matthewsons

[Ray White]

Mathewson may not say what  some people think he should say but that is just the way he is. If I had a pound for every time someone incorrectly described a sporting Austin Seven as an "Ulster" I would be a wealthy man.!!

This evening I watched a repeat with him describing an early mini.  He acknowledged the "Austin Seven" script on the back and on lifting the bonnet he said:

"there it is a lovely little 848 engine.  We have to pretend we like working on them but they were actually a nightmare.  That Issigonis; a very clever guy I'm sure but he got a lot of things wrong.  It's a nightmare of a job to do a water pump. Distributor; right on the front here, so it takes all the water and therefore it would start to misfire and pack up and suchlike.  There's so much good about a mini but there's so much wrong. One of them things; there's a love hate relationship.  They are iconic and they are great and they are still here.  This one will cause a lot of interest because it's a very early mark one Mini.  Got the makings of a super bit of kit.  Absolutely."

In all honesty I don't think he is saying anything that is incorrect.  It makes a change from having some silk tongued salesman glossing over all the faults.

[Tony Betts]

hi ray

again he tars them all with the same brush, from when he worked on warn out cars.

i tend to look at any car,  with the view. it not the cars fault. ITS THE OWNER.

if a mini rad leaked and made the car misfire, it wasnt the cars fault, it was from the lack of upkeep from its owner.

same with an austin 7.

if it doent go, doesnt stop, etc. its because the of the owners lack of knowledge to make it do so.

if he shows his honesty on a car, it should be on that one in front of him, and not generalising.

[Mike Costigan]

Well over a thousand views within a couple of days! I haven't seen the original so I can't comment on what he may have said, but he's certainly got a lot of free publicity out of it!

[Duncan Grimmond]

I used to get people telling me that my 2CV was a nightmare joke of a car which didn't handle, wallowed like a pig and had bad brakes. I always asked "have you ever driven or even been in one?" 9 times out of 10 the answer was "No". 'Nuff said...

[Steve kay]

Indeed, Mathewson’s PR supremo is sat in the office, saying” I told you spouting that bollocks on camera would be a brilliant idea!”

[AustinWood]

All publicity is good publicity. Witness this discussion.
It amazed me that the guy who built the very pretty Ulster style special said he had never driven it. That means it was completely untested.
We recently did a restoration of our fabric saloon chassis. It took several weeks to get it all working properly. Most exciting was the front offside brake snatching and the off-side rear doing very little. Applying both brakes (split braking) caused it to try to spin.
Now all sorted and working very well. Have to be careful with the footbrake as it locks the wheels very easily.

[Tony Griffiths]

I used to get people telling me that my 2CV was a nightmare joke of a car which didn't handle, wallowed like a pig and had bad brakes. I always asked "have you ever driven or even been in one?"  9 times out of 10 the answer was "No". 'Nuff said...

I loved my 2CV as well. Difficult to put a finger on why - I just enjoyed it. A colleague at work had one of those turbocharged Nissan 200 things (140 mph and still accelerating uphill on the Chesterfield -Dronfield dual carriageway) but when I gave him a lift in the 2CV he said, "This is much more fun. I really like it!". But he still swapped the Nissan for a new Sierra Cosworth (which was promptly stolen...).

[Malcolm Parker]

A pal of mine had a Sierra Cosworth, it was nothing but bother and he hated it.  He would leave it unlocked in the hope that someone would nick it, but it never was!

[Chris Garner]

I had friends with 2CVs and I really enjoyed them. The body roll on fast cornering was unbelievable. 
I also owned a Nissan 200SX Touring. An amazing vehicle. Loved it!

[dickie65]

I rate the 2CV as the only car with the same fun factor as an Austin Seven.
I had one that I could corner on three wheels, it would lift its inside rear like a dog having a pee. ( I have had three of them )
It was faster than most people thought possible around corners.