Steve and Matt dive into listener letters, tackling intriguing questions and sharing personal anecdotes. One letter sparks a discussion on the weight of drivers versus cars, leading to humorous reflections on their own experiences as motoring journalists. They also debate the reliability of the Peugeot 309, with a listener recounting their struggles with the model. The episode is filled with light-hearted banter and insights into the automotive world, making it an engaging listen for fans of car culture.
In this bonus episode of the Autocar podcast Steve Cropley and Matt Prior read out your letters. We talk car weight, driver weight (!), i10 or i5, flying a Douglas DC3 and much more besides. Write to us too, [email protected]. Normal poddery is back on Wednesday.
"...But it is an issue, isn't it? I used to mess up cornering shots in the days when cars had mega body roll."
Body roll is when a car leans to one side while turning, which can make it feel less stable. Cars that roll a lot in corners may not handle as well as those that don't.
Body roll refers to the tilting of a vehicle's body during cornering, which can affect handling and stability. Cars with significant body roll may feel less controlled and can lead to a less engaging driving experience.
"...go out to the pub. And as we were driving up the M6, he looked across at me. Hello, Jason, by the wa..."
The BMW M6 is a fast and sporty car that looks great and drives even better. It’s popular because it mixes luxury with the thrill of driving really quickly.
The BMW M6 is a high-performance version of the 6 Series, designed for those who crave speed and sporty handling. It combines luxury with powerful engines and precise engineering, making it a favorite among driving enthusiasts.
"...he's taking me in particular to task over the Purge 309, which I've got Rosie a view of because I owned a GTI..."
The Peugeot 309 is a small car made by the French company Peugeot. It was popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s and came in different styles like hatchbacks and sedans.
The Peugeot 309 is a compact car produced by the French manufacturer Peugeot from 1985 to 1993. It was known for its practicality and was available in various body styles, including a hatchback and sedan.
"...by the time we modified it, it did everything well."
The Volkswagen GTI is a sporty version of the regular Volkswagen Golf. It's known for being fun to drive and has a powerful engine, making it a favorite among car lovers.
The Volkswagen GTI is a high-performance version of the Volkswagen Golf, known for its sporty handling and turbocharged engine. It has been a popular choice among car enthusiasts since its introduction in the 1970s.
"Sources of water ingress included the flat flange and the rear light cluster, permitting water to flow all over the boot floor."
Water ingress is when water gets inside the car where it shouldn't be, which can cause problems like rust or mold. It can happen if parts of the car are not sealed properly.
Water ingress refers to the unwanted entry of water into a vehicle, which can lead to damage and mold. Common sources include faulty seals or design flaws in components like light clusters.
"...in a Talbot Avenger, his previous car, was inadequate. As a 309 driver for four years,..."
The Talbot Avenger is a small car that was made a long time ago. It was popular for being cheap and useful, but many people thought it wasn't built very well.
The Talbot Avenger was a compact car produced by the Talbot brand from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. It was known for its affordability and practicality, but it often faced criticism for its build quality and design.
"...gime that had surprised for 12 years in a Talbot Avenger, his previous car, was inadequate. As a 309 driv..."
The Dodge Avenger is a regular-sized car that people could buy for a good price. It’s not the best in terms of quality or how much gas it uses, but it’s a decent option for a basic car.
The Dodge Avenger is a mid-size sedan that was produced from 2007 to 2014, known for its affordability and spacious interior. While it offered decent performance for its class, it often faced criticism for its build quality and fuel efficiency.
"...rather tail-happy unless you were careful. So I'm sure he's right, but I mean, it is 26 years ago..."
The Peugeot 205 GTI is a small, sporty car that is very popular among car lovers. It's known for being quick and fun to drive, but it can be tricky to handle if you're not careful.
The Peugeot 205 GTI is a legendary hot hatch that gained a cult following for its lightweight design and spirited performance. It is often celebrated for its sharp handling and engaging driving dynamics, making it a favorite among enthusiasts.
"...the TD5 has an ECU under the driver's seat, but the injectors are covered..."
The ECU is like the car's brain, helping it run smoothly by controlling how the engine works. It makes adjustments based on information from different parts of the car.
An ECU, or Engine Control Unit, is a crucial component in modern vehicles that manages engine performance by controlling various functions such as fuel injection and ignition timing. It processes data from various sensors to optimize engine efficiency and emissions.
"...the injectors are covered because of water briefing the engine. The injectors are under the rocker cover,..."
Injectors are like tiny nozzles that spray fuel into the engine so it can mix with air and burn to create power. They need to work well for the car to run properly.
Injectors are components in an engine that spray fuel into the combustion chamber. They play a vital role in ensuring the correct amount of fuel is delivered for efficient combustion, which affects performance and emissions.
