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...

[wuvvum]

8 minutes ago, BorniteIdentity said:

I’ve lived my life and loved my life. If I died tomorrow, I achieved all I was put on this planet to do. I’ve had a family, laughed endlessly, lived a charmed existence without ever really lifting a finger. 

Just make sure you die as happy as me. 

You've changed your tune since last week! 😜

[BorniteIdentity]

1 minute ago, wuvvum said:

You've changed your tune since last week! 😜

Have I? Maybe. My mother is terminally ill - so it brings emotion. It also brings perspective. 

[plasticvandan]

Most of the comments are from people who have had real world experience,that's all. Having been involved in the Reliant arena quite intensely for too many years in the past I know first hand what a target they are,and that was pre top gear which exploded awareness of how threewheelers "fall over" and how "funny" it is. I didn't mention said friend of mines final straw being when his last Rialto had the windows bricked and then torched. It's got nothing to do with what it is or isn't,how practical it is,it's solely because it's a three wheeler,and is different.as anyone who got bullied at school.knows,being different in the UK is a curse,and one that sheep have to attack in order to blend in with their peers. 

[LightBulbFun]

57 minutes ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Have I? Maybe. My mother is terminally ill - so it brings emotion. It also brings perspective. 

which is exactly why I am all in on the Invacar, my life has been enough of mess as it is, most of my life ambitions have gone out the window due to my disability and the such like, thats one of the big reasons I cling so fiercely to my Invacar, I am not going to let life screw me out of this, this is where I draw my line in the sand, and stand fast, that no I am *not* going to let the bullshit win, so forgive me if I refuse to adopt a defeatist attitude on this one just because it might be "a bad idea"

to use your analogy I will at least die happy knowing that I fought the battle to keep an important and very interesting/intriguing part of disability and social history from being forgotten/lost to the sands of time  

and maybe just maybe! I might be able to use said Invacar to fight back against the hand life has dealt me and use it to gain some freedom of independence to enjoy the wider-world out there at long last, hows about that?  

you could say it could be my Ace of Spades (geddit? Ace of Spades, as in AC Ace or AC Acedes  )  against the bullshit of life  

again 6 years this thread has been going for now , im sorry to say, and I appreciate that in your own sense you mean well by it, but say all you want, about it being a bad idea etc, its not going to change my outlook on things, I am already *well* aware of the risks and challenges I face with it, what you say, is nothing I have not heard repeated before many times in this thread LOL

[warren t claim]

14 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

which is exactly why I am all in on the Invacar, my life has been enough of mess as it is, most of my life ambitions have gone out the window due to my disability and the such like, thats one of the big reasons I cling so fiercely to my Invacar, I am not going 

 

and maybe just maybe! I might be able to use said Invacar to fight back against the hand life has dealt me and use it to gain some freedom of independence to enjoy the wider-world out there at long last, hows about that?  

 

 

There are plenty of people out there who've been dealt a far duffer hand than yours! Many on here have offered you advice on improving your life. 

[barefoot]

1 hour ago, LightBulbFun said:

which is exactly why I am all in on the Invacar, my life has been enough of mess as it is, most of my life ambitions have gone out the window due to my disability and the such like, thats one of the big reasons I cling so fiercely to my Invacar, I am not going to let life screw me out of this, this is where I draw my line in the sand, and stand fast, that no I am *not* going to let the bullshit win, so forgive me if I refuse to adopt a defeatist attitude on this one just because it might be "a bad idea"

to use your analogy I will at least die happy knowing that I fought the battle to keep an important and very interesting/intriguing part of disability and social history from being forgotten/lost to the sands of time  

and maybe just maybe! I might be able to use said Invacar to fight back against the hand life has dealt me and use it to gain some freedom of independence to enjoy the wider-world out there at long last, hows about that?  

you could say it could be my Ace of Spades (geddit? Ace of Spades, as in AC Ace or AC Acedes  )  against the bullshit of life  

again 6 years this thread has been going for now , im sorry to say, and I appreciate that in your own sense you mean well by it, but say all you want, about it being a bad idea etc, its not going to change my outlook on things, I am already *well* aware of the risks and challenges I face with it, what you say, is nothing I have not heard repeated before many times in this thread LOL

Don't give up, having followed this thread for 6 long years, I for one can't wait to read tales of your driving experiences, but for fuck's sake, go further than the chip shop.

