For those interested in old cars.

[Owd Bob]

Damned shame i agree, i wanted to save it. It was used in 'Life on Mars' in both the first series and up to the third ep' of the second series in which it got blown up, the very ep' is on the box next Sat' night. It always looked more Green in colour on the telly than its real metallic Blue.  Was a solid motor and a very good easy resto' in my opinion, even the chrome was ok. This Marina was also used, a rare early 1300 auto' i think it sold after the series for £300 but it was bought for the show as an mot failure for just £90. Hope it survives, from what i saw of it it only had a small hole in the boot floor on the pass side, the usual rot and maybe one complete sill needed replacing. 

 

Edited February 23, 2020 by Owd Bob
old age cock up.

[russ p]

1 minute ago, Owd Bob said:

Damned shame i agree, i wanted to save it. It as used in 'Life on Mars' in both the first series and up to the third ep' of the second series in which it got blown up, the very ep' is on the box next Sat' night. It always looked more Green in colour on the telly than its real metallic Blue.  Was a solid motor and a very good easy resto' in my opinion, even the chrome was ok. This Marina was also used, a rare early 1300 auto' i think it sold after the series for £300 but it was bought for the show as an mot failure for just £90. Hope it survives, from what i saw of it it only had a small hole in the boot floor on the pass side, the usual rot and maybe one complete sill needed replacing. 

 

 

I remember it now you say. Wwhile I liked life on Mars there were quite a few errors regarding cars.

Allegro 3s with black L suffix plates for some reason! 

[Owd Bob]

 A letter 'P' changed to an 'L' with black insulation tape and a blob of White emulsion paint Four door 'panda's'? I made three roof replacement boxes in an hurry as the originals were on hire from a bloke who had'nt been paid, and one day he conned his way past the security and ripped the boxes off with his bare hands, leaving gaping holes in the roofs and live wires dangling everywhere. I still have one box rotting in my shed.

Edited February 23, 2020 by Owd Bob

[Wolseley]

3 hours ago, Owd Bob said:

Did you get the Hillman Avenger down under?

 

 

No.  We got the Hillman Hunter in various guises (none of the others like Sunbeam, Humber etc by then) but, by the time the Avenger was getting ready to hit the market, Chrysler Australia had already decided that its car in that market segment would be the slightly smaller Mitsubishi Galant (marketed as the Chrysler Galant).

 

Chrysler assembled the Hunter CKD at the old Rootes factory in Port Melbourne and the model range was a bit different to what was offered in the UK.

 

Initially there were two models, the Arrow (with a front bench seat but otherwise with the same interior as the UK Minx), and the Hunter.  The Hunter Safari station wagon was added a year or so later (the Safari name was also used for Chrysler Valiant wagons).

 

The Arrow name was dropped with the first facelift, although the model continued, rebranded as the base level Hunter.  The Hunter became the Hunter Royal, with the trim level of the UK Singer Vogue, but with simulated wood trim.  A new model, the Hunter GT, (basically the UK Humber Sceptre but with a standard Hunter grille) was introduced.  UK Humber Sceptre bonnet ornaments were used on some cars.

 

In 1970, the Hillman name was dropped, and the cars became simply Hunters (although a small badge had the wording "by Chrysler").

 

There was also a cut price performance version called the Hustler (a rather spartan looking version of the UK Hillman GT, with paintwork that followed that of the sports oriented Chrysler Valiant, the Valiant Pacer.  By now "GT" had become a dirty word with insurance companies, and owners of the Hunter GT were being hit by higher premiums just because of the name of the car, so Chrysler Australia renamed the Hunter GT the Hunter Royal 660 (I almost bought a Hunter Royal 660 in 1975 or thereabouts, but at the last minute I decided that I didn't really need a car at that point in my life).

 

We did have the Chrysler 180, which was renamed the Chrysler Centura.  It was not very successful though, too big to be a small car, and not big enough to be a big car.

Edited February 23, 2020 by Wolseley
fixing typo

[Wolseley]

Oh and a bit more about the Centura.  It was initially available with a choice of three engines: a four cylinder 2 litre, a 3.5 litre hemi six, and a 4 litre hemi six.  The 2 litre and 3.5 litre engines were subsequently dropped from the range (it seems that hardly anyone wanted the four cylinder Centura.

 

Industrial problems of a rather unusual sort delayed the introduction of the Centura to the Australian market  - the bodies were imported from France and, in 1973, dockside unions put a ban on handling French imports, following the commencement of French nuclear testing in the Pacific, and the bans lasted for around two years.

[Rugd1022]

Can't quite believe I'm typing this, especially since I've spent nigh on the last two years blathering on about  yearning for an Italian classic, but this morning I nipped out to put some fuel I n the Alfa and may have accidentally on purpose bought...….. another old Mini! Oops. It's a Mini 30 in the lovely shade of cherry red with a bit of history, lots of new panels and paintwork, a new rear subframe, it had a reconditioned engine and box fitted 10k miles ago and has a mildish cherry bomb exhaust, should be picking it up from Northampton some time next week...

 

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

56 minutes ago, Rugd1022 said:

Can't quite believe I'm typing this, especially since I've spent nigh on the last two years blathering on about  yearning for an Italian classic, but this morning I nipped out to put some fuel I n the Alfa and may have accidentally on purpose bought...….. another old Mini! Oops. It's a Mini 30 in the lovely shade of cherry red with a bit of history, lots of new panels and paintwork, a new rear subframe, it had a reconditioned engine and box fitted 10k miles ago and has a mildish cherry bomb exhaust, should be picking it up from Northampton some time next week...

