Tell me about British Leyland
Discussion
Mikebentley said:
My very early Mk1 2.0 L Vitesse with CD150 Strombergs. Believed the oldest 2.0L Vitesse. Owned for 15 yrs.
The Mk2 was more house trained, with a more sorted back axle and was noticeably quicker , despite only about 10bhp alleged difference ISTR. Both made a very tuneful howl - I love little sixes . Both Vitesses had shonky synchro on second (my racing changes ) , awful windnoise and occasional pinking and running on problems.
Next came a Dolomite - 5 gearboxes replaced under warranty in year one , but not me guv , I hardly ever drove it - away at university . On one one of the rare occasions I did drive it the n/s front suspension collapsed at 80mph on A1 en route to Silverstone and just as we were going over the highest viaduct on the A1 . b
d thing - and that's why Dad bought a Honda and drove them for the next 40 years - he had to replace a battery once I think but that was it coppice said:
Mikebentley said:
My very early Mk1 2.0 L Vitesse with CD150 Strombergs. Believed the oldest 2.0L Vitesse. Owned for 15 yrs.
The Mk2 was more house trained, with a more sorted back axle and was noticeably quicker , despite only about 10bhp alleged difference ISTR. Both made a very tuneful howl - I love little sixes . Both Vitesses had shonky synchro on second (my racing changes ) , awful windnoise and occasional pinking and running on problems.
Next came a Dolomite - 5 gearboxes replaced under warranty in year one , but not me guv , I hardly ever drove it - away at university . On one one of the rare occasions I did drive it the n/s front suspension collapsed at 80mph on A1 en route to Silverstone and just as we were going over the highest viaduct on the A1 . b
d thing - and that's why Dad bought a Honda and drove them for the next 40 years - he had to replace a battery once I think but that was it The above is out of character for a classic car but it’s mine and I’ll drive it how I like. If it breaks then it’s me that pays for it. In 15 yrs it has only failed to start once.
LuS1fer said:
Technically the "Surrey Top" first appeared on the 1950s Fiat Wonderful Coupe which was designed by Michelotti, as was the TR4.
However, Porsche's 1966 Targa idea was more about having the permanent thick rollover bar as well because the US wanted to ban convertibles.
However, Porsche's 1966 Targa idea was more about having the permanent thick rollover bar as well because the US wanted to ban convertibles.
Learn something new every day!
Technically, the ‘Surrey Top’ is just the fabric bit that stretches between the backlight and the windscreen. LuS1fer said:
Technically the "Surrey Top" first appeared on the 1950s Fiat Wonderful Coupe which was designed by Michelotti, as was the TR4.
However, Porsche's 1966 Targa idea was more about having the permanent thick rollover bar as well because the US wanted to ban convertibles.
The concept goes back much further than that. The coupe de ville was around from the early 1900's. Here's one from the 1930's.However, Porsche's 1966 Targa idea was more about having the permanent thick rollover bar as well because the US wanted to ban convertibles.
sideways man said:
That Vitesse is quite lovely. I always fancied one back in the day, but at £1000 for a convertible they were a bit expensive. I ended up with a Sunbeam Alpine. Had a TR6 in later years, but still fancy a nice Vitesse.
Yes, that is a beautiful example. I had two - a 1600 saloon and a 2-litre Mk 2 convertible. The Mk 2 was fairly rapid - it had an SAH cam, exhaust manifold and exhaust system, together with twin 1.75" SU carbs and a balanced crank. Add to that an overdrive gearbox and a 3.27 GT6 diff (after I blew up the original on a road rally) and you had a car that could hit 50 mph in 1st gear.matchmaker said:
sideways man said:
That Vitesse is quite lovely. I always fancied one back in the day, but at £1000 for a convertible they were a bit expensive. I ended up with a Sunbeam Alpine. Had a TR6 in later years, but still fancy a nice Vitesse.
Yes, that is a beautiful example. I had two - a 1600 saloon and a 2-litre Mk 2 convertible. The Mk 2 was fairly rapid - it had an SAH cam, exhaust manifold and exhaust system, together with twin 1.75" SU carbs and a balanced crank. Add to that an overdrive gearbox and a 3.27 GT6 diff (after I blew up the original on a road rally) and you had a car that could hit 50 mph in 1st gear.
