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...

[Snake Charmer]

Have a look at Woolies Trim for screen rubber, if nothing suitable there I can dig our catalogues out for other suppliers. One of the better ones we use has deleted a lot of profiles unfortunately. 

I have not used this but a friend successfully sealed all the screen leaks on her Jensen Interceptor, Captain Tolleys Creeping Crack Cure . In her words, she was mightily impressed with it. 😁

[LightBulbFun]

another day, another trip out/collection caper in REV  thankfully the weather indeed held good for today so I was able to do the collection run I had to abort yesterday due to the rain etc

this was my longest drive in REV to date, a 20 mile round trip that took me over Tower Bridge twice  I wonder how many tourist snaps I photobombed, driving in the footsteps of @dollywobbler and TWC   (and REV has now been both under and over the River Thames! )

eventually I arrived to pickup the goods, because what I need is more old computers, a PowerMac G4 Digital Audio and a honking great big 17 inch CRT Apple Studio display computer monitor  

I admit once I sat down in REV to start the trip and especially once I saw the stuff on the trolly, I did have reservations about this actually all fitting, but I need not worry at all  who says Invacars are not practical!  (the seller very kindly helped load it up for me)

(I even managed to snag a bonus Macintosh LCII from the seller  )

and after another hour on the road, I was home safe and sound  

(my brother very kindly came over and helped take all the computer gear upstairs for me, no way I could manage that on my own!)

all in all a very good day! I got some more old computers and a nice CRT to play with (the CRT I am pretty pleased with in itself since years ago I did get one, but it was DOA, so its good to have another and close that cycle of un-finished business)  and I went on my longest drive yet and REV handled it without issue  20 miles, 2 hours on the road, and I have a good idea of just how much crap I can pickup with her  

 

[beko1987]

Nice arm rest for the way home too 😂

I remember all the stuff I piled into the Xsara from the closed down vacuum repair shop we went to a few years ago. Probably fairly overloaded, I did plod with the lorries on the way back to not attract attention/need to sharply brake... 

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

20 miles, 2 hours on the road

Great stuff! 10mph isn't bad for central London, the GLA reckon 7.1 to 8.7 is average.

[Six-cylinder]

Now you have done under the Thames, over the Thames, how about floating across the Thames.

Here is an idea for a jolly!

Take Rev for a ferry ride, no not to Santander but from South Woolwich to North Woolwich! It is free and I bet it is a long time since an invacar made the crossing.

[Christine]

You live 3 stories up . You have an old  CRT.. Act like a rock star ! 

 

[st185cs]

11 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

Here is an idea for a jolly!

Take Rev for a ferry ride, no not to Santander but from South Woolwich to North Woolwich! It is free and I bet it is a long time since an invacar made the crossing.

Why not get a convoy of invacars on that vessel - that’d make for a great photo. 

[somewhatfoolish]

On 19/11/2024 at 17:25, Noel Tidybeard said:

captain tollys creeping crack

You can get an ointment for that.

[LightBulbFun]

19 hours ago, beko1987 said:

Nice arm rest for the way home too 😂

I remember all the stuff I piled into the Xsara from the closed down vacuum repair shop we went to a few years ago. Probably fairly overloaded, I did plod with the lorries on the way back to not attract attention/need to sharply brake... 

Yeah I had to be careful not take corners too quickly or the PowerMac G4 would wobble about the place LOL

17 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Great stuff! 10mph isn't bad for central London, the GLA reckon 7.1 to 8.7 is average.

I find you can make fairly quick progress in REV relatively speaking, she is small compact and quite nimble on her feet, so you can dart about the place, through gaps etc, without having to slow down as much as you would in a big SUV or such, you can overtake cyclists giving them plenty of room while still being comfortably in your lane/side of the road etc

and I also find in REV people are lot kinder on the road to you, much more willing to let you merge in front of them or let you out of a junction and less likely to pull out on you, which probably helps progress as well  (I think the only thing that lets REV down in that regard is she can be fairly shunty/juddery on the drive belt take up if you snap the throttle open to try and do a fast traffic lights getaway, but once under way she is perfectly happy  )

15 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

Now you have done under the Thames, over the Thames, how about floating across the Thames.

Here is an idea for a jolly!

Take Rev for a ferry ride, no not to Santander but from South Woolwich to North Woolwich! It is free and I bet it is a long time since an invacar made the crossing.

