Impromptu BL line up
Discussion
Bulls
tting the examiners is easier than it should be.
For my Ancient History A Level, I was supposed to read Tacitus on Britain and Germany (in English), and I did. I was also supposed to read Thucydides' Peloponnesian War (in English). I didn't. I got an A.
In my first term at university I had eight weeks in which to read -
Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (but only the first half)
Gibbon's Autobiography
Macaulay's History of England
Trevelyan's Life of Macaulay
Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England, in Latin
Alexis de Tocqueville's L'Ancien Regime et la Revolution Francais, in French.
I then had to pass an exam on all of these books in order to stay at the university. I read Gibbon's autobiog (it's good), and about a third of the de Tocqueville (also good). I passed the exam and stayed at the university.
tting the examiners is easier than it should be.For my Ancient History A Level, I was supposed to read Tacitus on Britain and Germany (in English), and I did. I was also supposed to read Thucydides' Peloponnesian War (in English). I didn't. I got an A.
In my first term at university I had eight weeks in which to read -
Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (but only the first half)
Gibbon's Autobiography
Macaulay's History of England
Trevelyan's Life of Macaulay
Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England, in Latin
Alexis de Tocqueville's L'Ancien Regime et la Revolution Francais, in French.
I then had to pass an exam on all of these books in order to stay at the university. I read Gibbon's autobiog (it's good), and about a third of the de Tocqueville (also good). I passed the exam and stayed at the university.
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 26th April 16:42
Breadvan72 said:
Parts gettable? The O Series engine is in the SD1 base model and in Itals and such like, so, yes. SU carbs, yes.
The T series was based on the O series, so you could even have a relatively easy upgrade to a 200bhp 2.0L Turbo. Of course that might be a tad too much for the rest of the beast and fuel economy would be even worse.
IroningMan said:
The O Series is a real gem to sit behind...
Early Sherpas have a pleasing lightness about them, as do Mk1 Transits and CFs - but presumably the flipside of there being no 'scene' is that there are also no parts.
Yours looks like a slightly odd mix of pre- (hubcaps, door handles, windowframes, dash) and post- (bumpers, badges, mirrors) BL's 'black is the new chrome' phase. Chrome bumpers and mirrors would set it off nicely, I reckon.
Just read the entire thread - very entertaining. Early Sherpas have a pleasing lightness about them, as do Mk1 Transits and CFs - but presumably the flipside of there being no 'scene' is that there are also no parts.
Yours looks like a slightly odd mix of pre- (hubcaps, door handles, windowframes, dash) and post- (bumpers, badges, mirrors) BL's 'black is the new chrome' phase. Chrome bumpers and mirrors would set it off nicely, I reckon.
Back in the 1980s I worked for, and eventually owned, a small contracting firm and we ran 3 or 4 Sherpas. When I joined they were all the horizontal seamed ex-J4 shells (with the oldest having a B(?) series petrol engine, and the rest O series I think - my then boss distrusted diesels). They were each purchased from PJ Evans in Birmingham; they invited my boss to the launch of the vertical seamed bodyshell, and I recall him being impressed by the 4x4 Sherpa yomping around an exhibition track. Over the next few years we replaced the oldest vans, while Freight-Rover (as I think they were called then) tweaked the design, so we ended up with a fleet, no more than 4 or 5 years apart, where every van was different to the other - early grille with round lights, vertical seam shells with square lights, round lights, some with plastic handles, some with metal etc., chrome bumpers, black bumpers nd a variety of engines. They were simple vans, but we worked locally most of the time so very little motorway work was required so they pootled about happily, were pretty reliable, put up with the lack of care given them, rusted pretty slowly (the vertical to horizontal seam change had real benefits) and were cheap to fix. When I took over, I decided to stamp my authority and bought a boxy Talbot (the same shape available as a Citroen and a Fiat IIRC) to replace the oldest Sherpa, but it was the most unreliable vehicle I have ever had, even though new - dreadful. The next oldest Sherpa gave way to a Transit, but that was too fast (the lad given it got several tickets, whereas he was ok in a Sherpa) and too wide so my last purchase before I sold the firm was another Sherpa.
(As per the BL thread, nearly 20 years later I PM'd the demolition of the LDV plant. There was an unregistered Pilot in the works, surrendered to the Chinese purchasers by the administrators, and I thought long and hard about buying it, but declined (my wife just about tolerates my old MB habit, an old red van would have been several straws too far) and I was told it went to a collector.)
