Automobiles : Good,Bad & the Ugly.

[Oldsmobile-88]

I came across one of those guardians of parking last week whilst visiting a friend in Lyme Regis.
First telling me I could not park outside my friends house because it was his spot(the goon lives next door & has two vehicles)
I politely pointed out that it was a public road (on a council estate ffs) there are no residents parking at that spot & my car is taxed,had insurance & MOT’d so was perfectly entitled to park there.
He went off muttering like a loon

 

[Billy The Fish]

Had to collect an all electric Nissan Leaf on Monday from the main dealer after service but the car was dead. We couldn't release the parking brake to push it to the charging point and if we had have been able to the steering lock was still on. Also the central locking was stuck on. The dealership took a bollocking but the damn thing is still there on the forecourt.

All electric cars? They haven't thought it through have they ?

 

[Billy The Fish]

Also I was stuck in a jam last week on the A38 at Lee Mill, never moved an inch for over two hours. When the traffic got moving there were a couple of all electric cars stuck, one on the hard shoulder and one on the central reservation, must have run out of charge in the delay.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

Had to collect an all electric Nissan Leaf on Monday from the main dealer after service but the car was dead. We couldn't release the parking brake to push it to the charging point and if we had have been able to the steering lock was still on. Also the central locking was stuck on. The dealership took a bollocking but the damn thing is still there on the forecourt.

Ah, the electric parking brake...A guaranteed money spinner for garages.. Lots of models do not have a manual release if things go wrong..A recovery is required as I found out a few years back when a Audi I had(only 4 years old) had a electric brake that would not release..£600 to get it sorted.
Such a common fault on many makes according to the garage there was a shortage of the generic actuators that control the brake locking.

 

[Snakebite]

Had to collect an all electric Nissan Leaf on Monday from the main dealer after service but the car was dead. We couldn't release the parking brake to push it to the charging point and if we had have been able to the steering lock was still on. Also the central locking was stuck on. The dealership took a bollocking but the damn thing is still there on the forecourt.

All electric cars? They haven't thought it through have they ?

There’s a manual winder under the drivers seat to release the parking brake I think.

And the steering lock can be released by charging the 12V small battery (same as an ICE car) we’ve thought of most things with these leccy cars (I designed some bits of the Leaf).

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

A epic drive back from Dundee to Devon yesterday. Left at 9.45am arrived at 10.15pm.

The M6 South was shut at Lancaster for the weekend. The wisdom of doing this in what is still the holiday season seems bizarre. As I have a aversion to queues & a multi hour wait to get off the motorway to join the diversion route on the A6, I wisely got off the M6 using the A66 across the north of England to Scotch Corner & then the A1(M) South. A extra 80 miles but preferable to being gridlocked.

To cap it all near journeys end, the M5 South was shut at Wellington so it was turn off at Taunton on to the A358 then the A303/A30 to finish the final part of the journey home.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

Advert in the Daily Mirror(13/9/71) for the new Mk111 Ford Cortina.
We have all either owned one or travelled in one in the 70s & 80s.
I had a couple, the first one a 1973 model in Daytona Yellow : Reg SLC 469L : A 1600L with black vinyl interior that I bought in May 1979 for the princely sum of £1,095 - minus £400 trade in for my mini estate.
£695 financed over 2 years on a bank loan which because I was 18 my dad had to act as a guarantor

Lovely comfortable cars for their time, with a silky smooth gearbox.. Bought a 1976 2000E Reg NOD 233P a couple of years later In metallic Bronze with a tan interior.

Great cars, despite huge volumes being produced from 1971-76 very few remain.

 

[DB9]

Seems like the financial advantages of buying an EV is starting to dimish some what and not talking about the price of them either.

Electric car charging costs nearing petrol prices for some - RAC

The RAC suggests the soaring cost of charging an electric car could soon put people off buying them.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Alistair20000]

Advert in the Daily Mirror(13/9/71) for the new Mk111 Ford Cortina.
We have all either owned one or travelled in one in the 70s & 80s.
I had a couple, the first one a 1973 model in Daytona Yellow : Reg SLC 469L : A 1600L with black vinyl interior that I bought in May 1979 for the princely sum of £1,095 - minus £400 trade in for my mini estate.
£695 financed over 2 years on a bank loan which because I was 18 my dad had to act as a guarantor

Lovely comfortable cars for their time, with a silky smooth gearbox.. Bought a 1976 2000E Reg NOD 233P a couple of years later In metallic Bronze with a tan interior.

Great cars, despite huge volumes being produced from 1971-76 very few remain.

View attachment 9176

Was your NOD the Roman Bronze colour ?

My Dad’s neighbour had a 1976 model in that colour that looked absolutely superb. Hardly any mileage and he would push it out of the garage rather than start the engine if cleaning it. As he changed every 3 years I had my eye on it to replace my Tawny brown Escort but my Uncle nipped in first and I missed out

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

Was your NOD the Roman Bronze colour ?

My Dad’s neighbour had a 1976 model in that colour that looked absolutely superb. Hardly any mileage and he would push it out of the garage rather than start the engine if cleaning it. As he changed every 3 years I had my eye on it to replace my Tawny brown Escort but my Uncle nipped in first and I missed out

Yes,it was..Metallic paint.
I bought it in November 1980 from the garage (now long gone)on Polsloe Rd which was just down from the former Nichols Centre.