Is this one of those "Why don't people park centrally in supermarket car parking bays?" threads?
Are you putting the Riley forward as a contender?
Bit harsh?
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That reminds me of a car owned by a bar owner (the Retro Bar) in Hurghada, Egypt. His may have been an Austin Cambridge (similarly shaped) and was in quite good nick but not quite that good.
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>> Is this one of those "Why don't people park centrally in supermarket car parking bays?"
>> threads?
No its about the car.
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"No its about the car."
Or possibly about someone called Geoff.
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That's a very tidy car. An acquaintance in the mid-90s had a Humber Super Snipe, which was a similarly fetching thing. Glad to see this one being put to proper use!
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Surrey, January 1966. I had an MG 1100, LPA 566D, which my father had from new and very generously gave me as a 21st birthday present in 1969.
Before the 1100 he'd had a 1959 Austin A55 Cambridge, Farina-styled like that Riley. Quite a heavy car for the 1489 cc engine which was livelier in the earlier A50. I should think the 1622 engine and twin SUs in the Riley may have made it a little less pronderous.
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I went through the Winter of 62/63 driving an Austin Cambridge A55. I used to pour a kettle of hot water on the windscreen and side windows, start the engine and go back indoors for a few minutes while the car warmed up. A good car for the Winter.
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In the 70's I had a '65 Oxford. The Oxford's generally had bench seats as mine did although the gears were four on the floor. Pale blue leather, dark blue paint. I loved the chrome horn ring. Plenty of chrome outside and with the paint polished too I thought it looked fantastic - still do.
It took a while to get up to speed but I soon learned how to preserve momentum. Cracking car I thought. Modern cars are too overpowered to be fun, nearly all of them.
Just looked it up - 0-60 21s. By then they had a 1600 B series. Let me tell you they pulled over when they saw that coming in the mirror.
www.automobile-catalog.com/make/morris/oxford_3/oxford_vi_saloon/1965.html
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My father had a Wolseley 6/110 from new, must have been around 1964/65. "Sand and Maroon" two tone. When he sold it in 1970 and replaced it with a Volvo 144, the Wolseley was already terminally rusty. The 144 was still showing as registered up until about 5 years ago.
The Wolseley did seem, at the time, through the eyes of a child anyway, to be very big and very fast. Overdrive 5th if I'm not mistaken.
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The Wolseley's were mechanically similar to the Oxford/Cambridge. Maybe the o/d was an extra, mine didn't have it. The MG and Riley versions had the twin carbs.
The Wolseley of course had the illuminated badge on the grille.
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Want to say, dad's was a 3.0 engine.
Edit - just checked, 120bhp 2.9 apparently.
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Mon 31 Aug 20 at 20:29
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And to think that our short lived Ibiza managed 115bhp from 999cc! Admittedly assisted by a turbo... Our (2002) MINI Cooper also had 115 bhp from memory, and that was a normally aspirated 1.6. My father has never had a car with an engine larger than 2.5 litres I don’t think...both BMWs, one an E34 525i and one an E61 525d. Both with around 170 bhp. But that’s progress...his A3 manages 150 from 1.5 litres (with a turbo of course)
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I've always thought those Farina styled cars looked quite smart.
Back in the very early 70's, I did a University field trip (a power-station test at ICI Wilton) and was based in Redcar for a few days.
One of my student friends borrowed his father's much-loved car to get four of us there. It was a Vanden Plas Princess (based on the more-upscale Farina-styled Westminster) and was the somewhat rare "R" version, with a 4-litre Rolls-Royce sourced engine (though, as I understand it, not a mainstream car one) with 175hp on tap.
Sheer luxury, and we were "making progress" across the N York Moors when the big end(s) went.
We made it to Redcar somehow, but after long telephone conversations the car was recovered (to where I know not).
I made my way back to University by train at the end of the trip (by virtue of qualifying for reduced fares); the others cadged lifts in other, now overloaded vehicles.
I suspect the fix, if there was one, was neither cheap nor easy, and the car was certainly subsequently a proscribed topic of conversation.
I know insurance practice was rather different in those days, but the driver could have been no more than 19 or 20 - it makes one wonder.
