£10k Rusty Rolls? Just Buy It!
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Concept
tyre kickers
“Tyre kickers” are people who look at cars and talk about them, but usually aren’t ready to buy. They might just be curious or window-shopping.
Term
paint code
A paint code is like the car’s exact color recipe. It helps you find the right paint so repairs or repainting match the original look.
Term
switch gear
Switch gear is the set of buttons and switches in the car. On older cars, some of them can feel bad or stop working properly over time.
Concept
resale value
Resale value just means what the car will be worth when you sell it. Neutral colors like grey or black usually attract more buyers, so they can sell for more money later.
Brand
triumph
Triumph is a classic British car brand. A “colour chart” is basically a list of the official paint colors that were available back in the day.
Term
British racing green
British racing green is a classic dark green paint color. People associate it with British racing and it often looks very “period correct” on older sports cars.
Brand
Jaguar
Jaguar is the British luxury/performance brand referenced in the segment. The host uses Jaguar as the example brand for discussing how paint colors and their exact codes (like a 1987 paint code) can be tracked and matched.
Car
Jaguar XJ6
The Jaguar XJ6 is a luxury car made by Jaguar. It’s designed for comfortable driving, especially for longer trips. The podcast is mentioning which colors were common and how certain XJ6s stood out.
Car
Lamborghini Countach
The Lamborghini Countach is a famous supercar. They’re saying that painting it a bright yellow makes it look more fun and stands out more than darker colors.
Car
Chevrolet Camaro
That’s a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro with the “SS” performance trim. It’s a classic muscle car, known for being loud, flashy, and built to look fast even when parked.
Term
fuse
A fuse is like an electrical “break” that protects the wiring. If something draws too much power, the fuse blows so nothing worse happens.
Company
AutoTrader
AutoTrader is a website where people list used cars for sale. The point here is that it’s easy to find a car you want, but you still have to check it carefully.
Term
rust
Rust is when metal starts to corrode and break down. If it’s “everywhere,” it usually means the car may need expensive repairs, not just a quick cosmetic fix.
Concept
Cheap Rolls-Royce
“Cheap Rolls-Royce” is a common phrase for buying an older Rolls-Royce at a low purchase price, then discovering that restoration and upkeep can be extremely costly. The segment’s numbers illustrate the classic trap: spending far more than the car is worth after repairs.
Concept
looks nice from 10 feet away
“Looks nice from 10 feet away” is a common car-buying phrase meaning the car’s surface appearance is good at a distance, but close inspection may reveal problems. It’s especially relevant to rusty classics where paint and bodywork can hide corrosion until you get up close.
Car
Ferrari 355
The Ferrari 355 is a classic Ferrari sports car. In this segment, they’re arguing about whether the interior feels as special as you’d expect from a Ferrari.
Concept
flared wheel arches
Flared wheel arches are the “wider” parts around the tires. They can be added to fit bigger tires and also make the vehicle look more off-road.
Concept
Minerva
Minerva was a company in Belgium that modified Land Rovers. The speaker is saying that Minerva-made versions had certain styling differences, so those details help identify what the vehicle really is.
Term
car cover
A car cover keeps the car protected, but if moisture gets trapped under it, it can actually help rust start or worsen. It depends on how the cover fits and whether the car is dry underneath.
Car
Series 1 E-type Jag
The Jaguar E-Type is a famous classic sports car from the 1960s. “Series 1” means the early version, and the point here is that the buttons and switches feel really solid and clear to use.
Brand
Lucas
Lucas is a company that made electrical parts for lots of older British cars. They’re mentioned here because the later Jaguar E-Type used Lucas-made rocker switches.
Term
demisted
“Demisted” means clearing fog or condensation off the inside of the windows. It helps you see clearly again while driving.
Term
rear demist
Rear demist is the system that clears fogging from the back window. It usually warms the glass so the condensation disappears.
Brand
Volvo
They’re talking about the physical buttons and switches in a Volvo. The idea is that they feel solid and work the way you expect, not flimsy or vague.
Car
Jensen FF
The Jensen FF is a classic Jensen car known for having four-wheel drive. The hosts are using it as an example of a model with standout engineering for its era.
Term
ABS
ABS is a system that helps prevent wheel lock-up during hard braking. It keeps the car more controllable so you can steer.
Term
fog lights
Fog lights are extra lights meant for bad weather. They help you see the road better when visibility is poor.
Concept
BL was permanently in crisis
BL was a British car company that had money troubles for a long time. When a company is always struggling financially, it often saves money on parts you touch every day—like the dashboard and switches.
Term
heated rear window
A heated rear window is a back window that warms up to clear mist or frost. It’s usually controlled by a switch on the dashboard.
LIVE
I've prepared for this by having a little nap in the garden.
Power nap.
Well, it wasn't power nap, it was two apps.
The tyre kickers, classic car chat with Max and Matt.
Welcome to The tyre kickers, the podcast for classic car fans on a journey of self-improvement.
Self-improvement, the only journey I seem to be on, is to Halfords.
The tyre kickers.
In this episode, we're asking what's the best colour for a classic car?
Is it best to go bright or be more mature and muted?
We'll get the colour chart out and argue the paint code.
Plus all the switch gear and no idea.
Some classics have terrible switches.
Some have cool ones.
We'll name the worst and celebrate those that click.
And we hear your thoughts on storage,
Aussie motors and more guilty pleasures.
Plus, guess what?
Max is obsessed with another 70s motor.
We'll find out which one.
So buckle up and check your blind spot as we pull away
in episode 53 of The tyre kickers.
Driving and arguing since 2024.
