Jump to content

LightBulbFun's Invacar & general ramble thread, index on page 1, survivors lists on Pages 24/134 & AdgeCutler's Invacar Mk12 Restoration from Page 186 onwards, still harping on...


LightBulbFun

Recommended Posts

4 hours ago, UltraWomble said:

 

With a range of just half a mile

always amuses me when I see that :) 

On 11/11/2020 at 15:19, JimH said:

I have searched and can find no reference to this bit of television on this site in general and this thread in particular and I am unsure of whether it should be posted. It was made for a slot that Victor Lewis Smith had on the not exactly lamented Club X in 1989. This was back in the days when the very much lamented (round these parts anyway) Proper Channel 4 were more than happy to tread on thin ice and Mr Lewis Smith was more than able to do that while wearing hob nailed boots. I've always loved his work but subtle it ain't and viewed through today's eyes might be considered to not be in the best possible taste.

However, the car involved is clearly identifiable so it may be of interest to someone. In deciding if you want to watch it the vehicle involved is TTW 986R.

If anyone is not happy with this cluttering up this thread (or it's already been done) let me know and I'll happily delete it.

 

  

On 11/11/2020 at 15:40, LightBulbFun said:

LOL thats amusing just for the randomness of it, did not watch the whole thing, but watch a few then skipped along to the Invacar bit :) which is at 13:40 for those wondering (I appreciate you sharing it always good to know when another Invalid vehicle has been papped, as you may have guessed I had not seen it before LOL)

 

its like the 1990's TV version of internet shit posting LOL

"and with a design based on a World War 2 fighters cockpit"

well...

AC-Acedes-04.jpg

 

On 15/04/2019 at 15:02, LightBulbFun said:

is it wrong that the first "word" that came to mind when i saw that uhh steering contraption

 

was "dagadagaga" to the sound of a Merlin V12?  :mrgreen:

 

 

On 11/11/2020 at 15:46, LightBulbFun said:

hah! just realised the start of the Invacar section from that TV show is what they sampled for when the guy says "Thundersley Invacar!" at the start of the the Song Thundersley Invacar by Collapsed Lung

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

whoa check these out :) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174871426183

a bunch of tax disks for MWC755P an Invacar Model 70 :) always very cool to see Model 70 ephemera like this, as there really is not much like this out there

image.thumb.png.54fb424f75b35d6b03b1a1d314b2ae0b.png

image.thumb.png.407b30c9e4eea8ca7ce58eddfa372052.png

its a shame the tax disk expiring Jan 1977 is not more legible, as that will have been that Model 70's first tax disk and as such im very curious as to which body issued it but the writing on the circular stamp is sadly not very legible

(its also interesting that it expires in January 1977, when MWC755P was first registered the 13th of Feb 1976, so surely the tax disk should expire in Feb 1977?)

its also interesting to see when the tax class changed from "disabled driver" to "Disabled", although It would be interesting to see an Invalid vehicle's 1970's V5c to see what the taxation class was on there

see I think it would of just said "disabled" as im pretty sure the taxation class was only "disabled driver" back in the buff logbook days, and it changed to the computer coded "disabled" wording with the introduction of the V5c in 1974 but given that tax disks where still hand written it may of just been a force of habit for the clerk writing it out, but I have never seen a 1970's V5 for a Model 70/Invacar or such sadly to verify this theory

 

and finally its interesting to see the revenue weight is actually listed on the Tax disk expiring 1978, and that its only 402Kg, being a Model 70 Mark B, pre rollover bar, it should be 410Kg (I think the 1977 tax disk may also have it listed in the bottom right as I can see "402/3" I wonder if thats 402.3kg?)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

whoa check these out :) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174871426183

a bunch of tax disks for MWC755P an Invacar Model 70 :) always very cool to see Model 70 ephemera as there really is not much like this out there

image.thumb.png.54fb424f75b35d6b03b1a1d314b2ae0b.png

image.thumb.png.407b30c9e4eea8ca7ce58eddfa372052.png

its a shame the tax disk expiring Jan 1977 is not more legible, as that will have been that Model 70's first tax disk and as such im very curious as to which body issued it but the writing on the circular stamp is sadly not very legible

(its also interesting that it expires in January 1977, when MWC755P was first registered the 13th of Feb 1976, so surely the tax disk should expire in Feb 1977?)

its also interesting to see when the tax class changed from "disabled driver" to "Disabled", although It would be interesting to see an Invalid vehicle's 1970's V5c to see what the taxation class was on there

see I think it would of just said "disabled" as im pretty sure the taxation class was only "disabled driver" back in the buff logbook days, and it changed to the computed coded "disabled" wording with the introduction of the V5c in 1974 but given that tax disks where still hand written it may of just been a force of habit for the clerk writing it out, but I have never seen a 1970's V5 for a Model 70/Invacar or such sadly to verify this theory

 

and finally its interesting to see the revenue weight is actually listed on the Tax disk expiring 1978, and that its only 402Kg, being a Model 70 Mark B, pre rollover bar, it should be 410Kg (I think the 1977 tax disk may also have it listed in the bottom right as I can see "402/3" I wonder if thats 402.3kg?)

