Ralph Hosier’s Rover 75
Evo magazine’s tame engineer is back on PetrolBlog with some words on his Rover 75. For more of Ralph, follow him on twitter at @RalphHosier or check out his brilliant TechnoBlog.
What do you think of when you see a Rover 75? Flat cap, maybe? Or perhaps you see slow progress on roads near old people’s homes? Rover spent millions developing that image, unintentionally of course, but is it deserved?
Like many car enthusiasts I had dismissed the slightly bulbous retro styled granny wagon as being too dull and unreliable, but after a fellow writer waxed lyrical about the 75′s virtues I started looking into it in a bit more detail and found that there was a lot more going for it than I had realised. Read more 
Lovely stuff: 1990 Saab 9000i
Strange how things work out. A few weeks ago, the PetrolBlog Fleet consisted of four cars, each one seemingly here for the long term. But with the Land Rover doomed by a literal lack of gas, the S6 reaching the end of its serviceable life and the Accord a victim of my standard ‘six months’ itch, the only member of the ‘fab four’ to remain is the AX GT. And shamefully I’ve just let the MOT expire on that. I’ll soon be writing a few words on the three cars that have departed, but in the meantime it’s time to unveil the next ‘shed’. Bangernomics 2.0 if you like! Read more
L@@K, there’s a PetrolBlog Shed on eBay.
Time with the PetrolBlog Shed is coming to an end. After five months and 6,000 miles of togetherness, the Accord Type-Shed is on the way out and has this very evening been thrown to the mercy of eBay. How much it’ll fetch is anyone’s guess, but with a month left on the MOT and six weeks of tax, I hope it goes for a little more than the £8 starting price. But there’s no guarantee of this as the market for used cars is frankly rubbish at the moment. If your car happens to be a large, petrol-engined banger, than the market is even worse. Read more
Extreme Bangernomics: Million mile Honda Accord
It is often said that the Honda Accord is one of, if not the most reliable car in the world. Warranty Direct’s survey in 2006 certainly came to that conclusion, as did a Which? Survey in 2009. There are others too, just do a Google search for ‘Honda Accord reliability’ and scroll through the resulting 7.5 million web pages. I can only hope that my very own Accord can deliver the same levels of reliability over the coming weeks and months. Read more
Bangerwatch: Volvo 480
You’ve seen Springwatch, you may have even seen Autumnwatch, but now PetrolBlog introduces Bangerwatch. It many ways it is much the same as the TV show, only without Kate Humble, animals or a primetime slot on BBC television. The idea is simple, PetrolBlog will hunt down interesting and increasingly rare cars that have somehow fallen into Banger territory. By giving them some exposure it is hoped that they will be considered as potential Bangernomics project cars and in some cases, saved from inevitable extinction. There are no hard and fast rules over what constitutes a Banger, but a price of sub £1k is probably a good place to start.
To kick things off, PetrolBlog looks at the Volvo 480, influenced in part by the recent test of the C30 T5 Polestar.
Honda Accord Type-Shed: an update
The electric aerial still works. The electric aerial. It still works. When I picked up the Honda Accord exactly two months ago, I somewhat irrationality established that the electric aerial would be used as some kind of barometer of reliability. As long as the electric aerial works, the Accord will remain reliable. OK, so in the great scheme of things, this is hardly up there with the ravens and the Tower of London, but it is my barometer, so I’m sticking with it. Read more
PetrolBlog buys a shed
PetrolBlog recently reviewed the Bangernomics Bible which, in short, is about buying and running a car for the cheapest possible outlay. I was so inspired by the book that I decided that I’d like to have a go at running a Banger for myself. So when the Audi and Citroen developed temporary faults, I was presented with the perfect excuse to look for a ‘PetrolBlog Shed’. More petrolhead logic perhaps, but like we need an excuse to buy another car. Besides, this is public service at work here.
Read more
Real World Reviews: Jaguar XJ-S V12
I’m delighted to say that the latest Real World Review has been penned by none other than ‘Sir’ Ralph Hosier. Some say that Ralph’s heart is shaped like a V12 engine and that he has engine oil pumping through his veins. All we know is that he’s evo magazine’s resident tuning and engineering expert and that he also appears in Practical Performance Car, Practical Classics and Classics Monthly. Read more
PetrolBlog looks at…Bangernomics
When it comes to used cars there’s one man who stands as a giant over us mere mortals. In fact I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he is one day rewarded with a knighthood for his services to pre-owned motor cars. The man in question is James Ruppert, or to use another name, Mr Bangernomics. James has been a mainstay of the used car section of Autocar magazine for years and is the kind of guy you’d want to take with you when you’re viewing a used car or visiting an auction. Quite simply, James Ruppert is the man. Read more
