tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53227453134136565182024-03-13T08:08:20.946-07:00Chris Haining WritesChris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comBlogger183125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-54138547616337933632020-04-12T13:20:00.001-07:002020-04-12T13:27:22.087-07:00Almost Real: Honda City Turbo 2 and Motocompo bike
Having looked at the Honda Ballade CRX previously, it felt wrong to not look at its squarer and rather more insane contemporary, the Honda City Turbo II.
Veritably exploding onto Japanese streets in 1982, the Turbo II was the member of the Honda City family that did all the drugs and lived its life in the most frenzied manner. It was certainly rather more wild in Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-55114308752597364852020-04-12T11:27:00.001-07:002020-04-12T13:38:58.468-07:00Almost Real: Honda Ballade CRX
There will be words here at some point. Keep checking back to see if that ever happens. Honda Ballade CRX.
Honda Ballade CRX.
Honda Ballade CRX.
Honda Ballade CRX.
Honda Ballade CRX, yes.
Honda Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-68283193685964358812020-04-05T11:00:00.003-07:002020-10-04T11:26:56.748-07:00Old Jim Sleep and his incredible Land Rover. Episode One
An illuminated low-fuel warning light in an old Series Land Rover is an oddly reassuring sight, for two reasons. Firstly, in a car whose build quality very much depended on the prevailing mood at Solihull the day it made its way down the production line, it hints towards the likelihood that the next breakdown would be due to a simple matter of fuel shortage. The second pleasing thing about Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-67647765413818289072017-01-23T13:41:00.000-08:002017-01-23T14:37:44.983-08:00 8,000 drivers caught on phone to be given help with simple concepts
I found this article in the Daily Mirage. Interesting reading:
"Following a crackdown by UK Police on people using mobile phones while driving, almost 8,000 drivers have been revealed as being utterly, utterly stupid.
The drivers, a large proportion of which had gormless expressions and looked like the kind of people you wouldn't want to talk to anyway, persisted in using their phonesChris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-89091057199467664062016-12-15T11:23:00.005-08:002016-12-15T11:30:39.983-08:00Lamborghini-badged iXOOST speaker system achieves new levels of crassness.
You can now buy something that looks like Johnny Five got crazy one night and procreated in union with a '90s Panasonic boom-box. The iXOOST ESAVOX sound system is the overwhelmingly vulgar creation of Matteo Panini's company, which apparently took two years to get the design to this unfathomably garish production state.
Fortunately, those of limited means will be spared the temptation to Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-54180422122088546622016-12-15T07:49:00.001-08:002017-07-18T12:34:01.794-07:00MCW Metroliner. A coach-ride into history.
Here's another example of a brochure that has outlived 99% of the vehicles it set out to promote.
Once upon a time, when Britain was an industrial nation, it had TWO manufacturers of double-deck luxury coaches. There was Plaxton's of Scarborough, and MCW of Birmingham. The latter built the Metroliner range of single and double-decker coaches.
Never seen one? Nah, Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-458713024862330502016-11-29T13:29:00.005-08:002016-11-29T13:32:25.644-08:00Honda's striking Accord again.
I was idly ploughing through the thick soup of SLR drainings that I call my 'dump' file when I chanced upon this rather handsome Honda - which I tragically took too few shots of to make into a proper feature. But isn't it lovely?
It then occurred to me - I'm pretty sure there's never been an unattractive Honda Accord; not in the UK, anyway. The three-door first generation car shown Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-59593451845923072842016-11-28T13:42:00.001-08:002016-11-28T13:42:16.949-08:00When Mr Lonsdale Met Mister Bishi
Hands up if you remember the Lonsdale YD41 and YD45. Yeah? Really? You total liar. The Lonsdale range of re-badged Australian-built Mitsubishi Galants Sigmas was only ever sold in the UK, and then only for thirteen months. It's right up there with the SAO Penza in terms of rarity, and anybody born after 1983 can be fully excused for having been untroubled by the Lonsdale before now.
