Felly Fav and Trum. *Wanna see a fupped engine?**

[Yoss]

Hi been here a couple of weeks now, mainly as I kept ending up here when googling crap cars, so I thought I'd introduce my fleet as I think they all fit in well here.

 

The thread title alludes to the three factories my cars were built in but also it occurred to me recently that in 26 years of driving all the cars I've ever owned have come from these three factories. This either shows that I value brand loyalty or that I lack imagination!

 

So I'll start with the Skoda. It's a Felicia 1.6 SLXi. Woo, top of the range! Has thinks like a passenger airbag where there should be a glovebox. To make up for this there is a slide out tray under the passenger seat that gets in the way of the seat adjuster lever. Bit Heath Robinson but at least they tried to replace the glovebox.

 

I love this car despite its apparent mundaneness. The 1.6 is only slightly more powerful than the 1.3 but the power comes much lower down so you have a brief window of power to surprise people before it runs out.

 

The car is standard apart from the wheels. These give it a lot more grip and being a later car has front and rear arb's so handling is better than you might expect.

 

Another thing I notice after driving newer cars Is the excellent visibility with nice thin window pillars. So it may not be as safe if I roll it, but I'll take my chances there thanks, I'd rather be able to see where I'm going on the odd occasion when I don't roll it!

 

I think it is one of the best Felicia's left, judging by my constant monitoring of the cars on eBay, Gumtree etc. I doubt I'll ever sell this car as I'll run it for as long as possible and they are fast disappearing. And it's practically worthless on the open market.

 

Some pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

More to follow...

[mercrocker]

I assumed Mlada Boleslav was some tourist guidebook Russian phrase for explaining that one's Zhiguli has expired on the garage forecourt and is now in dire need of attention.....

 

Anyhow, welcome to the visible layer of Autoshite and it looks like you have plenty to interest us on here.   Look forward to more!

[Yoss]

And so on to Longbridge.

 

This is my current daily driver (my wife refuses to drive so the Skoda is effectively hers). MG ZT-T 190. It's poverty spec but with the best engine. It's also bright yellow. There's a reason for that. Its first owner was West Midlands Ambulance Service as one of two ZT-Ts supplied as Rapid Response Vehicles ( sounds so much cooler than ambulance).

 

The paint job isn't great, it's had a blow over and it's very slightly darker than the original Trophy Yellow which becomes obvious when you open the doors. My guess is the paint was damaged when they removed the Battenburg stickers.

 

I've had this five years now and enjoyed it but feel it may be time to move on soon. Partly I'd like to downsize but also it needs a few big jobs doing and can't help feeling that even with these done it still won't be worth anything. I'm starting to get clutch slip and the (three!) cambelts are due. Having said that it's been very reliable for five years.

 

 

 

 

It looks a lot better in these pictures than it actually does. It is a complete PITA to clean properly, it has so many nooks and crannies and bits of trim that collect dirt. It takes at least twice as long to clean as the Skoda.

[Guest Hooli]

I like them, not as much as the 260 obviously but they are rather nice looking.

[Yoss]

Picture when new.

 

 

The car has no actual history with it, as in paperwork that normal people like when buying cars but a picture paints a thousand words, so they say.

 

I'd always wanted an old ambulance ever since our local hospital got a fleet of V8 Sherpas. I thought I'd have one of those one day but ended up with this by accident (no pun intended!). I had known that there had been some ZT-T ambulances but didn't know this was one until after I bought it and Googled the reg. I just bought it because it was yellow with white wheels!

[Yoss]

And finally...

 

This is my Triumph 1300TC. I've had this since 1995. I passed my test in 1990 and the first car I bought was a 1500TC, that was rear wheel drive, essentially a poverty spec Dolomite. The back axle fell off three weeks later. So I bought a 1300 FWD. I didn't learn. At this point they were still fairly plentiful so you'd by one for £200 and run it until the rust won and buy another, stripping the first for spares. After a while I ended up with a garage full of spares so it made sense to keep buying more. A Catch 22 situation really!

 

This was the first decent one I bought. They are probably the most underrepresented of the post war Triumphs. Virtually every other Triumph you can get any spares for but not these. The only specialist for these is a bloke in Coalville with a big shed who had the foresight to buy up lots of old stock but no-one is ever going to consider remanufacturing anything with only about 70 cars left.

