GPWizard F1 Forum
Everything Else => General Automotive => Topic started by: davewilson on January 10, 2007, 06:58:11 PM
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REVILED by many drivers but adored by its fans, the humble caravan has been voted one of Britain's top 20 greatest motoring ideas.
Enthusiasts have voted the caravan as 19th best - beating even classic car clubs. The list is topped by pneumatic rubber tyres, which were both patented and perfected by Scots.
Other favourites in the survey include cat's eyes, split rear seats, self-cancelling indicators and the Mini.
The list also features inventions that make some drivers see red - such as traffic lights, pedestrian crossings and speed limits. Safety equipment also features, such as disc brakes, laminated windscreens and bumpers.
The motoring writers Giles Chapman and David Burgess-Wise compiled a shortlist with staff at Auto Express. This was then voted on by 2,000 of the magazine's readers.
According to the National Caravan Council, the first leisure caravan, the Wanderer, was built in 1880 by the Bristol Carriage Company.
Nearly 40 years later, the Birmingham firm Eccles Motor Transport spotted a gap in the market for a portable holiday home that could be towed by a car.
Its initial production run was just 50 caravans, which were single axle with a towbar. The same system is still in use nearly 90 years later.
There are now some 500,000 towing caravans in the UK, and up to two million Britons take caravanning holidays each year.
The National Caravan Council said the industry was worth more than £1 billion a year to the economy.
The Caravan Club, which describes itself as Europe's premier touring organisation, yesterday welcomed the survey.
Fiona Bewers, the club's spokeswoman, said: "We are, naturally, delighted that the caravan has now been officially recognised as a top motoring invention.
"Our club now represents nearly a million members across the UK and they know that caravanning is the perfect way to explore our beautiful countryside, enjoy a whole range of outdoor pursuits and allow you to have the freedom to go where the mood takes you."
However, their large size and sluggish nature on the roads have also earned caravans many enemies.
The TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson provoked a storm of complaints after lampooning caravanning on the BBC's Top Gear programme in July.
He told viewers: "We proved there is no upside to caravanning and they clog up the roads. When we come to power, caravanning is going to be banned."
Clarkson also described a caravan site in Dorset as a "concentration camp". John Bates-Williams, a London barrister, disliked them so much he was reported to have founded the Anti-Caravan Club.
Mat Watson, of Auto Express, said: "Despite our car industry no longer being a global force, we Britons still have plenty to be proud of.
"Without these UK inventions, the motoring world would be a whole lot less pleasurable, quite a bit more dangerous - and maybe not even exist at all.
"Britain may be a small island, but when it comes to ground-breaking inventions and ideas, we are world leaders - and nowhere more so than in the field of motoring."
TOP 20 MOTORING INVENTIONS:
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1. Pneumatic tyre
2. Passenger automobile
3. Disc brakes
4. Cat’s eyes
5. Laminated windscreen
6. The Mini
7. All metal car construction
8. Pedestrian crossings
9. Traffic lights
10. Self-cancelling indicators
11. Bumpers (1905)
12. Factory fitted radios (1922)
13. National speed limits (1865)
14. Race track (1908)
15. 60-40 rear split seat (1980)
16. Motorway service area (1959)
17. Multi-storey car park (1901)
18. Car museum (1912)
19. Caravans (1919)
20. Classic car club (1930)
What do you think is the greatest Motoring Invention?
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The Stig
Reclining Seats come to mind:
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Windscreen wipers were'nt a bad invention either, were they Stig, be a bit buggered without them
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Cant understand why such items are missed off the list? ....Good One...!
I think we should compile our own list and enter it.
Cheers: The Stig
Are You going to the Autoshow?
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I vote for a heater and airconditionong,it
gets in the upper 90's with high humidity
at times in the summer.As for the
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Dare:
I know what you mean.It is getting hotter here as well.I cant understand how you guys cope in the winter.
Over here everything grinds to a halt,because people do not know how to drive in snow or ice ,and have a go anyway,ie the school runs etc.This tends to snarl things up added to which poor maintainence of cars etc.Gritters always come out after the the event!Lack of planning all round..!
You might say we are just are useless.
The Stig
I will add Anti- Freeze to the list
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I always thought the trunk was a useful
inventionas the mother in laws needed a
place to stick them in on trips :D
Seriously,what about airbags and seatbelts
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Well we have them here too Dare: And i suppose they do the same job: oh i thought you meant Mother In Laws
The Stig
But being one for safety i will add them to the list: Drivers Airbags.
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I think some of the best inventions are the ones you take for granted.
Windscreen wipers
Seatbelts
Power assisted steering (remember the days without it?)
Fuel injection
Automatic choke
Starter motor
Brake disc
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No Stig, afraid I can't make it
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If you're sticking to the best UK inventions, I'd have to say John Cooper's first modern mid-engine F1 car. That and Q putting machine guns in a DB 5.
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Cosworth151:
Thanks, but the Machine Guns might be a bit drastic to add to the list.
Road Rage takes on a whole new meaning.
Cheers:The Stig
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Ok then no guns..........but stig can we please keep the rocket launchers behind the headlights????
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Romephius:
Ok,then.At least it would take care of the tailgaters we have here.
Thanks:The Stig
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Romephius:
Ok,then.At least it would take care of the tailgaters we have here.
Thanks:The Stig
Are the drivers there as bad as here in US,speeders
tailgaters,and everybody drivibg with a cell phone
stuck in their ear :nono:
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I think bad drivers are pretty much universal mate.......
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Yes you are all correct.
This country have the most useless drivers.They pass the test then make up their own rules.
I bet there are a lot of people on this site, who could not pass again!
Am I Correct.........? Look At Yourselves???????????
The Stig
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Dare:
Yes, our current Motor System is ****Or if you come from America*******_****
But the powers that be are working on the problem and we all await the outcome to find out how much it will cost again
The Stig
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Romephius:
Good comments:Think more of driving aids,things that you could not be without, to complete your'e every day tasks?
Things that have been invented to improve our daily drive to work each day.
Cheers: The Stig
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My main driver aid is autotransmission
As I got older I have no desire to
shift gears any longer
Still waiting for that 100mpg carburator
I keep hearing about
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Dare:
It will never catch on.The petrol companies would go bust if we did not keep filling up our tanks.Economies would collapse,but i am all for going 100 miles on a gallon
They say they have a light bulb which lasts a lifetime,but can you buy one no.
The Stig
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Read somewhere that a major car company
in the 20's or 30's had to redesign their
transmissions because they was built too
good,they wouldn't break
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I'm starting to restore a 1275 MG Midget Mk III. It was built in 1970, but designed in the 1950's with the latest in 1930's technology. Has there been any progress since it was built?
Being a Yank, yes, I am trying to put a cup holder in it.
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Cosworth:
You might want to take a trip to
http://www.mgcars.org.uk/midgetspriteclub/marketplace/books.html
I am sure they will have all the updates you require for a rebuild project,with regards to spares etc.
I have not driven one in years,but i did prefer the Triumph GT6 over the MG.
I am sure a cup holder will not test you at all? Providing you can find the room.
The Stig
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Thanks, Stig. I'll need all the help I can get. This is my first foray into British cars. It's sitting in my garage next to a 1966 Ford Galaxie 500. I have a Ford 460 hanging on my engine stand waiting to go into the Ford. It has lead to many jokes about the engine, the MG and a lot of KY.
If I need more space, I think the MG will fit in the trunk of the Ford!
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cosworth151:
Best of luck with the project,older cars can be a pig to work on.My mate is having trouble with the gearbox on his TR4 it looks as though it has been hammered onto the spline.......
The joys of renervating cars...
The Stig