John K Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 I'm lucky to live in a very nice village that on a sunny day is stuffed full of tourists. I also have an old school (I call it a friendly style) Westie, clamshells, a bit scruffy, makes old fashioned noises... Yesterday I went for a potter through the village and got nothing but smiles, waves, pictures taken etc. There was a bus load of Japanese tourists getting off outside the Horse and Hound and their eyes were nearly popping out. The icing on the cake was the little lad who shouted loud enough to hear, "Daddy, buy one NOW" It really does make me feel good and convinces me buying a silly old car that some nutter obviously built in a shed was the right thing to do..! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleggy the Spyder Man Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Agreed rarely have a bad reaction to the westy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John K Posted August 16, 2014 Author Share Posted August 16, 2014 Agreed rarely have a bad reaction to the westy Deffo... Strange thing is, even 'lads' with heavily modded modern hatches wander over and chat. Had a brilliant conversation with some lads who got out of a really heavily modified Black Puma near the local Halfords. One of the passengers broke the ice with a "There you go, you should get ones of those, a proper racing car. Bet its faster than yours" just to wind his mate up. It does help if when you talk back you do not put them down and say whilst its probably quicker to 50 at that point fear and aerodynamics kind of put the breaks on and they would have you at higher speeds, and if the road was bumpy, and if it was raining LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain m Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 My eldest is in the motor trade and if they have an XK8R or a 911 or similar to trade out he pops in for me to have a drive, Quite frankly at my age I imaging I look a bit of a " Richard" ( avoiding filter) ( no offence to namesakes) . In the Westie however this somehow is never a problem and most folk think you are an engineering wizard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander72 Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Thats the Spirit JK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Yep, used to get the same with he last car. Deffo... Strange thing is, even 'lads' with heavily modded modern hatches wander over and chat. Had this too, the funny thing was, a few years ago, there used to be three or four of us locally, that would often go for a blat of a summer evening. Pulling into a Maccy D's for a coffee, we'd often get the same reaction; just honest car chat, with a temporary truce on the age divide thing. What always used to ticcle me though, is how after the inevitable bonnets off (us) bonnets open (them), the Ford ST lads and Westfield/Zetec lads would congregate round each others cars, and myself, Andy and Pete, (XE owners), would find the same with the VXR lads! - I don't think we ever met any Corsa/XE owners, a bit too old hat for them i guess, but the tuned XE's in the Westfields always got lots of respect for being Old Skool That said, an old lady did once shout at me for going too fast, while i was sat stationary in a queue of traffic! (Mind you that car did sound like it was going at warp speed, even when sat still ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SootySport Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 If you go for a drive round London, all the tourists cameras turn on to you instead of the landmarks, made my passenger daughter laugh. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyonspride Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 I get a mix of reactions. Negatives. Van straddles both lanes of dual-carriageway at 40mph, A Taxi driver has done the same. Weirdly the guys that do this have always been Asian, so I don't know if their is some cultural thing to it. Cut up by 4x4's. Clowns in 4x4's and MPVs closing gaps when overtaking. Shouted at my miserable old gits to "SLOW DOWN" when doing 25-30mph behind another car. Shouted at by unknown git "SLOW DOWN YOU F**KING IDIOT", because of uneven tarmac entering a 40 zone, down from 60, caused the front wheel to lock for a split second. Random drivers who speed off at 95mph as soon as they see me coming up behind. You also get those, often in 4x4, Van, German saloons, etc. Who tailgate and then overtake in the most ridiculous of locations (blind bend/crest). Finally a guy at work, who hates me mostly because I have long hair and guys with long hair are automatically all lazy, homosexual, drug using student types. He called it a "pile of junk". Somewhere in the middle you have those who drive erratically because they're too focused on the Westfield behind them, these may nearly hit the car in front, swap lane suddenly without warning or slow right down as if the bib are behind them. It's hard to tell if their reaction is negative or just incompetence. On the positive side, youngsters shouting "nice car mate!!!". Several guys have missed green lights because they're too busy eyeballing the car. I've been approached several times to talk about the car, it has "Westfield" on the nose cone, so the questions usually start with "what engine has it got?", "I bet that's fast?", "did you build it yourself?". The reaction when they find out it's 20+ years old is priceless I think mostly people are too up themselves to actually acknowledge that they like it. Classic example is my parents neighbour, he was looking at it AFTER i'd gone inside the house, I said to the folks "this is the type of street where people pretend they're not interested and then go out to buy a newer, more expensive car instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onliest Smeg David Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 I can't beleive the grin factor my car induces in others which just increases my grin. When I do get asked about costs, everyone is shocked at the low budget answers. I have only had one other road user attempt to race me (although I never race anyone) they we're in a Bentley. My favourite time was mother and young child marching to school. She clearly focused on nothing but destination dragging her charge. Child pulling hard in my direction shouts 'wow wow wow' so I loudly revved engine and mum stopped, looking as if an angry rant at her son was on the cards. As the lad started shouting 'again again' she saw the Westie and instantly changed demeanour, then had a smile chat and laugh with her son. I gave a good rev as I pulled off, her son gave a shreek of delight and she gave me a cheary wave and grin as they now ambled towards school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrisisWolf Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 I like this thread. Should be stickied with all stories put in. I know Ive posted a few in my short time here. Most memorable was when it was pouring down with rain, I was driving through a small village and an old guy in his camo waterproofs at a bus stop just gave me the doible thumbs up. Only 'bad' one was a chav in town shouting '**** car mate' but I would just assume he (a) doesnt have one or (b) had to get a comment in before his mates pulled him up on his French 1 ltr. Amusing none the less - smile and nod returned. Had plenty of people up my A***. The M16s do a pretty good stopping job which catches people by surprise. Also those who 'race' on a dual carriageway. I stop at 70mph and let them plow on only to catch them up at the next lights. Let the blat stories roll on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrisisWolf Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Oh and a policemen at Sainsburys fuel station today filling up his Focus. "Nice car mate, bet thats good fun on the ring road" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyonspride Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Had a backhanded compliment from a 991 Turbo owner, who i'd just overtaken..... "Nice car....... You wanna watch the brakes on that" My response "Cheers, yours too, but you might want to check 1st gear, it seems to be stuck in it" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SootySport Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Don't worry if kids say your car is "Sick"--------------------------------------means it's really nice, cool etc. apparently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Had nothing but great reactions to mine, always happy to talk to others about it. Made an old lady's day once when she was part of a coach trip on a break at the same pub I'd stopped at, put her in the passenger seat for a quick blat while she laughed and shouted "faster"! Got back and there were tears of joy in her eyes, and she gave me a huge hug and said I'd made her feel young again. Often in Stratford-on-Avon, so there's more photos of my car in Japan than anywhere else. And photos of people standing by my car as well, grinning. Kids are great, they always point and shout "cool!" etc. But the best is usually couples walking hand in hand, or pushing a pram. The husband's head follows the car while the wife stares fixedly ahead and tugs hubby's hand as if to say, "don't even think about it, you're mine now", and his face crumples a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkymart Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 The best one I've had was when I took my lad to st Ives in Cornwall ,while I was waiting for him parked up on the harbour front with the roof up and the doors on (trying to keep warm) I was watching a group of lads hanging about at the rear of the car when one of them run around to the drivers side an dropped his pants and pressed his butt up against the door . As I was about to get out and give chase ,I guessed they would have more of a laugh watching me try and get out of the Car than thay did already so I just gave a blast with my triple air horns ....certainly made him jump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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