Is it time to go backwards

[Hawk13]

Unfortunately the only 2T in my garage at the moment is a chainsaw

 

[Felonious Crud]

Used to love the smell of P38 , castrol R , Red X ,

My ‘69 Spitfire was generally followed by the smell of burning diff oil. That thing had two engines, two gearboxes, three clutches, two head gaskets and countless attempts to set up those bloody twin-SUs (all done by me and my mates) but the poor thing was so tired that only a full meachnical rebuild would really have helped it along. Bodywork and chassis was excellent, though, mostly due to being so deeply coated in grease and oil.

 

[midlifecrisis]

I'll give an alternative view, many young uns have to have a black box fitted due to insurance policies of around £2k for the first year, they'll get some back if they have been 'good' boys. Not only that but fitting carbs to a new car is retrograde, hence why all the money is spent on Audio, coilovers and lowering kits. See the 500's at the ace as proof.

 

[Soenvious]

Fond memories. The only things you paid for at the 'scrappy' were things that were too big to stuff into the pockets of the very large coat you were wearing. They used to laugh their (c)socks off as you walked in and jumped back a mile as the Alsation lunged at you, thankfully held back by a thick chain.

 

[lifes2short]

I started off with a an old 998cc mini clubman in a lovely blue, and thoroughly enjoyed modding it, 1275gt engine with close ratio box, twin su carbs, k&n, revolution alloys, twin peco upswept central exhaust, wood and picket blended in fibreglass spats/arches, wood and picket dash and centre console, deseamed rear gutter with vinyl roof and rear wash wipe, twin tanks, corbeau bucket seats, bit like your first girlfriend your first car, tried checking if still alive but reg not coming up, lovely looking car and not chavy looking, would of looked great running about today

 

[lozcb]

Fond memories. The only things you paid for at the 'scrappy' were things that were too big to stuff into the pockets of the very large coat you were wearing. They used to laugh their (c)socks off as you walked in and jumped back a mile as the Alsation lunged at you, thankfully held back by a thick chain.

Haha yeah i remember that so well , typically on a sunday morning , going armed with most tools hidden in the great coat and asking for a radiator cap lol , Africa believe it or not is still like that ,

 

[FIFTY]

I think its a shame the last 30 years has seen the demise of the car accessory shops ( not your Halfords shiiite ) there used to be some really good ones , i think the reason being Manufacturers started specking some cars a bit different from the norm , hence our lethargic younger generations got sucked in with easy credit to want it and buy and have now must have. Was a common site to guys working on cars outside their houses etc , Kids are conscious now not to have the latest whatever gizmo including cars , all they seem to do is add a heinz bean can to the exhaust and they think they are Lewis Hamilton , perhaps now credit will get tight , car manufacturers will struggle to down size and remodel, and with any luck Brexit will put high tarriffs on European imported cars , i would love to see a new generation mucking about with Carlos Fantango wheels , scoops to handle the added twin choke webbers etc , great fun days and appreciating the monster you had created , whilst everyone else thought you were a dick lol.

Car accessory shops priced themselves out of the industry with the rise of e-commerce. The Fast and the Furious came out in 2001 and as a near direct result the car accessory industry had a huge boom... Thankfully most of the fads it brought in have died.

Sure the advent of fuel injection has meant that people tend not to work on their cars anymore. Along with the increase of wealth and thus the growth of the fast fit industry and abundance of garages has meant that it is more convenient for people to get servicing done for them. Majority of us live a lifestyle of convenience... I suppose wrenching on your own car is down to it either being a hobby or necessity (i.e. can't afford to pay someone to do it which we might see a lot of in the next year or two)

 

[Phil H]

My first car was a Peacock Blue HB Viva SL, which we called 'Squeak' due to a suspension issue; I always wanted a Brabham or GT Viva but couldn't afford it. One of the first things I did was to fit an aftermarket Hazard Warning Light kit, and the car came with one of these attached (younger folk here may have to research it lol):



It never went near a garage. I used to maintain Squeak and other folks' cars for which a Haynes manual, decent tools, and Isopon seemed to take care of most things, and the only jobs I stayed away from were gearbox and diff stripdowns.

I think I was as happy with that car as I am now with QP's on which I do very little that doesn't involve polish, and you're right Loz, accessory shops were brilliant for a Saturday morning browse.

PH

 

[2b1ask1]

Ahhhh... Scrappy pocket fillers, I'm sure we all miss those; possibly my best was finding a centre console for my 1600E MkIII Cortina and paying for the console but not the four Smiths clocks from it that were all secreted about my person!

Well I remember the wobbly stacks of cars and total lack of safety in the 6" deep oily mud. Last couple around here ended up with customer counters and they would send their lads into the yard to get bits for you. The last couple off Ship Rd, Stock have now been cleared to make way for the new UK HQ of the Jehovah's Witnesses!

 

[lozcb]

Car accessory shops priced themselves out of the industry with the rise of e-commerce. The Fast and the Furious came out in 2001 and as a near direct result the car accessory industry had a huge boom... Thankfully most of the fads it brought in have died.

