Chevys GM products good in the 40's still good
 

Hello MLU members,

Australia's premier motor vehicle V8 race just finished with an All Holden (General Motors) Podium finish at the Bathurst 1000. :thup2:

I think the first Ford came in at fourth place. This ends years of drought for Holden cars at Bathurst :note: :note: :note:

A great result

Kind Regards with lots of GLEE :drunk:
Lionel

Gotta give credit where credit's due. And GM runs on Credit, and only just. At least Ford is a financially viable. I suppose when your fleeing the Bailiff, you learn to drive fast.

I was waiting
 

G'day Tony,

Just because big brother who lives overseas isn't too good with the money side of things has no bearing on the critical factor. Who (for the first time in four years) crossed the finish line ... um let me see ... First, Second, Third, and Fourth.

Anyway Tony since you bring in a legal element - bush rangers always stole the fastest horses in their district. What is the most stolen car in Australia - that's right Commodores. If you had to get away from the consequences of your actions would you choose a pile of ,,,, or a car guaranteed to get you out of there as fast as possible?

Not that I have a shady past or anything - however there are quite a number of convicts ancestors in my family who sort of had to come to Australia - they should have drove Commodores too.

Kind Regards
Lionel

Well Well Well
 

To all who know me... Should I??!!

Bathurst Race. How on earth were you sober enough at the end to even realize the race was over?

There was a story about enforced alcohol sales limits at the race on Canadian radio last week, otherwise I'd never know what you were talking about. And as one lady on the broadcast said, 'crack a tinnie and go wild'.

Well, you've talked me into it, I'll have to buy a Commodore!

Now on this forum, we aren't talking modern V8 Supercars, we're talking Sidevalve V8s and Stovebolt Sixes. It was of course Clyde Barrow of the Bonnie and Clyde duo who famously wrote to Henry Ford:

"Dear Sir, while I still have breath in my lungs, I will tell you what a dandy car you make. I have driven Fords exclusively when I could get away with one. For sustained speed and freedom from trouble the Ford has got every other car skinned and even if my business haven't been strictly legal, it don't hurt anything to tell you what a fine car you got in the "V8",
Yours truly,
Clyde Barrow."

Bonnie and Clyde roared around the Midwest robbing banks and killing Police until they we're finally caught in a shootout - by Police who were also in Fords! :D

G'day Howard
 

Mate, you wouldn't be a Ford fan would you by any chance. Now remember that our relatives probably played tennis together because I am from generations of Temora stock - so we should keep this friendly.

As I sign of truce :giveup My family did have Fords. The second car we had when I was growing up was an XP Ford Falcon that served us very well. We went from the XP to a Holden HQ which also was a great car. One of my brothers went from having his own HQ to a series of Fords and they have done alright by him.

I seem to have developed an accidental addiction for military vehicles and I have a previous love of V8s. So the only way I can combine the two is to change years of habit and start looking at vehicles which start with the F-word.

Look G-Tony is even working on a Chevy now. There seems to be some cross-cultural activity happening here so that can't all be too bad!

It should be about understanding and tolerance. Therefore I can hold out some hope that you will see the light, just like G-Tony did, and you too might get a Chevy. That would bring some comfort to my troubled mind and help me cope with the fact of my now liking something Ford made. :salute:

Kind Regards
Lionel

Good Story
 

Hello Tony,

I did not know about the type of car that Bonnie and Clyde used to drive and the letter he wrote to Henry Ford. Quite a good yarn. Thanks for putting it up on the forum

Kind Regards
Lionel

Still sober
 

G'day Terry,

I have to admit to only watching the last half hour of the race because there are so many advertisements coming on that it really spoils watching the race. It always used to be riddled with advertising but this year it just went crazy. One of my sons is a Ford fan - it saddens me to admit this. So for the past three years Kai had delighted in Holdens being beaten by Fords. It is similar to State of Origin Rugby League football my state of origin is New South Wales and I live in Queensland and married a Queenslander and my children were all born in Queensland. The past years have been pretty tough with the Blues (New South Wales) being beaten each year by Queensland and Ford winning Bathurst.

To enjoy the Bathurst race now you would have to buy and watch a DVD which probably has advertisements on it too.

Kind Regards
Lionel

Just goes to show how quickly the R.A.T. syndrome mutates when sensible blokes start cross dressing....er I mean cross the divide between makes and models of vehicle :D

Re Bonnie and Clyde
 

I do believe that the V8 Ford involved in the rather extensive shoot out was still running after the shooting stopped, even if Bonnie and Clyde were not. Have seen a photo in the past of the dmage done to the car, would not have wanted to be hiding behind it.

