Ugly but Cool

[nicanary]

v8250 said:

Well said, LuS1fer

spikeyDave, you've clearly never driven a 2CV. Strongly recommend you read Alan Clark's book Backfire, then get out there and buy a good 2CV. You'll be amazed at what they can do and above all how they manage to do this in so much style...elles ont tres a la mode. They are not sporting flying-machines in any way but they will take you to places in all weathers where other vehicles dare not venture. The added bonus being they have an amazing ability of being super fanny-magnets...have no idea why, they just are [no offense girls]

Vivre la difference, vivre la 2CV...

Edited by v8250 on Wednesday 17th October 19:50

I run a Chinese takeaway. During a spell of really heavy snow the roads were empty due to the usual pansy british drivers scared to go out. Also empty, therefore , was our shop. One evening a customer turned up and seemed baffled as to why the roads had no traffic - I looked out of the window and there sat his 2CV. He had had no problems at all - tall skinny wheels, torquey little engine. He couldn't understand why everyone didn't buy one.

[LuS1fer]

nicanary said:

I run a Chinese takeaway. During a spell of really heavy snow the roads were empty due to the usual pansy british drivers scared to go out. Also empty, therefore , was our shop. One evening a customer turned up and seemed baffled as to why the roads had no traffic - I looked out of the window and there sat his 2CV. He had had no problems at all - tall skinny wheels, torquey little engine. He couldn't understand why everyone didn't buy one.

Same applied to most cars back in the day. My Austin A40 had 5.20 x 13 crossplies and had no real problems in the snow. Modern wide tyres and low ride heights and skirts are generally a recipe for poor traction and getting "beached" on snow.

[LotusOmega375D]

I remember reading an article about the Esprit Turbo back in the 1980s. The author was driving along a motorway in Switzerland during a massive downpour. The fat tyres of the Lotus just couldn't grip and were causing it to aquaplane, so he slowed down to a safer speed and then watched in shock as a 2CV when zooming past him, oblivious to the standing water.

I've still hated the wretched tin snail all my life though!

[gattonero]

slomax said:

+2

I LOVE 2CV's.

2 CVs are not so cool when they are coming round a corner on a narrow French road, trust me! Skinny tyres = rubbish.

[slomax]

gattonero said:

2 CVs are not so cool when they are coming round a corner on a narrow French road, trust me! Skinny tyres = rubbish.

I've never had a problem with understeer.

If there are problems with understeer then it probably needs some stiffer springs. The standard ones are pretty hopeless and when you push it around corners. 190% springs make it a lot better mannered when pushing hard. If you want it a lot better you can wind the suspension down, fit stiffer springs and adjust the castor angle... but that takes a lot of effort

[nicanary]

Archie Butterworth's sprint car, 1950, self=built around a WW2 Steyr Half-Track engine. Massive power, and noise to make your eardrums bleed.

[coppice]

gattonero said:

2 CVs are not so cool when they are coming round a corner on a narrow French road, trust me! Skinny tyres = rubbish.

Never ran out of grip on mine on its trusty 125x 15s. Felt it would roll before it slid !

[Gaspode]

srob said:

Your two posts have clearly shown that we all have different ideas of cool

Evo's aren't cool, 2CVs are cool

Damn right there, sorb. It's the old Kristen Scott Thomas test. Would she be seen dead in an Evo? No chance. Would she whizz about the streets of Paris in a chic little 2CV? You betcha.

[socorob]

http://images.craigslist.org/5Z45Jf5M53Kc3F83I4c9s...

http://images.craigslist.org/5Le5I65V13G63K73J3c9s...

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/cto/33036471...

I don't know if these will show up properly, but this is one weird looking but cool in its own way cars. A Moon Roadster which I'm guessing is from the 40s?

[dartissimus]

I want one, it's a backwards Dart

[Blib]

slomax said:

That's one of Mrs Blib's favourite cars. She owned one as a student and she says she's determined to own one once again.

[LordBretSinclair]

Blib said:

slomax said:

That's one of Mrs Blib's favourite cars. She owned one as a student and she says she's determined to own one once again.

I had one of these (very briefly) - loved the walking stick gear lever in the middle of the dash

[nicanary]

dartissimus said:

I want one, it's a backwards Dart

There's nothing mentioned in Georgano's encyclopedia about this Moon, so I'm guessing it was a one-off. But it did remind me of the Shamrock, that abomination which was planned to be built in Tralee. Glass fibre body, so the wheezy A55 engine would have had less work to do than in the Metropolitan

. I've never understood why the American backer wanted to build cars in Ireland which were obviously designed for the US market - the transport costs to the States would have eroded profit margins. Plug ugly IMO..

[esso]

dartissimus said:

I want one, it's a backwards Dart

Reminds me of the last car Lea-Francis built....the Lynx..think they only built 3 at the beginning of the sixties...i believe the motor-show car was purple with gold-fittings...that was ugly.

[nicanary]

I was looking for something else, and found this, the 1921 Mollmobil, powered by a 198cc DKW engine. Now that looks like it'd be an interesting drive.

[srob]

^That's not ugly though!

It's of an era, when folk were trying to sort out what's what with car design.

[schmokin1]

LordBretSinclair said:

I had one of these (very briefly) - loved the walking stick gear lever in the middle of the dash

Got a '62 one in the old feller's garage awaiting resto (for the last 20 years!!)

It's so basic it doesn't even have an ignition key, you pull a knob to start it!

BTW another one here for 2CVs are cool!

[gareth_r]

Jensen CV8

[heretheygo]

surprised the tatra isn't here...






or the '38 phantom corsair.

[Roman]

Sugga


Ford F100


Daimler Dart


1960 Impala with floating roof (obviously plenty of similarly vulgar but 'cool' American from this period)


And possibly the following two?

VW 181


Volvo 262