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...

[warren t claim]

2 minutes ago, lesapandre said:

Always an informative response @LightBulbFun - keep up the good work. This is my favourite thread on here. I'm itching to have drive some time.

When I win the Euromillions (€100m+) I'm intending to create a few 1-off cars - principally I am going to recreate the Wolseley 8/180 prototype:

Source: AROnline.

But I'd also do a few 1-off invacars. So cool.

I used to dream of what cars I'd have made if I ever won the Euromillions until I faced the fact that if I ever hit the jackpot I'd undoubtedly end up spending a happy week surrounded by the cast of Babestation wearing both a leather thong and a 1970s seaside donkey's nose bag stuffed full of coke before eventually dropping dead of a Viagra/cocaine overdose.

[Sheefag]

He's gone full Frank Bough. You should never...

[lesapandre]

1 minute ago, Sheefag said:

He's gone full Frank Bough. You should never...

No lingerie - it's only 80% Bough.

[warren t claim]

1 minute ago, Sheefag said:

He's gone full Frank Bough. You should never...

It's just as well that Selina Scott kept her mouth shut about his Breakfast Time behind the scenes behaviour as it prevented a NATIONWIDE scandal.

[bub2006]

1 hour ago, warren t claim said:

I used to dream of what cars I'd have made if I ever won the Euromillions until I faced the fact that if I ever hit the jackpot I'd undoubtedly end up spending a happy week surrounded by the cast of Babestation wearing both a leather thong and a 1970s seaside donkey's nose bag stuffed full of coke before eventually dropping dead of a Viagra/cocaine overdose.

He came as he went.

[Jim Bergerac]

1 hour ago, warren t claim said:

I used to dream of what cars I'd have made if I ever won the Euromillions until I faced the fact that if I ever hit the jackpot I'd undoubtedly end up spending a happy week surrounded by the cast of Babestation wearing both a leather thong and a 1970s seaside donkey's nose bag stuffed full of coke before eventually dropping dead of a Viagra/cocaine overdose.

I thought that was a normal day for you? 

[somewhatfoolish]

9 hours ago, plasticvandan said:

Having been around these things for 25 years,and the original scrapping directives from 1997-2003,no, these vehicles were collected in to be scrapped,being property of the dhss,the repairer or scrap merchant being required to return the chassis plate as proof of the vehicle being scrapped,as they were not to be sold to the public.cars given to museums during this period having to sign a document stating the car was not to be used on the road.as time wore on and the dhss realised that many scrap merchants weren't fulfilling their obligations,they were collected directly by the dhss from users so they could be destroyed. Some people did have their cars taken off them having "acquired" them after the 2003 date. It was only a pleasure on behalf of the older incumbent of the invalid carriage register that effectively got a pardon for remaining cars to be re registered for the road.

Hardly theft; breach of contract maybe on the part of the scrapyards who didn't cube them.

[DodgeRover]

1 hour ago, lesapandre said:

When I win the Euromillions (€100m+) I'm intending to create a few 1-off cars.

Following winning Euro millions I'm going to have my range rover restored, buy myself a nice KTM495 and pretend it's winter 1988 again by hitting vmax down the deserted beach in the early morning hours between Sutton on Sea and Chapel St.Leonards, if I plan ahead I should still have enough fuel left to make the return journey.

[Snake Charmer]

5 minutes ago, DodgeRover said:

Following winning Euro millions

I would try and purchase one particular AC from a gentleman in Scotland and try to get nicked for speeding in it on the M1. 

[red5]

Just for clarity, and the sheer fun of it - 

Preston by-pass entrance. 

No pony and trap!

[R Lutz]

2 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

I think Invalid Vehicles have to be the most miss-understood vehicles on Britain's roads, again you as a Reliant owner/enthusiast surely you can sympathise here as those machines are similarly miss-understood albeit to a lesser-extent (tho I have seen a few people claim you cant even drive Reliant 3 wheelers on motorways!) and understand why I wish to set the record straight for anyone else who may stumble across Invacars in the future   

 

 

When are you driving yours on the motorway? There has been far too much thread drift going on today. 

