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...

[keef]

 

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Cavcraft said:

 

As Ronal Reagen nearly gets run over by a Jag, a MILF can't decide which Invacar to go for.

 

43 minutes ago, Eyersey1234 said:

@LightBulbFun here's one for you

 

ah thanks for the heads up I had seen the picture before, but in a PM IIRC and was not sure at the time if I could share it!

good to have a version I know i can share  its a notable photogram as rare to see Mk12's on L plates for some reason (the only other I know of off hand is the Mk12 in the concert crowd)

[LightBulbFun]

hang on a second its literally the first post/picture LOL

https://autoshite.com/topic/28215-shite-in-your-town-in-ye-olden-times/

 

[LightBulbFun]

On 10/09/2020 at 23:02, morrisoxide said:

Lovely.

I've always lusted after one of these, shame it will go for silly money.

There was one around the corner from me sat rusting away.  My MOT tester knew of said Jag and he fell over the gate looking in wonderment at the Jag, minor fisticuffs where thrown with the owner. Cool story eh? 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1970-JAGUAR-420G-MK10-2-OWNER-36K-GENUINE-BARN-FIND-STORED-FOR-40-YEARS/143730798768?hash=item217705f0b0:g:yXYAAOSwZdBfWidh

Also nice Mazda and chod in the background 

shares a registration series (and wing mirrors LOL) with not only a block of AC Acedes Mk15 Model 67's (BPE501H-BPE700H) but also the user trial Prototype Model 70's BPE21H-BPE40H (I think)  

[LightBulbFun]

4 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

another awesome weekend had  

many thanks to @Mrs6C and @Six-cylinder for hosting us, and it was awesome to meet with other shitters once more  

and many thanks to Mrs6c for fitting the new fuel line and temporary fuel tank to REV one more thing checked off the list, slowly but surely getting there  

it was very awesome to be able to pootle about in REV once more  

and then on the 2nd day we got finally Dolly to idle! and so we where able to put here into drive and take her for a spin around the field for the first time since Mrs6c got her  

and on Saturday night/Sunday morning we spotted this Bond equip  

it was also good to have REV going as it meant other shitters could experience an invacar  which is almost half the fun of owning one LOL

and by the end of the weekend she had clocked up a good few more miles! so she has done over 25 miles just ambling around the FoD since I got her  

just quoting this over here so REV's "service history" is kept up to date so to speak! LOL

just electrical niggles and brakes to sort out then she should be road worthy!  

[LightBulbFun]

Finally got round to lighting one of the vintage Wotan (German Osram) p45t lamp base H4 halogen lamps that @Mrs6C/ @Six-cylinder kindly sent to me a while back, using an electronic halogen lighting transformer @Zelandeth kindly gave me at the last FoD gathering

(these have a P45T base found on the R2 type head lamp bulb compared to the P43t base H4 lamps have hence why these lamps are marked not for use in Europe as this p45t+H4 combination was never ECE type approved, which is a bit amusing as ironically Wotan was a brand only used in england/english territories where/when GEC held the rights to the Osram name!) 

main beam

and Dip beam (which ironically appears brighter due to its little cut off reflector!)

[LightBulbFun]

I was wondering if anyone with a period glass guide or such martial could share what it says for XGX224/the XGX registration series?

this ones been bugging me for a while, its said to be the only Invacar sold/sent to North America new, However I did note it has a UK registration number to which stuart mentioned according to a glass's guide he has that XGX was a Home delivery export number 

however I cant find much info on that and im curious to know more about it? especially as what info I can find on the XGXxxx registration series shows it as any other series

for example according to https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/registrations/gx.htm

it was issued from August 1959 and in May 1960, YGXxxx was issued, im assuming once all the XGX numbers where issued

which is a little bit peculiar because the one thing I do know about XGX224 is that it is from 1963, (it is one chassis number above PWC801, 2 consecutive survivors ) 

 

so yeah just curious to know a bit more, see if I can dig to the bottom of its number plate or something such! 

[cms206]

SMOL INVACAR NEWS.

