barrett

Is that Launcesten by any chance? If so, that (and most of the vehicles there) belong to a friend of mine. If it's a different one that's a real turn up for the books! edit: just saw the 'owned by' bit and that's not him, unless it's a psuedonym...

Nope. I've been looking at that one and off the last few times it's been for sale, and it does keep getting closer and closer, but I don't have the mental strength let alone the money to invest* in that, as nice as it could potentially be

Went for a walk yesterday and actually photographed a few things I would normally ignore. I present to you the cla**ics of Muesli Mountain (if you're local you know) I really like the last one, actually.It's been knocking about since at least 2009 when I first started photographing cars, and back then there was so much more interesting stuff in this area it got totally ignored, but it's earned a place in my heart for being a scruff daily driver in relativbely long-term ownership. That VW is also a very long-term resident. Assuming it is the same one, it's been there for at least 25 years and is probably the last surviving absolute shed Type 2 in town, when once there were hundreds, so it's about time it was documented. I also got some more appropriate spots. I have decided Mk 3 Astras are now fair game for spotting, despite being relatively common. I saw another three on my walk - two driving and one parked, but there were too many people around and I got shy about taking a pic, but this is the sort of car which is on the cusp of dying out. And I do think they're genuinely attractive - maybe I should get one before they're all gone?

Ey up. Been a while since I've had anything to contribute to this thread due to general cost-of-living shit which means I'm not feeling quite so spendthrift when it comes to stupid toy cars. With that in mind, and fully aware that I possess the collecting gene which means I'm incapable of just owning one of anything, let me introduce you to... The Lion Toys Daf 600! It wasn't that long ago in the grand scheme of things that I first discovered these Lion Toys models, and I've been vaguely interested in the idea of them ever since, but since I started actively buying diecast in the last two or three years I have managed to resist their charms. Until now. Actually, I was inspired when I discovered a totally unknown miniature, Matchbox-sized version made by 'Best Box' (library pic) Highly appealing for curiosity value, and the fact it could easily pass for a c1961 Lesney toy, I missed out on one of these hidden in a job-lot of Lesneys recently and clearly haven't quite gotten over it. My periodic search for Lion Toys showed a surprising number available on ebay at the moment, and this one was cheap enough to tempt me. It helps that this is the first time I've seen one of these slightly crude early examples - none of them are common, but those you do see tend to be the late-60s/early-70s models. Note mismatched tyres - I think the white ones are original and the blacks are replacements. It's just a bonny little thing, isn't it? Must have been a big hit with Dutch kids at a time when these were absolutely ubiquitous. It even has a nice cast-in CVT detail on the base Now, I'm not saying I'm going to have start collecting 1:43 Daf toys, but I'm not not saying that either. Particularly when this ends on ebay in a couple of days... It'll be hard to resist that for a 'first and last' comparison, AND it's a Pilen so actually a valid thing for me to buy. And so, a slippery slope is ventured onto.

That stalk is a known weak point on Xants. I remember having some issues with lamps on one of mine and going as far as buying a replacement stalk, which was all that was needed for the problem to just solve itself the next day and never reappear. That 'fix' lasted long enough for some terminal hydaulic problem to manifest itself and cause a good old-fashioned scrapping.

Oh, it's THAT ONE! That's about 5 minutes from my house, I probably would have had it and driven home if I'd realised when it was for sale. Oh well.

A very detailed retelling here: https://www.jensenmuseum.org/jensen-p66-jensens-forgotten-interceptor/

I guess I knew this brand existed (again), although I wasn't sure they'd actually made any cars yet, and certainly didn't know any had been sold in Europe, so it was quite a surprise to see this lump earlier this evening Not obvious? What is point reviving dead brand nobody has heard of?

Probably about a million more important things I should be doing than this, but...

Don't do it!

High-class 'Shiting here. Appreciate the brevity, great unexpected outcome. Car choice 9/10 (only because it's a big-boot). Dibs please!

What can you tell me about this one, then? I've done zero research but have never heard of an EC before. The vehicle is early '30s, apparently, but the photograph is obviously much later than that ( possibly 1970s) so I wonder if this is still out there somewhere?

