Bell's Banter 2021

[S griffin]

It depends how much the originality of it adds the price. Hopefully they’ll knock off enough of the original for it to be in budget for you. By the way that’s a cool car that person you know in college has, money well spent I say

[Lancsbreaker]

Originally Posted by zefarelly

I saw this, hoping it'll help me get the Alfa cheaper than Advertised . . . Especially as what I want is £4k over budget ;-)

Lad at COllege had an XR4i, always thought it was a great car, it was a 4 door.

If you join AROC for under £50, after six months you get access to the Alfa Affinity Scheme - some VERY good discounts


XR4i was only ever 3-dr - but I had an XR4x4 (the 2.8i) which was 5-dr - that was a really good car - and another good tow-car - until it blew a rad hose when I was in a hurry to get somewhere and I cooked it

[zefarelly]

I briefly owned a BX, £200 from a flat mate, auto dull as ditch water, but very comfortable for cruising to work in the morning. My boss had a Gti 4x4, that was good.

The old SUbaru LEgacy is a proper wagon. 105mph on the way home from Dijon on a good road, towing the COrtina. Mrs Zef was asleep!

The little Alfa will do over 120. Of course I wouldn't know anything about that, it's the wifes car.

[zefarelly]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

If you join AROC for under £50, after six months you get access to the Alfa Affinity Scheme - some VERY good discounts


XR4i was only ever 3-dr - but I had an XR4x4 (the 2.8i) which was 5-dr - that was a really good car - and another good tow-car - until it blew a rad hose when I was in a hurry to get somewhere and I cooked it

It was 1988 . .. I may have mis remembered . . . Ended up as a no door . . . . In a ditch via some hedges. Most of the Lads at COllege crashed their cars. I was still on scooters. Bought a flat instead, didn't need to show off to girls in a car

[midgetman]

Funny we should be talking about van speed limits and then a friend posts this link.

https://businessvans.co.uk/van-law/s...o-van-drivers/



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[midgetman]

Gerard I had two BX diesels. One was a mushroom brown hatchback, the other an estate. As a family car the estate was wonderful, I brought MiniMM home in it and we toured as a family until I changed it for a 405 Peugeot.

The hatchback was a 1.9 XUD n/a engine, the estate was an XUD Turbo.

They weren't exciting, but they served a purpose at that stage in my life. Very comfortable and carried a lot of racing stuff. In fact the current Mrs MM and I even slept in the back of the hatchback at race meetings - and she's still Mrs MM so it can't have been too bad!

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[midgetman]

EDIT - to be strictly accurate we slept in the back of the hatchback once and she said if we ever had to do that again she'd leave me. So maybe there was a rose tinted spectacle or two there

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[Gerard C]

' C on you force me to be serious… In the mid seventies I used to tow my RS 3.0 with a 504 estate. My future, my mistress in one word, had a bespoke mattress made to fit at rear and have a comfortable bed with sheets and stuff. I only spent one very bad night at Spa '75. I was bothered by a stupido turning the light on then off then on again. Only in the morning I realized that the hatch was not closed and that pushing it with my feet turned the light of the trunk on! Guess what? While shaving in the Eau Rouge river, the same stupid was watching me! Dont know what happened to this person tho…

What makes a good car is often the souvenirs related to it.
But a BX… honest… What about a Pluriel? Or a Robin?

"They weren't exciting" you say about the BX's. No kidding? Serious??

[andy97]

Originally Posted by zefarelly

I briefly owned a BX, £200 from a flat mate, auto dull as ditch water, but very comfortable for cruising to work in the morning. My boss had a Gti 4x4, that was good.

After my Alfa Sprint got written off (but before the insurance settlement - I disputed it) I needed wheels so had a Cavalier Coupe (truly awful) and then a BX 1.6 TRS which was OK. My then girlfriend (and later the first Mrs97!) was based at RNAS Culdrose and I used to travel via the A30 to see her from Yeovilton most weekends. On one trip back a chap overtook me on the dual carriageway waving frantically for me to pull over. I was doing about 80 at the time.
When I stopped I realised why - the rear offside tyre had shredded but I hadn’t noticed with the hydropneumatic suspension taking up the slack!

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by andy97

When I stopped I realised why - the rear offside tyre had shredded but I hadn’t noticed with the hydropneumatic suspension taking up the slack!

Ha yes, the suspension thingy now. Nothing to do with the girlfriend eyes or minjupe of course!

Imagine Max, a little bit younger. He enters a nice pub, could be a select golf club or yacht club he can't say. Advising a wonderful brunette, legs long like that, a smile able to kill a lion at first glance and obviously free… Max approches… He's a predator. Puts his Ferrari key ring in evidence on the bar. After one cocktail, eyes in the eyes, they go out…*What a night in perspective he has! The voiturier comes and says: " Your DB, James?" Errrr, says Max, no, no just the BX please, it'll be fiiiiine. Its a turbo!

[Gerard C]

If you can pull out a nice girl with a BX, only two solutions. Its either she has absolutely no knowledge of cars or she doesn't want to get a hike! Or she's half blind and find you sooooo cuuuuute! Wattanight!

[S griffin]

Yeah she probably doesn’t care about cars or thinks you’re too much of a show off. Never mind, there are plenty more ways you can pull a girl that don’t involve cars.

[midgetman]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

!

Imagine Max, a little bit younger. He enters a nice pub, could be a select golf club or yacht club he can't say. Advising a wonderful brunette, legs long like that, a smile able to kill a lion at first glance and obviously free… Max approches… He's a predator. Puts his Ferrari key ring in evidence on the bar. After one cocktail, eyes in the eyes, they go out…*What a night in perspective he has! The voiturier comes and says: " Your DB, James?" Errrr, says Max, no, no just the BX please, it'll be fiiiiine. Its a turbo!

