Danger Zone !

[Sigmund Fraud]

We've had quite a few threads on shite crashworthiness, and the whole "passive safety" subject seems to be a worrying issue for quite a few 'shitters.

 

So I thought we ought to make ourselves feel safer, by looking at the kind of total deathtraps that some people out there dare driving !

 

The archetypal deathtrap for me is the famous Walker Thunderbug :

 

 

Based on a cyclecar that's over a century old, with a custom-built V2 engine that is said to produce around 200HP. The kind of car I'd love to drive to the village shop on a lazy Sunday morning to buy milk and croissants.

 

But you don't have to be rich to kill yourself in style. Here's a less exotic example (currently on ebay for £toomuch) :

 

 

2CV chassis, homebrew spaceframe, BMW bike engine, very little else.

 

 

Come on, then... Show me some more deathtraps !!!

[Ben_O]

Can't think of any right now but i've got Kenny Loggins stuck in my head so thanks for that

[dollywobbler]

This vintage Darracq.

 

A 25-litre V8 aero engine attached to a bed frame. Was a land speed record car. Current owner often drives it to VSCC events.

 

[Negative Creep]

How about a Stimson Scorcher? That aftermarket bit of perspex should work pretty well as an impact-absorbing crumple zone

 

 

[eddyramrod]

Can't think of any right now but i've got Kenny Loggins stuck in my head so thanks for that

I haven't, I've got the theme from Thunderbirds!  Must be a generation thing...

[sierraman]

I’d love to see the frontal crash test on the Stimson. Any Caterham is a bit of a coffin, your legs make up the crumple zone.

[Guest Hooli]

This vintage Darracq.

 

A 25-litre V8 aero engine attached to a bed frame. Was a land speed record car. Current owner often drives it to VSCC events.

 

 

That man is a lunatic of the highest order, the world needs nutters like him to make it worth living.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Any Caterham is a bit of a coffin, your legs make up the crumple zone.

 

At least, most Seven replicas use a proper spaceframe. Unlike T-bucket rods :

 

 

The usual recipe includes a massive V8, drums and crossplies... Most are trailer queens, but there are thankfully enough crazy rodders out there who use them properly (and somehow live to tell the story !).

[castros_bro]

Berkeley Sports SE492 B90,

 

 3 carb aircooled 492cc two stroke triple driving 4 speed sequential gearbox to chain driven diff for FWD.  No chassis just "stressed" fibreglass body sections on fiberglass punt and a couple of  bonded bent steel or aluminium sections so it didn’t collapse when the door was opened.   Called B90 as in 1959 should be capable of 90mph when fresh from the factory.. As raced by Lorenzo Bandini finishing first in the 1958 Monza 12 hour race.     Why I ever bought one or two or three  thinking I could get ant past scrutineering Allah only knows.

 

[tooSavvy]

Did GM sell cars with a 'telegraph pole' steering column..

 

.. which 'pin boarded' you in a frontal.

 

Death stats were significant enough for 'death by pole' to get into PM jargon??

 

"..The turning point appeared to be accident and safety studies conducted in the late 1950s and early 1960s by Cornell University. The findings were shocking. Drivers were being thrown into steering wheels or, worse, impaled on the columns. With no lap belts and poor door latches, 25 percent of the occupants in collisions were being thrown out of their cars.."

 

 

TS

[mercrocker]

Its not always the fast things that can hurt.....

 

Some agricultural stuff packs huge injury potential......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there is nothing quite like slow, almost invisible and having no doors to jump through....

 

 

 

 

Or a combination of handle-bars, rod brakes and wicker-work.   Bonus human shield potential too. 

 

 

 

If all else fails to do you in, just shoot yourself.....

 

 

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

Here's another one : the Bond 875 ! A flimsy, sub-400kg three-wheeler with an Imp Coventry-Climax engine at the back !

 

 

John Surtees was asked to drive one in Brands Hatch, he allegedly hit 100MPH and his lap time was better than the contemporary lap record for saloon cars !

 

Production cars were shipped with a low-compression version of the engine, to make them (slightly) less lethal.

