Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Quick heads-up folks, for a new series starting on Thursday evening, C5.

Is there room for another old-car programme on TV? I reckon there is, so long as it's up to snuff. Judging by the proposed content, it appears to be a mix of cars, from the affordable to the much less so

http://www.channel5.com/shows/the-classic-car-show

RJ
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[Ellis]

If Quentin Willson is presenting it is bound to be good.

His "The Car's the Star" on the Jaguar Mark 2, many years ago, was a masterpiece
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1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[BigJohn]

I've never been able to take Quentin Wilson seriously ever since I heard him state that ex Police Traffic cars were good second hand buys, as they were serviced meticulously and driven by Class 1 Police Traffic drivers. Laugh? I nearly cracked a rib. Who does he think catches the cars that are being driven like they are stolen? I certainly wouldn't buy one that I, or any of my ex colleagues, drove. (Driver training excepted, and I'd check those twice as well)

[Ray White]

"hello hello"..... My Mum used to own an ex patrol car bought from Woking police. It was a white mini in tip top condition but not being a pursuit vehicle had probably not been hammered relentlessly. It still had the zip across the roof lining for access to where the blue light used to be!

[goneps]

Personally I don't believe that thrashing a relatively modern engine does any harm at all. By 'modern' I mean from around the mid-'seventies, once the Japs had significantly raised the bar in terms of durability, and by thrashing I do not include over-revving. I'd think a Class 1 driver would be unlikely to over-rev a motor, since he'd know that once maximum indicated revs are reached the engine is already past its power peak.

While I'd never treat a vintage engine thus, in South Africa during the 'eighties I had two Mazda 626s which, following a succession of big V8s, were driven flat-out all over the place for three years and 180,000km before being traded in. Workshop staff at the servicing dealer claimed they went noticeably better than most of their breed, simply because they'd been driven hard and were subjected to a minimum of cold starts. The automatic gearboxes were entirely trouble-free.

The same could be said for the 1964 BMW motorcycle I owned for 36 years. It was ridden hard all over England and Wales, a couple of times on the continent, and subsequently Southern Africa. The harder and faster it was ridden, the smoother and quieter it became. It cruised for hours on end with the throttle against the stop without any sign of distress.

Of course, if during the heat of a chase police cars were driven at speed over kerbs and other such abuse, then I'd certainly agree with BigJohn that they would not be suitable candidates for the second-hand buyer.

Richard

[Ellis]

A friend of mine bought an former Essex Police Volvo T5 traffic car with 140k + miles a few years ago direct from service.
He added another 30k miles in less than 18 months commuting to London every week and had nothing fail on it.

He was either lucky or Essex Police maintained that particular one meticulously!

It was super powerful and, by heaven, it could move!
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[BigJohn]

I was in a force with a large rural area to cover, 30 or 40 miles to an incident sometimes, the rev limiter was the engines friend! Drunks kicked them, people vomited in them, people bled in them, other motorists? bumped into them, we bumped them, the drivers seats were ALWAYS knackered from jumping in and out. The dashboards had spurious holes from self tappers and cable grommets. Basically a high speed version of 20yr old Nissan minicab with all the miles covered in 3yrs. I wouldn't even go and look at one, but I'm a bit biased

[ukdave2002]

When I was at college, we had an ex police Mk 2 Astra used to demonstrate vehicle agninment, we had to use nothing more than chalk, a plumb line and a tape to measure the vehicle alignment.

Basically although the bodywork looked perfect the car had spun/ slid and clipped the NSR wheel on a kerb, pulling the body alignment out, apparently this was a common accident, The police workshop would pull the car straight on each corner a coupe of times, but not a 3rd...this was the 3rd time on the NSR so the vehicle was donated to the local college rather than being scrapped....... Or fixed and sold on !

Dave

[gresham flyer]

Inspector Andy Crawford.....Are we not getting off the point.?

George Dixon....answer the question about the TV programme.!!

