Top Gear Merak breaking

[WayneB]

[Tony K]

Firewall is a racing term

Dude, you're joking, right?

Geez. . . what went wrong here . . . . ah, I see -- it was my use of the word "properly". Dude, I was being facetious -- I was defining the word by how it ends up getting used, in spite of what it really means. "Properly" was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but meant to be helpful at the same time.

Seriously, I couldn't tell if your "what's a firewall" line was humor or a real question. A simple clarification, as I asked for, would have helped! After two replies in a row asking "what's a firewall", it dawned on me that I've never seen the word used on a UK forum (it's as common as "fender" in the States). I thought maybe this was like 'wrench' and 'spanner', as people don't really use the word "bulkhead" in the States to describe any part of a car!

Edited February 24, 2007 by Tony K

[cly_mitchell]

Is Clarkson the Brit guy I see on Youtube "test driving" sports cars? He drifts the car on a closed track and talking about handling and throttle response. If it is, I have to say he is quite the tool. You can't tell how good a car is by sliding it around. He loves to trash American cars. "The GT is not an American car because the wheels are made in Germany and the brakes are made in Italy and Lotus helped design the suspension." If that is the case, most cars are'nt made anywhere. And to scatter the motor in a rare exotic, makes him a dirty tool. If its not the same guy.............................never mind.

[Tony K]

Is Clarkson the Brit guy I see on Youtube "test driving" sports cars? He drifts the car on a closed track and talking about handling and throttle response. If it is, I have to say he is quite the tool. You can't tell how good a car is by sliding it around. He loves to trash American cars. "The GT is not an American car because the wheels are made in Germany and the brakes are made in Italy and Lotus helped design the suspension." If that is the case, most cars are'nt made anywhere. And to scatter the motor in a rare exotic, makes him a dirty tool. If its not the same guy.............................never mind.

Yup, that's him. The show is very entertaining, and I enjoyed watching it a lot (on YouTube, of course!), but the America-bashing has gotten very old. At first it was funny, in a way that anyone (us in this case) can laugh at themselves; after a while it understandable, like a friendly rivalry (kind of like rowing in the Henley); then it was still acceptable, as it is natural for one to have pride in his nation; but he has thrown out every last shred of objectivity and turned to blatant insults of Americans, and seems to enjoy it as much as he enjoys talking about cars.

If he were just a little bit objective about it, I would not mind. If his America bashing weren't so stupid and unfounded, I would humbly accept it as I have so often in the past. But between the "trying to find a decent car in the USA" video and the trip from Miami to New Orleans, and some recent columns in the magazine, he lost my admiration and respect. Where's Tiff? I think I'll watch him from now on.

[punky]

Couldn't someone put Duratec engine in it? No more sacrilegious as fitting one to an Esprit.

Not sure if I should be getting upset by that statement ?

Are there people on here that think I'm a naughty boy?

Edited February 24, 2007 by punky

[drellis]

I think it is a shame that the classic cars on TG are driven to destruction, but i also like the publicity it gives to classic cars in general, and i am always hoping that one day they will get one thats not a dog and actually show they can be quite quick and reliable. Oh and the yellow dino hamster had i thought was great - only electrics went and he did give it a fair bit of welly from standing start (wish my esprit could sound like that

dave

[Mad Zero]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo..............................!!!!!!!!!!

[Kimbers]

As an American muscle car lover I always hate it when I see the Dukes of Hazard. I almost cried when I read that, on average, they destroyed 1 car every episode and during the new film trashed 3 old classics! :crybaby:

[Mad Zero]

As an American muscle car lover I always hate it when I see the Dukes of Hazard. I almost cried when I read that, on average, they destroyed 1 car every episode and during the new film trashed 3 old classics! :crybaby:

Somewhere on the internet is a photo of a fair sized warehouse crammed with all the '69 Chargers and cop cars they wrecked during filming - I suggest you don't search for it!

[M Blur]

Seriously, I couldn't tell if your "what's a firewall" line was humor or a real question. A simple clarification, as I asked for, would have helped! After two replies in a row asking "what's a firewall", it dawned on me that I've never seen the word used on a UK forum (it's as common as "fender" in the States). I thought maybe this was like 'wrench' and 'spanner', as people don't really use the word "bulkhead" in the States to describe any part of a car! :lol

Now you've got me confused.. guess it depends on what forums you're on Tony - I've always referred to firewalls when they are proper ones and bulkheads re non-sealed divisions.. most sections behind dashboard are often bulkheads as they lack proper insulation. However I usually refer to it when describing dividers between engine, pax and fuel campartments. I've not thought above bulkheads for a long time but then I'm pretty US-centric... dude.

time for a kwaafeee.

[esprit350]

As an American muscle car lover I always hate it when I see the Dukes of Hazard. I almost cried when I read that, on average, they destroyed 1 car every episode and during the new film trashed 3 old classics! :crybaby:

they also destroyed any thought that the americans can make good tv programmes...

[M Blur]

.. and what about the cars they crashed in Le Mans..

