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...

[LightBulbFun]

  On 21/10/2023 at 17:56, Mr Pastry said:

Hopefully clutch, as it has a plastic flexy pipe.

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funnily enough that was exactly my thought too  

[plasticvandan]

Very pleased this has found a good home,do wish Stuart would respond to my messages ,kind of gave up but like seeing what he's up to. My grandfather remembered the Barrett well,he told me one of his jobs was to lower the garage door lock for a woman who was supposedly the shortest in Britain at the time (late 60s) who drove a Barrett Midget.and my dad now lives 5 miles from where it was made

[plasticvandan]

Looking at it,it's a brake pedal,as.there is a hydraulic reservoir mounted on the gear lever,for a hydraulic clutch

[LightBulbFun]

  On 21/10/2023 at 18:14, plasticvandan said:

Looking at it,it's a brake pedal,as.there is a hydraulic reservoir mounted on the gear lever,for a hydraulic clutch

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also my thought, and the fact Stuart said Fixed tiller bar, but again the plastic flexible hose was like hang on a second...

one of those scratch your head moments trying to figure out just WTF is going on, invalid vehicles are great for that, especially ones with special adaptions for a specific user  

[richardmorris]

  On 15/10/2023 at 18:43, egg said:

A remarkable place to put a factory. I mean you don't look at this and go, ideal industrial site...

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One of our very long standing (30+years) has been based on Thames eyott for years. Not the easiest place I’d have thought for chemical production.

[LightBulbFun]

a few days later and a few more photos of the Barrett  first of all it was given a wash and looking much better for it

and then a better interior shot

and then a few underside shots  

its been really awesome to see a Barett in detail like this and to study the fine details of its construction, and as can be seen its in really quite good shape, some surface rust here and there but otherwise solid

I imagine for someone like Stuart this should make for a fairly easy recommissioning job and hopefully we might see it on the road, Stuart thinks if he removed the seat, he might just actually be able to drive it/operate the controls satisfactorily 

given how regular people simply dont fit in a Barrett one has to wonder how approved repairs test drove them back in the day! something I must remember to ask REV's previous owner about that, because he was an approved repairer back in the day and I know he worked on a Barrett back then

as he told me a rather amusing story involving one a user comes in with his Barrett, and our guy picks/helps him up out of the Barrett and seats him on a stack of tyres, where they then engage in small talk while our guy is servicing the Barrett, suddenly it was realised the user had vanished! only for our guy to be met with a muffled shout from inside the stack of tyres "In here John!"  

 

speaking of tyres, those that are on the Barrett are somwhat interesting, in that Im pretty sure by the pattern/style of them they are cross-ply tyres

but they are pirrelli everflex's (which I cant find anything on), marked 125-12, which I find quite curious I dont think I have seen a cross-ply marked metrically before like that, usually cross-ply's are done in inches, for example 4.40-12 is what you will normally find on a Ministry 12 inch wheeled machine like this (although early 12 inch machines like my Harper had 4.00-12 tyres instead but I digress)

 

 

[plasticvandan]

Pirelli aereflex were standard fitment on sidevalve  Reliant Regals,my 57 MK3 soft top still had its original set fitted.

[Remspoor]

This.

From this link. https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/gallery/pictures-lozells-through-50s-60s-19922782

[Saabnut]

When radials first became a thing, Pirelli and a few others made radials with crossply pattern tread as some people expected new tyres to look like that and that is what you have here I think. Fortunately people soon realised a radial type tread on a radial was a much better thing so they did not last long in production.

[LightBulbFun]

  On 25/10/2023 at 10:40, Saabnut said:

When radials first became a thing, Pirelli and a few others made radials with crossply pattern tread as some people expected new tyres to look like that and that is what you have here I think. Fortunately people soon realised a radial type tread on a radial was a much better thing so they did not last long in production.

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interesting!   

when I first heard they where Pirelli 125's I thought those surely are radials, especially as the tyre specified by the Ministry for 12 inch Wheeled Model 70's was the 125R12 Pirelli Cinturato and I cant say I have heard of Pirelli cross ply's (although I am sure they existed before radials took over)

but the 2 things that had me then doubting that was the tread pattern/style of the tyre itself and the fact it said 125-12 rather then 125R12, (and also the brand was not one I had heard of either) but again surely if it was a cross-ply it would say 4.40-12, unless they did things differently back then?

[Cavcraft]

Are you aware of this one, LBF?

Facebook Market Place, someone called Fra Ser (really) is selling it.