 

The Oxford Diecast upcoming Invacar I'm told will be representing KPK 71P.

[LightBulbFun]

21 minutes ago, cms206 said:

SMOL INVACAR NEWS.

 

The Oxford Diecast upcoming Invacar I'm told will be representing KPK 71P.

oh cool thanks for the heads up   I did find out a while back which Model 70 it was based off of 

but I appreciate the heads up regardless as always its nice to know people are looking out for me!  

(I do feel a bit awkward/bad when someone shares something with me that iv already come across given how frequently it happens these days! and im never quite sure how to respond to it! I dont want to be seen as down putting or anything such! since I do very much appreciate that people are looking out for me just incase there is something I have missed/not yet found!)

 

heres a couple more bits of info on the die casts if your curious

On 11/03/2020 at 13:14, quicksilver said:

In other news, take a look at page 10 here: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1017/3257/files/Globe_242.pdf?v=1583827193

Not a bad potted history of the invalid carriage although the myth of the 600 engine has appeared again; I wonder where it came from as it's very prevalent despite absolutely no evidence to support it. Now we know the model Model 70 will be the Bubblecar Museum's KPK71P, which presumably is the one they measured to make it.

and then theres this blog post https://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk/blogs/news/76inv001-ac-invacar-ice-blue-new-tooling

its amusing how many blog posts and such just repost the same information taken the Virtual gaz website almost straight copy and paste! (its a fairly good source but it not the best sadly)

 

but since you are posting about it now, has some more info been posted on the die-casts?  

 

 

for those wondering the real life KPK71P is this one  

On 23/02/2019 at 12:15, LightBulbFun said:

KPK71P, AC, Date of first registration: 10 October 1975, Current status: in "The Bubblecar Museum" in Langrick England, No MOT, Untaxed since 01 October 2002, Date of last V5C (logbook) issued, 5 March 1993

 

 

 

[LightBulbFun]

came across this neat picture of a Larmar car with no body fitted, not many technical/detailed pictures of invalid vehicles like this so always worth sharing I think  

(its interesting to see they carried a spare wheel, I never knew that, unless that was a wheel just placed there for show?)

[Eyersey1234]

11 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

came across this neat picture of a Larmar car with no body fitted, not many technical/detailed pictures of invalid vehicles like this so always worth sharing I think  

(its interesting to see they carried a spare wheel, I never knew that, unless that was a wheel just placed there for show?)

What did a Larmar body look like? 

[High Jetter]

3 minutes ago, Eyersey1234 said:

What did a Larmar body look like? 

Have a closer look at the picture?

[LightBulbFun]

17 minutes ago, Eyersey1234 said:

What did a Larmar body look like? 

introduced in 1946 designed to be narrow enough to fit through a common household door way, (2ft 4 inches I think the narrowest car in the world?) so you could park inside the house if you had no outside parking space

it was quite popular because it looked more like a regular car compared to other invalid carriages of the time, but this very thing attracted the tax people who stamped on it because of this  and the full amount of purchase tax was levied against it and the destroying its appeal overnight,

(tbh im not 100% sure why perhaps too many abled bodied people where buying them or they where not convinced it was an invalid vehicle? however AFAIK nothing dictated an invalid vehicle had to be a 3 wheeler...)

in 1949 the Larmar Model B was introduced which was widened 8 inches to accommodate a folding wheel chair, but production ended in 1951

[LightBulbFun]

got tipped off by @keef about this neat period picture of a Harper Mk6  

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=140&t=1807882&i=3600

 

 

if the registration looks familiar its probably because of this one  

 

 

[LightBulbFun]

well aint this timely! with @hairnet's recent/current trip to Germany and his museum visits I was wondering if he would be visiting the PS Speicher museum in einbeck Germany as they have a small gaggle of British invalid vehicles, that I would quite like some detailed pictures of

and rather coincidentally  just now I noticed that someone in the past few days uploaded to flicker a couple close up pictures the Invacar Model 70 and the Tippen Delta they have in their collection  

