GTI at classic car sales

BX Meteor · Post by **BX Meteor** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 4:47 am

Paul296 wrote:Well when everything goes tits up and our raped and pillaged planet has yielded it's last sip of liquid fossil fuel - just think how easy it will be to make a BX out of cardboard boxes! Those hi tec curvy swervy German smug-mobiles won't be laughing then!? ( as I peddle past them on the hard shoulder - so long Fritz!)

Surely a 2CV would be better, take the engine out, cut a hole in the bulkhead, fix the gearbix in reverse and turn it tound, then crank the car forwards by hand. For extra speed, fit a bench seat down one side, extend the gearbox shaft and fit pedals, and several passengers might get up a good speed.

Wooscary · Post by **Wooscary** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 8:28 am

A nice old Mini would be easier, you wouldn't even need to cut a hole in the floor on most examples to convert it. Yabba dabba doo!

messerschmitt owner · Post by **messerschmitt owner** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:18 am

all this talk of 'what it is or isn't worth' has to be looked at in perspective.

Sorry lads, but when a car is worth £250 as scrap then the retail value (especially from a dealer, who has to give a warranty of some description) has to be higher.

£500 seems to be the minimum price for a shagged out, just past it's final MoT type of car with dents and dings.

So anything from £500 to £1000 is now an old banger - that's they way of the world - and, yes, you can find a car for less, but most things that have at least another MoT in them are over the £500 bracket - that's almost any car.

Second: The retail price is an offer to sell and we all know a bit of haggling can always be done.

Third: people buy certain cars/types of cars not for reasons of ease of repair or cheapness to run, but because they can - simple!

Fourth: Some people do minimal miles in their car and quite frankly the fuel price barely affects them as they are using so little.

Fifth: As long as there's demand, people will buy BXs - now is the time to consolidate that and accept prices are higher, some people look at them as quirky alternatives to a modern jelly mould, and there are lots of BX people out there that know nothing of this club.

Sixth: I've tens of thousands of things for sale at prices from £2 to £1750 that you'd all say weren't worth, but the old adage of it is worth what someone is prepared to pay is true.

Seventh: Petrol vs diesel - cheese vs chalk, does it really matter - they can only make so much diesel out of the oil - if everyone used it, you'd be screwed. One of the reasons for the high price in the UK is the limited refining capability.

Eighth: One of the reasons for all these wind farms and other alternative fuels is our government and every other is aware fossil fuel will run out, and electricity has to be made from something and that demand is increasing. If we use leccie vehicles that growth in use will be exponential - and we'll need all the spare capacity to charge your car up. Expect leccie to become as expensive as filling a petrol car and accept it will affect all our lives as the impact will be huge - think of the power consumption of everything else powered by the same electricity, it'll all cost much, much more to run too.

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:27 am

Well said.

BX Meteor · Post by **BX Meteor** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 8:01 pm

messerschmitt owner wrote: Eighth: One of the reasons for all these wind farms and other alternative fuels is our government and every other is aware fossil fuel will run out, and electricity has to be made from something and that demand is increasing. If we use leccie vehicles that growth in use will be exponential - and we'll need all the spare capacity to charge your car up. Expect leccie to become as expensive as filling a petrol car and accept it will affect all our lives as the impact will be huge - think of the power consumption of everything else powered by the same electricity, it'll all cost much, much more to run too.

It's not that simple. Smart Grids are on the way, I attended the IET Conference

Anyway, back to the direction this thread had gone ....

Wooscary wrote:A nice old Mini would be easier, you wouldn't even need to cut a hole in the floor on most examples to convert it. Yabba dabba doo!

Trouble with holes in the floor is that cats get in at night and piss all over the place, a more important reason to cover holes in the floor than MOT. I reckon 2CV is better car to adapt to Flintstone technology (wont need in that technology)

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 8:34 pm

Actually, the 2CV would be a pain to convert as directly beneath the driver, you've got 50% floor and 50% chassis. I can confirm (given my wife's car...) that a Mini is better - both for floor availability and the fact that it self-dissolves...

The post about values is valid though. Values are daft things - like house values for instance, or how much people pay for a good 2CV these days come to think of it. Much as I love them, I consider them over-valued. I couldn't afford to buy one now!

BX Meteor · Post by **BX Meteor** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 8:41 pm

But why do it the Flinstone way ?

Why not have people inside the car using pedals. Take the engine out, cut a hole in the bulkhead, fix the gearbix in reverse and turn it tound (it now goes forwards rotating input shat clockwise), fit a bench seat down one side, extend the gearbox shaft and fit pedals like a peddalo.

EDIT: 2CV of course
EDIT 2: ...this took me 15 minutes

....

Wooscary · Post by **Wooscary** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 8:41 pm

The beauty of any Mini I've known is that the floor of the boot is also ready perforated so the addition of a few children in said boot can easily convert the car's power to the equivalent of a GTi.

Or how about a new road system where all the roads go down hill?

Paul296 · Post by **Paul296** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:25 pm

BX Meteor wrote:But why do it the Flinstone way ?

Why not have people inside the car using pedals. Take the engine out, cut a hole in the bulkhead, fix the gearbix in reverse and turn it tound (it now goes forwards rotating input shat clockwise), fit a bench seat down one side, extend the gearbox shaft and fit pedals like a peddalo.

EDIT: 2CV of course
EDIT 2: ...this took me 15 minutes ....

You don't need to bother with the pedals really - just get a couple of horses to pull it. Why break the habit of a lifetime? 'Emissions' could be a problem but as long as you had a bucket and shovel . . . sorted!

BX Meteor · Post by **BX Meteor** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:05 am

Paul296 wrote: You don't need to bother with the pedals really - just get a couple of horses to pull it. Why break the habit of a lifetime? 'Emissions' could be a problem but as long as you had a bucket and shovel . . . sorted!

Surely it would be better to just ride the horses

Paul296 · Post by **Paul296** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:13 am

BX Meteor wrote:
Paul296 wrote: You don't need to bother with the pedals really - just get a couple of horses to pull it. Why break the habit of a lifetime? 'Emissions' could be a problem but as long as you had a bucket and shovel . . . sorted!
Surely it would be better to just ride the horses

Yeah you're probably right - as long as one of them has a cd/radio and a fag lighter!

BX Meteor · Post by **BX Meteor** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:21 am

Paul296 wrote:
BX Meteor wrote:
Paul296 wrote: You don't need to bother with the pedals really - just get a couple of horses to pull it. Why break the habit of a lifetime? 'Emissions' could be a problem but as long as you had a bucket and shovel . . . sorted!
Surely it would be better to just ride the horses
Yeah you're probably right - as long as one of them has a cd/radio and a fag lighter!

ipod and box of matches ?