Is motoring better today than in bygone eras?

[B92 8NW]

Do you reckon motoring is better today or was it better in the past?

I've been watching a few old Australian car ads on Youtube (and talking to people who have been driving over many decades) and I'd say there was more joy in driving/owning a car then than now. It seems like the govts. are out to make sure nobody actually enjoys driving.

What do you think?

[p38arover]

Today's cars are far superior in ride comfort and creature comforts, not to mention safety. Whether they are more enjoyable to drive is hard to say. I was younger then so my expectations from a car were different. Seriously, a Hyundai Excel is probably a lot better car than almost anything on the market in the late Sixties.

Today's roads are better (others will remember crawling up Razorback behind an old Commer).

But there was a lot less traffic and higher speed limits on a lot of roads around Sydney (not in the suburbs but elsewhere). For example, Northern Rd between Penrith and Narellan had a higher speed limit and more places to overtake. Nowadays it is all double white lines and is as frustrating as hell.

We weren't worried about speed cameras. Crikey, I got my licence in 1965 and had never had a speeding ticket (camera) - or any type of ticket - until 2002 or 2003 - and I am not a slow driver. I just happened to be asleep (after a midnight shift) at the time I went past that speed camera on a road I had never travellled before.

Come to think of it, I'm less worried about coppers today than back then. These days OH&S seems to have caught up. I rarely see cops out with lidar/radar. I remember always being on the look out in my mirrors for the lights of a Mini Cooper S (they were different from a normal Mini). If you saw them, you assumed cops. Today, one never sees coppers.

Attitudes have changed, too. Today, I would never warn, by flashing lights or CB, of the presence of an RBT site. I'll warn of speed cameras and cop cars but not RBT. If you drink and drive, you deserve to be caught. I can't remember my attitude to RBT when it started.

[mcrover]

I dont know if it is times that has changed or me but I deffinately dont enjoy driving as much as I used to.

My choice of car has changed as well though as has my driving style, where I used to zip around in quick little modified Datto's (1000 coupe, 1200 coupe, 120y wagon and coupe), now it is a Diesel Landrover or an Auto Carolla so even though I wasnt so much hooning back then (not like the tyre friers these days or the V8 heads back then) rather just driving relatively quickly most places I went.

I was also in a car club and had a club racer for a bit as well as being involved a bit with a mates mini sprint so I used to enjoy the driving side of things a lot more.

I still enjoy getting out on the open road but the open road is now so easy to drive that it is boring and tries it's hardest to put you to sleep where to enjoy a drive I think it needs to have some sort of challenge to it, even if it is just a good series of corners in which you have to concentrate to not fall off a cliff like the great ocean road or the like.

I used to drive the Melba Hwy from Mansfield to Melbourne just about every weekend and I do remember being more scared of the Yea coppers than I am now of a speed camera yet I dont really get the chance to speed these days on that road due to the crap drivers that tend to sit 15kmh under the speed limit when you cant over take and then speed up when you can and 300Tdi Disco's dont accelerate up hills all that well.

Times change and so do we as do cars and on that, I think it was much more fun driving a car built in 1965 that you knew that if you crashed you would get hurt......so you drove accordingly, not like todays cars in which people with no skill drive the car well past their skill level if the crap hits the fan and then rely on all the add on safety equipment to save their buts.

I think driving is boring these days in comparison but then again, Im pretty sure we are saving more fuel and lives because of that.

The old Hume Hwy was not much fun before the new one went through, I remeber as a kid being scared out of my whits when semi's would fly past our HR holden with the caravan on the back and the car would drift off the road due to it being so narrow and the trucks were doing 100Mph.

[JDNSW]

Define "better"!

Motoring today is far safer than it has ever been, mainly as a result of better roads and a new attitude to drink driving, as well as to the general use of seat belts. New car designs may have added to safety but the overall contribution of this is probably negligible because many drivers use increased vehicle capability to push the vehicle further, and the quieter and smoother motoring means more drivers come closer to the limits than ever before. Better brakes mean more drivers trust their brakes to the limit and frequently beyond, and the same for cornering.

