago, peanuts said:

remember coming across a calibra 4x4 minus its engine in a scrap yard whilst searching for bits apeared to be adiff housing off the drivers side drive shaft location with a shortened drive shaft on that side .

know of one conversion to rearwheel drive with a vauxhall Nova featuring a transvers 2.0 & box from an astra gte in the back . also if it counts had a friend who had spent some tim fitting an inline renault 2.8 v6 and box into the back off a clio only for renault to bring out  a factory version .

A friend had a Calibra 4x4 turbo. From memory the diff dividing power front to rear was a weak point with warnings about max difference in tread depth between the front and rear wheels.

 

All the best

 

Katy

[Hobby]

Calibra and Maestro perhaps more appropriate for the "modern classics" thread? (Esp. the Calibra!!)

[spamcan61]

1 hour ago, Kickstart said:

A friend had a Calibra 4x4 turbo. From memory the diff dividing power front to rear was a weak point with warnings about max difference in tread depth between the front and rear wheels.

 

All the best

 

Katy

Same with most modern 4wd systems like BMW's iDrive, quite easy to wreck an expensive transmission by not keeping an eye on the tyre wear.

[boxbrownie]

3 hours ago, alastairq said:

 Interesting style on Maserati floor mats of the day?

 

Not too  sure about the fringes, however? 

 

It’s the special model variation with the Magic Carpet ride.....

[Rugd1022]

4 hours ago, Mountain Goat said:

The best looking dashboard that I have seen is in the Renault 15. (I think the 17 may have the same dashboard). It was the coolest looking dashboard that I have seen. 

 

My last car had a digital speed thingie (Citroen C2 GT) and to be honest, though I didn't like it though it was a million percent better then todays flat screen computer dashboards that look more like a view of a computer games console pretend dials then a car.

 

I don't like the dial location on that Maseratti. They should have put the rev counter and the speedometer behind the steering wheel and moved the other dials elsewhere. It just looks too crammed in and annoying.

 

The Maestro is better but it reminds me of the Volvo 480ES I once had which after coming off those lovely Volvo 360GLT's, the 480 was dissapointing. It was however, unbelievably good in snow and the handling for high speed sharp corners was brilliant. It was the not knowing how much petrol one had when the LCD played up on the console, and averaging just 17mpg from the 1.7 Renault engine in sich a light weight sports car was stupid. My 2.0 360GLT used to get 43mpg towing a solid wooden planked floored and proper glassed windowed old caravan from South Wales to North Wales and back, but that did have the proper Volvo engine.

 

Last year I managed to sit in a Maserati QP1 (one of the seven RHD examples built) and found the rev counter and speedo positions were just right, I could see them easily through the thin rimmed Nardi wheel. I didn't want to get out of it actually, it was a lovely place to sit...!

[RANGERS]

On 07/06/2020 at 16:20, steve1 said:

 

If that’s a real Droopsnoot then owner needs to protect their investment!

 

steve

Is that a second droop snoot on the right? The colour looks less like a genuine one but it looks very much like one.

[Erichill16]

23 hours ago, RANGERS said:

Is that a second droop snoot on the right? The colour looks less like a genuine one but it looks very much like one.

Been for a walk and had another look. The car on the extreme left is not a droopsnoot. It’s an estate of some  sort, a Viva I think. Couldn’t get a picture due to foliage.

On the way round I managed to glacne in a barn that I’ve passed many times and saw something interesting inside. The owner appeared and told me there were two Rollers and a Bentley inside, all pre-war. From what I could see everything looked concours but again no picture.

Robert

 

[steve1]

A GT40 AND Mrs Peel. Not much beats that as a combo.

 

steve

 

 

[boxbrownie]

That’s one rough GT40 was it destroyed or used in a chase during the episode?

