Project Dollywobbler's Invacar - Ongoing

[Kiltox]

I love the fact these are being saved but what an awful piece of British motoring/healthcare history they are. Really quite disgusting.

 

I don’t remember ever seeing one but then I’m probably too young.

[3VOM]

How about turning the second one into a fun but useless trailer for the first?

Set up backwards so the combination looks like a push-me-pull-you.

[beko1987]

I've taken a chunk out of the bodywork on the offside,

 

Nae worries!

[dollywobbler]

Set up backwards so the combination looks like a push-me-pull-you.

 

I was wondering what it'd be like to drop the body from one onto a Morgan 3-wheeler chassis. Not sure the reverse-rake rear window would be helpful though...

[richardthestag]

I was wondering what it'd be like to drop the body from one onto a Morgan 3-wheeler chassis. Not sure the reverse-rake rear window would be helpful though...

 

reverse rake windscreen and addition of pantograph wiper

 

 

[Jon]

Don't think I've chipped in with a comment yet but I think these are great and I'm glad that so many have been saved. Hopefully, it should be a relatively painless overhaul and you'll be back buzzing about on the streets soon enough. 

 

Mrs_Jon & I started seeing each other in 2002 and I distinctly remember sighting one in York when we were together one day, so there was at least one shite stalwart locally holding onto one to the bitter end. I'd totally forgotten about them by that time but they were a core part of street scenery when I was growing up in the early-mid eighties but just like half pennies and those red and white stripey tents that workmen used to cover holes with, they disappeared overnight.

 

 

4 years ago, I brokered a deal with my cousin to buy a Fiat 500 locally, for £2500 (!!!). It was owned by this fella, who had previously owned a much more interesting machine:

 

 

 

 

Yes, at least one Harper Mk6 Invalid Carriage made it to New Zealand! 

 

 

 

 

 

I know what it's called, from the correct identification back in 2013 by one Scott Barrett. Anyway, I think the owner was attracted to the Invacar, as he'd suffered a stroke in 1983, so perhaps it was easy to pilot. That said, it didn't stop him buying the 500 in the 1990's and driving it all over NZ, despite him having effectively lost the use of the right side of his body. The test drive of the 500 was truly an eye opener, as he drove a 3 pedal car with his left foot only - approaching a T Junction downhill and having to give way was particularly terrifying. Suffice to say, much use of 4th gear was utilised during the trip.....

[Ben_O]

Do you know what the plans are for the other Invacars that were rescued Ian?

[richardmorris]

This is what Autoshite is all about - genuine shared love of something most people have gladly forgotten. A thought occurs in regard to telling an AC from an Invacar and I reckon the registration is the biggest clue as they all seem to have been registered in Essex or Surrey. Essex reg = Invacar made in Thundersley, Surrey reg = AC made in Thames Ditton.

 

I’m not sure I have genuine love for these. More a horrified fascination of “what’s going to happen next.”

I’m sure Michelin X tyres probably cost more than the vehicle!

 

 

I am pleased that someone is resurrecting one or two though.

[Yoss]

Ha ha. I thought that number looked familiar.

 

 

This is my Triumph boot key.

Or locking fuel cap key, I can't remember now. Don't leave it parked anywhere near me.

 

 

To be honest it'd probably open that abandoned Vitesse that's not abandoned on the other thread if you want me to pop up and move it round the corner.

[Honey Badger]

I love the fact these are being saved but what an awful piece of British motoring/healthcare history they are. Really quite disgusting.

 

I don’t remember ever seeing one but then I’m probably too young.

 

A dedicated national system to help the disabled become mobile at no cost to the user, it was probably years ahead of anywhere else in the world! 

 

Have a word with yourself and think about the type of cars being driven by the general public when these were being issued, don't judge them against modern cars and the current climate of seeing insult and discrimination in everything.

 

A mix of ATF and acetone down the bores might help free things up, might smoke a bit when it starts up though!

[Timewaster]

FS880 fits all sorts of things. I've seen them on metal cabinets, key safes, toolboxes, garage doors...

 

I used to have one on my keys for a document safe but it opened all sorts of stuff.

