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Odd, bad or just plain exotic...
PLEASE NOTE:-
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Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 27 Jul 15 at 22:55
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A current model four door Bentley in West London.
At first I thought it was a matt black job but it was a dark gun metal gray with a semi matt finish.
Very distinctive. No idea what the name of the colour/finish is.
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>>A current model four door Bentley in West London.
Did you look closely to see who was driving it. What's the betting it was Lud.
:}
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>> >>A current model four door Bentley in West London.
>> Did you look closely to see who was driving it.
Certainly sounds like a pretty one... but only for the current model which I'm not all that keen on although it must be a 'lovely motor Guv'. That 8litre or so X12 engine sounds a bit excessive to me as something to maintain for a few years. All very well for oil oligarchs.
What I really fancy is something a few years older, from before the VW Phaeton era. Even from before the V8 era. Nothing sweeter than a RR straight six. I remember my poor abused R type with great affection and sadness.
When I had it, tuning those two big fat SU carbs was pretty well beyond me though.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Sat 25 Apr 15 at 15:01
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I actually tuned a Bentley once upon a time, for an Asian doctor in Peckham, of all places.
Nice chap, I seem to remember. The car was very old with two BIG Skinners Union carbs. That's what SU stands for.
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Being driven in this morning's traffic. Don't think I've ever seen one before as I had to Google it: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Pao
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Similar to Citroen Mehari: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citroën_Méhari#/media/File:Mehari_Ranger.jpg
Saw one in Ypres a few years back (Mehari).
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I like the Pao. I think there's a garage in Bristol that sells them.
Based on a 1990ish Micra. Automatic, air con, PS. With a rather nice period looking radio.
Nissan Figaro with a nicer set of clothes on !
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Similar in concept to the VW Thing, as restored on the most recent edition of Wheeler Dealers.
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Used to see a few Paos around here.
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I like the look of the Pao too. There's another small Nissan vehicle in my area at the moment - an S-Cargo van: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_S-Cargo.
I've not been really close to one before and I'm really surprised at how small and fragile-looking it is.
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There's a house in Horton Lane, just west of Heathrow, that always has a collection of S-Cargo vans on the drive.
goo.gl/maps/nJepu
Last few times I passed there was one covered in green astroturf!
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I see the owners are sitting outside enjoying the sunshine.
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>> Saw one in Ypres a few years back (Mehari).
They're still fairly common in France, at least in more rural areas. In successive summer trips out there we've crossed paths with get togethers for enthusiasts of the 2CV and its derivatives. One intrepid set had come from Finland. Ferry to (IIRC) Hamburg and driven the rest.
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Meharis start at about €10k in France now and I've seen them near €20k. God knows why - what is it but a plastic wheelbarrow?
My friend had a Renault Rodeo in the UK years ago - now there was a rare machine, here and there.
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I thought I'd added this yesterday but it disappeared.
Parked near me at a car boot sale - a 1980-ish Ford Cortina Mk IV. Very smart and nicer looking (in my opinion) than all the euroblobs around it, including mine.
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>> I thought I'd added this yesterday but it disappeared.
You did, I remember it.
Perhaps your memory's going, or I'm psychic................................;>)
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>>You did, I remember it.
Me too. Probably Dave's fault.
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>> Probably Dave's fault.
It was my fault. Mike ignored the "Please Note" request at the start of this thread and tagged his post onto the last one in the thread. I tried moving it to the correct place (not as easy on the iPad as it is on a PC) and it got lost somewhere in cyberspace during the process.
edit - successfully moved this time. Far easier if it was posted correctly in the first place though!
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 18 May 15 at 12:54
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Saw a lovely red Sunbeam Alpine yesterday in the garden centre carpark in Laleham.
Looked tiny like so many older cars do. The V8 engine in the Tiger must have been a tight fit.
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>> Saw a lovely red Sunbeam Alpine yesterday in the garden centre carpark in Laleham.
>>
>> Looked tiny like so many older cars do. The V8 engine in the Tiger must
>> have been a tight fit.
>>
I have fond memories of Laleham as I use to go fishing at Penton Hook more-than quite often.