[Tony K]

Kimbers -- don't sweat it too much -- they built those cars in dizzying quantities: http://www.1969chargerregistry.com/stats.html

[WayneB]

As an American muscle car lover I always hate it when I see the Dukes of Hazard. I almost cried when I read that, on average, they destroyed 1 car every episode and during the new film trashed 3 old classics! :crybaby:

Sorry Kimbers I never noticed the cars

Too busy looking at Catherine Bachs legs

I did meet Eddie Paul though, he prepared most of those Chargers for Warner Brothers, he told me most of them were rusty heaps ,he had less than a day to paint them orange , paint on the flag,install fake roll bar etc and consiquently they looked horrible in real life. They could destroy them faster than he could convert them.

[Tony K]

Jon --

Okay, here's where I am coming from:

I never heard the term 'bulkhead' used to describe any part of a car until I started conversing with owners of British cars. I always understood a bulkhead as a structural wall in a ship or airplane, or a piece of corrugated metal holding up a river bank. Naturally, the use of the word when talking about cars made perfect sense to me, though. As for firewall, aside from being self-defined, the term applies to such walls in ships, airplanes, cars, and even buildings. Specific to cars, I have alway understood it to be part of NHTSA/DOT regulations that cars sold in the US have to have a firewall. Its a part of every car on the road, just like a fender or windshield. I don't now a specific reference to the safety regulations, but if you do a search in nhtsa.gov you will find it referred to in other tests and articles.

So I casually (and correctly to the best of my knowledge of the Merak) used the word 'firewall' without giving a moment's thought to it . . . and then the next two replies in effect said "what's a firewall". I couldn't tell if the replies were jokes or not, and I thought, hmm, maybe they use a different word in the UK . . . And again, my reference to bulkhead in mid-engine car is a reference to common avoidance of the word 'firewall' among mid-engine car owners so as not to confuse people who have used the word 'firewall' all their life while working on Dodges but never put 2+2 together regarding why it is called that. Not so proper, but I suck at teh word choices.

For what it's worth, I do have a small amount of small-time professional experience in racing (oval track, sprint cars, legends), but that's another story!

[Tony K]

Wayne -- I used to know someone that owned a General Lee that survived the show. It was a bondomobile. Looked about as good as the Merak that started this thread!

[USAndretti42]

Not sure if I should be getting upset by that statement ?

Are there people on here that think I'm a naughty boy?

Sorry, Andy. I wasn't picking on you. I was trying to gauge what people's reaction to putting a mass-production engine into the Maserati as we have had discussions on here which basically concluded that doing the same to an Esprit is OK. I didn't really think that people would like another manufacturer's engine to go into the Meral but I wanted to see. To me, it's a similar situation to the Esprit. They are both hand-built exotics.

Only said Duratec because that was the only mass-produced V6 I could think of that someone would conceivably use. I think V6 would make the car a lot nicer to drive because of the engine smoothness and torque.

[M Blur]

Tony - ok - hadn't noticed someone had asked what a firewall was.. wasn't me.. sorry still looking at the pic Wayne's just posted..

the difference in naming traditions prob emenates from the fact that many ex-aero, tank, ship engineers after the war wnt onto make cars... strong cottage enginnering tradition that continues today. It's very British to name in exacts.. we say Firewall.. then a Uk engineer would say when it was fire tested..lol

and, now, here we are

chin chin

Edited February 24, 2007 by M Blur

[WayneB]

Wayne -- I used to know someone that owned a General Lee that survived the show. It was a bondomobile. Looked about as good as the Merak that started this thread!

Bondo =American plastic body filler product primarily used for the filling of dents and holes in automobile bodywork.

British equivilent product= P38 Isopon (also known as pon, mud, cheese, klag, slonk , pudding)

We had a fun thread a couple of years ago on here dealing with equivilent automotive terms used on the opposite sides of the Atlantic.

Edited February 24, 2007 by WayneB

[Mad Zero]

.. and what about the cars they crashed in Le Mans..

Don't worry they were fakes - both the 917K and the Ferrari were actually re-skinned Lolas.

[simon gleave]

As an American muscle car lover I always hate it when I see the Dukes of Hazard. I almost cried when I read that, on average, they destroyed 1 car every episode and during the new film trashed 3 old classics! :crybaby:

Kimbers,

I read on the internet that a bloke finally convinced Warner Brothers to sell the last lot from the show, so they had to set up a 'company' to buy them and then the 'company' sold them to the lucky buggers that were in on the deal. Then they had to dissolve the 'company' so that Warner Brothers could not be sued for selling cars that were able to jump houses.........!

Going to Dukesfest this June near to Nashville and there should be a whole host of Generals there.......cause that just happens to fall into a trip to the Smokey Mountains; I didn't book the holiday for any selfish reasons or anything!!

[Kimbers]

What about the Lotus's used up in their Various roles?

I know of at least 2 Esprits destroyed in that Sharon Stone Thriller......name escapes me at present.

Funny story about that. Maybe add it into the Anecdotes.

[simon gleave]

Kimbers,

Reading the last Esprit book by Jeremy Walton and was wandering where the first Corfu Esprit from Bond went, the one they made us think they blew up. In the book it says it was used by the press office after its starring role.....and of course the copper one went up for auction a little time ago.

Does anyone know......

[M Blur]

Don't worry they were fakes - both the 917K and the Ferrari were actually re-skinned Lolas.

ahh.. that's fine then...

[Paul C]

Err, i really like the Lola's, is there something i don't know?