Unsung heroes: Skoda Favorit

Nobody laughs at Skoda nowadays. Thanks to the influence of parent company Volkswagen, the brand has become an award-winning mainstream producer of appealing, well-built and highly-regarded cars, and choosing to buy one is a perfectly sensible decision that won't make you the butt of any jokes. Things weren't always like this though and such a remarkable change has come about in less than thirty years. Although they had a small loyal following in the UK, until the 1990s Skodas were generally considered to be crude bargain-basement transport and objects of derision in popular culture. While Volkswagen must take a lot of the credit for Skoda's transformation, it actually began some years before the takeover with the Favorit, the car that marks the start of the transition from the much-derided rear-engined Skodas of old to today's smart modern range and a worthy choice of unsung hero.

A typical early-90s supermini and not something to joke about
(from http://classics.honestjohn.co.uk/reviews/skoda/favorit/)

The plague of disintegrating diecasts

There seems to be a growing epidemic in recent years of diecast models simply crumbling to dust for no apparent reason, leaving many collectors perplexed and upset at the loss of a model through no fault of their own. Known variously as 'metal fatigue', 'zinc rot' or 'zinc pest', this is caused by impurities of lead and other metals in the zinc alloy used in diecasting and should be avoidable with modern production methods, but sadly it seems even expensive high-end models are not immune from it and there is no cure once it has taken hold.

Dream cars: Gordon-Keeble GK1

With Christmas fast approaching, now is a good time to reveal my ultimate dream car in the hope that Santa might be reading. The cars featured on this blog so far reflect my love of the unloved and obscure, and my fantasy lottery-win garage would probably be filled with old everyday transport rather than rows of the supercars and luxury vehicles that most people lust after. I do however have one exotic favourite that is top of my list. Could it be a Ferrari or Lamborghini? No? Then perhaps a Rolls-Royce or a Bentley? Nothing that common, so maybe a Pagani or a Koenigsegg would fit the bill? Nope, it's something even more exclusive than those: the car I would like to own more than any other if money was no object is a Gordon-Keeble GK1. Unless you're a hardcore car geek you've probably never even heard of it so read on to find out why I want a Gordon-Keeble so much...

The object of my desire. Just look at it!

The ethics of unfriending

Some more musings on Facebook, this time the ethics of unfriending and when it is acceptable to remove someone from your friend list, an action that can easily cause offence and awkwardness if not handled properly. I have recently been suffering fairly regular unfriendings by people I considered good friends and over the past few months have seen my friend count steadily decrease. Of course, a user is perfectly within their rights to control their friend list and unfriend anyone at any time, but these unfriendings often come completely out of the blue so why they have chosen to unfriend me is something I struggle to understand. Personally I consider unfriending someone to actually be quite rude and something only to be done with very good reason as there are plenty of alternatives.