RMweb Gold russ p Posted July 16, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 16, 2018 (edited) Love the Limeflower 1275gt. When I said earlier minilites are great on any car i prefer the 10" rostyles on the early twelvies Edited July 16, 2018 by russ p 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted July 16, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 16, 2018 Mike, the model T body looks like the type known as a 'float' as used by the likes of market gardeners for taking produce to market. When new it would not have had the luxury of an upholstered seat, a wooden plank would be more likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 (edited) Yes Mike - I do rather like that 1275GT, it looks particularly nice on 10'' thick rimmed Minilites, there have been so many variations of these wheels over the years, both genuine and copies, someone should write a book on them! The Mini of old probably had (still has I'd say) the largest choice of aftermarket wheels compared to other classics. Dunlop D1s are still popular, the earliest examples were sold in plain grey without the polished edges for a while and look good on the right car... Came across this the other day - a screen grab from the '90s BBC series 'Our Friends From The North', a dash of wicker basket-itous akin to Peter Sellers' Hooper Cooper S, and yes, Daniel Craig is wearing a ruddy awful syrup...! Meanwhile on ebay, 'Mackie' the first proper Mk1 Mini I ever owned popped up for sale for the second time recently, alas I was too late to buy it back (again) and it is now sold. Despite receiving some welding in recent years the bodywork has deteriorated somewhat since I last saw it and the plucky little 850cc lump has been replaced by a 1380cc screamer... When it was mine between 1995 and 1998 I had great plans for it - a Radfordesque makeover involving a complete repaint in Rolls Royce Mason's Black, a posh wooden dashboard, leather sets and tinted glass all round, thwarted (of course!) by a total lack of funds at the time! Edited July 16, 2018 by Rugd1022 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 T'interweb seems to be giving me some trouble - this pic is missing from my post above... old 'Mackie' had MkIV rear light clusters when I owned it, the subsequent owner replaced them with the correct Mk1 type.... here's Mackie outside Macca's house in Cavendish Avenue in may '95, just round the corner from Abbey Road... 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted July 16, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 16, 2018 What shell is that Nidge ? Back window doesn't look mk1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 What shell is that Nidge ? Back window doesn't look mk1 It's a Mk1 Russ, rear window is only two inches narrower than the Mk2 onwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted July 16, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 16, 2018 Must be just the way the picture looks. How did it end up with mk4 lights? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 (edited) I nearly bought a 5 door Bluebird Hatchback in 1999.... There was one of those at the Festival. Being a 5-door, it was FWD and probably one of the Bluebird Mk.2s built at Nissan's then-new plant in Sunderland from 1985 onwards. The Bluebird led to the K11 Micra and then eventually and inevitably to the Qashqai. The 1981 Bluebird in my photos is the previous RWD model. I met the owner who had only had it a few months, having discovered it in Bradford and buying it for a song. He's only the second owner, and the car has only done 24,000 miles. It's practically new. Key to its stunning condition - and it really is stunningly good - is that it was apparently Ziebarted when new, and then Waxoyled after that. The interior and upholstery is very very blue. I asked the fella to take it to any Nissan dealership and see whether they would actually recognise what it is..... Edited July 16, 2018 by Horsetan 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jol Wilkinson Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 There was one of those at the Festival. Being a 5-door, it was FWD and probably one of the Bluebird Mk.2s built at Nissan's then-new plant in Sunderland from 1985 onwards. The Bluebird led to the K11 Micra and then eventually and inevitably to the Qashqai. The 1981 Bluebird in my photos is the previous RWD model. I met the owner who had only had it a few months, having discovered it in Bradford and buying it for a song. He's only the second owner, and the car has only done 24,000 miles. It's practically new. Key to its stunning condition - and it really is stunningly good - is that it was apparently Ziebarted when new, and then Waxoyled after that. The interior and upholstery is very very blue. I asked the fella to take it to any Nissan dealership and see whether they would actually recognise what it is..... Nissan and then Datsun dealers were strong on selling the various underseal and paint protection rip off treatments to bolster profits as the cars were usually fairly heavily discounted (a bit like todays budget airline approach). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr2 Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 T'interweb seems to be giving me some trouble - this pic is missing from my post above... old 'Mackie' had MkIV rear light clusters when I owned it, the subsequent owner replaced them with the correct Mk1 type.... here's Mackie outside Macca's house in Cavendish Avenue in may '95, just round the corner from Abbey Road... MACKIE at Maccas.jpg Nice wheels Nidge!! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Ah, the Datsun 120Y. When I first arrived in Australia in 1996 I was astonished to find them in substantial numbers as they'd all disappeared in the UK a good decade or more earlier. They were the archetypal $500 bunkie. Buy one registered runner and a couple of spares mules and you had reasonably reliable transport indefinitely. They all disappeared in the early 2000s and their ecological niche is now occupied by things like the Hyundai Excel (getting rare now) and the Ford Festiva (badge engineered Korean thingy) and similar stuff. I'm not sure what the next generation will be. Probably the smaller Hyundai and Kias but they all seem a bit Upmarket to end up in the bargain basement. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kickstart Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Ah, the Datsun 120Y. When I first arrived in Australia in 1996 I was astonished to find them in substantial numbers as they'd all disappeared in the UK a good decade or more earlier. They were the archetypal $500 bunkie. Buy one registered runner and a couple of spares mules and you had reasonably reliable transport indefinitely. They all disappeared in the early 2000s and their ecological niche is now occupied by things like the Hyundai Excel (getting rare now) and the Ford Festiva (badge engineered Korean thingy) and similar stuff. I'm not sure what the next generation will be. Probably the smaller Hyundai and Kias but they all seem a bit Upmarket to end up in the bargain basement. I was in Aus for the end of 1996. I was surprised at how older cars were everyday transport (including early 1970s Alfa’s) We hired a Ford Festiva one weekend. Aaarrrgghhh. The one plus point is no chance of a speeding ticket as it was so slow speeding took dedication. All the best Katy 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 A climate that's quite kind to steel helps. Depending on which state you were in, so does the lack of an annual roadworthiness inspection. I haven't noticed any recently, but Perth had quite a few Alfas and Fiat 124 Coupes in use as daily drivers not so very long ago. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 All this talk and sight of Datsuns had me looking through the old photo albums, bad pics i'm afraid but not as bad as some of these sheds we've owned, as you can see i always bought cheapo' runabouts and mot failures or cars with a few months mot left on 'em....times were hard in the construction trade in the 80's & early 90's. Always kept this clipping of a Ford Brezza Ghia, a concept car, taken from a mag' article in about 1980 as i loved it so much back then and still do, shame they never made it. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted July 17, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 17, 2018 Ah the Suzuki Carryall/Vauxhall (Bedford) Rascal. I had one of those (Vauxhall) for a while. They are becoming increasingly rare now but I did see one in use only last week, at least 24 years old now but still going. Other cars I have owned are becoming extreamly rare now. I did have a Nissan Prairie 1.8 only about 7 or 8 on the road now. Also a Suzuki SJ410 none are registered for road use now but a lot are SORNED, probably some used off road. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 ^^Oh my God it's an original Datsun Cherry. Ah, the Datsun 120Y. When I first arrived in Australia in 1996 I was astonished to find them in substantial numbers as they'd all disappeared in the UK a good decade or more earlier. They were the archetypal $500 bunkie. Buy one registered runner and a couple of spares mules and you had reasonably reliable transport indefinitely. …. Where we used to live in the 1970s, our Irish next-door neighbours had a red 1977 120Y When they sold the house, our new Indian neighbours brought in their own car, a Datsun 100A. Still remember that it was bathroom green with a black vinyl roof and had the registration plate POY 100R. It was just the sort of car that suited a young couple just starting a family. It ran without any apparent major trouble for years (meanwhile my old man was running Ford Cortinas before he saw the light and went all-German) before finally making way for a 1983 Renault 9 which also ran for years. Datsuns were noticeably popular with the subcontinental community in 1970s/80s Britain because they were cheap, unfailingly reliable, kept up with the traffic of the day and didn't cost the earth to run. When you had "made it", so to speak, you could trade it in for the Mercedes W123 saloon that you actually wanted to show to your community that you had "arrived". Family friends in Maidenhead ran a Mk.1 Datsun Bluebird (RWD) saloon in that weird brown/copper metallic shade for a good long while. It was completely uninspiring as a car, but was equipped as standard with the bells and whistles that other makers charged extra for. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owd Bob Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 (edited) I think the old Suzuki van i had was called an ST90 or summat like that?? I think they still make them in India and use them as Taxis. Although the Rascal was roughly based on it, the earlier body like this one i had was a bit different, the later Rascal and Suzuki had the same shell but just had different grilles, headlamp surrounds and badges. The SJ410 did and do get used for off-roading trials etc. and there can't be many left. Our Rascal pick-up based Bambi camper is coming along slowly, we've just got the last of the brake pipes to fit this week....then it's the dreaded bleedin' ceremony! Edited July 17, 2018 by Owd Bob 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Ah the Suzuki Carryall/Vauxhall (Bedford) Rascal. I had one of those (Vauxhall) for a while. They are becoming increasingly rare now but I did see one in use only last week, at least 24 years old now but still going. Other cars I have owned are becoming extreamly rare now. I did have a Nissan Prairie 1.8 only about 7 or 8 on the road now. Also a Suzuki SJ410 none are registered for road use now but a lot are SORNED, probably some used off