But on the other hand, ever more restrictive rules, as with most of society, tend to make for a less satisfying motoring experience. These result from the ever increasing population density, already far too high, especially in the major cities. Even away from the city we see almost all roads, even in many of the remote areas of the country, are fenced, for example.

I don't think that governments are out to make sure nobody enjoys driving, even though they come across that way. It is simply the result of the need for them to be seen to do something about the "terrible road toll" - which in reality is lower than it was forty years ago, even in absolute terms, and vastly lower if you look at deaths per car/kilometre - measured this way it continues to decline although the curve has flattened noticeably in the last ten or so years. As I have commented before, it has been below the suicide rate for years, even without the suspicion that a significant number of road statistics really should be suicide statistics.

John

[87County]

........Crikey, I got my licence in 1965....

youg fella !


+ there was NO ROAD RAGE THEN (or none that I remember - so maybe that's the key?)

[mark2]

I think I enjoyed driving more when I first got my licence 20 years ago because :

a) The sense of the new-found freedom was still a novelty

b) The $200 cars I owned would break down nearly every time I drove them and this added to the excitement and the adventure

[loanrangie]

I just want to go back to big engines and cheap petrol :).. ooh yeah !

[I Love My Landy!]

I reckon most new cars are sterile and lack character. Much more fun driving old cars! :)

[Panda]

I think it was definitely better driving years ago than it is now.

Apart from the fact there were less cars on the road, the coppers were half decent blokes too. If you got pulled up for speeding, they seemed to take a bit of common sense into the equation, unlike nowadays where they're more concerned with statistics & revenue.

I remember getting pulled up a number of times for speeding, & they'd check your licence & rego, ask why you were speeding, & let you off with a warning. You didn't have any of this crap with speed cameras everywhere & everyone driving 20 k's under the speed limit because they were conditioned & too scared to drive any faster. (Unless that's just because people now drive like old women anyway!)

I also disagree with Ron, there are far more coppers on the road (where we are & when we go away) than there used to be. Far more unmarked cops lurking in bushes etc, just waiting to spring unsuspecting motorists.

The sense of freedom on the road isn't as great.

Even 4WD'ing - there's not as many places you can go now, because they've been locked off in the name of "wilderness", or the National Parks have taken over & locked places off.

As far as better vehicles go, that may well be. However, I still prefer driving the SIII, to some fancy vehicle with all the mod cons. :D

[olbod]

Cars are more reliable than they were, naturally but its not a lot of
fun driving these days, as it can be very frustrating. I hate having to go into Mackay even, nowadays. Even as little as ten years ago, it was a lot
less trouble.
Sarina is the closest town to me and it sits astride the Bruce Hwy. The
main street is about 500 mts long but it now has three sets of traffic
lights, for crying out loud. I would say that it probably needs them tho,
because most people dont seem to know their right hand from their left,
when it comes to crossing over.
I went to sydney for a few days a while back, my Gawd, I can tell you
that I will never visit a capital city again in my life.
I only enjoy travelling now, when we are headed for the inland and recently we have been thinking seriously of moving back out.
Maybe close to Quilpie or the Alice ( out of town ) but I dont know if one
can buy freehold land out of town. Five hundred or more hectares,
anyone from the Alice know about it ??? I want to put my house back
from the road.

The bush was much better to travel around, thirty and more years ago.
You should have seen the Flinders, Simpson and the Cape in the sixty's
and seventy's.
We had more freedom to come and go with less restrictions and red tape
and permit crap. I will admit that today it is needed because of modern
peoples self centred anti social behavior, on the whole. I mean look at
it out there, the bloody place is a garbage dump and crap heap.
Needles to say, I dont have much to do with people these days ( I only speak when I am spoken to and never visit ) and thats
a shame but if you see me squatting somewhere having a billy of tea or
making the little Bird a sandwich, stop and say G,day.
Me AULRO stickers is on the front and rear of the Disco !!!

