Project Dollywobbler's Invacar - Ongoing

[wuvvum]

Really?  I'm only 38 and I remember these being around well into my teens.

[PhilA]

I remember them pottering around the smaller towns as a child, they all disappeared when all the mk3 Cortinas did.

 

Phil

[timolloyd]

This feels like a fitting point to say:

 

'Hang on, I thought all of these were scrapped in 2003' etc etc

[plasticvandan]

I'm 29 and remember them well in the mid-late 90s,tho being a threewheeler freak I obviously knew of them anyway,but I think I used to see 3-4 regularly in Worcester.

[Joey spud]

57th option was opaque glass for blind people

From years back i can recall a Billy Connolly routine where he mentions prescription windscreens and the shock of seeing car occupants with massive heads driving towards you..

 

Good work going here well done sir.

[Louise2cv]

In my early* (okok mid. Early mid.) 30s and I am certain I saw at least 2, one must have been local to Stourbridge.

 

But I was mad about cars from a very young age, so maybe some people just more inclined to notice unusual cars, even as kids?

[Skut]

Forgive me if this has already been answered. But if production ended in what 77 78 and you lose a few every decade due to accidents etc won't you end up with a shortage long before the scheme ended. Did Motability get phased in gradually.

[dollywobbler]

Forgive me if this has already been answered. But if production ended in what 77 78 and you lose a few every decade due to accidents etc won't you end up with a shortage long before the scheme ended. Did Motability get phased in gradually.

 

Yes, it was phased in, from 1977 in fact. Celebrated its anniversary last year. A far better solution in many ways, though I'm sure there were people using Invacars who didn't have a full driving licence. Perhaps that's why the cars lingered on for a remarkable 23 years? By 2002, mobility scooters were viable transport.

[Louise2cv]

On a similar thread to my last post, I am always freaked out by how people are totally oblivious to what cars are.

 

Last week Scarfolk shared a pic with an Invacar and there were comments along the lines of "LOL LOL where's Delboy and Rodney". What the hell?!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

I remember them pottering around the smaller towns as a child, they all disappeared when all the mk3 Cortinas did.

 

Where I used to live, they were not common. I can only remember one resident having one, and I don't remember seeing it after about the mid-1980s. I never saw another after that.

[adw1977]

Yes, it was phased in, from 1977 in fact. Celebrated its anniversary last year. A far better solution in many ways, though I'm sure there were people using Invacars who didn't have a full driving licence. Perhaps that's why the cars lingered on for a remarkable 23 years? By 2002, mobility scooters were viable transport.

 

Here's a clip from the October 1977 Ford Cars brochure. 

Disabled drivers could have a bottom of the range Escort Popular with automatic transmission and remote control door mirror (both not normally an option on the Pop) and extended driver's seat slide.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/61090099@N04/7468087844/in/album-72157630345203864/

 

It's brilliant to see your Invacar motoring again and all your efforts paying off.

 

I remember visiting my Nan in Southport in the late 80s - early 90s and there were loads of these about, lots of retired people in Southport.

[dollywobbler]

Making it my mission to have a drive every day.

 

The original fusebox is knackered. I just can't get a good connection on the fuses. Given there are an entire two fuses, I'm tempted to just fit a couple of in-line blade fuse holders. For now, I just jammed the opposing wires straight into a 25A fuse, and that did the trick.

[cpjitservices]

On a similar thread to my last post, I am always freaked out by how people are totally oblivious to what cars are.

 

Last week Scarfolk shared a pic with an Invacar and there were comments along the lines of "LOL LOL where's Delboy and Rodney". What the hell?!

On't same subject it erks me when folks say 'Robin Reliant' 

 

Nooooo! its a Reliant Robin actually. 

 

It's not a feckin Mondeo Ford is it?

or a Panda Fiat

or a 306 Peugeot 

 

to name but a few - you get the ideas!

[Datsuncog]

There was one Invacar survivor conspicuously in use in Belfast until 2002 - used to be a regular sight parked outside McDonalds at the junction of Castle Place and Donegall Place. Then it just wasn't there any more. A beige 1977 Volvo 244 with a Blue Badge started parking just round the corner not that long after - I'd like to believe that the Invacar owner treated themselves to a chod-tastic upgrade using their new Motability allowance.

[cpjitservices]

Oh and just to add, folks think on Only Fools and Horses its a Robin Reliant, its actually a Reliant Regal 

 

 

Sorry DW, didn't mean to hijack just then!

[quicksilver]

Forgive me if this has already been answered. But if production ended in what 77 78 and you lose a few every decade due to accidents etc won't you end up with a shortage long before the scheme ended. Did Motability get phased in gradually.

Correct me if I'm wrong but weren't far more Invacars made than ever actually issued to drivers? That meant the government always had a huge stockpile and any that were lost were replaced with another from this stockpile. Even at the end in 2003 there were still hundreds stored in warehouses, some of which had seen hardly any use.

[dollywobbler]

I think that's very likely.

[plasticvandan]

at peak i believe 21000 were on issue in the mid 70s.i have the lists of what was in use and what was in store etc and i think in around 1984 it was something like 5000 on issue,500 in reserve,400 in store,or something like that.Even up till the mid 90s,electric and villiers (pre model 70) vehicles were still in use,policy being that only once the last example of any particular type came back from the user could the spares and spare cars be destroyed.

