Project Dollywobbler's Invacar - Ongoing

[quicksilver]

Spaz Chariots! Grim, so very very grim. I didn't think it possible but you've bought something that makes your 2CV look like the height of luxury and sophistication.

[Lacquer Peel]

 

 

Nah, what you want* is a Kubota diesel engine.

Now you're talking. Veg fuelled Invacar.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

All very odd.

[plasticvandan]

Mr Dollywobbler,PM me, for many,many years i have been close friends with the guy who ran the invalid carriage register,and i myself have a largeish collection of information and literature on these things,having had a long interest in them (my grandad used to repair,service and give driving tuition on them in the 60s.) The AC built ones can be easily put back on the road as they were registered as tricycles.The Invacar built ones not so due to being registered as Invalid carriages,i believe it can still be done though.The register paved the way for all survivors to be allowed back on the road.

I saw these 13 come up on ebay and was hopeful they would be saved.There are a number of collectors out there,a few of which have large amounts of spares for the Steyr engined model 70s.

[richardthestag]

 

could have warned me about the Range Rover 2 door porn in that vid. nearly spaffed me kecks

[bezzabsa]

OK not normally something I do

BUT

 

CAN WE LOSE THE WORD S P A Z  FROM HERE PLEASE

 

I have an Autistic son and this word grates so horribly..I know few folk use it in jest but believe me its a horrid word...

 

 

Rant over-ish

[Felly Magic]

OMG Ian, you have just won Autoshite forever

[omegod]

Field of dreams, some cones and 2 invacars , one hell of a race could happen ! top choddage but I'm fu*kin fuming it's not a Lonsdale 

[garethj]

DW, that is absolutely excellent work.  I'd offer to shake you warmly by the hand but then I'd just be covered in blue fibreglass dust looking like I'd just fisted a smurf.

[Wack]

Halfway point reached with the belt. What a faff. Now we can start putting it back together again.

 

 

I watched an episode of car sos , Nissan gtr it might have been where Fuzz was only changing the belt , he cut it in half all the way round, took half off, slid the new one on , took the other half off  then pushed the new one on

 

it was a mouth open moment for me

[Wack]

 

Top speed? Apparently 70mph is nae bother!

 

 

That must be utterly terrifying

[Timewaster]

OK not normally something I do

BUT

 

CAN WE LOSE THE WORD S P A Z FROM HERE PLEASE

 

I have an Autistic son and this word grates so horribly..I know few folk use it in jest but believe me its a horrid word...

 

 

Rant over-ish

This.

 

I am guilty of using it in the past but it is no longer acceptable.

 

One of these has got to be ripe for electric conversion. No?

[plasticvandan]

I'm autistic (explains invacar lust) and yes spaz is a bit degrading,but,in context that was one of the most common 70s nicknames for them.In the interests of politically incorrect balance,other names included cripple carriage,mobile road blocks,iron lungs,etc.

Also to further divide myself from modern,normal society, other makers of carriage include: Tippen,Harding,Argson,Stanley,Harper,Barrett,Vernon's,Carter,Nelco,Trilox as well as AC and Invacar.Only the model 70 was built by Invacasr(Greeves) and AC,prior to this all were wonderfully different,nearly all powered by 197cc Villiers engines with dynastart reverse.

[plasticvandan]

This.

I am guilty of using it in the past but it is no longer acceptable.

One of these has got to be ripe for electric conversion. No?

Many were electric (pre model 70)

[beko1987]

Many were electric (pre model 70)

My laptop battery probably equals whatever they were run on, the modern possibilities are endless!

 

Are crashed BMW i8's cheap for scrap yet?

[quicksilver]

I'm autistic (explains invacar lust) and yes spaz is a bit degrading,but,in context that was one of the most common 70s nicknames for them.In the interests of politically incorrect balance,other names included cripple carriage,mobile road blocks,iron lungs,etc.

