Landcrabs- Any Good?

[Christine]

My old man had the Austin 1800 S twin carb H reg as a company car TKP338H .. and it looked a bit dated   to me then.. I do remember sticking my fingers in the holes in the steering wheel spokes,and getting  them stuck in the smallest one..    It pulled our caravan ok though . That was ancient too,  like a Hovis loaf shape !    Everyone else was going to Spain. We went to     Devon....in the rain...

  They had to keep the cars  for 3 years or so, but my mates dad then got a  Mk3  Cortina and that looked the utter dogs bollox   to me  .. I couldn't wait for my Dad to get something similar .. 

 

!974 comes , and what does he choose ? Another fucking 1800 !!   Chooses the number too ..TKK 338N  How embarrassing for me for the next 3 years .. Finally, he gets sommat good looking in 1978 , Princess 1800 HL  ! 

Went back quite a few times under warranty though ...

After that we had a Opel Rekord Berlina S , that was streets ahead of Leyland stuff . 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

This has inspired me to find the comparison test between an1800S an 18/85 auto and a 3-Litre In the Motoring Which yearbook for 1969.

The weirdest test ever, especially when they compare dashboards etc, They're all the feckin same!

 

I will dig it out and try to scan it onto here.

[warren t claim]

Wasn't the 1800S fitted with the most powerful production version of the B series engine or did I dream that?

[Christine]

Not many people know,   it was gunna be the basis for a front wheel drive Sherpa  

[dollywobbler]

re the Hopkirk Crab did I dream it or was there a resto feature in Craptical Prassics?

 

I seem to recall being amused that the only thing on the engine that was actually 1800 was the badge! every bit of it was stretched a little

Wasn't a crab. 3-Litre is rather larger, so he nicknamed it the Lobster. My mate has one. It's remarkably pleasant, but less spacious than a crab due to the transmission tunnel. Also vastly long.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Many years ago, probably mid 70s, an old boss of mine had an Austin 3-litre. Long before I knew him. He remembers driving it in busy traffic every day in Edinburgh. When sitting idling at traffic lights the arse of the car would sink right down almost to the road. Then, when the lights changed he'd floor it (an auto which slipped), the rear of the car would rise back up again, and at the same time the old lobster would start to proceed smoothly forwards.

Made me laugh trying to visualise it.

 

Hydropneumatic Citroens do that, but my old 'Crab never did.

 

Did the 3-litre have a different hydrolastic system to the 'Crab ?

[artdjones]

3 Litre has self levelling on the back.Would have been a good idea for some other BL cars.

[flat4alfa]

the handling is surprisingly good for a big car used to get left in a straight line but would catch up with almost anything in the corners.

 

This is what I enjoyed about it so much ^

 

Giant Mini.

[flat4alfa]

Wasn't a crab. 3-Litre is rather larger, so he nicknamed it the Lobster

 

Danny Hopkins you mean?

 

He coined the phrase (AFAIK in print) 'Land Lobster'

[flat4alfa]

Not a crab but my dad had a Princess 2200, the engine was so smooth and quiet, you couldn't hear it or feel it at tick over from inside the car.

I think they were only about 110bhp though?  

 

Unchanged from Landcrab

 

Then-current Zephyr IV was 2.5 Litres, with 113bhp

24 more lb-ft though

[DSdriver]

I havn't driven one since I was a young lad and "courting". I am fully qualified to say that they are much better than an Austin A30.

[flat4alfa]

This is lovely and shows that values are firming.  But they never will go silly

 

Austin 1800 Mk3, rare Black Tulip coachwork, with Spanish Rose (dark red) interior and tan carpets. Just under 33000 miles. 

Car has been completely redone from inside to out including the engine (owner was a mechanic many years ago and long standing Austin restorer, won many trophies at shows for his restorations).

For sale to good home!

Contact: Darren Ellis 07456 779988 email (Norfolk)

 

Offers around £5000

http://www.landcrab.net/mainframes/main_cars_for_sale.htm

 

 

If you buy this I guarantee you'll get your money back next year.   Probably from me!

[Bianconeri]

Love them, even the 3 Litre Lobster.

 

Dad had a new Austin 1800 auto in Harvest Gold on an "L" that lunched its gearbox twice, second time it happened there was a a bit of a 'chat' with Henly's in Bristol and it was replaced by a manual Wolesley Six in Bracken on an "M". He sort of fell out with BL after that apart from a Rover 820 in the early 90s.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Many years ago, probably mid 70s, an old boss of mine had an Austin 3-litre. Long before I knew him. He remembers driving it in busy traffic every day in Edinburgh. When sitting idling at traffic lights the arse of the car would sink right down almost to the road. Then, when the lights changed he'd floor it (an auto which slipped), the rear of the car would rise back up again, and at the same time the old lobster would start to proceed smoothly forwards.

