For those interested in old cars.

[PatB]

3 hours ago, runs as required said:

Sorry can't help with the cream and green car a rather ungainly looking 2 door '37 Austin 10  with a straight back

But also what is the car on the left of the Laira Sulzer pic?  Front looks like a Triumph 2000 my dad had, but the back of the glasshouse doesn't look right.

dh

 

Mk3 Zodiac I think. IIRC the lowlier Zephyr didn't have the separate rear quarter windows. Or that might have been a Zephyr 4 vs Zephyr 6 variation. Or, indeed, something my increasingly fuzzy memory has made up.

 

Edit:: I think I'd like to change my answer to Zephyr 6. It appears to have a bench front seat and I'd think the more luxurious Zody would have had separate buckets. That's an educated guess though.

 

Further edit: Nope. A check of Wikipedia says I was right the first time. The rear quarter windows say its a Zodiac.

Edited January 29, 2020 by PatB

[Enterprisingwestern]

9 hours ago, Porkscratching said:

Many pubs back then seemed to have a billiard table, often upstairs, one we frequented you had to ask behind the bar to be issued with balls and a couple of cues...obviously they didn't want them left lying around as handy weapons !

Interesting to see the prolific Mini panda cars, the panda's round our way were always Morris Minors..

 

Also, when your drunken mate fell asleep on the padded bench around the room, the cues inserted up his trouser legs created great hilarity when you woke him up and said you were moving on.

 

Mike.

[Porkscratching]

Now why didn't I think of that at the time!...

[PhilJ W]

8 hours ago, runs as required said:

Sorry can't help with the cream and green car a rather ungainly looking 2 door '37 Austin 10  with a straight back

But also what is the car on the left of the Laira Sulzer pic?  Front looks like a Triumph 2000 my dad had, but the back of the glasshouse doesn't look right.

dh

Mk. III Ford Zodiac. They differed from the Zephyr in having the extra small triangular windows behind the doors.

[Oldddudders]

42 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Mk. III Ford Zodiac. They differed from the Zephyr in having the extra small triangular windows behind the doors.

And the headlights. Zephyr 4 had the grill between the headlights. Zephyr 6 had the grill including the headlights. Zodiac had twin headlights. 

[runs as required]

Yes of course old Zodiacs - and Crestas (the two color car with the three tone effect). They were transport for our young family during the 3 month UK long leave we got every 2 or 3 years,  depending on the overseas contract's "hardship" status.

Step-father-in-law would find them for us around Peak Forest where he was signalman, my dad resented me parking them in his driveway along side his smart white Triumph 2000 nr Sevenoaks  - with for sale tippexed onto the windscreen just before we left for Heathrow. 

Never more than £40 we always made a small profit selling them  in the SE, after we'd notched up big mileages around the UK and down to Spain and Italy.

In the days before speed limits,  I can't recall any breakdowns  with those big 3 speed old bangers.

dh

[runs as required]

Another go at the cream and green car

                        

it looks   a) English mid 1930s    b) like a close coupled 4 door fixed  head coupe with sunshine roof

Might it be a Rover 10 similar to one mid way through these interesting blog pics ?

dh

[petethemole]

The nearest similar looking car I could find without spending a lot of time is the 1936 Vauxhall Light Six two-door as seen here:  https://www.classiccarcatalogue.com/VAUXHALL 1936.html

[boxbrownie]

11 hours ago, runs as required said:

Sorry can't help with the cream and green car a rather ungainly looking 2 door '37 Austin 10  with a straight back

But also what is the car on the left of the Laira Sulzer pic?  Front looks like a Triumph 2000 my dad had, but the back of the glasshouse doesn't look right.

dh

Zodiac Mk3

[alastairq]

https://mathewsons.co.uk/auctions/12292-saturday-14th-december-7#tab-vehicles

 

Mathewsons in Thornton Dale...auction a week next Saturday...I'm off to spectate, since I live less than half a dozen villages away.  Pooped up yesterday for a Balderson's pasty and a look-see...