Well, if anyone cares, a friend of mine has solved the mystery. It's a Desmoulins (of course) which featured two side-by-side engines of different size, theoretically gving the performance of three cars - a small engine for town use, a larger engine for touring and a combination, extra-large engine for high-speed work. Annoyingly I actually have a few Desmoulins brochures so I probably should have recognised it. The earliest version seemed to have two small single-cylinder enignes working a single gearbox/prop and normal back axle (how?) but later cars had a very complicated all-in-one transaxle thing which, again, I don't quite understand how it worked. But I suppose it probably didn't, or at least not very well. It's not thought any were actually sold and that 1922 chassis is probably as far as the project went.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say not only is the 234/6 a really good-looking car, but it's the only attractive car A-S ever built and the only one which is even vaguely interesting, with the aircraft-grade alloy construction and attempt to break into the sports saloon market. People often compare it to the Mk1 Jag, but that really wasn't the target audience at all. Jaguars were considered cheap, crass nouveau riche cad's cars and Real People wouldn't have been seen dead in one at the time. The respectable old-money high-quality sporting saloon rivals would've been Riley RM and the lower end and Lagonda at the higher end. After decades of making deathly boring old sluggers, there was nobody alive who would've considered an Armstrong-Siddeley as a sporting, enjoyable car for the owner/driver and the market was - well, what did they build, 1500 in total of both types? Yeah, the market was probably 1500 people in the world, which I guess just makes it even more interesting today. I think there's something silly like 20 survivors. A 234 is definitely high on my list of cars I need to try before I die.

Some real gems around at the moment, if you're handy with a spanner.Wish I wasn't such an inept mechanic so I could afford to buy something good. Want an American muscle car coupe? Step this way! This might be the coolest thing I've ever seen, actually 3.6-litre V6. Off the road for 20 years but looks pretty good to me. £2750 which sounds like a mega barg https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1390853538151784/ I've been seriously looking at MGBs recently (I'm approaching middle-age, sue me) and this looks like a belter tbh It's all sorts of brown, but it's also in the arse-end of Wales. Off the road for 20 years again, but does look fundamentally sound, honest and appealing. £2750 again, which doesn't get you much in the MG world these days https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1509117983225504/ Mega rare Opel Astra with the 1.2 powerhouse Meets my minimum brown content requirements with ease Failed its MoT on some welding (doesn't sound too serious looking at the test) but it's from 1983 so SOD MOT and be dammed. Inexplicably only £1250 which seems aight for a genuine slice of extinct street furniture https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1506663796798120/

My friend just sent me this, a plan of all the exhibitors form the '22 Salon. To be honest, it doesn't help me much as the specification doesn't seem to match cars from any of these manufacturers (that I'm aware of)...

It's the 1922 Paris Motor Show, so it'll be listed somewhere. None of my French Vintage car expert friends can ID it though.

It's very, very strange. The more you look at the less sense it makes. I've never heard of a car with twin parallel props - if the drive is coming from a single gearbox or trnasfer case, it doesn't make any sense to have them running in parallel instead of a v-pattern. Given the very weedy bore of the exhaust, I wonder if it's a small-engined thing, in which case... could it have friction-disc drive from the engine, with separate discs for forward and reverse? Each one connected to a prop... Then again, it looks like it's carrying a lot of weight given the size of those quarter-elliptics. Are the brakes inboard, too? Looks like they operate on the axle rather than the wheels.

The v-drive system is actually pretty tried and tested, despite how crazy it looks. One of the first workable 4wd systems for road cars is from the very early 1920s, invented by a chap called Alexander Holle. this used a diff/transfer case mounted centrally in the chassis, with four equal-length propshafts emerging, one to each wheel. The idea actually goes back even further as there were commercial chassis with a similar arrangement as early as 1912. Imagine the effort involved in making that all work before CV joints! Alfa Romeo used a v-drive system in the 1932 Tipo B racer (rwd only). Here's Holle's prototype under test in England - you can see the props On the subject of weird transmission/drive systems, if anyone can tell me WTF is going on here I'd appreciate it. I've been looking at this photo for a couple of years (not continuously, granted) and I still don't know what the car is, although it must be well-known. Answers on a postcard please.

Asda carpark update: France update: Surrey update: Car boot sale carpark goldmine. The Transit is the best thing I've seen in ages Only thing I've seen in Brighton for ages Until next time...

When I saw that image I thought 'Oh, I know exactly what that is' but it turns out I actually don't. I mean, I had a vague idea of what it would be but I can't actually find the thing I'm thinking of. I thought it was one of the Tjaarda de Tomaso one-offs like the Mustela But that's obviously not right. I'm sure there is a car with that unusual rear side window design which sort-of tapers over the rear arch like that but I can't for the life of me remember it. The Tjaarda Serenissima is sort of close, but obviously too wedgy Maybe it is just a fantasy design but heavily influenced by Tjaarda...

INVACOD

Further to DVLA stuff on the previous page, I was reminded of this earlier today and it still makes me laugh an unreasonable amount. INVACOD!

Yes @egg but don't expect much - we missed our boat so got back on Tuesday morning, wrote it on Wednesday, off to the printer on Thursday. It's, er, photo-focussed

Yeah it's a proper thing!