This is The tyre kickers.
So we've talked on previous shows about how modern cars are now a sea of mediocrity.
All those dull blacks and grays.
But with a classic car, you have a chance to be bold and drive a primary colour.
Cars of the 60s especially were a rainbow choice of cool hues.
Yeah, colours like Carnival Reds, Mimosa Yellow, Electric Blue and Java Green.
I mean, all were designed to stand out in the car park,
not simply blend in like cars now.
But given there's so much choice, Max,
which colour suits a classic best?
I mean, is there a shade that shines or is it down to the make and model perhaps?
Well, it's kind of a choice, isn't it?
Is bright the best or are you smarter going for something more subtle?
Because obviously now they say we can't,
if you order a new car, it's got to be grey or black or some boring colour
because of the resale value.
Now, I don't think that matters so much in classic cars,
but do you always want to buy something with a minging hue, for example?
Because you do have to sell it at some point and you do see it auctions.
Some bright colours are stuck there for quite a long time.
Yeah, I think that's a very good point.
You need to buy it mindfully that if it's a marmite colour,
you're going to struggle to sell it on.
But I think with a classic car, it's probably your only opportunity now in cars
to buy a car that's bright.
You know, you've got it laid out for you.
Most of these colours are beautiful colours.
I mean, let's pull up a triumph colour chart from the 1970s.
You won't see many, you know, it might have been a bit brown,
but you'll see plenty of primary colours up there.
I mean, look at these.
There's some beautiful yellows, some oranges, greens, blues, bright blues.
I mean, some of these really ping, don't they?
Well, I think mimosas, which is a kind of yellow on a stag,
looks really good, doesn't it?
I've seen a few mimosas stags and they look great.
Plus the British racing green, that's always a great colour for a triumph, isn't it?
And actually, I mean, the browns are pretty good.
I've always liked the browns and the reds, particularly on stags.
There's this calm in red, which is a cracking colour.
I mean, what's your favourite colour on a stag?
Because obviously, you don't get to choose a colour on a classic car really.
You get to get what the previous owners kind of already got.
So you've just got the choice of car.
What would your ideal stag colour be?
Pimento red.
Pimento red, okay.
Actually, now you're asking a question, probably a primary colour.
Probably a yellow, probably a white or a red.
I always think white cars, they slightly lose the lines a bit on it,
but I do like a good red sports car.
I think that looks really good.
What do you hit on this point?
Do different types of car suit different colours?
Now, my misage is SL, for example, is signal red,
but is red on a sports car, driven by a middle-aged man, shouting mid-life crisis?
At least that's what people shout at me when I'm driving it.
Haha, yeah, look at him.
Look at that old bloke.
Oh, that idiot.
Now, let's say this, what an idiot.
Yeah, I mean, it's true.
I mean, red on a sports car is the great colour.
I'm not bothered about what people think.
It's definitely a next snapper, a red car,
because people expect to see, non-car people,
expect to see sports cars in red, don't they?
So it's definitely when they stand and look at.
But I know what you mean.
A colour on a sports car doesn't necessarily work really well on a big car.
I mean, take a big Rolls Royce or something,
in a bright red on that might not work, or big old Mercedes.
Yeah, I think the colours have got to sort of suit it.
What about Jags?
I mean, Jaguar, we had good paint colours.
Well, I've just put up the Jaguar paint code from 1987 up on your screen here.
Wow, it's almost like it's planned this show.
Quite, yeah.
I haven't just been sleeping in the garden all afternoon.
So there are some nice colours here in the Jags.
They did that kind of almond, which is a sort of brownie colour.
They did the green sand, but mostly they were quite subtle colours.
They did the pale primrose,
but I can't remember seeing many yellow XJ6s.
So they were mainly the kind of subtle ferngrays and light blues,
willow greens, ocean blues.
And that suited that kind of bank manager, captain of industry,
who was driving an XJ6.
You didn't really see many bright red ones or yellow ones,
because it just didn't really suit the car, did it?
Those are sports car colours.
I think the Jaguar more subtle colours were quite nice.
I think there was a golden sand colour that was really nice,
a very 70s colour that went well with the kind of beige interior.
So those Jaguar Hughes, they are a bit more subtle.
Now, how about this one on your screen now?
This is the Lamborghini Fly Yellow on this Countach.
Look at this.
I mean, you really wouldn't miss this in a crowd, would you?
And I do think the more outrageous the car,
and in this sense, the Lamborghini Countach is pretty outrageous,
the more outrageous the colour,
because you wouldn't want a Lambo in grey, would you?
You've got to have a bright colour.
And this kind of like Fly Yellow, it's just tremendous.
It looks so good on the Countach.
Yeah, it does, and it changes the personality of the car.
It makes it look more fun.
I think if that was in a dark, dark colour,
you know, obviously this is a one from 1988,
but if it was even a modern Lamborghini in a dark colour,
it kind of looks a little bit more like you're trying to be,
you know, a TikTok influencer.
Whereas this just looks fun, doesn't it?
It looks...
Yeah, you're just looking loud, aren't you?
You just want to be loud, because you're just going to be so...
I mean, firstly, it's a loud car anyway,
and secondly, with that yellow, you just couldn't miss it.
I really like that.
I'm not a huge yellow car fan, but that looks tremendous.
Let's talk about, before we wrap this up,
let's talk about American cars.
If you're going to buy bold colours,
then you find loads in American cars, don't you?
I mean, what about things like oranges and yellows and stuff like that?
I mean, you must be able to find some of those on the internet.
Oh, look at this.
I mean, American cars in the 60s and 70s just went crazy.