Edited September 6 by barefoot
Apostrophe missing from; for fucks sake.

[BorniteIdentity]

29 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

which is exactly why I am all in on the Invacar, my life has been enough of mess as it is, most of my life ambitions have gone out the window due to my disability and the such like, thats one of the big reasons I cling so fiercely to my Invacar, I am not going to let life screw me out of this, this is where I draw my line in the sand, and stand fast, that no I am *not* going to let the bullshit win, so forgive me if I refuse to adopt a defeatist attitude on this one just because it might be "a bad idea"

to use your analogy I will at least die happy knowing that I fought the battle to keep an important and very interesting/intriguing part of disability and social history from being forgotten/lost to the sands of time  

and maybe just maybe! I might be able to use said Invacar to fight back against the hand life has dealt me and use it to gain some freedom of independence to enjoy the wider-world out there at long last, hows about that?  

you could say it could be my Ace of Spades (geddit? Ace of Spades, as in AC Ace or AC Acedes  )  against the bullshit of life  

again 6 years this thread has been going for now , im sorry to say, and I appreciate that in your own sense you mean well by it, but say all you want, about it being a bad idea etc, its not going to change my outlook on things, I am already *well* aware of the risks and challenges I face with it, what you say, is nothing I have not heard repeated before many times in this thread LOL

I do sort of admire your attitude - but it’s also been six years and it’s travelled, what? A handful of miles. It doesn’t much feel like grasping the nettle / OLLI etc. 

As you say - you’ll not change your view, and me neither. But the thread generates a lot of heat and not a lot of light. We’re all desperate to be proven wrong, so let’s see it. Go fetch it, drive it back, fall in love with it all over again. Get out of London - see the beautiful country. Make some memories. 

[DodgeRover]

3 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

My mother is terminally ill - so it brings emotion. It also brings perspective. 

As nobody else seems to have noticed, my thoughts are with you.

[HMC]

6 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

It's not just a three-wheeler thing - I was aware of a bunch of rugby lads at uni who delighted in finding something small and relatively light, like a Citroen AX or Renault 5, and hoisting it up to deposit it somewhere inaccessible, like behind the bollards outside the Student Union.

Eejits gonna eejit.

 

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/how-cambridge-university-pranksters-managed-17836295.amp

[loserone]

[bub2006]

7 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Have I? Maybe. My mother is terminally ill - so it brings emotion. It also brings perspective. 

Thoughts with you and your family. We are going through similar with bro in law. Not said it's terminal yet but have said words like stage 4 and hopefully this or that works. He's 50 and his youngest kids are nearly 3 and 5. Its a shit show and I sincerely wish you all the best for the future no matter how bleak it looks. 

[R Lutz]

8 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

I’m afraid there is one (actually two) arguments that will blow your argument out of the water. After a few minutes quiet consideration you will, if of sound mind, say “ah yeah - he’s right”.

1. A motorbike? You’re either thrown free and / or die immediately. No burning fireball of melting plastic. No difficult conversation between medical team and family about turning off the life support. You’re either 20 meters up the road wondering what the fuck happened, or already on your stairway to heaven. Via a Stannah stair lift, grinning like Thora Hird who’s just received her third complimentary digital alarm clock in as many years. Also, I ride to the station 7 miles away - not through London. It’s too far at 55mph (as you’ll soon learn)

2. I’ve lived my life and loved my life. If I died tomorrow, I achieved all I was put on this planet to do. I’ve had a family, laughed endlessly, lived a charmed existence without ever really lifting a finger. 

I have no such prejudices, but wonder (constantly) why people who yearn for a bygone age don’t want everything that went with it. Facebook pages full of people who loved the 1950s but don’t want a bath in front of the fire/uncle Sid once a week. Romanticise the pre-war era but don’t relish the idea of Victorian medicine. Think critial windows are great, having never had to wake up to ice in their bedrooms. 

Dude, it’s a bad idea - this whole thing. Just make sure you die as happy as me. 