Haha you're not too far from the truth.

About the only time Mrs MM and I went to a swish hotel. I was working at the skid pan/kart track at Castle Combe, and we had a working relationship with said swish hotel to the extent we swapped a voucher for a slap up dinner for a voucher for a session on the skid pan. Staff raffle. I won.

Drove up to hotel in my (unwashed) ZX Volcane Turbo Diesel (the XUD engine of course). Uniformed flunky demands my key for valet parking. Hmm this ain't going to go well. Uniformed flunky disappears, returns brushing himself down disdainfully and sneering at me.

Come the end of the meal, receptionist hands me the key and valet is nowhere to be seen: "your car is in the *back* car park sir."

Indeed it was. The unlit car park. With the staff cars, not the Rollers etc in the bright main car park.

I blame the French for their quirky cars. We English just don't appreciate them.


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[Paul D]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Not an easy task I reckon but isn't a XR4 a two door too? May be more discret in the traffic.

Yes indeed, XR4i was a two door (three door if you count the hatchback as is the fashion). I suspect Zef's mate probably had an XR4x4.

But unlike the XR4x4 which, as Richard said, did have four doors and was a fairly plain looking Sierra at a glance, the XR4i was far from discrete being fitted, as it was, with a huge double-deck rear wing, which is probably why it was sometimes mistaken for the three-door Cosworth even though it was a completely different type of wing.

In fact, I'd say the 2.8 injection Capri probably was a bit more understated than the XR4i, although I agree that there may have been a bit more room in the back of the Sierra for adult ram-raiders!

However, I'm not sure that getting them in there in the first place would be any easier than the Capri...

[Gerard C]

I see Max, I see… Due to race at Monza with the Corvette, my first rendez-vous with a new girlfriend was at Milano airport. What an exciting weekend in perspective… Discover a mythic track and a new girl friend curves. Should have lit up hundreds of candles at el duomo!
Arrived at the hotel, first to meet are half done mechanics laughing, watching and making poor jokes. You know French are thick, imagine thick French!
I understood how critical my situation was when I entered the room: long hair red carpet on the walls and mirrors everywhere. Was an ex-brothel, un foutu bordel dans mon language! Not the Hilton, the house of the rising sun!

Was not a happy race, my 'Vette was jealous… FP showed signs of overheating. First Q, the differential comes off. Second Q, the crank wants to visit Italy by itself! The oil pan was so much damaged you couldn't read Moroso any more but something like Mommm-Rorrrr-Sosss!

Driving back to France was smoother and so romantic, a cruise on Lago di Cuomo helps to establish a sweet relationship with the wildest girl!

[midgetman]

Shame about the Vette, hope it was sorted quickly. Girlfriends can come and go, but racing cars are for life.

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[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by midgetman

Girlfriends can come and go, but racing cars are for life.

You're a romantic gentleman, Max! I would have preferred keeping all my race cars, the value is increasing…

[apriliadriver]

Gerard, continuing your theme, I could not now afford to buy any of the Alfa Romeo I raced between 1991 and 2012 - 1958 Giulietta Sprint, Giulietta Sprint Zagato, 1965 GTA etc.
Nick

[Gerard C]

Ho Nick, can't say how much I can understand you! One of my 911 RS 3.0 is about 1 M€ now (Monaco owner) and the guy I sold my 2.7 RS to in '75 is waiting for the prices to increase. I remember the 2.7 RS was the first imported in France by Sonauto and was happy to let her go for around 87000 F Francs. Circa 15 K€…
TBH I dont understand why they make so much money, because you can have a very acceptable copy made for less than 120 k€ now.

Did you see the crazy price a GTA makes now? Reading 270 k£ seems common when not much more. Human beings, crazy planet.

[S griffin]

It’s great what prices cars like that can go for. Just shows how valuable cars like that and how eager some people will be to get classic cars. You wouldn’t think there would be that big a call for them would you?

Not surprised how much the GTA is going for though, they are real collector’s cars.

[midgetman]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

You're a romantic gentleman, Max! I would have preferred keeping all my race cars, the value is increasing…

You see? A girlfriend never appreciates. Plus when you're not driving a car you don't have to spend any money on it.

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[morninggents]

Originally Posted by midgetman

You see? A girlfriend never appreciates. Plus when you're not driving a car you don't have to spend any money on it

I just hope MrsMM wasn't looking over your shoulder as you posted that.

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by morninggents

I just hope MrsMM wasn't looking over your shoulder as you posted that.

Talking about somebody who appreciates a BX Estate, she must have a great sense of humor! And love a macho man!

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Ho Nick, can't say how much I can understand you! One of my 911 RS 3.0 is about 1 M€ now (Monaco owner) and the guy I sold my 2.7 RS to in '75 is waiting for the prices to increase. I remember the 2.7 RS was the first imported in France by Sonauto and was happy to let her go for around 87000 F Francs. Circa 15 K€…
TBH I dont understand why they make so much money, because you can have a very acceptable copy made for less than 120 k€ now.

Did you see the crazy price a GTA makes now? Reading 270 k£ seems common when not much more. Human beings, crazy planet.

Nothing crazy about GTA prices - worth every penny!

I would just be happy for my GT Junior to miraculously reappear...

[grantp]

Originally Posted by midgetman

In no maths genius but I make your battery four years old not seven.

Typo Max. should have been 2014 not 2017.