Long until 'motoring' and 'spirited driving' dies a death?
Discussion
just musing really after the thread: 'You can run, but you can't hide - Speed Cameras in Space'
I used to love cars as a kid. my old man used to have a car every now and then when he could afford one, so i was never surrounded by them first hand, (sometimes this was good after suffering the likes of a montego, rusty triumph 2000, mk3 escort etc.) but i always longed for my own trusty steed
fast forward to my modest, boring and underpowered motoring history and i can't help but feel a bit cheated, maybe it's selfish of me but does every early petrolhead feel like they were born in the wrong era?! i've grown up in a world, or government with no real care of the environment, despite what they've been told time and again only for me to begin motoring right as the hammer comes down, when it's all really too little too late!
all of a sudden i feel time is passing me by all too quickly, when am i going to own / how can i afford an M car, a TVR, a rally rep evo/scoob, a lightweight - elise/caterfield etc. ? should you unwillingly end your love for cars now and get the bus, rather than try to hang on and pretend you're living in another world whilst getting priced through the nose and victimised for motoring?
I guess i should have listened a little more at school, but even so, even if i could own a classic and a piece of motoring history i aspire to, what now, in this climate would it all be for? so as i could afford to run it for maybe, weekends? since price per mile when fuel will be £5, £10 ?! per litre would allow only for pre calculated mileage trips?!
and how could you enjoy such a vehicle now we're to be charged by mile and average speed recorded between points? how long before ANPR detects you car hasn't been surrendered to the local black box fitting station so as your movements/speed can be logged as well as your attempts to tamper?
forgive the slightly 'abandon all hope' defeatist attitude but the state of the future for the motorist seems pretty bleak.
anyone like to add an uplifting note?!
I used to love cars as a kid. my old man used to have a car every now and then when he could afford one, so i was never surrounded by them first hand, (sometimes this was good after suffering the likes of a montego, rusty triumph 2000, mk3 escort etc.) but i always longed for my own trusty steed
fast forward to my modest, boring and underpowered motoring history and i can't help but feel a bit cheated, maybe it's selfish of me but does every early petrolhead feel like they were born in the wrong era?! i've grown up in a world, or government with no real care of the environment, despite what they've been told time and again only for me to begin motoring right as the hammer comes down, when it's all really too little too late!
all of a sudden i feel time is passing me by all too quickly, when am i going to own / how can i afford an M car, a TVR, a rally rep evo/scoob, a lightweight - elise/caterfield etc. ? should you unwillingly end your love for cars now and get the bus, rather than try to hang on and pretend you're living in another world whilst getting priced through the nose and victimised for motoring?
I guess i should have listened a little more at school, but even so, even if i could own a classic and a piece of motoring history i aspire to, what now, in this climate would it all be for? so as i could afford to run it for maybe, weekends? since price per mile when fuel will be £5, £10 ?! per litre would allow only for pre calculated mileage trips?!
and how could you enjoy such a vehicle now we're to be charged by mile and average speed recorded between points? how long before ANPR detects you car hasn't been surrendered to the local black box fitting station so as your movements/speed can be logged as well as your attempts to tamper?
forgive the slightly 'abandon all hope' defeatist attitude but the state of the future for the motorist seems pretty bleak.
anyone like to add an uplifting note?!
KaraK said:
I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to work out that its only going to get more difficult and more expensive to own and enjoy a petrolhead car - so my advice is to do it while you can.
I agree, while motoring is more expensive than it has ever been, the prices are only going one way. While it is expensive it is still (just about!) affordable for the normal person to be able to have a 'PH' type car. Enjoy that while you can, for in a generation or so's time it will be impossible.Push the public too far and maybe you'd end up with civil disobedience on a massive scale? Just hate the way they drip feed this endless misery on us. If ("if" - ha!) all they want is our money then why don't we just pay our salaries directly to the government or just abandon the concept of money altogether. Argh!
Greenwich Ross said:
Push the public too far and maybe you'd end up with civil disobedience on a massive scale? Just hate the way they drip feed this endless misery on us. If ("if" - ha!) all they want is our money then why don't we just pay our salaries directly to the government or just abandon the concept of money altogether. Argh!
Vive le revolution!Slippery slope has already started, unfortunately. I'm also skint which makes life more complicated.
Thank god for my mx5, a car which feels fast but doesn't threaten my license too badly, has cheap parts, is amazing fun no matter the occasion.... All for 10% of the cost of a modern hot hatch.
Thank god for my mx5, a car which feels fast but doesn't threaten my license too badly, has cheap parts, is amazing fun no matter the occasion.... All for 10% of the cost of a modern hot hatch.
Greenwich Ross said:
Groober said:
Lighten up hey! It could be worse you could have the aids.
Wow, it comes to something when the current situation is only slightly better than having the aids.Greenwich Ross said:
Push the public too far and maybe you'd end up with civil disobedience on a massive scale?
perhaps, but like thatcher breaking the miner's strike, i doubt that very much seeing as we're been turned against eachotheri run a 5 too, and am in the process of making it 'mint' but with all this thought of getting to a point of not being able to run a car at all someday, my buying/selling feet are getting a little twitchy
dylan0451 said:
i can't help but feel a bit cheated, maybe it's selfish of me but does every early petrolhead feel like they were born in the wrong era?!
Pick up some old car magazines. People have been thinking this for decades 
Those driving now are probably the luckiest generation of motorists. Although you might not have an M, a TVR or whatever, you do have a car!
You've got 100 years of makes and models to choose from. Whether you want an Austin 7 or an Impreza, you can get one.
