Styled in Italy, built in Britain - The story of the blue Ital Van

[danthecapriman]

Brilliant, I love the vid too with you out dragging the container train!

[Zelandeth]

You may find that you get (some!) more grip once the tyres have got some miles on them.  The ones I had put on the 107 were absolutely lethal for the first 100 miles or so.  Apparently something to do with the release compound from when they were moulded.

[fordperv]

Great stuff trig the work paid off

[Zelandeth]

Same 50-ish mph speedo wobble as my Metro!

[cort16]

Excellent work, well done .

Have any relatives asked you to move a chest of drawers yet now you have a van ?

[lincolndanny]

All levels of win! Well done Trig.

[petermchugh79]

All I have to say is pure class lad

 

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

[Felly Magic]

I drove a Marina 1300 estate and that gearbox hated to be rushed, if you did, it would point blank not let you have 3rd, it's very old school, no weight in the back will make it tail happy, just take it nice & steady, this is so full of win it's unreal, it broke the 'win-o-meter', and get Woollarding it!

[eddyramrod]

I think this is brilliant.  Well done Trig for finding it and keeping an eye on it until you could get your hands on it!  And extremely well done on the restoration!  FWIW I've had a bunch of Marinas and the gearboxes are not much better than you describe.  IIRC they were taken from the Triumph parts list and mated to the ancient Austin A and B series engines, which they were never designed to work with.  So it's a miracle they worked at all!  I wonder how a Marina would be with an A40 box?  Or a Dolly Sprint engine?

[Broadsword]

I'm going to add to the ovation here. Watching the transformation from the first photo to that little video there has just been outstanding. The perfect Autoshite vehicle. I'm sure it will become a much nicer drive with a bit more use. It's been a while since the poor thing has seen tarmac regularly!

[500tops]

Absolutely fantastic. A real credit to you!

[Felly Magic]

Trigger's Broom Rebristling Services delivery van You've done this van proud, they were unloved, and run in to the ground, then scrapped by tradesmen everywhere. This looks just perfect as it is

[greengartside]

Bet it was a good feeling being the first to drive it properly since 1993!

 

The yogurt truck is well and truly smashed with this one.

 

RED HOT SHITAL VAN AKSHUN XXX

[Felly Magic]

Hmm, yes I know that 'private track' very well, were you trying to race that train? LOL

[flat4alfa]

Have any fellow Dockers asked you to move a body yet?

[flat4alfa]

 I wonder how a Marina would be with .... a Dolly Sprint engine?

 

Has it ever been done?

 

I drove a Mk1 Marina once, it couldn't get around corner with its own engine!

[Skut]

Does driving it now tally with any of your memories of how it drove when you were 14?  Love the van, they are Denim to the saloons Corduroy. Much cooler.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

....It handles like shite, the arse wants to kiss the front on every roundabout if your slightly throwing it in and the steering is extremely light with no feeling....

Is that not the trademark of a Marina?

[Pillock]

Get it over to a Drift What Ya Brung day at Santa Pod, show them Skyline losers how it's done.

[oldcars]

Same 50-ish mph speedo wobble as my Metro!

My whole Reliant wobbles at 50 not just the speedo.

[flat4alfa]

Seen on the Interwebbage

 

[schonker]

Just to add to all the comments Trig,what a great job you've done with this.

Im just down the road in Bury so hopefully i'll see it in the flesh one day

[Felly Magic]

There is a Marina pickup in the ebay thread that needs a bit of 'Trigger magic' LOL, that black & white shot would make a perfect calendar pic

[vulgalour]

Sounds just like my Ledbury Maestro inside which if it weren't for having to concentrate so hard on keeping the momentum up and not having to use gears it would be annoying.  Childhood nostalgia flashback too from that video of you blatting down an almost empty road with all the various old car noises and wind rushing past and a radio you can only just hear.

[trigger]

That's my mate Jonos, we had a bit of a play with them on Saturday, he was really impressed with how well the van drives, I've done about 60 miles in it now still without any FTP.

 

 

 

[plasticvandan]

A series don't FTP.fact

[Pillock]

60 Miles!

 

If Austin Rover were still around, that quote would be in a newspaper advert.

[Angrydicky]

Stay away from those thieving Morris Minor owners

[vulgalour]

That's a great shot of the two of you going around the corner.

[trigger]

I managed to get out today in this and see my dad in Colchester to plyline the back out, this job didn't go completely to plan due to time restrictions (there was a Renault Clio inbedded in the armco on the A12 which caused a long tailback to get through) and dad didn't have enough ply after all, whilst i was there i also went to see the chap i bought the van off, he was impressed! I took some photos whilst at his barn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He also still has the Orion that I'm buying in the back of his barn, again I've known the car since 1993 and used to spend my Saturdays whilst at school washing it and we often went to shows and track days in it during the 90's, It's been sat in the barn since 2003 and has still only covered 35000 miles. From what i can see under the dust one arch will need work now and the boot won't stay open anymore although the spoiler doesn't help. The biggest problem is that its so buried that it could be a while before it can be got too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and this was about as far as me and dad got with the plying, on the plus side the speakers sound much better! I plan on covering the ply with black felt and carpeting the back. I also need to change both rear half shalf oil seals as they have started pissing out oil which is really annoying.