alastairq

Peco? Anyone?

To top it all [antivaxxxxer thing still]...Prof Spectre [Spektor?] on the ZOE covid thing [King's College thingy] noted on the latest ZOE briefing, how the stats now show that 1 in 5 [unvaxed] who have had covid in the past, have acquired zero antibodies from their bout. That's around 20% who haven't received a vaxx [as distinct for Vax, which is a marvelous hoover!]....who think that simply having caught covid in the past, thinking they will acquire immunity without the little prick....will be sadly disappointed when they get it again..and again...

All this stuff about 'inheritance' makes me think of one aspect which, thus far is ignored? That is, plain & simple, ''good fortune?'' To be able to put bread on one's table, and save [speculate?] for one's old age/retirement/pension, makes me wonder whether anybody ever considers how much 'good fortune' plays a part in the successful outcome? [IE, house paid for, a tidy wee income to live off...maybe a couple of warm climate holidays a year, etc.] Illness, accidents, divorces, or simple, unfortunate, financial management, can all make a mess of 'plans'... Plus, one needs an income in the first instance, that allows a surplus over immediate financial needs, to be able to save for the dim n distant future? There's a degree of ''if I can do it, why can't everybody else?'' about it all. Instead of feeling smug about it all, how's about thinking ''phew?'' As one wipes one's brow?

Goat??

I absolutely agree. ''Equality'' seems to have somehow arrived at 'lowest common denominator?' I'm an auldfahrt, who can barely remember anything to do with my education. But, at an early age, I became 50% of a family under single parent status. But, the single parent I was left with, came from what was once referred to as a 'meddle class 'family....professional grand parent, good job, nice pension, et al...and this influenced my parent's attitude to single parenthood. So instead of eh 'council house' and bread-earning job, I ended up being passed from pillar to post as 'somewhere to live, and a job' became the overriding intention. Thus, I ended up in a 'Prep' school..[the breeding grounds for public schools]...with my mother getting the job as 'assistant matron', which included a room of her own, and a place for me at the school...in return for minuscule wages. Somehow more 'respectable' from a middle-class point of view, than a council flat, junior school for me, and a skivvy-type job for mother. No 'home' for me though, but that didn't matter as I wasn't overly important in the bigger scheme of things... 3 years I went through that educational process [up to age 9]... But, to give the 'prep' school its due, educational advancement in each subject was entirely down to ability. Hence my progress wasn't entirely by 'year group'. If I ended up with others of my age, that was purely accidental. One or two subjects, I ended up in the same class as 14 year olds, doing mock ''common entrance'' exams...... So, algebra, trigonometry, French, Latin, Geography, History, etc [and a bit of woodwork too]...were the types of subject I was encumbered with, as a 8-9 year old. As well as what might be known as English Literature, Grammar, etc..... Then, my Mother got the sack [or similar], and went into hospital for an extended period. I was fostered, for the remaining period of my 'primary education, and got sent to a local [state] Junior school. I was absolutely, totally, lost. My teacher, as I recall, couldn't actually, educationally, place me. None of my education profile from age 6-ish fitted that expected of a child who might have come up through the State education system [infants/juniors]!!! I had somehow missed out the basics of education the State normally provided. I was at a level expected of a child in the 2nd or 3rd year of secondary education, in a lot of respects. So, as a result, sitting in a class of my new peers, I was totally at a lost to understand what they seemed to take for granted. In many topics. Yet in others, I was streets ahead. Years ahead if progression were charted. Vey confusing. I don't think State & Private education systems could in any way be compared....at the time 1950's/early 1960's] The came the 11-plus! In the Prep [Private] school system the 11 plus was an option not promoted. The end game being the Common Entrance examinations at age 14, for progress onto a choice of Public School [a misnomer if ever there was one. They weren't in any way 'public' unless one acquired a scholarship....or paid.] The 11-plus was [for me] nothing but a divisive system. My junior school year was divided up into 3 or 4 classes....the 1st class being full of those expected to pass the 11 plus. The 2nd class being full of those who 'might' pass [my class] Classes 3 or 4 were destined for the secondary modern school regardless. I was the only child out of 30-odd in my class to pass the 11-plus. [Maybe because I was, by then, thoroughly used to 'sitting exams?] Anyway, I had made some good friends at school, in my class...[as would be hoped,but not necessarily taken for granted] and it was the first time I recall being mixed up with girls as well..[the Prep school was 'boys only'] Thus, come the September, I would be trolloping off to one school [the grammar school, Warwick as it happened]...and all my chums were going to the local Secondary Modern school.....one heck of a jolt at a time when a child can do with some peer support when going into a bigger, new, school?] As it happened, all changed [beyond my wit to recall why..I think I was simply left in the dark?}...and come the new school year I found myself in a very old Grammar boarding school [one of very few in the country]....mostly populated by Forces children......yup, my mother got a job there after coming out of hospital, 'cured' [she had been in the prevailing psychiatric system...yes, cold showers, , electric shock treatment, etc etc]....so she had a 'flat', which I wasn't allowed anywhere near, in term time....Also, boys-only school...very old, full of history..I got myself expelled after 3rd year... Then went to a local mixed grammar school for the final two years up to O levels.....thoroughly enjoyed that bit, I did....with some sense of a family normality, a 'home' to go to after school, etc etc... Got a packet of O levels, and that was it....Nowt since aside from the odd sojourn with City of London Poly,and a college in CArdiff, both part of my chosen career path..... CAreer? What a load of old boswellox that idea was, ? Well, the above perhaps puts the two education systems into some sort of perspective in my eyes..... Now, I have no idea what working class means?...Or middle class? Nor could \i care.....I think we simply have the 'haves', & the 'have-nots'.. I pobble around between the two, really, now I no longer am in the workplace environment. My Education did nothing for me, job-wise....except perhaps in some pub quizzes?

