james may
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Re: james may
She's not a traveller - She's a Series II Saloon I should know, she's owned by me and my brother...
Mark Powell
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Marian - 1955 Series II Facelift
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Marian - 1955 Series II Facelift
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Re: james may
very nice!! does the saloon make an appearance in the 1st episode or is it later on?
Re: james may
I watched it last night, beautiful looking car, a credit to its owners.
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Re: james may
Mark, I saw the show and your saloon looked wonderful, a true credit to us all, James May on the other hand came across as I bit of a discenting berk, the worst of the English bloke persona he inflicts on us, it's getting a little tired. He said I don't want to be down on the mark, but only after he had been down on the mark, saying the morris minor was not perfect, and the only area he justified this statment with was the widening of the original Mosquito design by 4 inches, leaving a 4 inch wide patch down the bonnet. A design feature I like, that happened by accident. "It was a Bodge" he said with all the conviction of a high court Judge, If that is all he could find to criticise about the Morris Minor his researcher has fallen down on the job, they could have cited the lack of faith William Morris had in the car, how Nuffield didn't push too hard for overseas sales and how it could have been a world beater, and taken over from the Beetle. But like Lord Nuffield, May missed his chance.
Last edited by davidmiles on Thu Jan 28, 2016 4:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: james may
Here's the link to BBC iplayer.......the Morris is about 5 mins in.....THE CAR LOOKS AMAZING !!!!!!!!!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... -episode-1
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... -episode-1
Re: james may
But needs something done with the dampers - it floats about like a toy duck in a bath! I prescribe SAE 40...
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Re: james may
What James May forgot to point out in the programme that the vw factory was partially put back on its feet by an English army officer
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Re: james may
Absolutely right! We should have kept ownership and sold it before they went t-ts up!
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Re: james may
Ps.I'm speaking as a beetle owner/driver!
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Re: james may
Just watched it on the i-player c/o to the link (thanks for that). I think it's mostly fair comment on the basically complacent attitude of those in charge of British industry in general at the time though as far as the Morris is concerned, I wouldn't ever describe the A-series as "wheezy" as James did. However in general it does emphasize how the arrogant attitude of "we'll decide what people have, the public will be glad of anything as it's British" really did us no good at all. I have several British motorcycles and the re-hash of the 916cc sidevalve in the new MM (I have owned one) is echoed there in that I have a 1957 machine on which most engine components can be exchanged with those on the 1937 model. The Japanese came in with something new and modern while we tended to keep on re-hashing the same thing year on year. The British motorcycle industry wasn't killed off by the Japanese, we let it die and the Japanese and others just moved into the vacant space, and much the same happened with the major car manufacturers.
My only concern after the program is that I now anticipate a summer of Joe Public telling me about the 4" strip on the bonnet under the assumption that I don't know................
Mike
My only concern after the program is that I now anticipate a summer of Joe Public telling me about the 4" strip on the bonnet under the assumption that I don't know................
Mike
Mike Gott. 1968 4-door saloon, Ariel and Velocette motorcycles - and a 5 ton Ruston and Hornsby narrow gauge railway loco........
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Re: james may
Just wondered why James May had to sum up the section covering the Morris Minor and the Mini - referring to their designer with an emphasis on the statement 'Not bad for a Greek' ?
I think I am correct with the following ,In brief, it was Sir Alec Issigonis's Grandfather who was originally a Greek National, later to become a British National and then his son (Sir Alec's Father) was actually born a British National. Sir Alec and his parents had been living in Malta having been evacuated by the British from Smyra that was then taken over by Turkey. Sir Alec (also born a British National) came to England as British Citizens in 1922 when he was 16. Sir Alec attended a British school system and further studied engineering in Britain.
Perhaps the programme had the brief to contain 'a mix' of certain things in order satisfy todays programme planners -
partly factual documentary, partly satirical, partly entertainment,partly historical, partly comedy, even partly patronising ?.
Its only the first programme though, and a huge subject !
I think I am correct with the following ,In brief, it was Sir Alec Issigonis's Grandfather who was originally a Greek National, later to become a British National and then his son (Sir Alec's Father) was actually born a British National. Sir Alec and his parents had been living in Malta having been evacuated by the British from Smyra that was then taken over by Turkey. Sir Alec (also born a British National) came to England as British Citizens in 1922 when he was 16. Sir Alec attended a British school system and further studied engineering in Britain.