[Jazoli]

22 minutes ago, R Lutz said:

When are you driving yours on the motorway? There has been far too much thread drift going on today. 

No-one is that insane surely? fuck mixing it in bathtub with the 18 wheelers.

[R Lutz]

2 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

No-one is that insane surely? fuck mixing it in bathtub with the 18 wheelers.

Sorry, I must be mistaken. I thought that was part of the plan?

[IronStar]

8 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

No-one is that insane surely? fuck mixing it in bathtub with the 18 wheelers.

I know a certain Serbian dude that wouldn’t say no. He’s not even a YouTuber or anything like that, just gets sheer enjoyment of stupid drives. 
UKs speed limit is among the lowest in Europe, so it should be fine, right? Top speed for it is either 60 or 82 if this is the one with 600cc engine. 
Probably as safe as driving most of the cars from 60s or prior.

[Jazoli]

8 minutes ago, IronStar said:

I know a certain Serbian dude that wouldn’t say no. He’s not even a YouTuber or anything like that, just gets sheer enjoyment of stupid drives. 
UKs speed limit is among the lowest in Europe, so it should be fine, right? Top speed for it is either 60 or 82 if this is the one with 600cc engine. 
Probably as safe as driving most of the cars from 60s or prior.

A lot of UK motorways are not flat, I think it would be a death wish to even try to cover any motorways miles in one seeing as how easily modern wagons can do 55mph uphill, a constant 60mph is not realistic for an underpowered bathtub, even trying to merge onto a busy motorway (or dual carriageway or even a fast A road) would be terrifying, I used to feel horribly exposed when I occasionally jumped on the motorway for a couple of junctions on my 125 scooter, its no fun having no acceleration.

[rustdevil]

can not wait till your rockin this around hackney Des, more power to you.

[IronStar]

1 minute ago, Jazoli said:

A lot of UK motorways are not flat, I think it would be a death wish to even try to cover any motorways miles in one seeing as how easily modern wagons can do 55mph uphill, a constant 60mph is not realistic for an underpowered bathtub, even trying to merge onto a busy motorway would be terrifying.

Let me introduce you to stories of BX with a single working brake being driven home on a busy weekday, Florida that wouldn’t go over 60kmh uphill being driven home on a motorway, a few years of driving mk1 Golf 1.6 diesel around that would do 80 when it was new with 0-60 probably measured in minutes when I was driving it, all of these in a country where motorways are 80 not 70. Oh, Golf was back in the days where everyone was driving closer to 100 as there were no average speed cameras. 
It would be fine. Seriously. 

[Jazoli]

9 minutes ago, IronStar said:

Let me introduce you to stories of BX with a single working brake being driven home on a busy weekday, Florida that wouldn’t go over 60kmh uphill being driven home on a motorway, a few years of driving mk1 Golf 1.6 diesel around that would do 80 when it was new with 0-60 probably measured in minutes when I was driving it, all of these in a country where motorways are 80 not 70. Oh, Golf was back in the days where everyone was driving closer to 100 as there were no average speed cameras. 
It would be fine. Seriously. 

No it wouldn't, at all, the vehicles you mention are proper cars, with proper brakes and handling, if you seriously think that it is 'safe' to drive an invalid carriage on the UK's jam packed major roads full of pushy commuters you are wrong, and time will tell, fine for bimbling around locally in 'town' but on the M25? not likely.

Whats the stopping distance of an Invacare? on my regular commute traffic comes to a halt from 60mph - 0mph regularly in all weather, modern cars (and trucks) come to a halt very quickly and yet you are happy to encourage someone with no experience, in a vehicle with marginal brakes, tiny skinny tyres with marginal grip and no abs to travel on these roads?

[IronStar]

9 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

No it wouldn't, at all, if you seriously think that it is 'safe' to drive an invalid carriage on the UK's jam packed major roads full of pushy commuters you are wrong, and time will tell, fine for bimbling around locally in 'town' but on the M25? not likely.

I’ll accept that UKs motorways, especially around London can be busier than Belgrade. However, driving standards I saw were higher than here, so it kinda evens out. Not sure how being stuck in an infinite queue of cars sitting still or driving at the same speed makes it any more or less safe. We have insane traffic as well.

