IBM Transport

[The Mantis]

On 9/25/2021 at 10:36 PM, IBM said:

I had an old Corsair then a 1973 Ford Capri 1600 which was good then bought a Mk3 Cortina 2000GT which went through 3 engines and had 2 new front wings when the outer sills rusted I patched it up and traded it in and it was under 6 years old!  Back then I thought the cars were good but looking back you were always working at them and mostly outside on cold winters nights, ah the good old days 

That reminded me of the Cavalier I had, WKS 164V, bought at 2 years old from an old fella in the Borders, £2200 and he would only take cash. I had it about 10 years. Great car, and I did loads of jobs on it. Replaced the wings and patched up the inner wings with fibreglass. Decided to leave the headlamps off for a day till it was well hardened. Drove to work and was stopped at lights when I saw a polis car turning the corner, so I edged up close to the car in front. Saw them pass me then in my mirror I saw them stamp on the brakes 

One annoying thing about these traffic cops is, they would just swarm around your car as if you weren't there, rude bar stewards. Anyway, got off with one of those bits of paper that you had to present to a garage within 7 days.

[IBM]

2 hours ago, TheMantis said:

Thought you'd probably like this one.

BT had these vans as well as the Post Office the Dodge was an updated version of the Commer PB.  They were terrible to drive heavy steering, clunky four speed gearbox, a very narrow wheelbase and very low to the ground so you had to be careful if you were pulling of the road onto a grass verge.  I had a spare one in 1982 when my Bedford TK was in the garage and decided to try and cross the Kessock Bridge before it opened.  Coming from the Black Isle the road had been tarred and guys were starting to fit the barriers in the middle with no one even looking at the van.  A bit further on the tar changed to bare metal and I noticed they were tarring from the Inverness side   I looked across and the other side had been all surfaced and with no barrier in the center decided to cross over but with a very high kerb I was struggling to get across but made it   Once over the bridge a guy stopped me and asked what I was doing?  I said I was a planner measuring for the BT cables and drove past him   So my claim was that I was the first BT engineer to cross the bridge.

[+snorbens_caleyman]

The Rotary Club in Harpenden, a neighbouring town, resurrected their "Classics on the Common" fundraiser last week.  An informal classic car show, they had everything from a 1923 Model T Ford to current day Ferraris and Lambos.

I'll be gobsmacked if anyone knows the one below.  I've taken the maker's name off it, and I don't think the badges will help.  Will reveal all in a day or two, but if you are desperate you can always look up the reg no at the DVLA.

Edited July 31, 2022 by snorbens_caleyman
corrected name of event

[IBM]

56 minutes ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

The Rotary Club in Harpenden, a neighbouring town, resurrected their "Cars on the Common" fundraiser last week.  An informal "classic car" show, they had everything from a 1923 Model T Ford to current day Ferraris and Lambos.

I'll be gobsmacked if anyone knows the one below.  I've taken the maker's name off it, and I don't think the badges will help.  Will reveal all in a day or two, but if you are desperate you can always look up the reg no at the DVLA.

Looks Italian Alfa or Lancia type will have a proper look on the PC later 

[The Mantis]

The words "Fiat Abarth" come to mind from my I-Spy book of cars but if IBM doesn't know there's no hope for me 

Edit - ah yes, used the reg, I remember that one being in the I-Spy book too 

Edited July 31, 2022 by TheMantis

[IBM]

27 minutes ago, TheMantis said:

The words "Fiat Abarth" come to mind from my I-Spy book of cars but if IBM doesn't know there's no hope for me 

Edit - ah yes, used the reg, I remember that one being in the I-Spy book too 

 

Having a proper look on the PC it's nothing like a classic Italian car  looks more like a Lada or a Skoda which it is not either and I never had the I-Spy book of cars like Mantis so I have no idea

I had a look on the DVLA and reading up on Wikipedia and all I can say is it would take a long time to drive from Harpenden to Inverness in that car

I was beat on that one!

[+snorbens_caleyman]

OK, here it is with the manufacturer's name restored, and also its history.

[+snorbens_caleyman]

15 hours ago, IBM said:

I had a look on the DVLA and reading up on Wikipedia and all I can say is it would take a long time to drive from Harpenden to Inverness in that car

 

Here's a faster one, then.

 

 

[IBM]

I was stuck with this one as well and had a look on the DVLA but didn't find much apart from the make  

Mantis will have to get his I-Spy book of cars out again 

[+snorbens_caleyman]

23 hours ago, IBM said:

I was stuck with this one as well and had a look on the DVLA but didn't find much apart from the make  

Mantis will have to get his I-Spy book of cars out again 

It's a 1978 Matra-Simca Bagheera.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matra_Bagheera

[+snorbens_caleyman]

There was one of these at the show - a white one.  The one below was my wife's company car in 1990, in the boom years after Big Bang (financial deregulation) in the City.