Is this the series Alpine you saw, crocks:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbeam_Alpine#/media/File:Sunbeam.alpine.IV.arp.jpg
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>> Saw a lovely red Sunbeam Alpine yesterday in the garden centre carpark in Laleham.
>>
>> Looked tiny like so many older cars do. The V8 engine in the Tiger must
>> have been a tight fit.
>>
Apparently it was. Wiki's piece makes interesting and amusing reading;
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbeam_Tiger
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That's the one Dog.
Thanks Harleyman. My favourite sentence - "Installing the engine required some unusual manufacturing methods, including using a sledgehammer to bash in part of the already primed and painted bulkhead to allow the engine to be slid into place"
I thought it may be a Tiger but when I got closer it had "Alpine" and "1725" badges
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Not a goodlooking car, lousy styling with points at both ends, although a well-sorted Tiger may be a good drive, dunno.
But the early-fifties long-tailed Alpine based on a proper Sunbeam-Talbot of the time is a very handsome car. Grace Kelly drove a blue metallic one in To Catch a Thief. Knew someone who had one, can't remember who though.
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>>Not a goodlooking car, lousy styling with points at both ends
Tis a good looking car, with 'alf-decent styling: www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C610280
And: www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C569190#
Last edited by: Dog on Tue 19 May 15 at 08:22
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is this the one AC?
tinyurl.com/o74snj5
Was there a version with small rear seats? and shorter tail?
It was the first car I ever drove as a 15/16yr old - in same white/red trim. Round a cricket pitch weaving in and out of the boundary markers. At least I did not spin it. probably because I was not trying hard enough. Bit of a handful at low speeds.
Last edited by: sherlock47 on Tue 19 May 15 at 10:36
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>> is this the one AC?
>> tinyurl.com/o74snj5
Yes. Nice looking jalopy.
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Last Friday, pristine Dodge Wayfarer heading North past Fleet services, then a 15 plate VW(?) 'bay' camper. Returning home spotted a Vauxhall Sintra and a Daewoo Nexia (warmed over Astra Mk. 2) howmanyleft confirms they are both in the leas than 300 remaining category. This morning a very tasty looking metallic maroon Tesla S shadowed by a DB9 = nice pair.
Last edited by: spamcan61 on Tue 19 May 15 at 20:35
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Was following a Rover 416 home tonight...94ish...Had a 216gti at one time. Super little car,,
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 20 May 15 at 19:13
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The original 200/400 were probably Rover's high water mark in terms of mass-market relevance, combining modernity with a distinct brand identity. After that they got rapidly sucked into a theme-park world of novelty grilles and mock-Tudor tradition-lite, and we all know where that led. (Jaguar jumped off that train just in time.)
Anyway, this is tagged on here with reason, perhaps the heir to the 200/400 DNA, but precious little else to show for 20 years of evolution.
This was a blue five-door (are they all five-doors) and it wasn't till I got close enough to see the badges (light-controlled roundabout at J8/9 of the M4) that I had any idea what it was. There's a dealer in Twyford, not far from there. I wonder how many they sell.
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Yesterday a Renault 16 on the former line of A43 by Northampton Crem. Nice shade of royal blue and on a J suffix plate so 70/71(?).
This afternoon on a retail park an odd gold coloured wedge shaped jobbie on an A prefixplate. Bit like a Fiat X1-9 but not quite - wrong headlights and too many doors. Turned out to be a Toyota Corolla. A is 83/4 so a tad over 30yrs old. OK condition and looked like somebody's daily drive.
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I often see a light blue Renault 12 that is being used as a daily driver all year round in the Ashtead area. It is gradually getting tattier/rustier and I fear for its future!
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>> Yesterday a Renault 16 on the former line of A43 by Northampton Crem. Nice shade
>> of royal blue and on a J suffix plate so 70/71(?).
Had 2 of these in the 70s one after the other, incredibly comfortable seats & ride, happy memories, but oh did they rust..
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Did a lot of miles as a passenger in Algeria in a very rattly and clanky R16.
Owing to the transverse torsion bars for the trailing-arm irs, the wheelbase was an inch or so longer on one side than the other. The true French FU spirit!
