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Jan 11, 2007 19:34:02 GMT
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Those nausea invoking "gorgeous" adverts probably have something to do with declining sales! There seems to be a new e-mail comes out at work every other week anouncing a new top gaffer for the sales and marketing dept. So I think the company probably agree with you! lol
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Jan 10, 2007 23:13:32 GMT
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Not sure about that - either I'm getting old or car designers are using the same software package to churn cars out; nothing screams 'Jaguar' at me like the present (and most certainly past) range. I don't think this design will age very well, unlike the previous Jags that still have a certain style and grace even in 'bangerdom' age; it will end up like the early Mondeos/Vectra etc in looking 'of its age' very quickly and with the turnaround in vehicle design, that won't be very long. Certain cars carry their good looks and style well, Jags have usually been good at that but this....... I personally couldn't agree more, but Jag sales are through the floor on everything except the new XK8. So Joe Public (well the fairly well off Joe Public anyway) obviously don't agree. So for the sake of my job I think they are doing the right thing. Think you maybe right about whether it will stand the test of time, they will just have to keep restyling more often from now on I guess.
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Jan 10, 2007 20:39:48 GMT
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Without trying to give too much away (I work there and don't want to get sacked!) It does hint pretty closely to what the production XF will look like. There are some things that wont make it onto the production one, but then I havent seen a real XF in the flesh yet, only styling drawings.
The current S type doesn't really borrow anything from Ford really. When it first came out in '99 it shared a platform with the Lincoln LS, this was a complete new platform developed for just those two models and was not an existing Ford. It also ended up under the Ford Thunderbird remake, it did use a Ford gearbox, the V6 engine was a development of the Duratec. The V8 was the same as the XJ/XK8 engine and was purely Jag by design, infact it worked the other way and a cheapened down Jag V8 ended up in the Lincoln LS. Alot of the interior bits/switch gear was Ford, and it got quite heavily critisised for that, the gearbox also proved to not be upto the job refinement wise. In 2002 it got quite heavily made over, new V8 engine, supercharged R version, 6 speed ZF auto box, all new, more Jag like interior, revised suspension, pretty much answering the critsisms of the '99 version. The big mistake was not making it look different, you have to be a complete anorak to tell them apart, hopefully, the XF will put all that right, Jags future pretty much depends on it.
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Wow. Kinda like The Fast and Furious but with flat caps and air horns. LOL!!!!!! 'I live my life one "Yorkie" at a time'Should be called the fat and the flatulent! Pretty sure that the ERF pictured was a C series, my Dad worked for a company in Tamworth who wouldn't buy anything else (were always painted in the colours of Aston Villa if anybody remembers them) the B and C series were only subtly different. Think the C was just a bit more rounded and the grill was slightly different. Heres a B series for comparison. Also, the said company would only have Cummins engines, seem to remember at the time that most of the British trucks (ERF, Foden, Seddon Atkinson etc) could be ordered with Cummins, Rolls Royce or Gardner engines, and people were just as bad with there favourite brands of engines as they were brands of trucks!
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One of these would be just the job......Bedford KM, hard to believe it's the same cab as a TK, that extra bumper makes it look evil This would be my choice though....Sid Harrison operated a fleet of these from his base in Sheffield right up until about five years ago, at the risk of sounding sexist these were men's trucks ;D I cant see that being sexist, cos they are buggers to drive for a man at the best of times!!!! a lot of people say to me ah remember the good old days of trucking....i say no, keep them, I love my night heater, cruise control, brakes that work etc etc.... Can't remember if it was one of these or the COE Handyman that my Dad told me about, he said you had to stand up in the cab to turn the steering wheel when manouvering slowly! Also remember spending many a school holiday in the passenger seat of many late 60's/early 70's ERF's, Atkinsons, Guy big J's and such like. Like the fact that this is transporting a trailer full of retro's He also said that one of these was about the best trucks he ever drove. AlistairK Is this the smaller Bedford you are on about? A couple of freinds that have early 50's Chevy trucks (53 and a 54) have been told that they share the cab with these, they certainly look the same. That would make them excellent rodder fodder, would certainly look different from all the Chevy's and Ford F100.