I personally was much happier when we had only eight or ten million
people here but thats my problem, as I dont begrudge others the right
to enjoy this great country.
As I have said before, when I die I wanna come back a hundred and fifty
year ago.
Cheers and have a nice day but stay away from the western deserts, eh;).

[George130]

Cars are definatly better but the roads are busyer. In the last 6 months it is getting harder to do the speed limit to.
I prefer driving without lots of traffic so yes it was better when I was younger.

[moose]

I think the cars are definitely safer but far less stylish than, say, the '50's and 60's

[solmanic]

I think the cars are definitely safer but far less stylish than, say, the '50's and 60's

...unless you drive a Defender then your car is stylistically pretty much exactly the same :cool:.

[moose]

:clap2::clap2:

[Bigbjorn]

Well, I think it was more fun then. The cars required a great more skill and concentration to drive fast. The roads were nothing like as good as today, even the ones we then thought were good roads. In NSW most roads outside built-up areas were unrestricted, meaning there was no arbitrary speed limit. If you were driving fast and the police charged you with driving at an excessive or dangerous speed then the onus was on you to convince the magistrate that this was not so. The Putty Road was the last unrestricted road out of Sydney and the speed limit signs went up on it about 1970.

The road toll, based on number of registered vehicles and distances travelled, in the early-mid sixties was horrific by todays standard. A number of things have contributed to the improvement in this. Seat belts the big one, collapsible steering columns another. The steering column was regularly referred to as "the spear aimed at the driver's heart". Better brakes, better tyres, better crash resistance of cars, better roads, better emergency medicine, all played their part.

In spite of the almost exponential improvement in cars and roads, I cannot travel Brisbane-Sydney any quicker today than I could in around 1963-67 when I was involved in buying used cars in Sydney for sale in Brisbane. Twelve hours was the benchmark and this is about what you can do it in today with speed limits, speed cameras, & highway patrol. We had a lot of fun driving the New England Highway overnight and trying to cruise the underpowered drum braked retread shod beaters from the auctions almost at the top speed of many types. I did bring a Chev Camaro327 with drum brakes up in 8 3/4 hours one night. This jigger was good for an indicated 120mph cruise. Another night I got a higly modified Plymouth Belvedere loose on a gentle bend somewhere over 100mph and it took a good 1/2 mile of road to get it tucked back in and pointing straight. I had a passenger that night and he was very, very, quiet for a good while afterwards.

[slug_burner]

Back in the old days you had to know how to drive as well as how to fix them. That kept a lot of numptys off the road. Automatics came along an know even women can drive! What is the world coming to?

I am sure that an 18 year old feels the same freedom on the road in his crapped out commodore as I did in the old mini 30 years ago.

[DiscoStew]

youg fella !


+ there was NO ROAD RAGE THEN (or none that I remember - so maybe that's the key?)

"evidence" from 1950 suggests the concept has been around for some time:eek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCJsEjxcuq4&feature=related

[87County]

"evidence" from 1950 suggests the concept has been around for some time:eek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCJsEjxcuq4&feature=related


well maybe so ... as I said, it's the remembering (or not) that now hold the key :)

I think life was generally at a slower pace (as far as I can remember that is:))

but seriously, hooting at someone was definitely bad manners, and as for rude gestures, well they just didn't happen in polite society, and I cannot remember any overtly aggressive (towards another motorist) driving

[p38arover]

I also disagree with Ron, there are far more coppers on the road (where we are & when we go away) than there used to be. Far more unmarked cops lurking in bushes etc, just waiting to spring unsuspecting motorists.

Apart from the coppers who we call to come to work, I haven't seen a cop car on the road in nearly a month (except all the ones in the cop shop next door to work - but they aren't out and about anyway). Oh, I drive to/from work in the Blue Mountains (about 17km each way)

Cops really are as rare as hen's teeth. That's why I don't worry about being pulled up for speeding. The cops that are out and about are on general duties and too damn busy, anyway.

