Tell Us Something Really Trivial About Your Life (Vol 31)
Discussion
On a frozen snowbound airfield perimeter track / runway at night, the squadron's runabout RAF Minivans were great fun
The idea was to get up to about 60 mph, yank on the handbrake and spin the steering wheel and see how many pirhouettes you could achieve and still carry on in your previous direction of travel.
The Landrovers were quite wobbly, slower, and nowhere near as much fun, and the Bedford 1- tonner covered truck was decidedly dicey even flat out at it's top speed of about 50 with a following Force 10 gale.
No doubt about it, the RAF made me a much safer driver.
Please note: It wasn't me who put the Bedford on its' side in the drainage ditch. No siree.
We weren't even on shift that particular night.
It was 'B' Flight. Luckily for them nobody noticed.
Not even all the witnesses.
It took a fair bit of polishing out though.
The idea was to get up to about 60 mph, yank on the handbrake and spin the steering wheel and see how many pirhouettes you could achieve and still carry on in your previous direction of travel.
The Landrovers were quite wobbly, slower, and nowhere near as much fun, and the Bedford 1- tonner covered truck was decidedly dicey even flat out at it's top speed of about 50 with a following Force 10 gale.
No doubt about it, the RAF made me a much safer driver.
Please note: It wasn't me who put the Bedford on its' side in the drainage ditch. No siree.
We weren't even on shift that particular night.
It was 'B' Flight. Luckily for them nobody noticed.
Not even all the witnesses.
It took a fair bit of polishing out though.
A short tale of two Mk2 1275 Cooper S's with some nice history. Pictured at Stanford Hall in September 2017 left to right are two cars belonging to a couple of old hand gurus from the Mini Cooper Register plus mine : Mk2 Cooper S Registrar Nick's Almond Green & Snowberry White 1969 Morris, club insurance valuation chap and all round good egg Don's Sandy Beige & Snowberry White 1969 Morris and yours truly's period style deep purple 1968 Morris. Don has now owned 'APC' twice, he lost it the first time round in a divorce and sold it to Nick who kept it out of harm's way for about seven years. Nick then found and bought 'EWA' and sold 'APC' on to a dodgy dealer type who gave it a quick wipe over with a chamois and bumped the price up knowing (without letting on to Nick) that Don wanted to buy it back. A bit of agitated bartering ensued and 'APC' was then back in Don's hands. Not long after Nick bought 'EWA' a newly joined member of the MRC got in touch with him to say he had an identical Mk2 S to 'EWA' with a reg' number just a few digits away, it turned out they lived not far from each other and both cars had originally been purchased days apart from the same dealer which Nick and said new club member both used to visit as kids! Both cars still have their original paint, trim, drivetrain, subframes and mechanicals from new.
Moving on to my car - no connection to the other two but as it was built in the first week of October '68 it was one of the very last to come out of Longbridge with the old three synchro gearbox, a few days later the four synchro version went on sale, thus 'WMU 211G' was despatched to Stewart & Ardern in Acton where it sat unwanted for almost six months until someone in Finchley got the bargain of the week, as it was considered to be 'last year's model'. Seven more owners came and went including me, during which time it was repainted six times and restored twice. Funny old things, Minis!
Moving on to my car - no connection to the other two but as it was built in the first week of October '68 it was one of the very last to come out of Longbridge with the old three synchro gearbox, a few days later the four synchro version went on sale, thus 'WMU 211G' was despatched to Stewart & Ardern in Acton where it sat unwanted for almost six months until someone in Finchley got the bargain of the week, as it was considered to be 'last year's model'. Seven more owners came and went including me, during which time it was repainted six times and restored twice. Funny old things, Minis!
Edited by P5BNij on Monday 21st January 16:37
DickyC said:
When they are assembled, are you going to let the dog see the rabbit?
