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Unusual Sightings and associated memories in here.
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 29 Apr 10 at 21:40
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As the last thread ended with a bling Range Rover, I'll start this one with something similar.
Saw a matt black Range Rover a few miles outside Durham City.
If I was being pedantic (moi?), I might say graphite, because the flat finish tends to make the black look a shade lighter.
At least there's no need to polish it, or perhaps there is.
Last edited by: ifithelps on Tue 30 Mar 10 at 08:23
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And that's an unusual sighting iffy? This thread has gone down hill. UNUSUAL....NOT Carp.
MD Grrrrr.
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A plated London black cab with a Recaro drivers seat and a very nice traditional wood rimmed steering wheel.
How sensible to have a good seat and how nice to have a quality tiller.
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stephen fry has lost a lot of weight, maybe its his and decided to get a comfy chair for it
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Of course it's Easter. I was wondering why there were suddenly loads of caravans about despite the horizontal rain........ Pavlovian rush to go and sit in rain soaked windswept fields eating chocolate eggs perhaps. Each to their own.
Anyway last night I followed and subsequently overtook a strange looking thing. It appeared to be based on the chassis of a Green Goddess or maybe a LR Forward Control but perched giddily atop its utilitarian frame was the body of a modern-ish campervan. I assume the two main structures were in some way fastened together but they looked an uneasy pairing.
At every, even low speed, corner it leaned alarmingly as if to topple and with every gearchange exhuded intermittent clouds of thick black diesel smoke.
Trapped behind this monstrosity awhile I was given to muse on the sheer height of the thing and the considerable distance from Terra Firma of the rear access door.
Visions of late night trans-field excursions to the latrines being pre-empted by a form of base jump to the ground in poor visibilty struck me as an additional reason to avoid such activities. With a carelessly turned ankle one would have simply no hope of ever getting back to bed if faced with such a climb.
Someone loves it obviously.
Last edited by: Humph D'bout on Sat 3 Apr 10 at 09:53
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Reminds me - couple of times last week saw a forward control Landie towing a big Ivor Williams trailer fully laden - obliviously working hard for its living.
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Green Goddesses had petrol engines, didn't they?
Talking about trailers and the recent thread on increased French towing speed limits, yesterday - to my amazement - I saw a 'sans permis' or 'voiturette', one of those tiny appalling plastic single cylinder diesel-powered things you can drive without a licence in France, towing a huge empty trailer, at least twice as long as itself and about 18in wider each side. It was a very early sans permis, just big enough to seat two people, engine of about 300cc, top speed of about 20mph, tiny wheels like castors and lumps of perished rubber for suspension.
Heaven knows what happened when they loaded the trailer.
Unfortunately, PU, this one wasn't oblivious! ;-)))
Last edited by: droptopV12 on Sat 3 Apr 10 at 11:10
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I hope - with PU still valiantly posting on here - that the next unusual sighting isn't going to be a bridegroom late for his wedding....In my experience as an organist it's nearly always the bride who's late.
If a bride is more than 10 mimutes late I start playing softly 'O come all ye faithful' - otherwise known as 'Why are we waiting?'
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Or Fight the Good Fight...
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Having a couple of tyres fettled the other day in Pulborough, saw what I at first took to be a genuine station taxi, a vintage or thirties Austin 18 or 20. But the proportions were slightly more elegant, and I noticed the thermometer on the radiator cap so knew it was a Morris.
It reversed out and climbed the steep ramp onto its trailer at an idle. From the sound alone, silky and purring, I could tell it was a Six. Tiny little exhaust pipe, can't have been 1.5 inches. About 2.2 litres, the owner told me. I forgot to ask if it was side or overhead valve.
Very handsome and not in obvious need of restoration. Later that day Pat and Ted started a thread here about that fabric-bodied Austin 12.
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A red 59-reg Vauxhall sports saloon on the A1(M) at Wetherby
I think the badge said VX something or other.
It had what looked like a factory bodykit and twin, twin exhaust pipes.
It was righthand drive, and definitely badged a Vauxhall, but I'm guessing it was a muscle car, possibly of Holden lineage.
Don't think I've seen one before.
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Sounds like a VXR8 (I think that's its name), what they now call a Holden thingie... great car they say, but a bit of a moose innit?
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...Sounds like a VXR8...
Armel,
Thanks.
I thought it might have been a VX RS, but those are Ford letters so I'm sure VX R8 is right.
Looked a bit like a tricked-up Vectra saloon to me.
It was burbling along in lane one at just on 70mph, plenty in reserve, I imagine.