<< Gulp! >> Now seriously considering scrapping any thoughts of buying a subscription to BRM, and going for a sub to Private Eye! Especially as they currently have a deal on a pack of Christmas cards as well!

A bit more found about the vans etc....Amazing they went to 1965 as well? Also goes to show how easy it would be to fit the Herald engines? I've always thought a cheap Eight or Ten, with Spitfire mechanicals, was a ideal keeper-upper with modern traffic?

Well, not quite a 'Pennant' {I believe Pennants were saloons only?], but from the Standard Motor Club buyers guide, I have snipped the following.. So good spot for the front wings, but the Companion got the Pennant front wings [but not the rears] from late '59...[before the bedtimes of many on here, too?]

Never mind the quality, feel the width?? Actually, quite a nice comfy motor for an aged driver who shuns modernisms...and who cannot afford...or even, want, anything of the luxury motors like Jagwars or Damn-liars...or, worse still, Mercedes Bendz? Size matters for many of us.....[the less, the better?]

As I said, it has.... potential..possibilities...hope? The interior does not appear to be too bad at all..[which in my eyes is the nastiest part of any renovation....having had experience of dropping headlinings on SAAB 900s...]

The VW type 3 fastback is still on the DVLA books, the FIAT not so. The VW look suspiciously similar to the one I had back in....1977? But, according to DVLA it is white [or, was white?}....whereas mine was yellow. A good car in the winter, mine dropped its number three exhaust valve on the M62 at around 40k miles...as they did. To do with VWs attempts to meet burgeoning emissions laws, still using carbs, by altering the ignition timing for that one cylinder [making the whole thing run too lean...and the oil cooler blocking the airflow pretty much, to that particular cylinder. I have had aircooled Veedubs since then, and they have all dropped no.3 exhaust valve at around that mileage.....Who says Veedub is a reliable, quality, makle??? Pffffft! To think, when I bought my type 3 veedub, I also had the choice of a Renault 6 1100 !!

Gollygosh! Football queue? Or dole? I note, two minis, and, surprise surprise, two Standards! Only one Ford in that line-up, too. I can see the Standard saloon is an Eight..[no boot lid/handle] Two Jags as well, and a hot dog stall?

