HMC- Return of the Cheeky 500

[ETCHY]

Great little motor. 

I think they were actually taken off the normal production line and transported to Vanden Plas.  So it's not just some badge that's been added (e.g. Ghia) it's been fettled at a proper coach builders. 

[adw1977]

12 minutes ago, ETCHY said:

Great little motor. 

I think they were actually taken off the normal production line and transported to Vanden Plas.  So it's not just some badge that's been added (e.g. Ghia) it's been fettled at a proper coach builders. 

That's true, they were taken to the Vanden Plas works at Kingsbury for finishing, the last model to be made that way.  Later Vanden Plas badged Ambassadors, Maestros etc. were just a higher spec built on the same production line as the L, City or whatever.

[camryv6]

54 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Lovely wee car that. You're all wrong about the recess on the picnic table though. It's designed to hold a bottle of cold tea, as was the tradition in picnicking, although probably 20 years earlier.

Thermos flask cup surely ?

[NorfolkNWeigh]

12 minutes ago, camryv6 said:

Thermos flask cup surely ?

[tooSavvy]

22 hours ago, bramz7 said:

"..and to be honest I don't really have enough (or really any) class for a Vanden Plas."

Not CLASS for the Vanden Plas .....

..... but Lahh - de - DAHH....

[ETCHY]

Might be of interest 

[wuvvum]

How are you getting on with the gearbox so far?

[BorniteIdentity]

17 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

How are you getting on with the gearbox so far?

You’ll have to give him more than 17 minutes to reply, he’s just getting up to speed. 

[BorniteIdentity]

Speed*

[somewhatfoolish]

Nice that the Kebab house is by appointment* to King George VI. Fitting.

[HMC]

4 hours ago, wuvvum said:

How are you getting on with the gearbox so far?

I haven’t driven it much so far, I’ll give it a run once I’ve tweaked the timing and choose a Devon hill to try it out on.

[BL Bloke]

As a former owner of two VP1500s and two A35s I thoroughly approve of your latest purchases. I've never driven an A30 but my A35s (2 door saloon and 1098cc van) were both used daily back in the 80's.    

[lesapandre]

VDP showroom survives at former factory site if you fancy a run sometime.

https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/vanden-plas/in-production-vanden-plas-kingsbury-works/

[lesapandre]

Amazing vid of Kingsbury. Did they really have Farinas knocking about in 1974.

 

[wuvvum]

If you think about it, the last Farinas would only have been 3 years old then.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

9 hours ago, lesapandre said:

Amazing vid of Kingsbury. Did they really have Farinas knocking about in 1974.

 

At about 3.25 in that video, Tony selects Drive and almost gets whiplash!  Operator error or a sign of why the AP 4 speed has such a bad reputation.

9 hours ago, wuvvum said:

If you think about it, the last Farinas would only have been 3 years old then.

Not  4 Litre VdPs, they stopped in May 1968 , according to a 1974 What Car? I happen to have to hand Used values less than a 1300 at between £170 and £430 for a 1967. Compared to £315 to £465 for the Ado16 , I suppose there was an oil crisis on. Presumably why there was a waiting list for the VdP 1500.

Definitely a good time to buy a barge 

Viscount £100 to £275

Executive £135 to £290

Imperial £65 to £200
 

The 1500 was £1950 plus £153 for the auto. That made it more expensive than a 2000E Cortina, Humber Sceptre or R16 TX. A basic 1500 Allegro was £1556.

[New POD]

19 hours ago, camryv6 said:

Thermos flask cup surely ?

I remember going on a day trip from Middleton Cheney to Burgh-tone on Wartar via Stow on the Wold with my nan and grandad.  

We stopped half way, got out a picnic table and a primus stove and made a proper pot of real tea.  No tea bags. They even had a tea strainer.  Cups were some sort of decorated melamine.  

They saved the thermos flask for if it rained.  They'd never pay for refreshments when out.  

I also recall that whilst thier 1500 VP was a 5 speed, my grandad should have bought an auto.  He never seemed to leave 3rd gear.  He started off in 3rd and rode the clutch.  

He got a driving licence in the early 30s before they had a test. 

[lesapandre]

1 hour ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

At about 3.25 in that video, Tony selects Drive and almost gets whiplash!  Operator error or a sign of why the AP 4 speed has such a bad reputation.

Not  4 Litre VdPs, they stopped in May 1968 , according to a 1974 What Car? I happen to have to hand Used values less than a 1300 at between £170 and £430 for a 1967. Compared to £315 to £465 for the Ado16 , I suppose there was an oil crisis on. Presumably why there was a waiting list for the VdP 1500.

