november sniff petrol- get off your arse

[mike_oxard]

oh for gods sake where is it, don't you realise some of wait for that all month just to make our pitiful lives more bearable, never mind you don't get paid for it and its just a bit of fun, pull your finger out and write god damn you - if you don't i will personally organise a james allen - o - gram for you birthday --- mmmm can you see him gyrating infront of your face in nothing but a leopard skin thong! that should be suitable motivation for you to get writing once you have stopped vomitting.

[syeldham]

Write ony yourself, you whingeing little bustard.

[sayerbloke]

It`s not due yet. They are "released" the first friday of the month.

[dhudd]

I found this article at austin-rover.co.uk :

Taxi!

By RICHARD PORTER

A COUPLE of weeks ago, I tore the ligaments in my left foot. I don’t want to sound like a wuss, but it really really hurt. And what hurt almost as much was suddenly realising that until it got better, I wouldn’t be able to drive a car; the result of which is that I've been using a lot of minicabs.

This also hurts, but only in the wallet. 'That’ll be 25 quid mate.'

'And how much would it be if you hadn’t gone via Ulum Bator?' Still, I may be spiralling towards bankruptcy – and I've got the scrawly receipts to prove it – but I have been seeing some interesting automotive life through the world of private hire.

There was the old shape Laguna that reminded me of how well French cars used to ride, even with knackered dampers. I also spent the journey wondering how long it took Renault technicians to find velour that would absorb and retain stickiness for so long. There was an original Mondeo estate that made a variety of unsettling clonking noises and had a wonky steering wheel that gave the illusion of a quarter turn of lock when we were going in a straight line. There were Primeras and Vectras and all manner of six digit mileage clonkers, all driven with varying degrees of myopia.

That is until the other morning when, after a week of early Nineties rep car dross, a Rover 800 pulled up outside. It was a late model, not just the grilled and plump bummed version, but the facelift of the facelift, when they jacked up the ride and offered that inadvisable two tone paint. Not that this car had it; just all over dark blue which flattered the old Rover's grooves and chamfers.

And inside it got even better. No clammy Avensis-spec cloth here, it was the full leather. I suppose it's easier to wipe down after the closing time shift on a Friday night.

The driver quickly showed an unusual minicabber driving style that gave at least passing concern for both our lives and, instead of praying, this allowed me to concentrate on the finer points of his car. The hum of the KV6, pretty smooth as it turns out, and the shifting of the autobox, each gear smudged nicely into the next.

But it was the surroundings that got me, what with that leather still smooth and uncracked and the wood on the dash retaining its deep burr. God knows what they were thinking with that inlayed 'R O V E R' thing on the front doors, but otherwise the effect was warming, upmarket, all very agreeable.

Then I noticed the air-con controls perched in that kind of pod, right next to the wheel. That was a nice touch and almost futuristic. Maybe Rover dash design was at its best when they looked forwards not backwards.

The driver stuck on a tape of smooth jazz. Normally I'd rather listen to six cats fighting in a barrel, but here it seemed appropriate to the balming atmosphere. Even the ride wasn’t too bad, and that was never considered an 800 strong suit, even after they gave these later cars that awkward soft roader stance.

When I arrived at my destination it was a quid more than the same journey with the same cab firm the day before. And you know what? I happily paid the premium for a nicer way to travel.

I couldn’t say that the Rover 800 was ever a great car in its day but - speaking as one who knows - I can tell you that it makes a bloody nice minicab.

[garcon magnifique]

Oh Christ, he's turned!

I never thought lower limb ligament damage could damage the brain so severely.

[saab]

Sweet Jesus - what mad rantings are these? He'll be smiling on the other side of his face when the engine seizes and he's stranded in a layby on the North Circular at 2 in the morning.

[cruiser647]

You never mentioned how many miles were on the clock in the Rover!

[SeanKHotay]

[ QUOTE ]

Taxi!

By RICHARD PORTER

<snip>

And inside it got even better. No clammy Avensis-spec cloth here, it was the full leather. I suppose it's easier to wipe down after the closing time shift on a Friday night.

<snip>

[/ QUOTE ]

So I see things in London aren't much different than NYC.

Classic line from the original Ghostbusters:

"I feel like the floor of a taxi cab...."

(edit to correct quote)

[dhudd]

He's been busy on Austin-Rover

SAW the blog on your site about the downfall of MG Rover which makes some reference to the BL cars in The Professionals. As a point of order, the story I've heard is that the production team got sick not of reliability glitches with the BL cars they borrowed, but with the PR office's utter failure to understand how filming a TV series works.

They'd borrow, say, a yellow Dolomite for a block of filming then have to send it back to the factory when they were done.

A few weeks later they'd need to record more driving shots, the call would go out for the Dolomite and BL would say 'Sorry mate, haven't got a yellow one any more, we're sending over a blue one...' The producers got so tired of that they approached Ford, who have always been far more PR savvy, and were bunged as many cars as they wanted for as long as they wanted without some brown tied slacker in an office in Coventry buggering all their continuity.

RICHARD PORTER