Storing petrol

[whole diary]

[broadgage]

I think broadgage's avatar gives another clue to why he stores petrol (coincidentally contemporaneous with The Changes)...

Yes.

[Red Squirrel]

I think broadgage's avatar gives another clue to why he stores petrol (coincidentally contemporaneous with The Changes)...

Yes.

Aha! Brilliant!

So here's a little riddle: Which physical artefact links Survivors with The Good Life?

[patch38]

So here's a little riddle: Which physical artefact links Survivors with The Good Life?

Too easy for a Survivors fan: Jerry Leadbetter's yellow Volvo estate was also Abby Grant's car. Although I preferred her hubby's Jensen Interceptor (a corner of which is visible in the aforementioned avatar).

I claim my prize 

Oh, and don't eat the fish...

[Red Squirrel]

Yup; DJH 180K

[Bmblbzzz]

So here's a little riddle: Which physical artefact links Survivors with The Good Life?

Too easy for a Survivors fan: Jerry Leadbetter's yellow Volvo estate was also Abby Grant's car. Although I preferred her hubby's Jensen Interceptor (a corner of which is visible in the aforementioned avatar).

I claim my prize 

Oh, and don't eat the fish...

Is that a Jensen Interceptor in Broadgage's avatar? I thought it was an Austin Allegro! A car which I personally remember from the 70s and am in no hurry to see again. As for the Interceptor, I've never seen Survivors but I did read a story in the Puffin Annual circa 1976 which involved an Interceptor – with no petrol! – in some sort of post-industrial neo-agrarian future dictatorship. Clearly it was the post-apocalyptic vehicle of choice.

[patch38]

Yup, it's definitely a Jensen Interceptor. The avatar is a screencap from the first episode of the 1975 BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) drama Survivors. The station is Great Malvern, dressed up as 'Brimpsfield'. Brimpsfield is actually a village in Gloucestershire (round about the end of the dualled bit of the A417 near Birdlip). Someone from the production team (possibly producer, Terence Dudley) used to drive past the signpost regularly and borrowed the name.

The Jensen never appeared after that but the yellow Volvo turned up in a few more episodes.

FWIW^▸ (for what it's worth) - I agree with you about the Austin Allegro!

[JayMac]

The Jensen Interceptor 'starred' in a fair few movies and TV series in the 60s and 70s. And even into the 1980s where one was The Saint's (Simon Templar played by Simon Ditton) car in a  series of TV movies.

The Champions, The Persuaders, The Protectors, The Sweeney The Professionals, The Saint... all have featured the Interceptor.

There's a good chance that the Interceptor would appear in any  60s-80s 'good guys v bad guys' TV shows. Production Designers seemingly liked them.

Oh, and it's one of the cars I'll have in my collection when I win the lottery. It'll look good alongside the Triumph Stag and Aston Martin Lagonda.

[Oxonhutch]

I agree with you about the Austin Allegro!

My dad had one - square steering wheel and all! Great caravan towing cars - their rear wheels were so close to the tow hitch.

[broadgage]

"is that what life is worth nowadays. Fifty gallons of petrol. God help as all"

Series one, episode 12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw5yAbFiC3U

[Bmblbzzz]

I didn't recognise the name but realise I've been through Brimpsfield several times, sometimes from Birdlip, sometimes from Cowley, sometimes up from Slad. Never on a train!

[TonyK]

The Jensen Interceptor 'starred' in a fair few movies and TV series in the 60s and 70s. And even into the 1980s where one was The Saint's (Simon Templar played by Simon Ditton) car in a  series of TV movies.

The Champions, The Persuaders, The Protectors, The Sweeney The Professionals, The Saint... all have featured the Interceptor.

There's a good chance that the Interceptor would appear in any  60s-80s 'good guys v bad guys' TV shows. Production Designers seemingly liked them.

Oh, and it's one of the cars I'll have in my collection when I win the lottery. It'll look good alongside the Triumph Stag and Aston Martin Lagonda.

I have never owned either, but I have driven both a Triumph Shag and an Austin Legover. The Stag was borrowed to impress a lady. It wasn't easy to drive, as it kept pulling over to the middle of the road unless I steered heavily to the left. Less than a week later, the offside rear wheel fell off accompanied by the half-shaft, thankfully under the command of the owner.

The Allegro belonged to my mate's auntie, who lived halfway up the Great Orme. She complained about how sluggish it was. It was 3 years old and had done under 5,000 miles, half of it free-wheeling to Llandudno, or down the other half of the Great Orme. We drove it to Chester and back at the sort of speed you do when you are young and immortal, starting at midnight. My pal  changed the oil the following morning, and his auntie thought it was much improved.

I currently drive a British-made car (Nissan), although I might trade it in for an Austin Brexit.

[patch38]

A mate of mine owned a Triumph Snag and, one lovely summer's day in the mid-1970s, we drove up to Shropshire with the roof down. Although it was one of the rare occasions that it didn't overheat, what we didn't know was that there was a microscopic oil leak from the rocker cover. I can assure you that aerosolized Castrol 10W/40 makes a mockery of Brylcreem. When we got there, my hair looked like Bridget Jones's after Hugh Grant drove her down to the country. I had to flatten it with a shovel.

[eightonedee]

My goodness - nostalgia overload this evening for someone who used to drive his Allegros (I owned two!) to go shopping at the Savacentre at Calcot/junction 12 catching up on coffee shop posts.

The first was a high mileage ex-journalist's hack that had seen better days, and was kept going at reduced cost by virtue of the fact that my brother worked for a BL subsidiary which meant staff discount on spares. It took two friends and myself, a frame tent, camping equipment and a fortnight's supplies on a trip down to Switzerland then around a circuit of the Alps, briefly into Italy and over several famous passes including the Simplon, and also was used for a high speed dash across the Netherlands when visiting a friend working there.

The second by contrast was a low-mileage well cared for one that served me well for two and a half years, and only almost let me down once - when the ignition light came on driving down to the New Forest. I called into the garage at the roundabout at Sutton Scotney, bought a new alternator, got my tool box out and swapped it out and was on my way again in half an hour - happy days!

I think I've worked out the real reason Broadgage claims to store a bizarre amount of petrol at home - it's to set ablaze a bonfire of thread drift on the forum!

[TonyK]

The first was a high mileage ex-journalist's hack that had seen better days, and was kept going at reduced cost by virtue of the fact that my brother worked for a BL subsidiary which meant staff discount on spares.

My brother used to spend most weekends sourcing bits for his Morris 1000 at a certain scrapyard up north. This even continued on holiday - I towed him from Strensham services to Bristol, then spent the folllowing mrning at a Bristol scrapyard. One day, his local man asked what he was looking for that day. "I'm not. I'm leaving the car this time," he said.

[broadgage]

The latest petrol panic is growing, with a significant number of filling stations running out, and long queues at others.
I may yet be glad of my modest supply.

I expect that the panic will spread to heating oil when the populace realise that it is delivered by the same pool of drivers and in similar tankers.

An acquaintance of mine was blocked into his own driveway by persons queueing for petrol, and the police felt unable to intervene.