Made me laugh trying to visualise it.

That picture is my favourite type of 3-Litre, a pre-production , vented wheels, no quarter lights and best of all square headlamps. In typical BMC fashion, all the publicity material was of such cars, but as far as I know all the cars the public could buy had 4 round lamps, normal 1800 doors with quarter lights and solid, presumably 1800 wheels.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Another theory out the window, well quartelight.

[Asimo]

The rectangular headlamps make the 3 litre look surprised, as if by having it's arse pinched.

[STUNO]

Wasn't the 1800S fitted with the most powerful production version of the B series engine or did I dream that?

 

I have always felt that my one had been seriously breathed on as it was very fast and as mentioned did not like the regular 3 star fuel it should have used. I bought it from the original company owners who were the local Dodge truck dealers amongst other things so they had the ability to work on a B series.

Co. was Ferraris motors in Cricklewood, London .( 1973 )

 

EDIT. see them here !

 

http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/A._Ferraris

[gordonbennet]

I've had both 1800 and 2200, the 2200 was a pig stupidly heavy at the front though it would plough through 12" deep snow like a 4x4 and actually required re-inforced (XL or van) rated tyres, and i seem to remember an engine oil change required nearly 3 gallons, though it sounded turbine like it wasn't as quick as an 1800S.

 

I've had the engines and boxes out of both, 1800 much easier and you will not believe just how much a 2200 engine and gearbox weighs till your 4 poster lifting frame starts sinking in the road outside.

2200's had 'plunge joints' as inner CV joints instead of the roller bearing hardy spicer type fitted to 1800, i had to order a batch of 50 ball bearings (25/32" how come i can remember that must be 40 years ago) from a machine shop to rebuild those useless plunge joints which had worn to buggery.

 

1800S the one IMHO, sounded lovely too and the AustinMorris versions could have power steering as an option.

[quicksilver]

One thing has always puzzled me about the 3-litre. Of all the brands in their portfolio, why the hell did BMC give it an Austin badge? The poor thing should have been a Wolseley at the very least, perhaps even a Plah. Believe it or not there was supposed to be a Bentley version and I don't think the typical customer would have taken too kindly to a Bentley based on an Austin.

 

Isn't the self-levelling suspension on these a bit idiotic? It maintains whatever attitude it's in when the ignition is turned on so if you load the boot with the engine off it will steadfastly refuse to lift its arse off the ground. A very odd car really that sums up BMC's muddled thinking - take an unpopular transverse-engined FWD car, turn it into an even less popular inline RWD version, then sell it as a luxury car with one of their least prestigious badges and wonder why it flopped.

[Vince70]

My father had a couple of 1800s before progressing to a Maxi then an Ambassdor (with quite a few motors Inbetween normally Rovers ) and really rated them and we would go away on long journeys to the rainy delights of Cornwall and Devon in them.

 

I preferred the early 1966 Bmc Austin one to be honest rather than the later leyland 18/85 he had as it just seemed better quality with beautiful red leather and the minimalist long speedo rather than the horrible skin burning nylon and the conventional dash the 18/85 had plus I think the earlier MK1 just looks more elegant.

 

My dad always carried a can of old engine oil in the back just in case and the old B series never seemed to use a drop.

The cars would of been around 15/18 years old at the time and his mate followed us down to Cornwall one year in his 6 year old Capri and the thing needed the cheap oil and a couple of stops while the old 1800 just plodded along.

 

The only problem he had was one night when parked up there was an almighty bang and we thought a bus had hit it but the suspension had collapsed on one side as I think a pipe had burst but it was repaired and put back on the road again.

 

I was showing him this thread and now he wants sell his cars and buy that lovely Blue Landcrab lol

 

I don't know why but I remember he would never buy a 2200 Landcrab as for some reason he thought they were juicy and trouble but I don't know the reasoning behind it but he had lots of old chod but seemed to know what to buy.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

One thing has always puzzled me about the 3-litre. Of all the brands in their portfolio, why the hell did BMC give it an Austin badge? The poor thing should have been a Wolseley at the very least, perhaps even a Plah. Believe it or not there was supposed to be a Bentley version and I don't think the typical customer would have taken too kindly to a Bentley based on an Austin.

 

Isn't the self-levelling suspension on these a bit idiotic? It maintains whatever attitude it's in when the ignition is turned on so if you load the boot with the engine off it will steadfastly refuse to lift its arse off the ground. A very odd car really that sums up BMC's muddled thinking - take an unpopular transverse-engined FWD car, turn it into an even less popular inline RWD version, then sell it as a luxury car with one of their least prestigious badges and wonder why it flopped.

