RayMK

I had one in 2005-7 (P679EAL). The 2 ltr V6 automatic was the most refined unit I've ever experienced. Unfortunately it was also the only car I've owned that needed recovery three times and could not be satisfactorily fixed by a Japanese car specialist or a Nissan main dealer (x2). Suspension was not too clever on anything except good surfaces. I'd consider one again but routine spares spares were difficult to source even when I owned one.

I owned a Mitsubishi i Kei car which I bought as an ex-demo car in 2007 during the short period they were on sale in the UK (not the later electric one). Its rear-under-the- floor, 660cc turbocharged, conventional automatic configuration attracted me. I kept it until 2014 having covered 82K miles. It was remarkably practical, being able to seat 4 normal sized adults with perfectly adequate legroom in the front and rear despite being fractionally shorter than the then current Citroen C1 which had no leg room in the rear unless front seats were pushed forwards, thereby making sure that the driver and passengers were very cramped. I took my daughter and her husband to Wales and on another occasion took them to Scotland (Fort William), from which we also toured the Isle of Mull. I made numerous solo camping trips in it to the Isle of Wight and Swanage. On motorways it was absolutely fine, able to cruise comfortably at 70mph and would top out at an indicated 91mph on the private sections. It was exceptionally handy in towns and on country lanes where its diminutive size, tight turning circle and perky performance scored over modern blobmobiles which constantly get held up because they can't get past each other and need much more space to manoeuvre. Downsides? At 82K the turbocharger shed a blade which also wrecked the intercooler. At near enough £1000 retail plus labour to fix it, I let it go for recycling. Someone in the trade picked it up, fixed it and continued to drive it past 100K but it looked rough and neglected in 2020. Also, its suspension, although fine on reasonable roads, did crash and bang on rougher roads. Would I consider a Kei car again? Most definitely.

I have not driven any Bonds but have been a passenger in a later Mark (G or F?) Villiers engined front wheel drive 4 seater. It was good fun and nicely weird. John Surtees managed to get an 875 around Brands Hatch in record time, achieving over 100mph in the process. His prowess on 2 and 4 wheels probably indicates a high level of adaptability and skill. The 875 was known to be a rapid machine with its detuned Imp engine and rear suspension set-up but was notoriously sensitive to side winds, as are most rear engined cars. If they were not so fragile I would have liked one. Unlike a Reliant or an Invacar, they did not have a chassis and were prone to cracking where the Imp subframe was anchored to the fibreglass bits - which were lightweight because of the weight limit to satisfy the tricycle vehicle class. Their interior made the very basic interior of a Reliant seem luxurious by comparison.

Three wheelers feel different from four wheelers. If you are used to them they do not feel unstable. Motoring journalists generally compare road holding and handling capabilities of a vehicle based on their predominantly four wheeled experience. Anything out of the ordinary e.g. the 2cv6 was often slated as having alarming handling by those not used to roll angles despite it having the full complement of wheels. Plonk a typical journalist, or for that matter anyone who has not ridden one before, on a motorcycle and sidecar and they can't cope with the three wheeled asymmetric characteristics, labelling them as dangerous. In the past, people who drove three wheelers typically graduated from motorcycles where alertness to road conditions and willingness to learn a vehicle's characteristics was definitely required. Nowadays, three wheelers are generally owned by enthusiasts who do not try to drive them like a modern generic car but, depending on the make and model, can still drive them rapidly and enjoy the experience. I daresay that if I attempted to drive an HGV or a double decker it would feel terrifying and/or dangerous until my senses and techniques were suitably attuned by tuition and experience.

Laws of the Fuzz may overrule speed record attempts there, but the Atkinson could probably be overtaken by the Invacar if it could power* through its bow wave on a non restricted road. There's a wonderful you tube video of an Atkinson circus lorry towing several trailers and driven by a lady, highly unusual back in the day.

