What fact about your car would make people say 'YOU WHAT?!'

[60six]

Today, after one of those browsing sessions which take you down the strangest route .... I wanted information on a NEST thermostat, got slightly distracted, which turned into completely distracted, which turned into me finding out this rather strange fact via Wikipedia ....

One of the reasons for my love of SAAB's has always been the seats. It's the only car that I notice how comfy the seats are. Then I find out this.

I quote:

"The inspiration for the (SAAB 9000) seats was taken by Björn Envall from The Muppet Show's Pigs in Space."

Cue me youtubing pigs in space, then popping outside to confirm. Yup. Pigs in space inspired my seat design.


Anyone got something like this in regards to their car?

[bortaf]

Only sad anorac items like the LHD center consol in my Mk5 cortina, i wanted the clock to be on the other side of the consol and the trinket tray closer to me, or the LHD rear consol ashtray i just bought for my mondeo, the bit you stub the cherry out on is on the other side, no-one would ever know and probably slap me for doing it on purpose


Mk3 cortinas going for export to Japan were palced in a jig and squeezed to make them narrower to fall in a lower tax bracket, that's pretty wierd

[darrenh]

in 1984 the vauxhall plant at ellesmere port in cheshire had a 65 million refit to make it "the home of the astra" and commence production of the 2nd generation astra. despite this the flagship 16 valve model (the fact about your car) were made in bochum germany. the designer of the new astra was the same man who penned the Chevrolet camaro and pontiac fire bird.

[highvoltage]

Not much really !

I found an little enamel car badge down the side of the boot in my Eunos which was from the Japanese GP at Suzuka in 1991.I stuck it on the console.The only bit of the cars JDM life i know is that it maybe visited Suzuka when it was 5 months old.


Most import Eunos have slightly squashed floor stiffening rails,apparently from being forklifted around the docks in Japan.

One of the design briefs of the MX5 was that it had to be low enough a driver could stub his fag out on the road without leaning out of the car.

Ohh and the daily was owned by someone with an OBE.

[60six]

That reminds me of the ford strike in 1986 where they left bare shells of orions and escorts outside for two weeks at their Dagenham plant, in the rain.

I was unlucky enough to buy one of these 1986 orions and it really had rusted beyond any other car of that age in places that you wouldn't expect - even underneath the rear seats in the middle!

[surprisingskoda]

I like this. A couple of those tales have already made me ask the title question in my head

with my ones it's usually just that there are 19 left on the road, or 12 UK ones left in total, or that there are more of them now than what was made originally, depending on the car.

With my alfa it's "5 years without a breakdown"

With my van it's that I've had it from 49k and it's only on 71k now, despite looking like it's been forced down a stone wall sided road a foot narrower than the van. Which it has.

[Deleted]

Owned 2 mazda 6 1.8s. Both done over 120,000 miles. Never replaced anything except tyres bulbs and brake pads. Nothing!
Best cars ever.

[60six]

Oct 16, 2016 1:03:53 GMT surprisingskoda said:

despite looking like it's been forced down a stone wall sided road a foot narrower than the van. Which it has.

I can't stop laughing at this - Brilliant.

[rblote]

Not one particular item but the car by itself....

It's not to spectacular but my wife's car is a 1999 BMW 528i with 130.000km on the clock.
The car has spend it's whole life in an inner city parking garage. It was only used for long distance driving.
The car has always been looked after and serviced in time.

We bought it 2 years ago and gone over it with a magnifier glass. Every little thing we did not liked got painted, repaired etc.
It's now a new car. It looks new, smells new and drives like new. It still gets pampered every day.

Not many people believe that it is almost 18 years old.
The (Asian) doctor that owned it before us left a CD in the car with his favorite Asian music. We did listen to it but
did not like his taste of music. We returned the CD.....

I bought a Holden Rodeo a few years ago. The amount of stuff left behind by the former owner was just silly. Spare keys to his house, few bibles, key hangers with biblical quotes, stickers with biblical quotes etc etc. I send most of it back but when I found more stuff when I removed the front seats it went straight in the bin.

[fr€$h&m1nt¥]

Oct 15, 2016 23:25:22 GMT 60six said:

Today, after one of those browsing sessions which take you down the strangest route .... I wanted information on a NEST thermostat, got slightly distracted, which turned into completely distracted, which turned into me finding out this rather strange fact via Wikipedia ....

One of the reasons for my love of SAAB's has always been the seats. It's the only car that I notice how comfy the seats are. Then I find out this.

I quote:

"The inspiration for the (SAAB 9000) seats was taken by Björn Envall from The Muppet Show's Pigs in Space."

Cue me youtubing pigs in space, then popping outside to confirm. Yup. Pigs in space inspired my seat design.


Anyone got something like this in regards to their car?

You can't post that without supporting evidence of photos!!

[Deleted]

The Mazda rx2 was fairly revolutionary at the time,and not for the reasons that most people would think of. Yes it did have a rotary /Wankel engine,but, Mazda had already made a wankel powered production vehicle, the R100
What most people don't know,it was one of the first Japanese production cars to have 5 link suspension holding the rear axle in place. It was also one of the first cars to have bonded in windscreens. Wow! Ahead of its time, I hear you all shout!.....
Then Mazda cocked it all up by putting a steering box into it,when everyone else had moved onto steering racks.......

[andyborris]

Confess, how many have just Googled Pigs in Space?

Seats are very "space age"!

[NudgerSS]

The man who designed the mk2 Cortina went on to design the clubman fronted Mini which when you know and look at them both is pretty obvious...not that my Mini is a clubbie...and my old Ford isn't a Cortina so I'll fetch my coat...

[fad]

The turbo hanging off the back of my Volksrod and the wooden keg fuel tank popping out of the bonnet normally makes people say that about mine lol

[glenanderson]

The fact I've been driving it since 1993 gets at least a raised eyebrow from most people...

[highvoltage]

Just thought of another..
A pair of Mk1 Mx5/Miata rear lights are on display in the MOMA museum of modern art in New York.Everyone who fits cheap Lexus style lights needs to know that..

[turbotechnics]

Owning an Alfa Romeo is usually enough for people to say "you what"?

[lewis99]

when the fact that the TVR Griffith's rear light cluster is the same unit from a mk3 cavalier, just turned upside down, is mentioned it often results in a snort followed by "typical TVR"

[PandaSelecta]

Oct 16, 2016 1:00:39 GMT 60six said:

That reminds me of the ford strike in 1986 where they left bare shells of orions and escorts outside for two weeks at their Dagenham plant, in the rain.

I was unlucky enough to buy one of these 1986 orions and it really had rusted beyond any other car of that age in places that you wouldn't expect - even underneath the rear seats in the middle!

This explains why my Dad's 1986 Orion 1.6L auto was a tub of rust by the time he part exchanged it in 1995 (for a 1992 Cavalier 1.6L auto)

[saabsled]

No-one ever believes it's a Capri!