This is a 1969 Chevy Camaro SS.
So this is the fastest Camaro in hugger orange,
which is the most vibrant, kind of like bright orange...
Even slightly kind of like light red colour.
I mean, it is a fantastic colour, isn't it?
Hugger orange was a great kind of like sports car colour.
And you could, again, like that Lamborghini,
you could see that coming.
It's meant to make a statement.
It's a loud car, and it's got a very loud colour.
I really like that.
You know, I like that kind of 70s American car shouting
in-your-face muscle car approach because it's not subtle, it's loud.
And that's what the muscle cars were meant to be about.
What about this for a yellow one, a banana dodge?
Oh, yeah. This is top banana, isn't it?
And it's bright yellow this, isn't it?
That's an amazing amount of colour in one car.
Actually, it's almost like a kind of...
What would you describe that?
That's the kind of yellow from a bee, isn't it?
It's about as loud and as vibrant and as bright a yellow you can get.
You know, in your stag yellows, they're quite subtle, that mimosa.
But the American dodge colours, they were so bright,
that is a slap in the face.
I think I prefer British cars and European cars in bright colours.
I prefer the smaller cars.
I think it makes those cars just pop, you know,
and just makes them stand out on British roads,
whereas American cars are just sort of loud to start with.
I mean, I've had two red classic cars in a row,
and your Sunbeam Alpine was red as well.
So I do think sports cars, red is a great colour for them.
And also in the sunshine, it does really stand out.
What's your favourite classic car colour?
Do let us know. You can contact us via our socials on Instagram and Facebook.
And here's how you do it.
You can find us at the TireKickers UK on Instagram
and the TireKickers on Facebook.
It's episode 53 of The TireKickers.
Good to have you along.
What have we been up to?
Well, I didn't go to the Brooklands thing, Max, this weekend,
because the weather is bank holiday weekend here in the UK when we're recording this.
And you know, if you live in the UK, what does that mean?
The weather's going to be rubbish.
So come Saturday morning, I went to put the garage up on the car.
It was grey, and I thought, you know what?
I'll go up to the big Brooklands, used to classic me,
and it started raining.
And I thought, I don't want to look at cars in the rain, in the grey.
So I sort of chickened out.
I mean, it's 25 quid to get in as well.
So you've got to make it worth while going, I think.
So I sort of chickened out of that, and I felt bad about it,
but I saw some cars today.
So I was fine about that.
I've got some new wheels.
I've got some alloy wheels replacement.
And the wheels for my car is working very good.
Thank you, Lawrence, who helped me sort those out.
I've got some new tyres on.
I can't, I'm clearly choosing tyres for a classic car.
What a pain.
I mentioned this in the previous episode, but oh, nobody agrees on what to have.
No, but just don't wait for forums.
Otherwise, you'll never get on.
Have you noticed a difference in the drive?
Is it driving a bit sharper with new tyres?
Because those old ones were kind of like, what, 10, 15 years old, weren't they?
They were 13 years old, yeah.
13, yeah.
I wouldn't say it's put me on the apex,
but it's definitely made me think I'm not going to die quite as quickly,
because I've felt there's more probably fresh rubber on the road.
No, it hasn't, it hasn't really.
I mean, the last, it's not actually made much difference at all.
On my last car, when I replaced all the tyres, on the Alpine,
I did notice a difference.
On this one, I think because I've got power steering,
and it's kind of American power steering, it doesn't give you that feel.
The car's running brilliantly.
I was hooning it up and down the motorway.
And no, no, I wasn't, I was sticking to the national speed limit.
Let's point it out.
No, but I was-
Listen, if you get a speeding ticket, you should frame it in a classic car.
Do you think, do you think I should be overtaking all the cars?
Because I have been overtaking quite a lot of cars.
I've been going faster than the traffic.
Because they're dithering around.
On the motorway now, people seem to dither about 50.
Well, they're all on that kind of radar cruise, aren't they?
Obviously in the stag, that doesn't exist.
That's called your eyes.
So you just don't have that.
I think radar cruise is ruining the way Britain drives,
because everybody's on it, and nobody really pays any attention.
Everybody's driving like zombies.
Yeah, and then you're in a classic car, you don't have that.
You have to brake.
You're a bit more aware of things, I think.
I was doing 17.
I was still sort of the fastest thing on the motorway.
And I think, well, wakey, wakey, keep moving.
So, but the car's running really well.
So I've run it out a couple of times today.
I kind of ran it around Windsor, drove it around the castle and stuff.
The king wasn't in at the moment.
I thought he might be interested in the stag.
So I thought, you know, might.
And not a brown one.
Sorry. Mamo's a radio, maybe.
That's right. It's not yellow.
So, yeah, I've used the car a couple of bits.
So that was good.
I went to adjust the heater and the radio broke.
So the radio's now broken.
I need to find out what that is.
Are those two connected?
Was it a fuse, by the way?
That's what I think.
So I had to chop through a wire.
I had a quick look, and I can't see anything,
but probably the fuse is gone.
So I'll probably have a look at that.
So I'm a bit tune-less at the moment.
But otherwise, that's pretty much good.
But the car is looking really good.
I've got a few little bits to do to it,
but it's looking good in the sunshine.
Despite of the fact it's brown.
What about you?
Now, I've got an inkling
that you might have got a bit obsessed with something.
Yeah, I've got something to confess.
I'd like our audience to, perhaps,
sit down somewhere comfy and listen to this,
because it's a sad story.
We'll change the names in this story,
so let's just call him Max.