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The R12 looked ugly but was a very good little motor. My R12 yarn is from Lagos. Stoned and very late at night after hours sitting in a recording studio, I was driving the car back in a decorous manner. The people in the back were stoned too and started to barrack my driving accusing me of mimsing and so on. They were so rude that I exploded into action and gave a demonstration of South London getaway driving, zigzagging down the middle of the road to a chorus of furious hoots and shouts of rage, until they begged me to stop.
A strangely satisfying moment. When in Rome, I murmured to myself.
The reason the R12 could be driven like that was that it was a very good small car, solid and businesslike. Unfortunately in the process of showing off like that I banged it over a kerb from dirt onto tarmac and heard a nasty loud click. Sure enough the car soon developed a noisy driveshaft. Its owner had been one of those asking for trouble in the back, and being a gentleman didn't hold the damage against me. Made me feel a tiny bit guilty, but then I'm too wimpish for most places.
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>> Had 2 of these in the 70s one after the other, incredibly comfortable seats &
>> ride, happy memories, but oh did they rust..
We had a hired one in France c1973 after an accident in the family Hillman Hunter. Streets ahead of the Hunter for cabin space, ride comfort etc and felt much more refined too in spite of Dad's faffing with LHD and a column change.
Later, mid seventies probably, they were issued as firms cars to sales reps in his work and in higher trim versions to some directors. As a partner in the company Dad could have had an R30 but went for a Ford Granada instead.
Used to see the 16's occasionally though if the Granny was in for repair and he got the workshop hack for a day.
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>> This afternoon on a retail park an odd gold coloured wedge shaped jobbie on an
>> A prefixplate. Turned out to be a Toyota Corolla. A is 83/4 so a tad
>> over 30yrs old. OK condition and looked like somebody's daily drive.
This one? There's a 3 box version and a 3 door hatch, but this is the 'Liftback'.
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1984_Corolla_DX_at_544,204_Miles_(875,811_Kilometers).jpg
I had one, from c. 1985-87. C777 CUB. It was lovely and quiet, ran like a sewing machine. Mine was red. With VELOUR seats and a little spoiler on the back :)
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>commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1984_Corolla_DX_at_544,204_Miles_(875,811_Kilometers).jpg
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>> I had one, from c. 1985-87. C777 CUB. It was lovely and quiet, ran like
>> a sewing machine. Mine was red. With VELOUR seats and a little spoiler on the
>> back :)
>>
Probably the three box version but it could have been a hatch with 'bustle' like the Mk3 Escort.
My father had a car in the CUB xxxC range in 1965/6. A Vauxhall Victor FC101 estate. Changed the following year for a Simca 1500GLS estate who's full reg, GBN 611D, I can still remember.
The Simca's oddity was a gearbox with first and second at the right hand end of the selector gate anf three/four to the left.
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Simca 1500 GLS estate...I remember looking at one with my Dad years ago. I think it had a split tailgate? Couldn't afford one so he bought a Simca 1100 5 door instead, from Rostron & Johnson, Eccleshill, Bradford. JAK 642F.
It broke down on the five mile drive home. He was not a happy bunny.
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>> Simca 1500 GLS estate...I remember looking at one with my Dad years ago. I think
>> it had a split tailgate?
Indeed it did. The tailgate window was wound down by a handle which was lockable and folded when not in use. With the glass lowered a catch on the lip allowed lower half of tailgate to hinge down to level of boot floor. The boot floor itself was a formica type laminate and could be slid out revealing itself as a fold legged picnic table.
I've some cine film somewhere of us using it as such near Burley in the New Forest along with my paternal Grandmother who lived in Blandford Forum.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 2 Jun 15 at 19:49
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...The tailgate window was wound down by a handle...
In my recent loiterings in BMW showrooms, two different salespeople have shown me the pop-up glass in a 5 Touring tailgate and stood back as if waiting for me to be impressed. It didn't work. Not the glass - that popped up just fine - but I fail to see what it's for or when I might use it. At least it couldn't make anyone imagine I was the kind of person who would go all the way to the New Forest only to picnic out of the boot in the car park.
};---)
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"pop up" as in goes up and down like the other windows?
