> Can anyone tell me where the expression " one off" came from? As in ," that
> car is a one off" . Meaning it is the only one ever made..It seems to me it
> should be one of not off. What is it off of? One off what?.."One of" seems
> like a shortening of " one of a kind" , but one off?
When you draw up parts you write instructions to the workshop saying how many
parts 'off' the drawing. If you need six parts all the same you write 'six
off'. If the part is unique it has written next to it 'one off'.
> It is the same thing when
> someone says that a car has had a "frame off" restoration....I think that is
> a mixture of "body off" and "frame up" and it ends up "frame off" which makes
> no sense ...
I don't like 'frame off' and am proud to say I've never heard the expression in
England ! Nut-and-bolt is the term we use. On my Austin 7 special (a one off)
the body separates from the chassis in 15 mins so that's a minor event in the
car's life. I suppose y'all call that a 'frame off service'.
The one Americanism I do like for cars is 'after parts' instead of 'spares' or
'service items'.
David
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