 

 

 

Very nice, but you need to find a cheaper petrol station!

 

Mike.

[Beechnut]

6 hours ago, Owd Bob said:

Damned shame i agree, i wanted to save it. It was used in 'Life on Mars' in both the first series and up to the third ep' of the second series in which it got blown up, the very ep' is on the box next Sat' night. It always looked more Green in colour on the telly than its real metallic Blue.  Was a solid motor and a very good easy resto' in my opinion, even the chrome was ok. This Marina was also used, a rare early 1300 auto' i think it sold after the series for £300 but it was bought for the show as an mot failure for just £90. Hope it survives, from what i saw of it it only had a small hole in the boot floor on the pass side, the usual rot and maybe one complete sill needed replacing. 

 

 

From memory Marinas with body colour radiator grills were 1800s.

 

Brendan

[Porkscratching]

Me and another lad did the clutch on one of those, it was the headmaster's car.. we were 14, all went well , though we were checked periodically by the engineering master to ensure fair play !

[PatB]

15 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Some parts of the world are less encouraging to the metal moth than the UK, so cars last longer. I imagine Oz to be one such place.

Mostly yes, but there are exceptions. Tropical Queensland, with its high humidity and high seasonal rainfall can, apparently be fairly hard on steel.

Here in WA, one of the most common rust issues is in the rear chassis rails of 4 wheel drives, where they've been repeatedly dunked in seawater when launching and retrieving boats.

Ive also come across problems on cars I suspect have been frequently driven on the beach. I once acquired a VW Beetle as a spares donor tat was so rotten around the bottom edge that I was able to separate body from floorpan without undoing any of the mounting bolts.

I also once found a newly sandblasted Mini Moke shell in a skip. Well, it was basically Moke shaped, but actually consisted of a thin filigree of steel that you could have cut into circles with scissors and used as rather steampunk doilies. I suspect, in both cases, some previous owner had some fun splashing through the shallows, pretending they were in a music video. 

[MJI]

The Avenger.

 

I actually found that very upsetting.

 

I really liked them, and would have liked one as a project.

 

My mum had one about 30 years ago. I had the hatch version for about 5 years.

[russ p]

2 minutes ago, MJI said:

The Avenger.

 

I actually found that very upsetting.

 

I really liked them, and would have liked one as a project.

 

My mum had one about 30 years ago. I had the hatch version for about 5 years.

 

The hatch version being the sunbeam? 

My first car was a 1300 Avenger and had a sunbeam lotus for a few years 

[boxbrownie]

15 hours ago, Porkscratching said:

Me and another lad did the clutch on one of those, it was the headmaster's car.. we were 14, all went well , though we were checked periodically by the engineering master to ensure fair play !

They never found the ball bearings placed into the cills after then?

 

Or the mackerel wired to the exhaust down pipe?

 

Ahhh....those were the days 

[steve1]

My first car was also an Avenger, a 1250. Had a 1500 later on, both 4 door saloons.

 

steve

[PhilJ W]

The only time I drove an Avenger was when I hired one from Hertz. It was dirty with torn seats and a clunky gearbox, obviously well (mis)used. I understood then where the idea of 'Rent-a-Wreck' came from.

[Porkscratching]

50 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

They never found the ball bearings placed into the cills after then?

 

Or the mackerel wired to the exhaust down pipe?

 

Ahhh....those were the days 

The Head was a big fierce bloke, you wouldn't want to take any chances with him..!!

[boxbrownie]

33 minutes ago, Porkscratching said:

The Head was a big fierce bloke, you wouldn't want to take any chances with him..!!

My headmaster was an ex fighter pilot, his aim with the board rubber was impeccable 

 

You knew it was on its way though as upon launch he shouted “tally ho” 

[TheQ]

3 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

My headmaster was an ex fighter pilot, his aim with the board rubber was impeccable 

 

You knew it was on its way though as upon launch he shouted “tally ho” 

We didnt get the warning in primary school...

[Oldddudders]

Avenger? XHV849T. The Beckenham Divisional Office hack. The servicing was carried out regularly by the BR Road Motor Engineer at Croydon. It must have been meticulous, because the bulldog-clip that my boss applied to the exhaust after a clamp failed was still in situ several years later. The RME's organisation was subject to a BT Police enquiry late in the day. One heard no more. 

[Two_sugars]

I had a 1500 4 door Avenger once . . . . . . .for about 2 months. . . . Thirsty, Fast(ish), rotten.

I was used to ROT from the Rootes group cars . . . .previously owned 4 imps of various body styles, an 'illman 'unter, and a fastback rotbox Rapier.

John

[Rugd1022]

This just in from the Disc & Music Echo for 12th August 1967... 

 

 

[Porkscratching]

Groovy..I'd have some of the psychodelic stickers now..!

[Oldddudders]

Taste. Pure taste. 

[MJI]

4 hours ago, russ p said:

 

The hatch version being the sunbeam? 

My first car was a 1300 Avenger and had a sunbeam lotus for a few years 

 

Yes Sunbeam

 

Mine started as a very cheap 1.0l, too slow, so soon got a 1.6, that soon got twin carbs and a Kent cam.

 

My mum had an Avenger estate, I blew up the original engine (1.3) and fitted a scrapyard 1,6 to it, it was quite rapid.

[MJI]

3 hours ago, steve1 said:

My first car was also an Avenger, a 1250. Had a 1500 later on, both 4 door saloons.

 

steve

 

1250, bet that was slow.

 

I thought the 1600 was an excellent engine.