"What's the oil consumption like? Is it the bores and the piston rings? It's not bad, actually."
Oil consumption is how much oil an engine uses while it's running. If an engine uses too much oil, it might have problems that need fixing.
Oil consumption refers to the amount of engine oil that is used or burned during the operation of an engine. High oil consumption can indicate potential issues such as worn piston rings or valve guides, which can lead to engine performance problems.
"Is it the bores and the piston rings? It's not bad, actually."
Piston rings are parts that help keep the engine's combustion area sealed. They also help control how much oil gets used by the engine.
Piston rings are metal rings that fit into grooves on the piston and help seal the combustion chamber. They prevent combustion gases from escaping and control oil consumption by scraping oil off the cylinder walls.
"Big mileage is you often worry about things like valve guides. Yeah, no."
Valve guides are parts that help the engine's valves move up and down properly. If they wear out, they can cause oil to leak, which is not good for the engine.
Valve guides are components that help keep the engine's valves aligned and allow them to move smoothly. Worn valve guides can lead to oil leaks and increased oil consumption, affecting engine performance.
"...And it's a great engine, mate. That TD-5 engine. We were talking about this last week."
The TD-5 engine is a type of diesel engine made by Land Rover. It's known for being strong and reliable, especially for off-road driving.
The TD-5 engine is a 2.5-liter turbocharged diesel engine produced by Land Rover, known for its durability and off-road performance. It was commonly used in various Land Rover models, particularly the Defender and Discovery series.
"...JLR, or Land Rover as whatever you want to call the company, has great ambitions when it comes to going,..."
Land Rover is a brand that makes tough vehicles designed for off-road driving. They are also known for being comfortable and luxurious inside.
Land Rover is a British automotive brand that specializes in four-wheel drive vehicles, known for their off-road capabilities and luxury features. It is part of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).
"...had a TD-5. They were in almost all discoveries. Anything that goes wrong with a TD-5 just affects all the cars."
The Land Rover Discovery is a type of SUV that is great for off-roading and has a lot of space inside for passengers and cargo. It's a popular vehicle for people who like to explore rugged terrains.
The Land Rover Discovery is a mid-size luxury SUV known for its off-road capabilities and spacious interior. It has been a popular choice for families and adventure seekers alike since its introduction in the late 1980s.
"Do you remember those Fissel and Audi 100s? You remember them?"
The Audi 100 is a car that Audi made for many years. It was popular for its good design and technology, making it a comfortable and efficient vehicle.
The Audi 100 is a mid-size car produced by Audi from 1968 to 1994. It was known for its innovative design and engineering, including features like a lightweight body and advanced aerodynamics.
"...or a BMW i5, which I ran as a long-term sometime last year. What I'm really asking is that in the time you had the BMW i5..."
The BMW i5 is a new electric car from BMW that is designed to be comfortable and high-tech. It's part of their lineup of electric vehicles, which means it runs on electricity instead of gasoline.
The BMW i5 is an electric sedan that combines luxury with advanced technology, part of BMW's i series which focuses on electric mobility. It offers a spacious interior and modern features, making it suitable for both daily driving and longer journeys.
"... almost the same size as the previous generation BMW 7 series. Hmm."
The BMW 7 Series is a big, fancy car that is very comfortable and has a lot of cool technology. People often talk about it because it’s one of the best cars for luxury and style.
The BMW 7 Series is a luxury sedan known for its advanced technology, comfort, and performance. It represents BMW's flagship model, often featuring high-end materials and cutting-edge features, making it a popular choice among executives and luxury car enthusiasts.
"Last weekend, we decided to take our Cooper born on a nine day road trip, which has seen us visit Galloway, York, the Calder Valley and the Lake District."
The Mini Cooper is a small car that's fun to drive and has a unique look. It's known for being easy to park and great for city driving.
The Mini Cooper is a popular compact car known for its distinctive design and sporty handling. It's often associated with fun driving experiences and has a strong following among car enthusiasts.
"Our EV motoring experience was almost entirely stress free."
EV motoring means driving cars that run on electricity instead of gas. These cars are better for the environment and can be charged at home or at special stations.
EV motoring refers to driving electric vehicles, which are powered entirely by electricity rather than gasoline or diesel. This type of motoring is becoming increasingly popular due to environmental concerns and advancements in battery technology.
"the thing that I would recommend to anybody that lives this side of the equator, really, would be to go to the Morgan factory and do the tour."
Morgan is a car company from England that makes special sports cars. They are famous for using wood in their cars and for making them by hand. A factory tour lets you see how these unique cars are built.
