HMC architecte britannique

[HMC]

1 hour ago, Spottedlaurel said:

I liked our Acclaim a lot, we had it from something like 1996-2000. Owned from new by stepdad's father, then we had it to replace the elderly Datsun 1200 used by the future Mrs SL.

 

Took it to France a couple of times:

Depite being fairly low mileage it started getting a bit smoky and oddly the edge of the roof was getting rusty. We sold it cheaply and I think it got banger raced.

This one at Medler's yard intrigued me:

 

Ballade first registered here in 1986. All sorts of subtle differences.

There were loads of Acclaims in the yard in the late '90s. When an HGV hit the back of ours I had no problem going there and finding a decent secondhand bumper (maybe off one of the pair of them in the background).

Brilliant! Love seeing photos from your archive

Meanwhile Mr-H (i usually dislike naming cars but the end of the numberplate is what it is 😂) has been used as a local runabout - its fantastic for that.

It also smokes a little (when hot, on the overrun) and is getting / has got rusty in quite a few places sadly, Although the roof is mint 😂

[Richard_FM]

My  Gran had an Acclaim for many years, which was replaced in 1989 by a Rover 200 in the same shade of metallic blue as Hyacinth Bucket's!

[HMC]

Went to my job 1 day a week at the university- this year im on the plymouth campus. Took the Gfs daughter and a friend to school en route.

The acclaim dropped onto 3 cylinders on the way back. It also got quite hot in traffic, the fan cut in, but it was smoking quite a bit.

Brave soldier needs TLC for sure. It felt like a right banger.

[High Jetter]

5 hours ago, HMC said:

Went to my job 1 day a week at the university- this year im on the plymouth campus. Took the Gfs daughter and a friend to school en route.

The acclaim dropped onto 3 cylinders on the way back. It also got quite hot in traffic, the fan cut in, but it was smoking quite a bit.

Brave soldier needs TLC for sure. It felt like a right banger.

It still has presence, beside modern shite. Always liked the sharp lines, and the drive.

[lisbon_road]

I remember these well.  They were excellent cars and didn't seem to go especially rusty - unlike the next generation which were spectacular.  Good cars generally, I do wonder if as a 'new initiative' they made a lot of effort with them.

[Hertz]

15 hours ago, HMC said:

Went to my job 1 day a week at the university- this year im on the plymouth campus. Took the Gfs daughter and a friend to school en route.

The acclaim dropped onto 3 cylinders on the way back. It also got quite hot in traffic, the fan cut in, but it was smoking quite a bit.

Brave soldier needs TLC for sure. It felt like a right banger.

"Who have you got for Business Studies?"

"Mr HMC"

"Oooh the one with the shite cars?"

"Yeah that's him"

"He's gone down hill since the Rolls, quite fit though"

 

[grogee]

15 hours ago, HMC said:

Went to my job 1 day a week at the university- this year im on the plymouth campus. Took the Gfs daughter and a friend to school en route.

The acclaim dropped onto 3 cylinders on the way back. It also got quite hot in traffic, the fan cut in, but it was smoking quite a bit.

Brave soldier needs TLC for sure. It felt like a right banger.

IMO the cooling is a bit marginal, I suffered two OMGHGFs with mine. Radiator looks too small to me. Be vigilant with temp gauge. 

I remember many summer trips with the heater on full blast trying to keep the thing away from the red. 

[captain_70s]

16 hours ago, HMC said:

The acclaim dropped onto 3 cylinders on the way back. It also got quite hot in traffic, the fan cut in, but it was smoking quite a bit..

 

How much 4 the bumpers m9?

Mine used to get quite hot but it only had about 1/16th of the cooling fins on the rad still intact...

[neil1971]

Not my photo but spotted the 300C at Ringwood Cheetahs banger track, fortunately only in the car park!

[Schaefft]

7 hours ago, neil1971 said:

Not my photo but spotted the 300C at Ringwood Cheetahs banger track, fortunately only in the car park!

Still kicking myself for not jumping on this immediately!

[HMC]

Safrane has been sold on, as has the Acclaim.   The GS also has (the latter 2 to shiters, and the GS to a person interested when it was  first offered up in the summer.)

The Samara is due to be on the road by the end of this week. Its not my only car though….

[Schaefft]

6 minutes ago, HMC said:

Safrane has been sold on, as has the Acclaim.   The GS also has (the latter 2 to shiters, and the GS to a person interested in in when it was  first offered up in the summer.)

The Samara is due to be on the road by the end of this week. Its not my only car though….

Shame about the Safrane, hope it went to a good home. For this one just want to very clearly say DIBS though! Was always interested in the XK8.

[Matty]

9 minutes ago, HMC said:

Safrane has been sold on, as has the Acclaim.   The GS also has (the latter 2 to shiters, and the GS to a person interested in in when it was  first offered up in the summer.)

The Samara is due to be on the road by the end of this week. Its not my only car though….

Still a staggeringly good looking car.

[cbowditch]

They look great but I didnt enjoy the driving experience. Very floaty but you still crash over potholes and zero handling, power is on par with a 2.0 litre not a 4.0 litre as well, I was disappointed so moved it on

[neil1971]

13 hours ago, Schaefft said:

Still kicking myself for not jumping on this immediately!