‘Safe’ is a very relative term. I know people who would never drive most of the cars we have on AS, or really anything pre-2010s on the safety grounds, as they want to come off unscathed from a crash with a big fuckoff SUV.
Is it something I’d do daily? No, probably not, daily car really needs to be adequate. Would I do it for giggles? Yes. Absolutely. Any day of the week I’m off work.

If I was over there, I’d probably volunteer to drive it down from where it’s now. Would it grind gears of some people driving an 18 wheeler? Yeah, probably. Would it get home? Provided it didn’t break down, I’m almost 100% positive it would . 

[D.E]

Wouldn't even the lorries try to overtake if you're doing 50 or so? I'd also be worried about sidewinds and such. 

I know someone with a Daf Pony (which at least has four wheels, but is a vehicle that just isn't quite capable to keep up with motorway speeds as well) and he sticks to country roads. I'd do the same with an Invacar. It's probably more comfortable and better for the vehicle itself (wouldn't you be revving the poor thing to the max trying to reach motorway speeds?) too.

[IronStar]

10 minutes ago, D.E said:

Wouldn't even the lorries try to overtake if you're doing 50 or so? I'd also be worried about sidewinds and such. 

I know someone with a Daf Pony (which at least has four wheels, but is a vehicle that just isn't quite capable to keep up with motorway speeds as well) and he sticks to country roads. I'd probably do the same with an Invacar. It's probably more comfortable and better for the vehicle itself (wouldn't you be revving the poor thing to the max trying to reach 60?) too.

I did get overtaken by lorries in all of the cars I mentioned above, because I couldn’t get the fuck out of their way. I usually did move over with 2 wheels into the breakdown lane to make it as smooth as possible for them when I realized I was holding them up. Got a thanks flash more than once as well.

Yeah, country roads are more appropriate for them (or anything else as underpowered really). However, if you need to push, take a motorway as a significant shortcut, I would, any day of the week. 
I don’t see how this is all the significantly different from driving, say original Fiat 500, 126p, Trabant, 850cc Mini or any other similar car that’s spectacularly underpowered for today’s roads and was never designed with safety in mind. None of them can actually reach 70 or 80, and need to be floored to be able to keep up. You are dead-dead if you’re in a crash with anything modern. Yet people still do it all the time. 

[AnthonyG]

4 hours ago, lesapandre said:

Always an informative response @LightBulbFun

Source: AROnline.

I’m sorry, but that’s the sort of total half-baked insanity that led to BMC’s demise. It would have had a target market of about 30 people, and that’s including in all the Commonwealth markets. 

Although, if you did want to make it, all you need is an Austin 3 litre, a Wolseley Six grille and front panel, a Rover V8, and a gearbox/prop to lash it all together, probably sourced from a Sherpa ambulance.  You’d probably have change out of £30k, never mind a million! 

[LightBulbFun]

14 hours ago, IronStar said:

I don’t see how this is all the significantly different from driving, say original Fiat 500, 126p, Trabant, 850cc Mini or any other similar car that’s spectacularly underpowered for today’s roads and was never designed with safety in mind. None of them can actually reach 70 or 80, and need to be floored to be able to keep up. You are dead-dead if you’re in a crash with anything modern. Yet people still do it all the time. 

the truth of the matter is, its really not all that different then those vehicles in terms of usability , but sadly people here in the UK as you can see well in my thread, have a prejudice against the Invacar

they Just see instantly as a negative item, and refuse to look at them, objectively, the Model 70 especially

and I imagine with me/this thread in particular a large part of the negativity currently prevalent  is just from people who are just being bullies or antagonistic, because "oh that guy is deeply into lightbulbs and invacars lets take the piss out of him and antagonise him" (and likely exacerbated by the fact the fact I have not done what they want me to do, and so thats pissed people off even more "he wont do what I said so lets ridicule and take the piss out of him instead" )