He fell in love with a lady,
a lady called Silver, Silver Shadow,
and 1973 rolls.
They met on a dating site called AutoTrader.
It was love at first sight,
but Silver had a secret.
She had bad rust.
The rust had spread everywhere.
Max tried to forget her,
but Silver Shadow was cheap.
She was available,
and of course, for those reasons,
Max fell in love with her.
All too soon, he was flicking through her history,
thumbing through her MOT history,
flying books about her.
Max had it bad, but it wasn't to be.
Yes, it's the love that dare not speak its name.
It's a cheap 1973 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow.
Now, I saw it last week.
I went to have a look at it.
I can't stop thinking about it.
Oh, not again.
It's rusty. It's tired.
It's a bit baggy. It's a bit leggy.
Is that you or the car?
But it is in my perfect color combo
of peacock blue with a blue leather interior.
Now, you've got to talk me out of this,
because this is absolutely crazy.
It is less than 10 grand,
but the problem with this is,
if I wanted to put it into the kind of condition
that I'd wanted, I'd need to respray it.
And then that's 15 grand to respray Silver Shadow
because the windows need to come out.
And then you've got a Silver Shadow that owes you 25,000,
that's worth about 11,000.
So stop me, somebody.
I reckon go for it, yeah.
That's been loads of money.
Oh, that's really helpful.
Cheap Rolls-Royce.
Yeah, I think just get one.
I think you'll have loads of fun with that.
There's nothing as expensive as a Cheap Rolls-Royce,
but I really helped start it.
I walked away from it saying,
I'm not really interested in it, mate.
You know, it needs too much work.
And then that just started the process of staring at it
on AutoTrader for about two days.
I think it is a brilliant idea,
and I'll tell you for why.
Why?
We're episode 53.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, that's a good idea.
We're running out of stuff.
So this will keep us going for,
oh, let's do like 10 episodes of you.
Or the episode of Misery, isn't it?
Max has his house repossessed
because he's brought a Silver Shadow.
And on this episode of the tiger,
because we'll go through Max's bank statements.
See where the money went.
So this is great.
What I'm trying to say is I really love it
because it's in the right colors.
It's a 73 Shadow 1.
I love it.
But it's just such bad economic sense
because I'd pay 10 grand.
I'd spend 15 to 20 on it.
It would only 30.
It would only be worth about 12 to 15 then
because they're not worth that much money.
Plus this has got 130,000 miles on it.
So do I want to have something to love
and waste a load of money on?
Or do I just go and buy a better one for more money
but it just doesn't need so much work?
Right.
Okay.
So let's just go through a few things.
Unpack a few things first.
First, that you said never buy a cheap Rolls Royce.
Secondly, you said,
I don't want a Series 1 or a Series 2.
This is Series 1.
Secondly, you said, I only want it in...
Third.
This is third now.
This is a point trade.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Third.
Sorry, I got so excited at putting these points out.
I couldn't count.
Third, you like anyone to buy in certain colors.
And I think black or dark blue is the only color.
And this is light blue.
Yeah.
So you've changed on that.
Apart from those three points, yeah.
Apart from these things.
Do you know what?
Actually, in all seriousness,
I would buy this and not do anything with it.
I'd just rag around with it, enjoy it.
Get it out of your system
because you've been going on about these silver shadows
for a long time now.
I think you need to buy it, scratch the itch, do it,
sell it on and probably not spend any money.
Just live with the rust unless it's work.
Yeah, well, this is the problem, isn't it?
I don't...
I'm not sure I could do that.
You either spend 30 grand and get the one you want,
or you spend 10 grand on this
and just make some cosmetic...
and polish some money into it and then move it on.
Polish some money out of it.
Yeah, well, don't polish too hard
because the rust will fall, the rust will start going through.
But I would say, honestly, looking at this car,
and we've got it up on the screen now,
we're looking at it, it looks nice from 10 feet away.
Yeah, it does.
From 20 feet, it looks nice.
As I drove closer to it, I went, oh.
Do you know why I'd spend the money?
I'd spend the money as long as the engine runs okay
and it's been serviced and that sort of stuff.
I would spend the money on the interior
because the seats are, they're just a bit tired
and you could give them to a specialist
and they could get those looking really, really nice
and you open the door and have a wow.
So it's just the front seats are quite warm.
The back's not quite so bad.
But I'd just get those seats improved
and I would keep it and I would enjoy it for a year
and I would sell it.
Yeah, or I could buy it and take my glasses off.
Episode 53 and lots of you have been in touch
since we last spoke, haven't they, Max?
Simon Tully on Spotify said he really enjoyed
our guilty pleasures episode.
He said he was listening while out for a walk
and was chuckling under his breath at what we were saying.
I think what I was saying, glad to hear it, Simon.
Glad we made you laugh.
He was laughing at the nonsense you were talking.
Also on Spotify, Crispman says he really enjoyed
the 50th episode and adds, here's to the next 50.
Oh, sorry, 50?
50 more, are we?
Let me check my contract.
We spoke about the price of classics down under last episode
and Steve O from Melbourne got in touch to say
he loved the chat and offered up a few more cars.
He says prices are high on some stuff,
but just like the UK values have dropped since COVID.
Dave Reeves here in the UK pinged us a DM
to say he's finally got his tire kicker's window sticker.
Thank you for being patient and said he's just deciding
which of his classics to stick it to.
He has a few, including a tractor.
Now, we should definitely do a classic tractor episode.
Really? Okay, I'll take your word for it.
Yeah, and if you want a window sticker,
we've got a few left, I think.
You can stick it on your classic, take a picture.
