Classic Torque - Readers Letters
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TYRED
& EMOTIONAL Dear CMMAs a subscriber to
your magazine, I'm also a part-time author and one of my subjects of interest
is that of period fashion and pin-up calendars. I have noticed in some
of your editions, an advert by Longstone Tyres (it was on page 15 of January
2009 edition), which does look like part of a period pin-up picture. MANY THANKS Dear CMMOnly very recently
a copy of CMM has been passed to me, and I write to thank you for your
extemely flattering and kind words about my 1951 Fordson Scout Van (Commercial
Break, CMM January 2009 issue, 238). Such praise is most encouraging! DOVER & OUT... Dear CMMI hope you are all
well.
|
I have just received two
replies from my ad on your online service, both claim to be agents who will
pay by "cashiers check" and arrange shipping, one reply is non specific
and the other from west Africa! Do any readers have any experience of this type
of reply, I am very wary as I am constantly receiving e-mail and letter scams
from Nigeria and Eastern European countries making all sorts of ridiculous offers
in an attempt to get your bank details, presumably with a view to emptying my
bank account.
Yours
D. Cowell
*That's exactly what they intend to do; this is another email scam
going the rounds of many sites on the web; they pick-up various email addresses,
and intend to send you a fake cheque (as if you would let any goods go without
seeing some hard cash). We seen several examples of the emails they send out.
Pathetically, one started "Dear sir/madam - We are willing to buy the item(s)
you are selling at full price..." Another seemed to offer a money laundering
service offering $10,000 above the asking price (this email was sent to Helen
in our admin dept!) 'to cover incidental costs etc.'
This is, verbatim, another email sent to CMM: "i'm very much interested
in purchasing your advertised product tagged at[price].i'm an international
dealer importer and exporter in varieties of goods,the payment is by certified
america cashier check.if the payment term is pkay by you,kindly email me your
full name,address and phone number to proceed with payment right away.as regard
the shipping,i have a reputables international shipping companies that ship
my consignments.he will be coming for the pick up as soon as the payment is
concluded.i will like to know the present condition of the product in order
to speed things up as soon as the payment is made.so if you're okay by this,kindly
get back to me in time." In this case, the software this snake was using
failed to spot a price (We didn't advertise anything) and so didn't slot it
in his letter.
You can spot these fakers a mile away - just use your common sense!
We'll leave this letter on our on-line site as a word of warning to others!
TYRE DANGER?
Dear CMM
I found the article about
old tyres being dangerous in Michael Ware's column disturbing (CMM Issue 241,
April 2009).
The possibility had never occured to me, nor I expect many others.
Could you publish a list of tyre date codes and what they mean? I have Dunlop
tyres fitted to my classic and I can see nothing on them indicating how old
they are.
Yours
G. Barrett
Totton, Southampton
Michael replies - I contacted Chris Marchant, the MD of Vintage Tyre Supplies,
and he very kindly told me:
“Date codes are a bit of a minefield I’m afraid. You’re quite
right in guessing that not all manufactures had the same system in the past,
in fact the further back you go the more complicated it becomes, and some didn’t
bother at all. However below is a brief summary which may help, all the digits
should be moulded onto one side of the tyre and will be about 25mm long.
“Up to mid 80’s - Dunlop and several other manufacturers used a
2 letter and 1 number system per month, for example XS 8 meant December 1978,
the tables are endless and were eventually repeated, we have tables going
back to the mid 1930’s but I don’t think its worth publishing them
as tyres of that age are thankfully rare!
“Mid 1980’s-1990 - Some manufacturers began to introduce a 3 digit
system, week number and the last letter of the year, i.e. 217 means week 21
of 1987. This idea of course could only work for a decade.
“1990-2000 - Many manufacturers (but far from all) used the 3 digit
system, week number and the last letter of the year but followed it by a small
triangle, for example 219< means week 21 of 1999
“2000 onwards - Just about all manufacturers adopted a four digit system
from this date, first two letters are the week number, and last two letters
are the year, i.e., 2108, means the tyres were made in week 21 (19th May-24th
May) of 2008, nice and simple, easy to read quite obvious really!
“Hope this helps, but if you get specific enquiries let me know and I’ll
try and help further.”
A1 VIP
Dear CMM
Mention of the registration
'A1' in Michael Ware's column in the March copy of CMM (Issue 240), reminds
me of the time I drove behind this prestigious and highly visible plate.
My employers, Dunlop, inherited the registration when they took over some company
or other (I can't remember which), and as no-one could think what to do with
it, it was assigned to the Test Fleet garage.
They quickly realised that A1 was no asset at all when the local police rang
up, pointing out that there were two A1 cars in the local high street at that
very moment; and would Dunlop please make up their minds as to which one was
legal and to stop using the other one!
It turned out that the plate was in the process of being transferred from a
Rover to a Princess, so two cars in the garage carried the only too prominent
registration. A driver had taken the Rover to do a bit of unauthorised shopping,
for which he received a severe wigging.
Came the day when I was given the job somewhere 'down south'. The company rule
was that a works car had to be used wherever possible, and so I contacted the
garage and the only car they could find for me was the A1 Princess.
I quickly realised why our test drivers hated that car. Wherever I went cars
would cruise alongside to allow the occupants to subject me to close scrutiny.
Then they would drop back and an animated discussion could be seen in the rear
view mirror, people trying to decide just who was this important personage in
front? A member of the Royal Family perhaps, or a high-ranking government official?
Maybe just a member of the aristocracy?
On return, I vowed that if it ever fell to my lot to drive that goldfish bowl
of a car again, I would have to put a sign in the window:
"I'm nobody important, I've just been lumbered with this bloody Dunlop
test car!"
Thankfully however, I never had the 'pleasure' again.
Where the plate went eventually, I don't know, but I do know it went on it's
way accompanied by a hearty sigh of relief from our test fleet drivers!
Happy days.
Yours
Rex Grogan
Acocks Green, Birmingham
*Many thanks for that Rex; fascinating stuff.
GARSTANG
Dear CMM
It was a great day at the
Garstang Autojumble on Sunday (March 15), the lovely spring weather was kind
to everyone, 'Jumblers and stallholders alike, so no stalls toppled over!
There was a large turnout of traders and 'jumblers, as well as a large variety
of motorcycles; they always add interest to a display.
If you could not find what you wanted there, you need to get out more!
Yours
Jim Littler
Hindley Green, Wigan.
MYTH OF THE MONTHDear CMM Ref: March 'Myth of
The Month' (Spannerman, CMM Issue 240). A simple method to use to determine
which is more environmentally friendly, either a new car taken off a stockpile
or one already on the road, is by 'life cycle costing'. |
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