invacar 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...

[AdgeCutler]

11 hours ago, plasticvandan said:

The John is John Thorne,he worked for Ashley repairs (later Ashley Healthcare) in Worcester,and later Birmingham when the Worcester branch closed,my grandad worked with him in the 60s until he broke his neck in a crash driving their HA van towing an invacar on a dolly.Ive for photos of the cars lined up behind the hedge where they sat for 40 years somewhere.

Very interesting Plasticvandan, thanks. I do like to have a bit of history to go along with my "toys". Sad to hear of anybody getting hurt like that, was it your Grandad or Mr. Thorne that came to grief? If you ever happen across those photos I would very much like to see them perhaps print off a copy if that would be okay?

I grew up going hither and thither in my Dads ex fireservice and ex  MEB HAs, happy days. 

[AdgeCutler]

20 minutes ago, Mrs6C said:

Looks like the registration number was KPU147J. It doesn't show up on the DVLA website, but perhaps you can find it via the magic tools? I guess the paper registration page can be found in the books at the Essex County Records Office in due course, like those for the Mk12C?

We've been trying to persue this, sadly due to the Corona there are not enough staff at present in the Essex offices and so they are not offering searches. But the DVLA are already being chased.

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Mrs6C said:

Looks like the registration number was KPU147J. It doesn't show up on the DVLA website, but perhaps you can find it via the magic tools? I guess the paper registration page can be found in the books at the Essex County Records Office in due course, like those for the Mk12C?

Yeah the registration is indeed KPU147J, of the 5 Invacar Mk12E's found at the time, only KPU's registration was known thanks to these Dockets!

 

well until I came along and ID'ed the rest of the cars (which is what Page 83 was all about )  I also independently verified KPU147J at the same time and it all added up so that was good  

 

as you say it sadly does not show up on the DVLA's 1st party tool (nor via any 3rd party tools), but as above that does not necessarily mean that the DVLA does not hold record for the vehicle it may be that it was simply archived off of the main computer system like your Invacar Mk12c was and as such can hopefully be brought back to life so to speak with a simple V62

but as you say thankfully the Essex archives exist so worst case scenario if it was withdrawn while still on its old Buff Logbook, it still would be possible to V765 reclaim the registration mark and V55/5 to register the vehicle anew if it came to that, but hopefully a simple V62 is all we need  (especially  as currently the Essex archives are sadly closed due to the whole situation going on atm)

[plasticvandan]

1 hour ago, AdgeCutler said:

Very interesting Plasticvandan, thanks. I do like to have a bit of history to go along with my "toys". Sad to hear of anybody getting hurt like that, was it your Grandad or Mr. Thorne that came to grief? If you ever happen across those photos I would very much like to see them perhaps print off a copy if that would be okay?

I grew up going hither and thither in my Dads ex fireservice and ex  MEB HAs, happy days. 

It was my grandad who had the accident while working as an invalid carriage repairer, fortunately he recovered funnily enough he worked for the MEB before ,as.did my dad through the 90s till it closed.ill have a search through for the pics and pop them up,John bought a 59 Ford Consul off my dad in 1980(same time your invacar made it to his garden) and the Ford was still there when the grounds were cleared,I've got  it's number plate in my dad's garage now for sentimental reasons!

[plasticvandan]

Here's a pic of the Invacars lined up along the hedge

And my dad's Consul which you can just see in the corner of the above pic

[MT606]

what's the aircraft section in the background from? V bomber esq look about it

 

[AdgeCutler]

24 minutes ago, plasticvandan said:

Here's a pic of the Invacars lined up along the hedge

And my dad's Consul which you can just see in the corner of the above pic

Fantastic, would you mind if I printed this off and shared with my peculiar friends?

Dad was in the MEB for many years (I wonder if mine and thines paths ever crossed) and also a retained foremen, hence the vehicles.