[dollywobbler]

Berkeley Sports SE492 B90,

 

 3 carb aircooled 492cc two stroke triple driving 4 speed sequential gearbox to chain driven diff for FWD.  No chassis just "stressed" fibreglass body sections on fiberglass punt and a couple of  bonded bent steel or aluminium sections so it didn’t collapse when the door was opened.   Called B90 as in 1959 should be capable of 90mph when fresh from the factory.. As raced by Lorenzo Bandini finishing first in the 1958 Monza 12 hour race.     Why I ever bought one or two or three  thinking I could get ant past scrutineering Allah only knows.

 

 

A few of these now have Mini engines. Some are the three-wheeled version. FACT - at the very first Autoshite gathering (at yet another museum that has since closed down), there were some Berkeleys.

[wuvvum]

Here's another one : the Bond 875 ! A flimsy, sub-400kg three-wheeler with an Imp Coventry-Climax engine at the back !

 

 

John Surtees was asked to drive one in Brands Hatch, he allegedly hit 100MPH and his lap time was better than the contemporary lap record for saloon cars !

 

Production cars were shipped with a low-compression version of the engine, to make them (slightly) less lethal.

Even with the detuned engine those things are frighteningly fast when you're sat there with no seatbelts, your arse 6" from the floor and nowt but a lump of fibreglass in front of you.

[mercrocker]

A German friend of mine bought a crashed H2 750 Kwacker with the sole intention of putting the engine in his Berkeley.    Sadly he died of other causes before completing this.

[wuvvum]

Also, thanks to Wobbler for linking to that Darracq video.  The fact that there are still places in this country where one can do that, not to mention men out there with the bollocks to actually do it, makes me very happy.  That's going to become one of my "go to" videos when I need cheering up.

[Dirk Diggler]

https://www.donedeal.ie/vintagecars-for-sale/rare-mini-based-factory-kit-car-stimson-mini-bug/16449680

 

I first saw this for sale and posted it a few months ago; if they'd been common how many people would have simply fell out and died while the unmanned stimson ploughs into bus shelter / primary school / kitten sanctuary

 

Obviously, for safety reasons you'd need some strong twine to tie yourself to it

 

Edited to add; my wife just saw the bicycle / wicker chair combo and said you'd need a larger person in the wicker chair to cushion any impact

[castros_bro]

A few of these now have Mini engines. Some are the three-wheeled version. FACT - at the very first Autoshite gathering (at yet another museum that has since closed down), there were some Berkeleys.

 

The B95 and B105 had Royal Enfield four stroke twins for 95 or 105 mph from factory spec but extra weight, the modded mini ones had the front subframe of mini and usually early imp 12 inch wheels. The tricycle T60 had two stroke twin of 328cc so could be driven on an old bike licence.  The best ever mod had a Saaab two stroke set up in the front of a tricycle T60 but even I was too scared to buy that and got a Bond Bug 850 instead.

[Matt]

This vintage Darracq.

 

A 25-litre V8 aero engine attached to a bed frame. Was a land speed record car. Current owner often drives it to VSCC events.

 

 

Turn of the century car guys were total nutters and I absolutely love it. Imagine taking a Model T, rip the body off, tune the engine, bolt the seat to the frame then race it with virtually no brakes... I wonder what the modern equivalent would be.

[Supernaut]

Turn of the century car guys were total nutters and I absolutely love it. Imagine taking a Model T, rip the body off, tune the engine, bolt the seat to the frame then race it with virtually no brakes... I wonder what the modern equivalent would be.

This, from the ebay tat thread

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Z3-1-9-Spares-or-Repair-winter-project-/202086541628?hash=item2f0d4be93c:g:EugAAOSwPAxZ6dmG

 

With a massive turbo / bigger engine shoved in it.

[vulgalour]

This is a GOOD thread.

[Rod/b]

This all reminds me of professional loony Mr Duck's 1CV. A 2CV sliced up the middle and narrowed with the rear arms flipped over to make a single rear wheel effectively. He used to drive from Prague to Calais to meet up with the Streetsafari CzeckWrecks rally, and then drive it back to Prague over 4 days with the event. On his own.

