Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,790
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Nov 15, 2021 22:14:33 GMT
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Sorry, but you couldnt be more wrong.
I’ve driven literally thousands of cars, from 600cc sewing machines to eight letre Behemoths. I get absolutely zero enjoyment from a car that essentially drives itself, and all I'm doing is the vagaries of the final piloting, that being braking and steering.
I’d go as far as saying I probably wouldn’t be interested in buying another automatic car ever again, unless my leg falls off or something.
I’ve had manual and automatic versions of the same car back to back, And absolute hated the auto version and loved the manual (e30, 190e, e28).
Every single auto I’ve driven loves being in the wrong gear at the wrong time and turning loud pedal application into excess noise but not enough forward motion.
I’ve driven and/or owned what are touted as the best automatics in the world, the cars that people say ‘you wouldn’t want a manual one of those’. All total rubbish. There’s a reason pretty much every manual version of a car ever pulls better 0-60 times and better mpg than it’s auto counterpart- They’re more efficient,meaning you get to use all the power, if you’re doing it correctly anyways.
Using a gearbox and a clutch correctly is a huge part of an enjoyable driving experience for me. Often the more difficult that is then the more rewarding i find getting it right, so I find driving something with a non-synchro box and getting the Rev matches and double de-clutches bang-on a zen like experience.
NB- your are talking to someone who thinks nothing of daily driving(30+ miles a day) 1920s/30s cars on mechanical brakes and cross ply tyres with non synchro boxes in all weathers, and still regularly treating them like I’m not their legal owner 😉
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Last Edit: Nov 15, 2021 22:19:44 GMT by Dez
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Nov 15, 2021 23:06:06 GMT
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What Dez said... One of my earliest daily drivers had a non synchro box, and I still find myself double clutching in anything with 3 pedals, without thinking about it. I also converted auto box cars to manual ( and back again ), switched to close ratio boxes from wide ratio street boxes, etc. The right gearbox will completely transform a car. And the wrong one will mess it up, completely. My only ( running )vehicle with a autobox right now is my latemodel truck. It has some uninspiring electronically controlled device that reduces it so something I cant do without, but don't have any real feelings for. Like my coffee maker... |
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,353
Club RR Member Number: 64
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Nov 15, 2021 23:22:08 GMT
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I can see both sides. I daily a 1960s Land-Rover (albeit much modified), and wouldn’t swap it for anything really, and in 35+ years of driving I’ve driven loads of slushboxes and loathed every one of them; particularly the lorries, some of those were downright dangerous ….
….but I’m also entirely besotted with the Mercedes C300d AMG line I have somehow ended up with. Maybe because I understand how clever it must be to, genuinely, be in the right gear at any time…
I still wouldn’t have it instead of the Land-Rover though. 🤣
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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Sorry, but you couldnt be more wrong. I’ve driven literally thousands of cars, from 600cc sewing machines to eight letre Behemoths. I get absolutely zero enjoyment from a car that essentially drives itself, and all I'm doing is the vagaries of the final piloting, that being braking and steering. I’d go as far as saying I probably wouldn’t be interested in buying another automatic car ever again, unless my leg falls off or something. I’ve had manual and automatic versions of the same car back to back, And absolute hated the auto version and loved the manual (e30, 190e, e28). Every single auto I’ve driven loves being in the wrong gear at the wrong time and turning loud pedal application into excess noise but not enough forward motion. I’ve driven and/or owned what are touted as the best automatics in the world, the cars that people say ‘you wouldn’t want a manual one of those’. All total rubbish. There’s a reason pretty much every manual version of a car ever pulls better 0-60 times and better mpg than it’s auto counterpart- They’re more efficient,meaning you get to use all the power, if you’re doing it correctly anyways. Using a gearbox and a clutch correctly is a huge part of an enjoyable driving experience for me. Often the more difficult that is then the more rewarding i find getting it right, so I find driving something with a non-synchro box and getting the Rev matches and double de-clutches bang-on a zen like experience. NB- your are talking to someone who thinks nothing of daily driving(30+ miles a day) 1920s/30s cars on mechanical brakes and cross ply tyres with non synchro boxes in all weathers, and still regularly treating them like I’m not their legal owner 😉 I don't wish to sidetrack your thread any further, however, consider the performance of auto versus manual 911 turbos, and (until the slower manual was dropped) 3.0 litre F-types to name but two which spring to mind. I understand where you are coming from, and enjoy both ends of the spectrum from my (manual) 95 bhp Marlin, to my wife's 500 and something bhp XFR, but I also know that the latter is far more "sporty", and more likely to be in the correct gear at any given time, even without any human intervention.