Presumably the intention was to sell Wolesley and VdP versions later, but it was such a sales flop, they lost confidence.

Remember the 4-Litre R and Wolesley 6/110 were based on humble Austin Westminsters.

I wonder if any plans to make Riley,MG or Wolesley versions of the Maxi ever existed? It's launch predates the Mk3 Cortina and its hierachial trim designations revolution which saw the Allegro and Marina move away from badge engineering.

Anyway, at least they learned from the 3-Litre......oh, wait

[Yoss]

I had an 18/85S auto. Best car I've ever had until the floor disolved. That combination was extremely rare even 25 years ago and I've only seen a couple since. I mean why would you pay extra for the S and then lose the edge with an auto box? But it worked brilliantly. The kickdown was insane. It just seemed to drop it into the perfect rev range. It felt like warp drive. Had a set of Rover SD1 alloys on it with 185/70 14s to curb the under steer.

 

Big brown armchairs up front, handbrake under the dash, gear selector on the dash to the right of the steering wheel, could be very relaxing to drive or you could drive like complete idiot still with only one hand and one foot (power steering too). Surprised a lot of people and a lot quicker than the Wolseley Sixs I had after. Or at least felt a lot quicker, it may have just been a lot noisier.

 

I'll try and dig out some pictures later.

[flat4alfa]

I remember reading that one "3-litre" was built by Austin with the Rover V8. It was used as a road car by one of the very senior engineers. (Turner??). Will check it out later, unless someone knows more. . .

 

I was never into the whole ADO17 thing at all but now find the history and design really interesting. Don't forget there were Oz versions too.

 

Leyland Austraila tested a few oddball mules on the 1800.  One was a V8, although that re-engineered for inline FWD

 

Photo somewhere on the Landcrab Oz Club site, or was.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I had an 18/85S auto. Best car I've ever had until the floor disolved. That combination was extremely rare even 25 years ago and I've only seen a couple since. I mean why would you pay extra for the S and then lose the edge with an auto box? But it worked brilliantly. The kickdown was insane. It just seemed to drop it into the perfect rev range. It felt like warp drive. Had a set of Rover SD1 alloys on it with 185/70 14s to curb the under steer.

Big brown armchairs up front, handbrake under the dash, gear selector on the dash to the right of the steering wheel, could be very relaxing to drive or you could drive like complete idiot still with only one hand and one foot (power steering too). Surprised a lot of people and a lot quicker than the Wolseley Sixs I had after. Or at least felt a lot quicker, it may have just been a lot noisier.

I'll try and dig out some pictures later.

Motoring Which , in this test I keep promising to scan( but don't know how to) recommend that if you were going to buy an auto , to go for the S. A standard auto could barely get out of its own way, certainly their test one couldn't break 90 whereas the manual S was practically as fast as the manual 3-Litre. Although they did mention the S must have 5 star but the 3-Litre and auto 18/85 were happy on 4 star.

[davocano]

[Skut]

Somebody tried racing one at the American 24 hour lemons thing till it blew a displacer. Was rocking a Ford Probe V6.

[tooSavvy]

^^^^

 

lean on me.... 

 

TS

[NorfolkNWeigh]

In the 1968 London to Sydney , 8 of the 56 finishers were in 1800s.

Whilst its success in long distance rallies is (relatively) well known, what I at least , didn't know was that the army campaigned them on stage rallies. Must have been something to do with using what you had and could appropriate spares for- wonder if anyone at the MOD in Whitehall ever queried why senior officer's Staff cars needed rollcages and lots of replacement bodypanels?

[tooSavvy]

I seem to recall something about 'rally regs', at the dawn of 4WD Supercars....

 

"Not fair... not fair on 2WD... where is it allowed in the Regs?"

 

Apparently the Army has been running landies [at the back] for years and there... in the obscure, small print at the back... 4WD was a class 

 

 

as I remember, at least.....

 

 

TS

[Asimo]

Long been a fan of these although I have never driven one.   Some interesting words on them at Autospeed.

 

The first article is background, a discussion of the unique strength of the bodyshell, the sort of thing that was covered in depth by the motoring press of the '60s.

 

(Can you imagine todays What Car Pcp Deal magazine discussing torsional rigidity?)  http://www.autospeed.com/cms/article.html?&A=113020

 

The second is a series of restoration articles. 1800 Utes are bought with a view to making one good out of 2. The restorer (who is a very accomplished, well resourced engineer) gets carried away, opts for a modern engine swap and digs into a hole he can't escape from ending up admitting defeat with just a pile of parts for his trouble.

 

(Should be read by anyone who has ever had any kind of engine-swap fantasy.)  http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_112659/article.html