RayMK

Likewise on my 2cv and Dyane. Fortunately Citroen designed them to be draughty. The main snag with my two was that in the winter when heating and defrosting would be handy, an air intake restricting cowl/cover had to be clipped to the front so that the engine would warm up more rapidly and idle off choke. This was a standard Citroen item. It meant that heater flow was pathetic until doing 50mph - but the screen kept frosting up inside and I could not see well enough to do 50.

Having owned two Stellars, two Sonatas (1990s version) and an Atoz, I think your Accent is completely understandable.

For different reasons, the Tatraplan T600 of the 1950s had an intermediate rear window. I saw one in a carpark in Reading in 1960 where my parents had dragged me for shopping. I was fascinated by this slightly weird car and took a closer look. It was right hand drive, a make I'd never seen or heard of back then and had windows behind the back seat and another pair on the engine cowling. It's a feature that would appeal to eccentric French Citroen designers. Perhaps that's where the inspiration came from 😁.

I share the dislike of SUVs and similarly blobbed up crossovers. Hatchbacks and estates are much easier to thread through towns and generally handle much better too. There's still the MG5, an EV estate. We've only had one Volvo estate, a petrol auto V70. It was very competent, practical and roomy, had the turning circle of an ocean liner and absolutely no character - until its electronic bits started playing up and we disliked its emerging (expensive) persona. I can remember the days when saloons were the popular choice of the masses and I objected to hatchbacks because their proportions were a bit ungainly. Estates looked nicer if you HAD to have the luggage capacity of a van, but of course hatchbacks became the dominant market before the SUV revolution squeezed them out (literally). It's a pity the Volvo estates are no more, but markets evolve.

@High JetterI had a look at the 929 coupe and only found one which was mainly devoid of curves. Using this as a basis, all I can suggest is a Subaru XT coupe (Alcyone) from the 80s. Edit: Which does not fit too well with your other clues.

Some lost motion, lash, play or whatever term you like to use, is common in most automotive gear trains. Whether it is acceptable will depend on how much there is. It is however usually less than can be tolerated in chain systems. If you can inspect the gears and the shaft bearings and all look ok and there's no play in the shafts, it is probably in the TADTS category.

@wesacosaAt least you are making progress. It will be good to see an Estelle back on the road. I have been saying that I'm going to sell my 1961 Reliant Regal for the last three years but have done very little to make it happen. This year's window of opportunity is closing. I can't even remember what mojo is, let alone find it again. You are doing ok by comparison.

@martc: I share your 'can't quite place it' thoughts. VW Passat MK1/B1 came to mind but I can't see a central VW badge or indicator lamps in the bumper ends. Mazda 616? It just doesn't match up well enough for me. FSO Polonez. Some of these had quad headlights but again it doesn't seem to have the same proportions or the thin bumper of the car in question. Basically, I don't know.

@wesacosaUnfortunately of no help to you at all, but after reading your post above I thought I'd better check my garage to see if any Skoda spares remained. I rarely spend time in the garage these days and could not remember exactly what I had got rid of about 4 years ago. Sadly, it seems as though I was remarkably thorough. No Skoda parts at all, so the three or so Jikovs which I had must have gone to the chap at Stanford Hall. I would have thought that a decent used carb could be found if the warped flange cannot seal. Perhaps a double gasket and/or a suitable sealant would get you going temporarily? Again, no help to you but I found four Solex 26AIC Reliant sv carbs in today's search. I knew I had three so the fourth must be the result of an illicit breeding programme.

The Jay Leno car I mentioned was an Owen Magnetic from 1916. An interesting concept which has been reinvented much more recently and which is or was quite common in railway locomotives, but it shares no visual or mechanical similarities with the @barrettmystery chassis.