The Mini Clubman estate still exists on DVLA. As does the minivan [an Austin version] MArina is also on DVLA still [an 1800 too] Peugeot is still on record as well. All require taxing from the 1980's though.... None of the others are on record, however...

£1300 for a mini clubman estate??????

I really like{d} those Hillman Minx convertibles. Plus, there appears to be an extra use for wing mirrors [advantage?] over door mirrors......less messy shaving using a wing mirror? Back in the early 1970's, I lived in SE London. Not far from Lewisham. Also not far from Lewisham [town] was a scrap yard, which had loads of old van bodies crammed with all the blingy bits off really old cars...... a nest egg, perhaps? The owner's Dad had sent his son the Oxford University, but, despite degrees & stuffs, he came back home to run the business. I do recall he didn't seem to possess a Saarf London accent at all! Odd when he was wearing a leather jerkin and flat cap? Anyway, I used to go and see what he'd taken in of interest, which was still a runner...a bit of tax, a bit of mot left, etc. He would charge 25 quid for a few months MoT......plus free spares if it needed anything,whatever it was. I recall pondering over a Sunbeam Rapier convertible he got in. The paintwork had been taken back and red primered.....but everything except the hood was there.....it ran very nicely too....but, no hood! Doubtless he would have had a hood somewhere anyway? 25 notes, all this back in the early 1970's. All gone now I suspect? Yard and all? It was almost surrounded [on two sides, IIRC?] by railway lines....Spent many an hour in there, if only to chat, very interesting fella....

Many years ago, whilst a London Transport bus driver, I recall being in traffic going around the New Cross [Marquis of Granby] gyratory system...with dozens {?} of other buses, as well as traffic. Not moving very fast at all, I noted a 'runner' dash out into the busy road, trying to catch a bus not too far on front of me....the bus was just picking up speed [sort-of]...These were the days when rear entrance buses ruled the roost! Anyhow, said fella sprints down the road in front of me, gaining on the bus in front. He leapt for the platform just as the bus suddenly stopped for traffic reasons. However, he misjudged his aim, and, with the bus suddenly halting, found himself spread-eagled across the back window of the bus..the conductor looking out at him through the glass, somewhat amazed...as the runner slowly slid down to the ground. The bus got 5 bells, so stayed put....I stopped as well, just clear of the fella's legs [no drama there]...The conductor of the bus in front got off, went round and picked the fella up, who, by now, was looking somewhat dazed. Fella then looked up at the rear destination blind, and decided he didn't actually want that bus after all, so staggered off...

Has anybody noticed the recent spate of TV adverts, encouraging everybody to crowd into the home of [invade the space of?] one's nearest and dearest old & vulnerable person? What hope does our society have, of avoiding the Stupid Club's clutches, if so blatantly encouraged to go back to hugging again? With any stranger? Or, robbing our old & vulnerable of their valuable, clean, bug-free oxygen? Sadly I cannot get R4, on my 40 year old transistor thingy, with it's tinny sounds. [Sunday evenings, a sad part to the weekend, and ''sing something simple'' just commencing? Guaranteed to give me a downer!!] {I say ''40 years old''...it was 2nd hand when I got it, 40 years ago!!!] Every mention of R4, though, brings forth memories of a pleasant time in my life, when I would travel across the Pennines with my railroad models, in my Renault R4....to visit with others of a like mind [NMRA british Region]... The R4 would also get me home again, jiggedy jigg....[when the weather conspired to strand a thousand others on the M62!]