[IBM]

Here is a car that I didn't know at the Historic Wheels Club Rally held at Brodie Castle on the 23rd of July.  A 1935 Auburn Boattail Speedster, a beautiful car although I would not like to keep it in fuel at the prices we are paying today 

Auburn Speedster - Wikipedia

 

[+snorbens_caleyman]

Lovely car.  This, too, was known as a "boattail" - it's a 1972 Buick Riviera.   By coincidence, I discovered the other day that the founder of Buick was born in Arbroath, with his family moving to Detroit when he was two - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dunbar_Buick

And no prizes for guessing the car that is off the right hand side of the first picture

 

Edited August 3, 2022 by snorbens_caleyman

[IBM]

37 minutes ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

Lovely car.  This, too, was known as a "boattail" - it's a 1972 Buick Riviera.   By coincidence, I discovered the other day that the founder of Buick was born in Arbroath, with his family moving to Detroit when he was two - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dunbar_Buick

And no prizes for guessing the car that is off the right hand side of the first picture

 

That door is easy but is it a Mk1 or Mk2 I know the answer but will see if Mantis can find it in his I-Spy book!

[+snorbens_caleyman]

On 8/2/2022 at 6:35 PM, snorbens_caleyman said:

There was one of these at the show - a white one.  The one below was my wife's company car in 1990, in the boom years after Big Bang (financial deregulation) in the City.

That was, of course, a Renault 5 GT Turbo.  This one appears to have been a special edition called a "Raider", though I don't remember that.

My wife was on the right side of 35 at the time - as was I - and grew wearily used to boy racers catching up, having a look, seeing "a bird!", and cranking up their souped-up Novas and Fiestas to show her what they could do 

I was never keen on it - never felt totally safe.  Tiny wheels, little suspension, low down - I always felt I was sitting on an uncontrollable rocket-powered rollerskate.  Turbo lag was significant - you put your foot down and then had time for a shave or a look through the newspaper, before you were suddenly kicked in the back.

A magnet for criminals in the station car park, too.  Someone tried to nick the stereo, but couldn't get it out and also probably realised that it was custom built for this car and would be useless elsewhere, so they left all the parts very neatly on the passenger seat.  Another time we were driving to the station in the morning when suddenly there was a hideous metallic clattering from under the back of the car.  The spare wheel was on a cradle under the back, which you lowered from inside the boot.  Someone had cut through the cradle from the outside, nicked the spare, and then tied the cradle back up, until their knots came apart this morning and the cradle fell down to be dragged along the road.

Had the usual Renault electrical problems, an over-sensitive alarm, and I remember the clutch cable failing too.  Good fun, if someone else was picking up the bills!

[+snorbens_caleyman]

3 hours ago, IBM said:

That door is easy but is it a Mk1 or Mk2 I know the answer but will see if Mantis can find it in his I-Spy book!

I'm sure he'll get a handle on it

[The Mantis]

A couple of Morgans that were touring round northern Spain a few years back. Two English middle aged couples, can’t say I envied them much, but they’d been all round Europe over the years, Poland etc…

I think that’s probably my hire car with the silver paint.

Edited August 4, 2022 by TheMantis

[IBM]

I don’t fancy the Morgan three wheeler at all. 
Getting back to snorbens door it is a Mk2 Lotus Cortina. The Mk1 has the green stripe going through the door handle

[The Mantis]

Here's one that was visiting Lewis a few years back...

 

[IBM]

Can't check that one on the DVLA website  but it's an Alvis TD or TE from the late 50's or early 60's slightly different for export.  A beautiful car but you had to be well of to own one of them.

[+snorbens_caleyman]

24 minutes ago, IBM said:

Can't check that one on the DVLA website  but it's an Alvis TD or TE from the late 50's or early 60's slightly different for export.  A beautiful car but you had to be well of to own one of them.

Google is your friend.  See https://alvisarchive.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/td21-register-170921-.pdf and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvis_TD_21  

Series II Alvis TDI Coupé, chassis number 26777, despatched (presumably just the chassis) 29 Dec 1961, body built by Swiss coachbuilder Graber, body number 757.

[IBM]

14 minutes ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

Google is your friend.  See https://alvisarchive.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/td21-register-170921-.pdf and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvis_TD_21  

Series II Alvis TDI Coupé, chassis number 26777, despatched (presumably just the chassis) 29 Dec 1961, body built by Swiss coachbuilder Graber, body number 757.

Thanks snorbens I was nearly right didn't know there were different body builders although that was common practice with lorries and buses.  The TD is not an early diesel it had a beautiful sounding 3 litre straight six engine.

[The Mantis]

I took about 6 photos. It says Graber Special on the back.

[IBM]

Not as flashy as snorbens Buick another American beast from the show at Brodie.

[+snorbens_caleyman]

There were a few Mustangs of various vintages at the Harpenden show.  They are not uncommon down here, so I don't have any photographs of them.

So here's another four-legged beastie - a 1959 Jaguar XK150.  I wonder which is worth more - the car or the number plate.