AnthonyG

VPs went through final assembly in the Vanden Plas place (North London somewhere?) I can well imagine them getting another coat of paint if the VP people felt the Longbridge job hadn’t been good enough. Or possibly the bodies were all done in primer in Brim and paint was done in London. Basically - VP ‘gros went through two factories, so lots of opportunities for a double go at the paint.

I imagine the back of the light units is some sort of crappy die cast alloy - the ‘corrosion’ looks similar to how very sickly Dinky toys could get. The word ‘mazak’ comes to mind, not sure if that was a company or the actual name of the alloy.

Who makes the XF? Might get one for the mantlepiece! Ideally a Minichamps or similar would be ideal, the one you have looks like Matchbox size (1:75)?

Those 1970s/1980s restorations were either done properly or very badly, and I would imagine those done badly are probably parts cars now, or will have been scrapped in the intervening 30 years. I do think vintage/prewar cars were probably ‘easier’ for an amateur back then to restore, I accept parts were harder to get (although not as hard as trim/body components for 70s stuff now) and fabric/wood coach work could be hard to rebuild if you didn’t have the skills, but generally the metal was a lot thicker and the mechanical components very simple. How much of a market there is for this

I agree, I think it will be seen as quite antisocial unless the vehicle is obviously ‘historic’. And I suspect such vehicles will only be allowed out on certain days/times or for certain purposes. The alternative is electric conversion and I note that GM will soon offer a ‘crate electric conversion’ that fits in the equivalent space of the original engine & box and uses the existing propshaft etc. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1130129_chevy-makes-all-electric-classic-blazer-suv-to-show-off-upcoming-ecrate-package

I would be interested to know what happens to values/prices when petrol/diesel start becoming harder to find 2035 onwards. I know the petrol retailing industry is placing its hopes on hydrogen but realistically I think that’s only for HGV equivalents. Someone mentioned methanol, that’s all well and good as far as the chemistry goes but will the govt allow it? It’s just replacing one carbon emitting fuel with another. Whatever happens anyone wanting to run an ICE vehicle beyond around 2045 will need to put considerable thought/planning into it - at this point a lot of ‘investme

Like Saabnut’s mentioned, the most likely source for a s/h tyre would be a collective machinery sale (most rural auctioneers will have at least one a month - in normal times that is) or somewhere that breaks old plant/agricultural machinery. Given the current restrictions the latter is probably your best bet. Do you know anyone into vintage tractors etc? They might know of likely sources - or of a local farm with dead stuff lying around.

I have a feeling carrying a bulb kit in the car is a legal requirement in quite a few European countries - from memory the French in particular require all sorts of things to be present in the vehicle.

Less than £500 for a taxi with a year’s MoT seems real value to me. Mind you, I am going by FX4/Fairway values from the late 90s/early 00s, maybe those were more popular, due to nostalgia/lack of alternatives. I find it hard to believe FX4s were more rust resistant than TX’s but they did have the advantage of very solid chassis. I assume TX’s are proper monocoques?

I did used to buy Car but I haven’t bothered for 6 months now and haven’t missed it. They have certain makes they fap over - Tesla can do no wrong atm and Porsche are a perennial favourite - and most of the others can just get in the bin as far as the writers are concerned. They are a bit disapproving of something like a BMW X6 but they tread carefully here because they know many of their readers probably want to own one. Also watches - what is it about twatting watches? (Obviously it’s the ads). I like a decent watch as much as the next man but I would buy a WATCH magazine if I

I’ll have a look but can’t promise magic results 😀 If it gets too hard I’ll just post you the whole book!

Well that was interesting...back to perving over 6 cylinders’ Maestro I guess.

Base Maestros had metal bumpers at launch, all the others from L upwards had plastic body coloured ones. Metal bumpers were reintroduced on Clubmans when they become a bargain basement spec in late 1989. ‘Posher’ Maestros were dropped at this point to encourage customers into the new Rover R8.

This is the picture in the Montego HBOL, which covers the dash and instruments in your Maestro;

@SlowsilverThe dashboard in all post 87 Maestros is a Montego one. From memory by there was a very half-arsed refresh of the Maestro in late 87 or spring 88 and the Montego dash was a major part of that. I assume all switchgear, controls on this one is all Montego as well. I have a HBOL for Montego 2.0, if you need any scans. Or you/Chris can have it if it helps. Let me know and I will chuck in the post.