I have recently seen these badges fixed onto the fronts of really quite new cars. Are they still available from the AA?
If not, then - why are they used? I can see the point on cars of an era, but on new ones?
Perhaps these cars all have owners of a certain era! Older drivers, in other words.
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Funnily enough I found my dad's old one of these AA badges in my mother's shed on Saturday. Hadn't seen it for years. It's the sort of shield shaped one as opposed to the later square ones. I can remember him having it on several cars. Must be at least 50 years old at a guess. I suppose I'd quite like to use it if I had a classic on the go at the moment but I agree that it might look incongruous on a modern car. Would probably get stolen anyway. I can remember AA patrolmen saluting my father when he drove by with that badge on show. At least I think that's what they were doing.
Edited by Humph Backbridge on 13/10/2008 at 17:08
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I occaisionally see a Ford KA which has a metal bar with a few metal badges attached, it seems to be attached under the front valance like a bull bar, protrudes about 6" (15cm), and is about shin height. As it is of substantial construction it would make a mess of any pedestrian it contacted and I wonder what the insurance would do in case of an accident. BTW it is driven by a lady of a good few years.
Edited by Old Navy on 13/10/2008 at 17:19
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My understanding is that the salute originated as drivers started to run foul of police speed traps!
Just as now, it was illegal to warn motorists about speed traps, but the AA advised its members to stop if a patrolman failed to salute, and the driver would then be given information about "road conditions" ahead.
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I have one on my misses car and I have one in the garage that belonged to my grandfather. Im a member of the AA and I just think a nice chrome badge is a whole lot nicer looking than a dreary sticker.
They arent that easy to remove without the bonnet up, even more so if you were trying to steal one in the dark say although fittings vary.
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I'm with stu - they can look quite good on a modern car - my father has AA square on his 7 series...
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Does he get saluted ? Although I have noticed that even everyday folk sometimes make similar gestures at 7 series drivers. Suppose it would be hard to tell.
Edited by Humph Backbridge on 13/10/2008 at 18:49
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He's a stereotype BMW driver if there ever was such a thing (!) Fast and gives no quarter (or signal) I'm going to have to stop him driving soon.
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Perhaps you could begin the process by swopping cars with him ? That'll learn 'im !!
Also it could be payback for making you court in an Austin Princess.........
Edit - note the subtle but easy use of street slang........
;-)
Edited by Humph Backbridge on 13/10/2008 at 18:59
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Hey don' knock the Princess - it was a palace on wheels, albeit a beige velour one - certainly not affected me for life ! Anybody know any shipping companies that ship from Seattle ??
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Back in the days of motoring, before universal car use, people sometimes used to mount a chrome badge bar in front of the grille between the headlights for AA, RAC, VSCC, BRDC, county motor club and so on. Didn't seem too out of place on the front of a Bentley, Lagonda or Lea-Francis, but would look odd on most modern cars (and be tremendously illegal for pedestrian-eviscerating reasons). But I sometimes felt people who had them were showing a bit of side.
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My P4 came with a old style badge but with an additional cast plaque moulded on top of the wings emblazoned 'JAMAICA'.
Googling indicates that there is still a Jamaican Automobile Association in existence which somehow surprised me, I suppose I thought it would have disappeared with the British Raj
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I once had a customer bring his week old audi a4 back to the garage... His air con was'nt working.
when i found that it was'nt working, i raised the bonnet and found two "fang type" holes in the condensor.. It was'nt untill i looked up at the bonnet grill did i realise that the customer had fitted one of these badges, and the threaded bits that secure the badges must have been about 3 to 4 inches long.. As soon as he closed the bonnet.... you know what happened next don't you.
He did'nt know where to look when i showed him why his air con was'nt working, but needless to say, we cancelled the warranty job and amended it to a cash job.. Expensive mistake to make, but you can bet he never done that again.
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There were no less than five different lengths of bolt available for the square AA badge [late sixties on.] The fitting instructions warned against using the long ones in situations where there was "insufficient clearance." [Air-con was then so rare that it didn't even make the radar - but rad leaks from the same cause were not unknown.]
The old "Stenson-Cooke" badges were a thing of grace and beauty; although technically still the property of the AA, they regularly appear on fleabay for a song.
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My P4 came with a old style badge but with an additional cast plaque moulded on top of the wings emblazoned 'JAMAICA'.
SQ
Do you still have this Jamaican badge?
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 31/10/2009 at 20:46
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Do you still have this Jamaican badge?
Unfortunately Steptoe hasn't been here since the 14 Apr 2009.
I can try emailing him for you, if you like. DD - BR Moderator.
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Are they still available from the AA?
Metal AA badges are still available. Here's the history of AA badges. tinyurl.com/49byqz
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I've still got several of those odd-shaped keys for opening AA boxes. They are not still around are they?
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There's one at the bottom of Garrowby Hill on the Yorkshire Wolds.
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Cliff
They were progressively replaced with "mono-callmakers," [motorway phones] without locks, from the early 80s onwards.
The old bronze-blue AA-key phoneboxes were a boon to members as they could make calls from clean, lit, working, pay-phones to anywhere. Unfortunately; gangs of travellers started using them as piggybanks and the end was nigh.
I've a feeling that there's [at least] one old AA box left - I came across it somewhere near Garsdale? [Not locked though.]
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Yes, im not sure if its the same place, as mentioned above but its near Hawes North Yorks, somewhere it probs is the same as abovce but right now my geography knowledge is not to hand lol, however AFAIK its kept in imaculate condition with flowers around it
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AA badges - end of an era. Sigh.... It would probably be illegal to issue them in these politically over correct times...
Projecting parts possibly dangerous to pedestrians, animals, burglars...
Connotation with Alcoholics Anonymous - breaching Human Rights /Data Protection legislation
Likely to confuse passers-by with American Airlines aircraft
Background yellow paint with lead content, dangerous for toddlers
Not EU type approved
Excess presence of vowels discriminates against consonants
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I've a feeling that there's [at least] one old AA box left - I came across it somewhere near Garsdale? [Not locked though.]
Are there any RAC boxes about? I recently found my fathers key for one, from cica 1973!
And, on a lighter note, the kids are watching a lot of Doctor Who these days - do the Tardis type boxes still exist anywhere?
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"do the Tardis type boxes still exist anywhere?"
I remembered one on the seafront in Scarborough from my childhood there - and having Googled "police box Scarborough" I find it is still there - and now a Grade II listed building.
Loads of references to it
eg
flickr.com/photos/richardandgill/2528158967/
There are some more remaining also - see
homepages.paradise.net.nz/~trekker/policeboxes/eng...l
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