The cops are no longer parked (and haven't been for years) in the little hidey-holes they used to frequent. OH&S rules, I guess.

[DiscoStew]

well maybe so ... as I said, it's the remembering (or not) that now hold the key :)

I think life was generally at a slower pace (as far as I can remember that is:))

but seriously, hooting at someone was definitely bad manners, and as for rude gestures, well they just didn't happen in polite society, and I cannot remember any overtly aggressive (towards another motorist) driving

I am only a youngster and on the roads since early 80's and I have to agree that the intensity of road rage has become worse. I have had a guy come and punch a dent in my roof after one episode. Legally I was in the right but I did provoke him.:angel: Of course he thinks he was legally right too but he wasn't. Try explaining the subtleties of merge rules to a peeved off Samoan trying to save face with his girlfriend. It's a bit like an internet argument, doesn't matter if you win or not you're still a bit of a loser.

I've also contributed to a couple of scenarios I am not proud of, one of which could have easily killed someone. Having learnt that lesson I am much more laid back now especially since I am reminded of the incident everyday as I drive on the freeway and see the relevant paint marks on both safety barriers.

But the Goofy cartoon does illustrate that behaviour that most people would find unacceptable face-to-face becomes the norm when we hop in a shell with some anonymity, and that this has been happening for some time.

To stay on topic: none of the above lessens my enjoyment of driving but the number of cars on the road now means there is little chance of cruising the nice scenic roads in peace.

[Panda]

We drove into Camden yesterday afternoon & had a cop car in front of us.

Last weekend, coming back from Campbelltown, we were stopped for a RBT, after passing a cop on the other side of the road who had just pulled over someone for speeding. So they are definitely around our area. :(


Apart from the coppers who we call to come to work, I haven't seen a cop car on the road in nearly a month (except all the ones in the cop shop next door to work - but they aren't out and about anyway). Oh, I drive to/from work in the Blue Mountains (about 17km each way)

Cops really are as rare as hen's teeth. That's why I don't worry about being pulled up for speeding. The cops that are out and about are on general duties and too damn busy, anyway.

The cops are no longer parked (and haven't been for years) in the little hidey-holes they used to frequent. OH&S rules, I guess.

[tony]

There are too many people who have no idia how to drive

Too many revenue cameras

Too many stupid rules, (and if you drive a heavy vehicle its even worse)

The motorest in NSW is treated as a cash cow for the grubbyment

And as for being pulled over for no reason just to blow in a bag, take a

drug sample or a fatuge test well thats just not right...

Tony

[dobbo]

Give me a 60's to early 70's pommy sports car


Find me a new car that will meet my requirements and I will buy it.

It must NOT have

airbags
traction control
ICE
Bluetooth
cruisecontrol
climate control
an exhaust not lower than 80db at full noise
Seats that are too comfortable
7 seat capability
a rev limiter
computer controlled engine management
plastic panels


It must have

A set of triple side draft webers
The ability to remove the roof for nice spring mornings
A real polished wood dash
Not too many instruments to clutter the dashboard
The ability to oversteer when pushed way too far but the aility too handle reasonably well (read crap by todays sterile standards) when required
An exhaust note that when combined with a dishwasher, local pub on a very windy road with a takeaway curry house next door, a laundry service and ironfree clothes would remove the need for a woman in a mans life.

[JDNSW]

Well, I think it was more fun then. The cars required a great more skill and concentration to drive fast.

yes, but most of them did not go anywhere near as fast!

The roads were nothing like as good as today, even the ones we then thought were good roads.

Yes. I drive today on roads that have had no work done since the seventies (there still are a few) and think "This is what we thought was a good road?". Round here for example the big improvement was sealing the main highway in the mid seventies, and we thought we had it made - only two level crossings in the fifty kilometres to town instead of six. But thinking about it there have been steady improvements ever since - smoothing corners, improved grades, edge lines, wider bitumen, better safety barriers etc. But on the other hand there is probably twenty times the traffic including B-doubles.

