Gosh oh golly, I bought a Dolly.
Discussion
Breadvan72 said:
Good old dude. MGBs in standard spec are so dire that they have to be altered if they are to be usable as cars.
He says the standard 1800 lump has been pepped up internally somewhat, another fly in the miserable lot's ointment. It has some quite fat carbs on it too, about twice the size of those on my standard '68 Cooper S. To wind up the miseries even more it has the smallest steering wheel I've ever seen on a 'B', must be about 11'' in diameter, it's a bugger for parking but feels just right out on the road, having tried it last week.Loving your Dolly, looks like the one in the transport museum in Coventry.
Breadvan72 said:
Stopping at a local BP garage /Co-op shop yesterday to buy some wine on the way home from work, the young bloke behind the counter admired the Dolly and impressed me by telling me that he has a 1989 Rangey Classic as his daily. He's just fitted a Holley Carb to it in order to make his MPG even more bonkers.
Wine??? Dolly owners are real men who dont drink wine. Shandy Bass, Watney Party 7 or Hofmeister please. Babysham for the laydeez...
If any of you were stuck in a traffic jam on the eastbound A40 (Westway) heading into central London near the Edgware Road on Thursday at about 4pm, that was my fault, sorry. The Dolomite conked out just before the flyover by Paddington Green cop shop. Cranking, not firing. No obvious sign of fuelling problems. I suspected a sparking problem but could not prove it.
Many motorists honked, swore and made Gareth Hunt coffee beans gestures at me, because of course I had broken down deliberately, obvs, and had carefully chosen to do so on a busy dual carriageway at rush hour just before a Bank Holiday weekend. If maybe two or three of the grumpy people had stopped and helped me push the car to a less obstructive location, they could have become less grumpy, but, hey.
Not to worry: four Met Police vehicles and eight coppers turned up in a matter of minutes. The first two to arrive (in a big van) were dour and grumpy, the other six were cheerful, and keen on the car. They towed the Dolly to a side street, and I got a short ride in the front of a standard Met traffic car (I wanted to go in the unmarked Volvo but went in the Battenberged Ford instead). They dumped the Dolly on zig zags outisde a closed school and went off, joking that they would send another crew along to nick me for zig zag parking. Many banters and jokes were exchanged, and there were numerous references to Bodie's Dolly in The Professionals.
The AA dude turned up soon afterwards. He was a burly lad in his thirties, and a competent chap, as AA dudes almost invariably are. It took him a few minutes to find that the connection between the King Lead and the Dizzy was bad. Car fixed. We then chatted for about twenty minutes about cars old and new, and then I bunged him a few quid to buy his missus some chocs, and off I went. He said that he expected to be spending the weekend dealing with crappy modern car computer problems, so he was happy to do something with an actual car.
While the bloke was fixing the car, a hot and posh woman in her twenties stopped to say how beautiful the car is, so even a broken down Dolomite Sprint can help you pull. After parking up at my destination, a London resident French MILF admired the car and tried to buy it. She gave me her phone number and asked for photos of my SD1. I have just been exchanging flirty texts with her in French.
Here is the car recovering from its adventures, with bonus "look how mahoosive modern cars are" photo action -
Many motorists honked, swore and made Gareth Hunt coffee beans gestures at me, because of course I had broken down deliberately, obvs, and had carefully chosen to do so on a busy dual carriageway at rush hour just before a Bank Holiday weekend. If maybe two or three of the grumpy people had stopped and helped me push the car to a less obstructive location, they could have become less grumpy, but, hey.
Not to worry: four Met Police vehicles and eight coppers turned up in a matter of minutes. The first two to arrive (in a big van) were dour and grumpy, the other six were cheerful, and keen on the car. They towed the Dolly to a side street, and I got a short ride in the front of a standard Met traffic car (I wanted to go in the unmarked Volvo but went in the Battenberged Ford instead). They dumped the Dolly on zig zags outisde a closed school and went off, joking that they would send another crew along to nick me for zig zag parking. Many banters and jokes were exchanged, and there were numerous references to Bodie's Dolly in The Professionals.
The AA dude turned up soon afterwards. He was a burly lad in his thirties, and a competent chap, as AA dudes almost invariably are. It took him a few minutes to find that the connection between the King Lead and the Dizzy was bad. Car fixed. We then chatted for about twenty minutes about cars old and new, and then I bunged him a few quid to buy his missus some chocs, and off I went. He said that he expected to be spending the weekend dealing with crappy modern car computer problems, so he was happy to do something with an actual car.