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Dec 18, 2006 23:07:44 GMT
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Bloody hell, hows that for service! Numbers noted, wil ring round tomorrow. Cheers Sean
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Dec 18, 2006 22:06:06 GMT
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Hi All, Anybody got a number for a reasonably priced vehicle recovery/transport company in the midlands? Need something moving from Coventry to West Bromwich.
Cheers Sean
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Dec 13, 2006 20:53:39 GMT
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Also bear in mind that any third gen V8 Camaro or Firebird you see advertised as a 5.7 may well be a 5.0 (ask me how I know), go armed with the option codes you can download of the site I mentioned in my last post. For a real 5.7 you are looking for code L98 (where did I leave my anorak)
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Dec 13, 2006 20:48:22 GMT
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I had a third gen Firebird, great car, went and handled really well. Was a 91 Formula 350 with the 350 TPI engine, which was still a good old fashioned small block chevy but with a bit of modernising, single piece rear main seal and roller follower lifters on the cam. Handled really well for a yank and was economical too. Would also do 0-60 in 6.3 secs from the factory. Mine had the optional performance diff ratio of 3.27:1 (standard 2.83) but still was only doing something like 2200 RPM at 70 MPH. They do have a bit of a following in the states, check out www.thirdgen.org although they are seen as cheap clunkers over there. Things like these and there sister Camaro's and the Mustangs may become popular when the teens of the 80's get older and have there mid life crisis! Sean
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Dec 12, 2006 21:44:52 GMT
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Think of all the cool stuff that came out of the old Rootes plant over the years though, shame its all gone now, same with Luton, Hailwood, MG/Rover, all production is off where the labour is cheap, but at least we can save the cars they built!! (except rover) It's a crying shame that another plant has gone. Unfortunately the British car-buying public won't really notice things like this. They'll still buy French tin cans because the like the heater knobs or whatever. Isn't the X-type built at Halewood? All Jags are still built in Britain, X-type in Halewood, all others in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham.
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Dec 11, 2006 23:20:11 GMT
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Most people haven't got a bloody clue! The old v's new car debate depends on which "emissions" you are on about. Yes, shiney new cars with catalytic converters are very good at producing low amounts of Carbon monoxide, Hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen, BUT, I reckon the MK2 Fiesta in question would probably be a damn site better when it comes to the dreaded Carbon Dioxide emissions that we keep getting pestered about by the tree huggers than the equivalent new Fiesta. I remember a few years ago running a 2.0 DOHC Sierra injection as a daily, on my commute I would normally get around 40 MPG. Now I don't know, as I haven't tried it, but I doubt very much I would get anywhere near that out of a new 2 ltr petrol Mondeo, why? Two good reasons. The mondeo has to run stoichiometric (14.7:1 air fuel ratio) while cruising to keep the catalyst working efficiently. The sierra (non-cat) would have probably ran something like 16 or 17:1 while cruising. The second thing, has anybody noticed how bloody heavy new cars are? A few weeks ago I was talking about this with a (sensible) colleague. He has a new shape Mondeo diesel estate, I new they were heavy, but was shocked to find out that it was actually heavier than my old 1991 Pontiac Firebird, even though it had an all iron small block Chevy slapped in the front! These show the positive benefits of running retro motors were global warming is concerned, without even having to take into account the energy used to keep making new cars. Had another conversation with a retro friendly colleague, who had seen data about the total CO2 effect that a car has for its whole life cycle. From producing the components, assembling the car, using the car for X amount of years, then disposing of/recycling the car at the end. Guess what the worst car was? The Toyota Prius! He couldn't remember what the best car was, but it was something wacky like a Jeep (must have been american data) Sorry for the long post, I could keep going all night, as this subject really does my head in. Just one final thought, save the planet, keep recycling and driving old cars!
