For those interested in old cars.

[trisonic]

It’s annoying when a car that you sold donkey’s years ago for 200 quid turns out to be of fast increasing value in the collectors market in the USA. My Volvo P1800 (original with the “egg box” grill - not the later pressed steel version). It was the only car I owned that was commented on (favorably) by my parents neighbor who was then Chairman of the MG Owners Club (Gordon Cobban if anyone knew him).

 

Best, Pete.

Edited March 8, 2015 by trisonic

[37114]

Rob - the firm I used are 'The Number Plate Centre in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, tel : 0121 773 8107, www.numberplatecentre.com, I ordered them from their stand at Stoneleigh the other week and they arrived within seven days. '70s Plastic Digits' type, £53.00 for a standard sized pair and they do non standard size like the Jag, Rover P5, Rover 75 etc at slightly extra cost.

 

 

Thanks Nidge, will give them a call.

[Jol Wilkinson]

Talking of posh car dealers, years ago when I read The Autocar and such in the 1950s, there were always ads from a dealer in central London who seemed to specialise in new American cars. In those days, American cars were likened to the luxury cars available from the UK and were regarded with awe! I have forgotten the name so if someone could help me out it would be appreciated.

 

Brian.

The dealer for GM automobiles were Lendrum and Hartman, located in King Street Hammersmith during the early 1970s. 

 

This link may be of interest as it has further information;

 

http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/april-1968/44/us-car-concessionaires-great-britain

 

I worked for GM in the early seventies and for just over a year was responsible for US and Canadian car aftersales in the UK. Essentially that meant dealing with L&H. I met a number of vehicle owners, who quite clearly believed that US cars were something special as you say Brian. They didn't realise that their beloved Chevrolet or Pontiac were the US equivalent of an Austin or Morris. One of the most remarkable  cars was the FWD Cadillac Eldorado. To say that the mechanical aspects were not dissimilar to the Ford tractors produced at Basildon (I spent some time there during my training with Ford) would not be far of the mark. Cadillac apparently built their US reputation on the reliability and strength of their engines, but later became a luxury brand.

 

IIRC, the pecking order  for the GM autos was Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile and Cadillac at the top. The Olds and Pontiac brands have now disappeared. L&H were importing about 100 cars each year at the time, picking specific models to provide a wide product range. It was about that time that the vehicle regulations were starting to get tightened up so it was uneconomical to get the "type approval" done for everything. At the time I dealt with them they had come under the ownership of four of the former management team, with Graham Bennet (mentioned in the linked article) as General Manager.

 

Jol

[PhilJ W]

It’s annoying when a car that you sold donkey’s years ago for 200 quid turns out to be of fast increasing value in the collectors market in the USA. My Volvo P1800 (original with the “egg box” grill - not the later pressed steel version). It was the only car I owned that was commented on (favorably) by my parents neighbor who was then Chairman of the MG Owners Club (Gordon Cobban if anyone knew him).

 

Best, Pete.

I can sympathise with you Pete, in the 47 plus years since I passed my driving test many now desirable cars (and vans) have passed through my hands, most were rather mundane but some now are extremely rare. They include a 1947 Humber Super Snipe, 1948 Ford Anglia, 1950 Austin A40 Devon, 1960 Mini, 1960 100E Popular, 1968 112E Anglia 1200 estate, 1969 Hillman Imp van, 1969 Vauxhall FD VX4/90, 1977 Reliant Kitten van amongst others. Out of that list the rarest now is the Reliant Kitten van, only 17 known survivors. Surprisingly one model that I once owned is now extremely rare in the UK, only nine survivors and only two or three of those on the road, this was a 1989 Nissan Prairie GL1800 which was also one of the best cars I have ever owned.

[RJS1977]

It’s annoying when a car that you sold donkey’s years ago for 200 quid turns out to be of fast increasing value in the collectors market in the USA. My Volvo P1800 (original with the “egg box” grill - not the later pressed steel version). It was the only car I owned that was commented on (favorably) by my parents neighbor who was then Chairman of the MG Owners Club (Gordon Cobban if anyone knew him).