In NSW most roads outside built-up areas were unrestricted, meaning there was no arbitrary speed limit. .........

The road toll, based on number of registered vehicles and distances travelled, in the early-mid sixties was horrific by todays standard. A number of things have contributed to the improvement in this. Seat belts the big one, collapsible steering columns another. The steering column was regularly referred to as "the spear aimed at the driver's heart". Better brakes, better tyres, better crash resistance of cars, better roads, better emergency medicine, all played their part.

Right - the actual number of deaths is less than it was in 1970, despite vast increases in the number of cars and their average mileage. The two big improvements have been seat belts and random breath testing. While safety improvements in cars have greatly reduced injuries and deaths when there is an accident, none of these has been near as significant as simply fitting (and using) seat belts. And in any case, the reduction of accidents from less drink driving and better roads has been much more effective at reducing overall deaths and injuries. Improved brakes and tyres have contributed but their effect has been offset by much higher average speeds. Fifty years ago a Holden weighing a bit over a tonne and carrying six people was considered relatively high powered with less than half the power that would be thought underpowered for a four seater the same mass today.

In spite of the almost exponential improvement in cars and roads, I cannot travel Brisbane-Sydney any quicker today than I could in around 1963-67 when I was involved in buying used cars in Sydney for sale in Brisbane. Twelve hours was the benchmark and this is about what you can do it in today with speed limits, speed cameras, & highway patrol. We had a lot of fun driving the New England Highway overnight and trying to cruise the underpowered drum braked retread shod beaters from the auctions almost at the top speed of many types. I did bring a Chev Camaro327 with drum brakes up in 8 3/4 hours one night. This jigger was good for an indicated 120mph cruise. Another night I got a higly modified Plymouth Belvedere loose on a gentle bend somewhere over 100mph and it took a good 1/2 mile of road to get it tucked back in and pointing straight. I had a passenger that night and he was very, very, quiet for a good while afterwards.

You are right that, for example, Sydney-Brisbane is slower than it was fifty years ago, and the same goes for probably most major routes.

John

[Rangier Rover]

Give me a 60's to early 70's pommy sports car


Find me a new car that will meet my requirements and I will buy it.

It must NOT have

airbags
traction control
ICE
Bluetooth
cruisecontrol
climate control
an exhaust not lower than 80db at full noise
Seats that are too comfortable
7 seat capability
a rev limiter
computer controlled engine management
plastic panels


It must have

A set of triple side draft webers
The ability to remove the roof for nice spring mornings
A real polished wood dash
Not too many instruments to clutter the dashboard
The ability to oversteer when pushed way too far but the aility too handle reasonably well (read crap by todays sterile standards) when required
An exhaust note that when combined with a dishwasher, local pub on a very windy road with a takeaway curry house next door, a laundry service and ironfree clothes would remove the need for a woman in a mans life.

"E" Type Jag?

[Bigbjorn]

JD, I clean forgot about the great reduction in drink driving. This has been a major life saver. What younger drivers don't know is that this took a concerted campaign of enforcement, punishment, and publicity to bring about a complete change in community attitude. Pre breathalyser (1968 in Qld.) a significant percentage of drivers saw no wrong in getting an absolute skinful and driving afterwards. I once heard a Sergeant of
Police expound that you had to be pretty p+++ed before you couldn't drive a motor car. Another copper I knew then, a Senior Constable at the time, refused to arrest a drink driver unless ordered by a superior. His reasoning being that he drank and drove and didn't see anything wrong with that. An Qld Inspector of Police who is a good customer of mine (model engineering) tells me that there are very few high readings over 0.15 nowadays but plenty around the 0.05-0.08 indicating a general awareness not to drink too much and drive. He says that pre RBT high readings of 0.15 to 0.3 and higher were quite common.

