The cars and bikes thread!

[Raza]

The Renault 5 Turbo was a beast. Something about the French taking front engine, front drive hatchbacks and turning them into mid-engined monsters…c’est parfait.

[geoffbot]

The Renault 5 Turbo was a beast. Something about the French taking front engine, front drive hatchbacks and turning them into mid-engined monsters…c’est parfait.

Yeah sorry my bad - I suspect the nostalgia is limited to the turbo models

[happyscrappyheropup]

I posted this in another thread, but thought I'd add it here since the body shop just called to confirm it's a total loss.

25mph speed limit, 1p on Weds, my wife is street parked downtown and her XC90 was struck by a drunk in a BMW SUV. I can't tell from the pictures if it's a 3 or 5. Not pictured is the driver's side of my wife's Volvo, which was pushed up on to the curb and then back down as she dragged it forward into the next parking space.

Wife's car...



... and the drunk.



Seems like the BMW fared better than her Volvo. We've already been shopping and driving various electric cars to replace the Volvo.

[Raza]

I posted this in another thread, but thought I'd add it here since the body shop just called to confirm it's a total loss.

25mph speed limit, 1p on Weds, my wife is street parked downtown and her XC90 was struck by a drunk in a BMW SUV. I can't tell from the pictures if it's a 3 or 5. Not pictured is the driver's side of my wife's Volvo, which was pushed up on to the curb and then back down as she dragged it forward into the next parking space.

Wife's car...



... and the drunk.



Seems like the BMW fared better than her Volvo. We've already been shopping and driving various electric cars to replace the Volvo.

That’s a damn shame. Your wife is alright, I take it? Was she in the car at the time?

Also, I’m not super up to date with everything, but it looks like the assailant was in an X3.

[Raza]

Yeah sorry my bad - I suspect the nostalgia is limited to the turbo models

You never know, cars like the Renault5 were people movers—simple, amenable, cheap to buy, cheap to own, cheap to run. Cars like that can work their way into people’s hearts and make them feel nostalgic. Look at how simple, “Cars of the People” as James May would put it, become beloved decades after they go out of production, like the 2CV.

[litlmn]

I posted this in another thread, but thought I'd add it here since the body shop just called to confirm it's a total loss. (edit: Just read she was getting her hair done at the time, so good news there)

25mph speed limit, 1p on Weds, my wife is street parked downtown and her XC90 was struck by a drunk in a BMW SUV. I can't tell from the pictures if it's a 3 or 5. Not pictured is the driver's side of my wife's Volvo, which was pushed up on to the curb and then back down as she dragged it forward into the next parking space.

Wife's car...



... and the drunk.



Seems like the BMW fared better than her Volvo. We've already been shopping and driving various electric cars to replace the Volvo.

Damn, that sucks. Hope she wasn't in the car and/or is alright. (edit: Just read she wasn't in it, so good news there.)

The Lexus and Blazer Evs seem to be getting the best reviews at the moment. Actually the Lexus might be Hybrid not EV, but in either case.

[tribe125]

You never know, cars like the Renault5 were people movers—simple, amenable, cheap to buy, cheap to own, cheap to run. Cars like that can work their way into people’s hearts and make them feel nostalgic. Look at how simple, “Cars of the People” as James May would put it, become beloved decades after they go out of production, like the 2CV.

Indeed. Finding a picture of one like mine it all came back. My thrill of buying a new car rather than one that was half worn out, the interior with its soft grey surfaces, the surprising zippiness of the 1.4 engine, the look of the red paint after I washed it. It was modern, and dare I say, chic. Off we went, me and my wife, touring around Britain, staying in country cottages. It was almost a rarity, amongst people I knew, owning a new car that just worked, reliably. Wonderful memories, and the little red car is part of them. Nothing fell off, nothing rattled, and it was happy to sit at the legal maximum on the motorway. If you wanted, you could dash around country lanes like a hare. And the alternative might have been a Vauxhall Chevette that started to rust from the day you bought it.


I can also be nostalgic about postal delivery vans -





but not in quite the same way.

[crownpuller]

I posted this in another thread, but thought I'd add it here since the body shop just called to confirm it's a total loss.

25mph speed limit, 1p on Weds, my wife is street parked downtown and her XC90 was struck by a drunk in a BMW SUV. I can't tell from the pictures if it's a 3 or 5. Not pictured is the driver's side of my wife's Volvo, which was pushed up on to the curb and then back down as she dragged it forward into the next parking space.

Jeeez... that sucks. Drink drivers should be hung, drawn, and quartered, as far as I'm concerned.

[geoffbot]

Jeez sorry Wayne. Sending my best

[happyscrappyheropup]

That’s a damn shame. Your wife is alright, I take it? Was she in the car at the time?

Also, I’m not super up to date with everything, but it looks like the assailant was in an X3.

I think you're right, looks more 3 than 5. And, thanks. She's upset because she liked her car, but as we're driving new ones she's getting into the driving feel and instant power of the electrics.