Quote:
Originally Posted by KeybdFlyer
Crash boxes were a joy for one reason only... Once you got the technique right and could double de-clutch with finesse, it looked really impressive to your passenger(s) to drop down into first with your feet in a blur and your hand stirring the gear lever like you were mixing a pudding! A casual shrug of the shoulders and a smug smile to brush aside their praise at your driving skills and the night was guaranteed to be a good 'un! 
Ever pushed a Hillman Imp hard? That'd lift its front wheel like it was waving at the pedestrians! Trouble was, you'd then lost half the front-end grip and went into "Oh god I've reached full lock already!" understeer!  And my Mini lifted its rear wheel like a dog having a pee!
I hope your GD got a decent price! So many items I used to have that I sold for next to nothing (extreme monetary emergencies usually). A complete set of Beatles LPs & 45s (you know, the vinyl discs that you played by running a small diamond stylus along a bumpy groove cut into its surface), in mint condition, all bought on the day of release - £72. I found out later most were valued at around £200 each. |
I always noticed something very purposeful about older drivers who learnt in cars with crash boxes and drum brakes. Especially when slowing for a junction etc, changing down through the box employing engine braking because as my dad once put it to me, you only used old drum brakes in anger once or twice and then spent a weekend working on the buggers.
I've never pushed any car hard as I don't drive, not yet at least. I'll get around to it once I have the money to do an intensive course. Week by week lessons just don't cut it for me, good instructors are at a premium round here so you're often left with the dregs, like the guy who finishes his day after tutoring by having a few pints in the fox and crown before DRIVING home in the learner car!
Not sure what price he got for the brough, I'd wager it was far less than what it was worth, it was sold because they needed the money and because he'd lost one of his legs and could no longer ride. My mother pulled a great stunt when I was younger when she threw out my collection of die cast toy cars. They weren't junkers either, some were old, some newer but all would have gained value in time and I had loads. She just got rid of them at a charity shop! Along with other stuff which was sat in the loft at the time, she claimed she was trying to tidy up to make it more presentable, which was a laugh in itself as no one ever went up there except me, not even her!