I hope some similar Photos of the AC Model 64 and AC Model 67 that I suspect they have also show up at some point, I also know they have KPA185K which is the first of the 3 Model 70 based prototype city cars, would love to get some detailed pictures of that from all the angles LOL

(I know the Model 70 has a VIN plate still, but trying to read it from up there might be a bit tricky I think sadly, shame as I would very much like to ID if nothing else for the survivors list ) 

https://flic.kr/p/2jLoPjk

 

 

https://flic.kr/p/2jLoFoF

 

 

[Mr Pastry]

3 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

I was wondering if he would be visiting the PS Speicher museum 

Why don't you contact the museum yourself? Being German they will A: Have detailed records of absolutely everything and B: Speak good English. 

[MorrisItalSLX]

Also, I’m sure the museum would greatly appreciate the information, the more they know about an exhibit the better.

[LightBulbFun]

10 hours ago, Mr Pastry said:

Why don't you contact the museum yourself? Being German they will A: Have detailed records of absolutely everything and B: Speak good English. 

 

8 hours ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

Also, I’m sure the museum would greatly appreciate the information, the more they know about an exhibit the better.

yeah I probably will at some point, there just some complications to do with how Simon of the ICR wants me to do ICR emails, which has put a wrench into things sadly (its mainly down to do with the fact he is always very busy which makes arranging something like a video call to discuss matters, quite difficult sadly)

(and while I could maybe email on personal basis, I think I would have more "clout" for lack of a better term if it was an official ICR email or such)

if it drags on for long enough, ill just go visit in person at some unknown point in time (get me a genuine nurburgring sticker for REV? LOL)

 

[Mr Pastry]

20 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

yeah I probably will at some point, there just some complications to do with how Simon of the ICR wants me to do ICR emails, which has put a wrench into things sadly (its mainly down to do with the fact he is always very busy which makes arranging something like a video call to discuss matters, quite difficult sadly)

FFS you Invacar peeps need to get a grip.  Everything is secret, you don't talk to each other, you can't seem to agree on anything, and you wonder why people take the piss.  Just send the museum an email in your own name and see what happens.   Tell Simon about it afterwards if you want to. 

[LightBulbFun]

40 minutes ago, Mr Pastry said:

FFS you Invacar peeps need to get a grip.  Everything is secret, you don't talk to each other, you can't seem to agree on anything, and you wonder why people take the piss.  Just send the museum an email in your own name and see what happens.   Tell Simon about it afterwards if you want to. 

Trust me im just as annoyed about it as you are! its incredibly frustrating, but im trying to chip away at it, get my foot in the door and sort it out

but its one of the many reasons I maintain this thread and the research that I do, as this is my own thread and research and no one can tell me what I can and cant do with it etc if that makes sense

[Mr Pastry]

5 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

and no one can tell me what I can and cant do with it etc if that makes sense

Makes perfect sense M8.  I doubt if the museum will have heard of the ICR anyway.

[LightBulbFun]

as a side note it is interesting to note that the Invacar Model 70 has some sort of metal plate on the front underside of the chassis, just before the 2 front out riggers

which im pretty sure its not present on AC Model 70's as seen on this underside shot of VAV1L (MPD553P)  and I know its not present on KPL139P either

so It will be interesting to check if the same plate exists on REV or not or such, is this an Invacar vs AC difference or is or the plate just something unique to the Invacar Model 70 above for whatever reason

I sadly dont have many chassis shots of Invacar Model 70's to say for sure I still need to check for the 1 chassis member vs 2 chassis members difference as documented here too (I completely forgot to check on REV last FoD visit whoops!)

