James May's Cars of the People
Discussion
Interesting little slot on the MX-5. He makes a good point. Most expensive car I've ever driven was a 2011 Mercedes SLS. The out and out fastest was probably a Nissan GT-R. But thinking about it, the most fun, I can't put anything above an early 1989/90 1.6 MX-5.
I think I might try and find a nice early unmolested UK car, in that nice mid blue colour, and just keep it until I die.
I think I might try and find a nice early unmolested UK car, in that nice mid blue colour, and just keep it until I die.
Spot on about the L, LS, GLS etc though.
When I was a field engineer with a company car, everyone wanted to progress to 'engineer grade 2' because you went from a 1.3 L Astra an 1.6 LS Astra. And then you aimed for 'Senior' engineer, where you moved onto a Cavalier LS. And then Senior 2 was a 2.0 GLS. And managers got a choice including a Senator.
The car badge really did make us want to climb the ladder though. There simply aren't such, admittedly menial aspirations these days like there was back then.
When I was a field engineer with a company car, everyone wanted to progress to 'engineer grade 2' because you went from a 1.3 L Astra an 1.6 LS Astra. And then you aimed for 'Senior' engineer, where you moved onto a Cavalier LS. And then Senior 2 was a 2.0 GLS. And managers got a choice including a Senator.
The car badge really did make us want to climb the ladder though. There simply aren't such, admittedly menial aspirations these days like there was back then.
When I got a promotion in about 1988, I was meant to go from a Fiesta 1.4S to an Escort 1.4L. The Escort being bigger was meant to be a step up, but I refused and said I'd keep the Fiesta. To me, aged 25, a 1.4S Fiesta was much cooler. It caused uproar, and I was told that having a lower car on the scale than I was entitled to was the start of a communist revolution within the firm, and it would not be tolerated. Ended up having to take the Escort.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
When I got a promotion in about 1988, I was meant to go from a Fiesta 1.4S to an Escort 1.4L. The Escort being bigger was meant to be a step up, but I refused and said I'd keep the Fiesta. To me, aged 25, a 1.4S Fiesta was much cooler. It caused uproar, and I was told that having a lower car on the scale than I was entitled to was the start of a communist revolution within the firm, and it would not be tolerated. Ended up having to take the Escort.
That makes no sense at all. The S-line spec was way above a paupers L model.DrDoofenshmirtz said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
When I got a promotion in about 1988, I was meant to go from a Fiesta 1.4S to an Escort 1.4L. The Escort being bigger was meant to be a step up, but I refused and said I'd keep the Fiesta. To me, aged 25, a 1.4S Fiesta was much cooler. It caused uproar, and I was told that having a lower car on the scale than I was entitled to was the start of a communist revolution within the firm, and it would not be tolerated. Ended up having to take the Escort.
That makes no sense at all. The S-line spec was way above a paupers L model.That third one was so full of stuff. I don't know if it's because I watched the other two on iplayer, or because I sat down and watched that the one this evening live, but I there's a clock on the wall near to the TV and 15 minutes in felt like I'd been there half an hour. Perhaps I was in the mood for some TV after the GP earlier, but the amount of padding, scriptedness and repetition didn't seem to be there like in other programmes.
It was great to see Mr Metcalfe putting the wing on. I missed the rear engined Bond Bug gaffe. He lost me that the end after the Golfs, was that an essay conclusion that made his point that all cars were people's cars?
I'll have to watch it again on iplayer. I was thinking Setright's Drive On again during that programme.
It was great to see Mr Metcalfe putting the wing on. I missed the rear engined Bond Bug gaffe. He lost me that the end after the Golfs, was that an essay conclusion that made his point that all cars were people's cars?
I'll have to watch it again on iplayer. I was thinking Setright's Drive On again during that programme.
Butter Face said:
That wing is b
hin'
That *was* funny. hin'Even more funny is the fact that EVO readers will be aware that Harry specifically removed the wing from his Countach 5000QV as it is useless, creates drag, and actually was never even a factory thing anyway - due to regulations it had to be dealer-fitted after delivery. In fact I seem to remember he paid quite a lot of money to have the holes beautifully filled in again after it was removed.
