1975 Triumph Dolomite Sprint
Discussion
v8250 said:
Nice pics, BV72. Every time I see the Town Hall I feel as though I should pop into Newitt's for their sausages and award winning pies; did you...?
Not at just after 7AM on a Sunday I didn't!Pevsner describes Thame Town hall thus:
"TOWN HALL. 1888 by HJ Tollitt. A feeble design in Jacobethan style. The position in the centre of the High Street calls for something grander."
Harsh, but fair!
Breadvan72 said:
Lovely car! Does it have a thread? If not, it should have. More deets and pics please!
It doesn't, although it often pops up in my other cars thread.Basically, it's an earlyish 2002 that my partner and I bought from a Kia dealers. It was registered MYY 6L but they wanted an extra £2 - 2.5k for the reg' number, so we said they could keep it. I think that was about 5 years ago and she's been used regularly ever since. She was subjected to a very expensive restoration prior to our buying her, but the work was bloody awful. The whole of the rear underside was made up from filler. The rear turrets were like filler buckets! It lasted a couple of years like that but eventually we just had to have the job done properly and she was stripped, put on a spit and had all the rot chopped out. It was a lot of work but she's good for another 40 years now. She's really my partners car, as I have my e21 and e30 M3, but as she's identical to the car I had in my 20's, I just love the thing. She's just lovely to drive and hustles along quite nicely. She's just so light and nimble on her feet and just genuinely great fun. People always react well to seeing her and wave and smile, which is an added bonus nowadays. Yes, she's taken a few quid to maintain, but she's worth more than she's cost and is worth way more than just money anyway. I just love cars of this era anyway, so certainly wouldn't want to be without her.
Breadvan72 said:
v8250 said:
Nice pics, BV72. Every time I see the Town Hall I feel as though I should pop into Newitt's for their sausages and award winning pies; did you...?
Not at just after 7AM on a Sunday I didn't!Pevsner describes Thame Town hall thus:
"TOWN HALL. 1888 by HJ Tollitt. A feeble design in Jacobethan style. The position in the centre of the High Street calls for something grander."
Harsh, but fair!
Who knows, this may even start a classic's trend...your classic and
e21Mark said:
Definitely. I was just 20 or so, when I got my first BMW 02 and am taken back to that time of my life, every time I get behind the wheel. I can't ever imagine having the same connection or fondness for a modern though.
Similar to me, but, I sold my 2002tii in 1985 to buy a Mk1 RS2000, which was actually a nicer car to drive!Hence
But I do love or fast 'working man's' classics from the period, I'd like to add an Avenger Tiger at some point too
I don't know if s m can help here, but back in the mists of time I seem to remember a What Car? comparison test with the Dolomite Sprint, Alfetta 2 litre and the E21. The article included a monochrome photo of the E21, that was on those spoked Alpina style rims, from the offside front 3/4 leaning out of a right hand bend.
I'm partially mentioning it as there was an overlap of the Dolomite Sprint and the E21, even if the Sprint was at the end of its product cycle and based on an earlier design and the E21 was relatively new in comparison.
I'm partially mentioning it as there was an overlap of the Dolomite Sprint and the E21, even if the Sprint was at the end of its product cycle and based on an earlier design and the E21 was relatively new in comparison.
v8250 said:
Breadvan72 said:
v8250 said:
Nice pics, BV72. Every time I see the Town Hall I feel as though I should pop into Newitt's for their sausages and award winning pies; did you...?
Not at just after 7AM on a Sunday I didn't!Pevsner describes Thame Town hall thus:
"TOWN HALL. 1888 by HJ Tollitt. A feeble design in Jacobethan style. The position in the centre of the High Street calls for something grander."
Harsh, but fair!
Who knows, this may even start a classic's trend...your classic and
carinaman said:
What's the car on the RH border of the photo?
Dunno, didn't notice. It was 6AM, nadger cold, and I wanted to head back for tea and buns. The supermoon was obscured by cloud, and there was a lot of morning mist about in patches. I revised my view of the dipped beams - they are a bit rubbish. They do that proper Lucas thing of fading and brightening according to engine revs, and they make for a highly effective speed limiter even on non foggy dark roads. Full beams just bounce off fog, so I groped along some country lanes seeing not much. I have set the thermostat on the Kenlowe to just over 90, but the car is still tending to run cool, so what with that and the rear screen demister being on and off, the internal demisting is a bit rubbish at present.At once point I thought that I had blown one of the two fuses (yes, this car has just two fuses - whereas my XJS has approx 97 fuses) as the tacho, fuel and temperature gauges, indicators and wipers all stopped working (this will have meant no brake lights either), but they all came on again a minute or so later. Spooooooooky. Prodding at the wiring near the fusebox later produced only the usual "oh look, there are some wires, connected to some other wires, how interesting" effect on the non electrically minded.