Sure the advent of fuel injection has meant that people tend not to work on their cars anymore. Along with the increase of wealth and thus the growth of the fast fit industry and abundance of garages has meant that it is more convenient for people to get servicing done for them. Majority of us live a lifestyle of convenience... I suppose wrenching on your own car is down to it either being a hobby or necessity (i.e. can't afford to pay someone to do it which we might see a lot of in the next year or two)

You may well be right , more so with the younger generation , personally im still a touch it,feel it guy especially for a first time purchase , I dont see an actual increase in wealth in the last 30 years , more a perception of increased wealth as credit seems to have imploded into the younger generation moreso with the advent of government loans as in tuition fees, Its frightening to see so many people one or two months pay check away from eviction or starvation, The sub prime car finance world is another whole story waiting for implosion similar to that of 2008, Our generation (as in old farts ) came from the era of thriftyness regardless of how much you had in the bank, unfortunately the power of the media and institutions with agenda's have deemed our younger generation into thinking the motorcar is the antichrist rather than a passionate hobby to be enjoyed. How many young maried people now go out for a sunday drive into the country side just purely for the driving experience and to view our lovely country ....................not to go to the nearest Thorpe park or Alton Towers , easy credit has accellerated the need to increase manufacturing volumes to feed the masses and a never ending merry go round , why cant global companies just accept that we dont have to push and expand every year for higher profits ....................its got us to where we are , the credit companies and the car industry and the building industry have a lot to answer for ..............personally i welcome a global financial reset regardless of the cost

 

[lozcb]

Ahhhh... Scrappy pocket fillers, I'm sure we all miss those; possibly my best was finding a centre console for my 1600E MkIII Cortina and paying for the console but not the four Smiths clocks from it that were all secreted about my person!

Well I remember the wobbly stacks of cars and total lack of safety in the 6" deep oily mud. Last couple around here ended up with customer counters and they would send their lads into the yard to get bits for you. The last couple off Ship Rd, Stock have now been cleared to make way for the new UK HQ of the Jehovah's Witnesses!

Newton dont get me started on churches and cult organisations .........................thats a whole other thread lol

 

[lifes2short]

Newton dont get me started on churches and cult organisations .........................thats a whole other thread lol

go on do it, you know you want to

 

[Vampyrebat]

I remember going to a scrapyard in Wallasey with my dad when I was about 10 looking for a part for his Hillman Hunter. This was the first time I saw a Karmann Ghia, it looked fine, not crashed, no dents. I asked the man who owned the scrapyard what was wrong with it and he replied the engine won't start so it's to be scrapped! It was a Low-Light too........Would have been worth a bomb today.

 

[lifes2short]

the amount of times I've been tempted to stop when passing a scrappy when abroad on hols has been unbearable, especially when noticing some fairly nice classics, not worth the death wish with the mrs on tow though

 

[Soenvious]

More nostalgia tripping. Would love to go back to.my Corrine 1600E, Mini 1275 GT, or Vauxhall Magnum. Maybe for a day and see how each one compares now. Fond memories

 

[lozcb]

the amount of times I've been tempted to stop when passing a scrappy when abroad on hols has been unbearable, especially when noticing some fairly nice classics, not worth the death wish with the mrs on tow though

Especially when you all togged up to the nines

 

[lifes2short]

thread drift, just came across this, if I didn't have the giulietta project this would have been it possibly, these little lotuses are now fetching top money and seems like an easy project for anyone interested, note to self, stop looking on ebay ffs

1967 LOTUS ELAN S3 DROPHEAD | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1967 LOTUS ELAN S3 DROPHEAD at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[lozcb]

thread drift, just came across this, if I didn't have the giulietta project this would have been it possibly, these little lotuses are now fetching top money and seems like an easy project for anyone interested, note to self, stop looking on ebay ffs

1967 LOTUS ELAN S3 DROPHEAD | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1967 LOTUS ELAN S3 DROPHEAD at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

Very sweet , great little bits of fun on sundays or track days

 

[lozcb]

These too are of the same mold , lovely looking design , and fetching serious money now, never quite understood the +2 , no way other than a couple of 2 year olds would fit in the back

 

[Corranga]

I think the car accessory shop didn't so much disappear, as was replaced by a series of specialist retailers, enabled through the internet, Larini, Formula Dynamics etc. in Maserati circles, and many, many others in other circles.
Basically, with cars 40+ years ago, you could fit similar, or the same parts to modify them, things like fog lights etc. were pretty universal.
The modern equivalent of this is ICE, wheels, window tints and wrap, for which there still seems to be a fairly strong market, possibly with ECU tuning after that.
Sure, performance mods are less popular, but there is less need for that now too.

Stories of folk dropping 1275 engines in 850 or 998 Minis, and some SUs realistically resulted in a car that did 0-60 in about 12-3 seconds on a good day. That's basic Ford Focus 1.0 Ecoboost territory nowadays, and that's only if you get the poverty spec 99hp one.
Add to that, the rocketing insurance for anyone young with mods, and we haven't even started on what the ECU does if you start messing with things even as simply as air filters...