How easy do we have it now?
Discussion
I was clearing out a lock up and found a 1974 copy of Practical Motoring and have just spent two fantastic hours reading it from cover to cover (much amusement from an article extoling the virtues of the new Austin Allegro). What particularly struck me was the expectation that 'ordinary' motorists would be spending their weekends renewing head gaskets, regrinding valves, welding and repairing rusty chassis and sub-frames and much, much more. I know that we are all Pistonheads and many of us regularly do stuff like this but I'd forgotten how much maintenance and repairs were part of the average motorist's lot. Thinking back to the 60's and 70's , I remember my Dad and half of the other men in the street spending their weekends trying to get the family banger to last till the next weekend. Was it that the cars back then were cr~p, or was it about a lack of money, or was there a different type of average motorist back then to whom car ownership wasn't just about getting from A to B ?
t. We do have it very easy these days, and I'm fairly certain that people are worse drivers as a result.
Carrying out basic maintenance gave me at least some knowledge of how the mechanical parts of a car worked and as a result I still drive in a mechanically sympathetic manner. Starting out my driving career in an unreliable old shed with crap brakes and shonky suspension gave me an appreciation of how to look well ahead and plan my way down the road, rather than just reacting like Pavlov's dog to whatever is immediately in front of my bonnet.
Modern cars are brilliant in comparison but they've made us all a bit complacent and soft in my opinion. [/four Yorkshiremen]
Carrying out basic maintenance gave me at least some knowledge of how the mechanical parts of a car worked and as a result I still drive in a mechanically sympathetic manner. Starting out my driving career in an unreliable old shed with crap brakes and shonky suspension gave me an appreciation of how to look well ahead and plan my way down the road, rather than just reacting like Pavlov's dog to whatever is immediately in front of my bonnet.
Modern cars are brilliant in comparison but they've made us all a bit complacent and soft in my opinion. [/four Yorkshiremen]
We do have it easy these days but I think that's a fault of both consumer and manufacturer. As an example, my 370Z decided to stop working today. Googled the issue and apparently it's a throttle sensor. The only way to fix it is either by plugging a laptop in and doing some magic, or by replacing the sensor (since the car's DBW). In olden times, I would have just opened the bonnet and tightened the throttle cable. Now I have to lose the car for a week while it sits in a garage so someone can reset a code or whatever and charge me for the privilege (lesson learnt, OBDII reader on order).
The reliance on the computer/MOT man/etc has also meant that basic checks like oil, filters, tyre pressures and screenwash are now alien to most. I think I posted in the "stupid things non-PHers say" about a driver who had no idea how to perform any basic maintenance at all.
The reliance on the computer/MOT man/etc has also meant that basic checks like oil, filters, tyre pressures and screenwash are now alien to most. I think I posted in the "stupid things non-PHers say" about a driver who had no idea how to perform any basic maintenance at all.
backwoodsman said:
I currently have a 68 year old car repair book for sale.
It covers such things as...
Rebuilding a magneto.
How to repair, your wooden chassis.
How to put new friction material on your brake shoes.
Now that is complicated stuff.
We have it very easy.
I've got an older oneIt covers such things as...
Rebuilding a magneto.
How to repair, your wooden chassis.
How to put new friction material on your brake shoes.
Now that is complicated stuff.
We have it very easy.
Includes some wonderful stuff - how to make bearings fit with engineering blue and bearing scrapers, including how to make the scraper from an old file, a forge, anvil and hammer.Troubleatmill said:
60's-70's British unionised manufacturing techniques thankfully died.
The Japanese rucked up and showed us that you can make a car start in winter - and it doesn't need to be a horrid place to be.
Strange- I had a MAXI in the late 70's and I never had problems starting. Plenty of stories of cars not starting, but mine started first turn ,even when I had to dig it out to get in. Possibly down to electronic ignition ( care of practical electronics ) , decent protection of the electrics and a yearly check on the solenoid drop. Those days, it was worth while checking the drop across the solenoid contacts ,and if anywhere near .5v ,the solenoid could be stripped and the contacts cleaned. The Japanese rucked up and showed us that you can make a car start in winter - and it doesn't need to be a horrid place to be.
I remember my father attending to the family Morris Marina on a weekly basis in the late 70's, it was just something that you had to do. I also remember neighbours with Japanese cars also having reliability issues, so I'm not altogether sold on this fashionable story of Japanese cars in the 70's being wonders of reliability, hence gaining them a foothold.
