Classics dwarfed by moderns

[Loose_Cannon]

gforceg said:

No doubt about it, there is a trend towards bigger people. However, I still don't think we've quite kept up with the way cars and SUVs in particular have ballooned.

I think there's one more dimension in which people are expandind and that's self importance. People seem to want to take up more room than they need and modern cars pander to it.

Soz, a bit o/t.

Not at all, quite the most insightful comment I've read for a while. As I regularly follow some permatanned baldy alone in his colour keyed white BMW X6 the utter waste of space and resources has me bilious and searching for the right words.

[Loose_Cannon]

thegreenhell said:

Gawd no wonder we have a proliferation of people offering car park dent repairs these days!

[robemcdonald]

Loose_Cannon said:

Not at all, quite the most insightful comment I've read for a while. As I regularly follow some permatanned baldy alone in his colour keyed white BMW X6 the utter waste of space and resources has me bilious and searching for the right words.

With respect your profile suggests you currently have 5 cars. Surely one BMW X6 doesn't take more space and resources than 5 cars? I appreciate that you won't be driving all 5 at once, but hopefully you will see my point.

[4rephill]

KateV8 said:

A

Not the best Camera angle but even a diminutive (by today's standards) Fiat 500 made our Chimaera look under-scale.

FIAT 500 width: 1627mm
TVR Chimaera width: 1865 mm (238mm wider)


FIAT 500 length: 3546mm
TVR Chimaera length: 4015 mm (469mm longer)

It would appear yet again that looks can be deceiving!

[Lowtimer]

robemcdonald said:

Loose_Cannon said:

Not at all, quite the most insightful comment I've read for a while. As I regularly follow some permatanned baldy alone in his colour keyed white BMW X6 the utter waste of space and resources has me bilious and searching for the right words.

With respect your profile suggests you currently have 5 cars. Surely one BMW X6 doesn't take more space and resources than 5 cars? I appreciate that you won't be driving all 5 at once, but hopefully you will see my point.

I don't. As far as I'm concerned anyone is welcome to take up as much of their own driveway and garaging as they like. But when they have a car that takes up a disproportionate amount of public road space and overflows a public parking space then it becomes a public nuisance.

[robemcdonald]

Lowtimer said:

robemcdonald said:

Loose_Cannon said:

Not at all, quite the most insightful comment I've read for a while. As I regularly follow some permatanned baldy alone in his colour keyed white BMW X6 the utter waste of space and resources has me bilious and searching for the right words.

With respect your profile suggests you currently have 5 cars. Surely one BMW X6 doesn't take more space and resources than 5 cars? I appreciate that you won't be driving all 5 at once, but hopefully you will see my point.

I don't. As far as I'm concerned anyone is welcome to take up as much of their own driveway and garaging as they like. But when they have a car that takes up a disproportionate amount of public road space and overflows a public parking space then it becomes a public nuisance.

Space issue fair enough, but the resources issue is hypocritical.

[irocfan]

Lowtimer said:

robemcdonald said:

Loose_Cannon said:

Not at all, quite the most insightful comment I've read for a while. As I regularly follow some permatanned baldy alone in his colour keyed white BMW X6 the utter waste of space and resources has me bilious and searching for the right words.

With respect your profile suggests you currently have 5 cars. Surely one BMW X6 doesn't take more space and resources than 5 cars? I appreciate that you won't be driving all 5 at once, but hopefully you will see my point.

I don't. As far as I'm concerned anyone is welcome to take up as much of their own driveway and garaging as they like. But when they have a car that takes up a disproportionate amount of public road space and overflows a public parking space then it becomes a public nuisance.

by that 'logic' everyone should drive either an Austin Mini or an original Espace. The former has enough room for 2/3 people & some luggage the latter has room for a family - welcome to the tyranny of "...people should have..."

[dinkel]

Slightly OT but wonderful:

[andyps]

Interesting one from Practical Classics Facebook page about putting a Mini in a MINI - https://www.facebook.com/PracticalClassics/posts/1...

[adamInca]

On a recent trip to Sarasota

[RichB]

adamInca said:

On a recent trip to Sarasota

That's classic

[Allan L]

andyps said:

Interesting one from Practical Classics Facebook page about putting a Mini in a MINI - https://www.facebook.com/PracticalClassics/posts/1...

