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Smith and Sniff

Q&A 107 - Palmer palming in the Bahamas

19 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

1.364 - 30.023 Richard Porter

I'm Richard Porter. I'm Jonny Smith. And this is On the Other Side of Things, the Smith & Sniff spin-off in which we answer your questions. Oi, oi. Well, here we are again for our Friday Q&A show, answering listeners' questions. And do you know what? I've got one right here. What? Really? Already? God, yeah. Now, this is a listener who has just signed themselves K. OK.

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30.043 - 51.996 Richard Porter

But their email address reveals their full first name. I'm not sure if they don't want us to use it, so let's just go with K. Tread carefully, my son. This person says, Hello, you pair of recalcitrant window switches. My question is a simple one and relates to something that really gets my goat. Why do the ill-informed call those number plates 4D?

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53.76 - 98.804 Richard Porter

Kay has got a little bit of sort of supplemental explanation here. They go on to say, Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Therefore, those number plates are not any more 4D than the rest of us as we all whiz around the galaxy. The plastic flat number plates that most normal people use are 3D, just flat. The really old ones you see in black and silver on Morgans, etc., are still 3D, even if the letters are raised.

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99.024 - 111.055 Richard Porter

They're just raised digits. Yeah. Therefore, there is no 4D. It can't be 4D. It makes no sense to call them 4D. So why do people say this? Yours through gritted teeth, K.

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111.035 - 136.361 Jonny Smith

I, look, I'm with you, Kay. I'm with you. I try to imagine a world where they don't exist. If I just want to cheer myself up sometimes. It's my happy place of like number plates, which make the car less aerodynamic, more of a snag hazard to cleaning cloths, all sorts of ruining of aero on cars.

136.561 - 158.715 Jonny Smith

Like, you know, imagine the Mercedes-Benz or Tesla engineers who have tried to make a car as efficient or Toyota Prius or whatever. Tried to make this car as wind tunnel efficient as possible. And then some absolute mouth breather has put 4D plates on it. Raised digit 3D. Should we just start calling them raised digit? Maybe the owner should be just called a raised digit.

159.336 - 163.182 Jonny Smith

You're an absolute raised digit to be buying such moronic plates.

163.203 - 167.912 Richard Porter

They look shit. Yeah. They do though.

Chapter 2: Why do people call number plates 4D?

167.932 - 188.913 Richard Porter

But I can't explain it. I think a while ago, did we not, we sort of half suggested something on this podcast, which was that we would just start and encouraging other people to universally refer to them as pedo plates and therefore drive them out of fashion. Yeah. with stigma, but it's still worth doing. Do you think so?

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190.014 - 209.976 Richard Porter

Yeah, that's the way the government lets you know that that person's on the register. It's a pedo plate. It's with those number plates. Yeah, pedo plates, they're called. Wow. Cloacially, but yes. Offenders register number plates. I don't think they look good, is my biggest beef, perhaps, is I don't even think they look good. I think they sort of look cheap somehow because...

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210.783 - 228.988 Richard Porter

They look a bit like you've made them in CDT at school. Like maybe your school has suddenly got like a new laser cutting machine for plastic and you're sparingly allowed access to it one period a week. So you've made some number plates and it's, yeah, they just look shite.

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230.55 - 253.305 Jonny Smith

They're gash. Okay. So we should just call them gash plates. Oh, yeah, that's a good idea, yeah. Yeah, plates of gash. Yeah. Oh, one thing I must add is I think one or two Otter Sots ago, somebody wrote in and they called us a Toyota Tacoma gasket set. Do you remember? Yes.

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254.066 - 288.499 Jonny Smith

Well, one of our friends, listeners, Matt Tompkins from Practical Classics magazine, Matt actually messaged me to say, you do know the reference to that, don't you? And I said, no. And he forwarded me an image, which I'm going to forward to you right now, Richard, because it now makes perfect sense. Oh, okay. It's a water pump gasket for a Toyota Tacoma. I think 1996 to 2010 model.

290.122 - 296.852 Jonny Smith

But the gasket set resembles a, how would you put it, slightly crooked shaft and balls.

297.714 - 323.764 Richard Porter

It's like a biology textbook. outline drawing of a gentleman's parts yes both of them or what you're you know both components of yeah good okay very good i didn't know that but that's that's lovely um isn't that nice so thanks for that matt i didn't realize that yeah that someone was actually referring to that um no no on that side of things that's good yeah

323.744 - 340.11 Richard Porter

I'll just do this one, only because of the intro. And that is a good question as well. It's from a listener called Simon, who says, Greetings. You find pair of MOT failures due to nearside front suspension component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded, significantly reducing structural strength.

343.655 - 343.976 Bruno Satin

Good.

Chapter 3: What makes the Citroën CX Turbo a standout car?

1440.198 - 1463.421 Jonny Smith

It's gone on for so long, I actually forgot how to do it the right way now. Do you mispronounce any words on purpose? Pronunciation attached. Josh, Toronto, CMTMB. Oh, Josh, what an... I mean, I didn't know where that letter was going to go. And I guess we'll never know the answer to why he wanted you to do 10 press-ups in your leathers in a car park.

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1465.143 - 1471.511 Jonny Smith

I'm thinking about the guy in his 30s on a BMX looking for stricken wildebeest. I know.

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1471.551 - 1494.553 Richard Porter

Metaphorically. Well, I mean, that's fascinating that we've sort of, that's what I think. Yeah. A subspecies, perhaps, of no-name full-suspension mountain bike guy, but a lot of the characteristics... He said there was a bag hanging from the handlebar. Yeah, a white plastic bag. So was it a bag of cans? Was he offering him a beer from his bag in return for the press-ups?

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1494.813 - 1511.664 Jonny Smith

Yeah, I think maybe it was. I think it was a bag with some foodstuffs in it, which I'm going to guess is going to be some cans. It's got to be. The fact that he was drinking coffee, it was nine in the morning... How about a beer for 20 push-ups, the BMX guy says.

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1513.446 - 1525.178 Richard Porter

Yes, I mean, I was just hoping someone would come along with some beer. Wow, I can't think I've ever been in a situation like... Have you ever been asked any strange questions?

1525.198 - 1532.205 Jonny Smith

I mean, I would have been asked loads of strange questions. It's just channelling them right now when I wasn't expecting.

1532.245 - 1551.391 Richard Porter

Yeah, that's the thing. I feel like sometimes people are a bit... I mean, I've definitely had that kind of thing where people go, like with my Land Rover, people go, oh, that's a nice car. Oh, thank you very much. Is it for sale? No. No, it's not. But in a sort of way where it sounds like if you say no, I'm going to steal it anyway sometimes is how it comes across. Yes. Yes.

1552.272 - 1574.806 Richard Porter

And I'll tell you something else that happened to me years ago, which was, I think, my old XJR. And a guy came over a petrol station. He was admiring it. But then he opened the passenger door. And I just thought that was sort of, that crossed a line. We hadn't, you know, he just went, oh, it's a nice car. Lovely that. And I was like, yeah, yeah. How long have you had it? A couple of years now.

1574.846 - 1586.706 Richard Porter

And then just sort of, it's like, at least let the back and forth go a bit further. And then go, oh, do you mind if I just take a look at the interior rather than just opening the door? I feel that's quite rude somehow, but maybe that's just me.

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