For those interested in old cars.

[37114]

There is an episode of Police Camera Action which features a donor organ run, the Met do a swap somewhere off the M11 to central London in an SD1. Pretty sure the car and one of the outriders retire(expire!) on reaching the hospital.

Amazing video, 80mph through the centre of London and the brakes started to go off!

[PhilJ W]

Here's a photo my late father took back in 1961 or 1962 of the car park at St Ives Village Shopping Centre.  I have no idea why on earth he took this photo but, with the passage of time, it has gained interest.  The grey and white Hillman Minx is my father's car and, for the benefit of a large slice of this forum's membership, the car on the right is an FB Holden Station Sedan (for some odd reason Holden called them station sedans for a few years before they bowed to common usage and started calling them station wagons).

 

Is that a Ford Prefect lurking behind the Simca?

[New Haven Neil]

Here's a few to cogitate over.

 

[MJI]

I had a 225bhp lotus sunbeam , it should have had wipers on the side windows as it was hardly ever in straight line.

Great fun but not very practical for Norfolk country roads.

Ideal for the North Yorkshire moors

 

Mine did the same on @ 115bhp

[MJI]

Virtually all British cars had long stroke/narrow bore engines between the wars. This was due to the taxation system which was based on the RAC horse power formula rating system which was calculated on piston area alone. Thus an engine with a narrow cylinder bore could have a lower hp rating than a similar sized engine with a larger bore but shorter stroke. Such engines were limited in the rpm they could deliver and tended to suffer excessive bore wear so the tax system was replaced wth a fixed rate for all cars which led to cars with the short stroke engines we have today.

 

And Rootes eventually went down the very short stroke path.

 

Easy to see over 7000rpm from a 1600cc pushrod lump

Looks very nice...recently bought myself a Discovery, off Ebay, to replace my old Defender but I was very very tempted by several series 3 LWB's that needed mild restoration...including several with the 2.6 straight 6 like my very first Landy

 

What sort?

 

I have a late TD5

[MJI]

 

 

Similarly, I've started seeing a Rover SD1 on the roads around here recently, and it's quite amazing, the warm fuzzy feeling of nostalgia that it invokes. At the time, those cars were derided (probably with good reason), but 40 years on, it's easier to appreciate the design, and the mere fact of this car's survival brings a smile to my face.

 

2000, 2300, 2600 Derided

 

Vitesse and VDP loved especially twin plenum ones

[37114]

Looks very nice...recently bought myself a Discovery, off Ebay, to replace my old Defender but I was very very tempted by several series 3 LWB's that needed mild restoration...including several with the 2.6 straight 6 like my very first Landy

I thought mine needed only mild restoration so think that you have made a wise choice. Looking at a local auction that is coming up for 8 x SWB series 3s, all wrecks but potential parts donors, very tempting....

[jetmorgan]

I thought mine needed only mild restoration so think that you have made a wise choice. Looking at a local auction that is coming up for 8 x SWB series 3s, all wrecks but potential parts donors, very tempting....

 

Ebay can be very strange at times...a bit like the buses, nothing much worth looking at for ages and then suddenly several turn up at once. When I was looking there were 3 series 3's, all 2.6's road worthy but well used condition available. I was very tempted as my first car was a 2.6 series 3 (I'll have to dig out some pics of it) but they all went for more than my budget allowed...well above £3000. The other matter was of course the lack of power steering...I've got used to power steering from my old Defender and now the Discovery. But if I ever win the lottery, rob a bank or sell my body on the street corner I might just have another look at getting a series 3 and get it done up...either a LWB 2.6 or a lightweight. Although a Defender with a Cummins engine conversion

 

What sort?

I have a late TD5

 

I have a 1998 S reg Discovery 1 V8i ES...although it isn't up to proper ES standards as they previous owner did so repair work on it and used parts of Discovery 2 and the wrong sunroof mechanism, a windy handle rather than electric switches. Mind you thats not a bother as the sunroofs are all taped up to stop the Discovery factory fitted leaking sun roof. A number of niggles to get sorted out on it but it's road worthy and comfy for me and my old age!!!

[peanuts]

Mine did the same on @ 115bhp

as did my 240bhp ex skip brow works spec rally car wet roudabouts on the eastlancs whilst " following " your mates back from an inter club meet up was a very "  interesting" drive so much that we had to go around each roundabout several times just to try and work out the cause . was it an oils spill wasit all the rubber put down by trucks or was it that we were a bunch of hooligans in a powerfull cars ? answer on a post card to honest guv we wernt racing road patrol group mersyside police st helens division 

[Horsetan]

Back when the Citroen CX was a car you could expect to see on the road most days, I thought they were hideous, absolutely horrible. But now, looking at pictures again, I think they are really quite beautiful machines. They look like a sleek aircraft with the wings removed, and I'd be overjoyed to spot one on the road again.