  

On 15/07/2020 at 21:08, LightBulbFun said:

so this is quite interesting I was reading through the first few pages of @Zelandeth's thread again and once more came across this picture of KPL139P's underside

which is interesting about it, is its good bit higher rez/more detailed then my normal go to picture of a Model 70 underside (which is a picture of MPD553P (VAV1L) on its side)

and so I was comparing it to the picture I came across later of a chassis being constructed at Invacar Ltd and I can definitely say for sure comparing it to Zels picture that this indeed a Model 70 chassis (those may recall when I first shared this picture while I was pretty sure it was of a Model 70 chassis I did have a couple doubts about it)

but its interesting to note that Both KPL and MPD's chassis have 2  chassis members going across the floor/mid section sections, where as the Invacar chassis under construction, only shows 1 member mounted centrally in the same mid section

however its worth noting both MPD and KPL are Model 70 Mark B's but I dont know what revision of Model 70 is under construction in the Invacar factory picture

so I wonder if the chassis member thing is  a Model 70 Mark A vs Model 70 Mark B change, or if AC and Invacar Model 70  have different chassis! 

will have to get a good look at REV's (or another Invacar Model 70 Mark B ) chassis at some point or an AC Model 70 Mark A's chassis like TPA's and see whats what exactly  

 

 

 

On 16/07/2020 at 01:01, Zelandeth said:

Two central chassis rails present on TPA as well.

Not a great photo but the only one I can find of the underside.  Reminds me that I really need to clean under there sometime...

I'll try to get you a better photo at some point as I know pinpointing every revision A/B difference is a hobby.  You really should put some of this information into a spreadsheet sometime.

I'm pretty sure those longitudinal inverted U shaped rails are purely there to hold the floor panel in place.  I wonder if that's a prototype/pre production car shown on the assembly line and they decided additional bracing was required to stop the floor flexing so much?

I note when the ally floor pan was retrofitted to TPA they did a horrible lazy job of it...there are gaps between the panel and will kick plates you can see the road through and it's not fastened down in the middle anywhere...sure that's a contributing factor to my noise levels.  Only reason I've not set about sorting that is the floor mats are glued down so I don't want to start pulling them up until I have replacement material on hand.

 

 

On 16/07/2020 at 01:24, LightBulbFun said:

very interesting to see the AC Model 70 Mark A also has the 2 central chassis rails too

ill have to ask around if theres any known date for the photo, but I dont think its a pre production car, from what I have seen Invacar was almost completely shuttered out of initial Model 70 development (although on a side note a lot of the Mark B changes are attributed to Invacar on the blue prints, so they got their "revenge" in the end so to speak!)

so AFAIK Invacar never made any Prototype/Pre production Model 70's from what I have seen it was a literally a case of making Invacar Mk12's one week and Model 70's the next, but they obviously would have had to have setup the production line for the Model 70 before hand and figured out how to build em first! so I do wonder if one or 2 where made as a test? (but they would of been to production specifications...)

(im pretty positive PPU501K-PPU520K is the last of the Mk12's with PPU521K-PPU600K being the first Model 70's, for sure from its chassis number PPU522K is Invacar Model 70 number 2, when I finally do visit the essex archive office it will be interesting to see for sure what PPU501K-PPU520K really is)

 

really am curious what the underside/chassis of an Invacar Model 70 looks like now!

 

[Vivaro]

Good afternoon all, I thought I'd finally weigh in on LBF's topic after a long time lurking in the shadows. Really I just wanted to say that I had nothing but praise for my experiance of the ICR. I used to have two Argson Electrics in 2010 and did not even know what they were until I contacted the ICR when it was in the hands of Stuart. (sorry, can't remember his second name)  Stuart was quite simply AMAZING! The level, depth and scope of his knowlege on all kinds of invalid carriage was utterly phenominal and within half an hour he had, without even seeing pictures etc, and just by descriptions over the phone, told me what my two vehicles were, what exact year they wore, why they were slightly different to eah other and even where they had both been in the 1980s and even the exact date when I had bought them!!! Best of all, one of them had been missing its bootlid ever since I had bought them in 1998. Turned out Stuart had acquired that actual bootlid from a seller at Beaulieu autojumble in 2007 and he then sent me that bootlid totally free of charge 48 hours later by parcleforce 48 & never would tell me how much he'd had to lash out on buying the bootlid in the first place, just saying he was pleased to get it back with its proper vehicle at last. Stuart, if you ever get to read this, I still owe you big time for that!

 

 One of the Argson's  had no V5 & had never been on Swansea. No records existed for it and many "experts" had given up on getting it a V5 under its orginal number. I don't know how he did it but Stuart got me the V5 in ten days!