 

 

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG??

 

Well he could roll it on a motorway and destroy it. And then pose for photos in the wreckage before going to hospital.

 

 

[barrett]

This video doesn't quite convey how much fun this was to watch, but it's worth 15 mins of your time. Definitely made the MM worth going to

[sierraman]

In hindsight the original mini was dreadful in a crash, the protruding fuel cap was apt to shear off in an accident, literally adding fuel to the fire.

[Sigmund Fraud]

We should not forget that the spirit of pre-war deathtraps lives on (at a price, admittedly) in this :

 

 

 

Having said that, the (spaceframe) chassis of the new one is rather more substantial than that of the original :

 

[Stanky]

 

Chris WIlliams Napier Bentley

 

24 litre W12 aero engine from a flying boat in a Bentley chassis. it puts out 550bhp @ 2500rpm and a monster 1400lb/ft of torque. I think it has one gear as thats all it needs. I've witnessed this monster several times which marshalling VSCC events, once it got into a bit of a tank slapper at Silverstone and ejected the driver at speed (no seatbelts) into the graveltrap. He was fine I think but a bit shaken!

 

The engine is a 'high compression' 6.1:1 ratio! it only has brakes on the rear wheels and is reckoned to be capable of about 170mph. It gets 5 to the gallon which is better than I would have thought!

 

it spins up the wheels at any speed, and with the stub exhausts it pops and bangs and fire comes out under any acceleration.

 

utter madness in automotive form. I love it.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier-Bentley

[seth]

The V8 Darracq is one of my most favourite cars ever.  It's only a year too new for the London-Brighton.

[Guest Hooli]

Napier_Bentley_burnout_Mallory_Park.jpg

 

Chris WIlliams Napier Bentley

 

24 litre W12 aero engine from a flying boat in a Bentley chassis. it puts out 550bhp @ 2500rpm and a monster 1400lb/ft of torque. I think it has one gear as thats all it needs. I've witnessed this monster several times which marshalling VSCC events, once it got into a bit of a tank slapper at Silverstone and ejected the driver at speed (no seatbelts) into the graveltrap. He was fine I think but a bit shaken!

 

The engine is a 'high compression' 6.1:1 ratio! it only has brakes on the rear wheels and is reckoned to be capable of about 170mph. It gets 5 to the gallon which is better than I would have thought!

 

it spins up the wheels at any speed, and with the stub exhausts it pops and bangs and fire comes out under any acceleration.

 

utter madness in automotive form. I love it.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier-Bentley

 

That is just incredible.

 

This thread has reminded me I need to get to Goodwood and see these monsters used properly.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Whilst risking death and injury in crazy old cars for fun is one thing , to do so for the smugness of saving the planet* is an entirely different kettle of fish.

 

These things:

Were quite popular in the first decade of the Century, in Central London , anyway.

But why the fuck are there still loads around when a secondhand Leaf or Zoe is only a few thousand.

 

Absolute death traps, a woman was killed when she pulled in front of a Range Rover in North London and apparently the first emergency responders thought she was a pedestrian.

 

I seem to remember Top Gear/ 5th Gear wanting to do a crash test at MIRA or somewhere and they weren't allowed to use a proper dummy because the people there didn't want to destroy the dummy!

[Matt]

Whilst risking death and injury in crazy old cars for fun is one thing , to do so for the smugness of saving the planet* is an entirely different kettle of fish.

 

These things:

image.jpeg

Were quite popular in the first decade of the Century, in Central London , anyway.

But why the fuck are there still loads around when a secondhand Leaf or Zoe is only a few thousand.

 

Absolute death traps, a woman was killed when she pulled in front of a Range Rover in North London and apparently the first emergency responders thought she was a pedestrian.

 

I seem to remember Top Gear/ 5th Gear wanting to do a crash test at MIRA or somewhere and they weren't allowed to use a proper dummy because the people there didn't want to destroy the dummy!

 

Some nutter has one in Dumfries. I'm pretty sure the only dealer was in London so they must have really wanted one to bring it all the way up.