Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[badhuis]

Sometimes you read something in the ad that make you wondering why it was added. I has no use at all. Examples I saw today:

When properly completed, this vehicle promises to be a unique and reliable classic touring car.
Sure. When properly completed. You can put that comment to every other car ad.

I can not personally vouch for the condition of the engine and drivetrain in that I have not been physically able to try and start or drive it. However, the person I purchased the car from in 1998 did assure me that with a little bit of necessary work and maintenance, the engine will run strong and the transmission is good.
Er - that was 18 years ago mate!
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a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[PAUL BEAUMONT]

[Ronniej]

Adverts often use very tired descriptions.

Those in E-bay regularly refer to "barn finds" There must be a great many barns out there or does sitting in a shed for a few weeks qualify for this description?
I am also astonished by the frequency of "bare metal, nut and bolt" rebuilds that feature in E-bay.

Like many other members of the forum I subscribe to The Automobile magazine. I enjoy the articles as well as browsing the cars for sale even if I am only window shopping.
One particular dealer has a full page advert every month with some highly desirable cars. I am always amused by the regular use of the word "stunning" in the descriptions.

While on the subject, why do newspaper articles about restorations almost always refer to a car being "lovingly restored to its former glory".
Surely other phrases could be used? Possibly even "carelessly bodged to a shadow of its original condition".

That's it! I have had my rant and I will now go and lie down in a darkened room.

[Peter_L]

I have found the best approach is to read everything and believe nothing.

Advertising hooks are there to get one's attention. I would be interested to know what the response would be to an advert for "A 1930's load of crap, also known as a Morris 8,asking a lot more than I should"

My guess is that folk would go look see.

[Rootes75]

There are a lot of unscrupulous sellers on ebay who will say anything in an advert. One of my hobbies is collecting WW2 military bits and bobs, one advert I saw recently for a Naval Uniform said 'WW2 Royal Navy uniform - Authentic'. I wasn't sure about the use of the word 'Authentic' so I read the description only to find it was a modern version fitted out with old buttons and insignia to make it 'Authentic'!
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[Ashley]

If you want utter nonsense personified hi end hi Fi is where to look.


My first question to Knut Skogrand, owner of the company, was on how he succeeded at that kind of fidelity for his Beethoven range: "I am originally—and at the core of my being—a musician. Working as a musician for decades, I have performed within many settings live, in studios and at rehearsals, always feeling a kind of urgent lack of silence. Growing up in the peaceful countryside and living in the serene mountain hills of Norway, I have grown accustomed to filtering sound through a mesh of tranquility and sonorous peace – having sounds around me standing out as meticulously shaped entities from a perfectly silent background. What I have experienced both as a performing musician and as a conscious listener is that the various cabling I have encountered often has a tendency to constrict and distort the signal being put through it – often to an extent that it has to be artificially corrected by applying studio/live effects. It has always seemed a rather backwards procedure to me."

He sells cables.

[goneps]

Long before the war P. G. Wodehouse wrote a short story parodying advertisers' dishonesty, and the problem then wasn't a patch on what it's since become.

Richard

[baconsdozen]

"Genuine reason for sale" always seems a stupid thing to say.
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Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).

[MikeEdwards]

I recall an advert in the old Auto Trader for a lime green BMW 3-series which had been fitted with a Ferrari Testarossa "lookalike" body kit. It said "no idiots", as if anyone else was likely to buy it.

[Bitumen Boy]

Back in the days of the "free ads" papers it seemed that every car for sale had a new battery, exhaust and so on. We were having a bit of a transport crisis when, one Sunday afternoon, I bought an old Fiesta to tide us over which had, allegedly, the inevitable "new battery". Monday morning the "new battery" was dead as the proverbial dodo, and the car had to be jump started. I set off for Gloucester, but of course as the car was a new purchase there was naff all petrol in the tank, so a couple of miles up the road I had to stop for fuel... luckily it was a proper garage and one of the workshop lads assisted with a booster pack when once again the car refused to even try starting. First place I stopped upon reaching Gloucester was a fast fit place, who really fitted a new battery, after which it gave no further trouble - at least no further battery related trouble, but the rest comes to several more stories about the worst car I have owned to date

[welder]

There used to be a used car pitch in Digbeth, Birmingham which bore a banner...."Up to £300 minimum Part Exchange".

"Up to" includes zero, as I pointed out to the proprietor. He was unimpressed. And surly..........

Ian

[goneps]

[Keith D]

Way back in the mid-sixties when Australia was changing from pounds, shillings and pence to dollars and cents, (One pound became two dollars) a dealer in Melbourne had rather a crafty advert.
Kevin Dennis Motors, one of the biggest used car yards in Melbourne at that time, would advertise all his used cars in pounds as it sounded less but would then offer at the end of his ad, "we'll pay at least $250 for your licenced trade-in." Your mind was already thinking in pounds so you thought your trade in was worth 250 pounds, but they were only actually offering 125 pounds!

Keith

[ukdave2002]

It's suprising how many adds for cars still quote something along the lines of "Tax & tested until October 2016"

Dave

[peter scott]

I guess the tested aspect still has meaning. I would be happier driving away a car with a valid MOT.

Peter
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http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon