Judging a book by the cover

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Fri 22 Apr 2005 21:38
Judging a book by the cover - SjB {P}
I have a late middle aged, very mild mannered, friend and colleague in one of the Swedish offices of my employer. In his intergalactic mileage Volvo 740 GLT, he chauffeured me to the coach station at the start of my journey home to the UK yesterday evening; Smooth, gentle, laid back, unhurried, mechanically sympathetic, softly spoken. All are accurate.

So, as well as (already) knowing that he's (yet another) Hog fan amongst my Swedish friends (1973, but don't know the exact model), what did I learn is his real pride and joy?

A 1972 Chevelle that he's owned for the past sixteen years, and in which he has just transplanted the original humble straight six with a tuned 454 that he imported from a motorsports division of GM. That's seven and a half litres of US muscle, with a holley carb the size of a three bedroomed semi, to you and I.

As if this ain't enough, my smooth, gentle, laid back, unhurried, mechanically sympathetic, softly spoken friend is going drag racing with it!

Just great.
Made my day! :-))
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Fri 22 Apr 2005 22:28
Judging a book by the cover - THe Growler
Sounds (pun intended) like a proper car!
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Fri 22 Apr 2005 23:15
Judging a book by the cover - Tomo
" friend is going drag racing with it!

I wish I were!
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Fri 22 Apr 2005 23:49
Judging a book by the cover - SjB {P}
So do I, and I can't wait to hear it too; I'm sure your pun is spot on, Growler!

BTW - connection with a previous thread: On installing his new motor, he found that there was a small fissure in an external face of the casting through which coolant escaped when hot.

Rather than go through the hassle of inspecting and returning the block, he decided to try and repair it himself.

What did he use?

JB Weld, of course!

It worked perfectly.
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Sat 23 Apr 2005 11:47
Judging a book by the cover - cheddar
Bet he is really impressed that the Nubira now carries a Chevvy badge!
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Sat 23 Apr 2005 13:18
Judging a book by the cover - SjB {P}
Funnily enough, prompted by the fact that a hideous, hideous, hideous (did I say hideous?) Nubira is plonked on display in the check-in hall at Skavsta airport, I mentioned exactly this to another colleague earlier in the day. He just laughed, and wnet on to do likewise about the SAABaru 9-2 con trick, and the sadness of moving real SAAB production to Russelheim whilst Chevvy Nubiras get made in Sweden.

I must admit, I have no idea what GM plan to achieve by swapping Daewoo for Chevvy badges in Europe. Much though muslce in some of the latter appeals, yo me, both are synonymous with poor quality cars. Yes, even the Corvette. I had a crawl all over one at the Jonkoping car show in Sweden last month, and found the attention to detail engineering quite saddening. The same went for the Dodge Viper (or whatever it's called this week), and the ghastly old-E-class based, Chrysler 300 Gangsta car that's about to blight our shores. You don't even have to scratch the surface to see the poor quality. It's on show!


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Sat 23 Apr 2005 13:27
Judging a book by the cover - cheddar
My thoughts precicely.
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