[plasticvandan]

My dad was the groundsman/site maintainance guy at the Worcester Whittington hall site till it was sold off,my grandad was a vehicle mechanic in the mid 60s I think. Yes no probs with the pics,I may have more 

[AdgeCutler]

2 minutes ago, plasticvandan said:

My dad was the groundsman/site maintainance guy at the Worcester Whittington hall site till it was sold off,my grandad was a vehicle mechanic in the mid 60s I think. Yes no probs with the pics,I may have more 

Thank you kindly good Sir. I'm reckoning "Brian" must be third or forth in the line up as he came with a door which clearly had been in situ for many a year until I liberated it.

My Dad was an electrical engineer based in Chipping Sodbury, I do recall he  had to  travel to the midlands to do various "courses", they could have all sat in those same rooms, anyhow, I digress as this wandering mind often forces me too.

[barrett]

Blimey, one of those even has a door! Any idea what became of them?

[AdgeCutler]

7 minutes ago, barrett said:

Blimey, one of those even has a door! Any idea what became of them?

One now resides with me and two are still with one of the Gents that helped rescue them, I'm unsure of the fate of the forth?

 

[LightBulbFun]

34 minutes ago, barrett said:

Blimey, one of those even has a door! Any idea what became of them?

they all ended up with big al for the most part

until recently, where one (the one with the door I think going by the colours on the bodywork) ended up with @AdgeCutler and another was sold recently and was pictured in the back of a Van on the microcar world FB page

and I think finally one with some major rear bodywork damage remains with Big al currently 

 

theres a 4th car but im not sure who exactly has that one currently

[Slowsilver]

 

We have been watching recordings of an old series on Talking Pictures TV called "Public Eye", about a private detective called Frank Marker, played by Alfred Burke. In an episode called "Many A Slip" from 1972, Marker, who doesn't own a car, supposedly travels by train from his office in Windsor to Kings Lynn. He then walks from the station, passing a yard in which there is a Model 70 (I won't call it an Invacar because it could be an AC. I am learning stuff from this thread!). I paused the PVR and took a potatocam mobile phone picture of the TV screen, with the above result.  No chance of seeing the registration number due to the car (Vauxhall Viva HB?) in front of it. Also features a BMC FG (Threepenny Bit) truck. The person in the centre of the picture is the man Marker himself. It's not a particularly informative picture but I know that LBF likes to see any spots and may not have seen this already.
 

[LightBulbFun]

17 minutes ago, Slowsilver said:

 

We have been watching recordings of an old series on Talking Pictures TV called "Public Eye", about a private detective called Frank Marker, played by Alfred Burke. In an episode called "Many A Slip" from 1972, Marker, who doesn't own a car, supposedly travels by train from his office in Windsor to Kings Lynn. He then walks from the station, passing a yard in which there is a Model 70 (I won't call it an Invacar because it could be an AC. I am learning stuff from this thread!). I paused the PVR and took a potatocam mobile phone picture of the TV screen, with the above result.  No chance of seeing the registration number due to the car (Vauxhall Viva HB?) in front of it. Also features a BMC FG (Threepenny Bit) truck. The person in the centre of the picture is the man Marker himself. It's not a particularly informative picture but I know that LBF likes to see any spots and may not have seen this already.
 

ohh very cool! not one I had seen before I appreciate you thinking of me to grab a still

as you say it could be either an AC or Invacar, 1972 would of been pretty early for a Model 70

so if it was shot before November 1971, then it would be an AC Model 70 as Invacar only started production in ~October 1971 where as AC Started production in ~June 1971

(and AC had the 20 User trial cars from July 1970, although sadly I have not (knowingly anyway!) seen any of those or the 100 J reg production cars pictured/papped anywhere aside from my DVLA bashing and the one Ministry Photo of BPE35H)