The peculiar end to the Invacar story was that after years of campaigning to get rid of them by disabled activists,on the assumption that they would get a free Mini or similar instead,when the govmt announced they would instead get £5 a week and no vehicle they suddenly wanted to keep the trike.Originally meant to have been phased out in 5 years,they were issued for life or until the user gave them up/transferred top motability)many didnt want a normal car,or couldnt drive even a converted car,so the last one didnt actually get called in until 2004.

[dollywobbler]

Can't agree with the last bit. They were definitely taken off people from 2002. Chap I got mine from said his friend was an emotional wreck, because he'd had to remove all of those cars from their 'owners' over the course of just one week. As they were not owned by the people who drove them, there was nothing they could say or do to stop them. Which is why mine still has a shopping list in it. No warning given. Very sad.

[Zelandeth]

 

The original fusebox is knackered. I just can't get a good connection on the fuses. Given there are an entire two fuses, I'm tempted to just fit a couple of in-line blade fuse holders. For now, I just jammed the opposing wires straight into a 25A fuse, and that did the trick.

 

I'm just going to fit a modern small fuse box to mine (as mine is similarly knackered).

 

It's not visible unless you peer under the dashboard, and given that blown fuses are one of those things that can just happen with no warning, I'd much rather need to try to track down a modern blade type fuse than an old school Lucas glass one if I'm stranded somewhere halfway to or from a show.  Given you can get blade fuses in virtually any roadside filling station or garage, it just makes sense to me.  Plus I think the smallest one I saw had five circuits, gives you plenty of provision for extra fusing in the future.

 

...Especially important I reckon to have easily replaceable fuses given that a blown fuse can totally immobilise the vehicle.

[plasticvandan]

Can't agree with the last bit. They were definitely taken off people from 2002. Chap I got mine from said his friend was an emotional wreck, because he'd had to remove all of those cars from their 'owners' over the course of just one week. As they were not owned by the people who drove them, there was nothing they could say or do to stop them. Which is why mine still has a shopping list in it. No warning given. Very sad.

i said the LAST one was collected in 2004.in the period up to March 2003 they were meant to have found alternatives or gone onto motability,cant say thats the case for everyone though.

[oldcars]

On a similar thread to my last post, I am always freaked out by how people are totally oblivious to what cars are.

 

Last week Scarfolk shared a pic with an Invacar and there were comments along the lines of "LOL LOL where's Delboy and Rodney". What the hell?!

Anything with three wheels is a Robin Reliant 

[dollywobbler]

 

 

...Especially important I reckon to have easily replaceable fuses given that a blown fuse can totally immobilise the vehicle.

 

Indeed so! That's why I've been investigating it. On yesterday's test drive, it just cut out and lost all electrics. I could not get the fuse to carry the current, so ended up using a metal file as a makeshift fuse, just so I could get it back indoors (naturally, it started hailing as soon as it cut out). Even after cleaning up the fuse holders, I still can't get a consistent contact, so sod it. Blade fuses it'll be then.

[dollywobbler]

i said the LAST one was collected in 2004.in the period up to March 2003 they were meant to have found alternatives or gone onto motability,cant say thats the case for everyone though.

 

Indeed. Not disputing your dates, just pointing out that 2002/3 seems to be when patience ran out, and the government insisted they were taken off the road. I dread to think what it was like for Invacar users at the time. I would dearly, dearly love to be able to trace the history of mine.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Indeed. Not disputing your dates, just pointing out that 2002/3 seems to be when patience ran out, and the government insisted they were taken off the road. I dread to think what it was like for Invacar users at the time. I would dearly, dearly love to be able to trace the history of mine.

Apply to DVLA for V5 history. Enclose £5ish cheque. Worked with one of my previous projects - basically they dig deep into the vaults, and photocopy all the historical V5s they have retained for your vehicle.

I’m amazed the service still exists to be honest - do it while you can.

[Zelandeth]

Indeed so! That's why I've been investigating it. On yesterday's test drive, it just cut out and lost all electrics. I could not get the fuse to carry the current, so ended up using a metal file as a makeshift fuse, just so I could get it back indoors (naturally, it started hailing as soon as it cut out). Even after cleaning up the fuse holders, I still can't get a consistent contact, so sod it. Blade fuses it'll be then.

 

Yep...The top fuse holder in mine doesn't work at all (hence all its connections are on one side, completely bypassing the fuse).  The bottom one hasn't caused trouble yet - though that could just be because it's entirely concerned with systems that aren't connected yet due to the loom butchery...

 

This for me comes under the same heading as using metric fasteners to replace things like body retaining bolts...It just makes sense and will make your life so much easier in future that it's worth sacrificing a little originality.  Keep the original one in a carefully labelled box, then if someone in future wants to return it to original it's a trivial job for them to do.

[SiC]

I’m amazed the service still exists to be honest - do it while you can.

I don't think it does as of around September last year. I'd love to have known more about my MGB.

[SiC]

Those Lucas glass fuses are readily available from those orange Autobar boxes. I think I last picked a couple up from The Range. New fuse boxes with 2 positions should be readily available from most classic car part stockists. They're used in loads of British cars of the time.

[SiC]

Is it like this?

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F173035955140

 

Nothing really wrong with glass fuses. They get a bad reputation mostly because the fuse boxes are pushing 40 years old now and all dirty.

 

You may be able to restore it by just give all the contacts a good clean with a wire brush on a Dremel.

[plasticvandan]

My mate Stuart who ran the I.c.r should still have all his archive,he can trace every issued vehicles history,or at least he could.