 

There aren't that many UK CXs left, and most of the people who have them tend to keep hold of them. Once you've been thoroughly corrupted by the oleopneumatic suspension system and steering, there's no going back, they say.

 

I read somewhere that there are maybe 160 CX GTi Turbo 2s (the most desirable variant) left on DVLA's books, only 8 CX GTis, and just the one working CX TGD Safari (a Series 2) remaining. Very few CX Prestige Turbos (down to single figures, I think). Don't know how many CX DTR Turbo 2s are left, or the other "lesser" variants.

[MJI]

Ebay can be very strange at times...a bit like the buses, nothing much worth looking at for ages and then suddenly several turn up at once. When I was looking there were 3 series 3's, all 2.6's road worthy but well used condition available. I was very tempted as my first car was a 2.6 series 3 (I'll have to dig out some pics of it) but they all went for more than my budget allowed...well above £3000. The other matter was of course the lack of power steering...I've got used to power steering from my old Defender and now the Discovery. But if I ever win the lottery, rob a bank or sell my body on the street corner I might just have another look at getting a series 3 and get it done up...either a LWB 2.6 or a lightweight. Although a Defender with a Cummins engine conversion

 

 

I have a 1998 S reg Discovery 1 V8i ES...although it isn't up to proper ES standards as they previous owner did so repair work on it and used parts of Discovery 2 and the wrong sunroof mechanism, a windy handle rather than electric switches. Mind you thats not a bother as the sunroofs are all taped up to stop the Discovery factory fitted leaking sun roof. A number of niggles to get sorted out on it but it's road worthy and comfy for me and my old age!!!

 

Change over year then

 

I have driven a D1 V8 and was surprised that it was not quicker, but the roll startled me.

 

Mine feels nippy, but it also has active roll bars

[MJI]

as did my 240bhp ex skip brow works spec rally car wet roudabouts on the eastlancs whilst " following " your mates back from an inter club meet up was a very "  interesting" drive so much that we had to go around each roundabout several times just to try and work out the cause . was it an oils spill wasit all the rubber put down by trucks or was it that we were a bunch of hooligans in a powerfull cars ? answer on a post card to honest guv we wernt racing road patrol group mersyside police st helens division 

 

Mine was a Kent cammed 1600

 

And I used to live near someone scared of it!

 

I did tell him about the Lotuses as well.

 

But anything driven at the correct end scared him.

[peanuts]

There is an episode of Police Camera Action which features a donor organ run, the Met do a swap somewhere off the M11 to central London in an SD1. Pretty sure the car and one of the outriders retire(expire!) on reaching the hospital.

here you go 

[jetmorgan]

Change over year then

 

I have driven a D1 V8 and was surprised that it was not quicker, but the roll startled me.

 

Mine feels nippy, but it also has active roll bars

Problem was my planned budget was only £2000 by October this year....and all the Disco 2's were going for between £2500 - 4000...especially the TD5's. I'd sold my old Defender back in March and wanted to get something before the winter set in as I didn't fancy cycling to & from work in the winter weather. This Disco 1 came up at the end of August and it was for a good price so thought better not look a gift horse in the mouth. It does roll so I just keep the cornering speed down a bit, I wouldn't say no to one in the future although I may look around for one that has been coverted to coil springs from airbags. One other niggle that I want to get sorted out is changing the tyres for slightly narrower ones...it's sitting on 255's at the moment and on full lock they rub on the inside of the wheel arches.

[MJI]

Problem was my planned budget was only £2000 by October this year....and all the Disco 2's were going for between £2500 - 4000...especially the TD5's. I'd sold my old Defender back in March and wanted to get something before the winter set in as I didn't fancy cycling to & from work in the winter weather. This Disco 1 came up at the end of August and it was for a good price so thought better not look a gift horse in the mouth. It does roll so I just keep the cornering speed down a bit, I wouldn't say no to one in the future although I may look around for one that has been coverted to coil springs from airbags. One other niggle that I want to get sorted out is changing the tyres for slightly narrower ones...it's sitting on 255's at the moment and on full lock they rub on the inside of the wheel arches.

 

D1s are good tools, V8 works well on LPG.

 

D2 air suspension is fine, just replace the bags every decade (that said mine are original and not leaking)

 

A late D1 is a better buy than an early D2.

[jetmorgan]

D1s are good tools, V8 works well on LPG.

 

D2 air suspension is fine, just replace the bags every decade (that said mine are original and not leaking)

 

A late D1 is a better buy than an early D2.

Yes the Disco 1's are now good utility trucks...I did look around for a LPG conversion but again they seemed to be either thin on the ground or were going for above my budget and it was a decision of do I go for my current one or do I hold out for a bit longer. With the air suspension, I've no direct experience of it but from all the bits I've read in the magazines over the past 20 odd years, with the early ones it was a matter of you either a bought a good one that never has problems or you buy one that has never ending problems left, right & centre...typical of anything British from that time.