[haggisbasher]

Give me a 60's to early 70's pommy sports car


Find me a new car that will meet my requirements and I will buy it.

It must NOT have

airbags
traction control
ICE
Bluetooth
cruisecontrol
climate control
an exhaust not lower than 80db at full noise
Seats that are too comfortable
7 seat capability
a rev limiter
computer controlled engine management
plastic panels


It must have

A set of triple side draft webers
The ability to remove the roof for nice spring mornings
A real polished wood dash
Not too many instruments to clutter the dashboard
The ability to oversteer when pushed way too far but the aility too handle reasonably well (read crap by todays sterile standards) when required
An exhaust note that when combined with a dishwasher, local pub on a very windy road with a takeaway curry house next door, a laundry service and ironfree clothes would remove the need for a woman in a mans life.

Healey 3000?

[dobbo]

"E" Type Jag?

You know what they say about blokes driving cars with big bonnets don't you?


Healey 3000?

A Healey would be on my list, honestly though I think a Triumph TR6 would do me just fine.

[blitz]

I passionately love driving, here in the territory it was much better dring 20 years ago as the roads were all new and you could drive pretty safely at the speed the car was capable of - read no open speed limits.

I can still vividly remember cracking 250kph in my bosses flash V8 ford driving from Katherine to Darwin to deliver a southern manager to the air port on time, boss sent me as he knew my driving skills were up to it.

I'm older reflexs are slower, eyes aint what they were. more southern tourists that refuse to drive over 80kph on a 130 kph road limit. more traffic allround. But the sound of a V8 with the windows down wind blowing everywhere, or the throb and sound of the harley, will always get my blood running.

as far as new cars against old cars, new are definately safer, do they look better well I guess that is subjective.

Blythe

[VladTepes]

No douibt cars are more reliable now and if travelling a long distance to get from A to B, then the moderner the beterrer. (new usages of english being invented for Ron's benefit). The appeal of older cars was always that you were more a part of the environment - ie with a quarter vent window you could smell the countryside, rather than watching it from a climate controlled silent cabin like a movie going past.

It's a bit like asking "Do you prefer driving a Defender or a LandCruiser". No contest really.

[VladTepes]

dobbo you forgot something else it must NOT have: weight.

And taking all that other "must not have" rubbish off will accomplish that quite nicely.

[paulthepilot_5]

I have to say that I hate driving modern cars. I have only been driving for about 4 years but my first and only car has been my series 3. When ever I hop in a modern car i feel like i am driving a PlayStation :eek: no feedback from the road, no solid feel from anything, eg brakes, accelerator, it scares the crap out of me. Bring back Armstrong steering, drum brakes and leaf springs. I think having so many driver assisting devices on cars has made modern drivers loose the skills which would have been required in the past to keep alive.

Cheers
Paul

[landy63]

Did not seem to have so many angry drivers on the road in the 60/70s .

[Pedro_The_Swift]

I have to say that I hate driving modern cars. I have only been driving for about 4 years but my first and only car has been my series 3. When ever I hop in a modern car i feel like i am driving a PlayStation :eek: no feedback from the road, no solid feel from anything, eg brakes, accelerator, it scares the crap out of me. Bring back Armstrong steering, drum brakes and leaf springs. I think having so many driver assisting devices on cars has made modern drivers loose the skills which would have been required in the past to keep alive.

Cheers
Paul


you can keep your old dungers,,

give me air bags and air con any day,,:cool:

[Rangier Rover]

[QUOTE=dobbo;823915]You know what they say about blokes driving cars with big bonnets don't you?
A bit like a 4x4 with a big lift;)

[loanrangie]

Give me a 60's to early 70's pommy sports car


Find me a new car that will meet my requirements and I will buy it.

