Pensioner Chic
Discussion
astroarcadia said:
Skoda Yeti is de rigueur for pensioners in my parts.
Garden centre car parks will be full of them today loading up some John Innes No.3
Exactly the image Skoda wanted to esc
Oh dear god, no. I picked up 3 bags of John Innes No.3 last weekend in my Skoda. I'm only 41. What's happened to me? Garden centre car parks will be full of them today loading up some John Innes No.3
Exactly the image Skoda wanted to esc
h8tax said:
...I am also sure it advertised a "London Pilot" service where you could pick up an AA staff driver in North London who would drive you and your car through to the other side. Am I making this up, or did this service really exist, and did any PHers or their parents use it?
THE ONLINE BICYCLE MUSEUM/Always Ahead magazine said:
ALWAYS AHEAD
London Pilots: The Association has made arrangements whereby members, unfamiliar with the roads and traffic conditions of London, can be met at any point and piloted through London or to any destination.
The men employed on this work have passed a special examination in the topography, geography, and traffic conditions of the Metropolis and are fully acquainted with all the shopping centres and points of interest in London. The pilots (who do not wear uniform) accompany members to their destinations, but are not allowed to drive cars.
- Always Ahead, October, 1921
Link to the site... http://www.oldbike.eu/museum/history/early-roads-g... ...then scroll down to the colour picture of the sidecar combination, which is the front cover of the relevant magazine which has been scanned in. Text is on page 20.London Pilots: The Association has made arrangements whereby members, unfamiliar with the roads and traffic conditions of London, can be met at any point and piloted through London or to any destination.
The men employed on this work have passed a special examination in the topography, geography, and traffic conditions of the Metropolis and are fully acquainted with all the shopping centres and points of interest in London. The pilots (who do not wear uniform) accompany members to their destinations, but are not allowed to drive cars.
- Always Ahead, October, 1921
VWDaz86 said:
Every old persons car I've seen always has a plastic fuel can, orange tow rope and one of those 4 way, cross shaped wheel braces in the boot. Torch and other survival kit is optional
This is just the result of painful experience. These people will still remember the days when breaking down was 'the norm' and just something you put up with as a motorist back in those dark days!My Mum used to put car mats on top of the fitted car mats to protect them along with seat covers. When I came to sell her car, a white Clio once she stopped driving, it was an interesting presentation challenge. Low mileage with fully documented SH. Immaculate showroom condition interior. Coachwork that was at least 3 shades of white due a string of minor repairs. Scruffy wheels as I noticed she could reach the upper parts OK when washing the car but the wheels never got scrubbed properly. Anyway it sold quickly to a young Mum.
I had almost forgotten about this. The 406 is sadly no longer in my possession but I see it every day - and brilliantly, the cable ties on the alloys are still in place, proud and pointless. I did keep the accessories that made the chariot what it was - tartan rug with matching thermos, sweet jar for your Werther's, obsolete maps and AA handbooks, Hammond organ cassettes, one of the two sets of mats, the walking stick, the trilby, the Kleenex man-sized tissues, the offcut of ghastly Axminster for the boot. It was great car and I would be tempted to give it another go, if I could find a suitable replacement, but I suspect the combination of colour and interior probably won't come up again.
Edit - I did let the beaded seat cover go with the car, because it was comically uncomfortable.
Edit - I did let the beaded seat cover go with the car, because it was comically uncomfortable.
Obsolete tax disc or two and the original supplier's sticker, from long bankrupt garage which was usually both expensive and bad, often B.Leyland. Rootes Group were a cut above, but also dear.
Edited by Lester H on Sunday 13th November 15:41
Edited by Lester H on Sunday 13th November 15:50
Justin Case said:
Sir, you are an imposter and only fit for posing at the Goodwood Revival 
As one of a number of friends and relatives who get their bus passes thanks to those nice men and women in Brussels, who think that us blokes should be the ones to be treated equally for a change, I offer for the defence:
1 Mercedes CL
1 Mercedes CLC
1 Mercedes C Class coupe
1 Mercedes C Class (W 202)
2 Mercedes E Class (W210, 1 saloon, 1 estate)
1 Chrysler Crossfire (Merc engine?)
(pattern emerging?)
Plus various 4x4s, most of which are used as weekend toys.
My, how the world moves on in three short years. Sadly the owner of the CL did not live to collect his pension, but the others are still around, mainly driving newer Mercs, although the Crossfire driver now cruises around in a white BMW 1 series :O. I still drive the car I had when I was a member of the working classes, but as a concession to my new status I have added an RNLI sticker to the back window. I also think that I have an Alzheimers Society one, but I have forgotten where I put it.;) As one of a number of friends and relatives who get their bus passes thanks to those nice men and women in Brussels, who think that us blokes should be the ones to be treated equally for a change, I offer for the defence:1 Mercedes CL
1 Mercedes CLC
1 Mercedes C Class coupe
1 Mercedes C Class (W 202)
2 Mercedes E Class (W210, 1 saloon, 1 estate)
1 Chrysler Crossfire (Merc engine?)
(pattern emerging?)
Plus various 4x4s, most of which are used as weekend toys.
Now that I am able to get out and about more during the week, I am able to report on the driving choices of the really ancient. A caravan with matching Caravan Club sticker is a common accessory, provided it has one of those wheels with an electric motor bolted on to the towing bracket. The Honda Jazz no longer reigns supreme in that demographic. The Nissan Micra is still actually being sold, and something called the Kia Venga seems to have become popular for those whose essential requirments include a cruise control preset to 41mph.