Just send us a DM on Instagram or Facebook
with your name and address and we'll send one out to you.
Changing the subject and moving on,
Mark Dempsey has taken issue with one of your comments
on episode 50 Max.
You said the Ferrari 355 is not that exciting
and he said he spat his coffee out of that.
I've never been a huge fan of the 355
because it's got that Fiat interior.
And so you look at the 355,
which looks a bit like an overgrown Toyota MR2,
and you sit in it and you see switches from the Fiat Strada.
So it was never really one of my favorite Ferraris
because they just lost the interior for a bit.
Well, Mark doesn't agree.
He says in his mind, the 355 is one of the best-looking
feathers of all time.
In terms of the best decade though,
which is what we're actually talking about,
he thinks it's the 80s.
For him, hot hatches are the sweet spot.
He says they were the perfect recipe,
a car that you could drive to work and rag on the way home.
Now, another longtime listener, Jago Bratt in Ireland,
also shot us a note about the iconic NEC auction picks
and results we talked about in the last episode.
Now, he totally agrees with me
about the Fiat 124 Coupe being such a cracking bar at 10,600.
He says it's unbelievable value for a rare and good car.
Now, interestingly, I looked around at the classifieds
for another Fiat 124 Coupe.
I found a left-hand drive for 17 grand.
So whoever has bought that right-hand drive Fiat Coupe
for 10 grand has got a steal.
We've had a complaint in though this time, Max.
Let's sound the complaint, Claxton.
Yeah, there you go.
It's from Fred Burden who's in the Republic of Essex.
Now, he's asking why we don't have a set of photos
for each episode so people can see the cars we've been on about.
You know, like a sort of a show guide.
He says, if they're just adverts,
why can't we see them as well?
All right, calm down.
What do you think about that, Max?
It's a great idea.
It just takes a lot of effort, doesn't it?
Because we have to get all the pictures of the cars
we've talked about onto Instagram.
Yeah.
That requires time and effort.
Well, I was thinking you could do that.
Yeah, but it would take me two days.
You know how good I am with tech?
At work too, you take a picture of the screen.
And then the upside down and out of focus.
We take your point, Fred.
We take your point.
Well, we'll try and do it.
We'll try and do it because it does make sense.
It's just, yeah, we have to remember to do it.
We talked about cars that are your guilty pleasures
a couple of episodes ago.
If you've not heard that episode,
this episode 50, scroll back and have a listen to that.
And Kevin Bryant, who's a star of our bonus episode
on Triumph Track Days, has sent us his.
He says, it's an Austin Atlantic.
Have you seen one of these, Max?
He says, you're not sure why.
He says, it's ugly, slow, overweight with poor handling.
That's a stag, isn't it?
It's saving grace.
Was it paved the way for the Austin Healy?
And I'll show this one off on your screen.
He likes his TR3As and stuff.
So you can kind of see a little bit in that, can't you?
Yeah, if you squint.
Yeah.
The Austin Atlantic was a great story
because it was about trying to sell cars to America.
And so Austin had a go at designing a car
they thought would look American.
But it just looked like a kind of,
well, it was a hash-up of sort of pre-war and post-war
bad car styling.
We should talk about this one day
because it's a really good story.
But yeah, the Austin A90 Atlantic, it's very different.
It's not particularly pretty, but it's certainly a good story.
Benjamin Maltby over on Facebook got in contact as well,
talking about our point last episode,
about the cost of classic car storage.
Well, we were talking about it.
You were kind of more moaning about it.
He says, though, his workaround is a top-end outdoor cover.
He says the one that he's got is much better
than the old ones used to be.
It's tough yet breathable
and has opened up the possibility of owning a car
that would otherwise have to be garaged.
Now, he sent us a photo, Max.
Have a look at this.
I think we have to, it's a game.
We have to guess what's underneath it.
He's got a lander to describe it.
He's got two spaces on a driveway.
There's a Land Rover, old Land Rover series.
Yeah, series one, part there with a,
what looks like a tow rope coming out of it.
That's pretty standard.
And that's to get it off the drive.
And then next to it is another car,
which is under an outdoor cover.
I've got a guess of what that could be.
What do you think it is?
Well, I looked at it and it's got flared wheel arches
and it's about the size of a series one.
So I was thinking it's kind of a defender,
but then I was looking at the front of it
and it's got a slightly sloped front.
So there was a thing called a Minerva,
which the Belgians made,
which is a kit of a Land Rover,
which the Belgians kind of gave a different face to.
But then it's got those wheel arches
and Minervas didn't have wheel arches.
So I'm thinking it's a Land Rover 110.
Okay, I don't know.
He hasn't told us.
Oh, he's not giving us the answer.
No.
All the big build up.
Interestingly, under the series one,
I can't see the oil patch.
So perhaps it's because there's a hose pipe
where he's just washed it off.
Well, so yeah, a car cover.
I'm always a bit skeptical about car covers
because I think, you know, if there is traps,
the moisture, that's what I've always been told.
I'm not sure.
But yeah, tell us what the car is under there.
It does look like a Land Rover.
Moving on.
As I mentioned, I bought a load of junk
I didn't need from the recent NEC Resto show.
Didn't I on the last show?
A few of you chipped in on that,
including Mark LaBelle.
I asked, you know,
what's your biggest regret from those shows?
You know, what sort of stuff you've bought?
He said, it's usually the overpriced burger.
Show food is normally overpriced and disappointment,
isn't it?
Well, you're trapped, aren't you?
That's the problem.
Yeah, at least he didn't come away
with all the tap that I did, I suppose.
Yeah, you bought a hose connector, didn't you?