[LightBulbFun]

in Invacar Mk12 news, decided to knuckle down do some more DVLA bashing and plug a few more gaps in my spread sheet of Invacar Mk12 Registration-chassis number blocks 

plugged the missing block I had between GEV201H-GEV300H and GPU101H-GPU200H with GHK801H-GHK900H

of which one from the block GHK865H shows up still with a correctly recorded chassis number  so I was able to verify the block exactly

then I managed to plug the 400 car gap I had between HPU101H-HPU200H and KPU101J-KPU200H, and all of the cars that do show up on the DVLA today have correctly recorded chassis numbers so I was able to properly verify each block they are a part of

first up was HVX301H-HVX400H of which 2 show up 

 HVX333H even has an engine number recorded which is quite unusual for a Villers machine but even more so for an Invacar Mk12 as unlike contemporary AC's they where never recorded on the Chassis plate so someone would had to have gone and physically checked on the engine itself when registering it with the DVLC!

then JEV201H-JEV300H, of which 1 from this block still shows up

then JPU201H-JPU300H of which again 1 shows up

before finally discovering KEV701J-KEV800J, none from this block shows up sadly, but im pretty confident that as no cars at all show up in this block of 100 registrations that is an Invacar Mk12 block (and it matches the pattern/frequency at which Invacar Mk12 Blocks where registered, usually skipping 1 or 2 registration series, keeping in mind Essex jumped from JTW-H to KEV-J skipping all the other Jxx marks)

which then obviously follows onto KPU101J-KPU200J

pretty pleased to have plugged some more gaps in my lists, as now if any Invacar Mk12's show up with Chassis numbers in those ranges I can ID them now  

 

and also in Big Al Invacar Mk12 news, it looks like the Mk12 with the rear end damage above has also been moved on recently

https://www.facebook.com/groups/portsolentcarmeet/permalink/2835621976699353

the rear photograph is interesting to study its like a cross section almost LOL

(side note cant help but notice the Model 70 Engine/Drivelines on the top right...)

[LightBulbFun]

On 02/02/2021 at 16:05, LightBulbFun said:

yay I got a picture of the Facebook Invacar Mk12's Chassis plate

its not all that clear and he said that he will go back for a better shot which is very nice of him

but thankfully I have managed to get enough info that I think I know what its chassis number is (theres 1 digit thats not clear but I can see the stamped year/month of mfg and that tells me what the missing digit is)

 

of course it falls into the 2 blocks I have not found between MPU400J and MWC701J, so ill return there and hope I can find something (Im pretty sure MVW301J-MVW400J is a block but I dont know if its the first 100 or the last 100 sadly)

On 10/01/2021 at 13:04, LightBulbFun said:

and then between MPU400J and MWC70J im actually missing 200 cars so 2 blocks, I know MVW301J-MVW400J is again a block but where none show up on the DVLA anymore, but again since I dont know what the 2nd block is, im not sure where the MVW-J block sits within the 200 missing, it is a bit puzzling tho tho as I went through the Mxx-J Essex registration series's  and apart from MVW-J I dont recall finding any other Invacar sized holes, it could be I missed something or the block of 100 im missing next to MVW301J-MVW400J is actually 2 smaller blocks of 50, sadly Invacar Mk12 chassis numbers are just that, a string of numbers so I cant look up Mk12's by chassis number  with my special tool as they are not unique enough and there is usually always a newer vehicle with the same chassis number so I get that one instead

 

Wooo! finally found part of the mystery missing blocks between MPU400J and MWC701J this has been bothering me since page 83 so quite pleased about at least partly unraveling it!

I still dont know where the MVW301J-MVW400J block goes, but I just unearthed the MVX950J-MVX999J short block, of which very luckily one still shows up on the DVLA today, MVX963J 

  

who's chassis number tells me this small block is right behind the MWC701J-MWC800J block, so I only have 150 cars to place now and I know 100 of those are MVW301J-MVW400J I just dont know if it goes 50 cars then MVW or, MVW and then 50 cars (so I cant quite yet input the MVW-J block into my spread sheet just yet)

but most excitingly this has let me ID this car 

as MVX977J  (since as above I was very kindly given a picture of its chassis plate, but its number fell into the mystery hole between MPU-J and MWC-J so I was not able to ID it at the time)

