HMC architecte britannique

[HMC]

Further 12/4 news.

A while back i mentioned the leaky water pump. A constant dripping that was enough to mean you always had to carry water around with you. A make do and mend enthusiast advocated simply by passing it, sat where he was, bearded and in the 50s.

Apparently a fair few of the 12/4 based london taxi fleet did that from the 30s to the 50s- and they did ok*

But they had cooling system different in detail.  And my rad had better be tip top if i was going to rely on thermosyphon cooling. What to do?

I was about to bypass the pump and chuck it away. But i found a spanner in the tool box. Could this be the ‘c shaped water pump spanner” id read about on a facebook page? 

 

yes it was. 

I adjusted very slightly the castellated nut, and the leak is fixed.

[N Dentressangle]

1 hour ago, bezzabsa said:

I feel like you need a rough n ready French chateau to park these outside...the kind that has had 1 family from initial build has outbuildings full of old furniture (and the odd 2cv)

The perfect blend of Modern-ish and vintage

 

Don't tempt him

[HMC]

Fleet news…

A change of work pace (spending a bit more time teaching/ supervising at the university rather than in my work home of 22 years in tavistock l) made me re evaluate how many cars i had, and how risky each one was, and some cash in the bank would be nice.

Hence the maserati was sold to a local farmer, and the 12/4 to a shiter. 

Ive still got the p4- as its old but usable and better able to withstand a life outdoors that the 12/4.

So whats my “modern”?

 

a 2011 navara double cab pick up. Why? well ive always fancied a double cab pick up so wanted to try one.

Its suprisingly economic (i can get over 40mpg(!) and although essentially to euro 5 spec, is on the crossover and doesnt have a DPF. 

Having a car known for snapping its chassis might seem like living dangerously, but then again ive had a maserati quattorporte (which cost nothing except fuel)

[Matty]

I've been using a Hilux as a site van for 5 years now. Surprisingly adept and refined motorway cruisers. That info is of absolutely no use to you in deepest Tavi mind 😁.

Great news that the 12/4 has stayed in the fold. Now could whoever bought it please make him/herself known and stop being a tease. Need to see more of that brilliant old bus.

[Bear]

The only thing that kept me away from a Navara was the part time 4x4 - that's why I went L200/Fullback, as aside from those the only AWD trucks are the posher Amaroks and V6 X-Class.

Quite liked the Navara cabin - at that age it was the most aspirational truck as the Ranger was still pretty crude, too.

[MAF260]

How much did you let that QP go for? I was entertaining ideas of enjoying a wafty barge if it had come up for sale!

[HMC]

4 hours ago, MAF260 said:

How much did you let that QP go for? I was entertaining ideas of enjoying a wafty barge if it had come up for sale!

About 5k, which is what i paid for it.

[MAF260]

3 hours ago, HMC said:

About 5k, which is what i paid for it.

Thanks. That's a decent price!

[tooSavvy]

A 'heavy 12' featured in Bangers + Cash, last night.

🚙💨

[HMC]

Well the 12/4 is with another shiter. Fuzz Townshend even contacted me about it.

Also the p4 has moved to pastures new (also on the forum- wait and see)

Despite all this sensibleness and banking some cash I decided i needed a cheap project to mess about with still. Something to tinker with. Something cheap, and dreadful. Quite dreadful. Kind of looks like hipster transport ATM.

Its better than it looks, honest.

After an easy win and low hanging fruit I unearthed my suspension pump and rather wishfully started cranking it. This caused fluid to piss out of perished flexi  hoses going to the rear displacers. Ah well. Got a pair on order for this little orphan.

[hairnet]

love 1100s hate these

sorry

 

[High Jetter]

Has it got a square wheel, Mister? 😀

[Wibble]

1 minute ago, High Jetter said:

Has it got a square wheel, Mister? 😀

From the year and it being a VP, I’d guess not.

[Peter C]

Stunna!

[High Jetter]

5 minutes ago, Wibble said:

From the year and it being a VP, I’d guess not.

I'd say definitely not, unless someone's put one on. God knows why they would though, they were horrible to steer with.

[Mally]

Careful when jacking it up.

Does the drivers seat protrude through the floor?

[Six-cylinder]

8 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Has it got a square wheel, Mister? 😀

No Vanden Plas's had square steering wheels.

[Six-cylinder]

Date of reg Jan 2020, so where has it been since 1975?

[brownnova]

57 minutes ago, HMC said:

Well the 12/4 is with another shiter. Fuzz Townshend even contacted me about it.

Also the p4 has moved to pastures new (also on the forum- wait and see)

Despite all this sensibleness and banking some cash I decided i needed a cheap project to mess about with still. Something to tinker with. Something cheap, and dreadful. Quite dreadful. Kind of looks like hipster transport ATM.