Cantilever leaf springs are basically semi-elliptic springs with the axle attached at one end, a pivoted mid point anchored to the chassis and the other end also attached to the chassis via a shackle or slider. Another variation was used on the MK2 Jaguar with the mid pivot more of a rubber mounting and making the set-up more akin to a quarter elliptic as the chassis mounted end was really just a means of lateral location with better load spreading than a typical quarter elliptic. Quite a few early cars had cantilever leaf springs but none of the examples I knew about or could find had anything resembling the set-up and huge lump on the rear axle of the subject chassis which also has quarter elliptic lower 'trailing arms.' I did initially wonder whether the axle lump was an early electric drive but the exhaust and lack of heavy power cables quickly kicked that train of thought out unless those 'propshafts' are cable conduits for an early hybrid. Didn't Jay Leno feature/own a slightly later hybrid (1930s?)? Some sort of special purpose differential steering device as per @Sham with maybe a freely castoring other end to the vehicle also crossed my mind but it seemed far too devious compared with conventional steering, although Tata did build a prototype of their Pixel city car a few years ago which used similar principles for parking manoeuvrability. Has anyone tried image matching using recent software? I tried some free software a few months back but found it to be fairly useless and ran out of patience. Is there a listing anywhere of the 1922 Paris Show exhibitors that @barrettmentioned? A good* way to spend a few hours when the forum falls over in the afternoon perhaps?

@ZelandethYour Rover's rear lights look remarkably similar to those on my 1961 Reliant. I think they are also used on other cars, maybe the Mini (van?). Last time I looked at getting a spare light unit they were retailing at £200, so I used nail varnish on the inner surfaces to restore the colour to satisfy an MOT man.

The suspension seems to have a pivot point which would make it a cantilever set-up with maybe a pair of quarter elliptic lower springs to give approximate parallelogram geometry i.e. no rotation of that bloody great unsprung mass of transaxle. It's difficult to make out some of the details except that the tyres are Michelin. Perhaps it's a French speed record car for the less than 1.5litre class which uses two small engines mounted side by side (hence two skinny propshafts) and, being French, each wheel has its own epicyclic gear train possibly operated by a single lever to ensure each side is at least in the same gear. No diff required because the puny engines are independently driving their own wheel and will be forced to each run at different RPM on corners. In other words, I'm fascinated but have no idea.

I know what you mean. Wing mirrors take a while to get used to. When door mirrors became the norm I used to find them annoying because you had to move your head to glance at them whereas wing mirrors just required slight eyeball swivelling whilst still looking ahead through the windscreen. This was a problem on driving tests. The examiner liked to see you waving your head around and getting dizzy checking in mirrors, so door mirrors were ideal.

@stuboy: an Alfa of some sort from the 1960s/70s??

Are the two cars on the extreme right pre-war DKW F2 or F3? Edit: or F5 maybe?

Don't be too hasty. My Invacare is allowed to drive on pavements and into supermarkets 😄. (1990 approx. Invacare Discovery)

Reliant Regal MKVI (1961). Owned since 1992, bought as a project. Project not completed until 2005 and has been road legal for most of the time since then. These are very much an acquired taste and usually only considered by those who used the motorcycle licence route to drive a 'car' when this was the norm and who thus developed some affection for a three wheeler which could actually accommodate 4 people. Engine is a side valve 4cyl 4 stroke of 748cc derived from but not the same as that of a pre-war Austin Ruby (7). It develops just 17.5bhp. This, together with the three wheel configuration and an extremely fierce clutch really does hone one's driving skills as roadholding and gear changing is unforgiving. Anticipation, concentration and gentle handling of the controls will allow reasonably safe, albeit defensive driving on quieter roads. It won't out accelerate an electric Ami or any modern agricultural tractors but will, eventually, better them on cruising speed which is anything between 35-55mph. Economy is around 45mpg. The driving position, despite a very basic looking seat, is comfortable. There is no heater but the engine sits behind the front wheel, in a cowling which is mostly between driver and front passenger and provides compulsory heating and considerable noise, so no radio is necessary. Boot space is ok. Access to the engine is better than later Reliants. Has character. You might not like it though.