Don't ask.
You went to a car chef's.
Hose bit.
Hose bit in a flat cap.
Now, we really enjoy you chipping in on our posts
on Instagram when we can be bothered and Facebook.
So don't be a lurker.
Please get involved.
I think it's fair to say that in our 70 episodes or so,
we've proven we can chat about pretty much anything
involving a classic car.
So let's switch it up for a minute.
I see what you've done there.
Yeah, there's one element of your classic
that you touch and feel every single time you drive it,
but you don't really talk about it too much,
and that's the switch gear.
Because while some cars give you a reassuring plunk
as you operate the heated rear screen,
others give you a feel of a plastic stirrer.
So let's take an unscientific look
at the best and worst switch gear and stalks out there.
We'll applaud the good ones and name and shame the worst.
Now, we're looking for the best tactile offering
with the kind of mechanical honesty,
the weight, the resistance, the click, even the sound.
Yeah, we'll get onto the rubbish ones in a minute,
but let's go for gold to start with the car.
There's not only a design classic,
but has rows and rows of satisfying switches to match.
That's a Series 1 E-type Jag.
Throw it up on your screen.
Look at that dashboard.
See, I think this is the best dash,
possibly on a production car,
because all the switches are labeled,
and they've got that kind of nice bit of plastic sticking out
bit that you flick down and flick up.
You know exactly where you are.
It's either on or it's off.
It's got a sound to it, it's got a physical click,
and it's got a feel to it.
You can feel the button going down.
I don't think they made a better switch than that,
and this is a 1960s Series 1.
When they went to the Series 2 E-type,
they went to the kind of Lucas Rocker switches,
and they were rubbish.
So it's a real retrograde step,
because I think the Series 1, they nailed it.
You've got four gauges in a row.
You've got the headlights on a big chrome switch,
and then you've got all the kind of ancillary stuff
on those little switches,
marked underneath in beautiful font.
I don't think you've got a better dash than that ever.
Yeah, and when you reach out and you touch something in that car,
it's going to give you a reassuring feel, isn't it?
As you say, you click-trunk the lights on with that chrome switch.
They're fingernail switches, aren't they, on these?
So you flick them up, flick them down,
and you get that click, as you say.
Everything in that car, from the gear stick, the handbrake,
everything else, it just has that nice feel to it.
And I think that's the thing that we can put up there and aim for.
I just think, sadly, what are we going to find out?
It went rapidly down here with a lot of this stuff.
So yeah, that's our pin-up car.
What else have we got?
Let's go to something a bit more kooky.
We were talking earlier about Ferraris and 355s,
and somebody saying the 355 was the greatest car ever.
Well, no, because it had Fiat switchgear,
whereas Ferrari used to do really good switchgear.
So if you look at the 1981 Ferrari 308 picture on your screen now,
next to the beautiful gated manual,
you've got some great heater controls, which are sliders,
and again, some little tactile switches,
which you can both hear click and you can feel them click.
And I think that Ferrari 308 has got a great central console,
because it's got the air con controls, it's got electric windows,
oil temperature and water temperature gauges,
and it's got those great switches.
It's just fantastic.
You feel it.
You wouldn't need to take your eyes off the road,
because you could just flip a switch and you'd know what you're doing.
Yeah, it's like a mixing desk from the 60s, isn't it?
It's got pointy up sort of faders that you can fade up and down.
I mean, typical Italian ergonomics,
they've put it down in the center console.
You have to take your eyes off the road to actually use it,
whereas in the Jag, they're up in front of you.
It's much more logical, but it's a thing of beauty, isn't it?
And you know that the tactility of that
is going to be really, really nice to use,
which will give you pleasure to the car.
And I'm a big believer in that.
I think the way your car feels is a sense
that you sometimes don't think about,
but it does leave a lasting impression on you.
It's how you think about that car.
And I think certainly as we get on into the 70s,
some of the cars don't really leave you with a great impression, do they?
But yeah, this is another good one.
Let's find one, maybe two more, the pinnacle,
and then we'll get down and dirty and the ones that are rubbish.
Well, you talked about the 70s.
Now, Volvo were doing great strides in the 70s about safety,
because you needed to switch a switch in a car
in order to keep the windows demisted or the hazard lights on.
Now, if you have a look at this Volvo 244,
it's a 1975 one, and it's got three switches on the console.
In bright yellow, there's the fog lights.
Separated from that in the switch next door is in bright green,
it says rear demist, and then next to that is a red switch, which is hazard.
Now, when you click those 1970s Volvo switches,
they click them down and then they illuminated,
and they made a noise as well.
They made a clickety-clap noise,
but it was just such a fantastic switch, plastic switch,
thumb-sized, you could operate it with gloves on,
you knew whether it was on or off by looking at it, by feeling it.
So it's just the ideal switch,
and you can't get better than Volvo switches.
Yeah, it's a good point, because it's not about necessarily looking the prettiest.
This is functional.
You know those switches are just going to clunk, as you say.
The light switch is sort of really pronounced on this as well,
that you can see as you're going to put your fingers to it,
it's going to go click, click.
It's not necessarily about being the prettiest,
it's about the tactility of it,
as I say, the feeling that when you engage that switch,
it's just going to work, and it's a bit of quality.
Well, I'm just going to throw one more in, actually.
One more, this is not a car we don't talk about very often on the show,
but have a look at this dash.
Photo 25 on this, Max, right up on your screen.
The Jensen FF. Have a look at this.
Now, the build quality of this was often equated to a mini Rolls-Royce,
but if you scroll to that picture of the dashboard,
so you're going to go down, down, down, down, down.
