Never save a parking space for the wife

[lance1a]

As I did.....she said 'meet me at Morrisons' so I get there, pull into a bay, call her and she says she's only a minute away. The guy next to me pulls out so I stand in the bay (there were loads of spaces anyway) and she pulls into the bay sideswiping the E30 Only a dint on the bumper and a bit of paint removed...I shout ' For %*cks sakes' she shrugs her shoulders and says ' it'll polish out' dippy cow!

[town325i]

get a quote to have it repaired and give it her that will make her see a bit of sence

[oldie323]

just dump her mate! always more women out there,but they've stopped making e30's

[Cloud]

just dump her mate! always more women out there, but they've stopped making e30's

Someone should buy the rights to start making them again.

[town325i]

just dump her mate! always more women out there, but they've stopped making e30's

Someone should buy the rights to start making them again.

not another fooking mexican beetle and camper type thing!

[SHAKEELE30]

lol

[Cloud]

not another fooking mexican beetle and camper type thing!

I was thinking more like Tata Group (Tata Motors) since they have Jaguar to call on for technical things. Though they wouldn't really need them, all they'd have to do is stick to the original designs, and not cut corners or expenses. They understand that people want uncomplicated motoring, as an alternative to modern BMWs with more computing power than NASA, because they built the Nano for that purpose. The Tata E30 would fit right into their range.

[town325i]

what i ment was the origional beetle and camper van is still in production in mexico to the same spec as in the 70's

[Cloud]

Aah, I see.
If it's with the E30 it can't be bad. It's only bad to keep making the Beetle because it's rrrubbish.

[Brianmoooore]

An E30 produced today would be a VERY expensive car! Someone paid just shy of £23k for my red touring, back in 1989.
£23k + inflation + small scale production = ???

[Ollie_bwoii]

TATA E30 =

[Cloud]

But car are cheaper to make, surely? You can get a fully specced Mondeo Titanium for around £23k nowadays, so surely a less complicated item would be cheaper. My computer was about £1500 when new, but if something were to be built to the same specs and with the same materials today, it'd only be about £200. Why would a car be different? Obviously inflation and small scale production would be factors, but maybe they'd be negated by the saving made by not having to design the car. Not arguing per sé, I'm just curious.

[Ollie_bwoii]

Ford vs. BMW!


Not hard!

[Cloud]

The same goes for the E90.
That cab in your avatar has no vertical pillar for the front door window.

[Ollie_bwoii]

That cab in your avatar has no vertical pillar for the front door window.

Its just a animation! Well spotted though!

[lance1a]

The cost of producing older cars can easily exceed the cost of producing a modern one due to the more manual aspect of the assembly. EG: these days a headliner is a pressed composite that is fitted within seconds, however a sprung cloth headliner is a far more expensive part and a lot more labour intensive to fit. Production methods have changed greatly over the years and to try to re manufacture a car based on 80's technology in a modern factory would never work.

[Cotty]

.I shout ' For %*cks sakes' she shrugs her shoulders and says ' it'll polish out' dippy cow!

Take one of her shoes and scuff it and see the response

Then tell her it will polish out

[robbo86]

what i ment was the origional beetle and camper van is still in production in mexico to the same spec as in the 70's

nope, water cooled nowdays!

[cliffybabe]

i wouldnt even let char sit in th edrivers seat of my E30 let alone any of my motors never let her drive

[DINGLEDONG]

Women with car's are like monkey's with machine Gun's, I had a clever thought when my bird passed [so I thought], I gave her my pride and joy tonka toy, v6 shogun with Bull bar [It's a F**cking tank], my rekoning was anything she hits will come off worse, therefore preserving my car and wallet, plan half worked, she destroyed some Charlie Brown's chavved up civic in Halfrauds car park [scratched the shogun's bumper which T-cutted out], hence my car survived but my wallet lost it's anal virginity to put the Honda right. I should of got her a bleedin mobility scooter and a voucher for specsaver's instead, looking back with with heinsight

[robbo86]

Don't worry cliffy I know what you mean, the doirs has moved it all of 10 feet for me, I was too worried to let her go any further, plus never having driven a rear wheel drive before and the way she throws her cars around the road. I would constantly be waiting for a call saying that she has just mashed the car up.