 

Of all the stuff there [and there's some rough 'potentials' too], the ones that interest me are the post -zero VED basic cars...that renault 5, for example?  Or the very late model 1300cc Maestro? I like the look of the Viva..especially as it has the small engine [pensioner, nottalottadosh, economy, and the ability to get my hands down either side of the engine?]...and what looks like basic trim [serviceable, easy to clean]...I have a preference for the small basic models of whatever....to me they are more 'pure' than the tarted-up higher end models...I like t 'drive' em...and when I'm driving, I don't notice fancy trim, leccy winders..and if I want 'connectivity', I visit a mate.

I also like the Reliant 3 wheelers..one there is ready to drive away...I dont give a tinker's for street cred, and have enough driver's skills to make good progress in one...besides, they can be quite competent on long distance classic reliability trials..

I also like the Y reg Toyota MR2...best of the bunch of sporty motors, in my view, that are up for grabs...although need to check for rotten rear subframes, by all accounts?  Better on the road than MGFs.....

I used to have an FB Victor, same colour as the white/red one for sale...although mine was a 'deluxe'...which, oddly, shared the same brakes, suspension and base motor as the VX4/90 in the sale...did not have the VX4/90's standard limited slip diff, however..or the twin carbs.....Darned thing would cruise the motorways at 80-plus....not bad for a car over twenty years old at the time I owned it. [I swapped a Wolseley Hornet for it...belonged to a girlfriend who couldn't afford the fuel consumption..barely 25 to the gallon..Car, and girlfriend, long since gone...]

I like the Anglebox too...more than I'd be happy coughing up, though..

Worth a day out for me & my mate...if only for more pasty and eccles cakes [very nice eccles cakes from Baldersons....sticky enough, big enough, not in the least bit dry]

Might pick up the odd bit of automotive junk, however...[if I can find that tenner?]

[Sprintex]

8 hours ago, PatB said:

Edit:: I think I'd like to change my answer to Zephyr 6. It appears to have a bench front seat and I'd think the more luxurious Zody would have had separate buckets. That's an educated guess though.

 

 

Just to clarify my dad had a MK3 Zodiac many years ago - XOO378 - and that had a bench front seat. Being the youngest of three children I always got the middle of the front bench if we went anywhere with my grandparents, who were in the back with my two siblings 

 

Paul

[rockershovel]

I can’t imagine what possible use a Mini Moke might be, for any sort of policing? I knew someone who had one as a run-about in his boatyard business, but otherwise it was a totally useless vehicle.

 

I had a Zephyr/Zodiac in the days when they had been superseded by the Granada and were big, cheap wheels. They were popular for grasstrack Racing and trials, because you could get a bike in the boot. No one cared which one was which, in those days.

 

Edited January 29, 2020 by rockershovel

[PatB]

1 hour ago, alastairq said:

https://mathewsons.co.uk/auctions/12292-saturday-14th-december-7#tab-vehicles

 

Mathewsons in Thornton Dale...auction a week next Saturday...I'm off to spectate, since I live less than half a dozen villages away.  Pooped up yesterday for a Balderson's pasty and a look-see...

 

Of all the stuff there [and there's some rough 'potentials' too], the ones that interest me are the post -zero VED basic cars...that renault 5, for example?  Or the very late model 1300cc Maestro? I like the look of the Viva..especially as it has the small engine [pensioner, nottalottadosh, economy, and the ability to get my hands down either side of the engine?]...and what looks like basic trim [serviceable, easy to clean]...I have a preference for the small basic models of whatever....to me they are more 'pure' than the tarted-up higher end models...I like t 'drive' em...and when I'm driving, I don't notice fancy trim, leccy winders..and if I want 'connectivity', I visit a mate.

I also like the Reliant 3 wheelers..one there is ready to drive away...I dont give a tinker's for street cred, and have enough driver's skills to make good progress in one...besides, they can be quite competent on long distance classic reliability trials..