While the bloke was fixing the car, a hot and posh woman in her twenties stopped to say how beautiful the car is, so even a broken down Dolomite Sprint can help you pull. After parking up at my destination, a London resident French MILF admired the car and tried to buy it. She gave me her phone number and asked for photos of my SD1. I have just been exchanging flirty texts with her in French.
Here is the car recovering from its adventures, with bonus "look how mahoosive modern cars are" photo action -
williamp said:
[
Wine??? Dolly owners are real men who dont drink wine. Shandy Bass, Watney Party 7 or Hofmeister please. Babysham for the laydeez...
Nar, Dollies were marketed at Seventies Mr Smooth Guy McSmooth. Look at this ad for the 1850, noting the slagging off of stripes and Barry bits - BL then contradicted themselves and launched the Sprint with stripes and Barry bits.Wine??? Dolly owners are real men who dont drink wine. Shandy Bass, Watney Party 7 or Hofmeister please. Babysham for the laydeez...
Breadvan72 said:
If any of you were stuck in a traffic jam on the eastbound A40 (Westway) heading into central London near the Edgware Road on Thursday at about 4pm, that was my fault, sorry. The Dolomite conked out just before the flyover by Paddington Green cop shop. Cranking, not firing. No obvious sign of fuelling problems. I suspected a sparking problem but could not prove it.
Many motorists honked, swore and made Gareth Hunt coffee beans gestures at me, because of course I had broken down deliberately, obvs, and had carefully chosen to do so on a busy dual carriageway at rush hour just before a Bank Holiday weekend. If maybe two or three of the grumpy people had stopped and helped me push the car to a less obstructive location, they could have become less grumpy, but, hey.
Not to worry: four Met Police vehicles and eight coppers turned up in a matter of minutes. The first two to arrive (in a big van) were dour and grumpy, the other six were cheerful, and keen on the car. They towed the Dolly to a side street, and I got a short ride in the front of a standard Met traffic car (I wanted to go in the unmarked Volvo but went in the Battenberged Ford instead). They dumped the Dolly on zig zags outisde a closed school and went off, joking that they would send another crew along to nick me for zig zag parking. Many banters and jokes were exchanged, and there were numerous references to Bodie's Dolly in The Professionals.
The AA dude turned up soon afterwards. He was a burly lad in his thirties, and a competent chap, as AA dudes almost invariably are. It took him a few minutes to find that the connection between the King Lead and the Dizzy was bad. Car fixed. We then chatted for about twenty minutes about cars old and new, and then I bunged him a few quid to buy his missus some chocs, and off I went. He said that he expected to be spending the weekend dealing with crappy modern car computer problems, so he was happy to do something with an actual car.
While the bloke was fixing the car, a hot and posh woman in her twenties stopped to say how beautiful the car is, so even a broken down Dolomite Sprint can help you pull. After parking up at my destination, a London resident French MILF admired the car and tried to buy it. She gave me her phone number and asked for photos of my SD1. I have just been exchanging flirty texts with her in French.
Here is the car recovering from its adventures, with bonus "look how mahoosive modern cars are" photo action -
The London dollies ensured that there's never a dull day with a Dolly.Many motorists honked, swore and made Gareth Hunt coffee beans gestures at me, because of course I had broken down deliberately, obvs, and had carefully chosen to do so on a busy dual carriageway at rush hour just before a Bank Holiday weekend. If maybe two or three of the grumpy people had stopped and helped me push the car to a less obstructive location, they could have become less grumpy, but, hey.
Not to worry: four Met Police vehicles and eight coppers turned up in a matter of minutes. The first two to arrive (in a big van) were dour and grumpy, the other six were cheerful, and keen on the car. They towed the Dolly to a side street, and I got a short ride in the front of a standard Met traffic car (I wanted to go in the unmarked Volvo but went in the Battenberged Ford instead). They dumped the Dolly on zig zags outisde a closed school and went off, joking that they would send another crew along to nick me for zig zag parking. Many banters and jokes were exchanged, and there were numerous references to Bodie's Dolly in The Professionals.
The AA dude turned up soon afterwards. He was a burly lad in his thirties, and a competent chap, as AA dudes almost invariably are. It took him a few minutes to find that the connection between the King Lead and the Dizzy was bad. Car fixed. We then chatted for about twenty minutes about cars old and new, and then I bunged him a few quid to buy his missus some chocs, and off I went. He said that he expected to be spending the weekend dealing with crappy modern car computer problems, so he was happy to do something with an actual car.
