Typical UK garage

butchdave · 05-18-03, 12:20

Always amused by you guys chatting about your typical two car garages and how difficult it is to fit in the lawn tractor, I thought I would show a photo of my typical UK garage.

Don't really have much chance to make it any bigger, but there will be some work done to improve it - painted walls, racking etc. One day I would like to change and raise the roof to give some storage space.

But for the time being nothing is happening - and its why the toolboxes are in the front - the Traction is dead in its tracks at the moment (waiting for space to free up at my specialists garage) so we can swop the engine.

When its out the way I will get in there and do some work, but for now it will have to wait.

. Needless to say I don't do any detailing in there. The only way to get to the right hand side of the car is to roll it forward so that the nose it out of the garage (making sure the wheels don't go beyond the door otherwise it will roll down into a brick wall) and then edge sideways down the left side and squeeze behind the trunk.

js73751 · 05-18-03, 02:05

I will no longer complain about the lack of room in my garage.

JS

Taxlady · 05-18-03, 02:21

What kind of car and what year is that?

If the UK is like Denmark, I bet lots of homes don't even have a garage.

butchdave · 05-18-03, 02:38

Quote:

Originally posted by Taxlady
What kind of car and what year is that?

If the UK is like Denmark, I bet lots of homes don't even have a garage.

Its a 1956 Citroen 11 Normale - more commonly known as a Traction Avant. This one is Paris built, the UK built ones were known as Light or Big 15's

Yes - a lot of houses don't have garages. This is very common with older houses in towns and cities. Newer houses (1970's on) tend to have garages - but like this one. My garage was built with the house in 1960, but of the four houses built, mine was the only one with a garage.

This car does not get a lot of detailing - its got some serious paintwork issues - if I'm lucky the paint will soon stop reacting and peeling and I can try touching it up (it was resprayed in France sometime in the last 5 - 10 years). One day it will get a bare metal respray and then it will become a garage queen.

DaGonz · 05-19-03, 04:17

Damn...the storage shed I just ordered looks bigger than that!

Brad B. · 05-19-03, 06:12

Sweet Traction Avant! Love those cars! I drove one once while visiting friends in the UK.

js73751 · 05-19-03, 07:49

Just saw a couple of those as well as about 30 other Citroens at Carlisle this weekend. Never seen one on the road though.

JS

butchdave · 05-20-03, 03:27

Quote:

Originally posted by Gonzo0903
Damn...the storage shed I just ordered looks bigger than that!

LOL

Thanks guys - lucky we don't get extremes of weather. Just wish it would make up its mind at the moment and either rain or not. I spent ages on the Acadiane last weekend trying to apply Autoglym Extra Gloss - it needs several hours drying for best effect, but every time I put it on it rained just as I finished. Even if I had something like a PB, you just couldn't use it on the van because of the panel ribbing, so its all by hand and EG can be hard work to get off by hand once its been wet.

Footy · 05-20-03, 04:03

Beautiful car... When I was a kid, an uncle owned one and kept it parked on the street outside our house for a couple of years. If I remember right, it was front-wheel drive and had a 3-speed gearbox with the gear lever sticking out of the dash. It was right hand drive though.

butchdave · 05-20-03, 05:24

Quote:

Originally posted by Footy
If I remember right, it was front-wheel drive and had a 3-speed gearbox with the gear lever sticking out of the dash. It was right hand drive though.

Well there's nothing wrong with your memory

Right hand drive could be French built (they did do some) or British built. Now if your memory is very good... French cars have a metal dash with cloth seats while British ones have a wooden dash and leather seats

Footy · 05-20-03, 08:32

Quote:

Originally posted by butchdave
Now if your memory is very good... French cars have a metal dash with cloth seats while British ones have a wooden dash and leather seats

In that case, the car was definitely Paris built. I distinctly remember the metal dash, painted dull gray with specks of rust. This car had slighlty more serious paint issues than your car

F150BOB · 05-21-03, 07:00

My wife's Mother and Father live in a house built in 1902 and it has a garage just like that. It must have originally been built for a horse carriage.

BOB