Was it Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-44149354747189792102016-11-28T12:47:00.001-08:002016-11-28T13:15:37.076-08:00New Volkswagen Arteon Competes on lucrative Car Sketch Market
Volkswagen has revealed its move into the sketch market with its latest creation, the cunningly named Arteon.
The sketch, named Arteon, takes its name from art, the popular word that describes art, and eon. The sketch, which will be produced in ink, graphite and paper. Possibly charcoal. Its shape brings to mind the swooping outline of a car, making the Arteon a direct rival for sketches of Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-86603492673623789262016-11-27T10:38:00.001-08:002016-11-27T10:42:35.314-08:001,2,3... Is this thing on?
If, by any small miracle this blog entry actually publishes, the
image above is a reasonably fitting metaphor to describe what's
happening.
Like RoadworkUK, my Audi is sitting, forlornly with a layer
of dust and dew on it, and, like RoadworkUK, today it has been brought
back into use again just today after a long period of lying dormant. I'd like to thank spambots Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-86648285726290536912013-06-30T14:51:00.000-07:002016-11-27T10:40:47.986-08:00Blowing the dust off...
Good grief, would you look at the dust around here? Disgusting.
Look, I haven't abandoned this place, I assure you, it's just that I find it really difficult to achieve that perfect work/life balance and, with it, produce quality editorial for my own website while contributing worthwhile stuff for Hooniverse. The fact that I clicked onto RoadworkUK only to be welcomed by "This domain Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-15303427257141418822013-02-03T10:26:00.001-08:002013-02-03T10:26:36.631-08:00Chris, just what on earth have you been up to?
Yeah, I know. Nothing but tumbleweed blowing across the vast, empty plains of RoadworkUK for ages now. But I've been busy. Decorating the worldwide HQ of Roadwork, for one thing, necking slugs of nice, warming Adnams Sloe Gin for another. But writing for unfeasibly excellent American website Hooniverse, for the most part.The feature I've been posting (on a damn near daily basis) for Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-82290994135123928852012-12-04T13:32:00.001-08:002012-12-04T13:35:38.231-08:00Instrumentalism #03:- Renault 9/11 Electronic
I have been fascinated by this car for pretty much all my life. Or, well, since I was five, anyway. I was walking back home from some kind of mundane shopping exercise or somesuch, and a car being driven by one of her friends drew level and offered us a lift. It was a tedious car, bland beyond any kind of recall in the future, or it would have been had the dashboard not completely hypnotised Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-54063549718859887282012-12-04T12:55:00.001-08:002012-12-04T12:55:48.432-08:00Nonsense I Won On eBay 04/12/2012
I did try, to go cold turkey on eBay, I really did. But to no avail. I blame Saturday shifts at work, where I arrive early and the internet is just..over...there and there's all that lovely stuff out there for such low, low, prices.
Anyway. This weeks bounty came slithering through the letterbox and plopped right down onto the mat, causing great joy in my soul. It's a 1966 US Ford catalog(ue)Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-51862890113232655602012-12-03T08:05:00.003-08:002012-12-03T08:05:35.314-08:00Poppa:- 03/01/1924 to 27/10/2010
When I was in primary school I was spoilt, having as I did a full complement of grandfathers. I Boasted both a Granddad and a Poppa.Granddad Rodney was "Granddad". It was he who planted the seeds of my passion for drawing and provided the necessary reams of paper for me to defile every time I was in his custody. He was always there with a cheery smile and an opportunity to ride Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-47638066063748401332012-12-03T07:18:00.003-08:002020-03-31T01:15:38.146-07:00Realworld Rides: 1998 Suzuki Swift 1.0 GLS OH YES!
