Car SOS

[John Barker]

Many thanks for sharing this Johnh. I really enjoyed watching the program.

[Bob Culver]

Driving a Seven can require skill and daring but not in the bob apple league. A colleague acquired a front engined Porshe for parts. An offended girlfriend had painted it with asphalt paint, including the glass, but carefully skirting around the lamps!

[Bob Olive]

... and did you notice that Fuzz used the same plumbing grips when 'restoring' the Austin 12/4 in another SOS programme? He managed to break the fairly sturdy aluminium timing chain casting! Makes me feel quite competent with my Jack French toolkit of a bent screwdriver and an adjustable spanner...

[Nick Salmon]

I think we can probably all agree that the characters who present these types of shows are Marmite. Love 'em or loathe 'em, they are there as 'entertainers' first and foremost.

That said, I am fairly sure that in the case of Mr Shaw the producers sit round a table with him and decide what would most appeal to a ten year old. Then they film it.

Makes me yearn for the days of Raymond Baxter and James Burke, who could explain technical/scientific stuff in an entertaining way without the need for a sidekick 'clown' and the equivalent of a fart joke thrown in every five minutes.

Grump over.

[Tony Press]

I think we can probably all agree that the characters who present these types of shows are Marmite. Love 'em or loathe 'em, they are there as 'entertainers' first and foremost.

That said, I am fairly sure that in the case of Mr Shaw the producers sit round a table with him and decide what would most appeal to a ten year old. Then they film it.

Makes me yearn for the days of Raymond Baxter and James Burke, who could explain technical/scientific stuff in an entertaining way without the need for a sidekick 'clown' and the equivalent of a fart joke thrown in every five minutes.

Grump over.

Thank you - pleased it is not just me !

[Bob Culver]

The problem is the producers are arty times with no interest or grasp of things practical. The number of programmes playing on the real or acted emotions of supposedly surprised owners is getting tedious. I think they misjudge the potential interest in historic aspects, mechanical workings and repair process'. I guess it is hard to find anyone who can present well as it is not something many get practice at (Unlike say general history, which many lecture on). Guy Martin is/was quite good but his foreign language a challenge for many. You can instantly spot mechancally able by the way they handle tools. I dont know why they keep weilding the giant wrench. Apart from sorting Seven front axles, about the only auto use is removing sump plugs previously rounded  by garage apprentices. Lifting a Seven engine out single handed, pulling the block off the pistons etc would make good TV.
A sensible appraisal of a Seven in terms of its times could be made interesting. As with old trucks, comparison is made with roads and vehicles of today, not with what offred at the tme. The 20-25 mph Model T truck now  seems absurd until compared with a horse and cart.
incidentally, I would be surprised if someone, sometime did not make an Austin Seven Brighton