I think they gained a foothold as they were cheap, and the reliability came later in the 80's, as they actually re-invested in their product to make it far better than the British one.
I know we love to blame the Unions for the demise of the British car industry, and Lord knows, they deserve the blame, but we often overlook the very greedy, entitled, utterly incompetent upper management that matched them side by side all the way into failure.
I think they gained a foothold as they were cheap, and the reliability came later in the 80's, as they actually re-invested in their product to make it far better than the British one.
I know we love to blame the Unions for the demise of the British car industry, and Lord knows, they deserve the blame, but we often overlook the very greedy, entitled, utterly incompetent upper management that matched them side by side all the way into failure.
sebhaque said:
basic checks like oil, filters, tyre pressures and screenwash are now alien to most.
In the three years we've lived in our current house, I've never seen any of my neighbours out with a tyre pressure gauge or even topping up their screenwash, nevermind checking the engine fluids. Plenty of pressure washing but the bonnets always stay shut???I guess they just leave that to the annual service instead...
Hainey said:
I remember my father attending to the family Morris Marina on a weekly basis in the late 70's, it was just something that you had to do. I also remember neighbours with Japanese cars also having reliability issues, so I'm not altogether sold on this fashionable story of Japanese cars in the 70's being wonders of reliability, hence gaining them a foothold.
I think they gained a foothold as they were cheap, and the reliability came later in the 80's, as they actually re-invested in their product to make it far better than the British one.
I know we love to blame the Unions for the demise of the British car industry, and Lord knows, they deserve the blame, but we often overlook the very greedy, entitled, utterly incompetent upper management that matched them side by side all the way into failure.
I think you're wrong. It was a revelation to Austin / Morris /Triumph / Rover / Jaguar drivers in the 70s when Datsuns arrived. The revelation that it was possible to put the key in the ignition without having your fingers crossed. Cars that were constantly reliable, in all weathers.I think they gained a foothold as they were cheap, and the reliability came later in the 80's, as they actually re-invested in their product to make it far better than the British one.
I know we love to blame the Unions for the demise of the British car industry, and Lord knows, they deserve the blame, but we often overlook the very greedy, entitled, utterly incompetent upper management that matched them side by side all the way into failure.
We'd already seen it happen with bikes.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Hainey said:
I remember my father attending to the family Morris Marina on a weekly basis in the late 70's, it was just something that you had to do. I also remember neighbours with Japanese cars also having reliability issues, so I'm not altogether sold on this fashionable story of Japanese cars in the 70's being wonders of reliability, hence gaining them a foothold.
I think they gained a foothold as they were cheap, and the reliability came later in the 80's, as they actually re-invested in their product to make it far better than the British one.
I know we love to blame the Unions for the demise of the British car industry, and Lord knows, they deserve the blame, but we often overlook the very greedy, entitled, utterly incompetent upper management that matched them side by side all the way into failure.
I think you're wrong. It was a revelation to Austin / Morris /Triumph / Rover / Jaguar drivers in the 70s when Datsuns arrived. The revelation that it was possible to put the key in the ignition without having your fingers crossed. Cars that were constantly reliable, in all weathers.I think they gained a foothold as they were cheap, and the reliability came later in the 80's, as they actually re-invested in their product to make it far better than the British one.
I know we love to blame the Unions for the demise of the British car industry, and Lord knows, they deserve the blame, but we often overlook the very greedy, entitled, utterly incompetent upper management that matched them side by side all the way into failure.
We'd already seen it happen with bikes.
I agree in the 80's though they simply blew the home grown product into the dirt in terms of reliability. My father had a Triumph Acclaim, which was pure Honda underneath the badge, and it was faultless all the time he had it. Pretty zippy as well IIRC. Latterly, I used to work with a bloke in the 90's who was using his dad's cast off Bluebird as a work hack. It just wouldn't die, and was well north of 200k at the time. Reliability like that achieved with old, pre canbus tech you just can't question.
Fixing my old mk1 or mk2 I could do with 3ish spanners and you would know exactly what the problem was. I've just spent the weekend trying to fix my mk4 golf. Full tool kit and laptop required and its still not fixed the problem.
When a new car works its great but when they go wrong they are a headache.
When a new car works its great but when they go wrong they are a headache.
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