Morgan is a British automotive manufacturer known for its unique handcrafted sports cars, often featuring classic designs and wooden frames. Visiting their factory offers enthusiasts a glimpse into the traditional craftsmanship involved in car production.
"So they'll have, you know, a few cars from Williams for a while and then, you know, there'll be other, other Formula One cars, new and old, not just Formula One actually."
Formula One is a popular car racing series where the fastest cars compete in races called Grands Prix. It's known for its exciting races and advanced car technology.
Formula One is a high-level international motorsport series known for its fast cars and advanced technology. It features a series of races called Grands Prix, held on various circuits around the world.
"So they'll have, you know, a few cars from Williams for a while and then, you know, there'll be other, other Formula One cars, new and old, not just Formula One actually."
Williams is a famous Formula One racing team from the UK. They have a long history of competing and winning races in the F1 series.
Williams is a renowned British Formula One team known for its competitive history and engineering excellence in motorsport. They have won multiple championships and are a significant name in F1.
"...next door to the Aston and JLR factories, which is 400 cars predominantly British."
JLR is a company that makes luxury cars under the brands Jaguar and Land Rover. They are known for their high-quality vehicles and off-road capabilities.
JLR stands for Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational automotive company that designs, manufactures, and sells luxury vehicles under the Jaguar and Land Rover brands.
"...next door to the Aston and JLR factories, which is 400 cars predominantly British."
Aston Martin is a British car company that makes luxury sports cars. They are famous for their stylish designs and high performance, often seen in movies like James Bond.
Aston Martin is a luxury British sports car manufacturer known for its high-performance vehicles and elegant design. The brand is often associated with James Bond films and has a rich automotive heritage.
"There's a separate Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust display, which is magnificent."
Jaguar is a car brand from the UK that makes fancy and fast cars. They are known for their stylish designs and powerful engines.
Jaguar is a British luxury vehicle brand known for its high-performance cars and elegant design. The brand has a rich history in both sports and luxury vehicles.
The Vauxhall Corsa is a small car that many people in the UK drive. It's easy to park and great for city driving, making it a popular choice for everyday use.
The Vauxhall Corsa is a popular small car in the UK, known for its compact size and efficiency. It's often used as a city car and is favored for its affordability and practicality.
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Hello, welcome to a bonus episode of the AutoCard podcast.
We don't have a name for this. It's not AutoCard Meets. It's not Meets AutoCard.
It's me and Steve reading out some of your letters.
Yeah, AutoCard people.
I like that. That's good.
It's still brought to you, though, in association with our sponsors, which is Anderson, the premium EV charging company,
for your home, which is running a designer upgrade event, Limited Time Only,
which offers up to 100% off of all premium design options, off of Anderson's Chargers.
If you visit the product page on the Anderson website,
you can see all of the charges that they offer, and they will send you a swatch of colors and finishes
that you can put up next to your wall and decide which one will look best.
And if you choose some extras, you can have 100 pound, sorry, discount off of those extras.
Some letters, then.
AutoCard at Haymarket.com is how you can write to us.
Who do you want to hear from, Steve?
Do you want to hear from somebody in Launceston on Tamar in Tasmania?
Definitely.
It's David Wright, who says,
I read your column on the weight of cars, but have you wondered what journalists think about?
I've always wondered what journalists think about the weight of drivers.
When you've drilled holes in your cart, looking for more lightness,
did you make time for a few sessions in the gym or prune food intake?
That particularly applies to me.
I can remember when I applied for my first job as a motoring journalist,
one of the things I had to write from deep in the bush so there was no typewriter,
so I wrote this all this nonsense in the long hand, Peter Robinson.
Well, it's greatest motoring journalist.
Shortly to show up on this pod, we hope.
And I said, I am reasonably tall but extremely heavy,
and I will therefore be able to do a good job of testing the upholstery
and the general seat design in your car.
So I would see it as an advantage, and he still remembers it,
so perhaps he saw it as an advantage as well.
But it is an issue, isn't it?
I used to mess up cornering shots in the days when cars had mega body roll.
Remember we were talking about the Renault 14 the other day,
which dragged the door handles on the floor.
And if you sat on the one up in that car and did a left hand cornering shot,
it would roll more than the other way.
There is a phrase, David, called launch porch,
which maybe happens a bit less these days,
but it can be quite a sedentary job, can't it?
You can be sitting down in a car, then sitting down at a typewriter.
They were frequent, weren't they? These events were,
so people would be away a couple of times a week.
Yeah, go from one to the other, eating decent food and talking to engineers
and being at work effectively for five days straight, sitting down,
talking, writing, talking, driving, flying, writing, coming back and problematic.