 

I did see very recently an early 2 door Disco 1 200TDi going within my budget, with issues but road worthy and those early 2 door Disco's are now becoming quite collectable. Personally I think they look a lot better than the 4 doors...kicking myself a bit now!!! but Disco 1 prices are supposed to be going up so my late version might well be a good buy in a few years...just a matter of do I get it back to original ES standards...or do I get lots of extreme off road bling bits for it.

 

Thought I'd post some photos of my old Land Rovers. First up is my very first Land Rover and indeed my very first car after passing my driving test:-

Series 3 LWB 2.6 straight 6 1 tonne (not to be confused with the forward control 1 tonne) Bought this off a friend of my sisters husband. The friend used it for towing their horsebox around. He just removed the bullbars and the Atkinson badge off the front as he needed that for the restoration of his own Atkinson lorry (Borderer I think) One advantage of this motor were the windows in the back...as that made it a car and not a van so you didn't get charged van rates on the toll bridges and tunnels. Sadly it failed its MOT, needing about £1000 worth of welding work done to chassis so had to go...I think it's been completely scrapped now. I used to sleep in the back of it going around the countryside being an extra pair of hands on small farms and small holdings.

 

Next was the replacement for the Series. 110 Defender 200TDi. Ex National Rivers Authority. Wanted a 110 with the idea of getting back out doing my farming helping hand thing but it didn't turn out that way but I liked driving it so didn't sell it on and get something smaller. I kept getting nagged about getting something smaller by my dad but oddly I was the first port of call if he needed a load of junk or rubbish shifted about. Wanted to get something with a winch as well as I did get the old series 3 stuck a couple of times in the middle of a field, so I wanted to be able to rescue myself. Disadvantage to this old girl was the lack of windows in the back so it was classed as a van which meant van rates on the tolls and it became non compliant with the LEZ so I couldn't drive over the my dads house. Eventually it came to have too many issues to get sorted and I didn't have the money to get the work done or the time to do some of the work myself, like replacing the doors so better to let it go.

 

I'll post a pic of the Discovery when I get home tonight as I don't have any pics on my work computer.

Edited October 18, 2016 by jetmorgan

[russ p]

Mine was a Kent cammed 1600

 

And I used to live near someone scared of it!

 

I did tell him about the Lotuses as well.

 

But anything driven at the correct end scared him.

Sunbeams do seam to scare people, my ex broke her nails in my leg as went sideways over a bridge, and years before I had a mate who had a Ti his girlfriend's parents banned her from going in it! Edited October 18, 2016 by russ p

[Horsetan]

...my ex broke her nails in my leg ....

 

Was it a wooden leg?

[russ p]

A very painful one!

[Rugd1022]

A Mk1 Capri with a vinyl roof and Rostyles...? Yes please...

 

Brief glimpse of a '67 Marcos GT in 'The Saint'...

 

St.Ives, Cambridgeshire...

 

Browns Lane in the '60s, the order book for Series 1 E-Types is doing well...

 

Down in the Mews, c.1973 / 74...

 

 

 

 

 

[Horsetan]

A Mk1 Capri with a vinyl roof and Rostyles...? Yes please...

PH#7.jpg

 

 

Flares and a tanktop! He seems to be on stacked heels too! Note the customer's sideburns and "low" side-parting which, in later years, would probably develop into a comb-over to hide baldness.....

 

Other nice period points:

 

- the "contains LEAD" notice on the side of the pump

- Conoco was the parent company of the "Jet" chain of petrol stations in the UK; Jet had a very aggressive pricing war policy in some urban areas (as did the old "National" chain)

- the Conotane sticker, which I can't remember ever seeing in the UK. Apparently this was a very low-octane fuel, about 91RON.

- Capri appears to have side reflectors or US-style red side markers; this,  the "Conotane" pump sticker, and the "9c TAX" marking betrays a photo taken in the US rather than over here.

[russ p]

I wondered why it said ten gallon maximum when most British cars of the time didn't hold that.

Take it this is 1973 America?

[Guest]

- Capri appears to have side reflectors or US-style red side markers; this,  the "Conotane" pump sticker, and the "9c TAX" marking betrays a photo taken in the US rather than over here.

 

Did the Americans get the 1.3 four-pot Capri?

 

What would they make of that?

[petethemole]

Did the Americans get the 1.3 four-pot Capri?

 

What would they make of that?

 

A cheap body to turn into a hot rod. Probably something like this:https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/1b/ea/cf/1beacfbfa4712672f2012d2e209becff.jpg

[Horsetan]

Did the Americans get the 1.3 four-pot Capri?...

What they got was badged as a Mercury. Seems they started off with the 1.6l, then the 2-litre, then 2.3 and 2.8.