RUMCars Forum
General Category => Unusual Microcar Discussion => Topic started by: Stuart Cyphus on February 20, 2008, 08:59:27 PM
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It seems the pet moan on this forum at the moment concerns folk who do not actully run or drive their cars, with some pro-driving contributers being quite snappy towards any slight sugestion of a car standing idle for longer than a few moments.. But just what the heck IS so wrong with an owner not actully driving a car?
I've had my driving lisense since I was 19 in 1999. I've owned about fifty normal vehicles of all shapes & sizes since then. I've also owned five micros (of sorts) since 2001, and out of ALL these 55-odd vehicles, the Mini-Comtesse, bought by me in November 2006, is currently my ONLY road-going vehicle.
The point of my ramblings is to make an obsevation. Just about everyone on this forum keeps on that you must drive the car in question in order to be counted as a real enthusiast. Vehicles are only "fun" when you're driving it, etc. etc. Why is it then that I do not, and never have, derived any real pleasure at all in any way from driving ANY of my vehicles. To me, driving is just a thing that is done. I will drive anything, but at the same time, it does not bother me if I were never to drive the Mini-Comtesse ever again. My feelings have been the same with every vehicle I've ever had.
My real plesure and fun with vehicles is from the ownership of that vehicle. From standing two yards away and staring at it all day. From investigating its details, both physical and historical. I have always found when driving something, it might just as well be a Ford Transit as it might be a Peel P50 for all the impression the act of driving makes upon me.
Having made these points from my angle, is any micro driver prepared to say to my face that I am anything less of a micro enthusiast than they are for the fact I don't drive my stuff much, if at all? Is anyone prepared to say the same to Jean, who also has seldom ever driven a micro?
Some might say the car suffers from lack of use. Here I disagree. If proper care and attention is taken, the car exists in "suspended animation". The basic condition does not alter from one years end to the next. If a car is used regularly, wear is taking place.
I do not derate you for chosing to drive your cars, thus do not derate me for chosing not to drive mine........
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i will say one thing,a car,be it micro or otherwise,is a machine designed and built for the purpose of transportation and driving.
therefore,to not drive it is like having a computer that doesnt get turned on,a house that you dont live in,food you dont eat etc etc.
As to not using a car,its a well known fact that keeping a car in use keeps it alive and in a better condition than if standing for years.rubber parts perish,tyres crack,engines get full of condensation,things start to rust and sieze.
i enjoy the fact finding,but i would find spending £1000 on a Reliant to just look at it a complete waste iwhen i have the ability to drive it,what it was designed for.
0.02p
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I agree with Dan, cars are made to be driven regardless of rarity, every year I go to Goodwood and see multi million pound vehicles being raced, crashed, rebuilt and driven again. Though I have not yet driven a microcar, I have derived a huge amount of pleasure from research and collecting most of the missing parts for their ongoing restoration.
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every year I go to Goodwood and see multi million pound vehicles being raced, crashed, rebuilt and driven again.
that's great if you have the money to rebuild the car time and time again.
if I had the money I would be done with my Transporter, but I don't, so I am not.
When it is done, I will drive it, but I certainly don't have the money to crash it and rebuild it again.
Time turns everything into art, like it or not. What survives becomes a historical record that transcends its original purpose.
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Hi Stuart. I fully appreciate your argument and respect it. Although Rumcars appears to principaly be about the preservation of microcars, you may be suprised to know this is not the chief aim of most of the other microcar clubs, the purpose of these is to keep the cars on the road, you will find this mentioned in there charters. This is why there is emphasis on road runs, parts schemes and anything at all that keeps the cars driven. Using the vehicles for the purpose for which they were intended is our passion. By driving them there preservation is also secured. Of course there is a place for museums and for those who just get there kicks from historical research but keeping them on the road is at the root of the microcar movement. I'm looking forward to seeing your mini comtesse in the summer Stuart. Oh, alright, I'll put up the other 15,000euros and we will buy the Rayonnah between us!
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Oh, alright, I'll put up the other 15,000euros and we will buy the Rayonnah between us!
I'm game.....