I was going to Manchester for my mate's 40th birthday about 10 years ago,
and we were going to have a weekend up there,
watch some cricket and go out to the pub.
And as we were driving up the M6, he looked across at me.
Hello, Jason, by the way. He looked across at me and he said,
you have put on a few pounds.
Cheers.
And I thought, well, I need to make a few changes here.
So one, new best mate.
Second, I better join a gym.
And I have been trying to, yes.
You often go to the gym, don't you?
Because I've been at your gas and as I'm departing,
you'll say, I think I'll go to the gym.
Yeah, I don't work very hard there, but I just try to,
but driving a lot gives me a back-back and going to the gym.
Staves that off.
Fix it, does it?
It just sort of tries to keep me this,
I don't want to be in a position where I can't drive a cater room as well.
Oh, that's a good point.
And sort of getting in and out of things as well.
And I just, yeah, I stiffen up quite badly with a lot of driving.
I drove over the weekend a lot and I just felt a bit stiff as I got out of the car yesterday.
But anyway, yeah, thanks for that, David.
I'm right in thinking Launceston in Tasmania is Launceston,
as opposed to Cornwall, which is Launceston.
Yeah, I think you're right.
It felt the same.
Yeah, I think I know that from my...
I think I flew there as a three-year-old in a DC3 or somewhere,
and at that stage it was described as Launceston, yeah.
You don't remember the DC3 flight, do you?
I can remember walking up the steps.
That's... that's something.
I have flown a DC3.
You know that, do you?
What? No, I don't know this.
Oh, God.
This podcast is turning into a big old minority anecdote.
The most fantastic thing I have in my logbook
is a trip from Southampton to Cherbourg and back in a DC3
where I did the take-off, the two take-offs and two landings
with an instructor beside me saying,
you know, move this lever, pull this now, do this, do that.
But with my hands only, not his hands, my hands on the controls.
Two landings, two take-offs.
And a load of, shall we say, manoeuvres over the channel,
you know, steep turns of things.
Oh, my goodness.
So two hours flying.
That's it.
I've never been more envious of anybody in my life.
I'll show you the pics one day.
Yeah.
They're good.
What was it for?
Well, I had a mate who ran a flying magazine, still going, I think,
but he needed a business in Southampton
was offering flying lessons to anybody that was prepared
to pay a thousand pounds an hour to fly a DC3.
They wanted a cover story.
My friend said to me, you've got a pilot's license.
Do you want to do this?
If you write the story for free, I will put you up for the job.
So I wrote the story for free.
I can't believe it.
It was great.
That's superb.
A few years ago.
Yeah.
What's it like?
Give us the Christmas Rotist.
Oh, it's a really interesting experience because, you know,
you know how they've got that kind of snub nose with a typical Douglas windscreen.
Whereas these days, we're used to sitting well back,
even in cars from the windscreen.
In a DC3, you sit with your nose about a foot and a half from the actual screen.
Yeah.
With your legs in that curved bit out the front.
Yeah.
So you sit right in the nose.
And the ergonomics, you wouldn't believe how terrible they are.
You've got to stand up in the seat to, you know,
with your hand on a booster pump in the ceiling,
looking out of the left, sorry, right hand window
to make sure it doesn't catch fire as the engine turns
because they are inclined to catch fire.
And while maneuvering throttles in a normal quadrant
sort of down around about where your thighs are,
and the other thing is the ergonomics.
As I say, the control efforts are weird.
If you want to get the thing to pitch,
you can almost do it with a thumb and forefinger.
It's got a steering wheel.
But if you want it to roll, you practically have to take a deep breath,
roll up your sleeves and wrestle the thing from side to side.
The difference between roll and pitch is amazing.
But anyway, I did it.
One landing was fantastic.
The other one was terrible.
Which way round?
The return was poor.
Oh, really?
The first landing I ever did was a greaser.
Oh, mate.
Oh, so that's, what a thing.
Lucky boy.
That's tremendous.
Do you want to do a letter or shall I do another?
Well, what about Mr. 309?
Yeah, go on.
There's a gentleman called Jeff Richardson who is written to us saying,
I enjoy your stuff each week in auto car.
I usually agree with your opinions,
but he's taking me in particular to task over the Purge 309,
which I've got Rosie a view of because I owned a GTI
and by the time we modified it, it did everything well.
And he said, I do think there are some shortcomings that need to be acknowledged.
I owned a 309 turbo diesel from 1999
until 2003 as a reliable family car.
It was a dangerous disaster.
Steering exhibited no self-centering.
Brakes were capable of bringing the vehicle to a standstill from 70 only once,
after which they faded.
Sources of water ingress included the flat flange and the rear light cluster,
permitting water to flow all over the boot floor.
