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The manufacturers would be screaming poor if that happened. Making things to last and fixable is not good business under modern standards. Look at printers, it is cheaper to buy a new one with ink in it than a cartidge for most. Fridges dont last because of the alloy tubing now used corodes from condisation and blown insulation turn to a mild acid and eat the pipes. In my old workshop i had a fridge that was new in 1991 still running with steel tubing, others i know are still runing 70s fridges in their sheds. Not the most power efficent, but better than buying a new one every 5 years. I like fixing stuff because i hate wasting what was already bought.

The two longest trips I ever went on were both two up with a mate on his Guzzi, sharing the riding. One was from Melbourne to Adelaide and back, around 1,500 klm, and the other was from the Sunshine Coast to Cairns and back, around 3,200 klm. There's a ton of bikes I could name that would make those trips a horror story two up, but the Guzzi was a great tourer with a nice long comfortable seat and quite low from top of seat height to the ground. I could imagine it as the sort of trip where a BMW would be good as well.

I only drive 10 km per day, 5 days a week, rarely more than that. Usually 50-60 kph, occasionally 70 kph, all on bitumen roads. I don't think I will have many more years driving, so the old Astra will do me.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1375910511381842

Give me an old car any day. A friend had a Mercedes. The tyres were $1000 each and had to be filled with nitrogen, not air. My sons Mazda CX-6 diesel Hybrid SUV tyres cost $550 each. Tyres for my 2004 Holden Astra start at $129 each, a number of brands at $189 each. And the techno gizmos to go wrong. My son's SUV has electric tyre pressure sensors and an electric oil gauge. For people too lazy to lift the bonnet. The only dipstick is the one behind the wheel. Even has a wiper maintenance mode for changing wiper blades.

I doubt that would require much of it. Alloying with steel is common for strength and corrosion resistance. Nev

Hmm. That's not what "nork" meant when I was growing up. It was only used in the plural and usually preceded by the words "phwoah, look at those "

Here's another old and not very good photo. It's the FJ ute I learned to drive in. My dad bought it second-hand in 1961. It was that old light green Holden colour. It had some lead bog in it from a previous rollover repair. I was a late starter learning to drive and would have been nine heading toward ten. Reason was, I was a bit shorter than average as a kid and had to wait until the legs were long enough to reach the pedals. Once the legs grew enough, it was just a matter of packing enough pillows behind the back to be able to sit close enough to the wheel to reach the pedals. I had mates that were driving trucks by that age as they were that much bigger. I didn't get a burst on until grade 8 when I grew about a foot in one year. I remember that old ute toward the end of it's life had the tie rod ends held together with wire. It would occasionally come undone and the ute would head off the track into the paddock. We had a Dachshund that loved that old ute. She could perch her rear legs on the seat back, and with her long body, get the front legs right out on the window sill for a bit of wind surfing.

This is an old photo, but this 1924 Hupmobile is still in the family; grandfather bought it new.