I think you are overtly concerned. It's not going to be driven, anywhere, at all, anytime soon going by the previous 400 pages. 

[Talbot]

15 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

this is why I dont really buy the argument against Invacar, when other forms of transport with much the same issues are considered acceptable, again no one bats an eye if you want to run around on a Motorcycle or in a Citroen Ami Electric for example

Neither of those forms of transit have the same issues that have been highlighted in this thread and I am sorry to say that if you can't see that then you have either not been listening, or are so "motoring naive" that you are intentionally ignoring the issues here.

An invacar no longer has the service backup that they once had, and are sufficiently "strange" in their design that the overwhelming majority of people would not be interested in working on them or likely having anything to do with one.  With them now being 40-50 years old, they cannot be considered a reliable car, and hence require high levels of maintenance.

Which, quite frankly, you simply cannot provide.  The only people who drive them nowadays do so for amusemt value and/or YouTube value, have to regularly maintain them and they still break down on a frequent basis.

Yours will break down at some point very soon after you get it, and then without the knowledge/skills/experience/strength to fix it, it will sit parked on the road in London (or wherever it broke) and be vandalised.  This will happen because it is so obvious.

I really do not think you have any concept of how much maintenance a 40+ year old vehicle of *any* description requires, never mind a mechanically unusual one that used to be maintained by a specialist team of mechanics.

A motorbike (unless spectacularly old) is understood by motorbike mechanics.  A modern ami is unlikely to break down, and if it does there are EV specialists popping up all over the place.

This is why everyone has been suggesting getting a micra/ka/corsa/whatever as they are well known to pretty much any mechanic/recovery type person and when it inevitably breaks down or needs work, it can be done by anyone.  and if it sits broken down on the roadside, it isn't a massive target as it will blend in.

An invacar has gone from a mobility aid to a liability.  That happened on whatever day they were recalled by the government.  A date I have no doubt you can quote instantly with exact accuracy and by who it was made.  And likely how many were still in use at that point etc.  None of this helps you when a rear brake shoe spring snaps on a journey, locking a rear wheel up, leaving you stranded.  Or the dynastart unit fails and leaves you with a dead battery.  Or any one of dozens of likely failure scenarios. Recovery might get you and the vehicle home (if they have a flatbed available) but what happens after that?  Answer: nothing.  No garage will touch it, and it will be a target.

Are you then going to be able to lug a trolley jack and tools down however many flights of stairs it is you live up, take the wheel off, brake drum off and put a new spring on the brake shoe?  I severely doubt it.  Yes, you know the exact part number and what other vehicle it's fitted to, but that doesn't get it fixed.  Similar a failed dynastart unit.  Even if you could find someone to electrically repair it (unlikely) are you going to be able to remove it from the car and get it to them?

This is not a "doom and gloom" type post, it is the reality of ownership of older vehicles.  You need to be physically fit, mechanically and electrically skilled and able to do running repairs the moment they are needed.  You also need to understand where to get parts, what suppliers to use and what can and cannot be modified to make life easier.

If you do not have the above attributes, you need someone else who can do these things (ie a mecanic who is able to work on your car) or to buy something much newer which is not going to need constant and detailed maintenance.

Hence, either a new car on motability, a new-ish car for reliability or an older well-known and well-understood car that the vast majority of mechanics know and understand.

Not a 45-year old thrown-together bitsa, that almost no-one understands, no mechanics have experience of and will become an utter liability.

Do you now get it?

[Dobloseven]

54 minutes ago, Talbot said:

Neither of those forms of transit have the same issues that have been highlighted in this thread and I am sorry to say that if you can't see that then you have either not been listening, or are so "motoring naive" that you are intentionally ignoring the issues here.

An invacar no longer has the service backup that they once had, and are sufficiently "strange" in their design that the overwhelming majority of people would not be interested in working on them or likely having anything to do with one.  With them now being 40-50 years old, they cannot be considered a reliable car, and hence require high levels of maintenance.

Which, quite frankly, you simply cannot provide.  The only people who drive them nowadays do so for amusemt value and/or YouTube value, have to regularly maintain them and they still break down on a frequent basis.