(This crossed with Runfer's edit)
Last edited by: tyrednemotional on Mon 31 Aug 20 at 21:09
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>>Vanden Plas Princess (based on the more-upscale Farina-styled Westminster) and was the somewhat rare "R" version, with a 4-litre Rolls-...
Yeah, a friend of my father had one of those at about the same time as he had his 6/110. Beautiful thing, or at least it seemed so at the time. Even dad's had a leather interior and loads of wood veneer including little veneered fold down tables with chromed cup holders for the rear seat passengers.
I especially remember that Wolseley because he once reversed it over my foot and made me promise not to tell my mother !
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In the '70s my ex-boss had a Princess 4-litre R, a bit more classy then the Toyota Crown estate it replaced. He then lost his licence for DD and I was often recruited to drive him around in the evenings for his life insurance business. I loved the car and the feeling of luxury that oozed from all corners of the cabin but I was irrationally annoyed by this fabulous motor with its RR engine having that skinny Morris Minor/Mini indicator stick with its daft green light on the end of it. It just seemed so inappropriate.
My Austin Cambridge gave me the fright of my life one day. After leaving the A1 onto the A58 just past the Wetherby Turnpike, there used to be a sweeping left bend. I'd taken the A1 roundabout at a ridiculous speed and was fighting the car into the apex of the left-hander when the right front tyre disintegated and, with a piercing rasp as the rim scraped the tarmac, I was projected into the path of a truck on the other side of the road. I had just enough wit to, as David Coulthard might have commented, to 'open the steering' and take my chances on the verge. My unsympathetic colleagues later told me I was lucky the rim hadn't dug in and flipped the car into a roll. Some time later, absolutely filthy, with the spare fitted and having needed a push to get me off the verge, I discovered that the flailing front tyre had taken the brake flexi with it ...
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It's a wonder there isn't still a lingering smell there then Hawkeye ! I think I might have left one in those circs.
;-)
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Too true Runf. Nobody sat next to me on the bus ride to the launderette!
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>> Want to say, dad's was a 3.0 engine.
>>
>> Edit - just checked, 120bhp 2.9 apparently.
Must read more carefully - that was the rebadged Westminster. Big fast car.
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Talking of old cars, my first proper ‘new’ car, of which I’ve had only a few, they are normally third or fourth hand, was a Mk1 VW Polo ( RWX 566R). On Boxing Day circa 1975 it got me from Bradford to Skye in time to catch the 16:00 hours last ferry from Kyle of Lochalsh. Foot to the floor with 950cc all the way, apart from following the snowplough through Glen Coe.
I’m sure I was traumatised by the time I got to put my tent up outside the Sligachan Hotel that day. In the snow.
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I had a new base model Polo in Jan 79 as a company car. KSF 793T (it came from Edinburgh) whence I drove it back home in icy conditions. 895cc IIRC and about 40-45 bhp. It was a joy to drive, the engine despite its low power was as smooth as an electric motor from 20mph in 4th.
The drive shafts only lasted 20,000 miles, which I put down to not slowing down for corners - it took too long to get going again.
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Gotta say, Rose tinted specs et al, I really enjoyed my two years with Polo Mk1. I’ve no idea what I replaced it with....possibly a Marina TC which was a huge disappointment. Or maybe an Alfasud 1300cc followed by a Sud Ti.
By my mid twenties I was road rallying an RS 2000 so it was a steep learning curve
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>> Rose tinted specs
I often have an urge to splash some of my pension cash on a restored/updated Triumph 2500s, and respray it in the colours of the one I had in the 70's - beautiful car! - so far resisted! ;-(
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Best avoided I think as those ‘lovely’ old cars we remember could be a crushing disappointment.
I know my Mk1 Golf Gti would be....iffy brakes, sedate performance from its 1.6 engine. A game changer at the time, but your average modern 1.0 3cyl Fiesta would blow it away.
If I wanted a second car for fun, capable of both long and short journeys, it would probably be an MX5.
Last edited by: legacylad on Wed 2 Sep 20 at 11:33
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A sort of distant relative, ( my ex wife's uncle ) had a Triumph 2500 estate that he'd had from new, last time I saw him anyway. Pale lemon yellow or possibly cream I seem to remember. But it was a long time ago, chances are, both he and the car, are no longer running.
I remember liking the car, and indeed him, quite a lot.
