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Nice TRibute for 75th Anniversary of The Battle of Britain today Andrew.

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And if we needed reminding, from Tom Neil Hurricane pilot and World War 2 ace.

 

"Of the original 20 or so men I flew alongside 75 years ago, I am now, I believe, one of only two still alive. I have, over the years since, considered it extraordinary that, although I lived and fought with these men for so short a time, they remain so vivid in my memory. I still recall their voices, laughter, jokes and idiosyncrasies. But I remember more than that. I remember their bravery. It struck me most poignantly at one memorial service when a young officer read from the Book of Samuel: “In life and in death, they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.” Today we shall remember their great sacrifices and be forever grateful. "

 

Mick Richards

Edited by Motorsport Mickey
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I'm on my 2nd set, changed in 1986. the original (Firestone 590-15) tyre walls were starting to crack & get a bit too warm when I drove the car. I am seriously thinking of changing them as they now are all but 30 years old & probably only done less than 2000 miles, the spare is still unused.

Doug

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Thanks Suzanne- it seemed appropriate.

 

Cheers

Andrew

Surely you aren't 75 just yet Andrew?

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Could we ask that anyone driving on 30 year old tyres keeps speed to 30 mph maximum and stays well away from other vehicles so that if/when a tyre lets go, the accident may not involve others.

I'm surprised that an MOT inspection allowed tyres of such age to be passed - my very thorough chap looks not only at sidewalls and tread, but the data which is moulded onto the sidewalls - and that includes a date code.

Ian Cornish

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Without getting too technical what are, if any, the rules for the Survivors.

 

Roger

I don't think there can be any hard and fast rules.

The most advanced 'survivor' classes I know of are in USA for Corvettes where the ultimate classification will boot your car out if it has dealer applied underseal from new - dealer is not factory.

But they made 1,595,026 Corvettes so they have to be fussy to distinguish the very best.

How can you compare this to a car that had only, say, 100 ever produced?

All Concours type classes rely on the knowledge and experience of the judge to decide what is truly 'rare' - a word we all understand but is hard to define.

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Date code does not come into the MoT - yet.

 

A good tester will note ageing tyres as an 'advisory' and suggest replacement.

 

At 30 years old, there's an argument for calling in the local bobby and nicking the driver under vehicle construction and use legislation.

 

30 year old Firestones have a future - for stacking up on the patio and growing potatoes in them . . . . .

 

Cheers

 

Alec

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"Firestone 590-15" famed as the Ditchfinder Generals.

 

Mick Richards

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the firestones in question are long gone to the scrap/tyre heap in the sky & as the said car in the last 25 years does 2 to 3 miles miles per year to keep VOSA happy. From what I remember you're not wrong about Firestones being ditch finders, especially in the less than dry weather. Doug

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Hi, as the victim of a rear tyre failure (front wheel drive car and the rear tyres were 10 years old and still had 4mm left).

I have to say change the tyres just becouse the tread is legal it does not mean carcass is sound and can fail at the very moment you are praying the tyres do their job.

 

Mark

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Interesting - I thought the Firestone F560 worked very well on my 4A - wet & dry.

 

Roger

Very different tyre Roger radial as opposed to cross ply.

Stuart.

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Hmmmm- so do I put the original 55 year old wires with mint Michelin X tyres back on my Italia for the IWE Survivor Class or leave the new wires and excellent Blockley radials.

 

The spare is original unused Michelin and would be OK doing IC's 30mph in an emergency either way.

 

Trouble is I wanted to drive it there flat out because it is so much fun to do.

But I've ordered a sneaky new trailer if I decide to join the Concours Queens.

Nobody will notice it parked around the corner.

 

Decisions, decisions.

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