If so the Landcruiser does that and I use it all the time. Really useful.
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. Not the glass - that popped up just fine -
>> but I fail to see what it's for or when I might use it. At
>> least it couldn't make anyone imagine I was the kind of person who would go
>> all the way to the New Forest only to picnic out of the boot in
>> the car park.
>> };---)
>>
I had one on an estate I found it quite useful, surprisingly so. It's handy to have.
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>> I had one on an estate I found it quite useful, surprisingly so. It's handy
>> to have.
Mrs B's mother's cousins had an annual get together from 1990 until recently at one of them's large property in mid Wales. One cousin is a car enthusiast whose fleet includes a 1966 Singer Vogue Estate with a picnic table that might have been from same Chrysler parts bin as that in the Simca.
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>> >> I had one on an estate I found it quite useful, surprisingly so. It's handy to have.
>>
>> Mrs B's mother's cousins had an annual get together from 1990 until recently at one of them's large property in mid Wales. One cousin is a car enthusiast whose fleet includes a 1966 Singer Vogue Estate with a picnic table that might have been from same Chrysler parts bin as that in the Simca.
>>
Mine was nothing to do with picnicing just a pop up glass screen. It was quite handy. BMW have them so did some Rovers.
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I'm almost certain my old E46 touring had that arrangement; certainly the E61 5 series that followed both had the separately opening rear window in the tailgate. I found it very useful in multi storey car parks. My preference generally is to reverse in to spaces, but at spaces on the perimeter this usually means that you can't reverse too far in or the tailgate fouls the wall (and sometimes ceiling) when open. But opening the glass section is sufficient to chuck shopping bags into the boot :)
The Merc doesn't have that arrangement, but the power tailgate can be stopped at any point to prevent it hitting the ceiling. Only problem is closing it then means pushing against the motor (initially, until it's worked out what you're doing...) since activating again sends it on towards the obstacle.
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OK, so I should have been more impressed. Still no excuse for picnicking in car parks, though. It's only a short step from there to caravanning.
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>> OK, so I should have been more impressed. Still no excuse for picnicking in car
>> parks, though. It's only a short step from there to caravanning.
>>
Impressed is going a bit far... ;)
And I'm definitely with you on picnicking!!
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>> OK, so I should have been more impressed. Still no excuse for picnicking in car
>> parks, though. It's only a short step from there to caravanning.
>>
The intermediate step is the picnic in a layby.
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>> since activating again sends it on towards the obstacle.
Does it? Mine will go and stop upwards with repeated pulls of the outer handle, and will go and stop downwards with repeated presses of the illuminated red button on the lower edge. I use both when cleaning the car, my back doesn't allow me to stretch too far.
The C has a two-way switch on the driver's door to both open and close the boot from the driver's seat (great for annoying the teenagers) but the E-class I drove only had a one-way boot opening switch on the driver's door.
A two-second press on the boot button on the key will start it opening, another press will stop it part-way up. The red button then closes it.
Last edited by: Dave_C220CDI on Mon 8 Jun 15 at 23:05
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I'm less confident now I've seen your description! Though I've only ever tried pressing the red button again once,which I'm sure sent it upwards again. Perhaps pressing it twice in quick succession sends it down - I'll try today...if I remember!!
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>>> but I fail to see what it's for or when I might use it.
Our E39 5-series Tourer has this arrangement which I initially thought of little interest... until I realised it allows you to pack the loadspace to capacity and still be able to delve in through the hinge up window mid journey when... with a normal tailgate... the rearmost 10% of the contents would avalanche onto the tarmac.
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Coming back up to date, I saw a new Volvo XC90 at our local dealership today.
I hadn't been impressed by the photos I had seen, but in the flesh it looks a lot better.
Not that it would ever be the vehicle for me.
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We were out for our daily (brisk) walk earlier when the normally near-silent countryside was rent by a sort of diffused roaring. I thought it was probably the usual junior nutters from nearby towns who come out here to play Sebastian Loeb from time to time but, when we reached a road, we found ourselves watching a 'classic sports car' run, presumably linked with the annual 500-Ferrari charity event at the Circuit Val de Vienne, about threequarters of an hour up the road.
