HMC architecte britannique

[AnthonyG]

6 hours ago, HMC said:

#1956 classifieds

Love the phrase ‘well shod’ for the 1925 Fiat being sold by the Hispano Suiza dealer. I wonder how long tires lasted back then, I expect most were expected to do a good decade or so.

Wonder when the proprietor of ‘Clarendon Motors’ stopped attending the Appleby Horse Fair? 

[Yoss]

11 hours ago, HMC said:

Anyone need a cheap diesel MPV ex-royal?

this one maybe (?)

#1956 classifieds

Not just any diesel either, but an AEC. The best diesel out there. So it would have sounded like an old bus. Brilliant. 

[AnthonyG]

‘Regal style and economy have never gone hand in hand like this before’

Even sales bullshit was somehow more elegant in 1956. 

[HMC]

3 minutes ago, AnthonyG said:

‘Regal style and economy have never gone hand in hand like this before’

Even sales bullshit was somehow more elegant in 1956. 

Also ylu can either drive to a farm in berkshire (address supplied) or write to a guy in Ireland about it. Sort of weeds out the timewasters/ my kid bidded on it/ etc

[artdjones]

The "sound" Hispano with Chapron body for £55 looks better value. Or the Aston for £105.

[AnthonyG]

The exotic two door Hispano sounds amazing, and £55 sounds very reasonable, given that’s normally tired Ford Popular territory.

It’s a non runner as well, so no excuses for not slotting in that ex War Department Austin lorry four pot you picked up cheap ‘just in case’. 

[horriblemercedes]

11 hours ago, N Dentressangle said:

If I were to buy a car previously owned by any royal, it would be King Zog.

You just know he'd have never had anything to do with Jeffrey Epstein.

He never even really had anything to do with any other royals - as a self-proclaimed one who basically just presided over a military dictatorship, they mostly felt he was illegitimate 

[AnthonyG]

I remember reading about the 1936 Tirana World’s Fair as a kid, sadly looking on Wikipedia this was obviously satirical as it never happened ☹️! 

Shame, would have been King Zog’s finest hour…

[wuvvum]

On 23/09/2025 at 08:50, Peter C said:

Who got to play you?

I reckon Mark Proksch would be the obvious choice. 

[HMC]

Fleet news-

I no longer own the little 207, loved it but decided to get something bigger as my 2 day post at university has seen me drop off Ms_HMC’s middle teenager, and her 2 friends, at school en route.

I seem to have taken this breif rather seriously as i decided £1400 worth of S class would do. LWB version for extra comfort and multiple charging points for teenage mobile devices, heated seats all round etc.

[camryv6]

9 minutes ago, HMC said:

Fleet news-

I no longer own the little 207, loved it but decided to get something bigger as my 2 day post at university has seen me drop off Ms_HMC’s middle teenager, and her 2 friends, at school en route.

I seem to have taken this breif rather seriously as i decided £1400 worth of S class would do. LWB version for extra comfort and multiple charging points for teenage mobile devices, heated seats all round etc.

Will you be wearing a chauffeur's cap and opening the door for them too ? 

[Peter C]

So much car for the money but so much to go wrong.

I look forward to plenty of updates, all full of praise and good news.

[grogee]

22 minutes ago, HMC said:

Fleet news-

I no longer own the little 207, loved it but decided to get something bigger as my 2 day post at university has seen me drop off Ms_HMC’s middle teenager, and her 2 friends, at school en route.

I seem to have taken this breif rather seriously as i decided £1400 worth of S class would do. LWB version for extra comfort and multiple charging points for teenage mobile devices, heated seats all round etc.

Please get a shot at Crowndale Tip. 

Also, dibs probably 

[HMC]

13 minutes ago, grogee said:

Please get a shot at Crowndale Tip. 

Also, dibs probably 

Will send a courtesy pm if (when) time comes, im not sure i like the styling - but it feels a lot more solid than a w220.

Its a “320 CDI L” but confusingly has a 3.0l V6- its hardly like the “320” label was some sort of iconic calling card for MB after all.

[Lord Sterling]

Ah, a weasel flavoured S-Class Merc. I mean, it's great for getting around and about for daily duties which a "blend in the background" car will do.

My old 407 and these growing ULEZ/CAZ Zones has put me off ever having a diesel ever again.

[richardmorris]

Presumably some financial catastrophe is waiting for it round the corner with a big club?

[jim89]

1 hour ago, HMC said:

Will send a courtesy pm if (when) time comes, im not sure i like the styling - but it feels a lot more solid than a w220.

Its a “320 CDI L” but confusingly has a 3.0l V6- its hardly like the “320” label was some sort of iconic calling card for MB after all.

There's some rear arches right there.....

[EyesWeldedShut]

7 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

Presumably some financial catastrophe is waiting for it round the corner with a big club?