January 1977 would be right as it was always the end of the month before that a tax disc expired, the one exception to that was if a car was registered on the last day of a month as my old Fiesta was

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Eyersey1234 said:

January 1977 would be right as it was always the end of the month before that a tax disc expired, the one exception to that was if a car was registered on the last day of a month as my old Fiesta was

Yeah I knew that part, but for some reason I had a bit of a brain fart and thought they would have forward dated it, so I was expecting it to have expired on the 28th of Feb 1977

but I remembered they always back date to the last day of the previous month/first day of the month being taxed in regardless of when in the month that was 

 

on a side note I was just looking at the scan of a another Invacar Model 70's first tax disk that Stuart sent me a while ago

and I noticed it also has 402.3 in the lower right corner which is interesting

image.thumb.png.e606fd43e1e7eb8bc29e51a7e4d9e075.png

even the workshop manual etc for the Model 70 Mark A state 896LBS or 406Kg

(which BTW is exactly 8Cwt which was the weight limit for an Invalid vehicle to still be classed as a Motorcycle at the time, so I do wonder if they where fudging numbers from the get go or did the Model 70 really just managed to squeak under the weight limit at the time, when things where made metric, the weight limit became 410Kg, which funnily enough is what you normally see as the revenue weight on all Model 70 Mark A's and Pre rollover bar Mark B's...)

so I really wonder where this erroneous 402.3Kg comes from...

perhaps whoever was registering Model 70's at Invacar got it systematically wrong for a period of time?

because curiously I did come across an Invacar Model 70 MHJ104P (which you will note is also an Mxx-P car) who's revenue weight was down as 403Kg which at the time I thought was just a one off typo, but I do wonder now if they where all registered like this for a brief period of time?

image.png

although REV who was down as 413.2Kg on her 1985 V5 was rounded DOWN to 413.0Kg by the time of her 2001 V5 (I still dont know why or exactly when the DVLC lopped off the 0.2Kg...)

however I know of other Model 70 Mark B Rollover bar machines down as 414Kg so perhaps sometimes they rounded up instead of down which would then explain MHJ's 403Kg if it was originally down as 402.3Kg and then at some point rounded up to 403 Kg

 

(I still am curious to know why the DVLA checker will spit out the revenue weight for a select few Model 70's but not the rest, when pretty much all do have it on their V5c regardless)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, Crackers said:

image.thumb.png.933c63ddcbd7adff6d465a14033b5d6d.png

Chelmsford.

oh neat :) I can just about make it out now you have pointed it out

so that confirms that first tax disks where indeed issued literally at the date of first registration by the office doing the first registration (Chelmsford was the DVLC VRO that took over from the Essex CC for the Essex area)

which I can also see by the 13th of Feb issue date on the tax disk which lines up with the Date of first registration :)  I see the other 1st tax disk also faintly says Chelmsford

 

now I know what should go on @Zelandeth's TPA's replica tax disk: "Surrey County council" or whatever it is Surrey CC put down on their tax disk stamp as that is where TPA was first registered

(and was first registered pre DVLC so this was before they changed all the names about, if it was post 1st Oct 1974 then it would be Guildford)

although it would be good to find an AC Model 70's first tax disk to confirm this

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/3/2021 at 6:19 PM, LightBulbFun said:

taking a breif interlude into my other hobby that is all things lightbulbs

I was recently contacted by @anonymous user who unearthed a bunch of vintage lightbulbs and very kindly sent them to me completely Free of charge

I am very thankful as the box contained a nice selection of rare incandescent lamps (and one very well used Philips Beehive neon lamp but with very rare external acid etching)

image.thumb.png.55424ce2da52778ba079648432d64d17.png

the box contained mainly Cryselco 210V (yes 210V pre grid standardisation FTW) 100W external Colour sprayed lamps :) 

apart from being quite old from the 1940s and 210V, they are also unusual in that you dont often see coloured lamps in wattages as high as 100W due to how hot they would (and do) get 

so I was very pleased to have these in the collection :) 

and today I got round to testing them where im pleased to report they all worked lovely :) 