[barrett]

I don't remember seeing that red Harper, Jon, but glad to be of service. Was that over at 'the other place'?

I'd love a late Harper, what a sexy, seductive little minx of a car. I always thought the Model 70 rather too utilitarian, but the Harper was clearly drawn with a little panache. Do you know if that one is still knocking about?

[dollywobbler]

Do you know what the plans are for the other Invacars that were rescued Ian?

 

No idea. The chap who has had them has a massive stash of parts and Invacars though, so perhaps he'll get some roadworthy again.

[Jon]

Yeah, that Harper was identified at another motoring forum catering to low interest vehicles. But actually, I was able to remember the specifics of it being a Mk6 from a google image search of 'Harper Invacar', which showed this:

 

 

Which was correctly identified as someone on IMCDB as identifying it as a Harper Invacar Mk6. They went by the user name of barrett!

 

 

 

Anyway, I know it sold to someone in the south island before I bought the 500 but I'm not sure how long prior it had been passed on. Presumably it does still exist, as someone travelling that far over two separate islands will have known what they were buying.

 

 

Also, I dug out my trusty copy of The Dumpy Book of Motors and Road Transport (passed on from my Dad, who had it from new):

 

 

 

 

To get a photo of the line-up of current AC models of the time:

 

 

One of those is not like the other.

[Timewaster]

I love the fact these are being saved but what an awful piece of British motoring/healthcare history they are. Really quite disgusting.

I don’t remember ever seeing one but then I’m probably too young.

I can't agree with you there. As Honey Badger points out this was the early 70s and a lot of people were still bumbling about in bubble cars and Bonds and such like.

Lack of power steering and scarcity of automatics would have meant adapting 70s cars to enable the disabled to drive them would be difficult.

The Invacar wasn't a million miles from the basic mainstream cars of the day and would have meant freedom and independence for thousands who had previously been reliant* on others for transport.

 

Think of them as an early mobility scooter. 80s Batterycar mobility scooters were expensive, enormous and had a very limited range so weren't much of an option.

[eddyramrod]

I've got a 1960 edition of that Dumpy book!  In fact I might even have two.  I would say yours is an earlier edition, maybe 1958 or so?

[dollywobbler]

OMG SLAMMED YO WELL KOOL INNIT BRUV.

[junkyarddog]

So cool it's covered in frost!

[Sloth in a bowl]

Cool? That's sub-zero

[John F]

OMG SLAMMED YO WELL KOOL INNIT BRUV.

 

One Leg, Lose It...!

[richardthestag]

cooler than penguin piss

[steveo3002]

whats the score on the vintage tyre place....are they new repo tyres or sat on a shelf sinse the 1970s ? 

[dollywobbler]

whats the score on the vintage tyre place....are they new repo tyres or sat on a shelf sinse the 1970s ? 

 

They are brand new tyres. Michelin only started re-making this size in 2016.

[Sheefag]

I'm afraid I've not read all 19 pages so apologies if this pic is a repost.

 

When I was a kid, they were allowed into football grounds for the ultimate in disabled access - not sure how toilet requirements worked out though.

 

[John F]

...not sure how toilet requirements worked out though.

 

I suspect a small puddle of wee would have formed on the ground under the Invacar in question.

 

And then perhaps some newspaper spread on the seat in the case of a number 2, to be rolled up & thrown at the goalie if he's not perceived to be doing his job properly.

[UltraWomble]

 

 - not sure how toilet requirements worked out though.

 

 

[Sheefag]

How do you get a chest of drawers into one of those though?

[Pillock]

My only memory of seeing one of these in the wild is Mansfield, some time in the mid 1980s, parked outside Tandy. I don't remember it being an odd sight, just can't remember anywhere else I've seen them.

[timolloyd]

The memory that connects all my sightings of these as a boy, is that they were always parked up on a pavement. Are they the only road registered vehicle that you were allowed to drive on the pavement?

[dollywobbler]

The memory that connects all my sightings of these as a boy, is that they were always parked up on a pavement. Are they the only road registered vehicle that you were allowed to drive on the pavement?

 

I'm not sure they were allowed to, but I imagine a blind eye was turned. These were the mobility scooters of their day.