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>>Best avoided I think as those 'lovely' old cars we remember could be a crushing disappointment.
Nice to tinker around with though on a Sunday morn - 10 thou on the 'tappets' (set cold) Timing: 8 BTDC. Points (um, contact breakers) 15 thou. Fiddle about with the Stromberg or SU carbs. 25 thou on the plugs etc. etc.
20 MPG - what's not to like??
Westpig and some other 'herbert' had nice Triumph 2000's ISTR.
I got to work on and drive a few Princess 4-litre R's back in the day too = very nice British cars indeed.
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Quite agree God. If you are mechanically minded, I’m not, then it’s a lovely hobby to tinker with an old automobile.
Back in the dark ages I used to maintain my Spitfire & Marina, even did some work on the RS2000. These days I’d rather be out walking if it’s dry, or reasonably so, and on long dark winter days I hope to be a long way away !
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I'm fairly sure that there were points on the '65 Oxford that should have been greased every 1,000 miles. That might well have included the trunnion pins/bushes that I rather neglected and had to replace. Looking at the state of them I don't think I was the only owner whose maintenance was a bit patchy.
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>> I'm fairly sure that there were points on the '65 Oxford that should have been
>> greased every 1,000 miles. That might well have included the trunnion pins/bushes that I rather
>> neglected and had to replace. Looking at the state of them I don't think I
>> was the only owner whose maintenance was a bit patchy.
>>
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Don't know what happened to previous post...............................................?
Had a similar problem with an A35. Those trunnion bushes (brass screw thread) were a right PITA to undo. Mine failed an MOT on king pins and when I did a proper job and it failed the following year on king pins, I scrapped it.
How many cars have we scrapped for what would be minor problems today?
1: Moggie Minor van, with a leaky half shaft oil seal because future SWMBO 'didn't like it'.
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>> 1: Moggie Minor van, with a leaky half shaft oil seal because future SWMBO 'didn't
>> like it'.
well its good to know she had some taste at least
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>> 1: Moggie Minor van, with a leaky half shaft oil seal because future SWMBO
>> 'didn't like it'.
What were you driving at 18, whilst saving to get married?
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As I had no intention of getting married at 18, a ford capri and three girlfriends.
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>> As I had no intention of getting married at 18, a ford capri and three
>> girlfriends.
I had one girlfriend, my first, and a Singer Chamois with a repeatedly blowing head gasket. I'm still in regular contact with Sally but I cannot for the life of me remember what happened to the car.
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I had a navy blue MG Midget with chrome wire wheels and a ski rack, a retriever called Will and a girlfriend who could both just about fit in it if the roof was down.
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>>How many cars have we scrapped for what would be minor problems today?
Much as I've scrapped more than my fair share, I can only think of one that wasn't for rust; a hateful orange Chrysler Alpine on which I span the big ends. One journal was beyond hope and since I detested the awful thing and it's equally foul baby-s*** brown velour interior anyway, it got scrapped.
Like this...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Talbot_Alpine_ar.jpg
Last edited by: No FM2R on Fri 4 Sep 20 at 00:39
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>>These days I'd rather be out walking if it's dry, or reasonably so, and on long dark winter days I hope to be a long way away !
You and me both LL .. I've not had a decent walk for over a month now (owse move) no weight lifting (3 x times per week) lately either :(
Swallows have the right idea, knowlmean :)
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Talking of Swallows!
Went down the allotment yesterday and my shed is strangely quiet! - Adults and two broods of young 'uns all seem to be gone, as do the Sand Martins down the shore. Me thinks they've all done one for the Sun!
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Plenny of Swallows here in Sunni Cornwall, although I did read somewhere recently that "signs of autumn have begun to appear in gardens up to two months earlier than usual" :(
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"Moggie Minor van, with a leaky half shaft oil seal because future SWMBO 'didn't like it'."
Maybe not the greatest chat-up line of all time: 'Don't you like my leaky half shaft oil seal?'
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Also seen in my local Waitrose carpark day before last ….
A beautiful black Porsche Carrera GT (??£630K), thumbs up to the lady driver who ‘just’ parked neatly between the lines with all of the other cars… I’m nervous parking my new car in the same carpark so end up in the far end where it’s empty!
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In the car park - Duncan
