Show us your Cars

[Harmonie]

My father and our Fiat 600D in 1965

View attachment 101805

It's funny (maybe no the right word) how these cars were smaller in the 60's and their new re-edition got pumped up.
The Fiat, the Mini-Austin, the ...

 

[Harmonie]

Opel Manta in Germany has a kind of connotation, they even call the "Mata drivers".

 

[thewas]

Some of us design our speakers to match our cars: Basic black boxes with good mechanicalsView attachment 101691

Current VW group products and good mechanicals? Don't put your own products down, am sure your speakers are much more honest and reliable.

What I honestly don't understand is why people spend serious money on something like cars. For long periods I have avoided owning one, and in the early phases of my career my car abstinence help me build up my later wealth.

Well this question can be extended to any luxury, like also audio.
On the other hand for me personally I enjoyed the powerful cars I had in my 20-30s much more than I do nowadays so je ne regrette rien...
A philosoph once had written that any young person should be given a Ferrari with a loan to pay later when he is old as old people cannot really drive and enjoy them as they should, I think there was a bit of truth in there.

 

[Frank Dernie]

It's funny (maybe no the right word) how these cars were smaller in the 60's and their new re-edition got pumped up.
The Fiat, the Mini-Austin, the ...

Crash testing inevitability.
The originals were all nowwhere near as safe for either occupants or pedestrians and the cheapest way to make cars more protective makes them bigger.

 

[Juhazi]

FIAT 500

vs. FIAT 500

 

[Harmonie]

Crash testing inevitability.
The originals were all nowwhere near as safe for either occupants or pedestrians and the cheapest way to make cars more protective makes them bigger.

Means that all those guys who owns the original versions are in driving in rather dangerous versions

 

[StefaanE]

Means that all those guys who owns the original versions are in driving in rather dangerous versions

The Citroen 2CV is totally unsafe, for example, the rod used to switch gears can impale the driver. It nearly happened to me when I was hit by a car jumping a red light. The rod shattered my knee and ended 10cm from my groin.

 

[Harmonie]

The Citroen 2CV is totally unsafe, for example, the rod used to switch gears can impale the driver. It nearly happened to me when I was hit by a car jumping a red light. The rod shattered my knee and ended 10cm from my groin.

Lucky you that you can write about it now.

2CV ?
Must been a while ago ?

 

[StefaanE]

Lucky you that you can write about it now.

2CV ?
Must been a while ago ?

Long time ago, in 1975. And yes, I’m a lucky so-and-so. The end of the rod is bent 90 degrees and has a hard but hollow plastic ball (a bit bigger than a golf ball) as grip. It too shattered as it hit my knee, which limited the damage somehow. Yeah, cars weren’t very safe in those days. I stuck with Citroën though.

 

[StefaanE]

My current vehicle, a 3 year old Citroën Grand C4 Picasso with 103,000km on the odometer. Very practical with up to 7 places. 1.6l diesel engine, 6-speed automatic gearbox.

 

[Frank Dernie]

Means that all those guys who owns the original versions are in driving in rather dangerous versions

Yes, all older cars are less safe, and vintage ones very much more so. Added to this the likelihood of corrosion in structurally important parts of the car with the poor metal treatments of the day, or its removal for a crash repair, and old cars are much less safe than new ones, for both occupants and pedestrian strike.

 

[Frank Dernie]

The Citroen 2CV is totally unsafe, for example, the rod used to switch gears can impale the driver. It nearly happened to me when I was hit by a car jumping a red light. The rod shattered my knee and ended 10cm from my groin.

All those cars with the gearbox in front of the engine and long actuating rods have the same potential problem, there are plenty. My Renault 5 was like that too.

 

[Lorenzo74]

My father and our Fiat 600D in 1965

View attachment 101805

Looks great. I’m interested to know which city this picture has been taken if possible.
best

 

[StefaanE]

All those cars with the gearbox in front of the engine and long actuating rods have the same potential problem, there are plenty. My Renault 5 was like that too.

The 2CV and the R4 are the two cars I knew with a gear actuator rod. I didn't realise Renault used the same approach in the R5, which was ah iconic and wildly popular car in its time. The design was far more modern than the R4.
One of the reasons I'm pleased with my C4 Picasso is the gearbox lever on the steering column, totally safe as well as an homage to the Citroēn DS. The directional headlights are also a nice reference to its illustrious ancestor. I also briefly drove a GSA (it had a futuristic dashboard but rust perforated the panels within 6 months ) before returning to Africa. By the time I got back to Europe in the 1990ies, the DS and CX were history, so I got a second hand BX GTi 16V, then an XM diesel, in which I drove 265,000 very comfortable kilometres before the electronics gave up the ghost. A growing family prompted a move to the Peugeot 806, followed by two first generation and finally two second generation C4 Grand Picassos. As my commuting days seem to be over (age and COVID obliging), I guess I'll keep my current car until it becomes illegal .