Perfusion of rubber pipe work related to the engine ancillaries
led to roadside rescue on two occasions.
The DIY twice yearly servicing regime that had surprised for 12 years
in a Talbot Avenger, his previous car, was inadequate.
As a 309 driver for four years,
I spent each and every bank holiday carrying out running repairs.
Family holidays were blighted by roadside repairs.
One never forgets the needless distress of one's children.
I suppose you can imagine the sprawl.
Oh, yeah, I bet the novelty would wear off.
The 309 was badly designed and badly made,
and it was the 306 that, as was the 306 that came afterwards.
Well, that's me told.
Well, what was the phrase?
Recollections may vary.
Oh, the Queen said that.
Well, the thing is, I think he's right.
They were poorly made, and if you were unlucky, you were unlucky.
But the actual designs were good.
I think the styling was good.
The engines were nice when they were working.
You know, it handled very well.
We liked the 309 GTI handling,
particularly it was almost a bit better
and somewhat less treacherous than 205 GTI,
which was rather tail-happy unless you were careful.
So I'm sure he's right, but I mean, it is 26 years ago, Geoff.
But also, you can get a good car and a bad car.
The same car can be good and bad.
You can get a bad example of a car, can't you?
You can have a complete rotter
that somebody else can have the same car.
I can honestly say I've never had a bad car.
No, not really.
Nearly new or new.
No, I've had a couple of experiences with long-termers.
Some have gone wrong and most haven't.
But no, the car we've had the longest is the Defento.
It's probably the car that I've driven more than any other car, probably.
Well, 250,000 miles.
240,000 or 3,000 miles on it now and we've got it, but 60,000.
So I've not driven most of those,
but it has things that go wrong with it,
but nothing catastrophic.
It gets you home.
Yeah, it's very seldom failed to go on.
There are things that go wrong with those aged offenders
because the TD5 has an ECU under the driver's seat,
but the injectors are covered
because of water briefing the engine.
The injectors are under the rocker cover,
so they're sort of sealed inside the rocker cover.
But then oil goes around the camshafts
and all the valve strain as it is meant to.
Oil seeps up into the injectors
and then seeps through capillary action, I think,
through the inside of the wires
and goes down and falls all the way down
through the inside of the wires
between the coating and the copper or whatever it is,
to the ECU, and then it blocks up the plug
where the wires fall into the ECU and it causes a misfire.
And that happens once every 80,000 miles or something.
I think you can clean it out.
Can you just pull out the socket?
You can pull out the socket and just clean up the plug,
but the wires have always got oil in them,
so it will occur again.
There are ways, I think, of cleaning the wires.
I think it's the inside of the wires.
I don't think it's the outside, I think it's the inside.
But anyway, the upshot of it is
if you replace that section of wire, that goes away.
I think defenders just have a bit of a reputation
for things happening because they've got a bulkhead
and cables go through the bulkhead
and occasionally cables will wear out and fray
and start to short out.
So you can end up with some things that are hard to trace
and it's hard to start ours if it's low on fuel.
And that could be as Henry Seaboot of Arial Motor Company tells me,
who's also a defender enthusiast,
that can be any number of things.
It can be water and a fuel filler.
It can be a low battery level.
It can be the injectors.
It can be that oil thing with the ECU.
It can be a fuel pump.
It can be air getting into the fuel lines and stuff.
As long as you keep it relatively topped up the diesel
and you don't park it nose left hand down first,
then it's much easier to start.
This is the voice of experience, isn't it?
But I wonder one day you find out what exactly is wrong.
I think at 250,000 miles that car needs a proper sorting,
which is about a year away, probably.
And then it deserves something.
It deserves to have the soft top put on and a proper refresh.
But nothing, no.
I mean, it's a fundamentally sound car.
It's been around the world 11 times, mate,
and it would go a tenth tomorrow, 12th tomorrow.
What's the oil consumption like?
Is it the bores and the piston rings?
It's not bad, actually.
Yeah, not bad.
Big mileage is you often worry about things like valve guides.
Yeah, no.
It seems to be fine.
It does use a little, but not a lot.
Certainly not an alarming amount.
I bet it did on day one.
Yeah, probably.
And it's a great engine, mate.
That TD-5 engine.
We were talking about this last week.
JLR, or Land Rover as whatever you want to call the company,
has great ambitions when it comes to going,
there's nothing quite right for us.
So we're going to introduce a new platform,
a new engine, a new this, a new that.
But because they're a small company
and they make whatever they're making
goes into so many of their products.
When they don't do willing, satisfied,
in reliability surveys,
I think it's just because all defenders back then,
apart from a few V8s, had a TD-5.
They were in almost all discoveries.
