mk2_craig Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Well that wasn't too bad, was it? OK the interiors are probably going to be a bit damp for a while, but there was not too much of the wilful destruction that one sometimes sees on TG (especially with caravans). I actually quite enjoyed the feature.I'd agree with that.... not too badly damaged, certainly not as bad as you might expect. And to be fair, Princess aside none of them looked like the tidiest examples of the breed you might find.I doubt they'd be restorable now though, it looked like the fire service had drilled sizeable diameter holes in the roofs to pump water into. Perhaps they'd get some of their £3600 back if each was to be Ebayed with "As seen on BBC TV's Top Gear" in the title Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuvvum Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 I doubt they'd be restorable now though, it looked like the fire service had drilled sizeable diameter holes in the roofs to pump water into. Perhaps they'd get some of their £3600 back if each was to be Ebayed with "As seen on BBC TV's Top Gear" in the title Well the Rover had its water pumped in through the sunroof, so that should be OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Well the Rover had its water pumped in through the sunroof, so that should be OK.Have you ever seen a water damaged car?Only for the truly masochistic amongst us to attempt to restore something that has been submerged - granted this wont have any water in the block issues, but mouldy interors and fcuffed electrics which will drive you mad for years....No, when Flop Hear want to fcuff up a car, they do it in a right royal way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouseflakes Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Have you ever seen a water damaged car?Remember the 'Volvo dragged from a pond' story in Jalopy?The author described how he dried it out by opening all the doors and blasting an industrial space-heater through the tailgate aperture. Apparently the dash drooped a bit in the middle where it had got too hot - but other than that worked quite well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSparrow Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Hmmm,Could've been worse I suppose. I will agree with the majority though, the Dolly and SD1 were rough but the Princess looked like it deserved better. I like Leyland stuff, but for some reason I enjoyed the feature, maybe it was just good to see some BL motors on TV having their profiles raised; Im pretty sure most of the audience had never seen a Princess before!Clearly staged when the doors and mirrors started falling off too.I kind of wish they'd done something interesting like tried to drive across Russia in them, since they were 'built by brummie communists' according to Clarkson! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRegieRitmo Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 And yes, Jennifer Saunders was very good. I was expecting her to be fairly quick, but not quite that high up the leader board. She sounded like a proper petrolhead too.Of course she is - she's had Alfas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigstraight6 Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Well the Rover had its water pumped in through the sunroof, so that should be OK.Have you ever seen a water damaged car?Only for the truly masochistic amongst us to attempt to restore something that has been submerged - granted this wont have any water in the block issues, but mouldy interors and fcuffed electrics which will drive you mad for years....Yes, it pretty well spells the end for any car, I'm sure some of you chaps have owned a car that had a water ingress problem, I had it on an 'A' reg polo and the problem was eventually traced to a rust hole below the battery tray which was duly dealt with, but what a job to dry out the floor carpets! it took an age with industrial hot air dryers and that was just a bit of rain water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRegieRitmo Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 My carpet is still damp in the footwells of the Renault - it's been garaged since April! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pompei Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 My CX was constantly damp inside - never found out where it came from, but it didn't half pong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead_E23 Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 I don't for one second believe that they had anything to do with buying those cars, or that they used their own money. Can you imagine Clarkson fiddling around with the classified ads or trekking across town to collect a motor that's worth a couple of hours' earnings? Sounds like a job for a researcher to me, and they'd just have got on the phone to one of these 'cars for films' places that are always on Ebay. Trouble is, that doesn't make a very entertaining story, so they *gasp* script something that does Still felt sorry for the Princess, though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seth Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 The Herald "boat" was bought either on ebay or through another internet advert of some kind shortly before filming was to start. (I have photos of it somewhere before the conversion). I dare say these were too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chester drawers Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Drove through a flood in the Montego once (nice high air intake). Sensible folk were of course turning back, but me and the Monty emerged apparently unscathed on the other side accompanied by an impressive bow wave. Immense smug satisfaction followed right up until I arrived at my destination and discovered the inch or so of water which had hitched a ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mat.T Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 this just got posted on the triumph dolomite owners club forum regarding the sprintThis is the truth about the Sprint on Top Gear; which was my car for many years until I sold it this Spring.For the ignorant forum users who have posted on this thread about it being a crap example of a Sprint, just stop and think for a second until you know both sides of the story.Unfortunately Top Gear have used so much artistic licence it beggars belief. Essentially they were gonna portray the Sprint as a tatty BL car no matter what & fixed almost everything that went wrong, in my opinion.My Sprint was in very good all round condition, bar one thing, very very faded paintwork. It was mechanically excellent, with a very good & quick engine. Over the past 10 years I had replaced almost everything mechanically - eg it had recon sub frame, 4 new Spax adjustables, new springs etc etc.Almost all the failiures were invented! For example, I personally refitted the rear bumper approx 4 years ago with new bolts - its impossible for it to have fallen off and be held on by the rear wing side fixing!The car had no wing mirrors fitted, but I gave the buyer a pair to be fitted - so they obviously did it so ridiculously so they would fall off.The same with the radio; I did not have one fitted but gave the buyer a basic radio cos he asked for one!I had some decent grey replacement seats fitted cos the originals were so tatty they were near unuseable - and they obviously re-fitted them to make the car look tattier!I used the car on the road weekends and to work sometimes for the best part of 3 years and it never once broke down, and yes the Overdrive worked. Strange how they had about 3 breakdowns in a few hours.It had a very sound, reliable engine - standard spec except for Sports Stainless exhaust. It would have absolutely flown round that track, I don't know what they had done to make the gears crunch all the time. I guess they doctored the accelerator cable so Hammond could not rev it - eg it revved freely to the redline cos I did it a few times!!The car passed its MOT about 2 weeks before I sold it, first time! Plainly the handbrake