road. What? None at all? Considering they used to be all over the place that's amazing (and not a little sad). However, you can still buy brand new SJ413s in some markets. I know from professional experience that they're still sold (or were 3 years ago) in New Zealand as an agricultural vehicle/farm runabout. Until a couple of years ago I had a Suzuki Carry 1.3 (the one with a bit of a bonnet out front) as a wet weather hack. It was a great little van and the dogs loved it. It was just long enough for me to sleep in the back, used very little fuel, even if (hah!) thrashed and the only things that went wrong with it in 9 years were one of the coils dying and the heater matrix failing (replaced with a Subaru one with custom inlet and outlet pipes brazed in). Not too bad considering it already had 198,000 km on it when I bought it. It only had to go because we needed a bigger van and bought the current Scudo instead. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Suzuki Supercarry..I had one...once....Last wife bought it as a birthday pressie for me...apparently I'd said I wanted a wheelbarrow?......She'd seen it advertised for sale in someone's front garden? It went very well, even if the fuel consumption did not reflect what might be expected from a one litre engine. A proper little truck underneath, too.....none of your normal small van unit construction cheapy stuff there! Proper deep box chassis, proper gearbox, proper back axle, proper springs. The only thing it would fail its MoT on was rust holes in the driver's footwell.....the max distance from 'body mounts' kept getting bigger & bigger, year by year.....I couldn't keep pace. The other fault was,something had gone amiss with the petrol tank pickup pipe.......when going round right hand bends with brio, the engine would flutter.....Left hand bends were no problem. It could carry enormous amounts of stuff, including 90-odd concrete paving slabs [didn't want to make 2 journeys, they were free, after all.] When It was eventually replaced, it didn't leave our hands...it became a mobile garden shed! Even had a vice bolted in one doorway!. I could fire it up & move it around the garden if plans changed. I still have its gearbox & rear axle. [along with 2 other rear axles from Supercarrys]....they are but under 4 foot wide, self contained brake system, etc,5.1 final drive ratio....useful for modernising the rear axles of things like Ford Pops...etc..... Now quite a rare item.....what were 'scrap' parts originally are now sought-after items [Liege owners, etc] 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold RedgateModels Posted July 17, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 17, 2018 (edited) On 17/07/2018 at 13:16, PatB said: What? None at all? Considering they used to be all over the place that's amazing (and not a little sad). However, you can still buy brand new SJ413s in some markets. I know from professional experience that they're still sold (or were 3 years ago) in New Zealand as an agricultural vehicle/farm runabout. Until a couple of years ago I had a Suzuki Carry 1.3 (the one with a bit of a bonnet out front) as a wet weather hack. It was a great little van and the dogs loved it. It was just long enough for me to sleep in the back, used very little fuel, even if (hah!) thrashed and the only things that went wrong with it in 9 years were one of the coils dying and the heater matrix failing (replaced with a Subaru one with custom inlet and outlet pipes brazed in). Not too bad considering it already had 198,000 km on it when I bought it. It only had to go because we needed a bigger van and bought the current Scudo instead. Did someone mention Subaru? My current layout transporter 😉 should be able to get to shows a bit quicker than the non turbo it replaced .... Edited September 14, 2022 by RedgateModels 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Did someone mention Subaru? DSC_0307.JPG My current layout transporter should be able to get to shows a bit quicker than the non turbo it replaced .... Not exactly mundane, though. It wouldn't have fitted into last weekend's Festival at Stowe. For that you would have needed to bring along a base model Sierra or a Sunny or something not too highly-specified. I was a bit surprised when the organisers wanted my CX in the Concours class, as I thought the techno-suspension would rule it out, but it seems the rest of the car was decidedly ordinary enough to qualify! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 (edited) Did someone mention Subaru? DSC_0307.JPG My current layout transporter should be able to get to shows a bit quicker than the non turbo it replaced .... There's a Subaru three doors away..... Same blue as well! He's all over my sound track when filming the layout! Edited July 17, 2018 by coachmann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold RedgateModels Posted July 17, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 17, 2018 The Mica Blue is not as common as the WRC blue, but I prefer it, to the point that I made sure this car was the same colour and body style as the old one so I could swap bits over - even swapped doors and one front wing as they were in better nick ... Exhaust is very very quiet as it is stock, but that will change on the 25th. Subarus should rumble 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 There's a Subaru three doors away..... Same blue as well! He's all over my sound track when filming the layout! Subaru owners tend to get upset when you offer the opinion that their cars sound exactly like a knackered VW Beetle with a cheapo made-in-Brazil aftermarket exhaust . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 The one Subaru I wouldn't mind having a go in is the SVX.... That one was completely off the wall. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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