For those interested in old cars.

[BG John]

It's the same when you mention Mk1 or 2 Escorts to people & they say 'I had one of those, dreadful things' or somesuch. They've obviously never driven even a standard Mexico or RS2000, let alone something like a near works, 200bhp tarmac rally spec car, which a couple of mine developed into....

I never drove anything other than my Mk2 1600 Sport, but I liked it, especially after I added front and rear spoilers that definitely improved the handling (at fairly sensible road speeds!). I just got a bit embarrassed when I was flashed by Mexico drivers who thought I was one of them!

[Rugd1022]

Capris, I liked those despite the cart springs, but I do remember having a TLGP with one and it was a dead heat. He had a 1600 reengined with a 2.0 Pinto, I was driving an Avenger estate with a rather good 1600 (pretty sure was the 80bhp version with 1.75" carb and twin valve springs, but felt more like 90 - but then I have driven Roote 1600s with well over 100bhp)

 

I could never keep up with Ford's unrivalled spec list with their range of cars in the '70s, the one-upmanship possibilities seemed endless in those days! Anyone remember these Bullit Capris...? I wonder if there are any left...

 

 

They were sponsored by Jackie Stewart at the time (his mugshot appears in another advert of theirs in Motorsport magazine), the workshop they occupied is still there in Southam and up until about four years ago was home to Southam Mini & Metro, who've looked after some of my Minis over the years.

[DDolfelin]

Here are the offerings for today - let me know if you get fed up with them.

 

[Rugd1022]

Fed up? Don't be daft, keep 'em coming!

 

That Brigade Red Rover 2000TC is very nice, good to see it has it's original dealer fitted 'Bluemels' numberplates. It looks like a very early Series 1/2 facelift model (launched Autumn 1970), with Series 1 wing badges but new Series 2 grille, bonnet, painted sill covers and vinyl C-pillar trim. TCs are surprisingly quick and agile, my first P6 was Series 2 2000TC and it went like stink when the occasion arose. 

[PatB]

I never drove anything other than my Mk2 1600 Sport, but I liked it, especially after I added front and rear spoilers that definitely improved the handling (at fairly sensible road speeds!). I just got a bit embarrassed when I was flashed by Mexico drivers who thought I was one of them!

 

I had a Mk2 2.0 Ghia (Australia only model AFAIK - we also got the RS2000 as a 4-door) as my daily commuter for 18 months. It was 23 years old when I accquired it, had most of the interior missing, the bulkhead was made from an interesting composite of rust and bathroom sealant (no MoT here), a wheelbase an inch shorter on the left than the right and an engine with a severe oil addiction and a tendency for the starter motor to fall off and dangle from its cables every couple of weeks.

 

Despite these and many other deficiencies, it went like the clappers and handled in a manner which made it very easy to understand why a hot Escort was, for many years, a sporting saloon to be reckoned with. It was just so easy and predictable to opposite lock it on pretty much any surface, even by a numpty like me. It was also possibly the easiest and cheapest to fix car that I've ever owned, which was fortunate as I was broke at the time and had to fix it quite frequently .

 

I'd love to try a really good one.

[keefr2]

Here are the offerings for today - let me know if you get fed up with them.

I want that X-pack RS2000 and I want it now....!!!!!!

[runs as required]

ASV 996 looks to me to be an attractive mystery tourer body on Austin 10.

Reminds me of the early 1930s Swallow bodies made at Blackpool, but by the mid 1930s they were almost entirely on Standard chasses (Standard Swallow) and Bill Lyons was about to morph the firm into SS Jaguar.

 

DS 91XX  I think is a Heavy 12.

The were much loved by farmers around our way in N Derbyshire and the Cheshire highlands in the 1950s - all running on Tractor Vapourising Oil (TVO).

My earliest drinking forays were with a pal who was doing his year's farming experience at a farm in Wormhill (canal builder Brindley's birthplace above Millers Dale) prior to going off to Harpur Adams. He would arrive proudly driving his boss's Heavy 12 and whizz all us Sixth Formers out to a remote spot where the ancient landlady filled pottery mugs with ale from an enamel jug fetched up from the cellar.

There was an intense dark fug of TVO fumes in that old car that made all our eyes water.