Yeah thats a fun idea! I was just thinking that I am a bit frustrated at the lack of nice/different pictures I have of REV, most of em are her in the dead end or some nondescript part of London, I thought it would of been really cool to get some pictures of her going onto/across Tower Bridge, but I think stopping in the middle of the road to get some pictures would been rather frowned upon by the drivers behind me! but a shot of her on the woolwich Ferry would be certainly make for some good photos  

 

 

[Six-cylinder]

7 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

Yeah I had to be careful not take corners too quickly or the PowerMac G4 would wobble about the place LOL

I find you can make fairly quick progress in REV relatively speaking, she is small compact and quite nimble on her feet, so you can dart about the place, through gaps etc, without having to slow down as much as you would in a big SUV or such, you can overtake cyclists giving them plenty of room while still being comfortably in your lane/side of the road etc

and I also find in REV people are lot kinder on the road to you, much more willing to let you merge in front of them or let you out of a junction and less likely to pull out on you, which probably helps progress as well  (I think the only thing that lets REV down in that regard is she can be fairly shunty/juddery on the drive belt take up if you snap the throttle open to try and do a fast traffic lights getaway, but once under way she is perfectly happy  )

Yeah thats a fun idea! I was just thinking that I am a bit frustrated at the lack of nice/different pictures I have of REV, most of em are her in the dead end or some nondescript part of London, I thought it would of been really cool to get some pictures of her going onto/across Tower Bridge, but I think stopping in the middle of the road to get some pictures would been rather frowned upon by the drivers behind me! but a shot of her on the woolwich Ferry would be certainly make for some good photos  

 

 

It would be a first in modern times not even done by Hubnut.

[Mr Pastry]

12 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

and I also find in REV people are lot kinder on the road to you, much more willing to let you merge in front of them or let you out of a junction and less likely to pull out on you, which probably helps progress as well

I was going to ask how "other road users" reacted, so it's interesting to hear that they actually notice you are there, and can be considerate, though of course it's not something you can rely on.  I often feel safer in the 2CV than in a small modern, as it is tall and and distinctive and people are generally considerate.  On the other hand, people can pull out on you assuming that you are going more slowly than you really are, so you have to watch for that and it's sometimes a false sense of security.

 

[IronStar]

2 hours ago, Mr Pastry said:

I often feel safer in the 2CV than in a small modern, as it is tall and and distinctive and people are generally considerate.  On the other hand, people can pull out on you assuming that you are going more slowly than you really are, so you have to watch for that and it's sometimes a false sense of security.

 

It is paramount to keep "if I crash, I'm getting carried away in a black bag" somewhere in the back of your mind when driving these cars. It keeps you from going for that gap that you should be able to squeeze into if an SUV trying to merge doesn't floor it, and you're keeping a bigger distance from the car ahead.

While people are more considerate, all it takes is a single idiot.

[beko1987]

1 hour ago, IronStar said:

It is paramount to keep "if I crash, I'm getting carried away in a black bag" somewhere in the back of your mind when driving these cars. It keeps you from going for that gap that you should be able to squeeze into if an SUV trying to merge doesn't floor it, and you're keeping a bigger distance from the car ahead.

While people are more considerate, all it takes is a single idiot.

That's my mantra for driving even in a 'proper' car! No matter what happens it'll hurt. 

I think the same when I hear "but the lorry didn't move/create a gap for me" after someone goes under one. No, it didn't move and you still went for it... Wether your were right or wrong, the thing bigger than you will hurt you more

[wesacosa]

4 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

Yeah I had to be careful not take corners too quickly or the PowerMac G4 would wobble about the place LOL

I find you can make fairly quick progress in REV relatively speaking, she is small compact and quite nimble on her feet, so you can dart about the place, through gaps etc, without having to slow down as much as you would in a big SUV or such, you can overtake cyclists giving them plenty of room while still being comfortably in your lane/side of the road etc

and I also find in REV people are lot kinder on the road to you, much more willing to let you merge in front of them or let you out of a junction and less likely to pull out on you, which probably helps progress as well  (I think the only thing that lets REV down in that regard is she can be fairly shunty/juddery on the drive belt take up if you snap the throttle open to try and do a fast traffic lights getaway, but once under way she is perfectly happy  )

Yeah thats a fun idea! I was just thinking that I am a bit frustrated at the lack of nice/different pictures I have of REV, most of em are her in the dead end or some nondescript part of London, I thought it would of been really cool to get some pictures of her going onto/across Tower Bridge, but I think stopping in the middle of the road to get some pictures would been rather frowned upon by the drivers behind me! but a shot of her on the woolwich Ferry would be certainly make for some good photos  

 

 

if you do go across the ferry I'm about a mile or so down the road from the South pier if you want to stop in and say hello if I'm around 

[lesapandre]

Travel on it whilst it continues running - make the most of it. I feel once the second (new) Blackwall Tunnel opens it's time is limited.