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About another ton in a well-sorted example they say. Just the thing for Hampstead High Street.
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Might have been the Vauxhall VXR8 Bathurst
tinyurl.com/ylmeddj (Links to a Top Gear vid clip)
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Yessssssss! Love it. I had one. Auto is a ZF on these I think. Shame it doesn't have 'anti dive' suspension! only yesterday I was telling my pal I didn't know what on earth to buy after the Prelude. I'll get my b-I-l over there this week for a gander. Don't think it'll be around long at that price even with the autobox.
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>> postcode = sw1a0aa
lol
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have you seen my humble little home then D?
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Full of common people from what I saw ;o)
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On Halfords car park today, a very well preserved L suffix, so 72/3, Audi Coupe. Bright orange in colour with original (?) silver on black registration plates.
I think the required bulb or whatever was causing some headscratching on the parts counter!!!
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...orange Audi Coupe....
Sure it wasn't a Quattro with Call Me Dave sat on the bonnet?
tinyurl.com/yer3tzr
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An orange Marina camper thing like this. I cannot ever recall seeing one of these before.
farm3.static.flickr.com/2691/4191240756_aa282a4cb8.jpg
And I came up behind a Dodge Ram HD with the extra wheels on the back.
I do not recall seeing one in the UK before but plenty of the "normal" Rams.
tinyurl.com/ykshyg4
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I believe the Marina camper was made by a firm in Devon (Torcampers??). They also did Sherpa conversions etc
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friend had a marina camper,he didnt keep it long as it wouldnt pull the chicks
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OK, this has got to be the most unusual sighting yet.
Stopped at the end of our road to let a cyclist past. Helmet, Lycra, etc.
I turned left and came up behind him 50 yds further on. I held back as there was a parked van and he actually stuck out his right arm and signalled he was going to pass it !!
I overtook him and he came up alongside me at the next lights which were on red....He stopped on the line and waited for the green ! Actually stopped !!
Sarcastic mode off.
Ted
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>> Sarcastic mode off.
>>
>> Ted
>>
Thats the difference between a cyclist and a push bike rider.
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Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTC, going through my town, in red, top down. Quite rare by all accounts. Very pretty thing too.
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Very fresh looking E reg Montego on the M4 yesterday. No rust and no sagging suspension.
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>> friend had a marina camper he didnt keep it long as it wouldnt pull the
>> chicks
Somehow, I am not suprised.
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>> >> friend had a marina camper he didnt keep it long as it wouldnt pull the
>> >> chicks
>> Somehow I am not suprised.
>>
Obvious - what he needed was a Commer :-)
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Convertible 911 in Yorkshire yesterday.
Not so unusual, but the panels were painted alternately baby blue and white.
Quite, er, striking.
Reg number was FB 1, I think.
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Found a reference to FB1 on Pistonheads via Google.
"FB1 was on a blue corvette a few years ago in ilkley when I was attending a ferrari day there at a friends restaurant."
Methinks a bit of money about.
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In the usual line of semi-wrecks beside a country garage in the Lot, SW France, a Lancia Trevi - the one with the dashboard like a Swiss cheese that they introduced hurriedly, and unsuccessfully, after the Beta saloon debacle.
Later that afternoon we followed some intriguing looking road signs just outside Montauban and discovered a 'unique in Europe' canal barge lift that was like two railway engines in parallel each side of a waterway. Each had an enormous diesel engine and eight rubber-tyred wheels and actually carried the boats on rollers up a slope of several hundred metres between water levels, avoiding a flight of five locks. It was, apparently, installed in 1973 and is still working. You can even pay for a joyride on it.
A day later I was staring into a building that contained a restored Austin tractor - my friend the expert tells me they once had a factory in France - when in the semi-darkness at the back I spotted an amazing canvas-topped Berliet lorry that looked to be of World War One vintage and in running order.
One day I'll put all my pictures on a website...
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Something like one of these:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_inclined_plane
IIRC there's the remains of a few in the UK.
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there are the remains of an inclined plane system at blists hill,the track is gone or was last time i was there but you could still see most of how it worked
fascinating and well worth a visit
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Well, yes, basically - there's the remains of one near where I used to live between Taunton and Wellington in Somerset. But this was something else - no stationary engine or whatever, just this incredible twin turbo-charged monster.
Just to show you what I meant, here - thanks to the delights of Wiki...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montech_water_slope
I don't know how to make the link clickable and Tinyurl just seems to produce blank pages for me these days. Maybe someone could advise?
Last edited by: droptopV12 on Wed 14 Apr 10 at 11:36
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droptop, the link is clickable, and doesn't require shortening on this occasion.