Anyway, I will leave it there and continue to really enjoy your thread, and your very helpful posts elsewhere.  |
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,790
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Nov 16, 2021 22:39:42 GMT
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Mark has just prompted me to have a bit of a recount, it is 6 pages since it was covered. 1. '28 model A ford 2. '48 chevy fleetmaster 3. '50 ford shoebox 4. ‘47 ford/ranger pickup 5. ‘63 ford falcon sedan delivery 6. ‘01 lupo tdi sport 7. 1981(?) bmw e28 8. ‘34 ford pickup 9. ‘04ish Nissan Cube 10. 1995 lada riva estate 11. ‘04 Transit recovery truck 12. Beater civic 13. Skoda pickup 14. Fiat panda 100hp 15. Breaker Skoda Felicia With a solid 2/15 on the road working and legal. MINT. Those being the civic (which has 2 weeks mot left) and the panda. The Skoda pickup is MOTed and working but is in DVLA paperwork purgatory. I expect the MOT will be out before I get that back. The cube is all fixed, taxed and insured (well, they all are because trade policy) and is due an MOT this week. But then it’ll be going. The Lupo should tick all boxes again this week after the brakes shitting themselves in shock at me MOTing it. The parts turned up today. I’m not even thinking about the others at the minute. Wouldn’t it be easy if I was a normal person with one car 😬
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Mark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,097
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Nov 16, 2021 22:43:45 GMT
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Wouldn’t it be easy if I was a normal person with one car 😬 Until that one car broke, then where would you be, huh? Diversification is the order of the day, you've got your bases covered! |
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,790
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Nov 16, 2021 22:47:25 GMT
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Wouldn’t it be easy if I was a normal person with one car 😬 Until that one car broke, then where would you be, huh? Diversification is the order of the day, you've got your bases covered! I’d just buy another then things would be back to normal 🤣 I’ve just been thinking about when my fleet last went over 50% working. I think it briefly happened in 2004… and no I’ve never achieved 100% ever. |
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Mark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,097
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Nov 16, 2021 22:50:19 GMT
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and no I’ve never achieved 100% ever. No one has, it's a myth. More likely to see a leprechaun riding a Unicorn through Tesco. |
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,353
Club RR Member Number: 64
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Nov 16, 2021 23:19:59 GMT
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I think I’m doing quite well with 2.5 running out of 6. 😃👍
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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Nov 16, 2021 23:37:26 GMT
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I think I’m doing quite well with 2.5 running out of 6. 😃👍 That is just showing off.  I started my first big project at age 10, so I have many decades of dead car ownership behind me. Right now, my dead cars don't add up to double digits. And I feel pretty good about that... |
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and no I’ve never achieved 100% ever. No one has, it's a myth. More likely to see a leprechaun riding a Unicorn through Tesco. I currently have 100%, but cheating a bit by only having four. Normality is is more like 9/11, and 3/3 bikes, but that was 16 years ago. |
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Wouldn’t it be easy if I was a normal person with one car 😬 Who the hell wants to be normal??? |
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Nov 17, 2021 10:11:37 GMT
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and no I’ve never achieved 100% ever. No one has, it's a myth. More likely to see a leprechaun riding a Unicorn through Tesco. I've done 100% a couple of times. Once I had both my hotrod and Anglia 100% running and legal and there were no 'jobs' that needed doing either. I literally didn't know what to do with myself and was too scared to touch either of them. The other time was when the family collection was up to 5 and all 5 were working, taxed, insured and legal. I was floating in this sort of Zen place that I can't fully describe, where I was able to just lightly move things around with my fingers spread out without actually touching anything and it was warm at the time, no rain or cold or anything. One of them was an old Citroen too, just in case that story was already too unbelievable. Shortly afterwards, the Citroen died. |
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thomfr
Part of things
Trying to assemble the Duett again..
Posts: 694
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Nov 17, 2021 10:56:05 GMT
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Cars 50% (2-4) Motorbikes/moped (0-2) 0% ;-(
Thom
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73' Alfa Giulia Super
64' Volvo Duett
65' Volvo Duett
67' Volvo Amazon 123GT
09' Ford Focus 1.8
20' VW ID4
71' Benelli Motorella
65' Cyrus Speciaal
The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys
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Nov 17, 2021 14:18:03 GMT
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Hey, I'm "normal" for this thread then.  2 cars running, taxed, & MOT'd (was 1 until I recently rebuilt the Freelander's front suspension) 4 project cars Probably enough bits of Mini to make 2 more cars!  Oh, and a busted push bike! |
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,790
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Nov 17, 2021 20:27:46 GMT
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and no I’ve never achieved 100% ever. No one has, it's a myth. More likely to see a leprechaun riding a Unicorn through Tesco. I thought such phenomenon was normal for your side of the water, but I guess they shop at Lidl? |
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,790
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Nov 17, 2021 20:28:48 GMT
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No one has, it's a myth. More likely to see a leprechaun riding a Unicorn through Tesco. I've done 100% a couple of times. Once I had both my hotrod and Anglia 100% running and legal and there were no 'jobs' that needed doing either. I literally didn't know what to do with myself and was too scared to touch either of them. The other time was when the family collection was up to 5 and all 5 were working, taxed, insured and legal. I was floating in this sort of Zen place that I can't fully describe, where I was able to just lightly move things around with my fingers spread out without actually touching anything and it was warm at the time, no rain or cold or anything. One of them was an old Citroen too, just in case that story was already too unbelievable. Shortly afterwards, the Citroen died. I believed that right up until you used the C-word! |
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,790
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Nov 17, 2021 20:31:41 GMT
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Well that’s it, my two major goals for next year are now single figures and 50% workingness.
Please no one remind me of that come next December when I have 20 cars and only one working.
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Nov 17, 2021 22:43:05 GMT
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With direct responsibility for 5 cars in the family fleet, (3 dailies and 2 "pets", youngest 16 years, oldest 54), and partial responsibility for 3 more (2 dailies, 1 pet, similar vintage range), I feel at least some of your pain. I seem to spend alot of time at the MoT station..... These days it seems like the oldies (3 x small chassis Triumphs) are the better behaved ones - it's the middle-aged / geriatric VAG tat that is usually kicking my behind.....
All (yes all) are working as I type this, but I'm sure "something bad" will be along to try me before long.... and failing that there are two MoTs due in the next couple of months...
Nick
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1967 Triumph Vitesse convertible (old friend)
1996 Audi A6 2.5 TDI Avant (still durability testing)
1972 GT6 Mk3 (Restored after loong rest & getting the hang of being a car again)
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Nov 17, 2021 23:10:23 GMT
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Just for temptation to increase the fleet, there is a Skoda 1.9tdi pick up same shape as yours on face ache marketplace for £600 in the Scottish borders
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Last Edit: Nov 17, 2021 23:11:16 GMT by bugtastic
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