[Nay]

Haha, wish they could make them again. But due to modern laws is wat would primarily stop it. You wouldn't be allowed the body (as its not curvey, would take someones leg off apartently according to car regulators) and the engines are prolly just road legal, safety inside is a definate no no and probably a load of other shite.

But you could go and slowly buy every single part from BMW and lump one largish original part (say, the rocker cover) and regester it as the car that the rocker cover came from But would cost you at least new BMW money (bugger knows how much, maybe if someones bored enough they could do some research if they had access). I dont know about shells tho. Maybe if you when to a breakers and found a good shell after stripping a car, start there. Make a Brand new E30... would be sick.

...BTW, just realised. This thread has got seriously jacked... lol.

But if a new E30 came out do you reckon it would spoil the "specialness" of them?

[Morat]

I don't think that you'd pass pedestrian impact regulations apart from anything else. You have to have a soft nose on cars nowadays with space between the bonnet and anything solid. You don't get front hinged bonnets nowadays, probably because the hinges are too tough.

Um... no third brakelight either (for example).

regulations have moved on, and made cars heavier and nasty to drive.

[v_nitro]

How do caterham people get past these safety laws? Do different rules apply to kit cars?

[lance1a]

I think the smaller manufacturers have a different set of rules

[Cloud]

The Zone should have a donate-a-bit charity, where we can send in a brand new part (I've got a new set of stick/handbrake gaiters I'm not using, for example) and create a "brand new" E30. No, I'm not serious. Nice idea though.

[Brianmoooore]

How do caterham people get past these safety laws? Do different rules apply to kit cars?

Kit cars have to pass a S(ingle) V(ehicle) A(proval) test.
All sorts of rubbish in this, like the protruding thread on the pin of the track rod end ball joints has to have a plastic cover on it to protect pedestrians. (In case they scratch themselves, after having been run over by the front wheel!!)

[cliffybabe]

How do caterham people get past these safety laws? Do different rules apply to kit cars?

I live in caterham

[v_nitro]

We could probably redesign an e30 for low volume production with our collective knowledge of cars, then have some chaps make the main parts on demand and get the rest as kit, it wont be the same but still awesome

[v_nitro]

How do caterham people get past these safety laws? Do different rules apply to kit cars?

Kit cars have to pass a S(ingle) V(ehicle) A(proval) test.
All sorts of rubbish in this, like the protruding thread on the pin of the track rod end ball joints has to have a plastic cover on it to protect pedestrians. (In case they scratch themselves, after having been run over by the front wheel!!)

I think i seen this, they check the outside with a thingy thats the shape of a knee to see if anything catches it and check that there is nothing sticking out in the cabin to kill you in the accident and so on. Its pretty fair - just means the car has to be well made and tidy, which is what you want to have in the first place!

[Jesus325iTouring]

All sorts of rubbish in this, like the protruding thread on the pin of the track rod end ball joints has to have a plastic cover on it to protect pedestrians. (In case they scratch themselves, after having been run over by the front wheel!!)

Are you serious Brian??

Regulations

[oze30]

Pics or ban!!

[dobbie82]

.I shout ' For %*cks sakes' she shrugs her shoulders and says ' it'll polish out' dippy cow!

Take one of her shoes and scuff it and see the response

Then tell her it will polish out

[Nay]

How do caterham people get past these safety laws? Do different rules apply to kit cars?

Becuase its a "two seater sports car". and they're still very safe for the drivers (bar encouters with 4x4s or cliffs etc) and they dont destroy anything they drive into and they are probably low and curvey enough to pass pedestrian safety tests. Also kit cars have different regulations, which helps. I wonder how the one in my avatar (the Ultima) passes... the nose/bonnet is so low it would just take ancles off ...

[handpaper]

Um... no third brakelight either (for example).

A thing which exercises me to an irrational degree
I can see your other two lights, why are you dazzling me with that poxy 'high-level' thing? Especially annoying when sitting at traffic lights, people don't seem to know what a handbrake is for nowadays.