Yours will break down at some point very soon after you get it, and then without the knowledge/skills/experience/strength to fix it, it will sit parked on the road in London (or wherever it broke) and be vandalised.  This will happen because it is so obvious.

I really do not think you have any concept of how much maintenance a 40+ year old vehicle of *any* description requires, never mind a mechanically unusual one that used to be maintained by a specialist team of mechanics.

A motorbike (unless spectacularly old) is understood by motorbike mechanics.  A modern ami is unlikely to break down, and if it does there are EV specialists popping up all over the place.

This is why everyone has been suggesting getting a micra/ka/corsa/whatever as they are well known to pretty much any mechanic/recovery type person and when it inevitably breaks down or needs work, it can be done by anyone.  and if it sits broken down on the roadside, it isn't a massive target as it will blend in.

An invacar has gone from a mobility aid to a liability.  That happened on whatever day they were recalled by the government.  A date I have no doubt you can quote instantly with exact accuracy and by who it was made.  And likely how many were still in use at that point etc.  None of this helps you when a rear brake shoe spring snaps on a journey, locking a rear wheel up, leaving you stranded.  Or the dynastart unit fails and leaves you with a dead battery.  Or any one of dozens of likely failure scenarios. Recovery might get you and the vehicle home (if they have a flatbed available) but what happens after that?  Answer: nothing.  No garage will touch it, and it will be a target.

Are you then going to be able to lug a trolley jack and tools down however many flights of stairs it is you live up, take the wheel off, brake drum off and put a new spring on the brake shoe?  I severely doubt it.  Yes, you know the exact part number and what other vehicle it's fitted to, but that doesn't get it fixed.  Similar a failed dynastart unit.  Even if you could find someone to electrically repair it (unlikely) are you going to be able to remove it from the car and get it to them?

This is not a "doom and gloom" type post, it is the reality of ownership of older vehicles.  You need to be physically fit, mechanically and electrically skilled and able to do running repairs the moment they are needed.  You also need to understand where to get parts, what suppliers to use and what can and cannot be modified to make life easier.

If you do not have the above attributes, you need someone else who can do these things (ie a mecanic who is able to work on your car) or to buy something much newer which is not going to need constant and detailed maintenance.

Hence, either a new car on motability, a new-ish car for reliability or an older well-known and well-understood car that the vast majority of mechanics know and understand.

Not a 45-year old thrown-together bitsa, that almost no-one understands, no mechanics have experience of and will become an utter liability.

Do you now get it?

Agree with everything you say,and have repeatedly said in the past.But you've wasted ten minutes of your life again and can only concur you need to get out more! Genuinely believe nothing is going to stop Dez in his Invacar obsession and all that can be done is to advise and help on the least risky way to go about it.Like if someone you cared about was going to do something unwise with recreational drugs or bizarre sexual practices.If you couldn't stop them , you'd at least try to steer them towards the least dangerous ways to go about it.And indeed that does seem to be happening with REV.A good few good people have spent a lot of time and effort getting her as good as possible.I'm pretty sure Dez will" get it out his system",in fairly short measure anyway but he needs to find out for himself.

[AdgeCutler]

18 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

It's not just a three-wheeler thing - I was aware of a bunch of rugby lads at uni who delighted in finding something small and relatively light, like a Citroen AX or Renault 5, and hoisting it up to deposit it somewhere inaccessible, like behind the bollards outside the Student Union.

Eejits gonna eejit.

Yep, around 24 years ago a Cortina Mk4 ended up on its roof outside one of the pubs I used to frequent. It had been left in the same parking spot, unmoved for several weeks by a chap that had yet to pass his driving test. Anyway it gained attention and 4 lads one night decided it was time it moved.

[chadders]

50 minutes ago, Dobloseven said:

Agree with everything you say,and have repeatedly said in the past.But you've wasted ten minutes of your life again and can only concur you need to get out more! Genuinely believe nothing is going to stop Dez in his Invacar obsession and all that can be done is to advise and help on the least risky way to go about it.Like if someone you cared about was going to do something unwise with recreational drugs or bizarre sexual practices.If you couldn't stop them , you'd at least try to steer them towards the least dangerous ways to go about it.And indeed that does seem to be happening with REV.A good few good people have spent a lot of time and effort getting her as good as possible.I'm pretty sure Dez will" get it out his system",in fairly short measure anyway but he needs to find out for himself.