There was some variety of Ferrari 308s/328s/Fiat Dinos, that seemed to be making most of the noise, as well as a couple of 360 Modenas, a Mondial and a very nice graphite coloured 456 that made a delightful un-boyracer noise. There were also assorted Porsches, Peugeot cabriolets, Morgans, and others including a pretty XK140 FHC. All very pleasant and a bit of a bonus - we had only dashed out to stretch our legs because the temperature was down from yesterday's 34C - but I still find myself wondering why people enjoy these convoys around the countryside. Why not just go somewhere and do something? Why weren't they at VdV watching the racing and admiring each other's wheelnuts? At least they weren't hooting at each other all the time, I suppose, as the local 2CV brigade tend to do.
Must take the dust cover off The Beast...
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Had a bit of business at the Maire's office in a village just over the hill this afternoon. Parked in the square was a fabulous UK registered late 1920s 4.5 Litre Black Label Bentley - but bored out to 5.3 litres the owner told me. You just can't keep these Bentley Drivers' Club boy racers down! With a Vanden Plas body, just like the ones that swept the board at Le Mans year after year. The owner was a very nice bloke, told me they were on their way to Spain. I said 'you don't see stuff like this very often in this part of the world'. He said 'I was just up the road the other day and I saw a Hispano Suiza'. Never get into an a***-kicking contest with a three-legged man!
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 10 Jun 15 at 01:44
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When delivering a new Bentley GTC Supersports last autumn, the customer invited me into his garage to see his 1938 Derby Bentley 4.5 litre. The story he told me was that it was one of only two delivered new to Czechoslovakia that year. At the outbreak of war its owner drove it back to England, where it stayed.
I queried the 2014 Swiss autoroute vignette it displayed. My customer told me he'd just returned from driving it back to Prague on a pilgrimage to meet the other one.
What a fantastic chap, doing that in his 70s and taking delivery of a 200mph new one when he got back.
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 10 Jun 15 at 01:44
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A Model S Tesla on the A423 Southern Bypass in Oxford this morning. First one I've ever seen in the flesh.
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 10 Jun 15 at 12:42
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Was it white? I see one tearing through Reading down the A33 most days - might be the same one. If its charge can get it to Oxford of course. And back.
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There's a black one I quite often see in town in the mornings. Thought for a long time it was a Maserati but I was puzzled by the badge - so I looked it up.
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Saw a couple in Brittany at Easter and have seen one around Edinburgh.
Haven't read a bad report from an owner although there may be a degree of Emperor's New Clothes. A few battery pack fires after collisions, but apparently still no RTA deaths (and the battery fires take minutes to brew up compared to a petrol bomb), and no major complaints about early component failure.
I remember Zero saying he was quite impressed by a Nissan Leaf's instant pick-up.
Adding a realistic 200+ mile range, all-wheel drive, and 0-60 well under 6 seconds (3.1 sec for the £75k top model) and it likely makes the list for a few people contemplating mid-large premium machines.
(Along with very low BIK, no VED, etc)
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>> Was it white?
Navy blue. And like WillDe I thought it was a Maserati at first.
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Red one floats about Cambridge from time to time - first saw it what feels like sometime before Christmas, although I don't recall when they were released.
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Report on the BBC on Monday, batteries vs hydrogen fuel cell (Toyota are going for the latter, and you can buy one for under £40k apparently):
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33005362
Last edited by: Focusless on Wed 10 Jun 15 at 13:54
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I can see the attraction of hydrogen from the 'vested interests' of governments, oil companies, filling stations, etc. Lots of infrastructure and a greater ability to lump duty onto the motorist that will be lost if everyone plugs into a socket at home.
I doubt, however, that it makes better sense than using electricty directly from the massive and all-encompassing network known as the National Grid.
Time will tell.
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" the massive and all-encompassing network known as the National Grid."
......known as the national grid, largely run by an organisation called National Grid.
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Parked outside Grocery Outlet in Placerville yesterday. Incredibly tatty, mustard yellow. Not seen one for years.
