Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Fucksticks. 700 or so miles on it.

Survived the journey tho.

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That's always such a fucker.

Back in the day my dad had a set of Michelin X tyres that did 100k. He replaced them, then got two punctures within a couple of months.

The good thing is at such low mileage you don't have to replace the others.

Check the noseweight of your car/towbar its the maximum downward weight on the towbar.

Mines 75kg so if your chest of drawers + rack is below 75kg your ok

Anyone else found that their boot won't open if their rack is full? (I have a Thule 3 bike rack)

That's always such a fucker.

Was a shit day for my car yesterday; scuffed an alloy, got covered in bird shit of the weirdest kind and got a flat. That's gotta be some car shit bingo.

Missed this.

It’s a TDV6 SE. I thought about auto, but got scared.

In other news, the fact the standard radio unit had an Aux button on it but no obvious way to input anything into the aux channel made me think there must be an auxiliary input somewhere. I eventually found it next to the backseat cigarette charger hole thingy. So can now run Spotify/BBC sounds from my iPhone via the Aux channel, Which is great, cos I can’t really be fucked to have a new stereo fitted. Should have just googled it.

Today I had one full 56cm bike in the back stood vertically, four 1.5m x 1.5m paintings, and two framesets with loadsa room to spare. Took a photo of it loaded, but the bikes are under embargo til the weekend, so can’t post yet.

Nicked the thru axle mount of my seasucker, and screwed it straight into the back of the right hand rear seat to hold a bike firmly in place without any faff. Works a treat.

Is the requirement for a van because taking the front wheel off fucks some hydraulic thing up?

Got to say I feel the Disco 3 is the ultimate LR. An off-road monster with a nice interior, combined with epic load carrying, all wrapped in the perfect boxy utilitarian aesthetics.

At their price you sorta wonder why people bother with Defenders.

I’m pretty happy with it so far. You do get an awful lot for your money. All the vans I looked at for the same money were total shit wagons, and the Disco has the bonus of being able to be a normalish car for carrying humans when needed too.

I’ve only had one warning light so far though...... so ask me again in a few months.

why people bother with Defenders

because aircon, doors that close and seats that go backwards and forwards are for southern, chai latte drinking, underpant wearers.

also - no one does the landbrover wave from behind the wheel of a fucking disco.

We are pretty good at flipping the bird to other road users from behind the wheel tho.

Hmm sounds great. I'd like a manual one but they are all autos here in NZ, i guess they never imported any manual ones.

I saw a Talbot Solara out on the road earlier. I was going to keep it to myself and quietly contemplate the aesthetics, the engineering, the etc.

but how could I keep it from you lot.

a Talbot Solara

are for southern, chai latte drinking, underpant wearers.

Apparently since 2009 87% of Defenders sales have been to urban residents of the South East.

Where I am murked out Defenders numbers are on par with Discos and FFRR (obvs RRS beats them all tho). All that said as you head from the 'bubs into the countryside Disco 2.5 and 3 are more common that Defenders.

Talbot Solara

I had to give that one a google. Sorry Jonny.

Having looked at it for a solid 2 mins on google images, I think I've already forgotten what it looked like. The 80s had some bleak moments...

none bleaker dude

Got the Astra tarted up for some photos for the Gumtree ad. Slightly worried now as there are plenty similar cars that are probably a safer bet for the same cash (£500), and I've no doubt spent too long fannying around with it when I'll no doubt only get £300 anyway. Div.

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I had to drive this back to a dealer's premises today. Mondial 3.2 1987. What a heap of junk that was. I wasn't expecting much but was surprised at how shit it was. Admittedly it was only about 12 miles and the gearbox had only just become usable by the time I parked it but disappointed. It seems that old Italian cars are as good as old Italian bridges.

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The alpine though. (After googling)

This is probably very prejudice of me, but I always imagine dealers in Mercs or BMWs... Or scooters.

Yeah, the Mondial was basically Ferrari's low point. Even the Maestro Turbo was faster (from 50-70 in fourth gear).

I quite fancied a Disco 3 / 4 - they look aces, carry nearly everything and can go almost anywhere in luxury. Was only put off by the fiendish complexity and rep for mechanical seppuku of the older ones. They're dead cool though.

Love my new van. Murmered out to the high desert last weekend at 85 with a 300lb motorbike on the back and still sipped the gas. Amazing given it's a 6lt V8 - the new ones are definitely pretty clever. It looks very boring, so I am going to call it Van Halen.

I’m fully in farmer country, very few people down here by new land rovers, everyone gets a pick up truck, land rovers are horrendous to drive, can’t actually fit that much in, and if you want to go off road you take a tractor...

We have had a few Discos, on the Disco 3 issue seems to be QC, on the last one in the family the turbo died twice and then the engine seized up for no reason. The fact there are so many companies specialising in recon engines says something to me...

My first car was a Talbot Alpine...

Parents had a Talbot something or other (possibly an Alpine, my memory is hazy) and a Ford Cortina at the same time.

Oh winter mornings were fun