Hints and Tips on Driving Our Classic Cars
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Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) |
Most of our cars do not have power steering and the braking systems are over 40 years old, some without servos. This does not mean that there is anything wrong with the cars, just that they need to be driven sympathetically and with an awareness of the effects on other road users.
The two main things to remember are:
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The brakes on some cars are over 40 years old, and maybe designed up to 10 years before that. So you need more pressure on your right foot than in a modern car, and you need to leave more room between you and the car in front. One of our customers called this 'predictive braking'.
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The combination of lack of power steering and slow, heavy gear changes, in some cases without synchromesh, means it is almost impossible to change gear and steer at the same time. So you need to plan your gear changes, by slowing down and changing down a gear or two, in a straight line, before you reach a junction or roundabout, then use BOTH hands to turn the steering wheel.
We attract customers from all over Europe and the USA and have summarised the main elements of the UK Highway Code, along with a few other Hints and Tips under the section 'Driving in the UK'.
Additionally our American cousins tend to have their own words for many of car parts traffic terms, so we have added a section on 'Use of English' which compares their use of American English to our own Queen's English.
In October 2006 the Federation Internationale Vehicules Anciens (FIVA) and the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) published a very useful guide for owners and drivers of historic vehicles. You might want to have a quick read before taking out one of our classic cars.
Although some of the content of the FIVA/FBHVC Guide relates to very early vehicles including road going steam driven vehicles, many of the points raised are relevant to drivers of our classics and it is well worth a quick read.