It may just be that, like others on here, he can't remain silent when an almost certain 'disaster' looms. The least risky way to go about it is for him to buy a taxi or whatever as he's repeatedly said. Not all dreams are achievable and some are totally impractical.

[garbaldy]

1 hour ago, Dobloseven said:

but he needs to find out for himself.

And the best way for that is train to Aberdeen drive it home,  the ultimate road trip 😉 with plenty body's on route between the two that would be more than willing to help out should anything untoward happen.  

[Dobloseven]

12 minutes ago, garbaldy said:

And the best way for that is train to Aberdeen drive it home,  the ultimate road trip 😉 with plenty body's on route between the two that would be more than willing to help out should anything untoward happen.  

Must say,these crazy thoughts have been going through my mind.Could get sponsored and raise money for a mental health charity.Other charities are of course available.Even do a detour to Solway Aviation Museum.Little REV meets Big Bev!

[paulplom]

On 06/09/2024 at 03:59, OhNoWhatHaveIDone said:

Nr Whitley Bay

Very local to me then.

[paulplom]

22 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Ah come on man. Some things will always be funny - such as a mate shinning himself on a tow bar, re-runs of Father Ted and men with combovers.

I had a pissed mate (dead now) fall down with his hands in his pockets and nut a transit towball. I've never seen an egg like it. It split as well.

[big_al_granvia]

3 hours ago, Talbot said:

Neither of those forms of transit have the same issues that have been highlighted in this thread and I am sorry to say that if you can't see that then you have either not been listening, or are so "motoring naive" that you are intentionally ignoring the issues here.

An invacar no longer has the service backup that they once had, and are sufficiently "strange" in their design that the overwhelming majority of people would not be interested in working on them or likely having anything to do with one.  With them now being 40-50 years old, they cannot be considered a reliable car, and hence require high levels of maintenance.

Which, quite frankly, you simply cannot provide.  The only people who drive them nowadays do so for amusemt value and/or YouTube value, have to regularly maintain them and they still break down on a frequent basis.

Yours will break down at some point very soon after you get it, and then without the knowledge/skills/experience/strength to fix it, it will sit parked on the road in London (or wherever it broke) and be vandalised.  This will happen because it is so obvious.

I really do not think you have any concept of how much maintenance a 40+ year old vehicle of *any* description requires, never mind a mechanically unusual one that used to be maintained by a specialist team of mechanics.

A motorbike (unless spectacularly old) is understood by motorbike mechanics.  A modern ami is unlikely to break down, and if it does there are EV specialists popping up all over the place.

This is why everyone has been suggesting getting a micra/ka/corsa/whatever as they are well known to pretty much any mechanic/recovery type person and when it inevitably breaks down or needs work, it can be done by anyone.  and if it sits broken down on the roadside, it isn't a massive target as it will blend in.

An invacar has gone from a mobility aid to a liability.  That happened on whatever day they were recalled by the government.  A date I have no doubt you can quote instantly with exact accuracy and by who it was made.  And likely how many were still in use at that point etc.  None of this helps you when a rear brake shoe spring snaps on a journey, locking a rear wheel up, leaving you stranded.  Or the dynastart unit fails and leaves you with a dead battery.  Or any one of dozens of likely failure scenarios. Recovery might get you and the vehicle home (if they have a flatbed available) but what happens after that?  Answer: nothing.  No garage will touch it, and it will be a target.

Are you then going to be able to lug a trolley jack and tools down however many flights of stairs it is you live up, take the wheel off, brake drum off and put a new spring on the brake shoe?  I severely doubt it.  Yes, you know the exact part number and what other vehicle it's fitted to, but that doesn't get it fixed.  Similar a failed dynastart unit.  Even if you could find someone to electrically repair it (unlikely) are you going to be able to remove it from the car and get it to them?

This is not a "doom and gloom" type post, it is the reality of ownership of older vehicles.  You need to be physically fit, mechanically and electrically skilled and able to do running repairs the moment they are needed.  You also need to understand where to get parts, what suppliers to use and what can and cannot be modified to make life easier.