I'm sure it will happen at some point Dicky, I may have to keep them on opposite sides of the room!!!! Ebay's A strange old thing isn't it? I bid on a selection of Lego sets and other stuff intending to keep just the sets and pass on the other stuff to friends ETC for their children, it was all new and sealed, there was no activity on the lot so with an hour and a half to go I put a bid on with a contingency of an extra £5 in case someone decided to have a stab at it too, in the last minute I was outbid to twice the amount I'd bid overall, so from having NO bids it ended up in a flurry of activity!!!!
glenrobbo said:
Bobberoo99 said:
Loving all the stories about Minis!!!
Yes glenrobbo some off road ground force stylee would be a most enjoyable experience!!!
Just keep your hands on the wheel and mind your thumbs! Yes glenrobbo some off road ground force stylee would be a most enjoyable experience!!!
Twas a draughty drive home.
fatboy18 said:
I can remember back in the 70s being in the back of a black mini, the thing was bouncing around all over the place with 5 of us in it, Stereo and Graphic equalizer at full blast listening to the Mighty Status Quo, Paper Plane, Down Down, Mystery song
Brilliant.
And the tyres on the slightly too wide Carlos Fandangos catching on the wheel arches over the bumps.Brilliant.
nonsequitur said:
My brother had one of the original pre 1959? minis and entered a competition, in the 70's, to find the oldest mini still on the road. As I recall he was in the top fifty. I inherited the car from him and all was well until the drivers door completely fell off in a lay-by on the A2 in Kent.
Twas a draughty drive home.
I'd have thought '59 was the earliest. I'll go and have a little check up.Twas a draughty drive home.
DickyC said:
fatboy18 said:
I can remember back in the 70s being in the back of a black mini, the thing was bouncing around all over the place with 5 of us in it, Stereo and Graphic equalizer at full blast listening to the Mighty Status Quo, Paper Plane, Down Down, Mystery song
Brilliant.
And the tyres on the slightly too wide Carlos Fandangos catching on the wheel arches over the bumps.Brilliant.
Mrs.P5B's best mate's parents had a '59 sat on their drive under a very soggy tarpaulin about thirty years ago, even then it was thought worth saving but they just let it rot away until it caved in under the tarp (think of that well known Interceptor in Walcote village which was scooped up with shovels a while back and you get the picture). It was their first car and the reg' number contained their married initials, it was areal shame to see it crumbling away year after year.
Our first Mini lasted all of four months in my custodianship, it was an absolute rotter but I loved it, a 1977 Mini 1000 in baked bean orange with a very tatty black vinyl roof and the smallest steering wheel known to man. Had loads of fun with it on the A45 in the days before the onslaught of Gatsos…
Our first Mini lasted all of four months in my custodianship, it was an absolute rotter but I loved it, a 1977 Mini 1000 in baked bean orange with a very tatty black vinyl roof and the smallest steering wheel known to man. Had loads of fun with it on the A45 in the days before the onslaught of Gatsos…
DickyC said:
nonsequitur said:
My brother had one of the original pre 1959? minis and entered a competition, in the 70's, to find the oldest mini still on the road. As I recall he was in the top fifty. I inherited the car from him and all was well until the drivers door completely fell off in a lay-by on the A2 in Kent.
Twas a draughty drive home.
I'd have thought '59 was the earliest. I'll go and have a little check up.Twas a draughty drive home.
nonsequitur said:
DickyC said:
nonsequitur said:
My brother had one of the original pre 1959? minis and entered a competition, in the 70's, to find the oldest mini still on the road. As I recall he was in the top fifty. I inherited the car from him and all was well until the drivers door completely fell off in a lay-by on the A2 in Kent.
Twas a draughty drive home.
I'd have thought '59 was the earliest. I'll go and have a little check up.Twas a draughty drive home.
Bobberoo99 said:
DickyC said:
When they are assembled, are you going to let the dog see the rabbit?
I'm sure it will happen at some point Dicky, I may have to keep them on opposite sides of the room!!!! They were all house-trained and very well behaved, living together in harmony most of the time.
Any sign of discord was rapidly subdued by the Boss, the Alpha, El Capo, the Leader of the Pack:
Yep, you guessed right. The rabbit.
He was top of the pecking order in the household. I kid you not.
That rabbit was dynamite!
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