 

obviously the first thing I do is *not* jump on the M25 with REV,  that wont happen until have a good few hours under my belt and I have fully relaxed confidence in myself and REV, but to claim a Model 70 is unsuited to drive on a Motorway really is overblowing things if you excuse the pun! people drove their Model 70's all over the motorway network in period 

theres even one story of a Priest who regularly drove his Model 70 to some holy place in *France* using nothing but motorways all of the way!

a Model 70 in good health will happily bowl along at 55-65Mph so you can either tuck in behind a lorry, or you can keep yourself out the way of the Lorries, where you can then tuck in behind a National Express coach at 62Mph instead, and a Model 70 will do 70 Mph if you need to execute an overtake or such, (tho you are pushing on quite a bit at those speeds), as far as I can tell no one actually knows what the top speed of the Model 70 is, because it *is* higher then the National speed limit and no one wants to self incriminate themselves LOL

14 hours ago, Jazoli said:

Whats the stopping distance of an Invacar

you have the brakes of a Triumph Herald in something that weighs half-as-much, a Model 70 will stand on its nose (almost quite literally )  if you slam on the handlebar

(a Triumph Herald is what 850Kg? thats 212.5Kg per wheel a Model 70 is 410kg so 136.6kg per wheel)

obviously they are not ventilated disks with ABS, but a Model 70 certainly has no issues doing an emergency stop as this GIF demonstrates  

and then there are the Model 70's which are equipped with Power-brakes

(usually fitted on vehicles who's user has weak arms etc)

[Datsuncog]

Ah, this thread.

Again.

[BorniteIdentity]

5 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

theres even one story of a Priest who regularly drove his Model 70 to some holy place in *France* using nothing but motorways all of the way!

Dez. I beg you to answer me this one question. I will then bow out of this thread until I see you driving it along the Marylebone Road.

All I ask is you answer it DIRECTLY and in no more than four words. 

Here comes the question. 

What year was this?

What year did the Priest regularly drive to France in his Invacar using Motorways? 

Looking forward to a straightforward answer to a straightforward question. 

 

 

[lesapandre]

France is full of Voiture Sans Permis - and the concept of super light and super small cars is alive and well - cars of all ages. They are considered pretty cool.

Older micro-cars are thus really treasured - and a lot of older cars get used regularly at weekends. I've not seen an Invacar ever in France - but who knows there may be one here. 

Bring one over to a show and you'd be very popular - microcars have very a big following. Next time I am at a show I will snap a few.

French Voiture Sans Permis are restricted on the payage but any other classic vehicle is not - and traffic is often lighter so I'd see no problem.  You'd just need to choose your route. Drivers are well attuned to the fact there are smaller and slower cars on the road. These small cars are very important for the people who use them.

A lot of old cars get driven very long distances and I often see people touring in some very old and rare stuff...

So there is no issue - an Invacar would get a very warm welcome to France.

How about a trip to Le Mans sometime - could drive the circuit. 😄 

[lesapandre]

8 hours ago, AnthonyG said:

I’m sorry, but that’s the sort of total half-baked insanity that led to BMC’s demise. It would have had a target market of about 30 people, and that’s including in all the Commonwealth markets. 

Although, if you did want to make it, all you need is an Austin 3 litre, a Wolseley Six grille and front panel, a Rover V8, and a gearbox/prop to lash it all together, probably sourced from a Sherpa ambulance.  You’d probably have change out of £30k, never mind a million! 

The 3-Litre is a really good car. BMC spent ages in development. They handle really well and are nice to drive.  I preferred mine to the Rover P6 I had. They are let down by the poor engine - a  7-bearing modification of the BMC C-Series which is very sluggish. With the V8 and a more prestigious badge would probably have done much much better. A victim of the various 60's mergers.

[barefoot]

Would you fit it with hubcaps?

[lesapandre]

16 minutes ago, barefoot said:

Would you fit it with hubcaps?

I think Rostyles - like the Rover Coupe - that would be period correct.

An Invacar on Rostyles - now there's a thought. Yes the GT version.

 

[Snake Charmer]

1 hour ago, lesapandre said:

An Invacar on Rostyles - now there's a thought. Yes the GT version.

 

Minilites for rally stages and given the AC heritage Halibrands for racing. 👍