If you do not have the above attributes, you need someone else who can do these things (ie a mecanic who is able to work on your car) or to buy something much newer which is not going to need constant and detailed maintenance.

Hence, either a new car on motability, a new-ish car for reliability or an older well-known and well-understood car that the vast majority of mechanics know and understand.

Not a 45-year old thrown-together bitsa, that almost no-one understands, no mechanics have experience of and will become an utter liability.

Do you now get it?

agree totally, as much as dez is a sound bloke he is way out of his depth with rev. buy a simple car to go from a to b. leave rev in a museum . i know what its like to be disabled , i have fibro and its the day job, hence having a volvo as a daily and the corolla as a toy, easy to fix and every tame mechanic can fix them with easy to get parts

[danthecapriman]

I tend to try and stay out of this sort of shit tbh, other people’s lives/decisions and whatnot but…

I can really sympathise with Dez, it can’t be very nice being disabled and basically having no choice in many things in life. What other people just get up and do isn’t an option. Everyone’s got to have something in life to get out of bed for otherwise life’s just not worth living imho. Life in this country is bad enough as it is when you’re not disabled and it sure as shits brown isn’t improving with time. 
I can remember being young and having dreams of this car or that car etc etc and how bloody infuriating it was when someone (usually my dad!) would keep suggesting to buy something sensible and reliable (ie; boring as fuck!) and as young men usually are, I bloody mindedly ignored him and bought what I wanted instead.

You know what!? 
Im actually glad I ignored those people's advice. Yes, mistakes were made and yes, money was lost. I also got into a few situations that a took a bit of sorting out! But, you only get one life and it’s not very long. Your also in a situation where everyone else is desperate to control and ruin every aspect of life and I’m convinced it’s only a matter of time before we lose the freedom to have and use cool cars. 
Im so glad I got the opportunity to have the things I’ve had and still do have. Yes, sometimes it was a gigantic head ache and I definitely did make some mistakes. It WILL happen. But on the whole it was a good thing.

Heres the ‘but’…

Im fully able bodied and know my way around fixing things (and I know you only get that ability by doing it!) but there’s times I’ve literally been sat in snow and ice freezing my bollocks off fixing an old car so it can be used for work the next day or stood out in the pissing rain getting pissed off fixing something for an MOT the next day. All this and worse IS going to happen. Can you honestly say that you will be ok to do it? 
Likewise, and this is your biggest hurdle Dez, I had the comparative luxury of working in a reasonably nice area on my driveway with a garage stocked with my tools within walking distance from the car. 
Your biggest enemy in my opinion is where you live. I don’t mean this to be horrible or to sound like a stuck up cunt, but London is a fucking misery if your a petrol head! If I were you I’d be making number one priority to get the hell out of it and find somewhere a bit quieter and with some more space. Trying to work on a car like yours in the street (and depending on parking it could be many streets away!) is an absolute nightmare at the best of times. Lugging all your tools down stairs and down the street is absolutely shit (I’ve done this in my last job, believe me it’s fucking irritating!) then you start working on the car only for it to start raining or you’ve forgotten something… que: frantically trying to pack everything away so it doesn’t get stolen or wet before having to walk all the way back home to get dry or pick up whatever you forgot! Again, it will happen!

Parking is also your biggest issue. You have no off road parking available (I guess??) so your stuck with the street, and it’s not even guaranteed to be your street. 
I’ve had cars parked on the street and had them vandalised and that’s in reasonably decent areas and it’s not nice. I’ve had to go out before now and start chasing off the little scroats responsible! I live in a pretty nice area and yet I still wouldn’t ever leave my cars on my street outside my house, and non of my cars will stand out like an Invacar will. I’d be constantly worried about it being parked out there somewhere with all the attention it’s going to draw. Imagine parking it up somewhere near home then coming out one day to go somewhere only to find some utter prick has rolled it over or smashed it up!? It’d be absolutely heartbreaking. Unfortunately you’ve got to be realistic and even more unfortunately the country is full of infantile little scum bags that will do things like that because apparently it’s funny!? 

I could go on and on but I won’t!