(The Mexican beer is dirt cheap in GO...Mark, Modelo & Pacifico around 60p a bottle)
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Did the 120Y have those domed hubcaps that looked as if they'd been beaten into shape with a ball-pein hammer? Akela had an orange one when I were a scabby-kneed Cub.
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A 1966 Austin Cambridge, a red Ford Corsair and a cream Ford soft-top that my boss, who was in my car with me, said was a Zephyr and I was in no position to argue. Presumably the warm weather brings them out because they will start and then stand a chance of getting home.
Oh, and on the M4 this morning, a cream-and-green Bristol Tramways bus, though probably from the previous decade.
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The Austin, blessed with an SU carburettor, would probably have started first go. The Fords might have been more of a problem.
I think it was in the 1970s when it became much easier to start a Ford from cold as long as you prodded the accelerator once, then pulled out the choke, then fired up without pressing the accelerator.
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My '71 Cortina had an auto choke, didn't other models?
It was a pig to start from cold if you didn't have the knack.
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>>My '71 Cortina had an auto choke,
Musta bin a 2 litre jobbie then.
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>> >>My '71 Cortina had an auto choke,
>> Musta bin a 2 litre jobbie then.
Nah, 1.6 GT.
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>>Nah, 1.6 GT.
Ah, course.
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>> Presumably the warm weather brings them out because they will start and then stand a chance of getting home. <<
Some people get it. Some people don't.
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At one point was using a friend's rusty coke-bottle 2 litre Cortina automatic. Its Pinto engine, a coarse unit, had an automatic choke that was extremely troublesome. There was some sort of manual bodge that I managed to install, but nothing would have made that jalopy a nice car.
The owner, a rich lady, gave me the car since I could make it work. But the front suspension turrets and wings were so rusty that it was going to fail the MoT without a lot of expensive welding, so I chucked it away when the MoT became due. Never felt entirely safe and confident in it, although I can drive almost anything in any condition.
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Get what, Mike? Tooling about in an old car for fun? No problem with that if you have the time for fettling it and the space to keep it out of the way. Oh, and something else for when you need to be warm, dry, comfortable and on time.
My sister-in-law doesn't need a car for much but the only one she has for when she does is a 1968 Morris Traveller. Yes, it's cute and yes, for the occasional 20-minute run on a sunny day it's a bit of fun. But for any actual, well, travelling it's just awful. This, remember, is the car BL discontinued in favour of the Allegro - and yes, before anyone else says it, I do still see the odd one of those on the roads too. Nowt so queer, as they might say round LL's parts.
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WTF as they say where I currently reside.....you keep my parts out of it WDB!
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Saw a D reg one on Thursday. Looked in unmolested order and in regular use.
Last edited by: Alastairw on Sat 20 Jun 15 at 16:05
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The ever interesting stock a John's Motors on the A5 included one of these for a day or two last week. An R reg example in white. Looked in OK nik viewed from the road.
Cannot remember what the ticket price was but certainly several thousands.
He's a couple of tidy looking Issigonis type Minis on offer too.
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Must have been some gathering for VW Kombi based vehicles this weekend. Seen a dozen or so during a round trip from Northampton to Banbury.
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www.beardmorebros.co.uk/website%20pages/influences.htm
The Mann minor is for many, the ultimate Minor. I saw it run once at the Brighton speed trials. He drove there on something like P7s with the slicks on the roof rack. Changed the wheels and ran.
What was impressive was the lack of noise and drama for something that was probably the fastest car with an MOT there. Not so much acceleration, more like teleportation!
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>> The Mann minor is for many, the ultimate Minor. I saw it run once at the Brighton speed trials.
It's radically modified though, with the engine behind the front seats. Must help with traction.
The one I've seen around here with chromed wheels has the engine in the usual place. No doubt it too has tried its luck at Brighton.
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I'm sure the engine placement was to try and get the weight distribution equal front and aft but it's not behind the seats.
Nick is an impressive engineer who operates outside the rule book. After all, the successor car is just as oddball, the Mannic Beatie using a helicopter engine to drive the turbo so that full boost is always available.
You Tube of him at Gurston Down
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFNnXOAAhWI
And yes, I have driven it competitively, and that is a blooming fast run.