Also they are going to toll the Blackwall Tunnel so it's inevitable that they will seek to toll or close the free ferry.

[timolloyd]

Channel Tunnel it will have to be, in that case. Invacar day trip to Calais.

[lesapandre]

Or take the ferry. A day return is very cheap especially out of season. There are 5-day tickets as well. Combine it with a local weekend French car meet nearby.

'Invacars Are Forever' :

[High Jetter]

6 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

and I also find in REV people are lot kinder on the road to you, much more willing to let you merge in front of them or let you out of a junction and less likely to pull out on you

That makes sense in a way - it's such an unusual sight on roads now that most people will do a double-take or pause while thinking 'WTF is that?' by which time you're either out of the junction or too close for them to barge in front of you. Once local drivers get used to seeing you that might change though.

[egg]

22 minutes ago, timolloyd said:

Channel Tunnel it will have to be, in that case. Invacar day trip to Calais.

There's a regular car meet in Calais, 1st Sunday morning of the month in summer. I think a Model 70 might be a cause celebre! 

Although the M20 in an Invacar would be.....interesting....

https://www.facebook.com/groups/265704183556571

[wuvvum]

Probably better (if slower) to go all the way down on the A2.

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, timolloyd said:

Channel Tunnel it will have to be, in that case. Invacar day trip to Calais.

1 hour ago, egg said:

There's a regular car meet in Calais, 1st Sunday morning of the month in summer. I think a Model 70 might be a cause celebre! 

Although the M20 in an Invacar would be.....interesting....

https://www.facebook.com/groups/265704183556571

I was more thinking along the lines of  

https://autoshite.com/topic/60030-shitefest-international-2025/

1 hour ago, High Jetter said:

That makes sense in a way - it's such an unusual sight on roads now that most people will do a double-take or pause while thinking 'WTF is that?' by which time you're either out of the junction or too close for them to barge in front of you. Once local drivers get used to seeing you that might change though.

indeed thats my thoughts about almost exactly  I have been wondering if part the reason people are so courteous to me is that it just simply catches people out, so they go "WTF is that" and by the time they wrap their heads around it, I have already pootled on past  (or that they perhaps intentionally hang back to get a look at REV as I go past)

I certainly noticed that she does seem endear people, reactions/comments from pedestrians and other drivers alike, even the seller of the computer and monitor above was like "wow cool car!" and was a lot more understanding of why I had to bail the previous day due to the weather

I also notice with REV's much larger glass-house/better visibility, its much easier to make direct eye contact with another car, say if you need to merge from the right hand lane into the left hand lane, a glance over your shoulder and a friendly smile to the car next to you and I find they will often smile back and wave you in  

[beko1987]

1 hour ago, High Jetter said:

That makes sense in a way - it's such an unusual sight on roads now that most people will do a double-take or pause while thinking 'WTF is that?' by which time you're either out of the junction or too close for them to barge in front of you. Once local drivers get used to seeing you that might change though.

I've had similar when I drove my zx with a smashed up (but still securely fitted) passenger wing. People stopped a little bit further back from the junctions, people didn't barge in at lights, if I nosed out to just see what was coming the traffic stopped and let me out 😂

Probably because it oozed the aura of "I don't give a fuck" but it was funny seeing it happen! I'd notice a car creeping in then stop dead and try his luck with the cars behind me

[Mrcento]

8 hours ago, Mr Pastry said:

On the other hand, people can pull out on you assuming that you are going more slowly than you really are, so you have to watch for that and it's sometimes a false sense of security.

There's a real 'Dougalism' on the roads these days (Father Ted reference), i certainly find it when i had the cinq out.

It's got way, way worse than it used to be. Modern cars are so bloated and peoples eyes are so trained into looking for them and so many of them being SUV's, they see a small car and automatically think it's modern sized, so about 50ft further away than it actually is. The amount of cars that will just pull out of side roads like you aren't there certainly keeps you on your toes.

