tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31082363.post8881679896250790233..comments2024-01-29T13:20:07.366+00:00Comments on Little Corner of the Earth: CARS. Or transport through the agesAvushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16512540148378201058noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31082363.post-68064511450745958892015-11-13T09:22:37.015+00:002015-11-13T09:22:37.015+00:00Lucy:
Thanks for that amusing reply. On trips to ...Lucy:<br /><br />Thanks for that amusing reply. On trips to Cornwall choruses of "are we nearly there yet, dad?" used to start just after breakfast (taken al fresco on the Hog's Back just after Guildford!), but frequent subsequent stops seemed to help.<br /><br />RR:<br />Like me, an eclectic mix. My mother had a BMW Isetta 3 wheeled bubble car which I found quite exhilarating to drive. The gear lever once came off in my hand and she eventually trashed it trying to squeeze it through to small a gap (she only had one eye which compromised stereoscopy). I actually did try another seat in that Merc but to no avail and in the end I just got fed up with the whole car.Avushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16512540148378201058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31082363.post-68785102985785337592015-11-13T07:53:19.955+00:002015-11-13T07:53:19.955+00:00Best car is present car: Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDI tur...Best car is present car: <b>Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDI</b> turbo-charged diesel, six-speed DSG gearbox, capacious, utterly lacking in charisma. judgment based on technology and plethora of features not subjectivity. An old man's car and I am an old man.<br /><br />Others may be seen as evolutionary steps: <b>Heinkel three-wheeler</b> (bought to pass driving test and because it was cheap), <b>Austin Cambridge </b>(in effect pre-war; synchromesh gone on first gear - "they're all like that"), <b>VW Beetle</b> (nightmare on wet corners), <b>Volvo 122S</b> (bought in USA; starting to rust), <b>VW Variant</b> (also USA; second best car; station wagon to accommodate growing family; died of rust in UK), <b>VW Beetle</b> (less lethal than earlier model; functional; slow), <b>VW Scirocco</b> (a middle-aged rush of blood; severe rusting; four-speeds when most cars then had five), <b>Audi Coupé</b> (127 mph on M20 near Ashford; clutch cable vulnerable to RHD layout), <b>VW Golf GTI</b> (no power steering, very wide tyres, almost impossible to park), <b>BMW 3-series</b> (prone to back-end breakaway - in dry as well as wet), <b>Citroen B series</b> (company car which I subsequently bought; third best car; suprisingly durable; gave to younger daughter; died after 180,000 miles), <b>VW Passat diesel station wagon</b> (slow, cumbersome, ludicrously expensive repairs), <b>Toyota Carina</b> (bought for reliability; unfairly despatched because of growing wealth), <b>Lexus Two series</b> (three models: one standard, one "ostensibly" a station wagon, one with built-in satnav; first with A/C made 600 miles/day in France a doddle; best handling car ever; VR says "best seats ever"; increasingly expensive to trade in for replacement), first of two <b>Skoda Octavias</b>.<br /><br />Wouldn't buying a Recaro driver's seat have been a less expensive way of seeing whether the Merc had other worthwhile qualities?Roderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31082363.post-29222559634779714722015-11-12T17:32:34.004+00:002015-11-12T17:32:34.004+00:00What a wonderful history! The bit about travelling...What a wonderful history! The bit about travelling to Cornwall made me laugh; when I was a kid I didn't believe it was actually possible to travel all the way to Cornwall from the home counties where we lived in a single day, we always broke the journey in Somerset or Dorset, towing the Sprite Alpine of course. Your children must have been better behaved than we were.<br /><br /><br />The woody Morris Traveller is also nostalgic. My notorious bachelor uncle had a white one for many years, till he died some time in the eighties I think. It had read leatherette seats and served as a sometime kennel for his even more notorious dog Brack, the only dog I've ever known without a single redeeming or loveable feature, who often had to be banished there when visiting us for his unpleasant behaviour, the details of which I shall refrain from going into. The car was always in pretty good nick, his nephews, my cousins, who were mechanics and had patiently kept it running for years inherited it, I think.Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09764296105901909328noreply@blogger.com