For those interested in old cars.

[PhilJ W]

20 minutes ago, SamThomas said:

Many are not recorded & often for the reasons you stated.

 

A road junction near my house has a very high rate of "single vehicle accidents" in icy weather - these range from simple "no-damage ending up on the pavement/damaged wheels/relatively minor bodywork".

The County Council (responsible for gritting the roads) will not add the road to the gritting routes because "records show there are very few accidents cause by ungritted roads".

Near me there is a sharp right angled right hand bend where vehicles often end up in the bushes. There is also a wooden fence and a horizontal line of chevrons board that are often demolished. A local councillor told me they wait until an accident is reported and then the culprit, or more often his insurance pays for the repairs, about every fifth accident. Several years ago there was a Transit van buried in the hedge on the back of which was a sign reading 'Well driven?" followed by an 0800 number.

[Dunsignalling]

31 minutes ago, SamThomas said:

I can see that & I would admit that there are times when faced with a long journey would still like to use my car but relax for the bulk of the journey - if only that could be achieved......

oh wait, just had an idea, you could drive to a railway terminus, put your car on a train, relay in a seat with a table & legroom, get something to eat, sleep, stretch your legs, de-stress & then, after a few hundred or more miles retrieve your car & finish your journey. Now that's sorted just need a name for it - how about "Autorail" ?

 

Much as many people look forward to fully autonomours vehicles I will never ever trust it 100% - & what happens when (not if) the tecnology that controls it all goes down ?

When that used to be a thing, many people who owned smaller cars found it was cheaper to get a friend to drop you at the station and hire a car at the other end.....

Edited May 23, 2022 by Dunsignalling

[alastairq]

That's what I used to dislike about my busman's holidays!

The family would expect me to drive for maybe 6 or 7 hours on end, with the odd break...whilst they all napped in the passenger seats.

Then, on arrival at our holiday destination, they would expect me to be alert & cheerful and leap around like a startled Gazelly.

When all I wanted to do was sit down & nod off!

However, if one of the Ex's shared the driving, then she would be oh! so tired, and we would be unfair expecting her to chip in with the food prep or going down to local shop...

Hmmmmm!!!

[MJI]

3 hours ago, SamThomas said:

I can see that & I would admit that there are times when faced with a long journey would still like to use my car but relax for the bulk of the journey - if only that could be achieved......

oh wait, just had an idea, you could drive to a railway terminus, put your car on a train, relay in a seat with a table & legroom, get something to eat, sleep, stretch your legs, de-stress & then, after a few hundred or more miles retrieve your car & finish your journey. Now that's sorted just need a name for it - how about "Autorail" ?

 

Much as many people look forward to fully autonomours vehicles I will never ever trust it 100% - & what happens when (not if) the tecnology that controls it all goes down ?

 

I want to do this to Scotland, not available aghhhh

[MJI]

I would be worth paying £400 for as well at current prices

[Kickstart]

23 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

I wonder if all of those cars 'stuffed in hedges' are recorded, especially the older cars whose scrap value is not much less than the vehicles worth? A young driver with an old Clio worth only a few hundred pounds might find it easier to have it picked up by the scrap man without informing the insurance company and getting a replacement and just telling the insurance company that the car was scrapped and transferring the insurance (assuming its insured in the first place). 

 

Good luck finding someone to report it to. Police unlikely to be interested unless someone injured.

 

19 hours ago, alastairq said:

 

Hence the likes of Corsa's I mentioned [there will be others], who offered a good deal on finance, with insurance thrown in fort good measure.

I'm willing to bet that insurance for a youngster is more for an older small car than it is for a brand new model ?

I think they look more for how much it will cost  as a package each month?

 

Then they find out that the insurance is terminated after a claim, hence X years free insurance making it viable becomes X months insurance!

 

All the best

 

Katy

[Rugd1022]

Bits 'n' bobs from De Tomaso's interesting line up over the years....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by Rugd1022

[SamThomas]

2 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

Bits 'n' bobs from De Tomaso's interesting line up over the years....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That last one looked like something one of Ed Striker's underlings would drive.

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, SamThomas said:

That last one looked like something one of Ed Striker's underlings would drive.

Yes, but I rather like it.

[RJS1977]

On 21/05/2022 at 17:16, peanuts said:

Hmmmm different 

 

Shame - that Fiesta looks in pretty decent nick other than the top half being missing! :-(

[PhilJ W]

5 minutes ago, RJS1977 said:

 

Shame - that Fiesta looks in pretty decent nick other than the top half being missing! :-(

Photoshopped?

[Rugd1022]

Spotted in Dunchurch this morning....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[alastairq]

I really like those VAnguards and Ensigns.....really quite unpretentious. Not a lot of bling....

Which is probably why they  made such good military staff cars?

Plus, the Vanguard/Ensign is probably , in my view, one of the rare 'world cars' able to cope with all the vagaries of the world marketplace, and the varying road conditions found elsewhere around the world?

Especially where a tarmac road was a luxury?

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, alastairq said:

I really like those VAnguards and Ensigns.....really quite unpretentious. Not a lot of bling....

Which is probably why they  made such good military staff cars?

Plus, the Vanguard/Ensign is probably , in my view, one of the rare 'world cars' able to cope with all the vagaries of the world marketplace, and the varying road conditions found elsewhere around the world?

