Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Quite by accident I found the following article, of owning & running (on a shoestring) a Morris 8 Series E, in 1964.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/facts-and-arguments/how-an-unreliable-1939-morris-helped-us-drive-on-up-to-the-middle-class/article17571491/

Mention of the passenger getting wet feet whenever a puddle was encountered, got me thinking of all the foibles we're quite happy to accept with an old car, that wouldn't be acceptable with something of recent build.

Does your old motor have any endearing foibles that you're willing to share with us?

RJ
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[peter scott]

I did have a car similar to your example. The master cylinder was under the floor and covered by a plate whose self tappers had seen better days. One day I hit a puddle at speed and the plate blew off with explosive force whilst I opened my legs and withdrew them as far as possible from the foot well as water showered in.

I don't think of my SS having foibles but simply characteristics that I wouldn't accept in a modern and they are many.

To mention a few:

Front seats with back rests too upright.
A very marginal heater.
Too much wind noise.
Limited rear view
19 mpg at best.

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

[norustplease]

Rather like the Traction, whose noise levels would simply not be acceptable these days.
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1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV

[Ray White]

I have happy memories of our old Morris 8 Series E. It was shiny black with yellow wheels. Yes, yellow wheels!!!

Of course, my Dad would never have taken us all on holiday in an unreliable car although he always left essential maintenance to the last minute. It would drive my Mum mad that Dad would just be putting the engine back in at 10 o' clock on the night before departure but he took it all in his stride. When the Series E was replaced I felt strangely sad but excited about the new Vauxhall Victor F that was space age in comparison.

I think the article hits the nail on the head but of course cars these days are far too complicated for their own good and tend to present different challenges for their owners.

[goneps]

Would a 25-year-old car be any more reliable nowadays? From experience I doubt it. By that stage the electronics, not least engine management, would be playing up, air conditioning leaking, suspension dampers clonking, gas struts collapsing, power window mechanisms faulty or broken, and so on. These are faults that could not be fixed by the side of the road for a few bob.

As a Morris Eight owner I always laugh when I see one fitted with a radio. I defy anyone to be able to hear it over the racket the car makes. There's quite enough din from the underpowered little old side-valve motor without adding the cacophony of whatever rubbish comes over the ether.

Richard

[roverdriver]

My most modern car is a 1982 Rover SD1- the v8 fuel injected version. The fuel gauge does not work. I have tried a few ways to persuade it to register and have failed. It is not much of a problem, I simply use the odometer and fill up after about 350 K's. The central locking system does not work, but it is no trouble to manually lock each door, so I haven't bothered to look into that problem.

All of our current cars have their funny little ways, but there is some sort of work-around for each one.

Before I restored my 1928 Model A Ford, it had a weep from the petrol tank. I would therefore only fill it to the half way mark- another work around that was fixed during restoration.

My Flying Standard convertible had brakes that would not work when reversing, therefore one reversed rather slowly and carefully, preferably up hill.

Not ever having a car less than about 20 years old, and usually much older, each one had at least one small problem that I simply tolerated.
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[Rootes75]

Leaks. My 46 Hillman has many leaks here and there and my passenger always has a cloth ready when it rains.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[Ashley]

I remember driving past Uxbridge on the A40 in the pissing rain in the sixties in a near new Morgan. It was a miserable and hateful car, noisy amd bitterly cold. The heater only worked on the passenger's right foot and water poured over the top of the screen, between the sidescreen and windscreen pillars, between the windscreen and bonnet and up through the floor so that your trousers were soaked. We had an over two hour journey in this miserable device and I was soaked through and frozen to the marrow by the time we were home. His parents bought him a TR5 a few days later. Yes he was a spoiled oddball.

[Rick]

Opening quarterlights are great for clearing a misted-up windscreen on a damp day (like today in fact), the damp right knee from being dripped upon when my A40 was on the road, was a small price to pay.

The Amazons I've had did a similar thing, although the dark blue one would also drop a cupful of water onto the passenger's knees on a rainy day, while negotiating RH bends.

RJ
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[welder]

[goneps]

The Eight Tourer had one endearing eccentricity. During our years in South Africa my partner preferred skirts to trousers, and at certain speeds with all the foul-weather gear stowed the breeze would gently lift said skirt. On one such occasion we'd just been passed by an army lorry packed with squaddies, and their approval was not in doubt.

Richard

[baconsdozen]

My old taxi has what some might call faults but are actually very advanced thinking thats just misunderstood.
Examples.
To avoid the fuses getting hot a carefully designed system allows rain water to come in via the screen rubber (and on later versions via the wiper spindles) and fill the fuse box. When spent the water drips onto the drivers feet,cooling them as well as lubricating the pedal rubbers so your shoes don't squeak as they slip off them.
The bolt on bodywork is carefully designed to allow water in around the seams.This rusts the bolts so there is no danger of them vibrating loose but after a few years when rust or dents merit removal simply pulling the panels hard removes them irrespective of the bolts being undone or not.
The sills are of the bolt on/rust/fall off design. They are designed with large gaps underneath to let out any water and mud that gets inside them.To demonstrate how effective this is large gaps are provided at the top to let the said water and mud in.
One effective design feature is a removable wooden floor,spares can be found in any B and Q,these can be removed in minutes and the silencer and parts of the exhaust worked on,sitting down in comfort even in the rain.
British manufacturing and and design at its finest,they do clock up many many thousands of miles,then again as the engine and box are Nissan,they should do.
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Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).

[lowdrag]

1963 and I think it was a Morris van. Gear lever held in place by a grub screw that kept coming loose, leaving me with a magic wand in my hand but no gears. Screw it back and carry on.

[badhuis]

Mirrors. Interior mirror are very small and marginal exterior mirrors fitted on the wings.
I am happy to live with that because they belong to that era.
Many people remove wing fitted mirrors because they do not want holes in the wings of their newly painted car and because they feel door mirrors are better. Sure, why not fit electrically adjusted and heated mirrors then? Even better I quite like the looks of original wing mirrors. Cars with wing mirrors always gain extra points in my book.
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a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[JohnDale]