 

dhig

[alastairq]

Talking of Sierras, I once got rammed up the jacksie by one..an estate, fairly new at the time...an 18 year old, driving his Dad's new car.  My vehicle, a rather heavy Volvo double decker...one of EYMS'  first  Classic Lines buses, on the 121 route.

 

This, back in the early '90's as I recall?

 

Tried to say to copper it was 'my fault' for being stopped....as we weren't at a bus stop at the time!  [i was merely stopped, giving way to oncoming traffic due to a parked car].

 

He managed to 'ripple' his Dads floorpan....which, as I understood it, turned a Sierra into a write-off..[the front wasn't too shapely, either!]

 

I never heard, nor felt, the impact...but was informed by one of my passengers, that 'some clown has just driven into the back of us'...or words to that effect.

[Kelly]

I remember my father always having Sierra's, usually estate versions until they introduced the Saphirre version. He once had a bit of an incident with someone pulling out in front of him and almost writing the car off in the process. It being a company car he got a replacement in the form of equivelant age Orion, which he hated as it lacked any punch to what he was used to (always had 2L Ghia models) I recall.

 

His last Sierra Saphirre had a bit of a disagreement with a lamppost when I was driving it oops.  He replaced that with a Mk1 Mondeo iirc, though can;t really rememebr if he liked it better or not as by then I'd moved out and he drove less and less due to living and working in London.

 

As to the size of the Mondeo's, they're rather big, my mk3 estate is massive and will happily swallow anything (almost) put in it (it being bought for that very reason due to needing a rather hefty mobility scooter). Now having lost over 5.5 stone in weight thats been replaced by a much lighter model so I could probably now get away with a Focus estate instead just about.

[PhilJ W]

Talking of Sierras, I once got rammed up the jacksie by one..an estate, fairly new at the time...an 18 year old, driving his Dad's new car.  My vehicle, a rather heavy Volvo double decker...one of EYMS'  first  Classic Lines buses, on the 121 route.

 

This, back in the early '90's as I recall?

 

Tried to say to copper it was 'my fault' for being stopped....as we weren't at a bus stop at the time!  [i was merely stopped, giving way to oncoming traffic due to a parked car].

 

He managed to 'ripple' his Dads floorpan....which, as I understood it, turned a Sierra into a write-off..[the front wasn't too shapely, either!]

 

I never heard, nor felt, the impact...but was informed by one of my passengers, that 'some clown has just driven into the back of us'...or words to that effect.

That reminds me of when my dad was driving buses for Eastern National back in the 60's. He was at a stop in Brentwood in a Bristol FLF with passengers loading when his conductor came round and told him that a car had run into the back of the bus. When the (elderly) driver was asked he said he hadn't seen the bus!

[BG John]

Talking of Sierras, I once got rammed up the jacksie by one..an estate, fairly new at the time...an 18 year old, driving his Dad's new car.  ....

 

He managed to 'ripple' his Dads floorpan....which, as I understood it, turned a Sierra into a write-off..[the front wasn't too shapely, either!]

I went into the back of a Sierra that pulled out in front of me, and it apparently was a write-off for the same reason. My Mk4 Escort Estate just got a rather misshapen front end, that I seem to remember cost his insurance company £1,800. I must have had it for about another 10 years after that, and there were no lasting ill effects.

 

I liked Escorts, due to that incident, and surviving a head-on collision in my first XR3!

[runs as required]

I bought a very suave VW Type 4 Caravelle from a delightful octogenarian band leader in Edinburgh that had been imported from Japan ...it wasn't till I came to fill it up a week later down on Tyneside I found it not to be a 2.4 turbo diesel but 2.5litre petrol !

   dhig

I do wish now I'd insisted on my son not 'upgrading' it to a VW T5 turbo diesel.

Edited September 25, 2015 by runs as required

[edcayton]

Why?

 

Ed

[Horsetan]

Why?....

 

Probably because he kept putting the wrong fuel in.

[Del]

While bored on night shift, I've been looking at Bristols.

I doubt I'll ever be able to afford one, but was wondering if anyone had (especially a late 411 or a 603)? I'd be interested to hear about experiences, and if they're really all they're cracked up to be.

[edcayton]

Only had a ride in a 403(?) convertible back to back with an Alvis TF convertible. One felt like it was made by a lorry builder, the other like it was built by an aircraft builder. The Bristol was delightful.

