As far as Pommy cars go I was always drawn to the Rootes Group, Silly Minx's, Scepters and so forth (but not Billy Bunters). Also Vauxhalls of the 1960's took my fancy- the PB of 1963 being my fave, decent sized engine in them too, unlike a lot of English cars that were grossly underpowerd the big Vaux's could roast the rear bags and a SB Chev would fit in there better than the same year Holden. At one time I was so into them I even made a Cresta ute when I found out that you couldn't buy one.
My last Oxford was a mint 3-owner 1958 Series 3 complete with torsion bar front suspension. I bought it in 1992 and drove it for a few years before selling it to a work mate who wrote it off a short time later, sadly. It had been repowered with a BMC 1800 B series engine out of either a Marina or an MGB, and fitted with a floorchange 'box and taller final drive. Curiously it had also been converted to CNG(!) and the 80 litre CNG tank was where the original petrol tank had been. The petrol tank was now a 5 gallon tank stolen out of an unsuspecting Mini. When I initially bought it from Hamilton, I drove it up to Khyber Pass Rd in Auckland and found that it had emptied it's sump. Four litresof oil per 100kms! I immediately did a set of rings, bearings and a valve grind, and it was great after that. It became our main family car for a few years until I got a company car. Funnily enough that Oxford remains the only car I've ever owned that had a pet name - the previous owner had given it a nickname, and it kinda stuck.
One problem with the Austin derived BMC's was the front end - the shock absorber was the top suspension arm,and they had a stepped king pin complete with steering knuckles.It was going to cost $400 to get my A40 into WoF condition for the front end alone.So I sold it minus engine to a friend who put a 351 into it...if you ever saw a pink A40 at the drags,that was my old one.I put the 1622 and A60 diff into my wife's Series II Oxford,which was a really nice car...one of Issognosis's designs,so much more room and better suspension.
And steering - they had a rack & pinion instead of a steering box. Many Series 2 & 3 Oxfords were cannabalised for their steering racks and subsequently ended up in racecars.
one of Issognosis's designs Imagine what that man could have done with the resources and forward thinking of a Japanese car company.
Imagine what that man could have done with the resources and forward thinking of a Japanese car company but the Japanese had already copied the A 40 engine and built the Datsun 1600..... Shame the Brits missed out on the Marshall Plan......so much for winning.
Oh the bloody king pins were the bain of those old cars If the kits were too expensive you had to build them up with braize and machine them to fit as all the second hand parts were knackered as well. Back in the '80's you could get a tidy Velox/EH Holden et al for a couple of hundred bucks but if the king pins were shot the kit was almost the same as what the whole car cost and they were not just a bolt in job, you had to machine them to fit. Back in the days when mechanics were almost fitter/turners and not just bolt in replacement monkeys like now. The garage I worked in had a lathe and it got used pretty much daily for skimming drums, fitting kingpins etc and we used to pull out motors at least 2-3 a month for reconditioning, cut our own valve seats on head jobs, fix autos and rebuild carbs, manufacture brake and clutch lines, form and weld exhausts, you name it- we did it onsite. A real workshop. The first job the boss gave me to do as a trial was pull out and full reco a landcrab 1300 and then remake and replace both hydrolastic lines and recharge the suspension- I think any mechanic under 30 would struggle with that task. Motu was saying at his work some of the younger guys have never done a full motor job in the workshop, how sad is that?
Yeah....they don't build them like they used to.... Its amazing how some of that engineering lingered on for so long, imagine trying to market a car these days with single CD player when the opposition has a 6 stacker. On the other hand, you can't do much with a ball joint when it wears out and they don't even have grease nipples on them any more......
Voltimewarp On the other hand, you can't do much with a ball joint when it wears out and they don't even have grease nipples on them any more...... Drill and tap a nipple into it, nylon injection for worn ones
my first and only car was a humber 80...(after that it was bikes and then company vehicles).....such a simple car... always smelled "damp".........the bonnet flew off going down a ponsonby road on a friday night..........i wrote it off when a pole jumped out at me on Market road bridge...probably did it a favor.........
Last king pin job I did was on a Mitsubishi Canter - I pressed the new bushes in and got ready to ream them to size,but my test fit showed they were perfect,no sizing required.That's the biggest change in the engineering industry the last few decades - accuracy. Imagine if the British could build cars and bikes with the quality of manufacturing equipment available today.
We're seeing evidence of that now with the Hinckley Triumphs and the about-to-be-released Nortons. Both companies have invested heavily in "state of the art" equipment and contemporary designs. The Poms are quite capable of hi-tech - witness McLaren and their impending release of the MP4 road-legal supercar. I recall that when the first of the Hinckley Triumphs were released, the factory dealers were advised that the Trident and Daytona engines could be dismantled and assembled using a Kawasaki GPZ900 manual . . . .
The oldest i have owned is a 1972 Yamaha R5 (predecessor to the RDs), brought it for $65, sold it for $350, very tempermental.
Oldest bike as been 1954 Trumpy T100. 1st bike after I passed my test. Eventually crunched by a moron in a Mazda ute who pulled out of a driveway head on into me. Bike ended up parked upright embedded in radiator with both stanchions snapped in 2, wrote the ute off as well front suspension collapsed Had traffic cop turn up at house to inspect remains. Was going to give me a ticket for no front brake. Eventually managed to point out to him that snapping the stanchions had broken the cable All my other bikes have been 70's / 80's and all been sole transport covering 20 000 + miles per year, ridden all year round.