Brockbank got there first, I think!

[Loose_Cannon]

irocfan said:

Lowtimer said:

robemcdonald said:

Loose_Cannon said:

Not at all, quite the most insightful comment I've read for a while. As I regularly follow some permatanned baldy alone in his colour keyed white BMW X6 the utter waste of space and resources has me bilious and searching for the right words.

With respect your profile suggests you currently have 5 cars. Surely one BMW X6 doesn't take more space and resources than 5 cars? I appreciate that you won't be driving all 5 at once, but hopefully you will see my point.

I don't. As far as I'm concerned anyone is welcome to take up as much of their own driveway and garaging as they like. But when they have a car that takes up a disproportionate amount of public road space and overflows a public parking space then it becomes a public nuisance.

by that 'logic' everyone should drive either an Austin Mini or an original Espace. The former has enough room for 2/3 people & some luggage the latter has room for a family - welcome to the tyranny of "...people should have..."

Without wanting descend into a classic Pistonheads forest of multi quotes just allow me a single retort I've updated my long dead profile to show 3 cars rather than the 5 I never had .... A 17 year old Volvo everyday shunter and 2 weekend classics (18 and 40 years old that barely cover 3k miles between them annually). IMHO each one has paid it's dues to the resources involved in it's creation and is now firmly in "remission".

Don't get me wrong the idea of someone else dictating my needs is abhorrent, however if the criteria that modern cars do everything that classics do regarding practical transport is upheld then we might as well close this particular thread down now. The issue is that there seems to be an arms race driven by vanity first and "safety" second, even though safety is rarely reciprocal i.e. hurtling around in two tons of SUV to drop junior at nursery, cocooned in airbags while everyone else dives for cover.

My example of the personally repugnant X6 is that it combines the worst features of the SUV -excess size, equipment and weight - with the worst features of a coupe - inefficient space. Quite a few people have them where I work and I do roll my eyes when one of them moans at the coffee machine that they have just visited the tyre depot and been quoted a grand for a set of massive tyres - I mean what did they expect? Bills like that that will mean an early exit for such machines when economics overtake their image and the owners move onto the next grotesquely excessive fad.

[RichB]

Loose_Cannon said:

...the personally repugnant X6...

Agree, they're repulsive things, them and Range Rover Ewoks plus many more jacked up, overinflated pseudo 4x4 lifestyle waggons. Yet, they're here to stay because people buy them.

[Roy C]

RichB said:

Loose_Cannon said:

...the personally repugnant X6...

Agree, they're repulsive things, them and Range Rover Ewoks plus many more jacked up, overinflated pseudo 4x4 lifestyle waggons. Yet, they're here to stay because people buy them.

They seem to be increasingly common in my neck of the woods, usually driven by housewives and used to their full off road capability (off road = parking on the pavement).

[RichB]

Roy C said:

... used to their full off road capability (off road = parking on the pavement).

[V8 Fettler]

Loose_Cannon said:

gforceg said:

No doubt about it, there is a trend towards bigger people. However, I still don't think we've quite kept up with the way cars and SUVs in particular have ballooned.

I think there's one more dimension in which people are expandind and that's self importance. People seem to want to take up more room than they need and modern cars pander to it.

Soz, a bit o/t.

Not at all, quite the most insightful comment I've read for a while. As I regularly follow some permatanned baldy alone in his colour keyed white BMW X6 the utter waste of space and resources has me bilious and searching for the right words.

It wouldn't be so bad if the obese drivers in their obese vehicles could keep to their side of the road, a skill which appears to be beyond many. Perhaps the greatest issue is that the obese drivers inflict obesity on their offspring by ferrying them around in their obese cars for the shortest of journeys.

A minor rant about endemic obesity.

Edit to add: I'm sure the X6 has some virtues, but style isn't one of them.

Edited by V8 Fettler on Thursday 2nd June 19:00

[mikey77]

In a supermarket car park today. What a pretty little thing! (NOT the Pug)...

[Hullygully]

Had to park next to this...plenty of spaces were available, but none were as amusing...

[Dapster]

Hullygully said:

Had to park next to this...plenty of spaces were available, but none were as amusing...

And the award for "the car worth more than the value of all the buildings in shot combined" goes to.....