And the Jensen FFs, what's the difference between a Jensen FF and an Interceptor?
Well, here's a good story, because the FF was the four-wheel drive
with the first production car with anti-lock disc brakes with ABS,
because before then, ABS was only used on planes,
but this is the first car that brought ABS to production,
and it was a four-wheel drive way before its time.
So the Jensen FF is a really interesting car,
which we will talk about in the future.
But the dash, you write spot on, four gauges in a row,
and then you've got these kind of click switches
that you know are going to be on or off.
This is the idea.
I can look at that and press it on,
and then I can look back at it again, and I know the fog lights are on.
Again, it's that clarity and that clunk that you know,
even by just looking at it, it's going to have.
Yeah, so those are the ones that click for us.
I mean, you can operate them with gloves.
It's a bit like aircraft.
You know when the switches are on or off,
but there are very many, many, many switches
that just don't do that.
And obviously, it won't be long before I start talking about British Leyland.
So by the magic of radio,
Matt has hot-footed it down to his stag
in the garage of his house
to give us a bit of switch gear, show and tell.
Now, Matt, are you there? Over.
Well, yes, I am. I've come down into the garage.
I'm sat inside my 1978 Triumph stag.
Just slammed the door there.
The door sounds all right.
The switch gear, not so great.
Here's the light switch.
It works. It does the job.
But is that kind of plasticky, kind of groany sound?
It's not, it's not been engineered very well.
The same with the switch gear.
I mean, this is the windscreen wiper.
It's okay.
But the indicator's stuck.
I think it's an aftermarket one.
And it just, it doesn't feel very sort of solid.
And it also rubs against the plastic as well.
But I really don't like that.
Some of the other switches, I mean,
the heater controls sound all right.
A bit of a loud ping.
You can adjust the temperature.
That feels okay.
Window switches.
Yeah, they're okay.
And probably the best switch I've got.
And here is a new one, actually, for the light switch.
The interior lights, that is.
Got a bit more of a clunk.
But everything does feel cheaped out, really.
I mean, it's a very part spin car, this, I think.
As a lot of them were, weren't they, in the 70s max?
I mean, BL didn't have a great reputation for having good quality instruments,
you know, compared to the Germans and stuff.
Why was that?
Was that because it was all done to a price?
Because they couldn't be bothered?
Or they didn't really think about ergonomics?
And they weren't maybe that much into engineering?
I mean, you grew up around BL cars.
Why do you think they felt cheap?
Well, you've got to remember that BL was permanently in crisis.
There was always a financial crisis or two going on at the time.
And one of the reasons that BL feels cheap is that it is cheap.
They were trying to save money all the time,
and they save money on the interior.
They thought designs, we can design a car and people would be attracted to the design.
But let's save some money inside by using some cheap switches.
And not just cheap switches, let's attach them to a cheap feeling dashboard.
So even if you put a good switch in BL, you'd attach it to a bit of,
I don't know, vinyl with a bit of like cheap wood behind it.
And it would just bounce and feel really cheap.
So it's down to money, really.
It's the one thing that puts me off.
I mean, no car of this era, it was great unless it was a Rolls-Royce
or a very expensive Mercedes.
So, you know, it is what it is.
I think they just put a little bit more effort into them.
It would have been all right.
But anyway, you carry on talking, I'm going to hot foot it back upstairs.
So while Matt is trying to get back up the stairs,
and I'm feeling there's a kind of stair lift maybe involved,
let's look at probably the worst offender in the BL stable for shoddy switch gear.
This is an Austin Allegro.
Now, there's two things about the switch go on the Allegro.
One, they didn't have much of it because they wanted to save money.
So you didn't really have any options.
I can't see.
Oh, I can see a heated rear window on this one.
So it had a heated rear window.
It had some wipers and you may have had a hazard switch.
But apart from that, that was pretty much it.
And also, when you look at the dashboard that those switches are attached to,
it's really, really flimsy.
It's a piece of flimsy vinyl.
So every time you hit the switch, the whole dashboard would move with it.
And that's what the problem with BL is.
They were rubbish switches attached to a rubbish dashboard.
Right.
Okay, I'm back.
I'm back, are you?
Oh my God.
You're out of breath.
Do you want a break?
Do you want to sit down?
You've not been rude about me while I've been away, have you?
Oh my God, it's an Allegro on the screen.
Oh, well, I suppose we are talking rubbish switches.
Well, look at the dash.
I mean, it's just terrible, isn't it?
And this is what you're talking about, your stag dash.
Because unfortunately, bad switches on bad dashes.
Well, it is.
I mean, first of all, it's got the same flipping switch gear on the stalks.
I mean, they're the same stalks that are in everything,
including the Sherpa van, aren't they?
But this is completely opposite of the cars we were talking about earlier.
You know, you know, those switches are going to feel vague, aren't they?
You know that when you click on the heated rear screen,
you're not really going to be ever sure that it's actually on,
or it's going to get wedged over time.
It'll just stop working.
It just looks, I mean, they're not many switches,
but you know, the ones are there and not going to be very good.
And also, another thing is you can't see the switches from the driving position,
because they're behind the steering wheel, and they are exactly the same.
So if you want to switch the hazard lights on or the rear demist,
it's the same feeling switch.
So you could be switching the hazards on and thinking,
why is my rear window still frosted up?
Because you don't get that click,
and you don't get to look at it and see what switch is engaged.
I mean, as you rightly said, I mean, these cars were born out of a peak cost-cutting era.
But if you want to see a car that's even more cheap to have a look at this one,
here's another car we don't talk about much on a show.