True, anecdotal claims of reaching or exceeding 70mph in an Invacar have to be taken with a pinch of salt, but the effects of conditions can enable unlikely speeds to be achieved in low powered vehicles while being entirely within the laws of physics e.g. a following wind, slight downhill gradient typically found on sections of a motorway or just slipstreaming a slightly faster vehicle. These are not official two way speeds recorded under scientific conditions but can still be actual speeds achieved. My Reliant Regal had 17.5bhp when new in 1961 but will cruise at 55mph for extended periods on the A5 according to my son who sometimes follows in his car (BMW 5 series or previously a Volvo V70, in either case using his phone for GPS speeds). Reliant advertised the car as being capable of 62mph flat out. A 2cv6 will easily maintain 65-69mph on its 28bhp despite poor aerodynamics and my Mitsubishi i would easily cruise at 70mph on its 57bhp, topping out at an indicated 91mph, so probably over 85mph. Add favourable conditions to any of these and unlikely speeds can be achieved before exceeding maximum rpm. Three wheels and low frontal area will give a slight advantage to the Invacar in terms of drag but a Reliant with its non-independent rear end has no toe-in or out to fight, unlike the Fiat 500 (front and rear) or the Invacar if it is not a pure trailing arm independent set up (I cant remember whether its rear is semi trailing or not). However, the joy of driving low powered cars is not so much to do with speed, more to do with learning how to drive efficiently and with three wheelers doing this without causing them to fall over - none of my Reliants have ever lifted a rear wheel. Know your car's limits, anticipate road conditions, load the vehicle sensibly and great fun can be had.

Yes. This was back in the 1990s. To be fair to the dealer, they had reamed the bushes within tolerance but they only had the suspension arm and hub carrier, not the whole car. Once assembled to the car, it was clear that further easing was necessary or a diet of spinach (à la Popeye), again showing my age!

Reliants are lightweight cars and the engine sits behind the front wheel, its rear end protruding into the cab, so king pin loads are not really an issue. As @catsinthewelder says, most king pin designs require frequent greasing. Every 500-1000 miles was typical but on three wheelers access to the single front wheel was a bit of a stretch or a crawl underneath and was often neglected entirely or not greased often enough. Depending on the kingpin design, the result of such neglect can cause the bushes (=pivot bearings) to seize and start to turn in the casting, or worse, the kingpin itself starting to turn in its location bore. Kingpins are usually a light interference fit in the suspension arm or axle/hub carrier and not intended to turn within it. Either of these cases will require machining of the bearing housing or hub carrier if they have worn oval and more games with special oversized bushes or a sleeved kingpin, both far from ideal and usually resulting in the worn items being scrapped and a new/serviceable hub carrier and suspension arm being found. Once suitable components have been sourced, king pin bushes usually require line reaming after installation as they are supplied with an undersized internal diameter to allow for such machining and to ensure that they are correctly aligned for the king pin to pivot. All relatively straightforward with the right expertise and facilities if you can find the necessary replacement parts. As an aside, my 1961 Reliant needed a new kingpin when I bought it with 98K on the clock. A Reliant dealer did the work but the kingpin was being gripped so tightly by the new line reamed bearings that steering was very hard work. I pulled it all apart and eased the bushing internal bores towards the max tolerance and all was well and has been ever since. More recent Reliants had needle roller king pin bearings which allowed slightly longer servicing intervals.

I've tried to stay out of this well meaning but somewhat suffocating bout of mothering instinct being displayed in this thread. @LightBulbFun is young and has found something which fills him with enthusiasm. It has fuelled his determination to buy REV and driven him hard enough to pass his driving test despite financial, physical and mental considerations that many of us will not have experienced. He is certainly not daft and is fully aware of the risks which exist in following his dream. Advice is fine but it is the recipient's decision on whether or not to accept it. It is not compulsory to ditch your dream just because advice wants to steer you towards safety, boredom and practicality. These things are forced upon us as we get older. Give the chap a break and let him follow his dream. He may choose to adjust his priorities in due course. There are people on here who ride motorcycles, race cars, drive old bangers and, heaven forbid, regularly ride pushbikes, apparently with none of the concerns applicable to driving an Invacar. When at LBF's age or thereabouts, I went against my parents by secretly saving up to buy a moped. Dangerous things! Having survived that for a couple of years and many many miles I bought a 175cc motorcycle - and had an accident on it within 6 weeks. I survived with bruising and concussion - I was almost black down my right side. So yes, some of the advice did bite back. Motorcycles can be dangerous. I then bought a Reliant. Horror! More outpouring of advice.....you get the drift. We learn but do not necessarily regret. I still own a Reliant. I'm now old and walk with two sticks. It sometimes has a breakdown. Family wants me to sell it and drift towards my grave safely in a tedious modern thing. I won't. I'll concede that I do use the modern more often though - but it is my choice. These words are of course my opinion and are not intended to offend or suggest that other opinions are invalid. Enjoy your freedoms.