Anything that goes wrong with a TD-5 just affects all the cars.
Whereas in a Mercedes, it might affect one car in 20.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Always liked fives.
Yeah.
Nice beat somehow.
Yeah.
Do you remember those Fissel and Audi 100s?
You remember them?
Yeah.
Lovely engine.
Yeah.
Sorry, we've gone off the letters.
Sorry, Matt.
An anonymous person writes to say,
if you had a 250-mile round trip to do,
at the end included a standard
to tight supermarket car parking space,
or airport multi-storey,
or some single-track roads,
would you take a Hyundai i10,
which I wrote about the other week,
because I said I liked small cars,
or a BMW i5,
which I ran as a long-term sometime last year.
What I'm really asking is that in the time you had
the BMW i5,
was the size of it ever actually a problem?
I.e., you couldn't open the door,
or it necessitated a serious amount of reversing.
I note the i5 is almost the same size
as the previous generation BMW 7 series.
Hmm.
Your thoughts?
Oh.
I like the i10, see,
so I'd probably do it in the i10.
I wouldn't find 250 miles that far.
No, nor would I.
So, and I'd probably enjoy the gearbox on the way.
But I think we are a bit nutty.
And did I find the i5 a problem?
I usually go to the end of a row in a multi-storey car park,
and park as far over as I can.
Me too.
But there is no question.
Did I have a point where I couldn't get out of an i5?
No, but I would have done
if I didn't use the parking remit that I usually do.
Yeah, but I think if you just get into the habit
of trying to pick the best parking spot, don't you?
And there are other ones.
There are parking arrangements across the road.
There are parking spaces with pillars next to them.
And if you park with your front door just ahead of a pillar,
you get an extra foot to open the door, don't you?
Yes.
I've gone up to level eight today
because I could park next to one of the railings
and just drag it as close as possible to the railing.
And then I know I've got extra room to swing the door open.
Yeah, exactly what I do.
And I think that's life that amazes me
that there are so many people to whom this doesn't occur.
Perhaps they're in smaller cars.
But you do have to have your head on, I think, these days.
Yeah.
Oh, yes, actually, on the parking thing.
Gary Williams writes, hello, Gary, to say,
your correspondent John Aston's advocacy for nose first parking
must not go unrefuted.
Well, his main concern is holding up the flow of traffic.
The main concern of us reverse parkers is the safety of others.
When backing out of a parking space in a public parking lot or driveway,
it is near impossible to be certain of whether another car,
a cyclist, a scooter rider, or worst of all a child
is about to come behind one's vehicle.
If someone does have such difficulty reversing into a parking space,
perhaps they should get some advice on how to do it.
You can see the logic of it, I guess.
I was there on Sunday.
I went out with myself in the Raptor to, you know,
4.4 meters long.
And I parked nose first in a Cotswold village
and I did have some trouble.
In fact, she was required to stand on the road
and make sure I didn't...
Oh, when you were pulling back out?
Coming out, yeah, because I couldn't see.
So I think it's right,
but I just don't know whether zealotry is really needed.
Yeah, I didn't mind.
I mean, I was okay either way until I read two things
in very quick succession, which had a go at people who reverse park.
And I was like, but it's just the best way.
I was like, why are you having a go at me for doing that?
It's better, isn't it, surely?
But if you need to load something in the boot,
you would park forwards.
I get it, absolutely.
I have been known to park forwards on occasion,
but left to my own devices, I'll do it in reverse.
Yeah, I think we...
It's one of the few things in society
where people should be left absolutely to their own devices.
Yes, I'm all for that.
Even though I did say maybe on this podcast the other week
that somebody reverses...
Unless anybody but savages park.
So I will wind back on that.
But it's only because I was hurt, I was lashing out.
Do you find that there are times when you write something like that
and you get home or three days later it echoes around your head
and you sort of think, oh, God, it might have overshot.
Yeah, I didn't mean this thing I've written about JLR the other day to sound...
I sort of suddenly worried afterwards,
do some of the current engineers think I'm having a pop at them
for having a new platform for the electric jack.
And that wasn't my intention at all.
It was not a...
And I suddenly thought, oh, Christ, because I've just spent two days
in the excellent company of some of these brilliant engineers.
And I just suddenly think, oh, Christ,
do they suddenly think I'm having a pop at them for doing something ambitious?
Yeah.
Which wasn't my intention.
But as...
I read Giles Koran in The Times the other day, mate.
And as he says, you have to not give monkeys about who you may be offending.
You have to not think about it.
Well, he's pretty good at that, isn't he?
Yeah, he is.
Funny enough, I only have one piece of correspondence with him,
and it was over.
I think I wrote something critical of something he wrote.
He wrote back a really acerbic reply.
