Podcast 98 - Just driving and smiling
Added 2022-03-06 18:01:01 +0000 UTCJonny decided to try something new while driving to Yorkshire.
Also in this episode, Richard has been thinking about Flo Rida, Jonny remembers getting offered illicit things by a dove-eating American cab driver, there's some middle-aged man confusion about rap lyrics, and an interesting story about a Mercedes estate.
Plus, Euro vans, the Citroen Spacetourer XL, making MPVs cool, soggy American minivans of the '90s, the new Morgan Super 3, bad wiper use, Smith and Sniff bingo, four cylinder Porsche stories, and Richard gets the giggles over that old joke about the eskimo taking his car to the garage.
Comments
Having grown up in Somerset during the 90s, "getting offered illicit things by a dove-eating cab driver" meant something completely different... and was most likely to occur should you find yourself at Exeter Services at 5am whilst in search of the after-after party. #MC Stellantis
Jack Frear
2022-03-15 20:34:17 +0000 UTCThere’s a Next with a Costa coffee in it in Lynn, whatever next!? Ol’ gal puts on her parts if you walk round the store with a precarious latte in your hand though..
Ben Aston
2022-03-12 08:34:57 +0000 UTCNorfolk holds a special place in my heart. But I didn’t know that
Frank Fowler
2022-03-11 13:06:01 +0000 UTCDon't mock Norfolk. I'll have you know we have a drive-thru Greggs.
Dark Newt
2022-03-11 13:04:03 +0000 UTCNow I think about it, I used to tool around in a Pug 305 estate/van when I worked for an engineering firm in Yorkshire back in the 90s... It was quite a joyous thing. A good engine and a steering mechanism that I can only surmise involved pulleys rather than a rack.
Dark Newt
2022-03-11 12:35:32 +0000 UTCGood point. I didn't make that leap... I thought it'd be a faulty column stalk.
Dark Newt
2022-03-11 12:30:16 +0000 UTCKen-Tucky That’s what a Norfolk person calls KFC HA YA GOIN TO KEN-TUCKY ME OL’ FRUIT?
Frank Fowler
2022-03-11 07:30:52 +0000 UTCThat joke - you’re a bad man Richard 😂 Haven’t laughed that much in ages🤣
Rhys Mainwaring
2022-03-07 20:32:34 +0000 UTCOn the lost opportunities with sale of now valuable motors side of things, my dad had an Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk3. The actual model cited (incorrectly as a DB3) as Bond's car in Goldfinger. It was dark green, and had a novel lifting tailgate, making it a hatchback before the term had been coined. This would've been about 1958 or '59, so he bought it secondhand. At that time we lived in Birmingham and he worked in London, so he commuted on Sunday and Friday nights between home and his digs in Acton. The M1 had recently opened, and there was no speed limit in those days. The engine noise at speed was prodigious, and there was no need for a heater in cool weather. If it got hot then you had to open the windows or roast. He got a company car soon after he bought it, a Fooowwaard Zodiac convertible with a power hood. Quite cool, but nowhere near the frigidity of the Aston Martin. If he'd only hung on to it it'd be worth about £200k. Ho hum.
Chris Rayner
2022-03-07 19:50:13 +0000 UTCYes. The benefit in kind tax rates for having an employee van for personal use are considerably lower than for a car. The same applies if you get a fuel allowance from your employer. Not linked to CO2 emissions either. However, those ‘estate car-based’ vans are few and far between these days. Do we still get an Astra van?
Ed Storer
2022-03-07 18:56:26 +0000 UTCTo be honest, I’m not sure about taking the back seats out, I don’t think I could bring myself to do it. It gets used as my personal transport too so need all the seats. I claim a mileage allowance for it for business use so I’m not totally out of pocket
Mark Sheridan
2022-03-07 10:58:30 +0000 UTCUsed to be a big tax advantage in going for a van, didn't there? Did that go away, or could you still call it a van if you took out back seats and stickered-over the windows?