 

The engine was basically the same as the Herald/Spitfire and a lot of the front suspension was carried over to the Dolomite despite the change from front to rear wheel drive, as was the glass but the rest is unique. The FWD is a bit of a weak point. I'm sure they only did it because BMC were doing it and wanted to jump on the bandwagon. It's an inline four with the clutch on the back, the gearbox under that with a shaft running through a tunnel in the sump to a diff at the front all in one bloody heavy cast iron housing. The driveshafts have PITA Rotoflex 'doughnuts' in.

 

Mine has quite a few mods although a lot of it is from other Triumphs and it's still very much a work in progress. It's not a show car and it's used on some of Club Triumph's more extreme events.

 

 

 

 

[beko1987]

Nice! Welcome, that Felicia is a bit late on an S isn't it?

[Yoss]

Nice red interior through full length Britax (not Webasto) sunroof. Why don't all cars have red interiors, it's such a nice place to sit.

 

 

 

 

Though for longer events I have a set of black cloth Dolomite seats, higher backed, reclining with headrests.

[dollywobbler]

Lovely. The 1300 is easily the best looking of the Ajax cars. My main memory of driving one was that the gearing was painfully low, and those fancy fold-out window winders are more of a pain in the arse than you might expect. Gorgeous looking things though.

[chaseracer]

Welcome along.  Top shiting credentials there.

 

Maybe just a tad concerned about what happened in the parish last time someone took matt black paint anywhere near a 1300TC, but... 

[strangeangel]

Nice! Welcome, that Felicia is a bit late on an S isn't it?

 

Really? The one I had was V registered.

[forddeliveryboy]

Lovely cars, those 1300s. Quite comfy if I remember, and the TC had a decent turn of speed for the early 70s. Did all the twin carb models have a side as well as rear-exit exhaust? 

[Yoss]

Really? The one I had was V registered.

Yes I've seen W regs though I think Fabias were out by then. I think the pick up and Fun went later than that.

[Yoss]

Welcome along.  Top shiting credentials there.

 

Maybe just a tad concerned about what happened in the parish last time someone took matt black paint anywhere near a 1300TC, but... 

Hi, the matt black is of necessity. The original bonnet was damaged during a particularly long front end rebuild. This one is Sienna brown underneath and the wing tops were painted gold in a little experiment at two toning. So as a stopgap I painted all the non Damson bits Matt black. But as in all the best stop gaps that was nine years ago! Now the black has developed its own patina and I rather like it.

[Yoss]

Lovely. The 1300 is easily the best looking of the Ajax cars. My main memory of driving one was that the gearing was painfully low, and those fancy fold-out window winders are more of a pain in the arse than you might expect. Gorgeous looking things though.

Yes the gearing is very low, luckily the engine feels very happy being revved. All moving parts have been balanced, it actually gets quieter over 70. And yes I tend to leave the window winders unfolded despite them being a safety hazard (according to Triumph's sales patter).

[Asimo]

I do like the 1300 with it's proper IRS (aluminium suspension arms in 1965!) and the best front end styling of the whole family. Nice steering too with huge range of rake/reach adjustment. And those window winders. Shame they are all four door, a coupe would have been nice!

Surprised to see your 1300 on Sprint wheels, I thought they couldn't be used on the fwd cars because their offset wasn't massive like the original fit steel wheels.

[Yoss]

Funnily enough I've just been cleaning those aluminium suspension arms. I'm doing a bit of a back end overhaul at the mo including braided brake hoses and copper pipes so I've had the wire brush out before the new stuff goes in. I really should have taken some pics but it's not the most accessible place.

 

The Sprint wheels do stick out more than on the RWD cars as you can see. A little wheelarch modification is required but no cutting. Just folded the lip up a bit, I'm sure you could fold it back if required. I've had Sprint wheels on almost all my 1300s. I also have uprated front springs and shocks and an anti roll bar, advantage of having most of the front end being the same as the Dollys. The handling is sublime. Not necessarily as good as some modern stuff but it's hard to describe but you can feel everything working and know what's going on. It is obviously the most fun to drive of my fleet.

 

If you're worried about your wheelarches Rover Metro alloys fit but I've not seen any I really like. The Sprint wheels are rather iconic.

 

 

 

These two are on Metro wheels.

[worldofceri]

Very nice fleet.  Felicia looks great on those wheels.