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One of the first inclined planes on the railway is at Whiston on the Liverpool and Manchester.
Built in 1829 it was one of the biggest civil engineering projects to date.
Still being used by a very busy inter-city line.
Ted
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A black BMW Z1 this morning. It was utterly filthy and obviously an unloved, daily hack. Very bizarre. I wonder if the doors still wind down properly.
And talking of filthy, I was almost driven off the road last night by the filthiest car I've ever seen - it was a 56 plate VW Phaeton with broken bumpers at both ends, and the blackest, dirtiest alloys imaginable. The rest of the bodywork was utterly caked in mud and filth, and was being driven by a stripy shirted gentleman who was texting as he drove at quite alarming speeds. It swerved out of a layby on the A404(M) without looking, cutting me up and nearly swiping me into the car which was overtaking me in the outside lane at the time. It must live on the motorway I suppose, but still it was a very sad thing to see. I wonder what someone had paid for that car in 2006, only for it to be so thoroughly abused. I very much doubt the driver had any of his own cash "invested" in it.
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Don't know if they've invaded the UK, but I've just seen an advert in the local paper for the latest Lada range - headlined (in French of course): 'Lada - creator of low cost vehicles for 40 years'.
The range is a 4 or 5-door saloon or estate called the Kalina, that looks suspiciously like an old Citroen C3 but lower, starting at 7k euros; a bit bigger 4 or 5-door saloon or estate called the Priora which starts at 8.3k euros and boasts equipment including a computer, headrests and 2 airbags; and - guess what? - the Niva 4x4, which starts at 9.35k euros. The advert apologises for fact that the Niva doesn't qualify for any of the French eco-tax breaks.
I remember doing a review of a Niva, which looked exactly the same, in 1989. I reckon that's not the only apology they'll be making.
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i was about to get in the car this morning 4;45 ish and above me was a bright light traversing across the heavens...nothing unusual about that i thought then i realised all air traffic over the uk was grounded
i rushed back in the house and booted up the computor, my suspicion was correct ....it was the ISS (according to the nasa website) going from sw to easterly direction ( over loughborough)
it looked just like a jet going over at altitude with his landing lights on
i probably wouldnt have given it another thought had it not been for the current situation with the aircraft grounding....cheers zoo
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80th of first 91 RHD cars, Cyprus resident to 1996
1961 Jaguar E Type 3.8 Series 1 Roadster
£135,000 (approx. €148,716 or $201,326)
www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/classic-car-email/april16-2010/
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what about these little beauties
everyone is a pastiche of something
www.cheryinternational.com/allvehicles
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A Chrysler Alpine, evidently badged in France as the Simca 1701. My friends in the trade used to call them 'flyers'. This one had a for sale sign in the window but it wasn't quite nice enough. Haven't seen one for years though...
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Rust is the reason no doubt. I think that also applied to the Horizon - and it's just possible that there might have been a slight lack of people wanting to preserve one.
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My wife wrote a Chrysler Alpine off. It was her dad's, which he found a bit inconvenient at the time. Story goes that he and my wife's mother were eating in a restaurant when there was an almighty bang outside. It was the sound of their daughter, in their car, coming together with an oncoming vehicle.
Put you off your pud wouldn't it ?
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Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior seen parked along my road today.
Looked neat and tidy but at K reg is nearly forty years old.
I'd like a drive but probably not the costs involved in keeping it in good condition.
Here's one from wiki...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1972alfaromeo1300gtfront.jpg
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>>>Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior seen parked along my road today <<<
Luvly cars - I could actually sleep with one, but then I am half Vulcan.
I almost bought one in the 70's (Red) it used to make eyes at me from the forecourt.
Its a long time ago, but I don't really remember why I didn't buy the critter as I was in the ideal position - no sense + loadsa money (sort of).
I ended up with a Ford :(
Edit ~ Wifey sez I knew (back then) that it would be a pain (in the wallet!)
Last edited by: Dog on Sun 18 Apr 10 at 08:38
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Mate of mine had a GTV 1750 as a first car just after we left school. Going out for a *spin* in that on country roads was probably the biggest risk I've ever taken.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/1969-Alfa-Romeo-GT-Veloce-Red-Front-Angle-st.jpg
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all lovely cars but honestly the metal on them was like cardboard and impossible to find anywhere good to weld to
i still love them but everytime i look on ebay sunday nights in the classics i have to hold back on the silly juice in case i click to oblivion and regret it next day in a haze of wat i dun
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Oh, well ... We'll just have to be content with the new 1750 TBi petrol engined Giulietta delivering 235bhp ~
www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/motoringvideo/7598703/Alfa-Romeo-Giulietta-review.html
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There was a white one in the car park when we stopped for a cuppa on last Sunday's bike trip. Only saw it in head-on mode..........stunning !
