I remember reading a road test comparing a Merc sports car with a Ferrari (I forget which models). On paper they were very similar cars: same engine configuration, vehicle layout, power, performance etc. The author said the main difference was that you could go out to the Merc in the morning, jump in, start up and be off straight away. With the Ferrari you always had to take 5 minutes to walk around it and admire it before you even unlocked it.
Your Cars
- Thread starter billw
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stuart little
Established Member
1935 Austin 10..... my first car gifted to me!
stuart little
Established Member
Did you have the head skimmed & fit the modified gasket? I've replaced more Rover 'K(rappy)' series head gaskets than any other vehicle in my working life.
stuart little
Established Member
How can anyone love a TR7?. One almost puts one's shoulder out pulling on the handbrake!
I have fond memories of a canary yellow Dolomite Sprint I bought 2nd hand with 25k on the clock, very quick in a straight line. I thrashed the @RSE off it and my wife was in tears when I drove it to a knackers yard with 96k on the clock! In later years I got back on my bike and commuted daily 80m round trip into London on these , last one was a track day at Magny-Cours
My first car was a 1938 Rover 14... Cost me£25 (in olde/real) money; spent £25 on it; sold it for £25.
Was sometimes referred to as the poor man's limo...
A joy to drive even though it was showing its age and need some restoration work (in the very early '60s) Pitty I don't have it today as likely worth a mini bomb now?
Was sometimes referred to as the poor man's limo...
A joy to drive even though it was showing its age and need some restoration work (in the very early '60s) Pitty I don't have it today as likely worth a mini bomb now?
flying haggis
Established Member
Proper drivers who had to use a clutch and gear lever. F1 should make all manufacturers do the same then see how many today would cope.
HappyHacker
Established Member
Rover 110 the P4 version from the late 50's. with a 2.2 engine I got the over 2000cc milage rate in the late 70's which from memory was about 30p per mile. I made a fortune from it as it had only cost me £50.00.
Just remembered it had a valve radio and occasionally the vibrator which allowed the transformers to generate the high voltage for the valves would stick and the radio would not work and I would not notice and not turn it off. I occasionally parked it at hotels around London and when I came out in the morning the battery would be flat as the heaters in the radio would be on and I, all suited up, would have to get the handle out and wind it up. It always started first swing.
Just remembered it had a valve radio and occasionally the vibrator which allowed the transformers to generate the high voltage for the valves would stick and the radio would not work and I would not notice and not turn it off. I occasionally parked it at hotels around London and when I came out in the morning the battery would be flat as the heaters in the radio would be on and I, all suited up, would have to get the handle out and wind it up. It always started first swing.
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niall Y
Established Member
The first car I owned was a Daf Variomatic van. My abiding memory of it, is driving in the Pyrenees, in the dark, with the headlights barely illuminating the road. The other is of the rubber belts snapping when driving through Brixton one evening I think it was a vehicle more suited to the flat landscape of Holland, than any other, more challenging, terrain.
Trextr7monkey
Established Member
Had a load of kit cars and Tr7 is much smoother than a lot of them, not noticed any problems with handbrake!!
user 36867
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In 1950 driving lorrys with a rug over the engine you had to double de clutch and wait ages in neutral for the revs to die down before putting it into the new gear
ChrisWiduWood
Established Member
Seems like an old post revived ... but my favourite 'car' is my Indian made BAJAJ auto rickshaw....
always a head turner
always a head turner
View attachment wedding car.jpg
Here is mine, I rebuild this car nuts and bolts up. I did everything apart from the leather interior. 1948 Lea Francis sports.
Here is mine, I rebuild this car nuts and bolts up. I did everything apart from the leather interior. 1948 Lea Francis sports.
That is very nice indeed
I remember driving a Daf, very weird with the revs remaining steady as you went faster. If I remember correctly one quirk was that it could go as fast in reverse as it could forwards
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Reminded me of a road test of motor bike in a bike mag. in the late '60s early '70s. When it got to the details it said - Lights by Lucas, Prince of Darkness.
Superduner
Established Member
But at least you could buy spare parts to fix said electrics. Diode rectifiers for alternators on my Capri were in constant demand.
John on the Wirral
Established Member
I have always liked playing with cars - built kit cars,customised 'em and finally restoring my classic Riley RM which I owned for twenty five years. I enrolled on a City & Guilds panel beating course which made me go out on a winters night lugging a wing with me to use the super machines we had at night school. I finally had to let her go as I spend a lot of time in the US with my family and was not using her enough. Fond memories,happy days
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Ah the old Lucas alternator. Just rebuilt the Denso one on my daughter's car, certainly missed the ease with which you could take apart a Lucas one! But have to say they were a piece of junk compared to contemporary Bosch ones. Just as well they came apart easily, you were going to be taking it apart on a fairly regular basis! The Japanese ones were a revelation when I first saw one, half the size and so much better quality.
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