As for the Bathurst event, does anyone out there really believe that the cars racing are a "Ford" or "Holden", not a mish mash of technology's and designs that are often shared for parity?
(Now looking for old Ford to hide behind, move over Clyde)

Did enjoy the Masters race though, Camaro's, Charger, torana and the rest, all pre 1974?.
WooHoo
Rich

Ok
 

Lionel,
Thanks for your call the other night. You sound like a half-decent sort of chap so I will go easy on you right now. Just make a note to yourself not to mention it when we meet face-to-face... especially if there is alcohol involved! :thup2:
Rich is right and yes the Bathurst racers are a long way removed from your road car! But that is not the point and every year I love watching the race coverage from midday Saturday until 5.30 Sunday. Often this is by myself, because, invariably, some bastard will try to talk to you during the telecast and we all know that for six or seven hours on 'Bathurst Sunday' there simply is not enough time to talk! :giveup
Having said that, this year's race was another cracker & while 'one out of ten' is pretty dismal, you can bet your left hub nut that it is going to get worse. Ford are repeating the same mistakes they made in the 1970's and next year I will be surprised if there are any more than three of four ford teams competing at all.
And further to Rich's comment about them not being 'real' fords/holdens... at least the few remaining Ford boys can say that there are no Holden or Chev part numbers on any part of their car!

OhYeah
 

Oh Yeah, one more thing...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lntC9bHmguc :p

Too right .The masters race is always the best viewing .A bit of body roll ,drift and shear grunt makes for a good racing :note: :thup2:

Real cars
 

The bit about are they really Fords and Holdens at Bathurst is dead right. I would really like to see a V8 race where people have to buy their stock standard V8 off a dealer’s show room floor. They would be allowed to put in the full protection roll over equipment. The same aerodynamics for all cars and the ability to tune the car and everyone has the same tyres. That would be it no computers reading out all the functions and on pit boards no electronics or two way radio or satellite link. Just as close to factory specs and drivers who are pretty much on their own.

Thanks Howard for the YouTube link – I would always be late for work as I would keep trying to do the block numerous times before I got to work. Why don’t they try such good ideas like that in Australia?

Kind Regards
Lionel

When you see G-Tony the next time
 

G'day Howard

G’day Howard,
For a Ford bloke you seemed semi-decent as well. Now I have to remind you that you are not allowed to visit G-Tony’s place when you next see him and take a truck battery, coil, wires and electrodes and a lot of photographs with you. Plus you are not allowed to hit the switch every time Tony sees a photograph of a Chevrolet and turn the current off when he sees a Ford. Good truck = Ford = no shock. Bad truck equals Chevrolet = big shock.

Aversion therapy never really worked. It just made the people flicking the switch when the “bad” photos came up very happy. It did not really do much except feel pain on the person getting zapped. Maybe I shouldn't of given you this idea either - oops

An interesting paragraph
 

G'day Howard,

Just found this interesting paragraph on a CMP site... So no I did not write it.

A lovely thing about the Chevrolet was the ohv engine. The Bedford and Opel were easily dropped under the bonnet. The Ford's were side-valve V8; although a higher top speed than Chevy, the motor was not up to the times.
- Mike Read [4/1998] THe article is found on
http://www.4wdonline.com/Mil/Ford/WW2Trucks.html

Kind Regards
Lionel

Some more about CMPs from another site
 

In both versions, these trucks were made by both GMC and Ford. Since the volume demanded outstripped the capacity of either, they pooled their resources to create the CMP. The GMC was probably the better truck for slow and steady hauling, but the Ford could go a bit faster and was better for convoying. The chassis, body, differentials and accessories were the same for both makes; only the engines and tranmissions differed - the Ford with its V-8 and impossible to downshift 4-speed, the Chevrolet with its inline six and 4-speed.

Again, in both cases, the models produced corresponded directly with the British 8-, 15-, and 30-cwt, along with 3-ton and field artillery tractors. So we had a CMP9 8cwt, CMP13 8cwt, etc. There were also some specialty bodies made for ambulances and communications.
- Bob McLennan [12/1998] http://www.4wdonline.com/Mil/WW2/CMP.html
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How accurate is the bit about V-8 with impossible to downshift 4 speed??? How come they kept on being used if they were impossible? They did say Ford were good for convoy work while Chevys were good for heavy loads.

Kind Regards
Lionel

Fords impossible to downshift?????
 

Not really, in fact it's quite easy to do perfect downshifts on a Ford, using the heel toe method. All CMPs are nicely set up for this.
You just have to be good at picking your speed to judge the shift from third to second - it's quite a gap.

Was talking to an older gentleman at a clearing sale a few years back, quite a dry chap, I have always remembered his comment on Ford vs. Chev on the track to Darwin.
"If you wanted to get there quick, you took the Ford. If you wanted to actually get there you took the Chev."
Make of that what you will.
Rich

PS, like the way this thread was Hi-Jacked back to Blits's's'
Rich