was working fine then, for it to career down that hill at that speed the cables would have to have been cut or disconnected.Watching the show I was to be honest nothing short of incensed by the pointless abuse of 3 classics in the name of light entertainment.I had only sold the car because I wasn't using it enough, and it desperately needed a respray I could not afford. I had hoped it would go to somebody who would cherish the car as I had. What really irks me is that several club members were very interested, but this lad turned up who said he lived local, paid the asking price on the spot in cash and assured me it would be his everyday transport and had always wanted a Sprint - what a deception!The thing that puzzled me at the time was his total lack of interest in the car itself or history - plainly he was just a buyer for TG and was told to buy a Dolomite Sprint in any condition as long as it ran, cos they were gonna portray it as falling apart anyway!Lesson learned the hard way - sell your club cars to club members only!My son is just under 4 years old and loved that car; I haven't dared let him watch the show's recording cos it would break his heart to see his favourite old car semi-destroyed.Top Gear has massively gone down in my estimation after this. I think what used to be a pretty decent motoring show is now just a cheap comedy, with 3 egotistical presenters who would be better served on a slapstick sketchshow.Sour grapes? Maybe, but destroying classic cars for laughs isn't cool, it certainly isn't funny either - there are lots of people who would love to own and drive a Sprint / Rover even a Princess.I still think Dolomites and Sprints are great cars, and wish u all well with keeping them on the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55bloke Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 This just confirms all our worst suspicions really. What w*****s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lobster Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 I just think its a shame they didn't find something genuinely tatty to use really. If the Dolomite was as good as the previous owner suggests then it really is a shame...That said, nobody would like to see a car they had owned destroyed be that in the course of filming or by banger racers would they so are bound to feel somewhat emotive.Ultimately TG is a massive money spinner for the BBC and they are more concerned about entertainment and making money than the fate of what they consider to be three old clunkers. Between TG and JCs assorted DVDs they destroy a fairly large number of cars... presumably this is what the viewer wants and hence sells more DVDs because of it.You can well imagine some junior researcher being told to go buy three old BL cars and buying the first three he came across. It's a pity a bit more sense wasn't shown and something with one wheel already in the scrapyard used instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vicsmith Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 Or they could have just stopped short of doing something not very spectacular but very damaging. Just how entertaining can watching a car being filled with water be? And why drill holes in the roof? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lobster Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 Drilling holes in the roof to fill it with water did strike me as a bit pointless and also if one thing consigns the car to its end then that would be it.I'm sure there were many other entertaining ways they could have 'tested' the cars without resorting to filling them with water which ultimetly seems rather pointless.Did anyone see the thing in Autocar last week about the flood damaged Ferrari? For those that didn't it was a specialist Ferrari breaker that bought a 86 Testarossa written off when Sheffield turned into Atlantis earlier in the year.The thing looked pristine but was written off due to water damage. If that sort of stuff is written off then theres no realistic hope for old BL tat with holes in the roof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pogweasel Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 Flood damaged cars are written off not due to the actual water, but more to with things IN the water.... when you have a big flood, all manner of dirt, poo and wee is contained in the water posing a risk to health. Filling them with clean water from a bowser is not as bad... not like you'd have silt and floaters to get out as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouseflakes Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 poo and weeThis used to be a nice family-friendly forum.I can't believe the sort of language that gets used here these days. Let's hope the moderators see this and act. Micrashed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr H Sceptre Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 Yes, I'm horrified & disgusted in equal measures at the foul & abusive language. Tssssk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRegieRitmo Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 potty mouth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pogweasel Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 I must apologise for my disgusting tirade of filth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volksy Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 My carpet is still damp in the footwells of the Renault - it's been garaged since April! Blimey Reg, I'm surprised there's any floors left.. Get them Carpets out quicksmart.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel bickle Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 I'll be looking at that tonight (or shortly) when I finish off sorting the car.The 'blown head gasket' wasnt -ful of clean(ish) water, even tickover and revving healthily -even when warm ,and no (excess) steam out the exhaust.No -I think the problem was more to do with the pinhole in the 90degree metal tee -spraying a fine mist all over the distributor,when pressurised.I'll look to the carpets after I've warmend the engine through... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouseflakes Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 ...pinhole in the 90degree metal tee -spraying a fine mist all over the distributor,when pressurised...I had the same problem on my Crown, except it was a pinhole near one end of the top hose - only time it ever 'conked out' in many years of service. Nice and easy to fix at the roadside - just cut the top hose down a bit and re-attach! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cort16 Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 I'm going to try totrack down and hopefully save the Sprint, SD1 and Princess using the power of the internet and my new website.Any information or ideas you have would be useful.http://www.freethetopgearthree.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pompei Posted December 4, 2007 Author Share Posted December 4, 2007 Try getting in touch with the tabloids - Hammond and Clarkson write for the Mirror and Sun (I think), so they might be able to shed some light, or even run a story ... Obvious question, have you contacted TG? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Im thinking of contacting them to see if they will buy my BX for £1000 - they seem more than willing to spend silly money on cars for the benefit of wrecking them for entertainment - now if I can just think of some spin to say why they need to buy a 19 year old diesel...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torsten2001 Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Genius work Cort, top fella! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cort16 Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 I've not contacted TG yet. I'm making sure the site works like it's supposed to and I've got rid of the all the spelling mistakes.I'm going to send an email through the website to see if I get a reaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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