I also like the Y reg Toyota MR2...best of the bunch of sporty motors, in my view, that are up for grabs...although need to check for rotten rear subframes, by all accounts?  Better on the road than MGFs.....

I used to have an FB Victor, same colour as the white/red one for sale...although mine was a 'deluxe'...which, oddly, shared the same brakes, suspension and base motor as the VX4/90 in the sale...did not have the VX4/90's standard limited slip diff, however..or the twin carbs.....Darned thing would cruise the motorways at 80-plus....not bad for a car over twenty years old at the time I owned it. [I swapped a Wolseley Hornet for it...belonged to a girlfriend who couldn't afford the fuel consumption..barely 25 to the gallon..Car, and girlfriend, long since gone...]

I like the Anglebox too...more than I'd be happy coughing up, though..

Worth a day out for me & my mate...if only for more pasty and eccles cakes [very nice eccles cakes from Baldersons....sticky enough, big enough, not in the least bit dry]

Might pick up the odd bit of automotive junk, however...[if I can find that tenner?]

I like the idea of a Reliant as a trialler. Decent ground clearance (on the Regal at least, with its relatively large wheels) , rearward biased weight distribution and light enough to be strongly influenced by passenger athletics, nice revvy little engine and lowish overall gearing. It wouldn't surprise me if the single front wheel was an advantage on narrow, rutted hills too, being able to avoid being trapped and steered by existing deep wheel tracks. And light enough for relatively easy recovery if you don't make it. Do they run in the motorcycle classes? 

[Hobby]

What Maestro, Alastair? Can't see one for all the three wheelers!

[runs as required]

2 hours ago, petethemole said:

The nearest similar looking car I could find without spending a lot of time is the 1936 Vauxhall Light Six two-door as seen here:  https://www.classiccarcatalogue.com/VAUXHALL 1936.html

I'm sure you are right about that; thanks for the link.

 

Having a day of waiting around Outpatients etc. (fortunately as carer today), I've quite enjoyed flipping through web sites on those 'street' cars

 

My stab at a rather ungainly looking 2 door '37 Austin 10  with a straight back  turned out to be a 4 door '36  Austin Sherborne (here) with an 'Airline' back.

I hadn't realised Austin were heavily revising their 10hp range virtually every year through the thirties.

There was a Ten four 'sports car' called a 'Ripley'- would that be the Ripley on the A610 (DH Lawrence coal mining country)  or after "The Talented Mr Ripley" ?

1937 saw the introduction of the familiar 'Cambridge', supplanting that 'lame duck' Sherborne (students friends had both: the Sherborne stumbled erraticaly about between watering holes, a post grad nuclear physicist ran a much more modern feeling 'Cambridge' .

 

The interesting Austin 10 is this  

picture from Graces Guide here

 

Quote

A virtually new car was launched in 1939 with the body shell incorporating the floor to give a semi-unitary structure. The car was completely restyled by Argentine born Ricardo "Dick" Burzi who had joined Austin from Lancia

 

This looks to be the beginning of the classic WWII staff car, used by the the Eighth Army right through the Italian Campaign. 

Designed by an Italian !

dh

[PhilJ W]

The cream/green car could be a 1930's Standard Flying 8. The clues are the suicide doors and the shape of the roof at the rear. A pre-1938 model I might add with the chrome radiator surround.

Edited January 29, 2020 by PhilJ W

[rockershovel]

2 hours ago, PatB said:

I like the idea of a Reliant as a trialler. Decent ground clearance (on the Regal at least, with its relatively large wheels) , rearward biased weight distribution and light enough to be strongly influenced by passenger athletics, nice revvy little engine and lowish overall gearing. It wouldn't surprise me if the single front wheel was an advantage on narrow, rutted hills too, being able to avoid being trapped and steered by existing deep wheel tracks. And light enough for relatively easy recovery if you don't make it. Do they run in the motorcycle classes? 

 

Reliant engines are gutless things, a pity because they were a nice piece of all-British design and construction. The Hillman Imp engine had a fearsome reputation in sidecar grasstrack, though. 