Evenin all.!!

G.F
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Morris Minors.
Jaguars.
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MG.
Etc.



Viking Fibreline Caravan.
Cheltenham Sable
Shorts Built Vintage Caravan 1936.

[Rick]

I didn't think that was a bad programme, the in-studio segments I could have lived without, and the adverts obviously, but overall, quite enjoyable.

If it had been 1hr of that V12 Ferrari's engine sound I'd have been happy enough. Worryingly, the TR7 now comes across as something I wouldn't mind driving around in, for a while anyway, despite its many many flaws - just because it's so unusual now. By the morning I'll have probably recovered though ...

RJ
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[welder]

The programme seemed rather self conscious and over rehearsed to me but since it was about cars it was ok.

That Ferrari did sound glorious as Rick noted and I'm glad that no amount of rose tints could persuade me to want, or even like, the dreadful TR7. Would rather like a drive of a V8 one, though.

All in all, not bad and will probably improve with use.

Ian

[Ray White]

I hope future shows will come down to earth a bit. I personally have no interest in the fashionable vain and stinking rich so called celebs who pose in classic cars because they think it makes them look good. The 300 SL could even make ME look good!

Having said that I would agree wholeheartedly that the Ferrari 250 Californian Spyder was one of the most beautiful cars ever made and that it is indeed captivating.


That ridiculous man who thinks that anyone who dislikes the TR7 is giving classic car owners a bad name should be dropped from the show before HE gives us a bad name. No one can seriously call a TR7 a good car. I hated them from the day they appeared and to me they represent the worst of British Leyland.

As to the American content, I thought Quinten Wilson's high praise for the Mustang a little overdone. Undoubtedly a great looking muscle car but they did have their faults.

Getting down to earth, I do hope the RHD Studebaker Silver Hawk gets saved. It may need grafting onto a sound chassis but it's got to be worth it.

[Ronniej]

I could have done without the high fashion bit but, on balance I enjoyed it and found it preferable to the Clarkson offering.
In my view Top Gear is no longer a serious car programme but simply light entertainment with a motoring theme.
Having said that, plenty people enjoy it including my teenage son.
I brought him up as a serious petrolhead-where did I go wrong?

[MikeEdwards]

You're abolutely right about TG, it's a motoring-oriented entertainment programme, and to be fair doesn't set out to claim it's anything else. If you remember the original TG, then it's a very different programme and maybe they could have silenced a lot of criticism by choosing a different name when they relaunched it. I very much enjoyed last weeks TG, superb photography, the Bentley held itself very well, a few digs at people who read too much into registration numbers, very well done.

I watched the new programme last night, and I wasn't terribly disappointed as I have been with some recent shows. Sure, there were bits I could have done without, and I always find Quentin Willson is a bit strained - I find he sounds a bit like a male Jo Brand in some of his delivery, even if she's got a deeper voice. That Ferrari was lovely, perhaps a bit overdone with the effects but not too much. Anyone else think the back end is very MGB Roadster-like? I didn't really watch the new vs. old part.

As for the TR7 bit, I understood where he was coming from. There's lots of classic cars I feel nothing for, for a number of different reasons, but I can't understand why anyone would hate a type of car. Back in the days when I'd first got my Vauxhall of course there were some rivalries with people who'd bought Fords, but that was when we were kids arguing about which was better. I can't see any reason to hate someone elses choice of vehicle - if they like it, it's good enough for me. I don't spend all my time at classic car shows wandering around telling other owners how they'd be better off selling their car and getting something better.

I'll give it another go next week I think.

[Ray White]

Could the reason why the surviving TR7s are so cheap be that they are just rubbish? Or is it more than that?

Perhaps the writing was on the wall when British Leyland decided to cheapen the TR line to such an extent that TR lovers could never forgive them.

Either way I hope those who see something in the TR7 can appreciate that not everyone else shares their view.

Good luck to them.