Mike Smith

SLowther01 wrote:
>
> Good at Q cars - see RS 6, S4 Avant etc - which really shift.

Where does that term come from - "Q-car" or "Q-ship"? Anyone know?

--
Mike Smith

Inger Skramstad Jørstad

"Mike Smith" <mike_UNDERSCORE_smith@acm.DOT.org> skrev i melding
news:vgts7pf6l57n28@news.supernews.com...
> Where does that term come from - "Q-car" or "Q-ship"? Anyone know?


Maybe Q = Quattro = 4WD?? Audi Quattro, you know..................

daytripper

On Fri, 11 Jul 2003 13:16:33 -0400, Mike Smith
<mike_UNDERSCORE_smith@acm.DOT.org> wrote:

>SLowther01 wrote:
>>
>> Good at Q cars - see RS 6, S4 Avant etc - which really shift.
>
>Where does that term come from - "Q-car" or "Q-ship"? Anyone know?

A WW-II construct, "Q-ships" appeared to be common merchant freighters when in
fact they were heavily armed gun platforms. They were often used to try to
draw u-boats to the surface to fire on them with guns (and thus spare their
torpedoes) whereupon the Q-ship would suddenly spring to action and blow the
u-boat out of the water...

By any other words, they were "wolves in sheep's clothing". The analogy to
cars is then fairly clear...


/daytripper

Stephen Clark

But what does the "Q" stand for?

"daytripper" <day_trippr@REMOVEyahoo.com> wrote in message
news:b56ugv4ue9bvr3nonlmomf6r786h1ru3kn@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 11 Jul 2003 13:16:33 -0400, Mike Smith
> <mike_UNDERSCORE_smith@acm.DOT.org> wrote:
>
> >SLowther01 wrote:
> >>
> >> Good at Q cars - see RS 6, S4 Avant etc - which really shift.
> >
> >Where does that term come from - "Q-car" or "Q-ship"? Anyone know?
>
> A WW-II construct, "Q-ships" appeared to be common merchant freighters
when in
> fact they were heavily armed gun platforms. They were often used to try to
> draw u-boats to the surface to fire on them with guns (and thus spare
their
> torpedoes) whereupon the Q-ship would suddenly spring to action and blow
the
> u-boat out of the water...
>
> By any other words, they were "wolves in sheep's clothing". The analogy to
> cars is then fairly clear...
>
>
> /daytripper

Peter Smith

"Stephen Clark" <nospam> wrote

<< But what does the "Q" stand for? >>

SWAG: Quartermaster


Peter Smith

Mike Smith

Peter Smith wrote:

> "Stephen Clark" <nospam> wrote
>
> << But what does the "Q" stand for? >>
>
> SWAG: Quartermaster

Google yields the following:

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-ship

"...Losses mounted rapidly. On January 20, 1942, Commander-in-Chief,
United States Fleet (Cominch), sent a coded dispatch to Commander,
Eastern Sea Frontier (CESF), requesting immediate consideration of the
manning and fitting-out of 'Queen' ships to be operated as an
antisubmarine measure. The result was 'Project LQ.'"

--
Mike Smith

Hairy One Kenobi

"Mike Smith" <mike_UNDERSCORE_smith@acm.DOT.org> wrote in message
news:vgts7pf6l57n28@news.supernews.com...
> SLowther01 wrote:
> >
> > Good at Q cars - see RS 6, S4 Avant etc - which really shift.
>
> Where does that term come from - "Q-car" or "Q-ship"? Anyone know?

Q (queer, whatever) was never assigned in standard codes - hence it's
traditionally the "left-overs" or specials.

Cars & bikes with a similarly murky history are given Q-registration number
plates in the UK[1]

H1K

[1] I assume that this is still the case, following the latest (illogical)
change..

Stephen Clark

Thanks! Very interesting...should have guessed it!

God Save The Q-Ship!


"Mike Smith" <mike_UNDERSCORE_smith@acm.DOT.org> wrote in message
news:vgucc570ofqt07@news.supernews.com...
> Peter Smith wrote:
>
> > "Stephen Clark" <nospam> wrote
> >
> > << But what does the "Q" stand for? >>
> >
> > SWAG: Quartermaster
>
> Google yields the following:
>
> http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-ship
>
> "...Losses mounted rapidly. On January 20, 1942, Commander-in-Chief,
> United States Fleet (Cominch), sent a coded dispatch to Commander,
> Eastern Sea Frontier (CESF), requesting immediate consideration of the
> manning and fitting-out of 'Queen' ships to be operated as an
> antisubmarine measure. The result was 'Project LQ.'"
>
> --
> Mike Smith
>

Stephen Clark

The term (or "Q-car") has subsequently been used to describe cars that have
much higher than average performance (often through extensive modification)
but look like conventional, uninteresting family transport. As well as the
ships, this term may also be reinforced from the United Kingdom's system of
registration plate numbering - the first symbol on a British plate is a
letter code for the year of manufacture, but for vehicles of uncertain or
mixed age, a plate beginning with "Q" is used.

Tony Curran

Also for non-British readers, there are certain letters of teh alphabet that
do not appear on British registration plates as they are similar with
another and can be confused when attempting to make a quick recognition. "Q"
can be confused with "O" so neither are normally used on plates.

Tony
Ottawa -Audi S6 which must a Q-car?

"Stephen Clark" <nospam> wrote in message
news:Km6dnWorBMwkxJKiXTWQlg@giganews.com...
> The term (or "Q-car") has subsequently been used to describe cars that
have
> much higher than average performance (often through extensive
modification)
> but look like conventional, uninteresting family transport. As well as the
> ships, this term may also be reinforced from the United Kingdom's system
of
> registration plate numbering - the first symbol on a British plate is a
> letter code for the year of manufacture, but for vehicles of uncertain or
> mixed age, a plate beginning with "Q" is used.
>
>
>