FailCar is driving home for Christmas
It wouldn’t be Christmas without a message from FailCar. So without further ado…
I was just going to regurgitate last year’s Christmas message and then send round a lovely e-card with pictures of snow, fairies and loveliness. But seeing as I didn’t want to let you down I figured I would send a lovely cheery Christmas message out. Read more 
FailCar on Winter Tyres
Looks like the arrival of winter has come at just the right time for @FailCar. Here are his early thoughts on winter tyres.
Like many other motoring journalists I have been to many a track testing set up to find out the difference first hand between summer and winter tyres. This usually results with plenty of articles from us lot moaning at Joe Public to go out and buy winter tyres OR DIE.
Thing is though, I have a confession. I have never previously bothered to take heed of all the advice. The major factors being that in my locality, I really don’t experience terrible weather, the main roads are mostly gritted and I’m just one of those people that ‘blags’ it and carries on with a bit of wheel spin and minor use of foul language. Read more
FailCar visits the NEC Classic Motor Show
Last weekend, FailCar took a trip to the Classic Motor Show at the NEC. Here he does his best for marital harmony by putting together a list of cars that should be part of our eBay watch lists. I’m sure I once read that divorce rates went up in the winter and that Christmas is a big contributor to this fact. Personally, I think the Classic Motor Show is to blame. But whatever, here’s FailCar…
I do love the classic car show, but for me it’s always a dangerous time of year. The nights draw in and all of a sudden the idea of having another winter project starts to pop into my head. I never really get that excited by the ‘exotic’ stuff on display, but what does get me excited is all the stuff that’s within reach. You know the sort of classics that can be had for a couple of grand, tops.
And it hardly seems fair that I have to go through the punishing temptation, so I figured this time round I would focus on all the stuff that’s ‘attainable’. Read more
FailCar rants: Flag-based road safety
It’s been too long since @FailCar has had a rant. Well actually, that’s not strictly true as he tends to rant quite a bit on twitter. But it’s all good stuff, as this piece of inspired thinking highlights.
Eighty-Miles-Per-Hour. That was the hot topic of discussion when the government announced that it was thinking about increasing the motorway speed limit. Now I don’t know where you stand on this and to be honest, I’m not sure I know which side of the fence I’m on either, but one thing I certainly don’t agree with is:
“We will get to places faster, it will be more economical and will help boost Britain’s economy”
What? That’s utter twaddle and I’m sure I don’t need to explain to anyone with a brain reading this that it’s simply not true. Read more
FailCar’s guide to car cleaning
FailCar is back on PetrolBlog! But rather than delight us all with pictures of his lovely 205 GTi, he instead turns his attention to his essential car cleaning guide. Based on how brilliantly he prepared the 205, I’d say his lead is well worth following.
I have to start by saying that this is not going to be some uber-anal cleaning guide. There will be no paint depth gauges or sunlamps here. I am by no stretch of the imagination a detailing expert but everything I have done has come from testing, the internet and I did actually go to a detailing day once. But please don’t hold it against me. Read more
FailCar rants: Aston Martin Cygnet
FailCar is back on PetrolBlog and this time he takes a break from driving his 205 GTi is his socks to talk about the Aston Martin Cygnet. Don’t forget you can follow FailCar on twitter or see his previous posts here.
I love the Aston Martin Cygnet. There I said it. To me it’s one of Aston Martin’s greatest products to date and that’s because by far the coolest thing about Aston Martin is the brand of Aston Martin itself. Read more
Real World Reviews: Peugeot 205 GTi
PetrolBlog has followed the progress of FailCar’s Peugeot 205 GTi with great interest. But now, two months in, he’s penned a review. Very good it is too.
I have been driving the Peugeot 205 GTi now as a daily driver for the past two months, (over 2,000 miles), so I figured it was time for a Real Word Review on what it’s like to live with every day. Read more
In pictures: FailCar’s Peugeot 205 GTi
The 5th of November 2010. A date I shall always remember. Maybe. Sending e-mails back and forth to someone on eBay while my girlfriend suggested I might want to be looking at the bloody fireworks display we had gone to see.
The next morning at the crack of dawn I was out the door to go and see it. That night a very original but a bit tatty Peugeot 205 GTi (57,000 miles) with one owner from new was in my mate’s storage barn. Read more
FailCar does…the Geneva Motor Show 2011
As ever for PetrolBlog I thought I would just stick to covering some of the more obscure stuff at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show as you will have probably seen the other stuff from more mainstream outlets. Read more
FailCar’s Peugeot 205 GTi: An update
The car that twitter helped build, is nearly finished…
I thought I should do an update on where I have got to on the 205 since it was introduced to PetrolBlog. Read more
FailCar visits…Autosport
Another year and another motor show that PetrolBlog isn’t attending, although that’s about to change (more on this soon). As per usual though, Mr @FailCar has gone wild in the aisles and given PetrolBlog a pictorial run through the show. Read more
Time is not on the side of the Petrolhead
Only eleven days into 2011 and @FailCar is ranting again. This short blog will chime with many petrolheads. Read more
Bah Humbug! A seasonal message from @FailCar
Never one to shy away from controversy, FailCar has been at it again. I’m reliably informed that his hands were shaking from anger while writing this. My hands have been shaking a lot recently, but I think this has more to do with the cold temperatures. But anyway, back to FailCar and here’s a seasonal rant. Read more
FailCar’s Peugeot 205 GTi
PetrolBlog is delighted to reveal @FailCar‘s new arrival, the much admired and 80s legend, the Peugeot 205 GTi. Read more
FailCar does the Classic Motor Show and MPH
Mr @FailCar has been busy attending events on behalf of PetrolBlog. Here are his pick of the halls… Read more
Speed Cameras: What exactly is going on?
More words from @FailCar. In this edition he turns his attention to speed cameras… Read more
A privilege, not a right
Resident guest blogger @FailCar has been ranting again. Fortunately he has once again chosen PetrolBlog as the platform to vent his spleen on. As usual, the man speaks a whole lot of sense. Read more
FailCar does Paris
PetrolBlog wasn’t invited to the Paris Motor Show. I can only assume that our invite was lost in the post or it was a mere clerical era. But fear not, as the irreverent @FailCar was there and has provided this exclusive left-field view especially for PetrolBlog. Mr @FailCar, we salute you. Read more
I should hate cars, but twits make me feel better.
The still criminally under followed @FailCar has been busy again and I’m delighted to say he’s written some more words for PetrolBlog. This time around he’s asking a rather rhetorical question – just why are we obsessed with cars? Don’t be expecting answers by the way, but enjoy the brilliant @FailCar in all his glory. Follow him on twitter for much more of the same. Read more
The Dawdler: a short story by @FailCar
Recently I engaged in a short but engaging Twitter conversation with the criminally under followed @FailCar. It followed a comment by me after I had the audacity and nerve to overtake a slow moving Golf on a straight bit of B-road near my home. Immediately following my criminal act of mirror, signal, overtake, I was greeted with the flashing of headlights and the shaking of fist. Seriously, I could have expected less of a reaction if I’d dropped her cat into next door’s wheelie bin. As pointed out by the excellent @IamSimonHarris, if the lady spent more time trying to locate her accelerator pedal and less time on the flashers, we’d all get along much better.