You know, a sort of upset, almost.
You know, he was quite angry.
I can't remember what it was, I wish I could.
But it was just something about a restaurant review.
But he was a bit thinner-skinned than he may have appeared in the story.
Yeah, he does reply to some of the below-the-line comments in The Times, I've noticed.
Which I admire, but also I can't.
Who's got time for that?
Well, my ego can't take it, mate.
I can't look at YouTube comments.
Or if somebody writes to me with their name on it, happy.
But as David Mitchell says, stuff anonymously on the Internet
may as well be graffiti on a public toilet wall.
Because you don't know who it is, you don't know, there's no accountability.
So write to us, reader, or to carathaymarket.com and be as acerbic as you like.
And we love them, don't we?
Yeah, it's great.
As I say, people are constantly saying things we haven't thought of, haven't they?
Who has written to you looking for advice about things to do?
Well, this is a major embarrassment to me.
Because a very nice sounding gentleman from Ireland wrote to me,
probably not more than a week, where are we, this is going to be Saturday,
probably 10 days ago.
And he said, I am coming to the Costwells, which you are supposed to know fairly well,
in the middle of England, in my car, I'd like to go and see some car stuff.
What do you think I should see?
You know, what will I enjoy?
And I cannot find a man's letter.
It's not in the, he didn't write it into the Haymarket inbox, did he, rather than your own?
Possible.
Into the, into the AutoCart one, AutoCart Haymarket.com.
Let me search that one while you, anyway, while you, while you give us a break.
I think Chris, Kalma, who patrols it, did definitely send it on to me.
Oh, okay.
But I, the thing is, I have a reply.
Oh, here we go.
Have you got it?
Cooper born?
Possibly.
Hang on.
No, maybe not.
Yes.
Yes, yes, yes.
Not Pat Brennan.
Yeah, it sounds like it.
Yeah.
What a great week I've had in your fair country, says Pat, due to a choral concert commitment in Hebden Bridge.
Is this the one?
Sounding like it.
Last weekend, we decided to take our Cooper born on a nine day road trip, which has seen
us visit Galloway, York, the Calder Valley and the Lake District.
I'm writing this in Kilmarnock before we head back.
The conclusions I can draw.
People in Scotland and Northern Ireland are universally very friendly and helpful.
Our EV motoring experience was almost entirely stress free.
The proliferation of road works in, is bad in England and Scotland as it is in Ireland.
Anyway, he says we will have no hesitation in bringing our EV back to England next time
the Cotswolds and Goodwood.
Fantastic.
And at which point, I guess he wants your advice about the Cotswolds.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Is that the right list?
Or is it a second letter?
I think I might have, maybe I've had a secondary because that rings a bell, but I did, there
was definitely a point.
You've had a follow up since.
Yeah.
Anyway, I'll look for his letter, but I did fall to thinking about it.
And the things I would, you know, if we're talking about car stuff, the thing that I
would recommend to anybody that lives this side of the equator, really, would be to go
to the Morgan factory and do the tour.
Yeah.
They, it's so much fun.
I think it's 30 quid go, but it's so good that it's become the second biggest or the
biggest county tourist attraction.
And that may sound bad.
They make a million quid a year out of 30 quids.
And it might sound that you're going to be trampled underfoot, but it really isn't the
case because they have, you know, a very good booking system.
They have a fantastic visitor center, which contains a sort of unmissable shop where you
can't resist buying stuff.
I can't anyway.
There's a very big coffee and lunch venue and then a bunch of people, probably people
who've worked there will gather you up in a group of a dozen and just take you around
and show you the wood, show you the cars coming together, show, you know, the finishing arrangements
and just show you the cross between quaintness and efficiency of the whole thing.
It's a lovely ride.
You know, you've been there.
You love it.
I'll go tomorrow.
Ah, fantastic.
Brilliant.
So that's one.
I would, I think number one for me would be the Mog factory.
Silverstone Museum is good.
Have you been there?
You know what?
It's new.
I've been.
Newish.
Yeah.
I've been, I've been as far as the cafe about a dozen times and I've never walked around
the rest of the museum, which is stupid because I've been 20 minutes away.
And the good thing is that it's a sort of shifting, it's a shifting display.
So they'll have, you know, a few cars from Williams for a while and then, you know, there'll
be other, other Formula One cars, new and old, not just Formula One actually.
But you know, it's very interactive, good for kids, several levels so you get to look
down on things, very modern, very nicely run films, videos, things like that.
Good place.
Really like it.
I would obviously always enter a plug for the British Motor Museum, which is the Roundhouse,
the Gayden place right next door to the Aston and JLR factories, which is 400 cars predominantly
British.