It must NOT have

airbags
traction control
ICE
Bluetooth
cruisecontrol
climate control
an exhaust not lower than 80db at full noise
Seats that are too comfortable
7 seat capability
a rev limiter
computer controlled engine management
plastic panels


It must have

A set of triple side draft webers
The ability to remove the roof for nice spring mornings
A real polished wood dash
Not too many instruments to clutter the dashboard
The ability to oversteer when pushed way too far but the aility too handle reasonably well (read crap by todays sterile standards) when required
An exhaust note that when combined with a dishwasher, local pub on a very windy road with a takeaway curry house next door, a laundry service and ironfree clothes would remove the need for a woman in a mans life.

Triple webers on a Stag - can be done ? or maybe a TR6 ?

[ramblingboy42]

I wonder what you are really referring to, its a fact that modern cars are so much more reliable , competent in every road condition, durable...its very easy to put 4-500,000kms on a late model vehicle which requires no major attention in that period. But it can never beat the family packed up in an old Hillman or Vanguard ( new at the time) having to stop every half hour to let the engine cool down, filling up with fuel AND oil. Driving with all the windows down and the quartervent windows turned back in to get maximum air into the car. Tyre Blowouts on a regular basis seemed a good fun excuse to stretch the legs. a 500km road trip would take 12 hours half of which was on unsealed roads with dust forcing you to slow down . Even though it was harder to do it seemed to be so much more ejoyable. Now you just point and shoot in sublime comfort, I think the inside of a modern vehicle is actually a pleasure zone. Back in the NT in the 70's I had a S1 and it had to be driven all the time , was as rough as guts really, dust, dirt , rain, noise, heat , cold found its way into the cab all the time, the seats broke your back but I loved it. Now in the Disco with every conceivable driver comfort, advanced suspension, pleasure zone interior, commanding driving position, superb brakes, hill descent......shall I go on?......yeah I think motoring is a long way ahead......but ....reminisce about the times we had because we approached it differently.

[p38arover]

But it can never beat the family packed up in an old Hillman or Vanguard ( new at the time) having to stop every half hour to let the engine cool down, filling up with fuel AND oil.

Oi!

Elisabeth and I drove our Hillman from Carnarvon, WA to Sydney in 4 days in 1971 - when the SA side of the Nullabor was still dirt, too. We only had to stop to let ourselves cool down (no aircon and it was summer).

Ron

[dobbo]

[QUOTE=dobbo;823915]You know what they say about blokes driving cars with big bonnets don't you?
A bit like a 4x4 with a big lift;)

both my landies are standard height;)

[Rangier Rover]

[QUOTE=Rangier Rover;824193]

both my landies are standard height;)
I didn't mean yours:eek: I like the idea of old school pomy cars anyway:D

[JDNSW]

JD, I clean forgot about the great reduction in drink driving.

When random breath testing was introduced in Victoria (about 1971, but I can't remember the exact date) one of the things it did, not often recognised, is that it gave some real data on how many drunk drivers there were compared to how many in accidents. And the figures were impressive - of drivers tested at random - around 2%, of dead drivers - around 50%. (Mind you, the percentage of drunk drivers varied widely with time of day - weekday mornings almost nil, early sunday morning, around 70%)

The telling point today is that the latest figures show that while the number of drunk drivers has about halved to less than 1%, they still represent about 30% of drivers in fatal accidents.

This clearly points to the way to reduce road deaths - and it is not speed cameras!

John

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Oi!

Elisabeth and I drove our Hillman from Carnarvon, WA to Sydney in 4 days in 1971 - when the SA side of the Nullabor was still dirt, too. We only had to stop to let ourselves cool down
Ron


Those were the days hey Ron---
;););)

[87County]

Did not seem to have so many angry drivers on the road in the 60/70s .


looks like this is the way we're going then....