Nah - that'll wait until it goes up to @grogeeland.
There's actually an inverse Bermuda Triangle bounded by Exeter, Okehampton and Plymouth. 
Within the triangle, unicorns and fairies ensure that anything automotive from The Stable of HMC runs like the well oiled machine it once was. But, once the vehicle leaves the magic triangle - the magic is off, gorn, curdled.
Unicorns cannot handle the M5.
Fairies get shot down at Exter Airport as suspected-Russian-not-Russian drones.

Nice car though

 

 

[grogee]

21 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Nah - that'll wait until it goes up to @grogeeland.
There's actually an inverse Bermuda Triangle bounded by Exeter, Okehampton and Plymouth. 
Within the triangle, unicorns and fairies ensure that anything automotive from The Stable of HMC runs like the well oiled machine it once was. But, once the vehicle leaves the magic triangle - the magic is off, gorn, curdled.
Unicorns cannot handle the M5.
Fairies get shot down at Exter Airport as suspected-Russian-not-Russian drones.

Nice car though

 

 

That's true unless you're a local. Once you've lived there for a decade, you get your own lucky Cornish pisky who travels with you and wards off evil breakdown spirits. 

Grogee: south-west till I die (well, 1976 - 1993).

[EyesWeldedShut]

10 minutes ago, grogee said:

Cornish pisky

FiL has a Pisky on his key ring.
Worked for him - only car of his that came a cropper was a Jetta that burned out the loom. VW (Launceston way? Maybe Exeter) flew a new loom in from Germany and repaired it under warranty.
Then my wife parked the car into the front of a butcher's shop in Bude (but she was not using the Pisky key AND she'd moved to the evil Torquay)

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, HMC said:

Fleet news-

I no longer own the little 207, loved it but decided to get something bigger as my 2 day post at university has seen me drop off Ms_HMC’s middle teenager, and her 2 friends, at school en route.

I seem to have taken this breif rather seriously as i decided £1400 worth of S class would do. LWB version for extra comfort and multiple charging points for teenage mobile devices, heated seats all round etc.

3 little girls, sitting in the back seat... 🎶

[grogee]

32 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

evil Torquay

@Marm Toastsmith

Sorry I agree, it's too near Exeter and they're all inbreds 

(I appreciate the irony in this statement) 

[EyesWeldedShut]

3 minutes ago, grogee said:

@Marm Toastsmith

Sorry I agree, it's too near Exeter and they're all inbreds 

(I appreciate the irony in this statement) 

*cough* He's north of the River Teign - you can't taint him with any Torbay-ism afflictions.
Mind you, Dawlish is further up that way and I have it on good authority that cousins marry there. Often.  

[DSdriver]

On 23/09/2025 at 08:34, N Dentressangle said:

Has to be Stratford Johns

Never met the guy but for some reason there was some antagonism between him and my father.

[jim89]

38 minutes ago, DSdriver said:

Never met the guy but for some reason there was some antagonism between him and my father.

You think you might be related?

[Schaefft]

13 hours ago, HMC said:

Fleet news-

I no longer own the little 207, loved it but decided to get something bigger as my 2 day post at university has seen me drop off Ms_HMC’s middle teenager, and her 2 friends, at school en route.

I seem to have taken this breif rather seriously as i decided £1400 worth of S class would do. LWB version for extra comfort and multiple charging points for teenage mobile devices, heated seats all round etc.

Diiiibs! You still have about 12 hours to make this the 3rd car I bought from you while on holidays😂

[DSdriver]

10 hours ago, jim89 said:

You think you might be related?

That's a possibility that hadn't occurred to me 😬

[Schaefft]

14 hours ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Nah - that'll wait until it goes up to @grogeeland.
There's actually an inverse Bermuda Triangle bounded by Exeter, Okehampton and Plymouth. 
Within the triangle, unicorns and fairies ensure that anything automotive from The Stable of HMC runs like the well oiled machine it once was. But, once the vehicle leaves the magic triangle - the magic is off, gorn, curdled.
Unicorns cannot handle the M5.
Fairies get shot down at Exter Airport as suspected-Russian-not-Russian drones.

Nice car though

 

 

Cannot confirm, the triangle's size might be significantly smaller or excludes a very specific section of road up the Dartmoor where the Jag decided to ftp.

That or it was the first time it was properly booted.

[HMC]

The wolseley has been my transport today.  Its running fine but i recon balancing the carbs will be next in my list.

Its a 6 seater so quite practical and spacious, and accessorised.  

And for the top model envisaged as a sort  grand tourer- according to its designer Gerald Palmer- quite compact by our standards today…..

 

[HMC]

ps @Yoss i have found an advert for the Zog bus engined merc from an edition of motor sport earlier the same year (it was reduced to £300 in the later ad)