Gosh oh golly, I bought a Dolly.

[bencollins]

lovely car!
but havent you considered global warming?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyVAVdqyt-A

[a8hex]

That looked just like my old sprint.
But mine didn't go like that one. I remember meeting a guy at the owners meeting once who built F1 engines for Hart, his Sprint went rather well, he'd managed to build a equal length 4 tuned exhaust manifold, but given the lack of space this entailed on of the pipes having to come up and over part of the head so removing the spark plugs entailed removing the manifold first.
Reckoned his hobby was eating Cossies.

[V8 Fettler]

Another world-beating design concept from BL, let down in the execution. Raced by Derek Bell and Andy Rouse a few decades ago; there is an article somewhere - possibly authored by Bell - which is scathing about BL bean counters wrecking the potential of the Sprint racing team. 120+bhp in 1973 was more than a little ahead of the field.

Something from the Toryograph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/classiccars/73...

Global warming vid is VG!

[sun.and.rain]

A link to Ken Wood's rally Dolly Sprint running a Rover 24V V6. Well known Scottish rally car.

http://www.rallyforums.com/forum/showthread.php?27...

[a8hex]

Conversions normally seemed to go the other way around, putting the Sprint lump into other cars. The workshop manager at the research labs I used to work at had a Spitfire with a Sprint engine.

[Faust66]

Looks like a nice car you've got there… always been on my 'must own one day' list, but as I keep my cars for 5 years each on average I'd need about 10 lifetimes to tick all the boxes.

Oh, and welcome back BV: missed your dry humour and wise council.

[zeb]

I had one a few years back, still a bonny car!

[Trfcok]

I also had a carmine red one! KBL 229P. Ran it on the cheap as a student so I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised when it blew it's cylinder head gasket en route to a job interview and just before my finals! Had to chop it in quickly for. 1.8 Marina Coupe!!!

Great car when it ran. Always remember trying to remove the spark plugs with a special tool as they are buried deep into the cylinder head.

Enjoy!

[dinkel]

[AW111]

My father had a red 1850, nippy little car.

It was fun on bitumen, but did not like unsealed roads at all.

[daqinggegg]

I had a Dolly Sprint, PUD 254M, purchased for 300 GBP in 1986, immaculate. I remember over-dive on 3rd & 4th, gave some nice progress. Took two, hippie, veggie, hotties, (yes both girls) to see the RAC Rally in Wales, seemed impressed. Less so with drive back to Brum, Dolly's like to wave the backend around on the curves. Only sold it to buy a GT6. Great car looks good OP.

[TheProfessor]

Breadvan72 said:

It is a lovely drive on a country road, with very classic RWD handling. It would have been a fair match across country for a contemporary BMW or Alfa saloon, but would have been left behind by a Lancia Beta. The Dolly would have trounced many Brit sports cars of its day. I do not know enough of 70s hotbox Fords to say how they would have compared with a Sprint. My Dolly is a bit lowered at the back (adjustable Gaz shocks), and handles pleasantly. The exhaust is throaty, but not yobbish loud. The rev counter needle is sticking a bit, but otherwise everything is working well.

On paper stats suggest that the period RS2000 was 0-60 in 9.0 with a kerb weight of 914kg versus the Sprints figures of 0-60 in 9.1 and a kerb weight of 991kgs.

Having driven a very hot sprint (lots of BL period tuning goodies, DCOE's etc) back in the early eighties, and then a standard Mk2 RS2000 the RS always "felt" that bit quicker and had a better planted front end. The Sprint had a tendency to nose dive in early round the twisty bits from my notes from the time.

I'm just glad that these have not rocketed in price like the blue oval products, and that one day I'll re-aquatint myself with one.

Regards

[Hooli]

How very mellow in that lovely yellow

[aeropilot]

Breadvan72 said:

Period bumf with car. Service stamps continue up to 27,000 miles.

Nice to have.

You just need a proper 1970's BL Special Tuning rally jacket, umbrella and beany hat to go with it now.


Shame about the Webasto roof though - bloody horrible things, had one in my Sunbeam-Lotus and one in one of my RS2000's - would never want one in a car again.

[anonymous-user]

I love the roof!

[aeropilot]

Breadvan72 said:

I love the roof!

I did at first.

[//j17]

Remember as a child having a Webasto roof on a Humber Septer and loving it - mainly because the thing ran bloody hot and for some reason my dad's solution was to run with the heater on hot on hot days. Slightly more tollerable with the Webasto open!

[a8hex]

//j17 said:

Remember as a child having a Webasto roof on a Humber Septer and loving it - mainly because the thing ran bloody hot and for some reason my dad's solution was to run with the heater on hot on hot days. Slightly more tollerable with the Webasto open!

The heater radiator on my Husky (Imp estate) seemed to be better at cooling the car than the one at the back, wouldn't have thought the same for a Septer but who knows

[Johnspex]

In the days before air-mix heating the heater radiator would be blocked off when the heater was turned off so turning on the heater increased the amount of water flowing round the engine so helping the cooling. ( I think ).

[anonymous-user]

If ever I am driving a car that starts to overheat, I bang on the heater. Anything that draws some heat from the coolant into the air is a help, even if a small one.

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 4th July 01:28