The Brit car thread

[dangerous]

another beaut was the 1000 Imp

[Paul in NZ]

another beaut was the 1000 Imp

As an ex secretary of the Sunbeam owners Club - I can say with some authority - NO THEY BLOODY WERE NOT.....

WE loved our Sunbeam Talbot (Mk3) and or Rapier (mk5) and the Singer Vogue Estate made by the 'Special vehicles div - ie rally ready, OD gear box, heavy duty suspension, rally lights etc etc - oh - and a healthy dose of RUST

[dangerous]

As an ex secretary of the Sunbeam owners Club - I can say with some authority - NO THEY BLOODY WERE NOT.....

not what? a "beaut"
never had one but my sis and a mate did, never any issues, odd sound and hauled really well.

[Motu]

Think you mean hydrolastic, (which Robert Taylor has renamed hydrospastic) those cars flopped around like a fat chick on an unbaffled waterbed

They were called hydrospastic long before Robert Taylor realised he was retarded. They were a bit choppy on the short wheelbases,but on the long wheelbase 1800 and 3 Litre they were very good. I used to live on a steep and very rutted gravel road - I tried all sorts of cars over that road,even a Mercedes,but by far the best by a long shot was the 1800....so I bought it.

[scumdog]

Did I hear someone saying Aston Martin??

Right-hand one looks like a Pommy Mustang..

[Indiana_Jones]

Fuck yeah

-Indy

[MIXONE]

I've owned plenty of brit shitboxes over the years.The best was a Mk7 jag,the worst an AUTOMATIC austin 1300.

[Genie]

Not like me to crank something non bike related up here but... fuck it
Been a Triumph fan come Layland freak for donks, had all from Stag to Vitesse spent 15k on a 2.5TC and had (please dont farking lough) countless Heralds... screw you you just loughed LMFAO.

Ok so any hows... always loved the Jag be it the 2.8 or the 4.2 even the v12, loved the Daimler v8 2500cc, never seen under the hood tho, figered theres no way a its e bits z 2.5 eight could pull the skin of a custard pud compaired to a three eight or four two... but for the last week Ive been working at a place that has a 64 Daimler covered up in the drive, got the best of me today so under the covers I went opened the door and WOW dont ya love that old leather brit smell ohh look a bonet relese knob... gota be done aye so raced round the frount and lifted the hood.

Now I expected to see a tiny stupid v8... but fuck me if it didnt fill the hole engine bay, DOHC I asume? wow thats cool, man I like the brit shit aye like Triumph tho who built a pop up headlight and a TR similer to the stingray and all BEFORE the yanks... course poms being poms thought "hevens above thats not consertative" can the idea before some one sees it, mean while the meracans did it and lead the world... ahhh shit tell me more bout this Daimler v8 will ya's...


ohh and add any other shit brit cage related ya want to aswell, like a v8 MGCT 2.6 MG, 2.6 6 Marina 2.3GT Viva...

hmmmm////WTF you on about Willis????

[pete376403]

not what? a "beaut"
never had one but my sis and a mate did, never any issues, odd sound and hauled really well.

My Imp would have gone and lasted a lot better if I wasn't so sure (at the time) that I knew far more than the factory. Every "IMProvement" I installed took years and miles off its life. In spite of which it went pretty damn well for an 875.
Twin 1 /14 strombergs, Imp sport exhaust, front mounted radiator, shortened front springs for some serious negative camber.

[Kickaha]

another beaut was the 1000 Imp

The only good thing they ever did with Imps was use their motors for sidecar racing

BMC were piles of crap, Triumph only slightly less so

[slowpoke]

Did I hear someone saying Aston Martin??

EEEEK! Most of the early Aston's were such pretty looking cars but that Vantage convertible is a farkin' shocker. The only people who made uglier cars than the Yanks was the Brits tryin' to appeal to the Yanks. The first E-types were just pure beauty....then they slapped all that gawdy chrome trim on the later ones for the yank market...bugger.

LOL know what you mean. I used to diss the 1100 and 1300s (driving a MKI 1500 Cortina myself) but then a flatmate had one and I changed my mind. Awful things to work on, no room under the bonnet, but drove well, was reliable and went everywhere in comfort. Excellent cabin space too.

Gawd, whaddayamean "drove well"? Good around the twisty stuff? Yeah. Comfortable ride? Nah. And noisy as hell. There was absolutely no point putting a stereo in any of the mini/1100/1300 stuff. I've had 3 mini's over the years and not that long ago I used my turbo mini to "commute" between Perth and Margaret River/Dunsborough in Western Australia and used to wear ear plugs for the 2.5/3hr drive. Haha, it's the only car we've ever had that our car loving dog used to hide from, poor ol' girl.

On another note, give me a TVR, Aston Martin Vantage or DB over a mustang or yanker any day

That's ok, everyone likes to stop and and admire the scenery....whether they like it or not in the case of the Brit stuff you just mentioned! The TVR's were pretty hairy/cool, but the earlier A/M's just seem way over priced for what ya got and instantly make me think of leather elbow patches on suit jackets over fairisle jumper type people.....not that there's anything wrong with that......... For the price of a DBS V8 back in the day ya coulda bought several '70 Boss 429 Mustang's or Hemi Challenger's etc, which are much cooler to me, but each to their own.,

Thank christ ya hardly ever see Hillman Hunter's like I learnt to drive in....yecchh!

Now 3.0L Capri's, that's a different story. That Essex V6 was a heavy lil' bugger it was still pretty light overall, looked good and was serious fun to drive.

[jonbuoy]

Brits weren´t the only ones making shite cars pre 1980, problem is they carried on after 1980

[slowpoke]

Brits weren´t the only ones making shite cars pre 1980, problem is they carried on after 1980

Haha, true dat! Dare I mention the word "Allegro"...spit...phtooey...gotta wash my mouth out....

[Owl]

First car was a 61 morris mini 850,that had no problem doing a tonne....

Yeah, but what did your GPS say?

As for the Imp.........Mine was Escort powered and most of my income was spent replacing those silly rubber donuts ($30)

[scissorhands]

Englishers auto merde!!



reliable, light, fast and economical

everything a pommie car isnt