 

I can’t imagine a Reliant trials car, although Morgans and more often, Fraser Nash tricars appear in events like the Lands End Trial 

[PhilJ W]

Reliant engines were quite often used in trials cars. This followed on from Reliant taking over the Austin 7 engine which in turn was replaced by Reliants own all aluminium unit. These were allowed in trails cars to replace the Austin 7 units that were getting a bit long in the tooth.

[Metr0Land]

4 hours ago, rockershovel said:

I can’t imagine what possible use a Mini Moke might be, for any sort of policing? I knew someone who had one as a run-about in his boatyard business, but otherwise it was a totally useless vehicle.

 

 

 

Portmeirion?

[alastairq]

reliant engines are a brilliantly simple, lightweight power unit. To call them gutless is pointless..the hillman imp engine was equally 'gutless'...unless tuned.....the same for the Reliant. [750MC racing, for example??]

Think in terms of power-to-weight ratio, and the Reliant comes out quite a top dog.  Even in standard tune.

 

Trials-oriented kit cars such as the Liege, Tempest, etc are fairly well known [amongst the cognoscenti]....The Liege is brilliant....but because the Reliant engine is getting old now, the Liege has moved on to  small suzuki power.

Reliant 3 wheelers have been competing in the MCC long distance Classic Reliability trials for many decades....in various forms, as they become modified for better off road performance.

They compete in the sidecar/3 wheeler class [motorcycles.] and do very well, since they have two drive wheels...but they struggle to steer on the steep observed sections....steering being a bit like a boat in a force nine gale......[Like a lot of trials cars, the front becomes airborne due to gradient]..Morgan 3 wheelers suffered from grip issues....since they only have one driven wheel. Many of the motorcycle outfits competing are on old grasser frames[Wasp, for example].....and they, too, can suffer grip issues, with the one driven wheel. As ever,in trialling, much depends on the weather, ground conditions, and circumstances of the day.....Passengers are vital.

[alastairq]

4 hours ago, Hobby said:

What Maestro, Alastair? Can't see one for all the three wheelers!

https://mathewsons.co.uk/auctions/auction-dates/vehicles/12580-2001-rover-maestro

[russ p]

21 minutes ago, alastairq said:

https://mathewsons.co.uk/auctions/auction-dates/vehicles/12580-2001-rover-maestro

 

The maestro is what is known as a Ledbury model. 

Rover were to supply Rodacar in Bulgaria with CKD kits to assemble the maestro over there, the deal fell through and a company in ledbury bought the kits and assembled them there and converting them to RHD in the process.  They were all 1.3s in both saloon and van bodies with 14 inch wheels 

I would be quite interested in finding a good van to rebuild mine into. 

I've heard they can be problematic to insure as some companies class them as kit cars.

There was one locally on a 51 plate which looked very odd

[PhilJ W]

One motor on the auction site looks in remakably good condition for its age. Thats the 1993 Toyota Liite-Ace van with just 55,000 on the clock. Just the job for a camper van, or for lugging exhibition layouts about.

[PatB]

5 hours ago, rockershovel said:

 

Reliant engines are gutless things, a pity because they were a nice piece of all-British design and construction. The Hillman Imp engine had a fearsome reputation in sidecar grasstrack, though. 

 

I can’t imagine a Reliant trials car, although Morgans and more often, Fraser Nash tricars appear in events like the Lands End Trial 

Bit harsh. Back when I was a member of the 750 Motor Club the serious racers were getting ~70 bhp out of them, even with a mandatory carb restriction. I always thought that might be fun in a Bond Bug. 

[rockershovel]

22 minutes ago, PatB said:

Bit harsh. Back when I was a member of the 750 Motor Club the serious racers were getting ~70 bhp out of them, even with a mandatory carb restriction. I always thought that might be fun in a Bond Bug. 

 

Serious racers can get power out of pretty much anything. The 750cc engine was quoted as 32bhp and the 850cc as 45bhp.