Nowadays, you can buy a ten year old car for peanuts, and the sills probably won't be made from old biscuit tins and filler.
Despite all the taxes, speed cameras etc, Britain is still a good place to be a car enthusiast. You can still drive anything you want, you can still modify your car, you can still import foreign cars.
Of course petrol is only going to get more and more expensive. All the more reason to enjoy your car NOW. In another 20-30 years, you can reminisce about the good old days when petrol was only £1.30/litre and the cars weren't speed limited.
The joy of motoring won't die. The number of motorists running about with cloned plates will though! If they're all in favour of spending money on cameras to catch the law abiding, insured, safe drivers who occasionally stray over the speed limit then there will be fewer police on the roads to catch those who change their numberplates in order not to be caught by these systems....
pbirkett said:
Thank god for my <<whatever car which meets or approaches the following criteria>> , a car which feels fast but doesn't threaten my license too badly, has cheap parts, is amazing fun no matter the occasion.... All for 10% of the cost of a modern hot hatch.
The above, paired with low expectations is my answer to your question, the same question I've been asking myself. I'd love to have a go in / own variations of ///M, lightweights, muscle cars etc (it's a looong list), but I'm unwilling to sacrifice other (at least) equally important things to make it happen. This is a subjective thing of course, not everyone will agree. For me driving down a twisty b road in an old banger can be at least 50% of the fun I'd have in a supercar but for 1% of the price, and almost zero ownership anxiety. 'Motoring' and 'spirited driving' doesn't have to equal loads of money. Great thing about this country that so many seem to moan about is that majority of people making above minimum wage are able to afford a car that meets the above criteria - that, in itself, is not the main problem. The problem is unrealistic expectations.The simple fact is the sooner we have a change of government the sooner Scameras will fall in number and the government will become less communist!! Wake up England....another socialist government and everybody will give up the will to live, whilst the rest of us will have left the country.
I think it's well on its way there already. The main thing for me is traffic density though. You can slow down for scameras, you can ignore random reductions in speed limits; but if there's two dozen mono-speeders nose-to-tail at 38mph in front of you you're buggered.
Until the noise and emissions restrictions become an issue the obvious refuge is track days. It's not quite the same thing, but it's in many respects better.
It does depend where you are though. Five days a week I don't even bother with a car in the south east, but every journey was an event when I lived in the middle of nowhere.
Until the noise and emissions restrictions become an issue the obvious refuge is track days. It's not quite the same thing, but it's in many respects better.
It does depend where you are though. Five days a week I don't even bother with a car in the south east, but every journey was an event when I lived in the middle of nowhere.
Chris71 said:
I think it's well on its way there already. The main thing for me is traffic density though. You can slow down for scameras, you can ignore random reductions in speed limits; but if there's two dozen mono-speeders nose-to-tail at 38mph in front of you you're buggered.
Until the noise and emissions restrictions become an issue the obvious refuge is track days. It's not quite the same thing, but it's in many respects better.
It does depend where you are though. Five days a week I don't even bother with a car in the south east, but every journey was an event when I lived in the middle of nowhere.
Thats why you need a motorcycle... they are awesome.Until the noise and emissions restrictions become an issue the obvious refuge is track days. It's not quite the same thing, but it's in many respects better.
It does depend where you are though. Five days a week I don't even bother with a car in the south east, but every journey was an event when I lived in the middle of nowhere.
Its a worrying situation. Especially as i'm just starting my motoring 'career'. Will i ever actually get to own and enjoy any of my dream cars? The future is looking bleak.
On the brightside, i have a slow but still very fun car, its sunny, i have but a few troubles in life, and i've planned to meet a friend later today to go for a drive in the sunset.
Today, life is good. And tomorrow isn't here yet.
On the brightside, i have a slow but still very fun car, its sunny, i have but a few troubles in life, and i've planned to meet a friend later today to go for a drive in the sunset.
Today, life is good. And tomorrow isn't here yet.
Don said:
Does it by any chance rely on something being fitted to the car?
err, numberplates!the anpr camera thingies on the ground read your plate, and the satellite works out distance/time - speed between points, then issues your ticket... thats how i thought it worked anyway
Hitler Hadrump said:
dylan0451 said:
i can't help but feel a bit cheated, maybe it's selfish of me but does every early petrolhead feel like they were born in the wrong era?!
Pick up some old car magazines. People have been thinking this for decades Those driving now are probably the luckiest generation of motorists. Although you might not have an M, a TVR or whatever, you do have a car!
You've got 100 years of makes and models to choose from. Whether you want an Austin 7 or an Impreza, you can get one.
Nowadays, you can buy a ten year old car for peanuts, and the sills probably won't be made from old biscuit tins and filler.
Despite all the taxes, speed cameras etc, Britain is still a good place to be a car enthusiast. You can still drive anything you want, you can still modify your car, you can still import foreign cars.
Of course petrol is only going to get more and more expensive. All the more reason to enjoy your car NOW. In another 20-30 years, you can reminisce about the good old days when petrol was only £1.30/litre and the cars weren't speed limited.
i realise what we do still have, and should cherish that, it just seems harder to swallow that we are in such better positions regarding good seconhand cars, the vast amount of makes + models, quality etc. and that none of this is the issue, just that we're being stopped from doing it, albeit via being 'priced off the road'perhaps some manning up is required!
Robb F said:
Today, life is good. And tomorrow isn't here yet.
leaf, that book etc.Edited by dylan0451 on Tuesday 20th April 16:25
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