For Sale Aitch a hundred

[wuvvum]

Last weekend I sold the newer of the two Transits.  Which was a good thing.  I was down to two vans, which is all I really need, and I had a bit of money in the shite fund to do some repairs on the fleet.

 

So yesterday morning I found myself on a train to Peterborough, on the way to pick up this, being sold by its 70-year-old owner who had retired and didn't need it any more.

 

 

I'd had my eye on these things for a while to be fair.  I've always liked the Japanese cab-forward vans, but all the genuine Jap stuff seems to have either rotted away or been exported and these are about the only ones that are left in any number.  They're basically a slightly modernised Mitsubishi L300, powered by an ancient 2.5-litre indirect injection diesel engine from the first Shogun.  This one's turbocharged, but it only makes about 82bhp, which is fairly pathetic from such a big engine. 

 

Like most of this type of van, it has a (massive) hatchback door on the back.  This one's a STD, which means keep fit windows and manual locks.  It did use to have a rear wiper, but it's gone AWOL over the years.  Towbar is a Brucie bonus that wasn't mentioned in the ad - and which may well lead to this one staying in the fleet instead of the Smiley.

 

 

The cab is very Korean - quite well screwed together but from very cheap materials.  It's not in bad nick for a 15-year-old 150-thousand-mile van though.  Now that I've fixed the interior light everything works, except that the fan doesn't work on the highest speed.

 

 

It even has its original Hyundai stereo, which sounds as crap and tinny as you would hope.

 

 

There's a few nice touches, like this handy little light that illuminates the ignition switch.

 

 

Access to the engine is by lifting up the passenger seat.  I haven't worked out how one is supposed to prop the seat in position yet - the handbook is useless in this regard, and probably in several others too - typical Hyundai.  Most things can be got to fairly easily - even a cambelt doesn't look like too much of a challenge - but the exhaust and turbo gubbins could be a bit awkward.

 

 

 

So what's it like to drive?  Better than I thought is probably the best way I can put it.  Some things are very much as I expected from past experience with similar types of van.  It's not a natural motorway cruiser - it gets rather noisy at speed and it's quite low geared, with the usual trait of almost no discernible difference between 4th and 5th.  The gearshift isn't the best either - it's rather vague.

 

The steering is rather better than I expected though.  It's power assisted, and it's quite precise given how convoluted the linkage is.  It actually handles far better than I'd anticipated - it can be slung into corners and clings on with surprisingly little body roll or other misbehaviour - the main limiting factor is the flat seat and horizontal steering wheel which can mean that one gets thrown out of one's seat if one gets too enthusiastic.  Brakes are good, and the performance is OK - possibly slightly quicker than the 85bhp Transit, but there's not a lot in it.  The turbo isn't as laggy as I'd feared.  I haven't tried the top speed, but I reckon just over 80 - limited by revs rather than power.  The speedo is hopelessly optimistic though, reading a full 10mph fast at 70.  Directional stability isn't its strongest point - understandable given the diddy wheelbase.

 

Comfort wise it's adequate rather than good.  The driver's seat is a bit small and flat, but the driving position is OK, although the accelerator pedal is quite a long way over to the right.  Fitting 3 seats into such a narrow cab has meant a few compromises, so there's no door bins whatsoever, which is a pain, and you wouldn't get three fat blokes in there.

 

Overall it feels cheap and tinny (although not quite to LDV Maxus standards) and it has a few little idiosyncracies, such as it's impossible to fully wind up the driver's door window at anything above 60 as the glass gets sucked out by the air stream, but I reckon it should be a reliable thing to run around in.  I haven't driven it enough to work out fuel consumption yet, but it seems to have used about a tenner to get from Peterborough to Norwich, so about 35mpg - and I wasn't taking it particularly gently.  The bodywork needs tidying in places, and it has some grot in the inner sills, but it still has almost 6 months' test left so a little while before I have to worry about that.  I am however going to try and tidy up some of the more gifferish repairs - in fact I've already made a start today, and the front end is now all the same shade of white.

 

There, I've gone and written a bloody novel about a cheap 15-year-old van, and it's now past my bedtime.  Still, I haven't done a post-collection thread in a while, and this is probably (to me at least) the most interesting vehicle I've bought since the CX - which is a depressing thought in itself.

[Wilko220]

GR9 4 Woollarding

[strangeangel]

And I opened this thread expecting to see one of these:

 

 

I R (a bit) DISAPPOINT

[purplebargeken]

Sounds like all of the gears work in this one which is a gr8 improvement

 

Looks rather ace actually. Swap when the time comes for a lovely blue Citroen AX. You know you need one in your life. You just know it.

[purplebargeken]

Fucking wanky LEZ. Arse!

[Jim Bell]

It's face looks like a disgruntled giant tortoise.

 

Well bought!

[dollywobbler]

Fit Delica 4x4 gubbins for maximum aceness.

[Bren]

Brush painting in black please for mucho Tango and Cashness.

[Mike D]

I love these, good buy!

[trigger]

I haven't driven one of these but I've done a lot of miles in a couple of Mazda E2200's and you description sounds exactly the same as my experience of those.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Plenty of torque these; they drive a lot better than they look. Obtaining parts might be a mare though.

[Spottedlaurel]

Well done, you can now set up a bit of a sideline as a carpet-fitter.

[wuvvum]

Well done, you can now set up a bit of a sideline as a carpet-fitter.

Funnily enough the only other one of these that I see on a regular basis belongs to Wensum Carpets in Norwich - it's their second one, I assume the first rotted away.