[bobdisk]

23 hours ago, Slowsilver said:

We have been watching recordings of an old series on Talking Pictures TV called "Public Eye", about a private detective called Frank Marker, played by Alfred Burke. In an episode called "Many A Slip" from 1972, Marker, who doesn't own a car, supposedly travels by train from his office in Windsor to Kings Lynn. He then walks from the station, passing a yard in which there is a Model 70 (I won't call it an Invacar because it could be an AC. I am learning stuff from this thread!). I paused the PVR and took a potatocam mobile phone picture of the TV screen, with the above result.  No chance of seeing the registration number due to the car (Vauxhall Viva HB?) in front of it. Also features a BMC FG (Threepenny Bit) truck. The person in the centre of the picture is the man Marker himself. It's not a particularly informative picture but I know that LBF likes to see any spots and may not have seen this already.

Just the programmes I like! TPTV (as it is listed on Freesat) also do Van Der Valk, that shows Dafs 

[Slowsilver]

Yep. Been watching VdV. In later episodes he swaps his little white Daf for a Mk 4 Cortina / Taunus or whatever they were called in Holland. TPTV, which is available on Freeview channel 81, is now also showing reruns of The Champions from 1968. One episode had Sharon Macready (Alexandra Bastedo) driving what I think was an Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint in Holland.

EDIT: According to IMDB it was a 1963 Alfa Romeo Guilia SS, registration number 3388 F, which belonged to Monty Berman, the producer of the show, and also appeared in The Saint, The Baron & Department S, which he also produced. Don't know if the car still exists but the registration number is now on a modern Land Rover.
 

 

[Andrew353w]

I'm a huge aficionado of all 1960 and 70s T.V! The Van Der Valk series are superb, with much Daf action on them. Having watched the complete box set recently I can confirm not only Daf action, but quite a bit of Simca 1000, numerous early Renaults and copious V.W. Beetle activity as well!

"The Champions" T.V. series features some great 1960s car chod as well, including a red Skoda Octavia (of which I have one!) and a Volga estate car, as well as that lovely Alfa Romeo already mentioned.      

[LightBulbFun]

8 hours ago, Slowsilver said:

EDIT: According to IMDB it was a 1963 Alfa Romeo Guilia SS, registration number 3388 F, which belonged to Monty Berman, the producer of the show, and also appeared in The Saint, The Baron & Department S, which he also produced. Don't know if the car still exists but the registration number is now on a modern Land Rover.

I think you mean 3366F? interesting to see what was by then an early example of a private registration mark, especially of one that does not really mean or say anything AFAIK?

 

also had to laugh at that as xxxxF is an Essex registration mark from 1957, as seen on these Invacar Mk10's for example, so we have come full circle back to Invacars

(5821F and 5827F I think)

 

[LightBulbFun]

in really quite exciting news, it looks like Stuart has got his Harding Deluxe Model B on the road under its own power  

https://www.facebook.com/groups/950689934973969/permalink/3849644091745191/

this is very exciting as its probably not just the first time this specific machine has moved under its own power in many years, but its probably first invalid carriage classification invalid vehicle of its general class to return to the road in a long time! 

(I think there might be some Electric Stanley Argsons and Murphy/Nelco Solocars running around also, but this is certainly the first petrol vehicle of this class to hit the road in in a long time!)

hopefully its gearing issues can be solved (the replacement engine is just driving the rear end via a centrifugal clutch currently) and then we can see him baffle people on runs to sainsburys and back  

[plasticvandan]

Really wish I knew why I was blocked from that group

[LightBulbFun]

Car spotting from Adam today, if it was not for the modern poking into shot, you would think this was taken about 40 years ago!

[MT606]

he should have just cropped it n posted it as 'a photo from an old album' or sumsuch......

[st185cs]

19 hours ago, MT606 said:

he should have just cropped it n posted it as 'a photo from an old album' or sumsuch......

