FCF Archives: February Ferret

[Peter.N.]

My mothers test had a bit of humour, she was very nervous but as instructed she went and opened the passenger door for the examiner, got back into the drivers side but couldn't find her keys - she had put them back in her purse. I think she passed first time though. That was in 1963 the year we got married. Car: brand new white Morris 1000 Traveller, £600 including underseal which was eventually the death of it.

Thanks for all your experiences.

Peter

[NewcastleFalcon]

It is my intention to mark each day of February 2023 with a visit to the FCF Archives. There is a lot of good stuff in there destined to become yesterday's chip wrappers so I think a February ferret is worth a go.

Day 4 of the February Ferret
Today's random hand for February 4th has landed here

Post your Car-related Stamps Here...literally
...Only a couple of pages but worth a scan through both of them for a few minutes. I love the artwork of stamps, and as with many others the visits to Woolworths for packets of brightly coloured "foreign" and British stamps and a stamp album to stick them were an enjoyable part of the pastimes of childhood.
link viewtopic.php?p=433562#p433562

A few snippets I have pulled out, its a shortish thread well worth a brief look through,

First one from Bobins discovering an AX from Laos amongst many other excellent posts on the thread

I went to have a look at some more of the stamp collection today. Only looked through a dozen or so albums, but managed to find a few car related stamps

and one from me

If you were asked to point where this stamp was from on a map of the world...would you get anywhere close

The Car rallying fan will discover a superb Hillman Imp in flying mode from the stamps of Eire in the thread

If I can I will be making my own new contribution to the thread to mark its FcF Archives February Ferret selection. Still plenty to be discovered on it. Link here for a read or a contribution.

Post your Car-related Stamps Here...literally

Neil

[CitroJim]

I do like the AX one Bobins!

[NewcastleFalcon]

It is my intention to mark each day of February 2023 with a visit to the FCF Archives. There is a lot of good stuff in there destined to become yesterday's chip wrappers so I think a February ferret is worth a go.

Day 5 of the February Ferret
Today's random hand for February 5th has landed here

I-spy Fuel Cell Vehicles (or an H₂ Pump)
...one of the more niche offerings, and one I set up as a receptacle for what is truly a rarity currently in spotting terms. A simple thread and in a hare and tortoise race, the tortoise of a hydrogen infrastructure is still hibernating in its cardboard box, while the hare of an EV charging infrastructure is ambling along miles ahead but not quite going at full pace just yet.
The thread starter is here....link
viewtopic.php?p=715144#p715144

and remarkably it has already produced one of those cherished moments, where our virtual ramblings on here from the keyboard turn into real life odd behaviour Thanks Mick

Selected snippet Micks Quest

Well, having read Neil's post last night I was concerned that we may not find a Hydrogen pump to photograph if we waited too long! So having completed the work on the MX3 and with no other jobs outstanding in the Manor I thought I'd take a ride down to the Sainsbury's in Hendon and capture the pump.
So I set off this morning with my mission clear in my head. I thought I would grab myself a coffee and sit around for a while in the hope of capturing a Fuel Cell car having a refill!!

I arrived at Sainsbury's after canoeing down the Edgware Road following a humungous cloudburst:



Unfortunately and unbeknown to me things are not quite what they used to be with the filling station next to the store.
On arrival there today I was greeted with this:



So at the moment the filling station is non existant and under development of the block you can see in the picture!

Given that I had only gone there for the Hydrogen pump I was a little frustrated so I decided the only thing to do was to head for the M40 and Beaconsfield Services where the only other pump in my area was to be found.

As I pulled off the motorway I began to feel it just wasn't my day, the entry to the services was filled with a queue running out to the roundabout:



Eventually I arrived and parked opposite a Tesla and alongside the 5 charge points which were all in use:



I then went for a stroll to seek out my quarry, aah getting warm!:



So I walked onto the forecourt and scanned the area - Eureka!!!:



You may spot the notice in the middle of the pump in the above picture so here is what it says:



I had to abandon my plan to wait for a filler up and so I wandered back to the car past the picture which I have put on POTD and drove home to tell the tale!!

Well I did my best to fulfill the challenge set in post one but it just wasn't my day!!!

Neil

[Peter.N.]