RichB said:
DrDoofenshmirtz said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
When I got a promotion in about 1988, I was meant to go from a Fiesta 1.4S to an Escort 1.4L. The Escort being bigger was meant to be a step up, but I refused and said I'd keep the Fiesta. To me, aged 25, a 1.4S Fiesta was much cooler. It caused uproar, and I was told that having a lower car on the scale than I was entitled to was the start of a communist revolution within the firm, and it would not be tolerated. Ended up having to take the Escort.
That makes no sense at all. The S-line spec was way above a paupers L model.The whole programme seemed a complete shambles to me. The time dragged horrendously and so many things jangled with me - why play the Minder theme music for several minutes during a piece about the Silver Shadow? We all know the legendary Arthur Daley is synonymous with the Jaguar XJ / Daimler. Okay, Arthur actually drove a ghastly yellow Shadow 2 in the 1988 Christmas Special but I very much doubt that May or his researchers knew this! Maybe the Minder music was actually intended for the piece on the white Terry McCann style Capri but was played 5 minutes too early! I was expecting a reference to The Professionals when the Capri was featured too! And, as previously mentioned here, the old chestnut of a Countach being a pain to drive has been done to death by him and JC before.
Being a real train spotter here but wasn't the Big Bumper Golf GTI actually introduced in 1990? May was talking about the Golf from the 80s when driving a facelift 1990 onwards model car! It seems strange to me that he's always knocking the Germans yet cheerfully drives past a broken down MGB with steam gushing from under the bonnet in a Japanese car (the car that basically nicked the whole concept of the MGB from the MGB!)
I thought May was a bit arrogant with those fleet managers - they clearly remembered the days when L and GL made the world of difference to reps and a Maestro as a company car could make a grown man cry! I got the impression May didn't really comprehend that culture at all. It also jangled that he said he was p*ssed off twice, I thought he was lucky to be fronting the show. That nonsense with photocopiers was rubbish and a complete time waster, I only hope those guys didn't get toner on the seats of those very rare Sierras and Cavaliers. The Cavalier Calibre was seriously rare when new so I doubt more than a handful exist now.
Anyway, the only great thing about the programme was that it reminded me of the 1994 series from A to B which featured highly amusing footage of company car drives - my favourite (that still sticks in the mind 20 years later) was the Maestro driver who cried when he got it as a company car and he actually took his tie off when entering motorway service cafes as he didn't want anyone else to realise he was a salesman! That show was a great insight into the culture and I'll definitely watch it again on You Tube. I'm just glad May hasn't filmed anymore of his series.
Being a real train spotter here but wasn't the Big Bumper Golf GTI actually introduced in 1990? May was talking about the Golf from the 80s when driving a facelift 1990 onwards model car! It seems strange to me that he's always knocking the Germans yet cheerfully drives past a broken down MGB with steam gushing from under the bonnet in a Japanese car (the car that basically nicked the whole concept of the MGB from the MGB!)
I thought May was a bit arrogant with those fleet managers - they clearly remembered the days when L and GL made the world of difference to reps and a Maestro as a company car could make a grown man cry! I got the impression May didn't really comprehend that culture at all. It also jangled that he said he was p*ssed off twice, I thought he was lucky to be fronting the show. That nonsense with photocopiers was rubbish and a complete time waster, I only hope those guys didn't get toner on the seats of those very rare Sierras and Cavaliers. The Cavalier Calibre was seriously rare when new so I doubt more than a handful exist now.
Anyway, the only great thing about the programme was that it reminded me of the 1994 series from A to B which featured highly amusing footage of company car drives - my favourite (that still sticks in the mind 20 years later) was the Maestro driver who cried when he got it as a company car and he actually took his tie off when entering motorway service cafes as he didn't want anyone else to realise he was a salesman! That show was a great insight into the culture and I'll definitely watch it again on You Tube. I'm just glad May hasn't filmed anymore of his series.
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