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I love cars, always have. But I also love being alive, I want my kids to love being alive too. We are slowly killing the planet we all live on with our cars, demand for consumer goods and kebab consumption. Something has to be done to get us out of our cars. I could get the train to work quite easily. It would be cheaper and is quicker but I like my car. However, if it's going to cost me £X to get here, plus a fiver congestion charge, plus £6 to park, I'm coming by train. More people will use the train, hence more money goes into the railways, the companies invest more, the services get better. Think of your kids' kids, and their kids too. When all of East Anglia is flooded and the ice caps melt and Polar bears have migrated to Kensignton High Street to look for food. They'll say "Never mind at least Grandad had fun in his car." Just like to point out that tax per mile has absolutely nothing to do with preventing global warming. Thats an argument for another day as to whether its caused by cars or not. Tax per mile is to do with congestion, and actually isn't neccersarily good from a global warming point of view (other than the fact that Britain will turn into a third world country, with the only people able to afford to dirve there cars anywhere will be the well off or the crooked). If they take (as promised) the duty off fuel and stop the road fund license (which was muted to be increased on larger, high poluting vehicles), then what insentives are there to drive round in small fuel efficient vehicles? Absolutley none. Everybody might as well drive round in SUV's then. Also, this same report also calls for major airports to be expanded to cope with increased air traffic, again showing little regard for the global warming argument (you do know how bad planes are for the enviroment I take it?) Our own pillock of a prime minister (don't like to swear on open forums, so had to refrain from calling him what I normally would!) decides that something needs to be done about global warming, so what does he decide to do? He FLIES to Sweden to announce it at a press conference, bear in mind that all of the British press also to had to FLY to Sweden to cover the said press conference. Theres a hell of a lot of things that need to be tackled to prevent global warming (if it can be tackled at all and isn't just a natural phenomenon that cant be avoided) OTHER than just blaming cars all the time.
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Hi, and welcome. Had a later 820 Vitesse as a daily about 3 years ago, wish i'd kept it know, one of the few 'modern'* cars that I really miss. * I think they are 'modern' because I'm an old git who has to sit back and think before I realise that they are getting on a bit know!
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Nov 23, 2006 21:45:06 GMT
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I will try and dig some out.
It is still going but spends a fare amount of time on the ramp going through the worlds supply of spare Ford type 9 gearboxes!
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Nov 24, 2006 14:24:19 GMT
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GF wont entertain my rants LOL, but if were going into environmetal warming etc, we/they need to look at the big picture and set about making MASSIVE changes to the worlds lifestyles! heating, travelling, multi person affordable efficiant transport, energy wasting, modernising builings, etc etc. when thats fixed i'll entertain a new tax scam! don't get me started! How did good old Phoney B-liar annunce that Britain would become the leading light in combating global warming? Simple, jump on a bloody plane to go to a meeting in Sweden and then have a news conference over there. Which meant all the Journalists had to jump on a bloody plane to Sweden to report on it. Nice one chap, lead by example, thats what I like to see. As for energy wasting, I predict that wthin a couple of years, town centres will be switching there christmas lights on at the end of July and not switching them off till June. Why are they already on, its only November. Do people really need reminding that they are about to max out there credit cards again? Also seen on the news today that they have opened an open air ice rink in Birmingham, how much energy is that gonna take to keep frozen day and night? Or is it just an experiment to see if it helps to cool the planet down a bit? Better stop ranting and go and drive my car while I still can.
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Last Edit: Nov 24, 2006 14:25:53 GMT by seantoole5
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Nov 23, 2006 21:40:19 GMT
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A link from the BBC news website with a brief explanation. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4610877.stmMaximum price being £1.34 per mile on the busiest roads at peak times. Which would be a fare bit more expensive than fuel tax and road tax costs for most people per mile. The idea is to cut congestion. Enviromentalists have already pointed out that there would be no insentive to stop people driving "gas guzzlers" if road and fuel tax was abolished. So I think we can assume that fuel and road tax would have too stay in some form to keep the greenies happy. So we get screwed always.
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Nov 23, 2006 16:16:02 GMT
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Received this from a news group that I am a member of. As the title says, a pertition against the road pricing proposals. petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax/Sean
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Last Edit: Nov 24, 2006 14:26:24 GMT by seantoole5
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Oct 13, 2006 13:17:44 GMT
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" Its always better to ask for forgiveness than it is for permission" ( mainly because permission probably wouldn't be given)
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Sept 11, 2006 18:24:51 GMT
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curse word, fronts probably too wide, especially with the amount of offset they will have.
Thanks anyway.
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Sept 11, 2006 15:35:57 GMT
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Did you get round to measuring the width or back spacing? Might have a punt on them if I think I can squeeze them under the Ventora! Sean
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