Yes, without any direct experience of them, an excellent 'want.' I agree with your summary of the probable reality of acquiring one. Many years ago (1980s) I came close to buying a Tatra 603 and still sort of regret being bullied out of it by my late wife who reckoned a new kitchen was more useful. Now, with more experience of life and cars, I realise I should have resisted the kitchen and bought a half decent DS instead but eventually succeeded in buying a Citroen CX GTi Turbo 2 which wasn't too painful for the 9 months I owned it. I used to see an occasional Panhard at car meets in Bucks/Oxon area but never the glorious 24ct variety.

I've got a few pre-war Dinky lorries and some of the post-war re-issues (1940s). The main differences are in the casting of the underside e.g. whether partially open (mostly pre-war and or immediate post war issues) or mostly covered in on slightly later post war issues, together with a front bumper. The link has some details. https://www.maronline.org.uk/dinky-toys-series-25-lorries/. Values have varied hugely. I bought all of mine for 3d each in 1960 at a shop which sold a few every so often in Southsea where we lived at the time. Values (playworn) climbed to around £40 each in the late 1970s then gradually faded until the ebay era when most playworn examples were less than £10. Optimists selling repainted and repaired examples in a reprinted replica box asked for lots more but sales are usually very slow.

Bloody hell! All that just to get at a battery. The number of different style plastic 'press to release' tags on covers and connectors on recentish cars drives me up the wall, particularly when a manual just says 'disconnect connector.' Some clues as to HOW would save me hours.

@martc If the photo of a Capri and Taunus on a production line is in Germany, I may have walked in that area of the factory in Köln in 1967. We had a school trip around the factory - school was at JHQ Rheindahlen. The guide said that over 50% of the workforce was Turkish. Regarding the shot of the Renault 12s racing, my 12TS would not corner like that. It had chronic understeer, possibly* because I could only afford cheap tyres.

Nice. ...and HMS Trincomalee is an interesting backdrop. It's a ship I've never managed to visit - or the paddle steamer that's based there.

Oh dear! His must be really small.

The car looks like a mid 1920s Hanomag.

I like that. Such a shame that democracy got in the way.

1931 Trojan RE. 4 cyl 2 stroke, rear engine. https://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/trojan-re-1932/ Edit. Not sure why the picture was titled Trojan Mastra. It should be Trojan RE. The Mastra was a later (1937) unsuccessful attempt by Trojan to update their vehicle and image, featuring a rear mounted 6 cyl 2 stroke of 2232cc in a four door fastback styled saloon body. It did not go into production.

My son and I have had several 205s over the years, petrol and diesel, manuals of various capacities and an automatic which was my last one about 5 years ago. None of them had any bodywork issues and all were a joy to drive. Neither of us could justify a GT, nice though they are. If you can, then it looks to be an excellent and attractive starting point for you to attend to its known issues.

Yes, rare. I've only seen a handful of those over the years. The Jowett prototype reminded me of a Goliath Estate. I only saw two or three of them when living in Germany in 1966-69. Photo By JOHN LLOYD from Concrete, Washington, United States - 1959 Goliath, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21251322

Just another update on the lack of any real progress on my poorly Tipo. Plan A is still slowly ticking over, that is, the garage will investigate its non-running and report back if they can fix it. They will then MOT it (expires 22nd December) and do any further work if it fails. I'll be discussing it in more detail on Monday. I do have a reasonably generous budget. However, this will not be a blank chequebook exercise. Plan B is to have the car transported to a nearby classic car garage which has the gear and willingness to take this on sometime in February/March 2024. Plan C will depend on the Tipo's fixability versus my budget and could be the end of the road for this one.

Probably a Thomas Harrington streamlined coach. We very occasionally had one as our school bus from Naphill to Terriers (near High Wycombe) in 1963.

When we lived in Germany in 1966-69 these were quite common, as were the earlier T600 Isar models. We rarely spotted the little 2 stroke Goggomobiles or the later Glas sports cars over there, whereas in England, I've only ever seen the 2 strokes and the very occasional Glas 1300GT and 1700GT

@MiniMinorMk3 Well done identifying the Bluebird. I thought it might be Japanese but my searches did not come up trumps and it was bugging me 👍.

@Bfg In 1959 my primary school class was taught about Cugnot's 1769 front wheel drive steam cart by a teacher who was clearly bored by the Tudors and Stuarts etc. It made a lasting impression on me. I was particularly impressed by the slightly later British steam road carriages that the same teacher went on to cover with great enthusiasm. If I remember correctly, the Odhams Children's Encyclopedia published in the 1950/60s also included details and illustrations of these very early steam powered vehicles. I have not opened the book for decades - I think it's in my bookcase upstairs. Time to investigate, if I can avoid being distracted by Observers Books and the like, all gathering dust!