 

Ed

[peanuts]

While bored on night shift, I've been looking at Bristols.

 

anybody else have a smirk at this line ?

[Catweasel]

Beautiful cars. Only driven a few, but I like the understated elegance of the earlier models. Clever design features, such as battery in 1 wing and spare opposite. Exquisite.

[trisonic]

While bored on night shift, I've been looking at Bristols.

I doubt I'll ever be able to afford one, but was wondering if anyone had (especially a late 411 or a 603)? I'd be interested to hear about experiences, and if they're really all they're cracked up to be.

Haven’t owned one myself but my uncle owned a Chrysler V8 engined 411 in the seventies. Powerful, fast, comfortable  and idiosyncratic!

He also had a built in phone which definitely predated cellphones.

 

I think you can get parts for the engine easily enough from the ‘States not so sure about bodywork - they were very well built.

 

Trust this helps a little, Pete.

[cheesysmith]

That reminds me of when my dad was driving buses for Eastern National back in the 60's. He was at a stop in Brentwood in a Bristol FLF with passengers loading when his conductor came round and told him that a car had run into the back of the bus. When the (elderly) driver was asked he said he hadn't seen the bus!

This reminds me of what happened to me one day. I was driving a Dennis dominator about 11 years ago (it would have been 20 years old then) and was loading passengers at this bus stop with the handbrake on. I got to the last person in the que, who instead of boarding just said "sorry".

 

What for I replied.

 

"I've just hit your bus"

 

What?

 

"I've just hit your bus back end with my car"

 

I got out, and sure enough there was a almost new 306 embedded in the back end of the bus. He had been comming down the road too quick, seen the parked bus, couldn't get past, and had braked heavily. In doing so his nose had dipped and gone under the rear of the bus. The best bit was nobody on the bus, myself included had felt a thing.

 

"how do you want to handle this?" he said.

 

Well, there was not a scratch on my bus (built like tanks they were), so I wasn't bothered. He admitted it was his fault, so just asked me to forget it. He then asked me to drive off so he could get a good look at what he had done to his car. As I did so, the rear number of the bus pulled the entire front end off his car. My bus still didn't have even a scratch.

 

The moral of this story is don't ever argue with 10tonnes of steel that can survive 25+ years of service in Sheffield, you will come off second best.

[DDolfelin]

Another day - another selection.

 

[edcayton]

Haven’t owned one myself but my uncle owned a Chrysler V8 engined 411 in the seventies. Powerful, fast, comfortable  and idiosyncratic!

He also had a built in phone which definitely predated cellphones.

 

I think you can get parts for the engine easily enough from the ‘States not so sure about bodywork - they were very well built.

 

Trust this helps a little, Pete.

 

Bristol Cars still trading (and hoping for a new model soon) will repair cars from the first. I,m guessing that any parts they can't get they will make.

 

Ed

[edcayton]

Another day - another selection.

 

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IMG_4677rmw.jpg

IMG_4678rmw.jpg

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IMG_4680rmw.jpg

 

What a shame that the Sprite owner has felt the need to put the HEALEY letters on the bonnet, I guess he got fed up with knowledgeable people telling their offspring "that's an MG Midget".

 

Ed

[Horsetan]

Bristol Cars still trading (and hoping for a new model soon) will repair cars from the first. I,m guessing that any parts they can't get they will make.

Bristol body panels are only available through Bristol, nobody else, and a fair degree of panel beating is involved. It's all part of the ethos of the company, and reflects the influence of the late Tony Crook, who wanted maximum control and as little to do with outsiders as possible. That may explain why they only ever had one showroom (near Olympia) and the story about the doors being kept locked whilst Mr. Crook sized you up from a back office as to whether you were fit to sully the premises.

 

Bristol cars were like no other. The Fighter, it's last new model before production ceased, had alloy wheels held to the hubs not by four or five, but SIX nuts....which also ensured that no aftermarket wheels could be fitted.

Edited September 26, 2015 by Horsetan

[petethemole]

I used to pass the Bristol showroom on the way to/from my first job, at the Motorail terminal at Kensington Olympia. It was at the west end of Kensington High Street, on the corner of Addison Road IIRC.