(all the major GLS lamps anyhow, the Projector lamps look fine but have not been tested as they have funky bases to which I dont have sockets, and the Beehive neon will need additional equipment setup to test)

all the 210V lamps where of course properly given 210V by way of my very handy Variac (variable voltage auto transformer, a nifty transformer where 240V mains goes in, and theres big evil laboratory style knob on top that I can turn to dial in any AC voltage I want between 0V and 270V :) )

image.thumb.png.d3dcc12415a8d10ce1cd384187ee5618.png

image.thumb.png.c9f540c8bf2d47420e627936c6a8f715.png

1740295778_ImagefromiOS(12).thumb.jpg.836d9d73c92c8f934e39df184794406d.jpg

image.thumb.png.a0282ce2a6c53c892ee9b1ac236da6af.png

this smaller lamp is Siemens lamp of unknown power rating, as per the wrapper its rated at 210V but at that voltage gives me about 50W which is a non standard wattage so go figure...

(a couple of the lamp where while clearly being unused where in non matching wrappers however, so it may be that this is a 230V 60W lamp, but I did not want to risk it without being sure)

image.thumb.png.ede52d439b247eea3d6d2899972e211e.png

another Cryselco 100W lamp :) 

image.thumb.png.f759d337b8f863d5de376fd79ffbfda7.png

1709300171_ImagefromiOS(13).thumb.jpg.141b8a5fe00f00ce0585db7103857ee6.jpg

and then finally a couple Blue 100W Cryselco lamps, these really do get quite toasty quite quickly as the coating absorbs the most amount of light (as a normal filament lamp produces relatively little blue light)

image.thumb.png.9fab79e0c75528dd53ee5f31943d9a17.png

1979156745_ImagefromiOS(11).thumb.jpg.757fa106262451a17eaf21cc9e06b155.jpg

once more im very thankful to @anonymous user for sending me these lamps, and completely free of charge too

it is very much appreciated! and im very pleased to be able to give them a good home in my collection :) 

Thats actually just reminded me, my parents had Christmas lights like that, I think* they had a standard bayonet base (in brass), with thumb sized, externally painted bulbs that tapered upwards from the base, to a flat-ish top. I seem to remember the wire they went into was heavy gauge, but fairly flexible green coated wire. Thats what I remember anyway, it could be true, or I could have completely made it up, I`m not entirely sure, I was very smol when/if they were in use... There may be a chance they`re still in their loft somewhere, or a spare bulb in one of the many draws of bulbs they have, assuming they really did exist...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, uk_senator said:

Thats actually just reminded me, my parents had Christmas lights like that, I think* they had a standard bayonet base (in brass), with thumb sized, externally painted bulbs that tapered upwards from the base, to a flat-ish top. I seem to remember the wire they went into was heavy gauge, but fairly flexible green coated wire. Thats what I remember anyway, it could be true, or I could have completely made it up, I`m not entirely sure, I was very smol when/if they were in use... There may be a chance they`re still in their loft somewhere, or a spare bulb in one of the many draws of bulbs they have, assuming they really did exist...

lamps looking something like so? (sadly not mine! and the clear one is a Neon lamp for those wondering, I do own one or 2 of those somewhere :) )

image.thumb.png.e1dc84106cf52fece0d5fbe07f455b39.png

these examples are really old ones from about 1940 so dont have the conical bulb you describe, but later ones did

 

but heres is a later 1964 small bayonet capped (B15d) example with the conical bulb you describe (again not mine)

image.thumb.png.74caac3104aa172405414d37472ee30b.png

and just for completeness sake by the late 1960's or so they had generally switched to an internal glazing like so

image.thumb.png.9bbd345493be15074450d831b3f99b07.png

and you did have rare examples which used naturally coloured glass too

image.thumb.png.cbfbd1dfe52ff75a4348574a5883083c.png

 

 

interesting about the set itself tho, as I have not quite heard of one like it but more modern festoons using pygmy bulbs have been made

so maybe its precursor to that :) would be interesting to see pics if you can find it! :) 

heres a similar set that Osram produced in 1959, but used round bulbs (I thought it also pygmy bulbs but I was clearly not reading close enough!)

image.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

lamps looking something like so? (sadly not mine! and the clear one is a Neon lamp for those wondering, I do own one or 2 of those somewhere :) )

a later 1964 small bayonet capped example with the conical bulb you describe (again not mine)

image.thumb.png.74caac3104aa172405414d37472ee30b.png

and just for completeness sake by the late 1960's or so they had generally switched to an internal glazing like so

image.thumb.png.9bbd345493be15074450d831b3f99b07.png

and you did have rare examples which used naturally coloured glass too

I`m fairly certain* they were the full fat B22 bases, but as I say, I was smol at the time, so I may be mixing them up with other, similar bulbs. Both those types are ringing a bell, so maybe the odd one was replaced with the other over time as they blew, depending what was available, as you do.  I do seem to remember at least some of them being externally painted though, & I think some were scratched, letting the natural light to pass the colour filtration, as you`d expect.