Dark Newt
2022-03-07 10:33:28 +0000 UTCMy favourite S&S comment ever.... 'Wanking a Walrus'...... Great episode. The chappie who listed the 88 catchphrases has clearly got too much time on his hands! The lion enclosure hi rev 924 story is epic. Imagine being in one of the cars being overtaken....
Nick Davies
2022-03-07 10:28:57 +0000 UTCChubb use cars quite a bit for their service engineers, rightly pointed out, usually Megane estates from what I’ve seen. I also use an estate for my business, like Chubb, I’m in the security industry. I’ve had several vans over the years but decided to go for a V90, it’s the perfect tool for work, huge boot for all my gear and it’s way more comfortable to drive day to day. I doubt I’d go back to a van now. https://www.instagram.com/p/CWvlUX9oKAZ/?utm_medium=copy_link
Mark Sheridan
2022-03-07 09:36:25 +0000 UTCHMHB! Vans have become ridiculous, with their strategies and logistics
Panda
2022-03-07 08:25:35 +0000 UTCOne of scenes in OFAH that is really obviously filmed in Bristol is in the episode 'Heroes and Villians' where the Regal van carks it whilst Del and Rodney are on their way to a party dressed as Batman and Robin. That scene was filmed at the centre of of Broadmead and Merchant Street in the middle of the shopping centre. The scenes of the flats and lockup were filmed around Duckmoor Road, close to the Ashton Gate area of the city. The original flats that featured in the title credits was a block called Harlech House which is in Acton. The series was filmed mostly in that area of West London and occasionally around North London but they moved it to Bristol because filming was becoming too difficult in London. Despite supposedly being set in Peckham, none of the series was ever filmed in South London. A lot of The Young Ones was filmed in Bristol too, around parts of Redland and Westbury Park. The Westbury Park pub & kitchen was used for outside scenes of the "Kebab & Calculator" pub. On the flipside, 'Shoestring' which was supposedly set in Bristol often featured a lot of filming in West London and other parts of the country; in lieu of Bristol.
John Hammond
2022-03-07 07:07:15 +0000 UTCLooking at moving from the US to central Portugal. If so I need some guidance on what cars to bring. Currently we have a Honda Element, Mk7 GTI, Acura TSX Estate and a 997.1 S. Two cars fit in a shipping container at around $5000. #escapeMAGA
Stigfan
2022-03-07 03:59:33 +0000 UTCThat was an effing great listen. Torrential rainbows.
Stephen George
2022-03-06 21:58:07 +0000 UTCHoes in multiple postcodes is a sign of a prolific allotment habit.
Maurice Barnes
2022-03-06 21:15:57 +0000 UTCI remember from some old Police TV show that windscreen wipers being constantly on are a sign of a hotwired car. I just thought "criminal" throughout that whole segment!
Stuart Richards
2022-03-06 19:07:35 +0000 UTCWe need a discussion on the Lamborghini Genesis! I hadn’t heard of it until recently and who wouldn’t want a V-12 people carrier!
david price
2022-03-06 18:48:51 +0000 UTCWhile looking up the Toppola I also came across the HEKU Car-Camp, a third axle mini-caravan thing that attaches to the car and makes it a 6-wheeler. Look it up, I can't imagine what on earth the designers were smoking when they came up with that!
Matt Tester
2022-03-06 18:44:24 +0000 UTCIt’s cheaper to tax a van than a car in Ireland so consequently manufacturers offer vans which are really just three door hatchbacks with the rear side window blanked out. Sometimes they put a panel in place of the glass but sometimes they just stick black vinyl over the glass like this - https://www.donedeal.co.uk/commercials-for-sale/2018-vw-golf-van-irish-van-from-new/30412881
Tim C
2022-03-06 18:42:31 +0000 UTCPeople here in Canada who own Aerostars that haven't succumbed to the rusties still love them, especially the later AWD versions. Rarely seen here in Ontario now where road salt is used heavily. Still spot the odd Windstar around, they were definitely less loved by most though more modern. When the Aerostar was introduced for 1986 model year, the ad campaign compared the shape of the nose of the van to the NASA space shuttle, which they quickly yanked after the Challenger explosion.
Ed Nicholson
2022-03-06 18:18:35 +0000 UTC
