A long time ago, we had a friend who had laid up his fairly powerful motorbike for the winter, and replaced it with a murky green Robin Reliant. He had not, you see, passed any driving test apart from the newly introduced bike test. His lady wife, also a non-driver, found she preferred the comfort of a roof over her head for most of the year, so the Reliant came to be used more and more, and the bike less and less.
Our friend enthused about the Reliant to anyone who would listen without laughing: there was no rust, he could mend any dents himself, it was so economical, comfortable, versatile, a little noisy but quieter than the bike etc etc etc.
Eventually he decided he could afford driving lessons, and although it was a struggle to adapt his driving style he successfully passed his test. Within a week, the Reliant had been replaced by a shiny black Cavalier.
A mutual friend expressed surprise at this. I explained that he had just passed his test, and until then had not had much choice. She was astonished: he had convinced her that he drove the Reliant through choice, and she had no idea he had not passed his test - because this, of course, was rarely mentioned.
So, chaps, if you're not already driving the car you aspire to, do you let on? Or do you make the best of a bad job?
|
> So, chaps, if you're not already driving the car you aspire
> to, do you let on? Or do you make the best of a bad job?
When I was in that position, it was one of two choices..
1) Pretend my car was great and I didn't want to change
2) Admit my car was crap and pretend I didn't care
However, it was never true, I always wanted the better car.
Although I do remember being genuinely very proud of a black cavalier 1.6l circa 1983 I once had, and truly believing it was a great car - I was never very smart.
|
|
|
|
Sue, there is no such car as a Robin Reliant, any more than there is a Cortina Ford. It is a Reliant Robin. Now, where's me anorak?
|
Tom Shaw wrote:
>
> Sue, there is no such car as a Robin Reliant, any more than
> there is a Cortina Ford. It is a Reliant Robin. Now, where's
> me anorak?
I said it was a long time ago, my memory's not what it used to be ...
|
|
|
|
Ah, but we have to make a rare exception here, because the term "Robin Reliant" has passed into general usage.
|
|
|
|
|
When young I aspired to owning an Aston Martin and marrying Bridget Bardot. A Ford Cortina was the closest I got!
|
|
my lada is what i want, i used to have a red porsche 924, but it cost a fortune to maintain, so i like the lada because of the low running costs, and i will keep buying ladas as long as they are around.
|
|
|
|
|
Poor chap, giving up the joys and freedom of a decent 2 wheel grunt machine for a Robin and then a Cavalier tsk, tsk..the things we do for women.
|
I used to aspire to prestige cars, resulting in a period owning a 7 series BMW. On balance it was not a happy experience and upset quite alot of people.
Experience has taught me that some things are best left as enjoyable fantasy, because in reality they can cause lots of problems!
|
|
|
|
Fortunately all the cars I really want are hopelessly unaffordable / unobtainable, namely:
D-type Jaguar, pre-war ERA racing car, Lamborghini Miura, and the six wheel Bedford coach from 'The Italian Job' to use as a race transporter.
Since I have no chance of ever acquiring these things, I am quite happy to drive a 10 year old Audi, and have no desire to buy anything more expensive.
|
What sort of Audi? I had a 200 Turbo for a time (bought as a toy) The view under the bonnet was frightening.
Beautifully shaped car though. I bought it for £1500 and sold it for £800.
Hall effect sender broke but when that was fixed the car drove like a dream. Problem was a fluid leak between the auto box and the engine. Specialist told me it would cost a lot to fix. So My brother in law bought it and just kept topping up the box.
Has your Audi been trouble free?
|
|
|
|
Alwyn
The car is a Coupe 2.3 20V. Bought from a trade supplier for £2,600 (no warranty....). It ran like a pig when I first bought it - sorted out with a full service, replacement distributor cap and rotor arm, and a new knock sensor. It's a lovely solid old car and looks and feels more like 5 years old and 60K than 10 years and 132K. Problems? Water gets into the boot via the seals round the tail lights, the rear wiper is unreliable, the ABS warning light occasionally flashes (only about once a fortnight, which makes fault finding impossible), the temperature gauge only works intermittently, and the gear drive to the distributor rattles (very common fault, new distributor is £400 from Bosch, so I can live with the rattle even though it makes my Audi sound like a £50 Talbot Horizon at low revs).
Under the bonnet is a densely packed collection of mechanicals. Access to spark plugs is easy, everything else is impossible. I haven't fixed the temperature gauge because I can't get a spanner anywhere near the sender.
Audis are good solid well engineered cars and older ones are absurdly cheap for what you get. Cheap parts as well from companies like German & Swedish - would you believe new brake discs and pads (front and rear) for under £100?
|
|
|
|
YOu don't mean you married your Cortina?
|
|
|
|
When I was young and single, I wanted a sports car. Now I'm middle-aged and married I've got the car I can afford that 'does the business', a Peugeot 406 diesel estate. If I won a million, I might swap it for a Volvo ditto. To hell with the performance, what really frustrates me is the time filling up the tank. So, 700 miles to a tank full suits me fine (it's unfortunate that the CBR only does 180 miles on a tank full, but then it only takes a minute or two).
|
|
|
Derek
150 or 200 miles seems to be the design range of a lot of bikes. My CD25U will just about do 2 days commuting (160 miles) but I prefer to top it up every day just in case I get caught in extra heavy traffic on the second day and run short.
Oh for a diesel bike which does 400 mpg on a tank (I've reached the age where I am more interested in how long it will last rather than how fast it will go!)
Regards
Brian
|
|
Try an Indian-built Enfield. DT did a good review earler this year. Unfortunately, a bit expensive for what it is and possibly only just quick enough to keep upright, but frugal!
|
|
try and find a genuine royal enfield, as you will have a tax free bike, and you can go to rallies, fairs, and join the club.
|
|
|
|