 

 I still have my prized copy of  Stuart's book 'an introduction to invalid carriages', the ealier self published version he wrote rather than the later one printed in America which stuart always felt they'd made a hash of producing.

 

 I think it was a real shame Stuart ever stood down from the ICR, but without wishing to pry, I gather he was having a lot of personal problems at the time, certainly I never found him to be anything less than 100% professional and 1000% dedicated to the cars. Stuart, you truely were a gent and a GIANT for invalid carriages.

[LightBulbFun]

33 minutes ago, Vivaro said:

Good afternoon all, I thought I'd finally weigh in on LBF's topic after a long time lurking in the shadows. Really I just wanted to say that I had nothing but praise for my experiance of the ICR. I used to have two Argson Electrics in 2010 and did not even know what they were until I contacted the ICR when it was in the hands of Stuart. (sorry, can't remember his second name)  Stuart was quite simply AMAZING! The level, depth and scope of his knowlege on all kinds of invalid carriage was utterly phenominal and within half an hour he had, without even seeing pictures etc, and just by descriptions over the phone, told me what my two vehicles were, what exact year they wore, why they were slightly different to eah other and even where they had both been in the 1980s and even the exact date when I had bought them!!! Best of all, one of them had been missing its bootlid ever since I had bought them in 1998. Turned out Stuart had acquired that actual bootlid from a seller at Beaulieu autojumble in 2007 and he then sent me that bootlid totally free of charge 48 hours later by parcleforce 48 & never would tell me how much he'd had to lash out on buying the bootlid in the first place, just saying he was pleased to get it back with its proper vehicle at last. Stuart, if you ever get to read this, I still owe you big time for that!

 

 One of the Argson's  had no V5 & had never been on Swansea. No records existed for it and many "experts" had given up on getting it a V5 under its orginal number. I don't know how he did it but Stuart got me the V5 in ten days!

 

 I still have my prized copy of  Stuart's book 'an introduction to invalid carriages', the ealier self published version he wrote rather than the later one printed in America which stuart always felt they'd made a hash of producing.

 

 I think it was a real shame Stuart ever stood down from the ICR, but without wishing to pry, I gather he was having a lot of personal problems at the time, certainly I never found him to be anything less than 100% professional and 1000% dedicated to the cars. Stuart, you truely were a gent and a GIANT for invalid carriages.

hello! welcome to the forum  

indeed I have much the same to say for Stuart as you have, he is a top bloke as you say  

which Stanley Argson's did you own, do you have any pictures of them? it would be good to know, maybe I have unknowingly come across or talked about them with Stuart in the past  

[LightBulbFun]

but speaking of Stuart he responded to some of my questions posted here and to him directly etc today  

(sadly facebook failed to notify me that he had sent me a few messages, when I was actually online so I only saw them much later, after he had gone offline again)

 

he mentioned some info on the Model 70 frontal chassis plate quandary , however while further discussion is required with him on that subject, the info he provided me with suggests that in AR letters they may have been called cover plates which may explain what cover plates are as mentioned in this AR letter I brought up in Zels thread recently  

On 28/09/2020 at 12:23, LightBulbFun said:

(worth noting that Cover plate must be something else, as the Tread plate/Door Sill/kick plates are listed separately) 

 

and on XGX224 front, he suspects it might just be a random plate slapped to the car, (especially as there is no matching rear plate, which is a point I knew about but forgot to bring up in my recent post on XGX LOL) and he thinks it happens to be an export plate because in the US that would be the most common of old British registration plate you would find there from exported british cars

 

and on this mysterious front he says its an Invacar Mk8 (I imagine if the car in front was not there obstructing the front wheel etc it would suddenly be obvious as to why the front looks a bit off, but it does still look a bit weird to me LOL)

On 25/09/2020 at 21:46, dozeydustman said:

I'm sure @LightBulbFun will be biffing his ted quite hard over the early invalid carriage in this. Early-mid 1960s Windmill Street.