Definitely a good time to buy a barge 

Viscount £100 to £275

Executive £135 to £290

Imperial £65 to £200
 

The 1500 was £1950 plus £153 for the auto. That made it more expensive than a 2000E Cortina, Humber Sceptre or R16 TX. A basic 1500 Allegro was £1556.

Absolutely fascinating thanks.

Sentiment aside it's those kind of contemporary price lists that shows what people really thought of various cars at the time. 

The Imperials were expensive cars - but not much love there by 1974.

I have some Motor Show guides of the 60's and prices are interesting - Fords like the Cortina were always significantly less than the contemporary Rootes cars for example.

Looking more closely the Farinas look like VDP 3-litres which were out of production by 1964. They might be worker's cars or in for some work.

Petrol prices were a big deal after the Oil Crisis so a VDP Allegro must have made sense. 

What a fantastic place VDP looks.

[HMC]

I recon they are staff cars, it’s a bit like visiting a marque specialist these days- there’s more than the odd staff member that drives one of the cars - been there years on the payroll and immersed in the place. Sad that it was closed down in 1979 and that was that.

Apparently the very last VDP allegros were then trimmed in the MG works in Abingdon after being transported down from longbridge  and shortly after that it just stopped being a thing.

[lesapandre]

I think the VDP name is owned by Nanjing Auto? 

[Stevebrookman]

Friends father had one of the last ones. It was beige and on an X I think. I remember it was very quiet inside. 5 speed manual.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Thought this a perfect opportunity to drag out one of my favourite Giant Tests. Courtesy of @trigger‘s road tests. This of course features the only Mark3 VdP, which I think currently resides at Gaydon.

In 1989 I changed my company Orion Ghia Injection for a Belmont CDi, first thing I did was peel those stripes off the boot lid and remove all the badges, partly because of this test and the ridicule poked at people that drove them, my excuse was it was the fastest thing on the list- obviously at 25 I probably wouldn’t have gone for a VdP even if it were available. Now, though...

[HMC]

Brilliant!

[HMC]

On 5/18/2020 at 12:53 PM, ETCHY said:

Great little motor. 

I think they were actually taken off the normal production line and transported to Vanden Plas.  So it's not just some badge that's been added (e.g. Ghia) it's been fettled at a proper coach builders. 

I’ve got a heritage cert and a VPOC build cert in the history- I’ll post them up. It gives the build as a series of dates which presumably include time spent being sent down to the Kingsbury works and the time at VP (+\- a strike at longbridge- it was 1979 after all.)

[Skizzer]

That CAR Giant Test is superb.  Russell Bulgin was at his absolute best when properly irritated by something crass, like the Orion 1600E.

Heaven knows what he’d make of modern cars. I speculate that the Ford Ecoboost, BMW Active Tourer, Audi Q2 and every MG only exist because their manufacturers know that Bulgin is no longer around to call them on it. 

[HMC]

Agreed on Bulgin. I liked that he was not reverential of esteemed brands. I remember He did a road test on a 911 in 1989 (on the new to the market 964) and was not afraid to call out it’s many shortcomings and the culture surrounding it in a way few testers of the time did (CAR are keen on that article too as they have it accessible on their website...)

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/amp/features/opinion/russell-bulgin/911-thanks-but-no-thanks-car-magazine-july-1989/

[wuvvum]

Bulgin and Setright made quite a pair.  Both gone too soon.

[HMC]

1 hour ago, Skizzer said:

That CAR Giant Test is superb.  Russell Bulgin was at his absolute best when properly irritated by something crass, like the Orion 1600E.

Heaven knows what he’d make of modern cars. I speculate that the Ford Ecoboost, BMW Active Tourer, Audi Q2 and every MG only exist because their manufacturers know that Bulgin is no longer around to call them on it. 

I love that they published it. The ultimate statement and maybe I’ve got the old rose tinted specs on but I don’t really see much like it today. The mag and Bulgin (and setright @wuvvum)

[worldofceri]

9 hours ago, lesapandre said:

I think the VDP name is owned by Nanjing Auto? 

I've always thought that BMW still own all the Rover Group brands, including the historic ones that were already defunct before they took over, but I could be misinformed.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

47 minutes ago, worldofceri said:

I've always thought that BMW still own all the Rover Group brands, including the historic ones that were already defunct before they took over, but I could be misinformed.

 

47 minutes ago, worldofceri said:

I've always thought that BMW still own all the Rover Group brands, including the historic ones that were already defunct before they took over, but I could be misinformed.

This list seems to cover everything

https://www.aronline.co.uk/history/history-brand-ownership/