Yeah, you don't talk about this for a reason.
A reliant super Robin, a reliant Robin.
What is super about that?
Super that's still going.
But if you look at this one, I mean, these were built to a tiny budget,
and they were built to a price, and then they would then put in a bit lower.
I mean, the switch gear on this,
it feels like it came from a budget domestic kind of cheap toaster or something.
The stalks are thin.
Well, this is super switch gear from British Leyland,
but instead of putting it horizontally,
they've mounted it vertically just to make it a bit different.
So it's still the same rubbish switches attached to some really thin plastic.
So that is just going to feel awful.
Super cheap.
I'd love a go-in.
Have you had ever driven one of these?
I have, yeah.
And they're not good because you do feel like,
because I've got three wheels,
you do feel like you're going to constantly fall over.
Yeah, I mean, they were cheap though, so we can't be too hard on that.
If you look in that picture 10, it's got Marina door handles as well.
Well, that's the size.
That is the size of cheap.
Well, cars like that were built to a price,
but here's one that supposedly was good quality.
This is a Roots Group car.
It's a Hilmar Avenger.
Again, they were disappointing really in terms of fit and finish.
Roots always brided themselves in the 60s
of being built to a slightly better standard,
but Chrysler took them over,
and then in the 70s, just things were done on slightly on the cheap.
And again, the switches had a very lightweight,
rattly feel to them.
The stalks felt vague.
They often went further than they should have done.
Again, it didn't give you the confidence in the car.
Yeah, I think when you talked about switches, you're using plural.
I can only see one switch in here.
And I think it's the switch for the...
It's a two-speed fan, isn't it?
So there's two positions for the fan,
but they were pretty rubbish switches,
and again, attached to not a great dashboard.
That was meant to be a better car than British Leyland.
I mean, it was rubbish.
Yeah, I just think it weren't thought through.
Like I said earlier, compared to the Germans
who thought about how the way things work,
we've talked in the past that the...
I mean, by switch here, I'm talking about stalks as well here.
But we talked in the past to our German
that those Mercedes all-in-one stalks,
like you've got on your SL,
were designed over-engineered to feel heavy, weren't they?
Because the feedback gave you the impression
that the car was more expensive and more quality.
Whereas these, you say, were all just done out of the parts bin.
And probably when they came out of the factory, they worked.
But over time, the plastics degrade.
You know, they don't click.
I mean, I've just had electric windows fused,
a mine, because a switch got stuck.
You know, they weren't built to last.
Nothing was built to last, and nothing was done...
It was just an afterthought, I think, especially in Britain.
But I really do think it does affect how you feel about the car.
And if they did just engineered the things a little bit better,
you know, it might just make us feel a bit more proud of the cars.
But it is what it is.
The cars were born out of time, weren't they?
I mean, some cars did actually make their rubbish electronics okay.
Like Jaguar, by the time they got to the Series 3 XJ6 and XJ12,
and the Double 6 and so on, blah, blah, blah.
They actually made a dashboard
that incorporated all those cheap Lucas rocker switches.
But they're actually quite nice,
because they were screwed onto something solid.
And the same in the XJS.
They started to make a leap forward in dashboard quality
as the cars progressed.
But it was kind of too late then,
because you just expected British cars to be rubbish.
And by then you had the kind of E28 BMW 5 Series.
And the switches on those, it's just like a work of art.
You know, the fan switch has just that beautiful feel to it.
And the heater controls are great.
And you know when you've pressed the rear demist.
So by then it was too late, really.
And it's another one of those things that...
It was a nail in the coffin of the British car industry,
their switches, because they just felt cheap.
And that's when you bought the car, and then you used it,
and you realised this is just a cheap make,
and a cheap build, and you went and bought something foreign.
So that's it for episode 53.
Next time we talk economy classics.
If petrol hits a million pounds a gallon,
what's the best classic that just sips fuel?
Also coming up next time, VW Scirocco.
Crush or caress?
Should we rid the world of VW's rusty coupe or save it?
That's next time.
Feel free to comment and complain via our Instagram
or Facebook sites.
We'll bin the complaints, but give us your praise on anything,
and we'll read it out loud.
Okay, see you next time. Bye.
And that was all ad-libbed.
You did well.
Watch and learn.
You did well considering you cocked up reading,
and you can't even sound like ad-libbing, can you?
That's right, yeah.
I ad-libbed the cocking up bit as well.
God, it's like local radio.
That's where we belong. Let's face it.
About this episode
Colour debates, switch-gear nitpicks, and a financial cautionary tale collide in episode 53 of The Tyre Kickers. Max and Matt argue whether classic cars should go bright (primary reds, yellows, and 70s hues) or stay muted, comparing Triumph, Jaguar, Lamborghini and American muscle paint codes. The conversation then turns tactile: they crown standout switches (E-type, Ferrari 308, Volvo 244, Jensen FF) and roast British Leyland-era cheapness via Matt’s Triumph Stag and examples like the Allegro and Reliant Robin. Between listener updates and tyre/wiring woes, Max confesses he’s tempted by a £10k rusty 1973 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow—then gets talked through the brutal economics.
Original notes
We're back and asking - what’s the best colour for a classic car? Is it best to go bright - or be more mature and muted? Plus - all the switchgear and no idea. Some classics have terrible switches, some have cool ones. We’ll name the worst and celebrate the ones that click. And we hear your thoughts on storage, Aussie motors and more Guilty Pleasures. Plus Max has got the hots for a £10k rusty Rolls. Matt's egging him on to buy it. Press play and hear it all unfold.
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