 

 

On 25/09/2020 at 22:19, LightBulbFun said:

certainly has me a bit baffled thats for sure!

I thought maybe an early Invacar? but the frontal profile is all wrong, looking at the way it just droops down like that I wonder if theres space for a front wheel so  I wonder if maybe its funky looking side car, but it has a windscreen wiper and mirrors etc as well a door on the offside which im pretty sure a side car would not have as there would be a motorcycle in the way

heres an Invacar Mk8 for comparisons

 

but the frontal profile is all wrong...

heres an near side photo, it does have the same distinctive bar and associated bits going across the lower rear wheels

 

[LightBulbFun]

23 hours ago, martc said:

 

This is interesting - it's UK registered and has another comedy name the Lancia Super Jolly.

the car on the back shared a registration series with another whacky vehicle  

897PE the AC Acedes Mk9, Model 57 modified to be driven standing up!

(there is also a surviving Private AC Acedes Mk9 with the registration 1940PE but sadly I dont have any decent photos of that one)

[bunglebus]

Have you got this one on your list? Long untaxed

[LightBulbFun]

4 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Have you got this one on your list? Long untaxed

its not on the list as sadly its not a known surviver but I have been aware of it for a year or 2 now, as I scooped out the IMCDB for as many invalid vehicles as I could find

I appreciate the heads up however, always good to know people are still on the look out for me  

(it does not help pretty much all of them on the IMCDB are incorrectly categorised, I mean Invacar and "Thundersley" are 2 separate categories on the IMCDB! and Thundersley aint even a make or a brand its just a location LOL, I noticed in the comments of various vehicles @barrett has made an attempt to try and correct some of them  )

 

(as a side fun fact GPB462N-GPB661N is the first Block of AC Model 70's post October 1974 DVLC computerisation  )

[Eyersey1234]

Apologies if this has already been asked @LightBulbFun, how many Model 70s were sold privately when new? 

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Eyersey1234 said:

Apologies if this has already been asked @LightBulbFun, how many Model 70s were sold privately when new? 

about 28 from Invacar and about 10 from AC so 38 in total or there abouts  

 

its worth noting however that there are large gaps in the Invacar numbers where I cant find cars

LRL389P is Private number 9, REV451R is private number 23, between 25th of March 1976 and the 5th November 1976 there where supposedly 12 private Invacar Model 70's made which quite lot for only 6 months!

so I do wonder if a batch where ordered by some non ministry customer for some reason, it would be interesting to know if thats the case, what they where ordered for (was it by say some charity in main land ierland which did not have any IVS scheme, or maybe by some large factory who used them as a means to get around the factory?)

and then theres a small gap till we get to UTW339R private number 28

so the full line up of  private Invacar Model 70's I can find on the DVLA are OOO661M Private 1,  PPU942M Private 2, POO214M private 3, then theres a gap until JHJ548N Private number 8, then LRL398P Private Number 9, then a large gap to private 23 REV451R, then a smaller gap and finally UTW339R is the last private I can find at number 28

 

it is also possible that the missing private cars, may be on the DVLA but their chassis numbers where recorded in a slightly different way so I cant find them (but a 12 car jump in 6 months is still quite large!)

or maybe the chassis numbers where allocated but never built or they where allocated to something not Model 70? these missing 12 are quite the mystery!

 

 

the AC front is a bit harder to figure out, as the Chassis numbers continue on from the Private Pre Model 70 Petrol vehicles (slightly tweaked but a large part the same)

but between and including RRE20L and NPN924P there are 10 cars (I cant find all on the DVLA but I can find good number of them) RRE20L is the earliest I can find and NPN924P is the latest

 

and here are a couple posts I did on the private cars when I first got access to my special tool and was finally able to search for them by chassis number  (as a side note I said in the post that GPM346L was Surrey registered,  but in Dec 1972., PM was still an East Sussex marker not  Surrey/Guildford one, it only became one in 1974)

 

 

