| Spare wheel problems with modern cars as | | | | and the normal tyre will not fit in the space |
| compared to the way spare wheels were stored | | | | provided. So now the entire luggage and the dirty, |
| in classic cars of the sixties. | | | | wet, tyre will not be possible to fit back in to the |
| Having been a keen British classic car enthusiast | | | | boot! |
| for many years (particularly fond of the Jensen | | | | I expect the car manufacturers would claim, if |
| classic cars of the early sixties) I only recently | | | | challenged, that such a situation is unlikely to |
| purchased a very advanced luxurious modern car. | | | | happen as it is true that there seem to be less |
| My new car is packed with what amounts to | | | | punctures these days than before. However, I |
| amazing technology. But even with such | | | | travel a lot in Spain and have found that there is |
| expensive modern cars I have found one poor | | | | a real risk of having a tyre deliberately punctured |
| design aspect. | | | | (with a knife) as a method employed by thieves |
| I am referring to the housing of the spare tyre | | | | intending to steal from you. Once your tyre has |
| and wheel. In the Jensen CV8 and before that, | | | | been attacked (often at traffic lights) they then |
| the Jensen 541S (as was the case with many | | | | follow you and point out your problem, offering to |
| cars of the early sixties) the spare wheel and | | | | help, whilst another is busy robbing you. This has |
| tyre were stored under the boot and could be | | | | happened to me twice now, luckily without them |
| lowered from a point just inside the boot. | | | | succeeding in stealing anything. But on the one |
| The most obvious advantage of this was, that | | | | occasion my car was really packed full and I |
| even if the car was full of people and luggage, in | | | | realised just how impossible it was to get at my |
| the event of having to replace a wheel, one did | | | | spare. |
| not have to take the entire luggage out to get at | | | | With my Jensen 541S it was an easy matter to |
| the spare. If a wheel needed to be changed, | | | | jack the car up whilst keeping dry inside the car. |
| more often than not, if it is going to happen, it will | | | | Just in front of the two front seats the carpet |
| be in pouring rain! Then the entire luggage would | | | | was simply pulled away and a sealed cover |
| have to be out in the rain, for all the time, it | | | | opened. The Jack was then dropped down this |
| takes to change the wheel and to get the dirty, | | | | hole and connected to the jacking up fitting, so |
| wet, damaged one back in the boot! | | | | that as one turned the handle the car could be |
| Worst still, many of the new spare tyres now are | | | | lifted up.I do not understand why these aspects |
| of a special collapsed type (taking up less space) | | | | are no longer incorporated in our modern designs. |