This. Rightly or wrongly that is what they were commonly known as at the time so the term is used entirely within context and readers of a certain age will no doubt have used that nickname themselves, so why should we erase it from history and pretend it never existed? Since when has political correctness been such an issue? If we removed everything that might be deemed offensive we'd have barely any content left, and yes there are things that have been written on here that I've found offensive but I've quietly ignored them without making a fuss. Don't forget that the society now called Scope was officially called the Spastics Society until fairly recently so this was an accepted term - I'm not that old and the name change happened in my lifetime. The video titled 'spacker car' seems much more offensive to me but I don't see anyone reacting negatively to that.

[Talbot]

Leafs (leaves?) Are coming right down in price, and it will be not long before a cosmetically damaged one will equal write-off.

 

80kw in an invacar. Given that DW and I easily lifted the front wheel off the ground and got it a foot in the air without trying, I suspect a wheelie bar would be needed for every pull-away.

[Eddie Honda]

The video titled 'spacker car' seems much more offensive to me

It's offensive to me too: The bloody video capture is fecking terrible. If anyone can find a clean cap, point me to it.

[Supernaut]

It just occurred to me. He got two of them, right.

 

His and hers?

[Talbot]

The second one is probably beyond recovery. It would need a third one to provide parts.

[The Moog]

 

 

Sadly, the one I'm getting back on the road is not an AC. Production was split between Invacar and AC, though the design was apparently ACs.

 

The mechanical layout is very interesting. The engine is Austrian - a Steyr-Puch flat twin similar to those used in their own licence-built 500s, and the Haflinger. They go up to 650cc in size, but the Model 70 uses the 493cc unit. This has a dynastart, and the gearbox is a DAF-esque pulley gubbins built by Salisbury. Drive is sent via Fiat 500/126 driveshafts to the rear wheels. Yes, they're variomatic baby!

 

The handlebars have a typical motorbike throttle control, but the brakes work by pushing the handlebars down! 7 inch drums on each wheel for that, fully hydraulic. Suspension is by coil springs with Spax dampers.

 

Top speed? Apparently 70mph is nae bother!

I think we have a) the autotest ultimate machine. the makings of an awesome GLF crail run c) the best thing to grace Knockhill evah

[dollywobbler]

You will never see me use the phrase that rhymes with Razz Harriet, or hacker bar. We, as a society, should move on. There are plenty of terms that used to be in regular use, but we now, thankfully, do not use. I'm fine for these to join them (I liked the video, but cringed at the title).

 

Plasticvandan, I'm already in contact with most of the 'well-knowns' in Invacar circles. I'll drop you a PM though, as I'm keen to piece an accurate history together of these. So little CORRECT information exists on the internet (surprise).

[vulgalour]

Wasn't there a sort of gull-wing version where the door lifted up instead of sliding?  Perhaps I imagined that.

[dollywobbler]

Wasn't there a sort of gull-wing version where the door lifted up instead of sliding?  Perhaps I imagined that.

 

Pretty sure not, though some were custom-designed for their occupants.

 

To reveal the full majesty of the day requires this image. These lot have all been claimed by new owners.

[Felly Magic]

Wasn't there a sort of gull-wing version where the door lifted up instead of sliding?  Perhaps I imagined that.

I think one of the French microcar thingies had a gullwing door

[plasticvandan]

Acoma mini comtesse had a gullwing.google it,and yes I've driven one!

[richardmorris]

The last one I saw was in Llandudno when I worked there on 1994. It was here.......

[Timewaster]

Re S******, IMHO the offence comes in to play when a description becomes an insult.

 

My wife worked with adults with disabilities and it was soon made clear how abhorrent the S word had become.

 

No one would come in here talking about P***is or N*****s in Datsuns so why should we accept offensive slang for stereotype Invacar drivers?

 

Anyway, back on topic.....

[trigger]

Just unbelievable. All of this. Slightly surprised by the route you've just turned, Citroen, Jaguar, Japanese and now specialists mobilty vehicles...

 

I'm looking forward to seeing how this evolves.

[Ben_O]

Well I wasn't expecting that.