While the bloke was fixing the car, a hot and posh woman in her twenties stopped to say how beautiful the car is, so even a broken down Dolomite Sprint can help you pull. After parking up at my destination, a London resident French MILF admired the car and tried to buy it. She gave me her phone number and asked for photos of my SD1. I have just been exchanging flirty texts with her in French.
Here is the car recovering from its adventures, with bonus "look how mahoosive modern cars are" photo action -
I am not sure if I miss my old Sprint or not, mine went really well but sold it and got a Stag.
Nearly went back to a sprint but all the ones I test drove felt terrible so I gave up that idea and got an early XJS manual instead.
Thinking back all the cars I test drove had a webasto roof and I wonder if that is what made the cars feel so bad as my one didn't.
Nearly went back to a sprint but all the ones I test drove felt terrible so I gave up that idea and got an early XJS manual instead.
Thinking back all the cars I test drove had a webasto roof and I wonder if that is what made the cars feel so bad as my one didn't.
Breadvan72 said:
Many motorists honked, swore and made Gareth Hunt coffee beans gestures at me, because of course I had broken down deliberately, obvs, and had carefully chosen to do so on a busy dual carriageway at rush hour just before a Bank Holiday weekend. If maybe two or three of the grumpy people had stopped and helped me push the car to a less obstructive location, they could have become less grumpy, but, hey.
Nice to see the spirit of kick-a-man-when-he's-down is alive and well!Breadvan72 said:
While the bloke was fixing the car, a hot and posh woman in her twenties stopped to say how beautiful the car is, so even a broken down Dolomite Sprint can help you pull. After parking up at my destination, a London resident French MILF admired the car and tried to buy it. She gave me her phone number and asked for photos of my SD1. I have just been exchanging flirty texts with her in French.
Nice to see the entente cordiale is still flourishing.
You divil.
gruffalo said:
I am not sure if I miss my old Sprint or not, mine went really well but sold it and got a Stag.
Nearly went back to a sprint but all the ones I test drove felt terrible so I gave up that idea and got an early XJS manual instead.
Thinking back all the cars I test drove had a webasto roof and I wonder if that is what made the cars feel so bad as my one didn't.
My one goes like a bomb, Webasto notwithstanding. Except when it breaks down, of course.Nearly went back to a sprint but all the ones I test drove felt terrible so I gave up that idea and got an early XJS manual instead.
Thinking back all the cars I test drove had a webasto roof and I wonder if that is what made the cars feel so bad as my one didn't.
I wanted a Stag and still want one, but am too skinteroo.
Vive l'Entente Cordiale!
Voici un lien vers une publicité française fruitée pour le Dolly Sprint. Ne convient pas au travail, ooh la la.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/44/84/a9...
Voici un lien vers une publicité française fruitée pour le Dolly Sprint. Ne convient pas au travail, ooh la la.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/44/84/a9...
On the subject of Dolly stories, here is mine:
Back in the day when these were new, myself and a good mate had Mk 1 then Mk 2 RS2000’s. Another acquaintance had a Dolly Sprint, dog poo brown with the vinyl roof. He was always banging on how he would see us off etc etc.
Can’t remember how, but anyway I got my hands on a Sprint, again in dog poo brown and went to see my mate with the RS2 to go for a ride. We stopped, parking just off the road and the dreaded short rotund ginger female traffic warden who was the scourge of Gosport collared us giving me a right bollicking. My mate came rushing out of the shop seeing what was happening and urged me to go, which I did, looking over my shoulder to pull out I did not see “Eva” [ her nickname ] stood in front of the car and dam near ran her over, we sped off , my mate having a hernia with laughter
The dolly was faster than the RS’s in a straight line, but not in the bendy bits or on the brakes, liked the overdrive box though.
Cheers.
Back in the day when these were new, myself and a good mate had Mk 1 then Mk 2 RS2000’s. Another acquaintance had a Dolly Sprint, dog poo brown with the vinyl roof. He was always banging on how he would see us off etc etc.
Can’t remember how, but anyway I got my hands on a Sprint, again in dog poo brown and went to see my mate with the RS2 to go for a ride. We stopped, parking just off the road and the dreaded short rotund ginger female traffic warden who was the scourge of Gosport collared us giving me a right bollicking. My mate came rushing out of the shop seeing what was happening and urged me to go, which I did, looking over my shoulder to pull out I did not see “Eva” [ her nickname ] stood in front of the car and dam near ran her over, we sped off , my mate having a hernia with laughter
The dolly was faster than the RS’s in a straight line, but not in the bendy bits or on the brakes, liked the overdrive box though.
Cheers.
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