Prefer the 1960ish Giullietta 4 door saloon and it's Lancia mate meself. Metal like a lace doily though !
Ted
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i read that review Dog but like most motoring journalists he quickly skipped over the electric power steering bit,i would want a better appraisal of it before i would put it over an original alfa and its steering feedback which electric never gives ever
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Well Bellboy, its only a Fiat really - just another Eurobox, yaaawn.
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How d'ya feel about being 'bored' to death then ~ www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/239604/
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are you trying to give me a coronary?
that comes up rovers
yuk ;-)
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>>> that comes up rovers <<<
Rovers are Dogs :)
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Ahem, back to an unusual(ish) sighting.
A 57-reg Honda Civic Hybrid on the A1(M) near Scotch Corner, North Yorkshire.
Looked bigger than I remember Civics of that age to be, and it had a boot, which is presumably full of batteries.
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Today, within 20 miles, I saw two separate Umms. Are there any left in the UK I wonder?
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A white mk4 Escort XR3i on the M3 this morning on an E plate. Absolutely pristine condition, original alloys, original front spotlights, no bolt on tat, no stupid drainpipe exhaust, and being driven in a fairly spirited fashion. Nice to see.
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In Leatherhead this afternoon an old gold and cream Granada MK1 estate resplendant with white walled tyres and tiger skin seat covers. It was being being driven by a middle aged driver who might have been the original owner.
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In the Florida Keys a beautiful And original
series 2 E type v12 looking rather forlon
in someone s drive on White Street it was
RHD with an appropriate RAC Recovery
sticker in the back window a car crying out
for restoration. Also an improbable lilac
Morrris thousand traveller on Marathon
Key. An immaculate AC Cobra (Shelby) nice
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If this is poetry, PU, it doesn't rhyme... ;-)
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I think I've seen an FSO Polonez. Didn't get a good look, it carried on as I left a dual carriageway with a lorry between us. Foreign reg, shabby paintwork.
JH
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There's one of those living in Reading, with the old style Communist era white on black number plates. No way it can be legal in either Poland nor the UK. In fairness, I only ever see it on a driveway, never out and about.
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A Police Austin / Morris 1100 (in the familiar colour of the era ) complete with a large Police sign on the roof .
www.stockphotopro.com/photo-thumbs-2/AJYNRH.jpg
A quite new white Aston Martin Vantage convertable in the Amersham Tescos.
The unusual aspect was a diagonal line on the boot and bonnet of stenciled on cat footprints.
No indications of any company on the car so any ideas apart from it being owned by a cat nut?
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this today
apparently only 4 left in the country so i was told
very nice it was too ,little bit of rust but hey its 43 years old
auto too
i6.photobucket.com/albums/y246/smartiesx3/11-04-10_172125.jpg
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>> this today
>> apparently only 4 left in the country so i was told
Carp!
Merc R113 Pagoda 230SL 250SL 280SL, Loads still around, lovely motor (slightly dodgy handling....) built from 63-71 followed by the R107..
4 on auto trader as we speak - £21950 - £49750
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....apparently only 4 left in the country so i was told...4 on auto trader as we speak...
So every one in the country is for sale.
Perfectly possible, we have had a credit crunch, you know.
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>>> So every one in the country is for sale.
Perfectly possible, we have had a credit crunch, you know. <<<
You make me die ifih :-D
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Gosh that brought back a memory Bellboy. I remember as a boy in the late 60s maybe, early 70s saying to my dad that I would have one of those one day. He astutely and realistically pointed out that I would have to find my own means of funding one.....
Well, I've not managed to buy one yet and almost certainly never shall but it remains on my list of things to dream about doing one day.
Last edited by: Humph D'bout on Wed 21 Apr 10 at 19:37
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c75 BMW 2002, driver eyeing up the local talent in Sunny Truro :)
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Seeing SFD back reminded me - saw a few beautiful Jags in the States - a couple of well cared for XJS' with proper oval headlamps, the XKF and XF abounded and surrounded by bulbous cars of questionable symmetry from the colonies looked sublime and everything that Jag has stood for in my mind. Saw an old 420G which never did anything to me. XJ8 LWB were popular and looked proper as well.
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Nice car dog - I fancy one actually.