I will have a look for them in the bulb draws next time I`m there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, mitsisigma01 said:

You've probably already seen this but... 

95558794_StreetsofLondonin1975(48)(1).jpg.dc7bb24c364e4e984f5334e8b96c895b.jpg

Yerp Iv seen that one a few times :) still appreciate the heads up tho :) 

it is interesting to see what photos always do the rounds so to speak what become common photos etc and what are still only found in the bowls of the internet/on this thread

heres a higher rez version :) 

6939378661_b38aaae3b0_h.thumb.jpeg.87a2b20741c46dceabffbea32f0eabb9.jpeg

 

On 28/06/2019 at 13:29, LightBulbFun said:

image.thumb.png.e0dde019545bbdd08223b9bd96369a8b.png

 

I imagine the conversation at the DVLA office for this one went down something like this

 

"hey m8 what the hell is this thing?!"

"I dunno m8 some sort of AC car?!"

*sees its 4PM on a friday afternoon*

"good enough for me!"

 

for those wondering I came across the JPH-K (JPH251K-JPH450K) block via this chod-tastic picture I discovered while trying to find any new to me P plate Model 70s to try ID the Unknown Spares car LOL (I know its somewhere between the KPC-P and KPK-P blocks)

6939378661_c5c2fa35b2_b.thumb.jpg.64373cc12beb32aaa7eb8c8cec406252.jpg 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/71592768@N08/6939378661

 

 

 

On 02/07/2019 at 03:13, LightBulbFun said:

here's a fun one for me, when I came across this picture, I thought to myself the reg block awfully familiar, but couldn't quite place it, so I just figured must be because its similar to the JPB-K block

6939378661_c5c2fa35b2_b.thumb.jpg.64373cc12beb32aaa7eb8c8cec406252.jpg

well I finally figured it out

the reason it was so familiar was because it was of the same block as the one in this picture I had come across a good while ago :)

59dcb4ca44863_InvalidecarriageJPH371K127431RAW.jpg.f85aac7c9fcb7a116219216eee7b2ee9.jpg

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, coalnotdole said:

Thats Greenwich District Hospital - Was demolished about 15 years back. Had survived very unmodernised up until closure.

Ah is it, is that the one the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Woolwich replaced?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

check this out an AC Acedes Mk12 Model 57 for sale :) 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/184179232307050/posts/852282452163388

image.thumb.png.81da344ea434cb7a610c60a799ea0b76.png

disappointed I didn't spot it sooner mind! however its quite poorly listed with the only unique word being "acedes"

but anyways figured id pop it up here incase it is still for sale and can find a good home on here :) 

for those concerned I do know all of its details, so you need not worry about trying to ID it etc :) 

 

it is amusing how no one in the comment section really knows what it is! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

check this out an AC Acedes Mk12 Model 57 for sale :) 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/184179232307050/posts/852282452163388

image.thumb.png.81da344ea434cb7a610c60a799ea0b76.png

disappointed I didn't spot it sooner mind! however its quite poorly listed with the only unique word being "acedes"

but anyways figured id pop it up here incase it is still for sale and can find a good home on here :) 

for those concerned I do know all of its details, so you need not worry about trying to ID it etc :) 

 

it is amusing how no one in the comment section really knows what it is! 

Phooooaaarrr if I had the money and the space I'd have that

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, barrett said:

From a newly-acquired Invacar file. Do you know what became of this one @LightBulbFun?

20210811_154409.thumb.jpg.9c51023d937bbe74c1f770693286a4fb.jpg

thats some very cool finds :)

the Invacar Mk10 picture is interesting, as theres a colour picture of that exact machine from the Greeves archives, and it looks your B&W version was taken at the same time/same location, but I dont think its just a B&W version of the colour photo, as your B&W photo looks to be at a slightly different angle I think?

26466725798_f3315238d7_o.jpg

 

Love the photos of RVW840, only one of 3 Invacar New Era's known to survive, (the other 2 being DJN944 and SNO40)

 

I sadly dont know where RVW840 is today, other then possibly up in Scotland, but I sadly have very few details on it and in-fact those are the first photos I have seen of the machine!