 

[Frank Dernie]

The 2CV and the R4 are the two cars I knew with a gear actuator rod. I didn't realise Renault used the same approach in the R5, which was ah iconic and wildly popular car in its time. The design was far more modern than the R4.
One of the reasons I'm pleased with my C4 Picasso is the gearbox lever on the steering column, totally safe as well as an homage to the Citroēn DS. The directional headlights are also a nice reference to its illustrious ancestor. I also briefly drove a GSA (it had a futuristic dashboard but rust perforated the panels within 6 months ) before returning to Africa. By the time I got back to Europe in the 1990ies, the DS and CX were history, so I got a second hand BX GTi 16V, then an XM diesel, in which I drove 265,000 very comfortable kilometres before the electronics gave up the ghost. A growing family prompted a move to the Peugeot 806, followed by two first generation and finally two second generation C4 Grand Picassos. As my commuting days seem to be over (age and COVID obliging), I guess I'll keep my current car until it becomes illegal .

I am a big fan of the original Citroen engineering concepts and was lucky enough to get to know Hubert Allera, one of the senior engineers from the classic era.
I had a GS. The hydraulic suspension is/was genius, particularly, IMO, the fact that the rear brakes proportional valve was fed from the rear suspension hydraulic circuit meaning the rear braking torque was proportional to the weight in the rear. This was decades before ABS.
They made cars as light as possible, for the obvious technical reasons, but were on the limit. I remember Hubert told me the first time they decided to do a sportier version of the DS they put more power and bigger tyres on the prototype and during spirited driving the doors came open due to structural flexing. It was only just stiff enough for the standard model.
The other limit, common to most makers back then, was very little corrosion protection, so finding an old one in good structural condition is all but impossible, I haven't seen a GS on the road for 30 years.

 

[thewas]

Yes, Citroën as well as some other French and Italian affordable cars had some great engineering, for example

The Citroën Xantia Activa V6 has held the (moose test) record since 1999, beating cars such as the track-oriented 2008 Porsche 911 GT3 RS and the 2017 McLaren 675LT. [13] The Citroën performed the test at 85 km/h (53 mph).[14]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose_test

Which makes me more sad to read this today https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_2506 which means even more boring and uniform cars after killing historic brands like Lancia...

 

[StefaanE]

I am a big fan of the original Citroen engineering concepts and was lucky enough to get to know Hubert Allera, one of the senior engineers from the classic era.
I had a GS. The hydraulic suspension is/was genius, particularly, IMO, the fact that the rear brakes proportional valve was fed from the rear suspension hydraulic circuit meaning the rear braking torque was proportional to the weight in the rear. This was decades before ABS.
They made cars as light as possible, for the obvious technical reasons, but were on the limit. I remember Hubert told me the first time they decided to do a sportier version of the DS they put more power and bigger tyres on the prototype and during spirited driving the doors came open due to structural flexing. It was only just stiff enough for the standard model.
The other limit, common to most makers back then, was very little corrosion protection, so finding an old one in good structural condition is all but impossible, I haven't seen a GS on the road for 30 years.

I confirm, my GSA was indeed a rust bucket . But it was great fun to drive, even with its fairly anaemic 1220cc boxer engine. Talking about impressive suspensions, the 2CV suspension was brilliant. On campus we had a few early speed-bumps, and when other cars had to slow down to a snail's pace, in a 2CV 60km/h was the best speed to tackle them. Even a DS wouldn't manage, I guess.

 

[Frank Dernie]

I confirm, my GSA was indeed a rust bucket . But it was great fun to drive, even with its fairly anaemic 1220cc boxer engine. Talking about impressive suspensions, the 2CV suspension was brilliant. On campus we had a few early speed-bumps, and when other cars had to slow down to a snail's pace, in a 2CV 60km/h was the best speed to tackle them. Even a DS wouldn't manage, I guess.

it was designed for the paysan market for driving over a ploughed field.

 

[Harmonie]

The 2CV and the R4 are the two cars I knew with a gear actuator rod. I

Not sure, but I think that former Citroen cars had such gear actuator rod as well.
I remember the one of my GrandPa, he had the same kind of Citroen that all the gangsters had

PS- That's NOT my GrandPa

 

[thewas]

it was designed for the paysan market for driving over a ploughed field.

Yes, design target was to be able to transport fresh eggs over a ploughed field at some velocity without them getting damaged.