[Spottedlaurel]

Carpet-fitters favourites by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

[phil_lihp]

A forward-control van is quite high on my wish list but I hadn't thought of these, looks pretty good for a 15 year old van.

 

I remember these coming out in the late 90s and a fuss being made about how cheap they were, I think they started at £9,000 which seemed like absurdly good value for such a big vehicle.

[eddyramrod]

I call that a win.  I do like a van, and with no experience of this model, I'm grateful for your review of it.  Top work!

[Lacquer Peel]

GRIM. It makes a Nissan Vanette seem appealing. The driving position looks awful.

[mouseflakes]

Access to the engine is by lifting up the passenger seat.  I haven't worked out how one is supposed to prop the seat in position yet - the handbook is useless in this regard

I like these. My L300 Delica has a webbing loop hanging from the door post, just beneath the top seatbelt mount. This loops over a flat hook-ish thing on the side of the engine cover to hold it up. Hopefully the H100 will have something equally sophisticated.

 

It sounds a bit like the Delica to drive - probably less wobbly and a little more spritely. Same power* but I guess with much less weight to drag around.

 

Unlike the Deli, it doesn't look like a Bosch(-ish) pump in the photo - or am I mis-seeing things? (and yes, 'mis-seeing' is a word**).

 

**that I just made up

 

[Lacquer Peel]

It's a Bosch (or Zexel) pump with electronic diesel control, looks similar to a late indirect injection L200 engine.

[mouseflakes]

It's a Bosch (or Zexel) pump with electronic diesel control, looks similar to a late indirect injection L200 engine.

 

Ooo - are they more or less 'tune-able' than the mechanical(?) type.

 

As I'm a bit of a Luddite, 'electronic' suggests 'don't touch' to me. However, since some folks on here seem able to resurrect a Laguna using the heart of an Espace, then I guess anything is possible?

[Timewaster]

I like.

 

There is a late L300 parked down the road from me which looks abandoned, green mould all over it,rusty steaks running down from the roof rack and a general grimyness that you can almost feel just from walking past it.

How long has it sat there?

Since the guy got home from work in it today and every day!

[Lacquer Peel]

Ooo - are they more or less 'tune-able' than the mechanical(?) type.

 

As I'm a bit of a Luddite, 'electronic' suggests 'don't touch' to me. However, since some folks on here seem able to resurrect a Laguna using the heart of an Espace, then I guess anything is possible?

 

Not so tuneable with spanners but on my VW TDI with a similar EDC setup you can essentially plug in a laptop and upload new 'maps' to the ECU.

 

 

THE COMPUTER AGE

[mouseflakes]

Awww, Chris Searle.

[wuvvum]

I drove this to work today.  I'm liking it more and more - it's just incongruously pleasant to drive, and I love the growl of the big old diesel under my left arse cheek.  It's also surprisingly good at overtaking dithering old twats in Peugeot 206s - as Nibblet said, not a great deal of power but loads of torque.  I'm also continuing to be impressed by the suspension - it's a little bit bouncy at times, but the body control is much better than the Townace (which is probably the closest equivalent that I've owned, being a big van with a short wheelbase and massive overhangs), and the general ride is pretty good for a commercial vehicle. 

 

It's also the only forward control van that I've felt confident throwing into a corner.  The Midi understeered like a bastard, the Subaru felt like it could snap oversteer at any moment, and the Townace and Rascal felt like they'd fall over if I overdid things.  The LT40 cornered well enough, to be fair, but it was a heavy bastard with no PAS so a bit of a struggle to drive enthusiastically.

 

Overall the old Hyundai is looking more and more like a keeper.

 

The really scary thing though is that I now own three vans with a full complement of gears. 

[purplebargeken]

You had to say it didn't you, all the gears and no ideas. Sorry, couldn't resist that.

 

Looks like a great van, well bought that man

[warren t claim]

All Jap vans need a column shift manual for MAX WIN but I'll admit this is a good starting point, 

 

Even a slow speed collision means you'll be able to enter Stars In Their Eyes as Douglas Bader and be guaranteed at least a place in the semi finals. 

[wuvvum]

The Midi had a column shift.  It was fucking diabolical.

[Timewaster]

I drove a Midi once helping a mate move house.

The van belonged to a mutual friend and an absolute pile.

 

His parting advice was Good luck with the gears, they hide!

 

He wasn't kidding.

[warren t claim]

I drove a Midi once helping a mate move house.

The van belonged to a mutual friend and an absolute pile.

 

His parting advice was Good luck with the gears, they hide!

 

He wasn't kidding.

That's no way to describe the Isuzu Piazza Grande Picasso Scenic!

[dieselassist]

when I worked as a plumber in Kildare on a big industrial building site; 10 odd years ago, the trick was to get out early at lunchtime to get to the top of the deli queue at the only local shop for miles - it was the middle of winter n often pissing down, so the unwritten rule amoung all the contractors, was you could car jack whatever van was, nearest whatever exit - the keys being on the visor in the doorpocket, n rally it down to shop...

 

....anyways one of the plasters had one of these parked outside where I was working, n I attempted to tear off for the shop with the usual wrecklessness n abandon- what a truly horrible driving position; being 6'4 I felt completely cramped - it was like driving some sort of torture devise... the site was the usual liquid soup, but no trouble at all to our hiace work vans... the Hyundai  was barely controllable at all, n got very sideways n stuck  - took me ages to actually exit the site itself, n the queue was already half way up the isle by the time I made it there...- verdict _ 'definitely not for me'!!