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>>> Nice car dog - I fancy one actually <<<
Here's a nice one, if you get 6 numbers up ~ www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C102926/
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if ones drives it before one buys it
gets it into a corner and lets a rear wheel hit a pot oil
then one would run away from the sale
pdq
assuming one lived to tell the tail
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It is seriously cool Pug. Just the thing for a retired gentleman with some remaining lead in his pencil. Mind you, it wouldn't be appropriate to drive it while wearing Crocs. Dear me no.... However, I'm sure you were only joking about those, you seem quite sensible otherwise.....
:-)
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Yes - the rear wheel drive "character" can be interesting to explore...
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if unsure how to deal with the power try the same corner in a fiat 126
same outcome just cheaper insurance claim ;-)
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Around Christmas time there was an abandoned BMW 2002, 1976 P reg, in a field full of junk next to the A507 at Arlesey. I drove past it a few times, a few weeks apart, and saw that it had degenerated a little more, lost windows, gained graffiti etc, each time until one week it was no longer there. :-(
Highly unusual to see such an old car abandoned in such a public position.
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Walked past a car second-hand car showroom this evening and at the back I could see a red original mini with £1595 on the screen. Looked in very good condition for the price. Then I realised it said £15995.
Last edited by: crocks on Fri 23 Apr 10 at 21:21
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crocks you wont believe this but its true
a few years ago i had a car up for £1695 but the 1 had fallen out
a customer in all genuineless asked me if i would reduce the £695 price because he thought it was too dear
i wasnt aware that the 1 was missing so assumed he was just mad..............
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>well cared for XJS' with proper oval headlamps<
You wouldn't say that, PU, if you had to drive behind them - or replace one with a stone chip...
;-)
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Not the point though - they look proper ! :-)
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Well, to each his own... :-)
I thought all US-spec XJSs had the quad set-up anyway. Maybe this side of the pond they prefer the US style and over there they prefer the Europe look.
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I still see the odd Dedra in this part of the world, there's even a HPE version that never reached the UK.
The Thema Turbo is one of the very best cars I ever reviewed.
When I road-tested a pre-launch Dedra I thought it was a much better car than the Delta but I told Lancia it was a very bad idea to use that name in the UK. Not long after, they finally pulled down the shutters.
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A hitch hiker! Thumbing.
But the modern generation doesn't even know how to hitch a lift. He was in an urban area so the chances of him going more than a mile in the same direction as me must be about zero. Made him look bone idle too.
JH
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MK1 Consul/Zephyr/Zodiac, bright yellow, lowered and with wide wheels, but curiously no visible front number plate although it had a back one (white or silver characters on a black background). Closely followed by another, older, black Ford I couldn't identify. A little later, what I think was a '50s Bentley. All heading South on the A6 just North of Bedford around midday. Is there an event on?
There seems to be an inordinate number of horse boxes on the road today.
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A 10 reg MGF - a second hand MX5 would seem a better bet.
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>> heading South on the A6 just North of Bedford around midday
As you probably know, Santa Pod would seem to be the usual suspect. However they've got a VW event on this weekend (so expect hordes of Beetles and Type 2s to drive through town at teatime!), I expect the Ford was heading for the Embankment, it's the last Sunday of the month and quite a few classics gather down there IIRC.
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Both out on the road, a white P4 Rover in Lowere Peover and a green MGC on the A50 at Allostock.
Ted
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Rare car and rare registration
Near Drymen on Saturday saw a very nice Wolseley 1500 2 tone with registration plate with an A suffix, from what I remember these ( the number plates) were rare in 1963 and there cannot be many left now.
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At work this afternoon. An unusual looking Hearse came over my bridge. It looked in immaculate condition. Model t ford'ish also had a black box inside. it looked in mint condition. Just managed to get a colleauge to look before it went over. Never seen anything remotely like it before.
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"A suffix, from what I remember these ( the number plates) were rare in 1963 and there cannot be many left now."
I think only Middlesex and Staffordshire used the A-suffix (because they'd run out of numbers in the previous formats). Most other licensing authorities waited to start in 1964 with B.
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As I remember, manchester City Council were still using '4 number' plates in 64, along with B plates. I had a Super Minx drophead of that year 4464 XJ. ****VU was also in use and the plate now on my Jowett was a 1963 Blackpool issue, also on a Minx. 2 numbers 3 letters......transferred for a fiver !
Ted
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a pink fiat 500
looked ok too
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Yes seen it, its a great shade of pink and does look good.
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I'm 'man enough' to drive a pink car (ha,ha,) I tuned a pink Beetle once, road tested it & luved it.
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Unusual Sightings Volume Two. - Iffy