 

It looks like a typical props department “that’ll look fine on screen, let’s go down the pub” moment 

[Rugd1022]

It's this one David, one of the press cars borrowed from the factory in Slough, the spare wheel cover / radiator outlet panel was temporarily replaced by a mock up opening panel to reveal a laser, the episode is called 'From Venus With Love'.... it was also the subject of a week long road test by Dennis Jenkinson in 'Motorsport' magazine....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[steve1]

That's the one I saw outside the factory when a couple of us from school nipped up there one lunch hour. It was only a few minutes by bike away.

 

steve

[LNWR18901910]

As much as I enjoy motor cars from the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the ones I always liked the most would be those from the 1920s and 1930s right back to the 1910s right back to the turn of the century. Back then, this was a rare luxury for those who could afford them and the horse-drawn cart was slowly and steadling making way for the mechanical automobile. I also admire steam traction vehicles which have fascinated me a lot.

 

Films like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Great Race, Genevieve and The Wind in the Willows have fuelled my interest in both the Edwardian period and the vintage automobile itself. This is not just something I would simply see in a museum, but also dive into the history and how people lived back then. It was all rosy and charming in every way as if I would have transported myself back into an illustration in a novel published at the time.

 

The old fashioned stuff is one of the things I like and I hope one day to go and see the famous Brighton run. Maybe I will meet up with some of the racers and get to experience an old-fashioned vintage car as my ancestors did before me.

[boxbrownie]

13 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

It's this one David, one of the press cars borrowed from the factory in Slough, the spare wheel cover / radiator outlet panel was temporarily replaced by a mock up opening panel to reveal a laser, the episode is called 'From Venus With Love'.... it was also the subject of a week long road test by Dennis Jenkinson in 'Motorsport' magazine....

 

 

 

 

 

 

That explains the sh1te finish on the hood......thanks......because the rest looked correct 

 

Mind you, bloomin’ awful cars on the road.......reminded me of our racing Mini, loads of noise, the smell of hot oil and shakes your fillings out.......come to think of it, it was lovely 

Edited June 13, 2020 by boxbrownie

[PhilJ W]

9 hours ago, LNWR18901910 said:

As much as I enjoy motor cars from the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the ones I always liked the most would be those from the 1920s and 1930s right back to the 1910s right back to the turn of the century. Back then, this was a rare luxury for those who could afford them and the horse-drawn cart was slowly and steadling making way for the mechanical automobile. I also admire steam traction vehicles which have fascinated me a lot.

 

Films like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Great Race, Genevieve and The Wind in the Willows have fuelled my interest in both the Edwardian period and the vintage automobile itself. This is not just something I would simply see in a museum, but also dive into the history and how people lived back then. It was all rosy and charming in every way as if I would have transported myself back into an illustration in a novel published at the time.

 

The old fashioned stuff is one of the things I like and I hope one day to go and see the famous Brighton run. Maybe I will meet up with some of the racers and get to experience an old-fashioned vintage car as my ancestors did before me.

A lot of the technology from the period is still in use today. Smaller Edwardian cars often had friction drive transmission which has been 'rediscovered' and used in modern auto boxes.

[gr.king]

Can I ask a practical question please, preferably to be answered by somebody who definitely knows, ideally as result of successful and confirmed personal experience, rather than somebody who simply thinks he knows the rules?

 

Has the on-line UK road tax renewal system been updated yet to allow owners to renew the (no charge) taxation of MOT-exempt historic vehicles, or do we still have to queue up at a major post office with V112 in hand, as was the case last year?

 

I got part way through the on-line process but backed off when I noticed the next step requiring my agreement to a DVLA check on my vehicle's "electronic MOT". I don't know if a previously declared MOT exemption will satisfy the type of check that the DVLA may do.

[Rugd1022]

Some nice images from the Maserati archives....

 

 

 

 

[steve1]

They will never get those first three parcels on the Post Office scales....

 

steve

[jcredfer]

Noting the pictures with the posing ladies, I just wondered which would look better now, the cars or those streamlined humans??

 

Julian