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DDolfelin
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Designed for maximum pedestrian damage and promoted by the crusader for (necessary) motor racing safety improvements.

A flimsy nudge bar probably doesn't increase the damage from a 70's car all that much. Unlike the massive things they bolt to 4x4s these days.

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A flimsy nudge bar probably doesn't increase the damage from a 70's car all that much. Unlike the massive things they bolt to 4x4s these days.

 

Yep, get hit by a Clubbie front end at any sort of speed & it's going to sting....

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Discussion of Oz muscle cars over in another thread has prompted me to dig out and scan the only existing photo of my first set of wheels on arrival in Australia in 1996.

 

post-17123-0-17643400-1509355931.jpg

 

Muscle car it wasn't. It was a 1976 Holden HX Kingswood SL (the basic model). Straight six 202 (3.3l) "Red" motor, 3-speed Trimatic auto (with a reverse release button that would occasionally ping out of the shift lever and disappear under my legs), basic brown vinyl everywhere, no power steering, no aircon and plenty of water leaks around the scuttle, as I was discovering on the weekend the photo was taken when the worst storm in years hit the South West. Of course, being a newcomer to Australia I didn't know that the HX was the model noone wanted, being strangled by dodgy 1st generation emission control gear but lacking the improved suspension of the later HZ. Cost me $2000 from a mildly iffy dealer in Wangara, sold as seen.

 

Ah well, in spite of its limitations it was a lovely, friendly, woofly old dinosaur with cavernous load space, comfortable seats and simple maintenance and repair needs. I wouldn't mind another better one, but prices for even rather mundane 70s Australiana have got a bit silly for anything half decent so it's unlikely to happen now.

 

  

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Hey Pat, Re the HX Wagon.

I remember when My Mate and I went halves in one of those (it was about a $1100 if I recall).

 

It had a 4.2 litre V8 that was so choked with emission control gear, that it would have struggled to pull a sailor off My Sister :O

 

It did however have an electric tailgate, with which one could wind the rearmost window down with the flick of a switch (very High Tech) but which left us both with an enormous headache as it sucked in all the fumes from the tailpipe, on our Maiden voyage from Armadale to the Sunday Session* at the Leisure Inn (AKA The Pleasure Bin) in Rockingham.

 

Good Times :)

 

* Sunday Session was when the pubs were allowed to open between the Hours of 5 and 9pm on a Sunday.

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All for a quid.

 

One day back in the 60's when I lived in Sundon Park, Luton I was waiting for a return phone call from a transport company in Ayelsbury to see whether or not they were prepared to let me loose on the roads in a Foden eight legger when there was a knock on the door.

 

It was my mate, William Holden lookalike, John Lloyd  with an offer that only a maniac would turn down - for a quid I could become the half owner of a car hire company that was based at one end of Hubbards factory that stood almost at the bottom of Castle Hill, Luton and comprised of a fully equipped workshop, a spray booth, offices with overnight facilities  ( as one or two rather tasty dolly birds from the Solicitors offices opposite were well acquainted with ! ) 12 Vauxhall Victors, a pink Ford Fairlane convertible waiting for a prop shaft, a moggie and a Ford Thames mini bus - Oh, and an Alsatian guard dog that would lick you death as you robbed the place ! 

 

Anyway, why, what and wherefore is another story other than to say that after only a month or so, I had to get out of town - quick, very quick !

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***Another test post... please ignore...!!***

 

attachicon.gifDSCF7691crop.jpg

 

I've still got a shed full of them. 10,000 rpm too. All brand new. My full scale (and unlike Smiths originals, fully calibrated) Smiths vac gauges got nicked though. :sad_mini:

 

They left me the crap Yazaki stuff.

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A friend of mine was an apprentice at BL during Red Robbo's days. From what he tells me, Mr Robertson used the word "working" but didn't actually do any, along with his brother Union "officers". They apparently preferred to sit around in their union office, at BL's expense.

 

Like other notable Union activists, he seemed to think conflict was the answer to getting the UK's industry back on its feet.

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I've still got a shed full of them. 10,000 rpm too. All brand new. My full scale (and unlike Smiths originals, fully calibrated) Smiths vac gauges got nicked though. :sad_mini:

 

They left me the crap Yazaki stuff.

 

If you've got the SPQR metal pods too you can flog them and pay off your mortgage!

 

(I know this thread has a habit of meandering from one topic to another but that's one of the joys of old car enthusiasm, it isn't just about the cars themselves, it's also about the nostalgia and paraphenalia that goes with them. Over on Pistonheads there are separate threads for all kinds of classic related stuff but on here it tends to be a nice old mish mash, long may it continue).

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From the photos I've now seen of extant examples, I say the car is shaped like a box, from the B-pillar onwards. Didn't know it was even available over here, which probably explains why I was struggling to identify it every time I walked past the garage.

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This came to my attention...couldn't resist sharing it.....

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUSTIN-MINI-MINI-1000-VAN-BARN-FIND-White-Manual-Petrol-1979/162732270983?hash=item25e3996587:g:4dMAAOSwjvJZVjDN

 

Apparently, it comes with 3 months warranty, full MoT....and a full valet before sale??

 

According to the blurb further down the listing!   :)   :)

 

A nice find but it'll need at least twice the asking price spent on the shell before anything else gets touched, unless the buyer does it him / herself. Oh well, at least you can actually buy new front and rear doors for it.... but they are not cheap!

 

Odd reg' number... 'KS 074' or 'KSO 74'...?

 

I'll post the link on the Mk1 Performance Mini forum and see what the consensus over there is...  ;) 

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A nice find but it'll need at least twice the asking price spent on the shell before anything else gets touched, unless the buyer does it him / herself. Oh well, at least you can actually buy new front and rear doors for it.... but they are not cheap!

 

Odd reg' number... 'KS 074' or 'KSO 74'...?

 

I'll post the link on the Mk1 Performance Mini forum and see what the consensus over there is...  ;)

 

when new you could have bought one of those for 600 quid, rust included.

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