Friday afternoon car

This is a British phrase and alludes to the belief that car workers lose interest toward the end of the week and make cars which are below standard. The first reference I can find to it is in the Usenet group ‘net.auto’, from August 18th 1983 ( at 5:54 pm if you want to be precise):

“Regarding the British car which leaked more oil … Some of my (British) friends would say you have a “Friday afternoon car” – one built on the last day when everyone’s in a hurry to go home.”