A while ago Lidl were selling little A6 size pocket books with a leather finish cover and nice rounded page corners, at something silly like £2.99 for two.
I decided to dedicate one of these books to my 1931 SWB Saloon, rather like an Owners Manual.
I started with the Reg no, Chassis, Body, Car and Engine numbers.
Next is the information I got from the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust at Gaydon.
Then details of the first registered keeper and subsequent owners. Whilst doing this I looked up where they lived on Google Earth.
Next are details of the modifications and major works done by each owner, where known.
Then details of the restoration that I carried out.
Then the spec of the engine in the car.
Details of the gearbox, rear axle etc.
Next is a section 'Competition History'
Yes, it does have one, various VSCC nav rallies, the Measham Rally in 2007, and Champagne Class winner in the VSCC Summer Rally of 2012.
Next is a section 'Journey log'
I have always kept a note of the major trips that I have undertaken, including overall mileage and the fuel consumption.
When you have owned a car for over 20 years you tend to forget some of the things you have done and compiling this little notebook was a very enjoyable exercise, I had forgotten completely that I had the BMIHT information on the car.
It has been a very worthwhile exercise. Having everything relevant to the car in a small book is very useful.
I am tempted to do similar books for my other two Austins but they would probably be works of fiction!
The books are great as they will be documents which stay with the car long after we are all dead. Drawing together all the information is a nice thing to do - like sticking together a badly broken vase.
Whilst getting things onto computer is good for people NOW to be able to access, I'm not convinced the whole lot will not disappear, along with all the virtually held banking system - in another global viral glitch. Even dealing with websites which get hacked or stop working because of software upgrades make one realise how much we rely on things which aren't terribly solid.
(23-03-2020, 08:29 PM)JonE Wrote: The books are great as they will be documents which stay with the car long after we are all dead. Drawing together all the information is a nice thing to do - like sticking together a badly broken vase.
Whilst getting things onto computer is good for people NOW to be able to access, I'm not convinced the whole lot will not disappear, along with all the virtually held banking system - in another global viral glitch. Even dealing with websites which get hacked or stop working because of software upgrades make one realise how much we rely on things which aren't terribly solid.
Yup... Just look what happened to the old Speedex website!
(Although to be fair to Dave, that Phoenix may soon rise from the ashes of Tiscali...)
A 1:24 Wills Finecast chummy, with removable body, a repainted, renumbered Ricko 1:18 RN, a Brooklands 1:43 Ulster, a Mike & Sue 1:43 Nippy and a Saxon 1:43 1931 Campbell single seater.
(23-03-2020, 08:29 PM)JonE Wrote: The books are great as they will be documents which stay with the car long after we are all dead. Drawing together all the information is a nice thing to do - like sticking together a badly broken vase.
Whilst getting things onto computer is good for people NOW to be able to access, I'm not convinced the whole lot will not disappear, along with all the virtually held banking system - in another global viral glitch. Even dealing with websites which get hacked or stop working because of software upgrades make one realise how much we rely on things which aren't terribly solid.
(23-03-2020, 08:29 PM)JonE Wrote: The books are great as they will be documents which stay with the car long after we are all dead. Drawing together all the information is a nice thing to do - like sticking together a badly broken vase.
Whilst getting things onto computer is good for people NOW to be able to access, I'm not convinced the whole lot will not disappear, along with all the virtually held banking system - in another global viral glitch. Even dealing with websites which get hacked or stop working because of software upgrades make one realise how much we rely on things which aren't terribly solid.
As long ago as 2015 Google's vice president warned internet users to print out treasured photographs or risk losing them.
"Vint Cerf, the internet pioneer, said it was time to start preserving the vast quantities of digital data which are produced before they are lost forever. Warning that the 21st century could become a second "Dark Ages" because so much data is now kept in digital format, he said that future generations would struggle to understand our society because technology is advancing so quickly that old files will be inaccessible. Speaking at a conference in San Jose, California, Mr Cerf likened the problem to the Dark Ages, the period in Britain between the 5th and 8th centuries where little is known, following the collapse of the Roman Empire."
Did you know that you can download a complete website and save it? In many cases it can be converted to a PDF, though when printed the structure can be somewhat poor. Try https://www.inspyder.com
Tony is quite right about the fragility of the WWW. It has turned into a wonderful resource, and a great many institutions and individuals have carried our scanning programmes making a huge amount of material and information accessible. But like Tony, having done the research and written the piece, whether it is a contribution to a book, an article or just for myself, it gets copied onto a black box and also printed out. The current situation is a clear demonstration of the vulnerabilty of on line communication and access to sites. The huge increase in use from homes can overload demand and cause sites to stall or fail. After the little Longbridge difficulties into which the forum fell, it's huge thanks to the team who put it back together, well done and thanks again.
I nurture a personal theory that with the self-evident inability of institutions to maintain web security, the challenges of distinguishing fact from abundant fiction, the increasing inability or reluctance of many users to write intelligibly even in their native language, and the future flood of users from parts of the world which are opening up to the internet, the days or at least the usefulness of the 'worldwide web' are numbered. Like any other tool it is great for some things and a lot less useful for others. One thing I can say with confidence is that, having spent a lot of time wading through motoring forums of late, many of which were more or less unintelligible to right-thinking humans, 'A7 Friends' stands head an shoulders above them - and long may it last.