There's been so many great bargains from @HMC,  we don't look at the forum for a couple of hours and miss out on something that's been snapped up straightaway! If I remember correctly, this popped up for sale in Wales for lot more money quite soon afterwards.

[HMC]

1 hour ago, cbowditch said:

They look great but I didnt enjoy the driving experience. Very floaty but you still crash over potholes and zero handling, power is on par with a 2.0 litre not a 4.0 litre as well, I was disappointed so moved it on

I know what you mean, i think the big low profile but cheap brands on this one doesnt help.

Fat, cheap tyres must be par for the course for a poundland grand tourer.

[Cluffy]

19 hours ago, HMC said:

Safrane has been sold on, as has the Acclaim.   The GS also has (the latter 2 to shiters, and the GS to a person interested when it was  first offered up in the summer.)

The Samara is due to be on the road by the end of this week. Its not my only car though….

That reg is so close to the coupe I used to have! I thought it was my old car for a second..!

[HMC]

Drove to university in the XK8. The radio isnt working but the engine makes a nice soundtrack. 

[cbowditch]

is the exhaust non standard? Mine was quiet as a mouse. Also, it only did about 15mpg lol. The trip computer vastly over exaggerates!

[Bren]

On 29/09/2024 at 21:16, HMC said:

Safrane has been sold on, as has the Acclaim.   The GS also has (the latter 2 to shiters, and the GS to a person interested when it was  first offered up in the summer.)

The Samara is due to be on the road by the end of this week. Its not my only car though….

Stunning. But their abilty to dissolve like a gaviscon put me off these.

[HMC]

1 minute ago, Bren said:

Stunning. But their abilty to dissolve like a gaviscon put me off these.

Me too. I was able to put this one on a lift to have a good look at the underside before i  went any further. Im planning to dunk it in a bucket of bilt hamber.

[Peter C]

34 minutes ago, HMC said:

Im planning to dunk it in a bucket of bilt hamber.

That will benefit the next owner.

Do you think you will ever find a car and keep it indefinitely? I’ve had my W123 for almost 15 years and will never sell it, I want to be buried in it.

[HMC]

9 minutes ago, Peter C said:

That will benefit the next owner.

Do you think you will ever find a car and keep it indefinitely? I’ve had my W123 for almost 15 years and will never sell it, I want to be buried in it.

Probably not

[Marm Toastsmith]

22 hours ago, HMC said:

Me too. I was able to put this one on a lift to have a good look at the underside before i  went any further. Im planning to dunk it in a bucket of bilt hamber.

If only it was that easy! 

[mintwth]

1 hour ago, Marm Toastsmith said:

If only it was that easy! 

It'd be easier with a swimming pool of bilt hamber

[HMC]

A small win on the xk8. The windows wouldnt go back up after the door was shut into the seals. Initially i suspected electrical gremlins- (how prejudicial of me) but actually all that was needed was a simple reset process- fully down/ fully up and normal service has been resumed. 

I think this was a sort of high days and holidays plaything so im looking forward to putting some miles on it simply as A CAR.  A perverse counterpoint to an EV.

Whats worse- maintaining and driving or this buying / having manufactured a new EV? 

[Schaefft]

2 hours ago, HMC said:

A small win on the xk8. The windows wouldnt go back up after the door was shut into the seals. Initially i suspected electrical gremlins- (how prejudicial of me) but actually all that was needed was a simple reset process- fully down/ fully up and normal service has been resumed. 

I think this was a sort of high days and holidays plaything so im looking forward to putting some miles on it simply as A CAR.  A perverse counterpoint to an EV.

Whats worse- maintaining and driving or this buying / having manufactured a new EV? 

You'd have to drive the Jag for years to get to the level of energy consumed from just building the EV, nevermind driving the EV afterwards. If they continue to be the throwaway products that they are due to battery failure/cost of replacement then even more so. 10 year old Model S' get written off left and right because of the cost of repair (battery replacement).

This applies to most new cars nowadays though. The XK is already lasting longer than most of them will.

[Dan_ZTT]

2 hours ago, HMC said:

Whats worse- maintaining and driving or this buying / having manufactured a new EV? 

Probably just comes down to how many miles you do, a few thousand a year the jag would be the environmentally friendlier option. Someone doing 20k a year for work an EV would make back the outlay much quicker as it were, in money terms too as well as the environmental side.

[loserone]

55 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

This applies to most new cars nowadays and 20 years ago.  This XK is already lasting longer than most of them did.

Ftfy.  Cars are treated as disposable which is bad.  Let's say @HMC keeps this for a long time and in so doing avoids the production of a new car.  This is of course a benefit.

 

It seems unlikely though.

 

Having said that I guess having @HMC as an owner generally increases the lifespan of a vehicle Vs it being bought by someone else who just scraps it.  

[Schaefft]

11 hours ago, loserone said:

Ftfy.  Cars are treated as disposable which is bad.  Let's say @HMC keeps this for a long time and in so doing avoids the production of a new car.  This is of course a benefit.

 

It seems unlikely though.

 

Having said that I guess having @HMC as an owner generally increases the lifespan of a vehicle Vs it being bought by someone else who just scraps it.  

I think the treatment of cars hasn't changed all that much. The difference is that cars from 20+ years ago give you a good chance of keeping them going. Anything more recent (there is no clear year, just a trend) is quickly ending in a financial dead end. I.e. a battery replacement.