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Thread ID: 122212	2011-12-07 23:00:00	Unregistered and Unwarranted cars	Trev (427)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1247734	2011-12-12 06:42:00	You what? The pommy automobile industry died for good reason, they made a **** product. If they were safe it was because the took 3 minutes to hit 80k/h. Mate had an E-Type which did a bit more than 80km in 3 minutes.:D	mikebartnz (21)
1247735	2011-12-12 06:47:00	Bollocks! Thirty years ago Japanese cars were a damned sight safer than their Brit equivalents . Thirty-five years ago I worked for a company that had a fleet of good old British Ford Escorts . We had an employee hospitalised after a 50km/h crash when the other driver failed to stop at a give-way sign . Around that time I was issued with a new Ford Escort that locked its front wheels in the wet even under normal braking in typical suburban driving conditions . It scared me shltless but the Ford Dealer's solution was to re-tyre it with wider rubber, which didn't help at all . One day the wheels locked under light braking and I slid off the road on a wet curve and clouted a parked car . By the end of three years service, rust was a major problem . A year or so later I was promoted and was issued with a new Toyota Corolla as part of a full fleet replacement scheme (the Fords were so unreliable we kept a spare engine and gearbox in our stores and whenever one crapped out we'd deliver the corpse and the spare engine etc so that we could have it back on the road within 24 hours) . To be fair, around 1974/5 Toyota had a rusting problem on the doors of Corollas but that was not a structural problem and was rectified by dipping all body shells and doors through an anti-rust bath . That was the end of that problem . A couple of years later I had the misfortune to be hit head-on at open road speed by a MkIII Ford Cortina that crossed the centerline due to (sober) driver error . We met at something between 160 and 180kmh, my Corolla was shortened by about 1 . 5 metres, and the engine & gearbox were somewhere under the front seats . The steering wheel ko'd me under the chin and the rear view mirror split an eyebrow, but when I woke up the driver's door opened OK and I was able to get out . If I had been in the old Escort I simply could not have survived . The Cortina came off much worse, but fortunately the occupants escaped with leg injuries only . At that time the safety standards of Japanese vehicles were much higher than those of whatever was left of the British motor industry, BMC's equivalent at the time being the Morris Marina . How many of those are still on the roads? In reality, since the influx of used imports began the average age of the NZ domestic vehicle fleet has dropped significantly, and it would be hard to find too many thirty year-plus Japanese cars on the road today . Most are under 15 years . Cheers Billy 8-{) I do have some backgound in the MV industry, I have visited Toyota and Nissan car factories in Japan to study their manufacturing processes, and on the way back from that trip I visited a Ford Plant in Melbourne where I was treated to the mind-boggling experience of seeing an engine assembler using a block of wood and a sledgehammer to pound a piston down the bore of a Falcon engine block . No kidding, that's for real, it gave a whole new meaning to 'force fit' . In addition, I spent considerable time in the Ford/Mazda, Nissan and Toyota assembly plants in New Zealand over period of several years and have seen every aspect of their assembly processes . Didn't see a single baked bean tin in any of them . You are welcome to declare the factual or experiential basis for your 'baked bean tin' opinion . Yeh, I think you will find "baked bean tin" was a figure of speech meaning that the tin on japanese cars are so light weight compared to the old english/american/australian cars, it is quite a common saying in these parts, maybe not so where you are . It was not ment to imply japanese cars were literally made out of recycled tins and you would find a baked bean label on the inside of your door panel . There are many older japanese cars (down this way at least, I cant speak for up north), I have seen many dating back to the 80's, they are not so hard to find . Maybe in the more well-off areas of some cities most are newer than 15yrs old, but there are many older cars in less well-off areas and out in the country, driving through some of the inland country towns you seem to step back in time 20 to 30 years . Rust is still a problem on jappas, pretty good with the NZ new cars because as I believe they have better rust treatment to suit our climate and conditions, but some of the older imports coming in have a problem after a while - particularly around some coastal areas . There is still the odd Marina around, I pulled up beside one at the lights just the other day, same day I saw an old Hillman Hunter - that horrible orange colour - someone had put mags on it . Youngish fella driving . Sad lol, seems many are starting to become collectors cars .	Iantech (16386)
1247736	2011-12-12 07:56:00	There is still the odd Marina around, I pulled up beside one at the lights just the other day, same day I saw an old Hillman Hunter That is by far the most common type of Marina. Always has been. It has been a fair while since I saw a new Hillman Hunter - but I can still bring back that feeling - a finger down the throat works almost every time ;)	R2x1 (4628)
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