The car park outside the Coop in Axminster has been dug up for I would think probably getting on for a year, its being reinstated now and about half a dozen charging points have appeared.

Peter

[RobertZ]

It's been sixty years since the severe European winter of 1962-63.
Eighty centimetre thick ice permitted a famous 'autorally' across the frozen IJsselmeer (pronounced Iselmere) in the Netherlands on 24th Feb 1963.
ANWB 'Wegenwacht' (Dutch breakdown patrol) vehicles were on duty, including a striking 2CV van.
Even Shell petrol was available on tour.
The drivers who successfully completed all the stages were awarded a commemorative tile displaying the route map.

The below video clip provides a good visual

Robert

Enkhuizen filmed during the winter of 1963

[NewcastleFalcon]

It is my intention to mark each day of February 2023 with a visit to the FCF Archives. There is a lot of good stuff in there destined to become yesterday's chip wrappers so I think a February ferret is worth a go.

Day 6 of the February Ferret
Today's random hand for February 6th has landed here

A collection of interesting/awful campers & motorhomes)
...quite a popular thread on viewings 31,000 ish views, doing what it says on the metaphorical tin.
The thread starter is here....link viewtopic.php?t=52635

Rather than let logic and bias select the snippet out comes a brace from the random hand again

Selected snippet 1 from pages 1 to 26 with 1 being the most recent the random hand selected page 1, and my bias selected this on the basis of its a Citroen, based on one of my former vehicles, and FCF currently has at least one active correspondent from the Kingdom of Fife.

here's a marmite one

Selected snippet 2 Pure random post selection from the thread from the 376 posts to date with 1 being the thread starter and 376 being the newest post.. It gets reproduced here whatever it turns out to be...and the random hand chooses post 351

One I don't remember coming across before:



https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auct ... 9200c7edf6

The FCF Archive February Ferret selected thread does provide to add new postings this very day to the selected thread, or have a flick through some of its pages to view previous contributions.

With a little luck I will be adding a Barkas B1000 today to the selected thread the link for which is here, and welcome others to join in and play the game.

A collection of Interesting/Awful Camper Vans and Motorhomes
viewtopic.php?p=710648#p710648

Neil

[Dormouse]

Loving the skaters mixing it with the cars. Hand cranked petrol pumps too!

The nearest I have been to frozen lakes in Holland is my brother in law's waterside cottage in Loosdrecht. In the summer there were hundreds of boats moored on the lake. In the winter they were all hauled out up on the lakeside parking areas and car parking close to the cottage became a nightmare. Anyone foolish enough to leave their small boat in the water over the winter risked having it crushed by the forces of freezing water - sometimes from inside the boat. "Dry" docking became a yearly ritual for the careful and a game of chance for the unwary.

[NewcastleFalcon]

It is my intention to mark each day of February 2023 with a visit to the FCF Archives. There is a lot of good stuff in there destined to become yesterday's chip wrappers so I think a February ferret is worth a go.

Day 7 of the February Ferret
Today's random hand for February 7th has landed here

School Trips Memories
...an interesting little aside of a thread rather than a full blown blockbuster, the sort of thread which gathers a few nice contributions then naturally peters out. The purpose of the February Ferret is of course to dig up and celebrate contributions made, and with a bit of luck, a new audience at a different time will be able to add to the selected thread.
The thread starter is here....link viewtopic.php?p=645669#p645669

Rather than let logic and bias select the snippet, out comes from the random hand again

Selected snippet from posts 1 to 28 with 1 being the thread starter and 28 being the most recent post.

The 'Festival of Britain' comes top of my list.

Peter

Tell us more Peter was it a train trip/coach trip and other recollections I for one would be interested to hear more ....my recollection of the "Festival of Britain" was from my stamp collecting days

and just for visuals a link to a picture of Jack Carter also described on the thread in the context of my own 1969 visit to that perennial favourite of the the School trip visit...the Power Station

Head for the thread and contribute something new if you can
viewtopic.php?p=645687#p645687

Regards Neil

[Dormouse]

It is my intention to mark each day of February 2023 with a visit to the FCF Archives. There is a lot of good stuff in there destined to become yesterday's chip wrappers so I think a February ferret is worth a go.