In 1988, when the Suzuki Swift was launched in its second-generation guise, it must have looked as if it came from some point in the near future; the outgoing model was about as radical as a side parting and starched collar. What we didn't realise then was that the next generation would still be with us in fifteen years time. In fact, the example you see before you, as a '98 example, comes Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-22898972088668080432012-11-11T13:56:00.002-08:002012-11-11T13:56:36.731-08:00Mercedes-Benz World:- Corporate Might (have been)
I perform a tiny, insignificant role at the very bottom of the ladder for a massive, multinational company and, every now and again, I'm called up for a fresh intake of indoctrination.The venue for this is either the Milton Keynes headquarters, a bleak, '70s monolith of indistinction where corporate drones toil away doing mysterious activities for either a tiny or a massive amount of money Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-25341187469409117742012-11-11T12:08:00.000-08:002012-11-11T12:08:05.451-08:00Driven:- 2012 JEEP Grand Cherokee
To make the following even vaguely worth reading it needs to be written from an objective point of view. To achieve this I have to temporarily put aside all notions of my absolute hatred, dismissal and outright condemnation of this kind of car; the morbidly obese, leather-lined, "go anywhere" vehicle. There will be no further mention of the futility of a car that can tackle any given face of Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-71055864236887416942012-11-04T13:53:00.001-08:002020-03-03T00:14:31.326-08:00Instrumentalism: Ford Sierra Graphic Information Module.
My dad had a Ford Sierra: not just any old sales-rep's motorway battle wagon, but a Sierra Ghia. As you all know, Ghia was once a famous and respected Italian styling house and coachbuilder, but its name would latterly become somewhat devalued by its association with those models in Ford's lineup that were festooned with such baubles 'n trinkets as "wood" trim, crushed velour and map-reading Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-13487265799462342762012-10-22T14:06:00.004-07:002012-10-22T14:07:42.228-07:00Detail Done Delicately.
Here is another of those tantalising instances where I had brief access to an exotic motor car yet no opportunity to drive it. Taken in as part exchange against something still more valuable, it sat, blocked in, in the protective bosom of the workshop to prevent ne'er-do-wells from getting their clammy mitts on it.So, if I couldn't drive the bugger, lets at least take the opportunity to look Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-40321429966146972702012-10-20T13:14:00.002-07:002012-12-04T12:56:14.324-08:00Nonsense I Won On eBay....18/10/12
The madness continues. This week I have acquired brochures for the 1983 and 1984 Ford Thunderbird, the 1984 Ford Tempo and the 1989 Plymouth Acclaim, Sundance and "America" versions of the Aries and Horizon. Yes, I am a monumental sad-act and No, I don't care.
More updates on old shit that I've actually paid money for as and when I recieve it.Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-15841538092348161562012-10-18T14:34:00.001-07:002012-10-18T14:38:16.697-07:002003 Audi TT 3.2. Meh...
So, the Audi TT, then. It's been around since the late '90s, I've driven pretty well every iteration (except, oddly, the TDi) at various points in time, but have never thought to write about it. Actually, come to think about it, I've never really thought about the TT at all.
So now the original TT has been dead for several years, it feels like a reasonable moment to reasess Audis fashionableChris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-4898478138763193472012-10-04T14:20:00.000-07:002012-10-04T14:20:06.486-07:00New Order vs Old Fart.
Yes, the old Mercedes A-Class has been taken out into the woods and gently put to rest with a swift blow to the head, before being repeatedly shot in the face to finish the job off. A-Class dead. Arise the new A-Class, which, er, I haven'tChris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-28517159345141796722012-10-04T13:00:00.001-07:002012-10-22T10:40:13.942-07:00Instrumentalism #01: The V.I.C.
So, to begin this New, Exciting occasional feature looking at weird and wonderful dashboard arrangements over the years, let me start with my absolute favourite dead-end instrumental contrivance, one that will be widely known, even infamous to those of you hailing from the New World, but will no doubt amaze and enthral all us Europeans.
General Motors' V.I.C.
As seen in the Buick Reatta "Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5322745313413656518.post-25736069136157126102012-10-04T12:50:00.001-07:002012-10-04T12:50:21.222-07:00Reboot!
Right. Where was I?
Couple of things have got in the way of progress around here; what with moving house, going on holiday, never ending working hours and, well, long relaxed evenings watching shit on TV. But I'm here now; and let's get straight back to business.Chris Haininghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01761197251512696859noreply@blogger.com