(although it is worth noting that I have that Scottish one one down as RVW480, but I think looking at things someone got their marks confused, I highly doubt, there are 2 surviving new era's in the RVWxxx registration range, although I certainly would not complain if that was the case!)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Adam sent me this neat period photo about a week ago and I just found it via my own research as well 

images.jpeg.f4ae9a58292be601308eef657c71737c.jpeg

so figured id do a small post on it, not only just because its covered in stickers :) 

but also because it was only taxed for a couple years, before going by that last V5c issue date, ending up in the Stores at Heywood :) so its a rather chance spot that it happened to be photographed in period having had a very short road life

2066799506_Screenshot2021-08-15at20_26_04.thumb.png.b586c5d1cd0af39f52d66d62903d032c.png

although I do wonder if PPC355R did indeed become a Heywood car I wonder if its in any of the Photos taken by Julian in his visit to Heywood in the Mid 1990s? :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Probably another  miss spot by me:  about 5 minutes in to the documentary shown tonight on the history of crisps a shot of the Smiths factory -  a 3 wheel car in that particular shade of blue. Might be good enough to see the number. 

Mrs K was not impressed with my cry of "an Invcar!"

 prog  is Secret world of crisps

Edited by kirton
Correction
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, barrett said:

god this uncertainty is killing me!

Okay, it's a now-rare 1962-65, pre-Ogle Regal 3/25. Lovely.

1925037674_Screenshot2021-08-16at16_52_36.thumb.png.acd4f6b97f021493aac3a869223864be.png

oh cool, im glad someone was able to grab a screenshot as I was wondering too! (but did not want to have to go through the rigmarole of making an account with Channel 4's online streaming service etc)

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

speaking of 3 wheelers! :)

 

I was recently contacted by Mr @barrett himself as in the archive of his he came across this rather interesting advert/vehicle and wondered if I knew anything about it

20210811_154553.jpg

and I did not, however I found it very fascinating as it very much looked like a regular car version of the AC All Weather Invalid tricycle

and immediately made think of this British Pathe video on the AC All weather Tricycle

where they do mention that a regular car version was in development at the time

I had always thought they where referring to the AC petite, but perhaps they where actually talking about the Buckland runabout

and then I did a bit of googling and found this online which is interesting as its like Barrett's but does not have cancelled across it

47065198711_55801e44a8_o.jpg

and then further to this of course I got talking to Stuart and we discussed things a bit, somewhat unsurprisingly, Stuart did already know of the Buckland, but again with few details

but what we do know is quite interesting

 we are pretty sure that the AC All Weather tricycle came first and that the Buckland runabout is development of it, rather then it potentially  being the other way round as all the stuff we can find on the Buckland is from 1951-1952

where as the AC All weather Tricycle was already on the road in 1949 (I did wonder at first because the Buckland looks like a much more crude machine with its lack of front end bodywork, but perhaps that was done as a cost cutting measure?) 

it looks like the Buckland was introduced curiously at the 1952 Invalid tricycle association rally and was talked about in the September 1952 issue of Magic carpet

where they specifically said that the chassis was that used in the AC invalid tricycle, but that a choice of 2 engines, a Villiers 350cc engine with Electric starting or a Coventry Victor 350cc with Manual starting

(which is interesting on 2 fronts as the AC All Weather Tricycle used a 250cc BSA engine, perhaps they wanted a slightly beefier engine for the full on road car version, and its interesting as the Villiers option sounds a lot like what ended up in the AC petite)

stuart then did a bit of digging as he was sure he did a write up on the Buckland for the RUMCar magazine and indeed he did, here are the relevant excerpts from the RUMCar Magazine Autumn and Winter 2010 :) 

image.thumb.png.b05bcb3624fa888bb62d7dce16d66422.png

image.thumb.png.9888836e25b8d5041d2375e2067d8f86.png

(Note NAP303 is a typo its supposed to be NAR303)

all in all its been quite fascinating to find out that AC did try and develop the AC All Weather Tricycle into a full blown car and to find out there was a missing link between the AC All Weather Tricycle and the AC petite

its like a predecessor to the Model 70 based AC Town cars :) 

it is also interesting to hear that It was Buckland themselves who where proposing it rather then AC

I wonder just how many examples ended up being made and if any survive somewhere!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, kirton said:

Probably another  miss spot by me:  about 5 minutes in to the documentary shown tonight on the history of crisps a shot of the Smiths factory -  a 3 wheel car in that particular shade of blue. Might be good enough to see the number. 

Mrs K was not impressed with my cry of "an Invcar!"

 prog  is Secret world of crisps

Well I was right, I was mistaken again. I plead it was a fleeting view on a programme I wasn't  really watching.

I'll keep at it and maybe one day I'll hit a jackpot for LBF.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...