Day 6 of the February Ferret

Selected snippet 1 from pages 1 to 26 with 1 being the most recent the random hand selected page 1, and my bias selected this on the basis of its a Citroen, based on one of my former vehicles, and FCF currently has at least one active correspondent from the Kingdom of Fife.

here's a marmite one

Neil

This attempt at providing a daily use Camper was always doomed but it was hatched out of the trend to try and persuade people that they only needed one vehicle to do everything - shopping, kids to school, weekends away. Plus Barry Stimpson had designed a Pod to clip to the back of a hatchback to provide the same effect.

A modern evolution of this is the Expandable Van

And then there is the Double Decker idea

All well and good but the buyers didn't head these ways in their droves, so East Neuk quietly dropped their attempt at Camper Nirvana and went back to the mainstream bread and butter models that kept a roof over their head.

I know a lot of this should be elsewhere and feel free to copy it over, but the point of this Ferret answer is to show that reading the Ferret Thread leads to all sorts of things and stimulates thought. I am just demonstrating it and encouraging others to both read and reply.

Well done Neil. Lang may ye pump and pee and ne'er need a Dochter - ie, keep it up and good health.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Plus Barry Stimpson had designed a Pod to clip to the back of a hatchback to provide the same effect.

I know a lot of this should be elsewhere and feel free to copy it over, but the point of this Ferret answer is to show that reading the Ferret Thread leads to all sorts of things and stimulates thought. I am just demonstrating it and encouraging others to both read and reply.

Well done Neil. Lang may ye pump and pee and ne'er need a Dochter - ie, keep it up and good health.

Much appreciated Dave . The name "Barry Stimpson" must surely be the one behind the "Stimpson Scorcher", which takes me back to about 1979/80 ish, where I came across one in the flesh.

Thanks Neil

[Dormouse]

Mini Bug was his design as well.

[NewcastleFalcon]

It is my intention to mark each day of February 2023 with a visit to the FCF Archives. There is a lot of good stuff in there destined to become yesterday's chip wrappers so I think a February ferret is worth a go.

Day 8 of the February Ferret
Today's random hand for February 8th has landed here

My 100th post working in a muddy puddle
...a couple of pages so an easy scan through, but the "working in a muddy puddle" bit is a perennial homage to fellow car fixers working in less than ideal conditions outdoors. Have we all experienced it? Still plenty to contribute if it applies to you . Careful though and ponder joining in, my 100th post has now turned into my over 20,000th post, but I'm working in exactly the same outdoor workplace today changing the gearbox oil on the Clio in the maintenance fleet. Joining in can be addictive.

The thread starter is here...
link viewtopic.php?t=35597

I think the first post sums up the thread and offers the visuals so the random hand is not required today to select the snippet.

Selected snippet

We not quite my 100th post yet but close enough.

Are there any other FCF members who work on the street? Perhaps with a less than satisfactory kit of tools and equipment, but with a bit of creativity and ingenuity, and of course help from the forum, on more occasions than not the job gets done.

No tarmac on my street though, just a centuries old unmade road, which very rapidly turns into the muddy mess in the pictures.



Todays weather was particularly deceptive, heavy rain then bright warm sunshine blue skies, then heavy rain then bright sunshine. Just tempts you into working through the wet bits.........not pleasant.

I will be attempting at least one new post on the old thread, I'm sure the 2023 FCF audience can add to the thread contributed to by the 2011 FCF audience.

Go on, dare you! Click the link and just do it!

viewtopic.php?t=35597


Neil

[Dormouse]

I don't think people realise how valuable an Archive FCF is and it can only work if the people who read it also try to keep it up to date in whatever way they can.

[CitroJim]

I don't think people realise how valuable an Archive FCF is and it can only work if the people who read it also try to keep it up to date in whatever way they can.

Absolutely and unless the current custodians of the database have weeded it, the archive goes all the way back to 2001 - the founding year of this forum...

It's gone through a lot of evolution in the past 22 years and happily still retains its original 'feel' and ethos... Long may it continue...

Unlike a lot of forums it continues to thrive and prosper despite the rise of other forms of social media, notably Facebook. Many have withered as their users migrated to these other platforms...

Just try searching Facebook or similar for the answer to a specific problem and you'll see why forums like these will always have the edge...