Rugd1022 Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Did the P5 come with the factory option 1970s Prime Minister installed in the back seat? Alas no but it did smell of expensive cigars and has an air of Downing Street / Soho about it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 (edited) Rugd1022. Thanks for that mate. i must admit to being proud of her. She's not standard though. I've got a bigger motor under the bonnet,7 litres, bored out when I did the unleaded conversion and I've also fitted disc brakes on the front. Bolt on from a Spirit. Driven gently she'll do 14 mpg but round town she's down to about 8! What the hell. I'd love to see some more photos of the RR Catweasel... any chance you could post a few please, for our collective visual entertainment...? What is it like to drive by the way? I'd imagine it's a sublime experience, with finger-light power steering and superb waftability.... and do you get the chance to use it much...? Edited April 16, 2014 by Rugd1022 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 In the 1970's there were plenty to choose from. Yes, but it doesn't stop unscrupulous sellers from trying to fob you off with the cheaper Chancellor of the Exchequer version . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catweasel Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 A couple for you to look at. The steering, when standard was awful. It was finger light so I've had it re-valved and it now has weight to it. Because of the cars weight, 2 1/2 tons, she smothers bumps quite well but due to it being coach built, an occasional shudder comes through. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Lovely - and very 'regal'! The power steering in my P5B is very light too, it's very easy to throw the car into a corner thinking it'll right itself before exiting and it can catch out the unwary sometimes. It took some getting used to with the first one I had a few years ago, driving it home from the dealer I thought something was terribly amis but I soon got the hang of it and wouldn't be without it now in such a big heavy car. When my mate took my previous white Coupe for a spin at Gaydon, the light PAS and sheer weight of the car caught him out at first, he tried to drive it like he normally would in his MGB GT... 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGC Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 A friend in the club has an MG. It's not a true MGB - it's had the bonnet from an MGC fitted, apparently (well, I think that's what he said!). The picture was taken when he was a local club meeting. Start drooling, boys! Phil 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Nice one Phil - to my mind that's how a GT ought to look! Drove my mate's example several times before he chopped it in for anSD1 and it felt very together not to mention well planted on the tarmac. I remember enjoying the driving position too, feeling nicely 'cocooned' between the sill and transmission tunnel and was surprised at how nimble it was, especially at roundabouts! If I had more room and spare dosh I'd have a B or C GT like a shot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 .... If I had more room and spare dosh I'd have a B or C GT like a shot. I think there's a company which installs 2.3-litre Mazda engines and uprated brakes / suspension in the ones they refurbish.... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catweasel Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 I think it's Frontline you're thinking of. Totally re-engineered motor. It looks like an MGB but drives like a modern. And expensive! http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/frontline-MGB-2011-06-27 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted April 16, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 16, 2014 Yes, but it doesn't stop unscrupulous sellers from trying to fob you off with the cheaper Chancellor of the Exchequer version . There were a lot of dodgy car dealers about in the 70's. One in particular I remember was called George Osborne! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 I think it's Frontline you're thinking of. Totally re-engineered motor. It looks like an MGB but drives like a modern. And expensive! http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/frontline-MGB-2011-06-27 That's mere pennies in comparison to the specced up Mk2 Jag that JD Classics can offer the discerning punter.... over half a million quid was the asking price of one of the first ones they did last year, which was featured in Octane magazine! Mind you, from the write up it looked and sounded a blinder... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold DaveF Posted April 16, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 16, 2014 The is the MGB GT Mum owned around 1973. My own cars have always been more mundane apart from the Saab 96 mentioned earlier and rather a lot of Citroens over the years. I must be getting old as I drive a Toyota now. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catweasel Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 There are plus and minus to running a classic car. Although I enjoy cheap classic insurance,I am limited to mileage per annum. I don't have road tax to bother with,but I do have to watch where I park. I've got a tracker on board plus a state of the art alarm system but car parks are a pain. Modern bays aren't big enough. I also have to garage the beast and she ain't small. I had to have a custom built job,wide enough to open the doors fully. Cellulose paint is soft and she has alloy panels. Garage size is 24 ft long and 15 wide! Being an unusual car gets me a lot of looks but she's great at clearing the motorway lane hogs. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 There are plus and minus to running a classic car. Although I enjoy cheap classic insurance,I am limited to mileage per annum...... I find 7500 miles plenty for a car that only goes up the M1 to the stables and back at weekends, and goes to a couple of shows during the year. Insurance is only £150 this year on the 635CSi. Still not tax exempt, though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mark Forrest Posted April 16, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 16, 2014 I think it's Frontline you're thinking of. Totally re-engineered motor. It looks like an MGB but drives like a modern. And expensive! http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/frontline-MGB-2011-06-27 I fitted the Frontline's suspension to the front of my Midget it makes a big difference to the handling and stability. On the Midget it replaces the lever arm dampers with adjustable telescopic dampers and a proper top wishbone, it's a very solid and well engineered solution. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 There are plus and minus to running a classic car. Although I enjoy cheap classic insurance,I am limited to mileage per annum. I don't have road tax to bother with,but I do have to watch where I park. I've got a tracker on board plus a state of the art alarm system but car parks are a pain. Modern bays aren't big enough. I also have to garage the beast and she ain't small. I had to have a custom built job,wide enough to open the doors fully. Cellulose paint is soft and she has alloy panels. Garage size is 24 ft long and 15 wide! Being an unusual car gets me a lot of looks but she's great at clearing the motorway lane hogs. Thankyou for this Catweasel you've reminded me about getting trackers fitted to mine! As I type this I'm picturing myself wafting along the M4 in the outside lane in my P5B, with the front end of your Crewe built missile rapidly filling my rear view mirror.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catweasel Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 With both V8's contentedly sipping the unleaded! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 With both V8's contentedly sipping the unleaded! There is this stuff as well Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 With both V8's contentedly guzzling the unleaded! FTFY Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Ed - one of the other Mk1 Granadas (RHJ 997R) also survives and belongs to a fellow member of The Sweeney Forum (as does NHK 295M which is almost finished). A Bentley T1 which was used in the show also survives and was recently on ebay. Edit : there's another Mk1 Granada 'doing the rounds' which purports to be a 'stunt car' used in the show but this is not true. It has appeared at shows with fake 'NHK 295M' plates and signs implying that it is the real deal but one of our Sweeney Forum members interviewed the late great stunt co-ordinator Peter Brayham a few years ago, who told him that such a car never existed on the show. Likewise there are three Minis doing the rounds with Italian Job numberplates which aren't the "real deal" either - the Minis in the film were given "future dated" plates for filming so that they would appear "new" when the film was released (of course if the IJ Minis survived they wouldn't be allowed to use the "future dated" plates on the road). If I recall correctly, the three Coopers used in the film were all destroyed filming the sewer sequence (attempting a 360 degree roll across the roof of the pipe) - the Minis pushed down the cliff were standard Minis painted to look like Coopers - hence only having fuel fillers on one side. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Yes those Italian Job Minis are very good replicas, but it's worth adding that the owners have never made out that they are the genuine cars used in the film. One of the reasons the prodcers had to use late build Mk1s was because BMC would not let them have the 'new' Mk2 Cooper Ss at a knock down price. Mk1 production ended in September '67 and the film wasn't made until the Summer of '68, hence the G plates on the cars. Quite a lot of late Mk1 Minis and Coopers hung around dealerships unsold for well over a year as people wanted the newer, slightly upgraded Mk2, but at the time you could get the older Mk1 on a G plate at a knock down price. In all 22 Minis bit the dust during the filming of The Italian Job, most of them being bog standard but tarted up 850s! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catweasel Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Don't use additives. Converted to unleaded yonks ago. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted April 18, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 18, 2014 Yes those Italian Job Minis are very good replicas, but it's worth adding that the owners have never made out that they are the genuine cars used in the film. One of the reasons the prodcers had to use late build Mk1s was because BMC would not let them have the 'new' Mk2 Cooper Ss at a knock down price. Mk1 production ended in September '67 and the film wasn't made until the Summer of '68, hence the G plates on the cars. Quite a lot of late Mk1 Minis and Coopers hung around dealerships unsold for well over a year as people wanted the newer, slightly upgraded Mk2, but at the time you could get the older Mk1 on a G plate at a knock down price. In all 22 Minis bit the dust during the filming of The Italian Job, most of them being bog standard but tarted up 850s! Just how many vehicles were destroyed in The Italian Job? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Just how many vehicles were destroyed in The Italian Job? The more appropriate question should be "how many vehicles survived The Italian Job....unscathed?" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 The red E-Type Jag was repaired and is still about, it's been in one or two classic car mags over the years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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