...extending the crop to include the LED street light too

 

[Eyersey1234]

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=1924974

 

@LightBulbFun Invacars mentioned in this thread 

[LightBulbFun]

you have no idea how excited I am to see this, but a Picture of a J Reg Model 70! holy shit! Woo! (edit: before anyone gets confused I was writing this before @Eyersey1234's post above so its not in the piston head thread link above if your confused as to why you cant find it in there!)

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/small-invacar-a-single-seater-microcar-for-disabled-drivers-news-photo/1300571476

finally 2 years after I theorised the existence of then discovered the existence of J Reg Model 70's via my DVLA bashing, all the way back on (fittingly enough) Pages 70-71, I finally have photographic proof to go along with with my research  

GPE130J 

is part of the 2nd of the 2 J reg Model 70 blocks GPD781J-GPD830J and GPE121J-GPE170J (which then leads to the GPG711K-GPG910K the first full block of Model 70's)

which makes it the 60th Model 70 off the production line!

 

Now I just have to find a public photo of one of the user trial BPE21H-BPE40H Model 70's  

 

guess the holy grail would be finding one of these H or J Reg Model 70's surviving somewhere still! can you imagine that!

[LightBulbFun]

in other news did some more DVLA bashing

On 03/10/2019 at 13:50, LightBulbFun said:

 

and the first AC Model 64 Mk5 still shows up on the DVLA!

and it looks like CPH29H is not alone! CPH33H still shows up  curiously for whatever reason its chassis number turns up no results when fed back into the machine so to speak so thats why I missed it before hand

it is Model 64 Mk5 Number 6, looks to have been part of a small block (all the Model 64 Mk5's where in small blocks) from CPH29H-CPH39H or CPH42H not quite sure

so thats pretty cool as I thought CPH29H was a lone car being the first (although I say the first and the Ministry parts book says its the first, but according to its its chassis number its actually 2nd, so I wonder what the true first Mk5 was about, perhaps a prototype/trial car? sadly I cant find anything going by what its chassis number would be) tis neat to have another H reg Model 64 for the list

speaking of, I also still not found any G Reg AC Model 64's the latest I can find is a Mk4 SPB634F, and then after that is the Mk5's with their own chassis number format (which span H, J and K suffixes) I have sadly not been able to find any Mk4A's but I suspect thats because they also use their own chassis number format and I sadly dont know what that looks like

(although the Parts manual helpfully lists the first Model 64 Mk4A TPF801F which is part of a small block of 20, TPF801F-TPF820F, sadly none of those show up on the DVLA today, so I cant find what their chassis number is to use to find other Mk4A's)

could also be that they only produced a small number of Model 64 Mk4A's before taking a break from Model 64 production for a while until the Mk5, and that the Mk4A does use the same chassis number range as the Mk1-Mk4 and that simply no Mk4A's survived into look up range

but until I find a Mk4A chassis number I cant say for sure sadly

(as a side note, with how the Ministry list Model 64's as "AC ELECTRIC THREE-WHEELER" I have to wonder if that has anything to do with why the DVLA changed Genuine Thames Ditton AC Vehicles from "AC" to "AC (ELECTRIC)" have to wonder if some DVLA kid got confused back in the day and change the whole look up table, as I previously mentioned the make code for genuine AC's "Z0" did not always decode to "AC (ELECTRIC)" 1940PE's one and only V5, from 1983 says "AC" on it, despite it coming back as AC (ELECTRIC) today, so clearly they did not always say AC (ELECTRIC)!)

[Six-cylinder]

I refuse to put this photo in my thread! 

[LightBulbFun]

5 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

I refuse to put this photo in my thread! 

very nice to see the pair again! thanks for the photo  

I did wonder if it would be worth coming up to the FoD for some Invacar tinkering, or just to give her a run around the FoD, but I was not sure what id be able to get done with all the restrictions etc in place (and I did not want to use up one of the 6 slots, as I am not good for much otherwise!)

have to say looking at that and comparing to back when I first got her, you really would think someones been swapping number plate and nose badges about! 

Poor REV really needs a clean!