Last edited by: Slidingpillar on Sun 28 Jun 15 at 19:50
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>> Nick is an impressive engineer who operates outside the rule book. After all, the successor
>> car is just as oddball, the Mannic Beatie using a helicopter engine to drive the turbo so that full boost is always available.
Ugly looking beast... but FAST!!
youtu.be/WilPSO05MjI
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My link shows him driving the whole course, the second one just shows the start.
The telling thing is his attack level of the two close 90 degree bends at Gurston, sometimes referred to as a hairpin. The second part is one of the few points on any UK hill where it pays to powerslide, and an excess of power of grip is exploitable. Get that bend right and you travel a lot faster for the final 1/3 of the course.
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>> I'm sure the engine placement was to try and get the weight distribution equal front and aft but it's not behind the seats.
So, heating the driver's left leg then? I figured the engine would be back with the radiator whose fans can be seen in the photo.
I sort of like hotrods but I don't really fancy them. They're too specialized.
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There was a lot of heat to get rid of and from an engineering point of view, a second rear mounted radiator definitely helps (I think there is one up front too). The driver and passengers seats were set back too, look at the Autocar picture on page two.
I believe he sold the car when no more development was really possible, although he is a good driver I think much of his enjoyment is solving a difficult engineering problem without throwing cash at it.
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>> wow
Yeees... but that's a hillclimb special, even more specialized...
Go to Shelsley Walsh. You'll see a lot of those being driven in anger, and get tired of saying wow... but people take all sorts of machines, some bog standard, some vintage or PVT, bit of everything.
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A LHD red one parked in Surbiton.
Never seen one before.
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Can't remember how long ago it was launched but I saw my first one this morning leaving a driveway near Maidenhead. On a plain 11 plate, no obvious fancypants features.
Of course, since 2011, Ford has taken to sticking mock-Aston grilles on everything it makes. So whoever owns that car has had the privilege of paying an Aston Martin price for what's essentially a Toyota - and now finding that everyone mistakes it for a Ford. Funny ol' world, innit?
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>> Can't remember how long ago it was launched but I saw my first one this
>> morning leaving a driveway near Maidenhead. On a plain 11 plate, no obvious fancypants features.
>>
IIRC they only made 150.
A few of them seem to reside in Esher
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A few more around Monaco. No surprise there but well outnumbered by the Renault Twizy.
Last edited by: Mike Hannon on Sat 18 Jul 15 at 06:47
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A Simca / Matra Rancho in diarrhoea brown, looking tired but moving under its own power.
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>> A Simca / Matra Rancho in diarrhoea brown, looking tired but moving under its own power.
I had a good Simca, ugly and rough but faithful. I wasteed money and spirit on it because it seemed to deserve it.
They used to be good cars in the fifties, the Aronde was a long legged Froggy beast.
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>>I had a good Simca, ugly and rough but faithful. I wasteed money and spirit on it because it seemed to deserve it.
Yoos certainly had some dodgy cars Sire, What with the god-awful Skoda's, and now the hateful Simca's.
Have you ever owned anything 'alf-decent I wonder, apart from the Bentley :)
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Ah shaddap Perro. You just don't like cars, one of nature's minicab drivers.
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>> Ah shaddap Perro. You just don't like cars, one of nature's minicab drivers.
Bit harsh AC - we know Dog likes his Subaru. Perhaps he had a bad experience or 2 trying to tune the vehicles you remember fondly :)
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>>we know Dog likes his Subaru. Perhaps he had a bad experience or 2 trying to tune the vehicles you remember fondly :)
Ah, you see - I wouldn't have seen Lud's new post if yoos hadn't replied to it.
I tuned and drove many Czech Skoda's + Simca's {Chryslers/Talbots] and they just didn't 'do it' for me.
If I had to choose between the two, I'd gofer the Simca.
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>> I tuned and drove many Czech Skoda's + Simca's {Chryslers/Talbots] and they just didn't 'do it' for me.
Simcas and Talbots were awkward but Skoda Estelle was a doddle to tune once you got the hang of it. Mine were always economical and went like rockets. Entertaining drive too.
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Unusual Sightings - Volume 25 - henry k
