I am old enough to remember Post office Moggie thousand vans with rubber front wings. Brilliant.
dvd
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To be fair, have you seen the colour of the Ka's (non-body colour) bumpers after a couple of years in the sun? They fade to an awful grey colour.
Practical yes, otherwise terrible.
Same goes for the Corsa wheel arches, a particularly bad example because they fade even quicker than the back bumpers and so look really silly! Near white wheel arches and faded grey bumpers + cars paint colour (often tired too) = tatty mess.
All depends on whether or not one cares about appearances I suppose?
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To be fair, have you seen the colour of the Ka's (non-body colour) bumpers after a couple of years in the sun? They fade to an awful grey colour.
Oh dear. The Ka has just recently (last 6 mths) been launched here in SA, and are selling like hot cakes.
(Locals are stupid, and easily fobbed off on 'the latest technology'...)
With our sunshine, expect problems VERY soon!
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Ian, re my TT, I wasn't crumpled at all! The only injury was that my ego was severely dented, and indeed was further crumpled when the lorry driver called me a "prat in a stupid car". Which was, to be fair, true.
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"Same goes for the Corsa wheel arches, a particularly bad example because they fade even quicker than the back bumpers and so look really silly!"
Only up to 2000, after that Vauxhall must have changed the plastic on the latest model as the Corsa C doesn't seem to fade at all. Lots of Autoglym Bumper Care needed on the Corsa B.
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My 1972 Triump 2.5PI had lovely steel chromed bumpers. Bit rusty at the rear. Some prat in a Carpri (sp?) drove into the back of me when I was stopped at traffic lights on red... in Liverpool. he admitted liability and signed a piece of paper saying it was his fault.
My Triump got nice new shiny rear bumpers.. only damage done to mine.
Capri has smashed front bumbers/radiator/wings/1 headlight etc..
Oh the joys of real bumpers.
My 1946 rover 16 had a 1.5metre length of chromed and VERY heavy steel at the front. With balance weights in the ends to harmonically tune the front cart spring suspension (or summat like that).
Whilst BMC& Leyland 1100/1300s ones rusted through in about 2 years, so thin and badly chromed...and the chrome peeled and cut your hands when washing them..
They don't make them like that anymore..(thank goodness)
madf
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It's horses for courses really. Nowadays your car will be a mess, but maybe you won't be. Crumple zones absorb the energy that otherwise you'd have to.
There was a quote somewhere ont he forum about a high speed impact in a Smart Car. It suffered very little damage, but an expert said something to the affect that the occupants would have been dead as their internals would be liquidised by the massive decellaration.
I don't know about you, but I'd rather the car got broken...
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Woe betide you if you are driven into ar drive into a Defender...
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The Royal Grammar School High Wycombe had several Ford Trannies when I was a pupil in the late seventies. One had two wheels each side on the rear axle and consequent bolt-on flared arches.
As fast as the arches were replaced they would become crumpled again by some teacher's inept driving. Eventually, some bright spark had the idea of fitting black rubber arches.
End of problem!
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The pre-GM SAAB 5 mph bumpers take a lot of beating (in both senses) and have saved me a fortune - they really do work.
They consist of a massive "U" section aluminium channel running accross the car, filled with cellular nylon blocks and skinned with rubber. They were, of course designed out when the GM accountants moved in.
659.
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Woe betide you if you are driven into ar drive into a Defender...
A passat had the misfortune to slam on the brakes for a bunny rabbit and got pushed along the road a bit ,the repair to the car was about £3200 and the defender needed 2 plastic screws to put the number plate back on
volvo used to mount the bumpers in to dampers to absorb the first impact ,very effective. have the new ones still got this feature covered by plastic?
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Didn't the TR7 have squashy rubber bumpers of somesort? My Matchbox model did.
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Coincidently, there's one at the shop where the Opel is today, getting the cvs done.
I'll have a look, and get back to you!
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