Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

The other weekend we went to Oulton Park in the MX5. On returning to the car, a doddery old bloke in a modern Skoda had squeezed his car in between us and the car already alongside, just, and had his door open against the front of our car while he was briveting about in and out of his own car.

I pointed out that it's not really cricket to bang a door into the car alongside, or even just have it against the neighbouring car's bodywork, especially as he was getting in and out of his car and presumably rocking his car around a little on the suspension which could cause his door edge to chaff against my bumper/front wing. He didn't seem to see the problem, he looked at our car and just tsk tsked, rolled his eyes, and determined that I must be menapausal (his words) for having an issue with his door being against my car. Maybe he meant mid-life crisis, not menapausal, I don't know, but I was slightly taken aback by his analysis.

I gently closed his door for him (I refrained from using my size 10), and a few minutes later he drove off, muttering.

RJ
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[lowdrag]

You in the UK should consider yourselves lucky. Here in France a licence is for life with no medical requirements. We had a chap who came to the bar every morning for a chat and a coffee in his Mondeo, which was beaten up at all four corners. I tested his vision in the car park and he could not read a number plate until he was five metres from the car. And there is nothing one can do about it really.Then of course we have the widows, who have never driven in their lives, who after the death of their husband buy a voiturette which, while limited to 40 mph, requires no licence at all. They weave across the road and one hesitates to try and overtake.

[Ray White]

I am reminded of an evening out at the theatre with my wife. When we came out, it was dark, but the car park was we'll lit. Our attention was drawn to a small crowd watching a woman trying to reverse her car out of a parking space. She repeatedly drove into the car next to her seeming to have forgotten that the steering wheel could be turned the other way. She seemed frustrated that the wheel would not turn any further. back and forth she went causing more and more damage to both cars.

I took control of the situation and persuaded the lady that I could resolve her dilemma. After I had reversed her car safely and got out, she simply got in and drove off without a second thought. At that precise moment the distressed owner of the damaged car arrived and called the Police.

We then left. The evening somewhat spoilt.

[consul 57]

i used to have a lada niva 4x4 and when parked in my local community ctr car park a guy pulled into the space next to me on the drivers side.
the passenger then opened the door straight into mine, i was chatting to my passenger at the time, i then wound down the window and said hey be carefull, the driver then said he did not do anything? i was a bit annoyed so told him a few things then my mate who had no hair at the time and looked a little rough got out of the car and the other car promptly left in a hurry.
to say he did not bang my door was a real insult to my inteligence, good job my mate was with me, as i was going to open my door and bang into his and being a lada it would have been far stronger than his tinny euro box!

[alastairq]

Door dings are far too commonplace for my liking. Possibly something to do with every Tom, Dick or Harriet having a car for the use of?

We all wanted one over the decades. Or two, or even three or four....so now we reap the whirlwind.

I think it was a sad day when fashion dictated car design....and the old style rubbing strips were eliminated from doors and edges.

My daily [for insurance purposes mainly] is an old suzuki GV..it has rubbery plastic panels along the lower edges of each door, so that if the wind caught them, they would inflict minimal damage to whatever they struck.
My old Mustang has a pronounced Vee-shaped swage along the side..the first [and only? thing to make contact with the rest of the world....as teh young driver of a new Fiesta found out in a supermarket car park,when she parked alongside, and the wind caught her door as she opened it......wahanging it hard into the Mustang door. A bit of chipped paint on the Mustang, a huge vee-shaped delve in her door edge and side.
Admittedly she was mortified, and hung around until I returned...she thought she had sustained minimal damage, but was worried about my car [she liked it!]....One quick glance at her door edge told me to agree with her and say no more about her damage....a tiny bit of touch up paint cured mine .
Wonder what she thought once she got home and examined her damage a bit more closely? Her door was a bit out of shape as a result as well....?

Door dings are a fact of life...Annoying, i know, but a fact of life all the same. If it is of a concern,then why don't manufacturers fit suitable protection?
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Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces.

[Ray White]

The door hinges on the A30/35 stick out as a warning to bullying BMW drivers that they had better watch out.!

[Rootes75]

Driving down a narrow country lane near home the other day we came upon some elderly cyclists coming the other way. There were very few gateways to pass in but the first two of the group passed the only one and still kept coming towards us!

I had to pull up on the verge to avoid and the two just kept going without a thank you or even a look. When I got to the gateway where the others were the lead guy stood shaking his head at me and muttering expletives!!

My wife and kids in the car were the only thing that stopped me pulling up and asking obviously politely what their bloody problem was!

If they would have scraped my paint on the way through would that have been their fault or mine in the eyes of the dreaded insurance claim?
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[alastairq]

Cyclists out for a pleasure-ride ''in the country''[as distinct from, folk cycling to or from work, etc...IE cycling for a purpose, not leisure!]...are rife round these parts as well. Many display 'entitled' behaviour to the extreme. On a narrow lane, if I come across approaching cyclists, I pull up, with my left wheels on the edge of the road surface [not on the verge!!]...and stop. This then places the onus of 'safe passage' on the cyclists. It's the safest course of action, as far as the 'vulnerable' road user is concerned, so they cannot complain.

If I overtake a cyclist, on a narrow carrageway,where I cannot get my near-side a reasonable distance from them as I pass..then I slow down, and overtake at minimal speed..then if they have a wobble, at least they won't collide with a vehicle travelling 20 or 30 mph faster, very close by.

In other words, I make sure I do ''my bit'', then, if they do complain, I can throw chapter & verse at them!

Not because I'm a Mr Goody-Two-Shoes driver...but just looking after my own interests in the end.

Of course, in my Dellow, which is a very narrow car as it is...if I get to follow a Mr.Stropp on their pushbike, who won't simply pull up to let me past...then I can still overtake using whatever width of tarmac s left to me to use....and that side exit exhaust pipe comes into its own....The exhaust from a tubed sidevalve Ford engine can be quite a nice hot blast, in first gear! Hot enough to melt the grease off their chain!!
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Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces.