Bumper sticker gave me a smile

We saw a sticker on a well used Renault Clio yesterday as we pulled into McDonalds near us for a coffee.

"I'd rather push a Clio than drive a Corsa."

It gave me a good chuckle. I thought about the Chev (GM) and Ford supporters in America always having a go at each other. It was the same in Australia with Holden and Ford. (Holden have collapsed in Australia as GM have pulled the plug on the model brand.) It reminded me of the advertising wars between Coke and Pepsi in the states as well. ?

Look how things change. What do you call a Skoda with a sunroof? A Skip.

Now Skodas are made by VW and are very reliable!

I remember being at a Land rover enthusiasts shop getting parts for my LR County in about 2001. There was a very brute looking landy parked outside, all winches, cables, ropes, jacks and "tractor tyres". It had a sticker on the window saying "I'd rather push my Land rover than drive Japanese". First thing I thought was: That's a stroke of luck then!?

Made me chuckle as I'd recently seen a documentary about the rich Saudis. They said on the program that, "For going to the golf club, it had to be Land rover, but if you're going out into the desert with your falcon and wanted to be sure of getting back alive, it had to be Toyota". 

Having owned both, I have to concur with the Arabs. Much as I loved my landy, it had a 4 litre Perkins Phaser engine from a farm loader and used to devour batteries and starter motors. In contrast, our next vehicle, Toyota High Lux, inspired confidence as being unstoppable. ?

I'd rather catch a bus than drive a french car ?  I was talking to a guy about Landys and he said he had a guy on his driving course who had a Landy with Ronseal written on a panel when he asked why, the owner said it does what it says on the tin 

My bumper sticker. Of course only the superior race are allowed these ??‍?

Davy G said:

I remember being at a Land rover enthusiasts shop getting parts for my LR County in about 2001. There was a very brute looking landy parked outside, all winches, cables, ropes, jacks and "tractor tyres". It had a sticker on the window saying "I'd rather push my Land rover than drive Japanese". First thing I thought was: That's a stroke of luck then!?

Made me chuckle as I'd recently seen a documentary about the rich Saudis. They said on the program that, "For going to the golf club, it had to be Land rover, but if you're going out into the desert with your falcon and wanted to be sure of getting back alive, it had to be Toyota". 

Having owned both, I have to concur with the Arabs. Much as I loved my landy, it had a 4 litre Perkins Phaser engine from a farm loader and used to devour batteries and starter motors. In contrast, our next vehicle, Toyota High Lux, inspired confidence as being unstoppable. ?

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I have friends in Australia and there saying is “ if you want to go to the bush get a land rover ,if you want to go to the bush and get home again get a Toyota “??? never a truer saying ????

There's a reason why countries with tough environments usually drive Japanese. Recently been to Costa Rica- 90% of the vehicles there were Japanese, the other 10% mostly German. Poor roads, ridiculous heat, very steep gradients and poor economy so not a lot of spare money for costly repairs. I asked the driver who's job it was to ferry people in a truck with open seating in the back up and down a ridiculously steep mountain road all day why all the vehicles were Toyota and he said because anything else would die in no time.

After my Dispatch died in that terrible cold spell 3 years ago, I had the choice of a 59 plate Vivaro or a 03 plate Hiace for the same money. Wife wasn't convinced as the Vivaro looked a lot nicer and the Toyota looked like I was going to be selling fish out of it ?. The Hiace just went straight through its 2nd MOT since I've had it. In 3 years it's needed a tire and a wiper blade. Also has 2 starting batteries and uses older technology in the engine so doesn't get clogged with soot making it great at doing short journeys all day that would kill a modern diesel egr valve. 

Davy G said:

I remember being at a Land rover enthusiasts shop getting parts for my LR County in about 2001. There was a very brute looking landy parked outside, all winches, cables, ropes, jacks and "tractor tyres". It had a sticker on the window saying "I'd rather push my Land rover than drive Japanese". First thing I thought was: That's a stroke of luck then!?

Made me chuckle as I'd recently seen a documentary about the rich Saudis. They said on the program that, "For going to the golf club, it had to be Land rover, but if you're going out into the desert with your falcon and wanted to be sure of getting back alive, it had to be Toyota". 

Having owned both, I have to concur with the Arabs. Much as I loved my landy, it had a 4 litre Perkins Phaser engine from a farm loader and used to devour batteries and starter motors. In contrast, our next vehicle, Toyota High Lux, inspired confidence as being unstoppable. ?

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The KwaZulu government in South Africa purchased a fleet of Landovers back in the mid 1970's. Transfer boxes were a popular repair/replacement in the garage. They were replaced with landcruisers which did a better job.

Hilux pickups were the popular choice among the sugar cane farmers. For some reason they weren't a popular choice for driving on the miles of open beaches in Zululand. That went to Mazda. They fired wide rims and 205 tyres. Lower the air pressure for the beach and those rear wheel drive bakkies (pickups) would go anywhere. The most popular beach vehicle was the beach buggy built on the vw beetle chassis, drive train and steering.

I spent a few months in Zimbabwe a decade ago and I swear every second vehicle was a Mazda 323! My brother in law's bakkie- mitsubishi colt seemed a lot more rugged than the warrior equivalent in the UK.

I saw one a few years back:

"A man is incomplete until he gets married - then he's finished"

Skxawng said:

There's a reason why countries with tough environments usually drive Japanese. Recently been to Costa Rica- 90% of the vehicles there were Japanese, the other 10% mostly German. Poor roads, ridiculous heat, very steep gradients and poor economy so not a lot of spare money for costly repairs. I asked the driver who's job it was to ferry people in a truck with open seating in the back up and down a ridiculously steep mountain road all day why all the vehicles were Toyota and he said because anything else would die in no time.

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Out there their MOT equivalent is seriously strict so cars are built to a much more reliable standard. That's why Toyotas and Hondas are so bullet proof.

We had an older style Honda Civic a few years ago. It clearly had a slightly bent drive shaft as the brake disk was straight but you'd see it wobbling sideways in the caliper (causing an awful sound when using the brakes). Anyway you couldn't stop the thing. It just kept going and going. Went through the MOT with no problems and started without any hesitation every time. Never once changed or topped the coolant, never did the oil, in fact i didn't really do anything to it except half wrap it round a (unlit) lamp post which jumped out at me in a Tesco car park and even then it kept going - with a huge dent lol. In hindsight we should have kept it and done it up. It was automatic too which made it even more impressive that such an old and abused box could still keep going but i didn't like the thing due to the brake noise and when it featured a lamp post imposed dent i'd had enough of it especially as i'd kinda trashed the rear seats with garden waste etc. I regret it going now.. was a bit sad to see it on a farm a few weeks later having been taken to a rally and pretty badly beaten by other cars and getting covered in mud. I felt rather sorry for it and regretted letting it go.

Iron Giant said:

I'd rather catch a bus than drive a french car ? 

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I'll have you know some of them are incredibly reliable! I've got one sat on the drive that's been sorn 10 years.. hasn't let me down in the middle of nowhere once ?