If you want to, you know, see stuff that was on the road that you remember, that's the
place to go.
There's a separate Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust display, which is magnificent.
And Bista Heritage, of course, near you, the old RAF base, which sort of the 20s and 30s
RAF base, which has been reconstituted as a classic car hub, really, it's a place, there
are something like 50 businesses in there, selling cars, restoring cars, making components.
You can go in there and see a Bentley, a Ford, a Ford, a Ford, a Ford, a Ford, a Ford,
three litre back axle being made, if you want to.
It's not a display.
It's not a museum where you just go from sort of exhibit to exhibit, but you have to do
a bit of wandering, but lovely place to go and the atmosphere is terrific.
And then we talked about Borden on the Water, didn't we, there's a little museum which is
owned by the...
Oh, it's the Civil Service Motoring Association, isn't it?
Yeah, exactly.
And they just had a lot of money and they bought it, have you been there recently?
Yeah, I went when Jack Harrison, our photographer and I were doing a feature on something and
we went and had a look around it.
Maybe we were doing...
I might have been doing a car museum tour, actually, possibly, I can't remember, but
two years ago, Borden can get really busy, can't it, in the summer, but it is a dear
sweet museum.
Yeah, lovely building, isn't it?
Also, pretty decent supply of restos and coffee shops and things around the place as well.
Yeah, it's a cute place.
Lots on the walls, isn't there, a lot of signage and thousands and thousands and there's some
caravans and stuff inside which have got stuff in them and stuff.
It's a really, what's the word, it's a nostalgic sort of place, isn't it?
Yeah, for a living museum.
It's really sweet.
Yeah, it's quite a sweet place.
Yeah, I like that.
I haven't been there for a while, I should drop in because I'm always, you know, the
Fosway goes right past it and I frankly live on the Fosway, so I should go in there.
Yeah, I should go back again because we went, I think when Jack and I did some museums,
we went to the Great British Car Journey and we went to a few other places here and there
too.
We went to the little, there's a museum in Norfolk of microcars.
Oh yeah, I've seen the pics.
In fact, I remember the story.
Yeah, I can't remember what car we were driving.
We were driving a...
We were driving a Vauxhall Corsa.
Oh, OK, yep.
Yeah, and it was, oh yeah, because it was unsung British.
There you go.
Things, yeah.
Oh, and I suppose if you like motorcycles and you can get as far north as Birmingham,
the British Motorcycle Museum on the outskirts of Birmingham.
Oh yeah.
Yeah, just by the NEC.
Yeah, that is an extraordinary place.
It's not particularly creative in its display, but if you want to, whatever you want to see,
it's there.
Yeah, they've got lots of everything, haven't they?
Yeah.
There's...
Oh, I was in Gloucester yesterday.
They're a motorcycle company called Cotton who used to be in Gloucester.
Yes, yeah.
I just...
I used to make mainly, they were sort of scrambler type machines and the road going versions
available too.
Yeah.
Two strokes usually.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Yeah, there was a folk museum with a couple of cottons in the window, which I guess was
maybe the old, if not the old factory, then an old sale room or something, maybe.
Yeah.
That was cool.
Mate, we've done half an hour already, which is this.
I can't believe it's quite taken us three and a bit years to get round to doing a correspondence
special.
But...
I've really enjoyed this week.
Yeah, this is good, this.
Can you...
Anybody listening who fancies writing, please write to us.
It adds such a lot to the pod and to the magazine.
So we love letters and, you know, hand is on the heart here and, you know, please do.
Yeah, this has been cool.
So it's going to be...
When we have interviews, we will run them as a bonus episode on Saturday.
When we don't, Steve and I will have a chat either with each other and your letters or
from somebody with the mag as we did last week with Will Rimmel talking about the Ferrari.
He was great, wasn't he?
Really good.
Isn't it funny?
You can walk...
I usually sit five feet from Will Rimmel and he said a load of stuff that I hadn't heard
before.
So interesting.
Yeah.
So, yeah, we'll be here every...
The plan is we'll be here every Saturday unless we just get too busy, but that's the...
The bonus pod will be a Saturday thing from now on.
That's the plan.
Thanks to our sponsor, Anderson, visit Anderson-EV.com.
Even if you've got no intention of buying one, just have a look because they've got some
cool looking charges and some interesting designs and they'll send you a swatch which
might give you some ideas for what to have to decorate your home.
You might even give you a colour idea for your garden shed like us.
Exactly.
Yeah, exactly.
Steve and I will be back on Wednesday next week with the regular My Week in Cars and
then might have an interview a week today, TBC, on next Wednesday's pod.
I'll let you know about that.
Thank you, mate.
Cheers.
See you next time.
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