 

Dez, I really admire your dedication to having this car and your clearly set on having one. I’m with you all the way on this. 
But please do consider things very carefully. 
If I were to offer you one piece of advice it’d be to hold on to your dream of having one/using one but you need to get out of where you live now. Even if it’s still London, you need to get somewhere with some private parking and a bit of room. That one thing will dramatically help you out with this. Obviously I’m not suggesting you go try to buy a multi million pound house with an acre of land around it, but there are places available that are at least ground floor with a bit of room and, critically, at least an allocated parking space outside to house so you can see the car and be guaranteed to be able to park there and do any work you need to do.

[warren t claim]

All good advice and illustrates my point that a TX is a far more suitable vehicle for your needs. 

[High Jetter]

Some very good points made above, but remember that we all learn from our mistakes. Dez has spent countless hours on Invacar research in general, and on REV in particular, and it's what he wants at the moment. He's smart enough to know the pitfalls and is technically way more savvy than the majority of the population. Saying REV is an itch he has to scratch is an understatement, I think. There's been a massive amount of practical support from some on here and it seems that REV is on the way to London, albeit slowly. Time will tell if it's turns out to be right for him, but how will he know for sure until he's got it back and had the chance to use it for a while doing normal things?

[GingerNuttz]

I mean that invacare has more structural intergrity in its fiberglass body than most of the Triumphs I've worked on so he should be reet if it's in an accident 🤣

[Weird Car]

As much as I absolutely love your enthusiasm for these cars and you’ve truly been an asset to the community involved in keeping the history of them and others like it alive, being someone who has owned 3 of the little death traps and driven 2 model 70s on the road, mate they’re terrifying! Honestly terrifying, like I’ve driven 80+ year old buses, reliants at 70+, had tyres blow outs in terrible conditions, driven 50cc Sans permis cars 2 up on duel carriageways, ridden East German motorcycles to Scotland, and these top that list of being scary by a long shot, I mean don’t get me wrong as a little city bug run about on nice days they can be used but some of the trips you’re talking of taking far, far exceed the original designer’s intentions and as much as I hate to admit it, you will be signing your death warrant, take it from someone who has owned these before as I know you like to use Zel and Ian as examples as to them being usable for distance as gospel, I firmly believe  the opposite, by all means keep rev as a weekend car but if it helps you from killing yourself and the invalid car community losing an asset I’m willing to give you my ULEZ exempt MG ZT free of charge for you to use as a daily and keep rev for hi days and holidays, come pick it up, get the master cylinder swapped which most garages will happily do and enjoy a long prosperous life using rev for short trips and weekends and have a nice safe still retro cool daily 

[dave j]

I can't wait to see this thread full of pics and videos of it being driven around that London! Good luck with it!

[captain_70s]

1 hour ago, GingerNuttz said:

I mean that invacare has more structural intergrity in its fiberglass body than most of the Triumphs I've worked on so he should be reet if it's in an accident 🤣

Setting the bar low there.

I've seen paper towels with more structural integrity than my Triumphs. 😂

Agreed that LBF is gonna do the Invacar thing regardless of practicality. Not much point in retreading old ground. It's not like I haven't done dumb fuck things for shit automotive curiosities...

As stated it's welcome to stay here if required.  Might be handy if you take @GingerNuttz up on the paintjob to be fair.

[GingerNuttz]

11 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

Setting the bar low there.

I've seen paper towels with more structural integrity than my Triumphs. 😂

Agreed that LBF is gonna do the Invacar thing regardless of practicality. Not much point in retreading old ground.

As stated it's welcome to stay here if required.  Might be handy if you take @GingerNuttz up on the paintjob to be fair.

You just want a motor with no holes in it on the driveway 🤣

[bub2006]

4 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

I tend to try and stay out of this sort of shit tbh, other people’s lives/decisions and whatnot but…

I can really sympathise with Dez, it can’t be very nice being disabled and basically having no choice in many things in life. What other people just get up and do isn’t an option. Everyone’s got to have something in life to get out of bed for otherwise life’s just not worth living imho. Life in this country is bad enough as it is when you’re not disabled and it sure as shits brown isn’t improving with time. 
I can remember being young and having dreams of this car or that car etc etc and how bloody infuriating it was when someone (usually my dad!) would keep suggesting to buy something sensible and reliable (ie; boring as fuck!) and as young men usually are, I bloody mindedly ignored him and bought what I wanted instead.