Especially where a tarmac road was a luxury?

The pick up version was very popular as well. The only other British competitor was the Austin A70.

[Fat Controller]

26 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

The pick up version was very popular as well. The only other British competitor was the Austin A70.

We had an Ensign, which passed to my dad's cousin's family. They fitted an overdrive to it, and drove it (with caravan) to the South of France. Our replacement was a Vanguard, which would regularly tow my father's 550FG lorry- a useless machine, which someone proposed fitting a drawbar at the front. I believe Standard used Massey-Ferguson blocks. 

[PhilJ W]

40 minutes ago, Fat Controller said:

We had an Ensign, which passed to my dad's cousin's family. They fitted an overdrive to it, and drove it (with caravan) to the South of France. Our replacement was a Vanguard, which would regularly tow my father's 550FG lorry- a useless machine, which someone proposed fitting a drawbar at the front. I believe Standard used Massey-Ferguson blocks. 

It was basically the same engine with a different compression ratio and the tractor engine had a special manifold so that it could run on paraffin. IIRC the engine had wet liners. There was also a diesel version developed for the tractors that was offered for the Vanguard but not many diesel versions were sold.

[alastairq]

1 hour ago, Fat Controller said:

I believe Standard used Massey-Ferguson blocks. 

 According to one of my glossy books [The Morgan one, as it happens]....it was the other way around..Standard did the engine, and Massey Ferguson used it too...

The Ensign had a smaller engine capacity [1.5 litres or thereabouts] but I seem to recall it was the same Standard block...as the Vanguard.

[Also TR2/3, Morgan+4, and various other makes,] whose capacity was either 2 litres, or 2.2 litres [?]

There was also a six cylinder engine fitted to the Vanguard {name?] Not sure whether it was an 'added-to' Standard Vanguard block or not.

Then there was the posh Vignale? Not sure what this had over & above the Vanguard itself though?

 

I was oh so tempted to bid for an Ensign in ''used'' condition advertised a few years ago, not far from me, in W Yorkshire. It refused to sell, largely due to its smaller engine..but it was complete, if dusty.  

Sadly, I hadn't sufficient funds eastly get-attable, so had to let it pass..

[rocor]

On 23/05/2022 at 16:19, Rugd1022 said:

Bits 'n' bobs from De Tomaso's interesting line up over the years....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like the way that the front and rear were restyled on the XJ6 when De Tomaso made a rip-off copy of it.

 

It appears as though the late British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, turned out to examine the machinery in that last single-seater race car picture. 

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, alastairq said:

 According to one of my glossy books [The Morgan one, as it happens]....it was the other way around..Standard did the engine, and Massey Ferguson used it too...

The Ensign had a smaller engine capacity [1.5 litres or thereabouts] but I seem to recall it was the same Standard block...as the Vanguard.

[Also TR2/3, Morgan+4, and various other makes,] whose capacity was either 2 litres, or 2.2 litres [?]

There was also a six cylinder engine fitted to the Vanguard {name?] Not sure whether it was an 'added-to' Standard Vanguard block or not.

Then there was the posh Vignale? Not sure what this had over & above the Vanguard itself though?

 

I was oh so tempted to bid for an Ensign in ''used'' condition advertised a few years ago, not far from me, in W Yorkshire. It refused to sell, largely due to its smaller engine..but it was complete, if dusty.  

Sadly, I hadn't sufficient funds eastly get-attable, so had to let it pass..

The original engine was 2088cc with wet liners. The six cylinder engine was a completely new engine with dry liners and was carried over to the Triumph 2000.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Vanguard

[Rugd1022]

2 hours ago, rocor said:

 

I like the way that the front and rear were restyled on the XJ6 when De Tomaso made a rip-off copy of it.

 

It appears as though the late British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, turned out to examine the machinery in that last single-seater race car picture. 

 

Strangely, De Tomaso's Deauville was actually on the drawing board before the XJ6 was revealed, but the lad from Blackpool beat the lad from Argentina to the showrooms!

 

Some more De Tomaso goodies....

 

 

The Ghibli inspired 'Zonda' prototype of 1971 by Ghia...

 

 

 

 

 

[Hobby]

22 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

Spotted in Dunchurch this morning....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting that the rounded lines are not that dissimilar to the MINI behind it, perhaps (apart from the 70s!) cars have always been blobs on wheels!

[PhilJ W]

23 minutes ago, Hobby said:

 

Interesting that the rounded lines are not that dissimilar to the MINI behind it, perhaps (apart from the 70s!) cars have always been blobs on wheels!

But up until the 70's or 80's in some cases cars were individually designed and almost all makes bore distinctive features common to the particular manufacturer so they could easily be identified. Modern cars you have to look at the badge to tell them apart.

[MJI]

Some of the best styled cars were 60s and 70s.

 

Here are a few I think look good.

E Type

Range Rover

Avenger

SD1

Opel Monza

Capri

[Hobby]

We are now into "personal favourites"! I'm not a fan of the RR or Capri (the Manta does it better) but I do like the Mk3 Cortina (and similar shaped Viva), Mk2 Cavalier and the Princess Wedge. For a plain car that will disappear into the background look no further than the M4/5 Cortinas - who said older cars were distinctive?! ;)

[PhilJ W]

The Rootes 'Arrow' cars were quite stylish, the Sunbeam Rapier in particular.