[Felly Magic]

Me and the Mrs shoved on a good 50k in less than 4 years to our old pushrod Felicia Magic, sadly it was scrapped after the Mrs hit something at 50-odd mph and damaged a driveshaft and the subframe, that was only a £600 car, and being a Magic, it was fitted with the god awful electric window set up that never worked right

[Yoss]

Very nice fleet.  Felicia looks great on those wheels.

Thanks very much. I think so too. They are probably worth more than the car. My friend bought them for his first Citigo in white but then bought another one, but this time it was a Monte Carlo. That was red with black wheels. He decided the Ronals wouldn't suit it so I got them cheap.

 

I do find people in elderly VWs looking at me. I don't think they even see my Felly they're just coveting my wheels.

[Yoss]

Me and the Mrs shoved on a good 50k in less than 4 years to our old pushrod Felicia Magic, sadly it was scrapped after the Mrs hit something at 50-odd mph and damaged a driveshaft and the subframe, that was only a £600 car, and being a Magic, it was fitted with the god awful electric window set up that never worked right

 

I've got the electric windows on mine. They work fine. You press the button, they go down, press it again they go up. Simples. None of this newfangled one touch business.

[Felly Magic]

Yours will be the aftermarket Bosch ones, not the elcheapo ones with mechanisms made from brie that Skoda fitted at the factory. Most Magics had them removed and replaced with manual mechs, only the Magic & Mk1 Laurin & Klements had factory leccy windows, the rest were dealer fit options using a superior kit

[AMC Rebel]

Welcome Yoss - I am a member and occasional visitor/poster on the75andztclub.co.uk so I recognise your car from there.

 

My ZT-T is languishing in my garage awaiting me getting my arse into gear to finish the engine transplant I started over a year ago.  The replacement is a like-for-like 190 - but I did the belts and put a new water pump (and clutch and slave) before I bolted it all back together and dropped it back in - just need to finish putting it all back together now.  I really like the ZTT in Trophy Yellow - I've only seen one in "the metal" - that belongs to another 75andZT club member.  Mines a boring (but rare) light blue colour and will be worth the square root of zero if I ever finish it.

[Yoss]

Have just arrived at the Midland Hotel, Morecombe with the Felicia

 

 

271 miles so far.

 

Don't know why the picture is sideways. I tried rotating it in my picture gallery but either way comes out sideways on here. You'll just have to rotate your devices.

[Yoss]

Yours will be the aftermarket Bosch ones, not the elcheapo ones with mechanisms made from brie that Skoda fitted at the factory. Most Magics had them removed and replaced with manual mechs, only the Magic & Mk1 Laurin & Klements had factory leccy windows, the rest were dealer fit options using a superior kit

Ahhh, now that explains something. My car has blanking plugs where the manual winders should be showing the electric windows to be an afterthought. But I have seen some with doorcards without the holes which were probably Magics. Mystery solved. Cheers!

 

So now I need a good set of Magic doorcards to improve the look of my car.

[Yoss]

Welcome Yoss - I am a member and occasional visitor/poster on the75andztclub.co.uk so I recognise your car from there.

 

My ZT-T is languishing in my garage awaiting me getting my arse into gear to finish the engine transplant I started over a year ago.  The replacement is a like-for-like 190 - but I did the belts and put a new water pump (and clutch and slave) before I bolted it all back together and dropped it back in - just need to finish putting it all back together now.  I really like the ZTT in Trophy Yellow - I've only seen one in "the metal" - that belongs to another 75andZT club member.  Mines a boring (but rare) light blue colour and will be worth the square root of zero if I ever finish it.

Hi, good to see someone else keeping them going. This forum seems very friendly towards 75/ZTs, which is good.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Just realised how much the Triumph 1300 front end looks like a Simca 1300.

[Yoss]

New addition on the horizon. I was gonna do one of those collection threads but I found this a mere a seven miles away so it wouldn't give you much chance to guess what it is.

 

So I thought I'd post a little clue to get you guessing but then I looked at the car and it's such a distinctive shape that this was all I could come up with that wouldn't instantly give it away:

 

 

Big clue, it still comes from one of the above factories. I'm picking it up Tuesday and taking it straight to MOT as it's been in storage for about two years.

 

More clues tomorrow if you haven't all guessed overnight.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

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[Walter White]

Skoda Favorit.