On 07/11/2019 at 15:50, LightBulbFun said:

so continuing with the whole "yay I have a VIN to reg tool" thing

I now suddenly had/have a way to find private Model 70's

see the problem with finding those before was, being private etc they were not registered together in nice neat blocks like DHSS cars where

at least with the Invacar ones at least most did lurk inside DHSS blocks so it would be possible to detect if one existed in a block if the chassis numbers fell behind by 1 in a block

but the ACs where never registered inside a DHSS block so there was no way to find those

but now I have a VIN to reg tool, I can find them, because the private Model 70's have their own chassis number series, that did go up consecutively from one private example to another

so armed with all that, I was able to find a good number of private Model 70's  

 

sadly its not known if which survive or not (some have scrap markers some don't) apart from the obvious 3 RRE20L JNJ135L NPN924P and REV451R

and sadly there are a lot of missing cars, but more on that in a bit

starting with Invacar Model 70's 

is OOO661M hiding in the OOO-M block, this is thought to be the first private Invacar Model 70

 

Private 2 is PPU942M, hiding in the PPU-M block

 

 

Private number 3 is POO214M, hiding in the POO-M block, its interesting to note how close together PPU942M and POO214M where registered, I wonder if they where bought by the same couple or something like that 

 

then sadly Private number 4 to Private number 7 does not turn anything up

Private number 8 is JHJ548N, hiding in the JHJ-N block sadly its not actually known if this on survives or not it did have a keeper change in 2009 so I like to think it still exists

 

then private Number 9, this one is very interesting, because its not part of any DHSS block, nor is it even essex registried 

 

then finally private number 23! REV451R, hiding inside the REV-R block, this one mine  I do wonder if she is the last surviving private Invacar Model 70 given the unknown about JHJ above, scary thought! (and I cant find anything above number 23, so I suspect REV may of been the last Private Invacar Model 70)

sadly theres 12 car gap between Private number 9 and private Number 23,

I dont know what happened to these cars, and also worth noting that March 76 we are on private 9, then suddenly in less then a year by November 76 we are on private number 23!

it sounds almost like some private person or company ordered 12 Model 70's in one go for 1 reason or another!

the whole random periods in the chassis numbers does not help things either, perhaps those 12 are on the system, but have a stray decimal point somewhere messing things up so i cant find em!

I did try a few combinations of decimal points in various locations but never turned anything up

 

then onto AC's as mentioned these where never registered in any DHSS blocks, and most where registried where the first keeper was, but a couple where seemingly registried in Surry/at the factory

its hard to say which AC Private Model 70 is what number ie i cant say which is the 1st or last exactly, because the chassis numbers for them are already into the 2000s by the earliest private Model 70's, I doubt AC sold 2000 Private Model 70s by 1972, so I imagine the chassis number scheme is a continuation from Pre Model 70 private cars

 

RRE20L is the earliest private AC Model 70 I can find

next is JNJ135L (which does not have a scrapped marker thankfully, but does not show up on the DVLA checker for some reason) this one is 1 chassis number up from RRE20L, Stuart says this one very much does still exist

 

next is GPM346L, 1 up from JNJ135L yet registered a good few months before it, go figure that one out! Surry reg but not part of any DHSS block

 

then theres a missing car

then after that missing car is VFG958L "fife m8!"  

  

then after that is PPG124L, again not part of any block but is surry registered 

then there are 3 chassis numbers that dont turn anything up

then finally the last one to show up is NPN924P, note its AC ELECTRIC but without the brackets

 

there are 10 cars/chassis numbers from inc RRE20L to inc NPN924P, but only 6 return results sadly

 

so yeah looks like the private Model 70's are even more of a mystery then initially thought!

 

 

On 09/11/2019 at 03:16, LightBulbFun said:

Private Invacar Model 70 Number 28! this one was missing a dot where there usually is one when a private Invacar model 70's chassis number does include dots,, ie its normally AAA.A.AA but this one was  AAAA.AA 

I did search for 4-7 10-22 and 24-27 with this new info but sadly still nothing

does mean REV was not the last private Model 70 and it looks like Invacar built more then my 25 estimate, but not far from it! (also looks pretty strongly that Invacar built more/had more private Model 70's orders then AC did)