Perhaps the programme had the brief to contain 'a mix' of certain things in order satisfy todays programme planners -
partly factual documentary, partly satirical, partly entertainment,partly historical, partly comedy, even partly patronising ?.
Its only the first programme though, and a huge subject !
'69 4 door saloon, traf: blue.
'LIFE'- is what happens when you are busy planning other things. John Lennon
'LIFE'- is what happens when you are busy planning other things. John Lennon
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Re: james may
it was a good programe , its got to have a bit of everything to keep jo public watching
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Re: james may
I think we can all agree that Issi was a genius...if a little tricky at times.
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Re: james may
Just downloaded it and watched it. Very good programme other than the statement that the prototype Minor had a flat four engine and FRONT WHEEL DRIVE despite the drawings shown at that moment clearly showing RWD..... Oops So much for the research! Having said that I've seen the FWD statement elsewhere so guess the researcher just picked up on some erroneous info....
cheers
Iain
Fairmile Restorations.
'49 MM, '53 convertible, '55 van, and a '64 van.
Marina p.u., '56 Morris Isis Traveller, a '59 Morris JB van, a'66 J4 van, a '54 Land Rover, Land Rover 130, Renault 5, '36Railton, '35 Hudson, a Mk1 Transit and a Sherpa Camper...
A car can be restored at any time, but is only original once!
Iain
Fairmile Restorations.
'49 MM, '53 convertible, '55 van, and a '64 van.
Marina p.u., '56 Morris Isis Traveller, a '59 Morris JB van, a'66 J4 van, a '54 Land Rover, Land Rover 130, Renault 5, '36Railton, '35 Hudson, a Mk1 Transit and a Sherpa Camper...
A car can be restored at any time, but is only original once!
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Re: james may
There WAS a prototype front wheel drive Morris Minor. Jack Daniels (one of the original design team) drove it daily.
However this was built well AFTER the first Minor entered production and had nothing to do with the flat four prototype ideas of some years earlier. The fwd car was probably built about 1951/52 and lessons learned from it were carried on to the Mini of course which was later designed by the same team.
However this was built well AFTER the first Minor entered production and had nothing to do with the flat four prototype ideas of some years earlier. The fwd car was probably built about 1951/52 and lessons learned from it were carried on to the Mini of course which was later designed by the same team.
Re: james may
The four inch stripe on the bonnet is more of a design feature than as a result of widening the car by 4". After all - we don't see it anywhere else on the car - roof/bootlid/floor pans etc etc - which would have taken much more expensive modifying than worrying about the bonnet pressing!
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Re: james may
Yes, definately agree that he was a visionary designer.SteveClem wrote:I think we can all agree that Issi was a genius...if a little tricky at times.
The point was that Sir Alec Issigonis was actually a third generation British citizen and I understand considered himself to be proud of that fact in quoting words to this effect - although 'being of Greek descent I feel as much British as any other Britain'
I wondered why and in what context Brian May (obviously a talented presenter in many ways ) decided to emphasise that statement "not bad for a Greek" Was it a harmless joking bloke type thing in some way to dispel the concept he had already made earlier that the Morris Minor is such a British icon ?
Perhaps the same style joke may not probably have been taken in the same way by some if his grandparents happened to be born in Scotland, Ireland or some other certain place for example.
'69 4 door saloon, traf: blue.
'LIFE'- is what happens when you are busy planning other things. John Lennon
'LIFE'- is what happens when you are busy planning other things. John Lennon
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Re: james may
I think that sometimes, just sometimes, it's possible to over analyse things.
I really enjoyed the program, but if I hadn't, there were lots of other things I could have watched instead!
I really enjoyed the program, but if I hadn't, there were lots of other things I could have watched instead!
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Re: james may
liammonty wrote:I think that sometimes, just sometimes, it's possible to over analyse things.
I really enjoyed the program, but if I hadn't, there were lots of other things I could have watched instead!
Mmmm, must be this darned weather I really do want to get out more again
'69 4 door saloon, traf: blue.
'LIFE'- is what happens when you are busy planning other things. John Lennon
'LIFE'- is what happens when you are busy planning other things. John Lennon