Just one bad turn creates purple people haters - National - smh.com.au (http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/aussie-motorists-purple-people-haters/2008/09/29/1222650989538.html)

[blitz]

Hey Ron
Should Vlad have spelt that beterer? I thought it should have been spelt betera or perhaps more gooda

:D:D:D

Blythe

[hodgo]

I can relate to many of the thing spoken by others this sight like speed cameras , breath testing the days of .08 and the green crystles tubes coppers driving mini cooper "S"
I have been driving since I was 12 yrs old out of a case of necessity I learnt in a ex army Jeep in the bush and a single spinner Ford customline back in 1958 in and around Hobart. and trucks a bit later , From the age of 17 I have used steering wheels to make a living (about 45 years) I have seen many changes in vehicle design, road law, roads but the biggest change would have to be driver attitude. I t was drummed into me at an early age that to hold a drivers license was a privilege not a right. As it seems to be this day. In my younger years I had a couple of minor accident, thankfully nothing serious. And a few speeding fines nothing else


When I fist drove in NSW on the open road there was no speed limit unless otherwise posted and high speeds were very common but I don’t recall a huge accident rate compared to today’s figures and most roads are much better than in the 1960/70’s I think this was due to the fact that driver’s drove to the conditions,. Something that is not done in many cases today.
I think people were more aware of the condition of their cars as more home maintenance was done as vehicles were simpler to maintain. and less costly
One of the things I learnt from an early age in life is that any vehicle that you drive for the first time is that the vehicle must become an extension of yourself, get to know it with in the fist few minutes of driving it. Get to know the feeling of the vehicle ie. power to weight performance, steering, braking , gen handling, where the controls are, any load effect on vehicle handling .And remember even though they may have followed one another off the assembly line they are still different vehicles
I still drive a big cross selection of vehicles today and I enjoy driving the old one as much as the newer vehicles.
I think I have adjusted with the times and have no trouble adjusting to conditions; when and where ever I am. And I still enjoy driving as much as I did when fist started and I like to test drive any type of vehicle for the fist time or an oldie again , it is the actions and attitudes of the lesser educated steering wheel attendants that I have a problem with



But them my grand kid tell me I am a becoming grumpy old man .


Hodgo

[dobbo]

Triple webers on a Stag - can be done ? or maybe a TR6 ?


If you have the cash, anything is possible


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/09/18.jpg

[LandyBen]

My first memories of travelling around, was on the back seat of our new xy falcon, dad had put an old foam mattress on the back seat, so myself and my brother were comfy and coax us into sleeping. Big trips to see Nan and Pop, up and down the QLD coast. Good times.

[p38arover]

Hey Ron
Should Vlad have spelt that beterer? I thought it should have been spelt betera or perhaps more gooda

:D:D:D

Blythe


Well, what do you expect from someone with a name like Vlad! Everyone knows it should be more gooda.

[p38arover]

Those were the days hey Ron---
;););)


I drove the '63 Hillman Super Minx to work today (the EAS valve block is out of the P38A).

It's quite an enjoyable drive. I'm tempted to keep and restore it and to sell off the IIA instead.

[Olive Drab]

I just want to go back to big engines and cheap petrol :).. ooh yeah !

When I first got my licence our attitude was at least a 5.0litre engine, or you just weren't havin a proper go.

[landy63]

In January 1968 i drove from Sydney to Dampier WA in a 1964 Mini Minor 850 :eek: , to start work as Train Driver for Hamersly Iron , to say the least some parts of the trip were chlallenging , 1100 miles of dirt or should say (cr*p) on the Nullarbor , and rough as gutts dirt road from Minilya road House to Dampier , there was no Karratha then.

Had no real problems , other than blowing a tyre at Lithgow , replacment cost $3.50 , bad sections of the Eyre Hwy ,( "hwy" that was a laugh) , floods and Bulldust north of Carnarvon , in which i nearly flipped end over in one patch resulting in a busted engine mount which i fixed with Fencing wire and a piece of wood .

Cost of Petrol , Sydney to Dampier $63. Only came over for 2 years to get enough money to build a house on my block at Leonay Penrith , But forgot to come Back. Got 4 grandkids in WA now so i think i will stay.:D