I Love BL cars me

It's all the fault of the greedy bankers.

The reason the German and Japanese car and motorcycle industry was able to continuously improve was the way it was financed. In the UK, british firms would borrow money and have to repay it fairly quickly, which starved them of capitol to re-invest in the business for research, tooling, design etc.

German and Japanese firms had much longer term loans and were re-financed so they could re-invest, improve and stay competitive. British industry never stood a chance with successive governments being in bed with and so influenced by the city and it's "quick return" mentality.

old_coyote_pedaller":12fnw0kg said:

You shouldn't have to tinker and rebuild constantly because it's leaking oil everywhere.

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I tinker because its 57 years old and used most days, if you want anything that age to run at its best, you've got to tinker, its all part of the fun

I'm not knocking what the Japanese do and they now dominate the motorcycle market. But once you get over the novelty that an R1 will get past pretty much anything on the road, you're left with something that's basically....characterless and boring

Robbied196":eo8qk532 said:

Its well known the Japs came over and bought British bikes, shipped them back to Japan and started copying them. The first Jap bikes were.....shit.

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It's certainly how the Japanese car industry started - pre-WW2 their first motors were essentially close copies of Austin Sevens they'd imported.

David

B77":1rstao11 said:

Had a clubman estate in red, great car, totally relable. Had a few of these....

One had the rally engine just a drivers seat and speedo, it was like flying a spitfire but bugger me did it go.

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The Imp had some surprisingly advanced features for its time - cast alloy rather than iron engine block, water-based paint finishes, etc. The factory that built it was also pretty high-tech but sadly the enterprise unravelled thanks to lousy labour relations at Linwood. Lord Rootes actually wanted the Imp built in Coventry, but the city council refused permission for the new factory and there was also the additional dangling of a government start-up loan carrot for a possible Scottish plant (Ravenscraig steelworks also came about at around that time through similar financial incentives).

David

Aye but, it's maybe 57 y.o. now but when British bikes were new their owners still had to "tinker" and "rebuild", what people are saying is they leaked from the day they were pushed out the showroom.

old_coyote_pedaller":3mwa46qo said:

Aye but, it's maybe 57 y.o. now but when British bikes were new their owners still had to "tinker" and "rebuild", what people are saying is they leaked from the day they were pushed out the showroom.

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Dunno if anybody saw the BBC4 programme on 1950s/1960s British sports cars a short while ago, but even something as cool, speedy and sexy as the E-Type was "built down to a price" compared with its European rivals, which did mean some owners encountered shortcomings and problems as soon as they drove off the showroom forecourt.

David

Some of the most reliable vehicles I've had

Skoda 120L
1957 Ex british army Bedford RL
1981 Kawasaki z1000
1967 BMC FG Horsebox
1976 Bedford TK Horsebox
2000 Merc Vito
1972 Saab 96 V4. (Ford engine ?)
1975 Renaut 6
1983 Toyota Landcruiser

Some of the worst

1978 Ford Escort Popular Plus
Triumph Bonneville Jubilee
1953 (?) Austin K9 radio truck
1986 Ford Sierra
Talbot Horizon
Talbot Solara
1986 Nissan Patrol
Always bought for as cheap as poss, usually at auctions or from the scrapper and driven into the ground with minimal upkeep except for the bikes and tend to stay well away from stuff that can't be fixed with a hammer, screwdriver and swearing.

B77":xubot9xt said:

Always bought for as cheap as poss, usually at auctions or from the scrapper and driven into the ground with minimal upkeep except for the bikes and tend to stay well away from stuff that can't be fixed with a hammer, screwdriver and swearing.

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I see your toolbox contains the same tools as mine.