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What's made you grumpy today?

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What's made you grumpy today?

Liquid Knight said:
Down - My insurers want to write off my Bravo because of the cracked windscreen. It's no longer a stock item and will cost more than the agreed value to either get one from overseas or made.
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Can't you negotiate paying more towards the windscreen, or get 1 from a scrapped Bravo/use the 1 from the navy blue P-reg Bravo you had to break?
 
Liquid Knight said:
... bought a Fiat Idea 1368cc SuperFIRE.

Down - I have no idea who's idea the Idea was but it's not enough engine for the car. It felt cumbersome and lethalgic and nothing like a Jack Russel chasing a tennis ball joy you should get from little Fiat.
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Was the Idea based on the Vauxhall Meriva during the Fiat GM tie-up that gave us the Grande Punto? Is it therefore Meriva based? if not, what is it underneath. It lasted such a short time I'd expect it to have been based on something existing at the time.
 
portland_bill said:
Was the Idea based on the Vauxhall Meriva during the Fiat GM tie-up that gave us the Grande Punto? Is it therefore Meriva based? if not, what is it underneath. It lasted such a short time I'd expect it to have been based on something existing at the time.
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2nd Gen Punto Platform, Made from 2003-2012 (Italy),2005-2016 (Brazil).
 
There's a whiff of Suzuki Wagon R about it but it's nowhere near as flimsy.

The weight and top heavy nature of it thew me off. I've always looked at the Idea as a SuperFIRE donor for Panda projects but for what it is the car isn't as bad as the rivals in the sector.

It reminds me more of a shrunken Ford C-Max than a Vauxhall Agila.

Maybe a Panda 100hp conversion or T-Jet 120/150 will wake one up a bit. ;)
 
Liquid Knight said:
I was supposed to be clearing out my shed today so I can get my Fantasia inside and the restoration can begin. Instead I've had to replace the front garden fence again due to a drunk driver crashing through it last night.

:bang:

On the topic of rolling coal I was behind a "Scene'd" VW Golf last night and it must have had an EGR bypass and straight through exhaust as it sounded like a cement mixer in a caravan and smoked so much I put my fog lights on to make a point. Oh, and it had a stupid waste gate that sounded like someone had slapped a Telly Tubby in the face. All together it sounded like Donald Duck snoring through a set of knackered headphones.

Quwa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-ack! Whoooooooooo!
Quwa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-ack! Whoooooooooo!

Complete crap box. The rear of the car was so mucky you couldn't tell if the lights were on or not let alone try to read the number plate. Crawling along the fifty and sixty zones and speeding though the thirty zones. There was a short section of dual carriageway ahead of the thirty zone and I managed to make up the gap left behind by the VW speeding through the thirty. Indicated and moved over to the right lane. Just as I was close enough to do a PIT maneuver the VW swings two wheels over the centre line.
I dropped a gear and got past. Slowed for the sixty section and guess what? I had a VW Golf sat on my back bumper. (n)

The next section was a forty zone and sure enough I made sure my brake lights were working a few times and absolutely sure my windscreen was clear. Probably the only time the VW gets a wash as the front was as bad as the back. No wonder it crawled through the sixty zones the headlights were covered in crap I doubt the owner could see where he/she/other was going.

The next national speed limit section I got up to sixty and kept it there through the bends. The VW was about half a mile behind me by the time I was in the next thirty zone.
A few minutes later I was nearly rammed in the back by the same VW Golf doing about fifty in the thirty zone to have caught me up in that distance.

Video sent to the Police along with details of the driver and number plate that was only just readable as I overtook.

(No this isn't a dig at the Dub Scene just happens to be an individual with a poorly modified VW who happens to also have an IQ lower than his suspension).
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Just your typical German car enthusiast supporting his engineering supremacy over our inferior tins..

What's their slogan these days?! Something along the lines of 'AUS DEM WEG' I'm sure
 
Liquid Knight said:
But big non-Fiat news. My RX8 sailed through the MOT yesterday and I have been offered one of my all time dream cars (a Volvo 480 Turbo) as a straight swap for it by a chap who I overtook on the way home. :)

Qz7w4hiB.jpg


I car I really like or a car I have wanted since I was a child (was? Ha!)?

:devil:
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Just before we retired the 156 we looked very carefully at an RX8. I'm not a great fan of Japanese cars as they occupy the "gets you where you want to go but without the slightest trace of aesthetic sensibility" slot in my mind. But, every so often, they do produce a car that really appeals to my sensibilities; the MX5 is one, the Nissan 200SX was another and the RX8 was the third. I always had a slight hankering after a RX8 because Mazda were brave enough to stick with the Wankel after it had virtually broken NSU, and despite the likes of Chevrolet planning to use one in a new Corvette in the '70s, the idea didn't really stick its head above the parapet again.

I was lucky enough to drive the original Ro80 several times in the 1970s and thought that, along with the Citroen CX, it was probably the bravest and most strident signpost to the future of motoring for the past 40 years.

I have to say though, it scared the living daylights out of me, despite it coming from some friends of ours. Having a look at some RX8 forums didn't exactly fill me with confidence either, the main problem appeared to be the potentially short lifespan of the engine.

So hats off to you for having much bigger cojones than me.
 
Never mind today this month has been a dick in general...

So to go with my wing respray due to that considerate Mercedes sprinter, the microwave broke, got that replaced, then on Friday tumble drier broke so that's been replaced (Tbf AO was very good ordered it Saturday lunch time arrived less than 24 hours later). Then got in the car this morning and my Bluetooth isn't working on my phone...thankfully off and on again fixed it as I was ready to loose my ****..

Tbf I'd been putting money aside for a nice 4k 49 inch TV but looks like yet another month where it gets put back.

Damn it I want my big telly but I'm not financing it..
 
puntofan01 said:
Have you still got your 156 and put it in storage, or have you sold it?
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I've still got the old gal. Spent about £800 on her last year to replace almost every bush underneath, except one....and of course that started squeaking a couple of weeks ago. I've put some money on one side to have the body cleaned up but it seems the corrosion underneath is a bit more advanced than I was expecting so that's going to have to be dealt with first.

She was living a mollycoddled existence in semi-retirement until November when I lost the garage I was using. Sadly there have been some quick mathematical calculations going on lately.

If I get £750 for the 156 and £750 for the Panda, put the two grand I've put away for the bodywork, that makes £3,500 for a deposit on a new(er) Panda. If I also take into account the £70 a month I pay for the privilege of parking her in a semi-secure, but open air storage, I'll only have to find £30 per month to give me an £8,000 Panda, which, in 1.2 Easy form will give me a virtually brand new model.

That's what the head says.

As for the heart, well, that's a different story
 
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