You know what!? 
Im actually glad I ignored those people's advice. Yes, mistakes were made and yes, money was lost. I also got into a few situations that a took a bit of sorting out! But, you only get one life and it’s not very long. Your also in a situation where everyone else is desperate to control and ruin every aspect of life and I’m convinced it’s only a matter of time before we lose the freedom to have and use cool cars. 
Im so glad I got the opportunity to have the things I’ve had and still do have. Yes, sometimes it was a gigantic head ache and I definitely did make some mistakes. It WILL happen. But on the whole it was a good thing.

Heres the ‘but’…

Im fully able bodied and know my way around fixing things (and I know you only get that ability by doing it!) but there’s times I’ve literally been sat in snow and ice freezing my bollocks off fixing an old car so it can be used for work the next day or stood out in the pissing rain getting pissed off fixing something for an MOT the next day. All this and worse IS going to happen. Can you honestly say that you will be ok to do it? 
Likewise, and this is your biggest hurdle Dez, I had the comparative luxury of working in a reasonably nice area on my driveway with a garage stocked with my tools within walking distance from the car. 
Your biggest enemy in my opinion is where you live. I don’t mean this to be horrible or to sound like a stuck up cunt, but London is a fucking misery if your a petrol head! If I were you I’d be making number one priority to get the hell out of it and find somewhere a bit quieter and with some more space. Trying to work on a car like yours in the street (and depending on parking it could be many streets away!) is an absolute nightmare at the best of times. Lugging all your tools down stairs and down the street is absolutely shit (I’ve done this in my last job, believe me it’s fucking irritating!) then you start working on the car only for it to start raining or you’ve forgotten something… que: frantically trying to pack everything away so it doesn’t get stolen or wet before having to walk all the way back home to get dry or pick up whatever you forgot! Again, it will happen!

Parking is also your biggest issue. You have no off road parking available (I guess??) so your stuck with the street, and it’s not even guaranteed to be your street. 
I’ve had cars parked on the street and had them vandalised and that’s in reasonably decent areas and it’s not nice. I’ve had to go out before now and start chasing off the little scroats responsible! I live in a pretty nice area and yet I still wouldn’t ever leave my cars on my street outside my house, and non of my cars will stand out like an Invacar will. I’d be constantly worried about it being parked out there somewhere with all the attention it’s going to draw. Imagine parking it up somewhere near home then coming out one day to go somewhere only to find some utter prick has rolled it over or smashed it up!? It’d be absolutely heartbreaking. Unfortunately you’ve got to be realistic and even more unfortunately the country is full of infantile little scum bags that will do things like that because apparently it’s funny!? 

I could go on and on but I won’t!

 

Dez, I really admire your dedication to having this car and your clearly set on having one. I’m with you all the way on this. 
But please do consider things very carefully. 
If I were to offer you one piece of advice it’d be to hold on to your dream of having one/using one but you need to get out of where you live now. Even if it’s still London, you need to get somewhere with some private parking and a bit of room. That one thing will dramatically help you out with this. Obviously I’m not suggesting you go try to buy a multi million pound house with an acre of land around it, but there are places available that are at least ground floor with a bit of room and, critically, at least an allocated parking space outside to house so you can see the car and be guaranteed to be able to park there and do any work you need to do.

I wish I'd listened when I was younger! 

I sympathise with people with any form of disability. I'm there myself and it's a proper pain in the arse asking for help to do things mechanically that I used to do myself in next to no time. I can't do what I used to do ,cycling,running and occasionally fighting on a Saturday night either.

I don't think the invacar will be a suitable primary mode of transport anywhere let alone the hellscape of inner city London. A second car as a toy yes but not the main mode. Only dez himself can come to any form of opinion on that and no one else. Everyone is different and to some of us,me included driving in london is a misery in any form of modern car let alone an old invacar that is practically invisible to anyone with a modern SUV. 

I sincerely wish dez all the best in getting the car back and it's all he hoped it would be and not just rose tinted glasses of how life could be all sweetness and fun.