 

Best, Pete.

 

I believe someone calculated the current value of the cars destroyed in the following clip at tens of millions of dollars!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ_JZBCkqvA&t=542

[Rugd1022]

The dealer for GM automobiles were Lendrum and Hartman, located in King Street Hammersmith during the early 1970s. 

 

This link may be of interest as it has further information;

 

http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/april-1968/44/us-car-concessionaires-great-britain

 

I worked for GM in the early seventies and for just over a year was responsible for US and Canadian car aftersales in the UK. Essentially that meant dealing with L&H. I met a number of vehicle owners, who quite clearly believed that US cars were something special as you say Brian. They didn't realise that their beloved Chevrolet or Pontiac were the US equivalent of an Austin or Morris. One of the most remarkable  cars was the FWD Cadillac Eldorado. To say that the mechanical aspects were not dissimilar to the Ford tractors produced at Basildon (I spent some time there during my training with Ford) would not be far of the mark. Cadillac apparently built their US reputation on the reliability and strength of their engines, but later became a luxury brand.

 

IIRC, the pecking order  for the GM autos was Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile and Cadillac at the top. The Olds and Pontiac brands have now disappeared. L&H were importing about 100 cars each year at the time, picking specific models to provide a wide product range. It was about that time that the vehicle regulations were starting to get tightened up so it was uneconomical to get the "type approval" done for everything. At the time I dealt with them they had come under the ownership of four of the former management team, with Graham Bennet (mentioned in the linked article) as General Manager.

 

Jol

 

I remember Lendrum & Hartman, my Nan used to live in Cromwell Avenue just off King Street (as did I later on in the 80s) and I recall stopping to look in their large windows to gawp at various US muscle cars as a nipper on the numerous family visits we made every year. Nan used to work in Edward Edwards department store almost opposite and also remembers when Harold Radford had his showroom a few doors down from L&H (directly opposite Edward Edwards), when Peter Sellers arrived with Britt Eckland to pick up the Radford Mini Cooper S hatchback on 7th October '65 (which was Britt's birthday present) she was in the crowd being filmed by various news crews that day. There's some very rare colour news footage of this on youtube somewhere, along with the more commonly seen b&w stuff which often gets shown in documentaries about the swinging sixties. 

 

 

There used to be (still is) an American car dealership a little further north on the Uxbridge Road.

 

All this talk of old motors has just reminded me that the MOT ran out on the Cooper S last week...

Edited March 8, 2015 by Rugd1022

[edcayton]

That's your Nan?  Wow.

 

Ed

[brianusa]

Thanks for the info on L & H. I used to avidly peruse their ads, picking cars as I went! I was always an American car nut ever since after the war when my mother took me down to Millbay docks where Americans brought their cars over on the liners. Eventually I was able to satisfy my yearnings over the years with a Plymouth Belvedere, Olds 98 convertible as well as sundry imports but still have my Lincoln Mk8 which is getting on for twenty years old! My wife seems to get the new ones; an Acura TL saloon, another import!

 

Brian.

[New Haven Neil]

Ahh, Olds - a pal in the UK has a Delta 88 Royale convertible with a 455, 1972 I think.  Mont too, he's a proper petrol head.  Also has a very special Vitesse with a 2.5pi motor and some huuuge modern Caddy 4x4 pimp mobile thing!

[Horsetan]

... the FWD Cadillac Eldorado. To say that the mechanical aspects were not dissimilar to the Ford tractors produced at Basildon (I spent some time there during my training with Ford) would not be far of the mark.....

I thought the original Oldsmobile Toronado much more interesting. 7.2litres, and FWD!

[Catweasel]

I thought the original Oldsmobile Toronado much more interesting. 7.2litres, and FWD!

I agree on that except that the damn things ran out of brakes on one stop!

[Horsetan]

I agree on that except that the damn things ran out of brakes on one stop!

Oh I dunno. 15 years later, the brakes on the 635CSi (discs all round) weren't that much better. Brake fade's not funny when you're in a bit of a hurry and there's a sharp bend coming up.....

