Discussion
Yesterday i went to the British Motot Heritage Centre at Gaydon.
If you want to see some interesting British Cars (most of course BL) then pop down there, £8 to get in...
the most frustrating thing is that almost anycar that is around at the moment from the last ten/twenty years or so, BL had aprototype of and often before teh competition, yet the competition got into production!!!
The Honda NSX, The Lotus Elan, The Mercedes A Class etc etc, if they got them into production instead of letting their unions destroy them, the world may well be a different place.
Often wondered if we lost WW2 would we have been able to make decent cars..?
Now theres a thought
If you want to see some interesting British Cars (most of course BL) then pop down there, £8 to get in...
the most frustrating thing is that almost anycar that is around at the moment from the last ten/twenty years or so, BL had aprototype of and often before teh competition, yet the competition got into production!!!
The Honda NSX, The Lotus Elan, The Mercedes A Class etc etc, if they got them into production instead of letting their unions destroy them, the world may well be a different place.
Often wondered if we lost WW2 would we have been able to make decent cars..?
Now theres a thought
Supraman said: It's a shame some manufacturers still make cars with the same build quality & reliability!!
Whilst some have still to achieve that level. Don't knock them they were not all bad and the opposition had their lemons too. I'd love a TVR that had even half the reliability of my old MGB.
gnomesmith said:
Supraman said: It's a shame some manufacturers still make cars with the same build quality & reliability!!
Whilst some have still to achieve that level. Don't knock them they were not all bad and the opposition had their lemons too. I'd love a TVR that had even half the reliability of my old MGB.
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I am not knocking them at all, I have a Spitfire 1500 and it has been far less trouble than my Chimaera.
The point I was trying to make is TVR's build quality and reliability are no better than 1970's BL cars.
In fact in some cases TVR are worse.
Got my Spitfire out of the garage today, couldn't drive it as it is on a SORN and is not insured.
Think I'll have to get it insured and taxed again, before I sell it.
The MOT is due next month, I checked on my MOT certificate from last year, 65,116 miles.
It is currently at 65,134.
Lee.
Think I'll have to get it insured and taxed again, before I sell it.
The MOT is due next month, I checked on my MOT certificate from last year, 65,116 miles.
It is currently at 65,134.
Lee.
What I miss about "Leyland Cars" is the great styling. Only Jaguar seemed to have survived the "Euro look". What we need is for Harris Mann, Tim Fry and others to design some new ones.
Here is my list.
A new rear engined small car like the Hillman Imp. (This could be great for Kit car fans)
A new range of Triumphs! Styling cues from the Herald, Dolimite and 2000/2500TC cars.
A new TR9 (could share costs with Lotus on the new Espirit!)
A new Austin/Rover/MG Ambassador - a big cheap new car for the family.
James
Here is my list.
A new rear engined small car like the Hillman Imp. (This could be great for Kit car fans)
A new range of Triumphs! Styling cues from the Herald, Dolimite and 2000/2500TC cars.
A new TR9 (could share costs with Lotus on the new Espirit!)
A new Austin/Rover/MG Ambassador - a big cheap new car for the family.
James
Tony Hall said: If my Chimaera was as much trouble as my old MGB then it would have been sold years ago. Old BMC/BLMC etc was basically poor quality, I was just too blind at the time to notice.
I bought my B in 1964, just about second hand. At 30K miles it was bored to 2.2, half race cam, cross flow head and 2x 2inch SUs, clutch and halfshafts uprated, bigger fuel pump, single silencer (silenced it a bit but not much), three branch etc, anti roll & anti tramp bars etc.
I sold it in 1973 with 120Ks worth of on and off road thrashed miles on the clock. During my ownership I had to replace batteries,brake pads, clutch plate, silencer and shockers and two screens that couldn't resist rocks but nothing else broke. It never let me down on the road and still turned heads when I sold it, I cannot think of another car on the market that could have withstood the abuse that B shrugged off.
It gave a very passable imitation of good quality much as the MGA that preceeded it managed to do. If anything it seemed to be over engineered and overspecified for the maket it was aimed at.
You have to take them as you find them.
Thanks Jamesc, have posted a link on MG-Rover.org for that, hope you don't mind!
This is worth a look for ARG/BL/Rover etc etc cars:
http://austinrover.mg-rover.org/index.htm
This is worth a look for ARG/BL/Rover etc etc cars:
http://austinrover.mg-rover.org/index.htm
lurking in the background behind that blue Rover SD1, near the end.
Davel said: Agree completely. Had an MGB 'GT' in 1974, as a company car. Great fun and very reliable with loads of personality. Pity most of BL's other stuff was poorly built and ugly i.e. Marina, Allegro, Princess etc.
I had an Allegro 1100 as my first car. Aparently it spent its first six months at the dealers, and has had no problems since. It was slow, had 'controversial' styling and was very badly assembled, but didn't really rust, had a lot of space and was very cheap. OTOH, the Marina was a pile'.
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