Pensioner chic tip for the next car.. handwritten sign in block capitals, written in blue biro on a carefully torn piece of lined paper "SEATBELT" taped to the centre of the dash with yellowed Sellotape. And the clip-on sunglasses. Anyone mentioned the aftermarket single fog light hanging from the rear bumper yet?
Should be a blue mk4 Escort (a la Touch of Frost) or a cowpat beige mk2 Fiesta.
Should be a blue mk4 Escort (a la Touch of Frost) or a cowpat beige mk2 Fiesta.
Garvin said:
VWDaz86 said:
Every old persons car I've seen always has a plastic fuel can, orange tow rope and one of those 4 way, cross shaped wheel braces in the boot. Torch and other survival kit is optional
This is just the result of painful experience. These people will still remember the days when breaking down was 'the norm' and just something you put up with as a motorist back in those dark days!GSalt said:
Pensioner chic tip for the next car.. handwritten sign in block capitals, written in blue biro on a carefully torn piece of lined paper "SEATBELT" taped to the centre of the dash with yellowed Sellotape. And the clip-on sunglasses. Anyone mentioned the aftermarket single fog light hanging from the rear bumper yet?
Should be a blue mk4 Escort (a la Touch of Frost) or a cowpat beige mk2 Fiesta.
May I add Triumph Acclaim, usually in " honeysuckle" and any Proton. If these are now a shade too "classic" then there is no option despite 178 similar posts, to include Honda Jazz ( and most other Hondas!).Should be a blue mk4 Escort (a la Touch of Frost) or a cowpat beige mk2 Fiesta.
My parents have showed me two pensioner attributes that are hard to replicate on a car you remotely care about.
Father drove respectable distances up till pretty much his death, but was rather deaf as a result of too much time firing artillery in WWII. I remember waiting at home one evening for them to come back from Spain, this was pre-mobile phone, so I only had a rough estimate of arrival time. I was suddenly aware of the most indescribable noise outside, and went to investigate. There was father, rolling the Daimler into the garage, and as he gave it some welly to get up the slope, I could see, well, light coming from the bottom of the engine. And the noise, WTF was the noise? He fessed up to having hit something coming off the ferry, as the car was effectively slammed with about a million bottles of red, I suspected the exhaust had taken a hit.
He went off to make a cup of tea and mother glared after him. Her only comment was "I bloody told him that the man on the ferry was waving at us, but he couldn't hear me." Not surprising, with all the racket.
So, intrigued, l got the car up on a ramp and had a look, expecting to find a big crack. No crack, it was gone. All of the bolts between the manifold and down pipes had snapped, and it was effectively running 3 inch pipes. Centre section - gone. Bit where goes over the axle, gone. One rear box, gone. Other rear box, still there but the pipe had sheared. It must have been truly spectacular to see father flooring car off the ferry with about 15 feet of pipework hanging off the back.
Mother still drives, but has a similar lack of mechanical sympathy. We got her an automatic as she is prone to driving manuals in 3rd, everywhere. Motorway - third. Stop start traffic, third. Auto is better. So she has an S reg Vectra with 54k on the clock. Every single panel is dented and scratched. I put the damn bumper back on with wood screws last time she scraped it off. She doesn't like the complexity of modern cars, ok cars from the late 90s - after she accidentally set the air con to "lo" and spent 2 weeks driving around in an overcoat....
So no national trust stickers here. Just take the exhaust off, and attack the car with a small hammer for the authentic look. Set the heater/air con to one extreme or the other and dress appropriately.
Father drove respectable distances up till pretty much his death, but was rather deaf as a result of too much time firing artillery in WWII. I remember waiting at home one evening for them to come back from Spain, this was pre-mobile phone, so I only had a rough estimate of arrival time. I was suddenly aware of the most indescribable noise outside, and went to investigate. There was father, rolling the Daimler into the garage, and as he gave it some welly to get up the slope, I could see, well, light coming from the bottom of the engine. And the noise, WTF was the noise? He fessed up to having hit something coming off the ferry, as the car was effectively slammed with about a million bottles of red, I suspected the exhaust had taken a hit.
He went off to make a cup of tea and mother glared after him. Her only comment was "I bloody told him that the man on the ferry was waving at us, but he couldn't hear me." Not surprising, with all the racket.
So, intrigued, l got the car up on a ramp and had a look, expecting to find a big crack. No crack, it was gone. All of the bolts between the manifold and down pipes had snapped, and it was effectively running 3 inch pipes. Centre section - gone. Bit where goes over the axle, gone. One rear box, gone. Other rear box, still there but the pipe had sheared. It must have been truly spectacular to see father flooring car off the ferry with about 15 feet of pipework hanging off the back.
Mother still drives, but has a similar lack of mechanical sympathy. We got her an automatic as she is prone to driving manuals in 3rd, everywhere. Motorway - third. Stop start traffic, third. Auto is better. So she has an S reg Vectra with 54k on the clock. Every single panel is dented and scratched. I put the damn bumper back on with wood screws last time she scraped it off. She doesn't like the complexity of modern cars, ok cars from the late 90s - after she accidentally set the air con to "lo" and spent 2 weeks driving around in an overcoat....
So no national trust stickers here. Just take the exhaust off, and attack the car with a small hammer for the authentic look. Set the heater/air con to one extreme or the other and dress appropriately.
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