 

Best brakes I ever had were on a 1973 NSU Ro80.

[Jol Wilkinson]

I thought the original Oldsmobile Toronado much more interesting. 7.2litres, and FWD!

I think they shared the same mechanicals, as did the Buick Riviera. The Eldorado had, according to Wikipedia, a 8.2L engine. IIRC the engine was back to front, with a toothed rubber belt drive to the auto box which sat alongside the sump.

[w124bob]

Since this is a rail related forum, here is a classic in a railway setting. It's Carcassonne Sept '08 looking north. I love old Citroen's and ran several Dyane's and  an Acadiane (the van version of a Dyane) . The 2CV might be the iconic french car but the Renault 4 out sold it .

 

[RJS1977]

Didn't think there were any railway lines in Carcassonne... just roads, rivers, cities, fields, towers, cathedrals....

[peanuts]

what a waste http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-31815141

[PatB]

Since this is a rail related forum, here is a classic in a railway setting. It's Carcassonne Sept '08 looking north. I love old Citroen's and ran several Dyane's and  an Acadiane (the van version of a Dyane) . The 2CV might be the iconic french car but the Renault 4 out sold it .

Renault 4 at carcassonne in 2008.jpg

 

I went off Renault 4s a bit when I had to change the timing chain on one for a mate. 25 Years on the experience still resurfaces at 3am if I've had too much cheese .

[skipepsi]

I went off Renault 4s a bit when I had to change the timing chain on one for a mate. 25 Years on the experience still resurfaces at 3am if I've had too much cheese .

You should have tried welding up the rust underneath one it ended up in the scrappers.

[alastairq]

For sure, the R4s rusted.....so did just about everything on wheels from that era, aside from Reliants.

 

I owned a R4 once...the 850cc version.  It was a sound, dependable workhorse, capable of going pretty much anywhere I needed to go. It was comfortable [in a sort-of, French farmhouse kitchen way?]....it was nippy enough...in those days, one learnt to how to make decent progress with the small amounts of power available...today's drivers know nothing of such skills!

 

It would carry just about anything I needed to carry....and it was quite frugal with the petrol, too.

 

It did, however, require new rear shockers every year!!

 

If it couldn't climb a hill forwards, it darned well managed it in reverse!

 

I loved it...for its simplicity. The gear change [once used to it] was a sheer marvel to use. The engine was impossible to break....it 'handled' very well indeed...if driven with a modicum of thought.....[and .....lack of fear]....and it could be driven cheekily without fear of breaking things.

 

It is such a pity there is nothing around these days with the attributes of an R4.....

[Horsetan]

.....It is such a pity there is nothing around these days with the attributes of an R4.....

 

....if you discount the Daewoo/Chevrolet Matiz (a car unsafe at any speed) and the G-Swiz (ditto)

[Guest]

....if you discount the Daewoo/Chevrolet Matiz (a car unsafe at any speed) and the G-Swiz (ditto)

I'd take a punt on the Dacia Duster being a (larger) latter-day R4.

From (more or less) the same company too.

[alastairq]

But it's got a bigger engine?

 

And wider wheels [or even, wheels?]

 

ANd looks more stylish, less functionality?

 

Plus...somebody is bound to notice if it got dented?

 

Style-wise, the R4 {IMHO] was  a real case of 'form-follows-function?'

 

The Matiz is a small hatchback.....rather than a utilitarian vehicle [which was the R4's appeal to me]....and I bet, driven properly, the Matiz can be made to perform well.....even the Perodua Nippa[er?] could be turned into a latter day Mini Cooper....

 

With the R4, one could quickly remove all the seats.....

[Horsetan]

....The Matiz is a small hatchback.....rather than a utilitarian vehicle [which was the R4's appeal to me]....and I bet, driven properly, the Matiz can be made to perform well.....

 

You've clearly never been in a Matiz.

[alastairq]

Bet it goes better than an R4?

[Horsetan]

Bet it goes better than an R4?

Hardly.