Poisson96 said:
Liking the Town Hall idea......watch this space
I think a Dolomite I'd like would be Yellow. Or Purple.
Moscow!I think a Dolomite I'd like would be Yellow. Or Purple.
The purple Dollies are indeed ace. There are two yellows. Mine is Mimosa, the other yellow is Inca. Originally all Sprints were Mimosa. The dealer would say that you could have a Sprint in yellow and black, or in black and yellow. Later available in brown, purple, red, white, dark blue, green, IIRC. Never in black: only 1500 SEs (a run out model from 1980 ish) came in black.
There are some fake Sprints about. Check with DVLA, but other ways to tell if a so called Sprint is a real Sprint -
1. Does it have a vinyl roof? It should have, although some real ones have lost theirs.
2. It should have five dials and a pizza pie chart (Triumph's nifty "all systems go" indicator), but an 1850 has the same, and the same steering wheel.
3. Does it have a chunkier rear axle and differential than a non Sprinty Dolomite? This is the real killer question - put a Sprint engine into a non Sprint and the diff and axle are not up to the job. The engine itself should be on a slant (1300 and 1500s have an inline four, 1850s and Sprints a slant four). It should have a prominent cam cover usually painted black or red, and the plugs should be seated in deep recesses with rubber sheaths around the leads.
4. Hard to tell with wheels on, but are the rear brake drums bigger than normal?
5. Does it go like a Basildon girl on payday? It should!
In Sprint World, there are two schools of thought about brakes. One is that the Sprint was under braked because it was built to a budget with whatever bits were available from other sporty Triumphs. The other is that the brakes are perfectly adequate for a standard Sprint driven in a non Tiff Nedell stylee. I am of the latter opinion. but I drive like a wuss.
All Dolomites are good cars, as are Toledos and 1300s, but if going for a Dolly I suggest getting an 1850 HL or a Sprint if you can find a good one. I think that I have found a good one. My mechanic says that my car buying skills are improving. Practice, I suppose.
1970s demisting is, er a bit pants, but I already knew that. Worry not, that is water vapour, not smoke, as the morning was cold and damp. Note also feeble tail lights in fog (no rear fog lamps). Note lastly that someone had an unduly Happy Hallowe'en, it appears.
I have been exploring the wet and dry handling of the Dolly. It understeers a bit, which I believe is fairly normal. It tightens up well if you apply power smoothly from the apex of a corner. It is a tad skittery on a wet road, and will dance about a bit if you push hard out of a junction or very tight bend in second gear. It is quite a little flyer on twisty A and B roads. It will easily pull up to licence endangering speeds on the motorway.
I have been exploring the wet and dry handling of the Dolly. It understeers a bit, which I believe is fairly normal. It tightens up well if you apply power smoothly from the apex of a corner. It is a tad skittery on a wet road, and will dance about a bit if you push hard out of a junction or very tight bend in second gear. It is quite a little flyer on twisty A and B roads. It will easily pull up to licence endangering speeds on the motorway.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 2nd November 13:59
Surely the poor C1 driver wasn't that gobsmacked at seeing such an ace old Dolly being used in anger that he / she stuffed it into the roadside veg..?
Talking of crap '70s lighting, I came up behind a black pre-suffix reg'd Moggy 1000 in Banbury this morning in the fog, I'd forgotten just how small those tail lights are on old BMC stuff. Lovely to see it being used in such apalling weather though.
Talking of crap '70s lighting, I came up behind a black pre-suffix reg'd Moggy 1000 in Banbury this morning in the fog, I'd forgotten just how small those tail lights are on old BMC stuff. Lovely to see it being used in such apalling weather though.
You may have just come across one of the Dolly's odder features. I'm not sure if it will still be fitted or if they were still putting them in in 1975, but in the rear of the car just underneath the fuel filler pipe and next to the boot hinge you might find this little box:
This is, implausibly enough, the night dimming relay. It makes the rear lights less bright when the sidelights are on to avoid dazzling anyone following you.
For demisting, I suggest putting some form of sheepskin coat on (possibly with a trilby), and opening both of the quarterlights. They rotate past 90 degrees to make a crude intake vent, and with the little vents over the rear screen allowing the air back out again you'll defog the car much quicker.
This is, implausibly enough, the night dimming relay. It makes the rear lights less bright when the sidelights are on to avoid dazzling anyone following you.
For demisting, I suggest putting some form of sheepskin coat on (possibly with a trilby), and opening both of the quarterlights. They rotate past 90 degrees to make a crude intake vent, and with the little vents over the rear screen allowing the air back out again you'll defog the car much quicker.
Bazonkers! I am a big fan of quarter lights, but I eschewed the sheepskin coat and opted for a ski jacket, gloves, no hat. I opened the sunroof when it got a bit brighter. I do have a cool 1970s Connolly leather double breasted driving coat that I used to wear a lot when I had a Jensen, but it could do just as well for the Dolly, Excel, and XJS.
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