For those of us of "a certain age", it is hard to forget the trials and troubles of owning or driving a BL product in the day. My first company car was a Moggie, and for a young man not exactly what one wanted when other reps were driving Morris 1300s, but it was reliable I suppose. Or was until the gearbox started to let go leaving me with no reverse or first, and the company refusing to repair it because the new company car was coming in a couple of months. Which was one of the first Marinas, LHD-pattern wipers, drum brakes and no servo, which I piled into the back of a lorry on the second day of ownership. Replaced by the "Mk 2" with the curved dashboard that creaked and groaned and which was delivered with a seized gearbox. And to which my fox terrier took exception and ate the plastic seats one warm day. A Morris 1100 that used a pint of oil every 150 miles and UJ's made out of butter. I changed jobs and had a Toledo, one that wouldn't get past 30 mph. "they're all like that. Needs running in" the dealership said. It actually needed a new carburettor. In 1977 I started my own business and needed family transport, and foolishly bought a used Maxi. it lasted three months; a brilliant design with lousy attention to detail. so I moved to German cars, and have remained with Mercedes for the last 30 years. The only bright spot I suppose was the Mk III Midget we owned before kids came along. So we criticize BL out of habit. We forget how stifling it must have been to work in the design department in those days; bright engineers with no one prepared to listen, and so on. Sorry for the ramble. Just can't sleep during lock-down.
ElectricPics said:
rockin said:
Jeremy Clarkson neatly summed up the workforce, shocking build quality and constant strikes,
"If they don't like building cars why don't they get another job?"
They stuck it because the pay was decent, they'd never find another job where they could skive all day, sleep all night, and they had the union supporting all that in the fight against capitalism."If they don't like building cars why don't they get another job?"
If a particular section, ran out of parts, because say Lucas or AP or some other s
t British supplier let them down, they woukd sack the union convenor on some excuse. Lo an behold, 150 workers woukd go on strike. So they wouldn't need to pay them. When they had the parts they'd reinstate the convenor, and the workers would come back. Then there was the anecdote told to.me when I used to work at Lucas. It used to be if a part was wrong, they'd ship it. Then Goods inwards inspection would reject it. Then Lucas would wait a few days, say they were having problems with a machine, and say they had a 1000 parts. That BL could have if they sent a concession.
Same parts would then be delivered.
I lived next to an old bloke who was a fitter in Engine Development. Had a chrome bumper MGB in his garage, that he was restoring. Told me he was going to do everything apart from.the brakes. He didn't understand brakes...weird.
Mind you every car in our street had a set of alloys. Apparently they used to come over the fence on night shift.
We owned a pub for over 25 years and for the first 6 or 7 years, we owned a Maxi 1750 HL - it was a great car for us.
Hard to believe, but Maxi is actually smaller than a Ford Focus, but had loads of room inside. With the back seats down, it had a large and flat loading bay - it was ideal for carrying barrels around and lugging stuff from wholesalers/cash & carry etc.
Conceptually, I think it was a great design; we actually got over 50,000 miles from it, which was very good for a car of that era.
Hard to believe, but Maxi is actually smaller than a Ford Focus, but had loads of room inside. With the back seats down, it had a large and flat loading bay - it was ideal for carrying barrels around and lugging stuff from wholesalers/cash & carry etc.
Conceptually, I think it was a great design; we actually got over 50,000 miles from it, which was very good for a car of that era.
pubrunner said:
We owned a pub for over 25 years and for the first 6 or 7 years, we owned a Maxi 1750 HL - it was a great car for us.
Hard to believe, but Maxi is actually smaller than a Ford Focus, but had loads of room inside. With the back seats down, it had a large and flat loading bay - it was ideal for carrying barrels around and lugging stuff from wholesalers/cash & carry etc.
Conceptually, I think it was a great design; we actually got over 50,000 miles from it, which was very good for a car of that era.
Brave words Hard to believe, but Maxi is actually smaller than a Ford Focus, but had loads of room inside. With the back seats down, it had a large and flat loading bay - it was ideal for carrying barrels around and lugging stuff from wholesalers/cash & carry etc.
Conceptually, I think it was a great design; we actually got over 50,000 miles from it, which was very good for a car of that era.
Prepare to burn, heretic, as I did.Dr Jekyll said:
That was excellent! Also fun spotting the ‘70s TV staples topping up their wages.I must admit I don’t understand the derision heaped on Lucas electrics. It’s all piss-easy to fix and maintain. If you want to see real pain look at a Quattro wiring diagram - twenty-plus pages of current-track mayhem, all in German, with hundreds of sometimes almost impossible to locate components. (ie dashboard lamps).
Yertis said:
I must admit I don’t understand the derision heaped on Lucas electrics. It’s all piss-easy to fix and maintain. If you want to see real pain look at a Quattro wiring diagram - twenty-plus pages of current-track mayhem, all in German, with hundreds of sometimes almost impossible to locate components. (ie dashboard lamps).
Or try owning an early noughties Merc, so much more electrical/electronic bits, all keen on not working or sensors that fail and can't be replaced on their own so major components need swapping out to deal with a sensor. I guess the big difference is in the after care. The MB dealer would just keep on working on it on the warranty.
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