[Mrcento]

12 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

I've had similar when I drove my zx with a smashed up (but still securely fitted) passenger wing. People stopped a little bit further back from the junctions, people didn't barge in at lights, if I nosed out to just see what was coming the traffic stopped and let me out 😂

Probably because it oozed the aura of "I don't give a fuck" but it was funny seeing it happen! I'd notice a car creeping in then stop dead and try his luck with the cars behind me

And this is exactly why i loved driving the old battered discovery, the difference between that and the cinq was night and day, people nobody would risk pulling out in front of you and people wouldn't just let you out, they'd actively get right out your way so you had plenty space to do so, even if it put themselves up on a kerb, the ultimate 'Try it, IDGAF, another dent will just add character' vehicle!😂

[lesapandre]

2 hours ago, egg said:

There's a regular car meet in Calais, 1st Sunday morning of the month in summer. I think a Model 70 might be a cause celebre! 

Although the M20 in an Invacar would be.....interesting....

https://www.facebook.com/groups/265704183556571

The Old Dover Road is still usable for a large part for a tootle. It's only 65 miles.

Microcars/cyclecars and voiture sans permis are much cherished and collected in France. An Invacar would get a warm welcome.

[LightBulbFun]

On 21/11/2024 at 16:14, wesacosa said:

if you do go across the ferry I'm about a mile or so down the road from the South pier if you want to stop in and say hello if I'm around 

thats an idea! gives me a location/something to aim for  (I was otherwise going to say, that ill have to find some lightbulbs and or old computers to buy and collect from that area to make the trip worth while  )

 

I am also more then happy to pop over to lend a hand to anything you think you might need a 2nd pair of hands/eyes for?

im not good for much when it comes to physical effort/heavy lifting stuff, so I cant help lift an engine onto the kitchen countertop, but if you need me to help with something like "can you look at that thing, while I do this, and tell me what it does?" or if there is some awkward nut and bolt that needs 1 person to hold the nut in place while the other person unwinds it,  I am more then happy to help out there  

or if you just need me to go in to be front or rear gunner in convoy while you take the Panda to your MOT man happy to do that  

[egg]

Another vote for a photo from the ferry. Would be a gem.

[Rustybullethole]

Really enjoying seeing this pressed into service you must be made up.

Being a motorcycle enthusiast with a penchant for living by the seat of my pants my views on health and safety tend to differ from others though here's a few things i've learned from personal experience.

Imminent danger of death makes me feel alive. Senses sharpen and I ride at my best. I liken London traffic with racing enduro. Both of which I love. 

The above is motorcycle based mainly through I do feel more connected to the experience using an out of date four/three wheeled conveyance sans driver aids therefore enjoy it more and do it better. 

Being in the right is no compensation for getting hurt. Ride/drive defensively and never assume anyone has seen you or is going to follow the rules/ be courteous. Learned the hard way that one. 

My mrs will still try persuade me to take the van when i have a choice of transport. I guess it comes from a good place and I have built a variety of excuses as to why i'll choose the bike. 

Simple fact is that I just enjoy it more so therefore it's right for me. 

Enjoy REV, shall keep my eyes peeled for you around town. 

[Pieman]

On 21/11/2024 at 20:47, Mrcento said:

It's got way, way worse than it used to be. Modern cars are so bloated and peoples eyes are so trained into looking for them and so many of them being SUV's, they see a small car and automatically think it's modern sized, so about 50ft further away than it actually is. The amount of cars that will just pull out of side roads like you aren't there certainly keeps you on your toes.

No, that's because they see certain types of car and automatically assume that it will be driven by a 90-year old and therefore doing 10mph everywhere.  I notice it a lot when driving my parents' Honda Jizz - it's surprisingly nippy away from junctions though and can give tailgaters a bit of a shock!

[Mrcento]

2 hours ago, Pieman said:

No, that's because they see certain types of car and automatically assume that it will be driven by a 90-year old

Nah, 90% of people don't know what car is what on the road let alone who might be driving. They just see a vague shape approaching and think 'That's a long way away, it's tiny, all cars are big now so that's clearly far away' at a glance.

In my situation, i'm pretty sure it's not a case of people in a qashqai going, 'oh look, a Cinquecento..... it's 30m away but it's probably driven by an 90 year old doing 15mph so i'm going to nail out in front of it'

It's particularly noticeable if there are a couple of modern cars in front of you, they can all be about the 2 second rule apart, all be doing 30mph, all be visible to the car pulling out, They'll let car 1, A Juke past, wait for car 2, something like a BMW 3 series past, then car 3, Cinquecento, without fail they'll nail it and try to get in the same gap that didn't exist between the Juke and BMW, and still doesn't exist between me and car 2 😂