Its better than it looks, honest.

After an easy win and low hanging fruit I unearthed my suspension pump and rather wishfully started cranking it. This caused fluid to piss out of perished flexi  hoses going to the rear displacers. Ah well. Got a pair on order for this little orphan.

Ooh that’s the one from Llandudno! I was quite tempted! 

[EyesWeldedShut]

4 minutes ago, brownnova said:

Ooh that’s the one from Llandudno! I was quite tempted! 

Got to be a TV sitcom in there?
The Last Allegro From LLandudno?
Allegro Ma Non Troppo?

[lesapandre]

Lovely bit of film of VDP Kingsbury actually making these.

If you fancy a pilgrimage - the main office block is still there for a photo opportunity.

[Weird Car]

1 hour ago, HMC said:

Well the 12/4 is with another shiter. Fuzz Townshend even contacted me about it.

Also the p4 has moved to pastures new (also on the forum- wait and see)

Despite all this sensibleness and banking some cash I decided i needed a cheap project to mess about with still. Something to tinker with. Something cheap, and dreadful. Quite dreadful. Kind of looks like hipster transport ATM.

Its better than it looks, honest.

After an easy win and low hanging fruit I unearthed my suspension pump and rather wishfully started cranking it. This caused fluid to piss out of perished flexi  hoses going to the rear displacers. Ah well. Got a pair on order for this little orphan.

Cooorrr 🤤

[Zelandeth]

Reckon once it's up and going that will probably be quite pleasant to buzz around in.  The front end treatment the VP version got on these just always looked odd to me.  If they were still going for the olde worlde look, almost think keeping the edge of the bonnet straighter and sticking with round headlights, maybe spaced a little further apart might have worked better.  The actual setup used just looks really disjointed to me.  I mean the Allegro is a pretty odd looking thing at the best of times, but to my eye it just didn't survive the VP "dip it in chrome" treatment nearly as gracefully as the ADO16.

Interested to see how you get on with it.  One of those cars I really need to get a proper drive of one day.  Pretty sure I've only driven one Allegro, and that was for about five minutes about 30 years ago, on a private road, well before I had a driving licence!  So it's a very dusty memory.

[D.E]

2 hours ago, Wibble said:

From the year and it being a VP, I’d guess not.

Yep.

[Six-cylinder]

13 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Reckon once it's up and going that will probably be quite pleasant to buzz around in.  The front end treatment the VP version got on these just always looked odd to me.  If they were still going for the olde worlde look, almost think keeping the edge of the bonnet straighter and sticking with round headlights, maybe spaced a little further apart might have worked better.  The actual setup used just looks really disjointed to me.  I mean the Allegro is a pretty odd looking thing at the best of times, but to my eye it just didn't survive the VP "dip it in chrome" treatment nearly as gracefully as the ADO16.

Interested to see how you get on with it.  One of those cars I really need to get a proper drive of one day.  Pretty sure I've only driven one Allegro, and that was for about five minutes about 30 years ago, on a private road, well before I had a driving licence!  So it's a very dusty memory.

I agree the grill looks out of place. Also the whole cars looks rather bulky. Give me an ADO16 any time, even then the VP1300 grill looked slightly too big for the car.

Mrs6C has a VP1500 and I am sure she would lend it to you on request.

[hairnet]

8 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

 Give me an ADO16 any time

 

when a massive botherer doesnt like them

 

[HMC]

I havent taken any photos, but the white VDP is up on stands, the hoses to the rear displacers have had their connections doused in plus gas. And some second hand replacement hoses have arrived from the hydrogas specialist people. The underside looks really sound, wants a bit of wire brush and por15 or something like that. “better than it looks” definitely applies to this little allegro.

They seem to have bred as theres another on its way

oh dear! Pass the meds, matron!

[HMC]

On 13/06/2025 at 19:27, Six-cylinder said:

Date of reg Jan 2020, so where has it been since 1975?

@LightBulbFun i noticed that too. Wonder whats going on there?

[wuvvum]

Oh dear.

Manual or Mills-o-Matic?

[adw1977]

On 13/06/2025 at 21:07, Zelandeth said:

The front end treatment the VP version got on these just always looked odd to me.  If they were still going for the olde worlde look, almost think keeping the edge of the bonnet straighter and sticking with round headlights, maybe spaced a little further apart might have worked better.  The actual setup used just looks really disjointed to me.  I mean the Allegro is a pretty odd looking thing at the best of times, but to my eye it just didn't survive the VP "dip it in chrome" treatment nearly as gracefully as the ADO16.

Allegedly the budget only stretched to changing one panel for the Vanden Plas version, so they changed the bonnet to allow for the more traditional style grille.