mr rusty wrote:but as the prat in a Z4 who tried to have me on a roundabout found out, it will well seriously outperform yer average chunk of bloated hun iron when a sharp curve is involved
There appear to be quite a few
Brattmobile & Audi drivers, who seem to assume (Not think), that they can lord it over everyone else and doubtless their ego takes a knock when their ability lets them down (I remember embarrassing/annoying someone, who was in a Mercedes sport car, when I was at the wheel of a borrowed and very shabby Morris Minor…it was raining and the road was twisty). Whether it’s just the odd few, giving the rest a bad name, I can’t say but I’m certainly not the only one to notice this Blitzkrieg mentality behind the wheel (It's a shame.....I wouldn't mind a pre war BMW 328
).
mr rusty wrote:I see the appeal that driving an A35 held for James Hunt
My father was only mentioning his late national service pal, who owned something over 70 cars during his life, from pre war Austin 7s to V12 E Types and a few Aston Martins (DB2/4 and DB5). He owned an A35 van and on one of his regular runs, somewhere in Lincolnshire, he used to often catch up with a Jaguar and I don’t think the Jaguar driver could quite believe it. My father’s friend was a pretty good driver, maybe not James Hunt but useful.
Again we mentioned another friend of my father’s, from his early hillclimbing days. This friend was a one time “Junior hillclimb champion” (Which is a bit like the Leaders championship of today; based on your class results, so that you don’t need a class 12 car to win it) and he once took an modified A35 saloon, in part ex against a Cooper single seater. My father remembers following the A35, on a road well known to it’s owner. My father was at the wheel of a Frazer Nash, which was just as well, as the A35 was being driven extremely well!!!
When the Mini came out in 1959, there were quite a lot of drivers of bigger cars, who resented/dismissed it. In those days, the road holding of the Mini was better than pretty well anything else on the road and when they started modifying them, there were a lot of red faced people in bigger cars. Some things don’t change. Again, based on what my father has said, about driving in the 1950s, there was less aggression on the roads and whilst you had a certain amount of people in bigger cars expecting people in smaller cars, to know their place, there were some benefits. For a time, my grandfather had an XK140 Jaguar (It’s still about) and my father used to drive it. He said that when you went out in the 140, nobody ever tried to mix it with you. With the Frazer Nash, which was if anything a tad quicker than the 140 (And certainly handled better), lots of people assumed it was some sort of Austin 7 special and they would “Have a go”, even if only very briefly!!
It’s not just a size issue. I think that people have a tendency to judge things based on their own standards. Because most people neglect cars, they deteriorate and become bangers. Judging by the scarcity of 51 plate cars, I think it’s fair to say that after ten years, a lot of cars are finished. Therefore to a lot of people, anything of thirty years old must be about to fall to pieces in front of them, because if they had owned it, it would have fallen to pieces long ago. As a result, they can’t bear to be behind an old car, big or small. There is also the assumption that unless you have a new car, you can't afford a car and in our society, if you have no money, you are a loser and you don't matter. I'm sure there are people in my street who see me as the "Poor b*sta>d, down the end, with the old bangers".
Rules exist for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men.
MG Midget 1500, MGB GT V8, Morris Minor Traveller 1275, MG Midget 1275 & too many bicycles.
