Jump to content

Mind the used Jonnys. Anglia 105E & G1 Honda Insight FOR SALE


jonny69

Recommended Posts

Top buy. You might find the handling is better than the Anglia if the suspension is working and cheapo dampers aren't fitted.

 

For the first time in public I admit I have run a few - they're faster than 2cvs on the open road thanks to decent aerodynamics (I had an Ami8 saloon which held 86/7 on the level according to satnav), are made better than a 2cv and in estate form are bloody huge. Just a little nutty.

 

Flywheels are hugely massive - your acceleration in first is governed by how fast you can accelerate the flywheel, not the car. Under hard* acceleration, releasing the clutch in the next gear can give you a huge* shove in the back as the flywheel accelerates the car rather than the car slowing the flywheel. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marvellous cars those Amis! I believe the Ami super was only available in Britain and they really flew with GS power. Didn't the Maserati 350? use the Ami headlamps?

In terms of their appearance I think they're up there with the DS and Traction, not so much cars as brilliant examples of industrial design walking a tightrope with individual genius.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ordered some panels direct from the manufacturer in Slovenia - these are the same guys who made those floor pans. ECAS weren't much help, either weren't interested or didn't know; couldn't decide which. Either way they haven't got them in stock and they said to ring them in 3 weeks.

 

Got a whole front floor section and cross member under where the pedals are and a pair of sills because the ones on the car are too crusty to warrant repairing when new ones are €62 each.

 

Stock pics of the pedal floor bit here:

 

pedal_floor_01.jpg

 

pedal_floor_02.jpg

 

pedal_floor_04.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marvellous cars those Amis! I believe the Ami super was only available in Britain.

 

Nope. Ami Super was available in several markets. They do shift though.

 

Good to see this car getting some love. I'm not surprised that it was suffering a bit after several years of daily use in London. I am surprised at how the focus seemed to have been on making it look good despite getting frilly underneath though. I can't see the point in doing that, which is why my 2CV looks as shit as it really is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My '63 Hillman IMP [884 KOE] had no belts. I fitted 'spreader plates' under the floor, either side of the handbrake & sill, and used 'stiff stalk' mounts. I mounted inertiareels on the wheelarches (with 'spreader plates') >> belts were I think Sprite 'aftermarket' Kangol >> and so had 'over the shoulder' 3 point style  :-P .

 

MOT man was very happy (and agreed a good idea!).

 

When I took a 'full barrel' head-on, from a bald tyred Mk3 Cretin taxi.... I kept ALL my front teeth/kneecaps.

 

 

I know Sterling Moss 'preferred to be thrown clear'... on the seatbelt debate... I know where my £25 went...

 

 

TS

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting point about smart and shiny passing MoTs - in my experience, anything which looks genuinely good - ie clean inside and out, with no rust evident from above will pass a test more easily with many testers. On the other hand, a doggy looking machine often needs to be in a better state to pass.

 

I think it's a combiination of subconscious reactions by the tester, not least that a doggy car is probably more likely to be pulled by the 'law', if for no other reason that's it's assumed to be a daily user. The glass is always half full when testing an older smart, clean car.

 

The 4 cylinder Amis may be quicker but if driven hard like the others need to be (and the glorious engines, whether twins or fours, relish) they start demonstrating the laws of physics - not least that an engine which is so much heavier and further forwards doesn't do much for handling. They had a bad reputation for killing teenagers in France with their inability to change direction as well as a flat twin A-series.

 

Finally, jonny69, provided your restorer ties in the new front toeboard bulkhead properly, the car will be utterly transformed in its handling abilities. The chassis of all the little Cits relied on the stiffness of the shell for a lot of the torsional strength (as well as crash resistance) - money well spent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just spotted this thread. The one thing that puts me off A series & G's is the dreaded tin worm which items to take hold on these as much as it did on '70's Italian tin. However, you seem to have got that front sorted. I can't weld particularly well & that's why it took me years to find a rot free GS.

 

Love the colour. Just seems to suit the car.

 

On seat belts, my GS does not have rears, and I plan to fit them as the mounting points are there. Like everyone, I don't plan on crashing, but don't want to take the chance of something bad happening when carrying the famil

 

This place in Germany is quite good for parts. I have got a few bits & Bobs from them. Most of the stuff is NOS. Considering it comes from Germany, postage is reasonable. I got a load of stuff a few weeks back & postage was only 17 euros. Chevronics in UK is £12 standard. http://www.franzoesische-klassiker-shop.de/epages/63117739.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/63117739/Categories/Citroen_Ami_6

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Update of last week's work. More grot, unsurprisingly.

 

Rear pillar where the the door slam mechanism goes:

 

dezpics33.jpg

 

It's rusted through in the panel behind it too:

 

dezpics36.jpg

 

No messing around, he's just cut it all out and replaced:

 

dezpics37.jpg

 

Bottom of the pillar really doesn't look healthy. I think this bit is going to be expensive:

 

dezpics45.jpg

 

New bump stop mount looks good though:

 

dezpics39.jpg

 

dezpics40.jpg

 

Back corner repair - I think this incorporates the bumper mounting:

 

dezpics47.jpg

 

dezpics48.jpg

 

052.jpg

 

Another really nice repair which includes a bit of the bodywork in the corner:

 

053.jpg

 

So I think I can safely say that this would have rapidly become a complete nightmare if I'd started this on the drive, but it's coming along now and Dez reckons he'll be able to zip through the other side now he's got some templates to work with. Sills and floor panel are on their way over from Slovenia.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...

I don't think a 40 year old car with rust can be described as horrific. At least Citroen used decent metal back then. By the 1980s, it was all too apparent that the accountants had been involved. Gs on the other hand - they really do rot, with some marvellous rot traps. Sorry to scare you. ;)

 

 

The entire trailing edge of my 3 year old GSA hatch came away in my hands with no visible rust evident on the outside - it was all under the bit of 1970s cooker facia that masqueraded as a trim piece.....

 

The other side of this is my thoroughly frilly 10-year-old GS1220 retaining enough integrity to protect me while T-boning a red-light jumper at 40mph.  It crumpled back to the B-pillar, but did its job well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's worth it given the rarity, and that work looks stellar. You're very fortunate on the floor front to not have had the true bodge repair that killed one of my Dyanes - someone had welded a simple sheet from side to side, including welding it to the chassis - when we went to lift the body off, it tore the chassis part - we'd thought it was just covered in underseal!

 

Re: Crash performance. Predictably these will be Certain Death in a side impact, but several people have told me that a 2CV-chassis car can do surprisingly well in head on collisions due to the chassis - same discussion involved a CX owner who had met another car on one of the suicide lanes popular in France - at 70 (on their part) and the subframe & longerons ensured the car performed remarkably well for a design of that age. But CXs also have sills that are astoundingly thick, particularly around the base of the B-pillar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah well you try not to think about that in any old car - it's just one of those risks you take. I think statistically it's quite low anyway because I can count the number of side-impacts I've had on one... well, I've never had one and I don't actually know anyone who has either! If I was genuinely worried about it I wouldn't be driving around in old cars, especially low stuff like my Anglia where anything coming in will probably be at head height.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...