michael t

Yep I was dreading removing them. I think I'll just have to learn to weld. Been meaning to for a while. How hard can it be?

Indeed I have, this was was unknown so the Irish population has increased. He's done great work identifying those that remain. Gotta to be a few stored away or sitting in gardens somewhere.

Hi all, been a little while since I posted on here, but with good reason. I've been after another Rover for quite a while since I owned a 600 a couple of years back. Being Ireland based means old Lonbridge products are rare and don't come up for sale very often. I love old Rovers. There's just something about them. Whether it be their (often) poor build quality, K-series head gasket issues and OAP image their poor reputation really appeals to me. Motoring oddities also hugely appeal to me, so put the two and two together and the Streetwise is born. As far as I can recall there hasn't been a Streetwise for sale in Ireland since the summer of 2021. According to the most recent NCT (Irish MOT) statistics for '21, only 6 were presented for the annual roadworthiness test. I first became aware of this particular example when I happened to glance into a driveway whilst passing in the summer of 2022. Two weeks later I stopped, knocked the door and handed over my number. A very polite lady answered and said her daughter will be learning to drive in it and so I assumed that was that. Fast forward to October this year and my phone rings. Assuming a scam call I was reluctant to answer. But answer I did and thank goodness. The Streetwise was for sale, and I've got first dibs! Before the owner could even utter another word I said "yes!" Apparently someone else had enquired and offered €200, so for that exact price it was mine. A car with four wheels, four doors and an engine for €200 in these times of skyrocketing used car prices. Not bad. That was until I actually went to pick it up. Myself and my old mucka John made the journey to Dublin to meet the new misery machine. I knew it'd been off the road for a few years but hugely underestimated just how much damage a car can sustain sitting outside all of that time with a leaky sunroof. The interior was horrendous. Full of cobwebs, moisture and mold. It housed almost the entire Irish population of house spiders and had even began to develop it's own eco-system. I had a cough for about two days after just sitting in it. The pictures below are screenshots from the collection video because I stupidly neglected to take any photo's... Amazingly she fired up after a battery change and with some fresher oil she ran perfectly. The brakes were a little sticky but with a lead boot it changed gear, moved and stopped. Good enough for me! We rang for recovery who eventually arrived, loaded it up and headed home. I'd bagged myself a real motoring oddity, and in an Irish context, an extremely rare one. The collection video is here. Keep an eye on the channel and on Instagram and Twitter for regular updates. Cannot wait to get this back on the road!