BV - enjoy the camper!
Cheers! Camper collection is set for Friday afternoon. Today I have some bills to pay and some insurance to arrange, for the van, possibly for a non BL and not even British thing that I might be buying tomorrow, and also for a definitely non British and not even four wheeled thing that I have just bought, which is available for collection on the route home with the van, and which will fit into the back of the van. Friday could be fun. Or a nightmare. We shall see.
Radio silene since thursday afternoon. Did he make it back? Did he make it there??
Did this lady get invovled somehow??
Was this the scene when he left the owner??
Has he popped into Octane magazine offices for a quick "hot investment masquerading as a road test" review??
Is Lord march invovled somehow??
Or.....did out intrepid BL hero get cold feet after reading this??
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Did this lady get invovled somehow??
Was this the scene when he left the owner??
Has he popped into Octane magazine offices for a quick "hot investment masquerading as a road test" review??
Is Lord march invovled somehow??
Or.....did out intrepid BL hero get cold feet after reading this??
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Pay attention Double Oh Seven! News of the huge and wholly farcical success of the mission has been on the Sherpa gearbox thread since this morning. The collection went fine, the van is very good, and I got a bonus Honda motorbike on the way back.
BTW, I saw Anne Aston in a mustard Triumph Stag when she came to open my primary school's fete some time in the mid 70s. Trevor Francis, who played for Birmingham City at the time, was her driver.
BTW, I saw Anne Aston in a mustard Triumph Stag when she came to open my primary school's fete some time in the mid 70s. Trevor Francis, who played for Birmingham City at the time, was her driver.
Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 29th April 17:22
My student union minibus driving started on Mk1 Transits, at least 1 was 2.0 V4 petrol, others straight 4s - 1600? 2000? then the contract moved from El cheapo hire ( Yorkdale in Horsforth,) to Kennings so we got Shirkers, 1800 B series I'm fairly sure they were.
They never seemed to have quite the space, power or handling of the Transits.
One clear recollection is coming down the M6 over Shap with 12 people, a load of tents on the roof and 24 canoes on the trailer (there was another 'bus with 12 more people). It managed to get up OK but I had to change down to 3rd when I came over the top and hit the headwind! I don't think I've ever had to change down to get down a hill!
Looking back is pretty remarkable that it moved at all with that load on!
I once went to pick one up on a Friday evening and they'd had the gearbox out and (I have absofkinglutely no idea how they managed this) they put the gearlever back with the kink going the wrong way, so instead of being next to my left leg it was between the legs of the middle seat passenger! The girls all refused to sit there (unsurprisingly!) and my mate sat there are changed gear for me, sort of semi auto.
Later we moved on to Mk2 Transits, Pinto engine, much faster
or Safari LandRovers, excellent fun for about 10 minutes, after that we wished we had Sherpas again!
They never seemed to have quite the space, power or handling of the Transits.
One clear recollection is coming down the M6 over Shap with 12 people, a load of tents on the roof and 24 canoes on the trailer (there was another 'bus with 12 more people). It managed to get up OK but I had to change down to 3rd when I came over the top and hit the headwind! I don't think I've ever had to change down to get down a hill!
Looking back is pretty remarkable that it moved at all with that load on!
I once went to pick one up on a Friday evening and they'd had the gearbox out and (I have absof
kinglutely no idea how they managed this) they put the gearlever back with the kink going the wrong way, so instead of being next to my left leg it was between the legs of the middle seat passenger! The girls all refused to sit there (unsurprisingly!) and my mate sat there are changed gear for me, sort of semi auto.Later we moved on to Mk2 Transits, Pinto engine, much faster
or Safari LandRovers, excellent fun for about 10 minutes, after that we wished we had Sherpas again! 
CharlesdeGaulle said:
Phew!I had one of those (TOB 350Y) in the late 80s
Lovely but dire at the same time.
Lowtimer said:
I've been a bit off Stags ever since some flash harry used one to impress my sister. But they do look nice. One of those mellow-yellow ones for me, please
I don't know if this one is sufficiently mellow (1971) or yellow, but it was amongst a number of lovely cars at Stratford on Sunday. I think I mentally spent about a million Pounds.
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