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I'm breaking into the gas meter as we speak!
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Which bits of it do I get for a quarter share?
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As you dont like driving you could have the paperwork, I could have the bits made of metal! Is that fair?
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Sounds good to me. And I get to park it on my front lawn, sit in a deckchair and stare at it for three months of the year? :) Hoots mon
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Aren't microcars wonderfull? Where else but on this forum can you have two opposing dialogues with the same thing in mind. When you have these opposing views of what it means to collect micros and you sum them together, the result is greater than the individual parts. This is synergy. WOW :) Drive or look, do both!!
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If it's yours you can do whatever you like with it! Cars definately benefit from use, though it does also wear bits out. There is nothing wrong with Stuart enjoying ownership more than driving, but the good thing about driving any classic or unusual car on the roads is that it gets seen by the public, some of whom may get inspired to join the fun.
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Another disadvantage with vintage vehicles is the lack of security, I mean how secure are they, has anyone ever had there car broken into? I can't see my Nobel putting up much resistance.
By the way Jim, I'm on the budget restoration tip as well, I used the comparison of expensive cars because it's nice to see them driven no matter what and not seen solely as investments.
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I could see how everyday use of a classic micro would be a security risk, I try to only use my car on journeys where I can keep an eye on it at the other end. I never leave it in a public car park. I doubt that a joyrider would steal one though, it would look too conspicuous. A bigger danger is vandalism by brainless idiots, when they see a microcar they feel a primeval urge to either turn it over or pick it up and move it, serious damage occurs in both cases. The other thing they like to do is vigorously rock them from side to side, this was illustrated on the topgear episode that featured the Peel P50. Who know what goes on in the minds of these creatures. When you get your Nobel on the road Blob you will find that with some forethought its quite possible to use it regularly and still avoid security risks. How far off from completion are you?
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Hi Bob, I'm quite a way off, the car's in pieces with the body being repaired. I only get a couple of weekends a month to work on it and as I'm a novice it's not just how to restore, but what techniques and tools to use.
How did you learn to restore vehicles? Was it trial and error, or are you mechanicaly trained. I started a City & Guilds welding class about 20 years ago but never completed it. I think I'll have find a refresher course at some point.
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Rare cars should be preserved but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be driven.
Driving them every day will wear them out more quickly but that doesn't mean you can't run them on sunny Sunday afternoons. Driving them in the snow or on salt laden roads is probably not a good idea though.
I guess I'm a middle ground type of person.
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Hi Blob. With my car restoring its been trial and error but it was proberbly easier for me to pick up than some because I restore instruments for a living, also having a lathe , pillar drill, bandsaw and the rest already in the workshop helps too. Its funny how ones background effects the restoring methods one used, because I primerily work in brass you will find lots of little brass parts on my car which would otherwise be aluminium or steel, also I prefer to silver solder rather than braze, a throwback of the instrument trade. I will have a go at anything accept for the final body paint job. I reason that this final finish is what I will have to look at for the duration of my ownership, a professional can do it far better than I can and besides this I like two pack paint and its very dangerous to use this stuff at home. I suppose the main thing I have had to learn is welding but with a modern mig its not so hard. There are much cleverer restorers out there than me thoug. Dont give up on it Blob. If I can be of any help , Just ask.
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Thanks for the encouragement Bob. So far I
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I would stick to arc or gas welding on your Nobel chassis, mig is great for bodywork but you cant always get good weld penitration with it on thicker metal.
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I regularly park my Trojan in supermarket car parks and outside the museum when I am working there. But all the places I DO leave it are in ful;l public view where there are plenty of people about. Vandals and pranksters only strike in very secluded places, so there is safety in numbers. When I park in London streets, I alsways return to see interested crowds around the car, and this deters charlies
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Good to here you're still driving DUF around the capital Marcus, shame I didn't get to catch up with you last year, though I often travel across the river so you never know I might pop in and say hello sometime.
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Blob, it would be great to see you, or meet at your place sometime, mind you the Fezheads season has already started and we have a lot of gigs this year. Sadly I am seriously having to consider selling DUF to raise money for recording equipment and building work.