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I agree. In terms of robustness and reliability, cars have never been better than they are now. My father had a Zodiac in the 1960's and then a Cortina Mark II 1600E (quite a desirable car at the time), whose electrics seemed to fail weekly. He changed his car every four years because of fear of rust (fairly endemic in vehicles at the time). Vehicles now are unquestionably safer and more reliable and we have a huge amount of choice in terms of size, shape and engine size
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Vehicles now are unquestionably safer and more reliable and we have a huge amount of choice in terms of size shape and engine size ........
.......... and have have more features, and better performance in all respects.
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I think what has happened is that all cars are now robust and reliable, whereas in the past there was a massive divergency between the quality of the cheapest and of the more expensive. As obviously as more people can afford the cheaper rather than the expensive, this skews the impression that cars have got better.
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"The golden age of motoring starts when you are seventeen and ends at around twenty five. It's a personal thing."
For me it started again at thirty when I bought another big bike and again recently when I retired as I no longer have to drive at all in the rush hour. In fact as I write this it`s 8.25 on Monday morning... i used to be halfway into an hours fume filled commute - now I`m lolling on a sofa drinking coffee and doing this.
A true Golden Age, also "less time left to suffer" - as we say around here ;-) ;-)
Edited by oilrag on 16/02/2009 at 08:29
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When you can pick up a mint 8 year old Jag XJ V8 for about a month's gross average UK income, I'd say you were in a golden age of motoring.
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"The golden age of motoring starts when you are seventeen and ends at around twenty five. It's a personal thing."
It definitely is a personal thing! I enjoy motoring as much as I did in the 70s but not in built up areas... however when i go on my annual jaunt round northern Europe its like being 18 again! The Freedom!!
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When I had my first car in 1961, the roads were empty compared to nowadays.
Also:
No parking meters anywhere
No speed cameras or radar traps
No 70mph national Limit
No pelican crossings (for pedestrians to automatically press the button when there is no traffic and cross the road so traffic has to stop at a deserted crossing unnecessarily)
Wide roads were marked in 3 lanes so possible to overtake, the same roads now have hatching and/or islands down the middle so tractors, cloth-capped creepers, caravans etc. build up huge frustrated queues.
Petrol about 20p a gallon (same price as 20 Player's Medium cigarettes)
No breathalysers
Most cars fixable with spanners/screwdrivers by anyone of average aptitude.
In all honesty, driving then was a pleasure, even city centres (including London) were not stressful to negotiate.
Point to point journeys, before motorways, were possible in comparable times (for instance, Huddersfield to Sheffield, 26 miles centre to centre, used to take about 40 minutes. Same time now using M1, but takes 50 minutes on the old road because of congestion, speed limits on what were de-restricted roads, more traffic lights)
I know all these new factors are in the sacred name of Health and Safety, I'm just pointing out the freedom and enjoyment of motoring in that period.
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There was a golden age for motoring. It ended when they stopped selling fuel in gallons ;-)
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My late father had four Hillman Minx models in the 1960s, from 1300cc to 1725cc, and covered up to 60k annually (in between work); he eventually moved on to the Hillman Hunter and, somewhere along the line, a Super Minx.
They were remarkably reliable (don't laugh, especially as we are talking big mileages) and he always averaged around 30mpg whether around town or on a long run.
The Minx models had proved so good that I decided to seek out a second hand 33k mileage Minx 1725cc, the last of the line, in which the new engine was basically tested before being used in the Hunter. It cost me £345 - new price was £672....:-)
I also never had any serious problems with the Mink, which had covered well over 100k by the time it was somewhat reluctantly changed.
In the case of my father, he ended up with the Austin 1800 (amazingly roomy vehicle) and then an Austin Princess 1800; that was equally roomy, but nowhere near as good and prone to rust, even on the roof...:-)
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When I had my first car in 1961 ..........
I remember all of the things you mentioned.
No 70mph national Limit
I also remember that you were lucky (or rich) if you had a car that would get up to 70, and that if you did get up to 70 it only needed the slightest incline for your speed to drop.
....... even city centres ......... were not stressful to negotiate .........
You obviously didn't drive in cities which had trams! Apart from dodging the trams, cars tramlined on the tram rails and that was stressful, especially in the wet.
Edited by L'escargot on 17/02/2009 at 07:35
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I also remember that you were lucky (or rich) if you had a car that would get up to 70 and that if you did get up to 70 it only needed the slightest incline for your speed to drop.
As I say, there was a very wide disparity then, in quality and performance. Yes, a Morris Minor might struggle to get to 70, but if you put your foot down at 70 in a Triumph 2000 it would accelerate up to 100.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 17/02/2009 at 10:20
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...... if you put your foot down at 70 in a Triumph 2000 it would accelerate up to 100.
I did say "lucky (or rich)". I didn't own anything which would maintain 70 until long after the introduction of the 70 limit, so for me the limit was academic for quite a few years.
Edited by L'escargot on 17/02/2009 at 09:16
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I serviced my 67 Mini myself and now over 40 years later I service my 2005 multijet Mk2b Punto van.
The difference is that the typical time spent on a Saturday working on the Mini in the late 60`s equates with the total yearly time needed to service the Punto in 2009.
I remember squeezing the radiator hoses on a regular basis and feeling the de-laminated squishy rotten rubber. top hoses, bypass hoses, bottom hoses, heater hoses - all replaced several times over 7 years of ownership.
Then there were 18 months exhausts - how many of those did I fit on the drive? Not forgetting those little rubber `bobbin` exhaust mountings about as big as your thumb end that let go before the 18 months was up.
A couple of water pumps, constant replacement of engine `steady bar` rubbers, new radiator, re- brushing the dynamo, fan belts every few thousand miles. Shimming and replacement of ball joints, replacement inner drive shaft couplings - rubber to needle roller.
That`s just some of the Saturday morning *running repairs* without considering servicing.
Then servicing.
You started by jacking all the wheels up to adjust the manual adjusters - brake shoes (and rear wheel bearings) constantly needed replacing and when you peeled back the wheel cylinder boots there were often fluid leaks due to more 1960`s rubber.. You then tried to remove the wheel cylinder only for the metal pipe to sheer. You bought a replacement after going to town on the bus and the next connection up the line also sheared.
You would finally get that sorted on one side, only for the other rear wheel cylinder to be wet under the rubbers at the next service. You would re- rubber that side as you were hard up, only to find the new pattern part wheel cylinder on the other rear hub to be leaking again 6 months later - while the re- rubbered side lasted another 3 years.
You then got stuck in with the grease gun on the front and rear suspension, adjusted the tappets, new points and condenser. The plug leads would constantly fail either with damp or internal breakdown and the distributor cap developed internal tracks.
You would do the oil change and filters and then move on to the SU carb - topping up the piston dash pot. Every so often you actually needed to take the top of the carb off and clean the piston and cylinder itself.
While you were doing this you would notice the exhaust manifold clamp was leaking and on taking it off would notice the exhaust flange was damaged and needed replacement too. You then realised the whole exhaust was misaligned and fetched a coffee out to stand looking at it - contemplating whether it would all fall apart if you took it off - or if those little rubber bobbins that held it up were (again) falling apart.
Then there were the Saturday mornings spent on body work and the memorable moment when I put my hand under the Mini`s wing only to find myself fingering the back of the sealed beam itself - the headlight housing having crumbled away.
I would have been absolutely amazed aged 17yrs (with the Mini) to see how little effort it takes to service and maintain a modern vehicle.
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