Another Fiat Tipo 1.4ie review (1994 model): Owned since Feb 2013 (my son for the first few years, then 6 months lent to a friend, then bought back by me about 4 years ago to bankroll a fair bit of MOT work - brakes and welding) and has been completely reliable, a 'drive anywhere without preparation' sort of car. It's roomy, comfortable and pleasant to drive. Performance is leisurely, although it will happily cruise at 70-80mph when it eventually gets to such speeds. Economy is poor compared with modern machinery, typically achieving around 35mpg unless driven extremely gently when 42mpg can be eased out of it. It is happier running on E5. Roadholding is very good: Predictable and quite neutral, with decent, compliant suspension. It handles better than my 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage Juro which feels skittish by comparison and has idiotic electronic assistance* when cornering forces exceed 0.01G, either by cutting the throttle or doing something else unpredictable which messes up a good cornering line. Rust resistance is reasonable as the bodywork is galvanised - except for the floor pan which required some welding about 3 years ago. Considering its Latin roots, its character is very subdued and difficult to detect.

Only* £7500 if you wanted to buy it. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325689885231?hash=item4bd4a1422f:g:LZ8AAOSwiFVkhdGh&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwPb2bAy0Il56zYt5LqLGdntLYDGsZ3mNzfG8%2FgI4JygXBQaIMHzf3X3AIiwHBkOQer1DDZIxhVm4qzNXF%2FsuuuwkcAamEwlxRD%2FOLD5vV9FAVzvgwxhBQxPyoIT0hOo7aUJ1%2B88weZXTRitfaK3o0N69vX7RAFhkn1ByCDj4LYZWVoZk%2Fk9svAUFw49wyW1rT35b1lCgMPSMD6GwmVp5Mclnk0fFkoZEtuvW8ec%2BDiulCjTpW%2FJCYuoWSxUWxMk3fA%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR77T4MGVYg

@Dyslexic Viking, you've made a very neat job of the carpets despite the difficulties. I love tan interiors.

Thank you! Your Fabia looks good as well. Nice colour. I did not attempt to look at Flickr from your earlier post because it usually locks on to an obstructive page requiring lots of boxes to tick. Surprisingly your album, although it had the usual page of boxes, could be viewed by ignoring that stuff and scrolling down (not locked).

I was thinking the same. When the Skoda Owners Club used to have their Fest at Stanford Hall, rear engined Skodas were in the majority, with one or two old Octavias making up the numbers. It was even better when the Wartburg, Trabbie and other iron curtain vehicles joined up with Skodas at Stanford Hall for a major gathering, but that was all 10-20 years ago. An excerpt from my diary covering the last Stanford Hall Skoda gathering that I attended says it all: 14th April 2019 Sunday: Skoda Owners Club Rally at Stanford Hall. Cold but bright. (my son) took me to the Skoda rally where we got rid of the alloy wheel, Jikov carburettor and PAL starter motor to a chap who had several rear engined Skodas at home. We also chatted to a chap who had a 135Ric which he had had converted back to Ric standard from carb! There were only about 5 rear engined Skodas there and a couple of Favorits, a few Felicias and loads of Octavias etc of the VW period. We did not stay long, maybe an hour. Inevitably, time has taken its toll and the trend has continued.

Me neither. Mine all left at least 17 years ago and still had intact waterworks. I did have to fiddle with the Rapid 135Ric gear selector rod in that tunnel because the rubber bushes at the rear end had disintegrated. Removal of the rod looked impossible without getting the engine out, so I replaced the bushes with solid metal - bolts, spacers and washers - which surprisingly worked without any apparent downside. Master cylinders required attention on a couple of the cars but they are easy to get at. One job I could not do was replace the rear wheel bearings on the Rapid. It had the semi-trailing arm suspension which was also shared with some of the later Estelles. My garage said they were the most difficult ones he'd ever experienced in his 40 years career.

Not the driver's seat as well? Hope it can be fixed without too much excess/insurance hassle.