i was thinking of 'new' as in, previously not contaminated..... 2nd hand cars may be appreciating due to shortages of computer gear for new cars , [shame on us as ''drivers'' that we are led to think we need such stuff, anyway?}..but if I want a 'previously abused' car I'll stick with sub-£1000 or thereabouts for a ''daily..'' I 'need' something I can use as a daily...not for reliability reasons, or technology reasons, but, largely, for insurance reasons. In my experience, cars [vehicles] , despite how 'new' they may be, can be equally as prone to conking out as any 40 or 60 year old vehicle. To substantiate my views, just take a look at the 'reliability' surveys for new vehicles? [JDPower, or Honest John, or similar?] If I had just paid £50k or thereabouts for a brand new car, to have it back to the dealers to mend this that or t'uther within a matter of months [Land Rover Products, anyone?] I would indeed be well miffed!!! It matters not that the dealer will 'pay' for all the fixing-up that needs to be done....I would still have the inconvenience and uncertainty! To me, the luxury advantage of any brand new car would be the feeling that I'd get, knowing that I would be the 'first-to-fart-inside it.' Otherwise, anything not brand-new, would be second hand....regardless of age or model...and I would view it as such...Used & Abused... {I don't believe all that pre-loved nonsense spouted by the effete of the automotive world.]

Work? What's that when its at home??? https://www.yorkshireclassiccarcentre.co.uk/ It's at Snaith, just a bit behind Goole....

Dunno about anyone else [and this might be the wrong thread for this observation?] but, thinking about INFLATION.....has anyone noticed how the UK's cheapest [& best value] new car, the Dacia Sandero, has rocketed in price from the circa £6K of a couple of years ago, to around £10K today? Plus, it's still the cheapest new car on the UK market??? How come folk think that circa £20K is a 'reasonable' price for any new car?? I thought, a couple of years ago, I'd flog me Mustang [it was only ever a way of hiding a small amount of capital]....and maybe buy a basic Sandero...5 or 6K seemed to me a reasonable price for a no frills new car to see me out of this mortal coil? But, hey, guess what? Even the UK's cheapest [and best value] new car is rapidly going out of my price range!! Plus, can I as 'eckaslike get a new car without such trivia as aircon, or connectivity, or cruise control, or assisted stopping & steering...! Especially one that my ever-stiffening 6 foot plus frame can get into with dignity [and get out of, with similar?} I don't like the idea of having stuff like connectivity [car becomes a tablet??]...since, even though I can IGNORE it all....it will still have to function correctly when it comes time to part with the car.....even if I didn't want the stuff in the first place? Which is my not-unreasonable beef about all the kit that is foisted upon us potential 'new' car buyers......kit which obviously comes at a price which folk like me shouldn't have to be paying for??? Sorry, rant over...but I do NOT like sales people telling me what I need or want or should have, in a new motorcar!! I'd sooner the car costs a lot less, without all that gubbins that will never ever, ever get used! {By me!]

They also have a not so bad Triumph Toledo in stock as well...needs a new carpet though....

That VP Allegro doesn't seem to have been pulled up for much in the way of corrosion issues, from past MoT's....although it hasn't been presented for a couple of years now. [It doesn't need to be either] The vendor is a dealer who, I think, takes stock in on commission? Some 35 miles away from me...but it's worth a day out to take a look, I suspect? [If that's the sort of old motor one fancies? Which , I suspect, it might be?] I think the Vanden Plas editions of BL's product line were so much more classy than Ford's use of Ghia for the 'luxury' models?

This has potential indeed https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324870152096?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D600edafeeffc422889ef2831cfe31adf%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D7%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D114892108015%26itm%3D324870152096%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Ac472c7f5-4148-11ec-b2a1-fee247bf386c|parentrq%3A04446cf617d0ab8edbc46893fff4f3ca|iid%3A1 HAs the £3K become the new 500 quid banger class? The above has potential in my eyes...the stickers can be removed [hot air guns?] and those wheels & tyres replaced by steels and chromed hubcaps. Not an automatic, i admit, but, with a bit of fettling, and nice bit of typically British luxury inside? I liked those Vanden Plas Allegros...and in all honesty, the Allegro isn't a bad car to drive, either. Black paint isn't bad to fettle up either.....easier to match than other obscure colours? The 1500 motor [first sign of modernism in my view, from BL?] has umpty enough to keep ahead of modern traffic......and at least you can hear this car coming down the road, unlike the new age of lectricmobiles? [Smiths, anyone? ]

Would that have belonged to one of the wealthy Maharajahs? I seem to think they used to indulge in fanciful bodies on RR chassis?

These days, of older age and inflexibility, I'd now prefer the Iso Rivolta...