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

So stupid, so fantastic. Hilarious runty little door handles too.

Just discovered my 118 has been driven into (most likely by a bus given the red paint it left) - front right panel and bumper written off.

Any recommendations for bodywork repair to a bmw in south east london?

I miss off street parking on a quiet road.

Ooh, it has a second third brake light.

@Fixedwheelnut is in that neck of the woods. Will be able to recommend someone I'm sure.

Do you think both come on at once so you know in the car if you're braking?

My first thought when I saw that to see if there's a wiring diagram online. I'd assume there's a microswitch in the hinge, but maybe it's done in software, or maybe they both come on and it's covered up by the interior.

I'm sure Doug DeMuro would tell us.

The pre-purchase inspection (2014 XC70) revealed wear on the inside of the front right tyre, and slight vibration through the steering wheel at 60mph.

The garage has replaced a track rod end and performed full wheel alignment as per below:

Apparently the vibration was due to wheel balance.. Does this sound right/plausible? A quick Google suggests yes.

Re: the full wheel alignment, should the ‘Final’ results not all be green/within the specified parameters?

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Yes, that does sound plausible.

Hilarious runty little door handles too.

Well when your targets are the very rich... you build to their ergonomics

Odd one...spotted in Highland Park.

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I've just found this place:

http://www.pitstartgarage.com/

I've got a list of things I'd like to do on my Focus, at least some of which I think I should be able to tackle including:

• intercooler
  
• manifold
  
• dampers / springs
  
• disks
  
  

I think I should be able to do the intercooler and manifold at least. It's a bit of a vague question, but has anyone tackled anything similar before? Do those jobs sound reasonable to try yourself - I'm pretty mechanically minded but this would be my first go at working on a car.

Yeah this is kinda where we are at. I prefer older cheaper/more odd ball cars, and used to do really high miles (35-45k a year) so I literally couldn't afford to run a newer car as the depreciation when trying to sell an 8 year old car (that I got with 50k at 4 years old) with 200k on it was a killer alone and no one wanted to buy them. SO older and higher mileage and who cares if i'm trying to sell a 20 year old volvo with 250-400k, it still worth very little lol!

But now I live 500m from my work, so I walk/ride with the dog haha. However my partner goess from working at home, to needing to be 40-90 miles each way each day at the drop of a hat, so something 'newer/reliable (lol, define reliable)' and nicer looking than a 25 year old wagon with million miles on it is starting to be an issue.
Also then when we go away, its mostly car based adventures, and something thats nice to drive to Montenegro/Sweden/Portugal (other countries that we now need a visa for) quickly and in comfort is nice, so no ford focus, needs proper seats (sorry Ford).

For a family member I remember we bought a 10 year old Golf Plus, top spec trim, had 14k on it from new, 1 owner, serviced every 12 months at the same dealer that it was bought from, £7k. Sure you could buy an ex mini cab with 120k for £2k, but it was super tidy, had it for a year, put only 8k to 10k on it did absolutely nothing other than add washer fluid, made £400 on it lol, and that was buying from vw dealer and selling back to another dealer (height of used car grab last year tbf)

Sonnet?

Yep Sonnet III i believe. Looks great in that colour/parked vertically, Mustang/Mangusta vibes if you squint.

Not all your adjustments will be “green” because the red factors on your car are simply not adjustable.

Worth noting that the castor and camber on the front being red, they are only out to the other side by a tiny amount (a number of minutes is a fraction of a degree) so it’s probably within the acceptable range

I was thinking back of a GT6 and front of Matra Simca Baghera?

I haven't a clue - had a quick chat with the owner and he has a couple. They're pretty little things.

Yeah, bit more on design budget! The boxy rear haunches remind me of early mustangs, the GT6 has that distracting bead line along the wing edge but in terms of silhouette you're bang on.

I read thst one had a Ford V4 In it , hence the bonnet scoop .
Earlier ones were 2 strokes I think ... can only imagine the tinkering .
I watched a Scandi film a few weeks back where 2 neighbours chronicled there Relationship in a Saab vs Volvo evolution... black humour film ( a man called Oleg or something?

Tbh that Sonnet was very quirky , but don’t you miss the time when everything looked different.
Most SUV are indistinguishable from a side view .
I know it’s the ‘rules ‘but.....

Car equivalent of a baby blue fixie at work tonight.

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They also had a freewheel system in the gearbox because a two stroke can’t run with a closed throttle as the oil is in the fuel, and for e.g. with the car rolling down a hill with the throttle off it’d damage or destroy the engine (depending on how long the hill is).

You can therefore get phenomenal fuel economy in one if you tuck into the wind shadow behind a large vehicle and allow it to pull you along.

I know where that car lives, it is interesting.

Check it hasn't worn the arm or the spindle.

that's so awesome.

I simultaneously miss LA but also think its a terrible place and I'm so glad to be out of there.