'I’m letting my Invacar Model 70 VES108S go as I’m really struggling to get at it just now with 2 daily cars needing constant attention and money flung at them as well as building a camper, which are really priority at the moment. Anyway, I’ve had it around 4 maybe 5 years, it’s had the body restored and any fibreglass damage repaired and a full paint, it’s looking fantastic but it’s never been flattened or polished so that still needs done to make it perfect as there’s a couple of runs in places. This is a 1978 car, Steyr Puch 493cc Flat 2 cylinder 4 stroke with the AC automatic gearbox. This is not the earlier Villiers 2 stroke Totally legal to drive on the roads, don’t believe everything you hear. Full V5 here at my address in my name. MOT and TAX exempt Believed to be one of around 75 cars left in existence so very rare indeed. This is the very last English car registered, it ended its service in 1998 after 20 years and has been dry stored since. It’s got 3 new tyres, wheels are powder coated. New front and rear screen rubbers fitted. Head cloth, A pillar panels and sun strip all replaced with lovely cream Alcantara. New headlights, new clear led indicators, new rear lights. Seat and sun visor are retrimmed in grey Harris tweed and there’s enough to make door panels to match. The engine ran not long after I got it and it drove on axle stands but the brakes never worked. There’s a new master cylinder, new shoes and cylinders fitted but I’ve not filled the system or bled it since as I planned on fitting new brake pipes which still needs done. It has NOS Spax rear shocks. It has handlebar steering that’s all good (used to be right hand tiller which is still here) I have a foot throttle and foot brake to go in to make it more drivable (the purist last hate the modification but if your not disabled, why struggle to drive a car when you don’t need to) it’s still twist throttle and handlebar pull down to brake at the moment. The exhaust manifold needs replaced but I have a replacement one here. The car needs a few hours spent on it to get it finished and on the road but it was a good car to start with and as you can see, I’ve put a lot into it, just not had any time to finish it. I know if I just spend the time on it and MOT it, it’ll sell better but I’m relying on others for help and I’m struggling with that also. So all in all a genuine little car, very tidy body work, an engine that is good and won’t take a lot to finish it. Everything is there to finish it off apart from my time. I don’t want to sell it, I don’t have to sell it, but it’s just sat there literally gathering dust and I’d rather see it go and be finished than sit here and probably get damaged or collect more junk on top of it. These are rocketing in value, and this one is genuine, it has its proper vins and chassis numbers in place and is believed to be the very last English registered Model 70. I have the V5 here in my name at my address. Cars located just outside Glasgow in Scotland.'

[alcyonecorporation]

Dunno. @Ghosty found it. 

[LightBulbFun]

  On 25/10/2023 at 16:11, Cavcraft said:

Are you aware of this one, LBF?

Facebook Market Place, someone called Fra Ser (really) is selling it.

'I’m letting my Invacar Model 70 VES108S go as I’m really struggling to get at it just now with 2 daily cars needing constant attention and money flung at them as well as building a camper, which are really priority at the moment. Anyway, I’ve had it around 4 maybe 5 years, it’s had the body restored and any fibreglass damage repaired and a full paint, it’s looking fantastic but it’s never been flattened or polished so that still needs done to make it perfect as there’s a couple of runs in places. This is a 1978 car, Steyr Puch 493cc Flat 2 cylinder 4 stroke with the AC automatic gearbox. This is not the earlier Villiers 2 stroke Totally legal to drive on the roads, don’t believe everything you hear. Full V5 here at my address in my name. MOT and TAX exempt Believed to be one of around 75 cars left in existence so very rare indeed. This is the very last English car registered, it ended its service in 1998 after 20 years and has been dry stored since. It’s got 3 new tyres, wheels are powder coated. New front and rear screen rubbers fitted. Head cloth, A pillar panels and sun strip all replaced with lovely cream Alcantara. New headlights, new clear led indicators, new rear lights. Seat and sun visor are retrimmed in grey Harris tweed and there’s enough to make door panels to match. The engine ran not long after I got it and it drove on axle stands but the brakes never worked. There’s a new master cylinder, new shoes and cylinders fitted but I’ve not filled the system or bled it since as I planned on fitting new brake pipes which still needs done. It has NOS Spax rear shocks. It has handlebar steering that’s all good (used to be right hand tiller which is still here) I have a foot throttle and foot brake to go in to make it more drivable (the purist last hate the modification but if your not disabled, why struggle to drive a car when you don’t need to) it’s still twist throttle and handlebar pull down to brake at the moment. The exhaust manifold needs replaced but I have a replacement one here. The car needs a few hours spent on it to get it finished and on the road but it was a good car to start with and as you can see, I’ve put a lot into it, just not had any time to finish it. I know if I just spend the time on it and MOT it, it’ll sell better but I’m relying on others for help and I’m struggling with that also. So all in all a genuine little car, very tidy body work, an engine that is good and won’t take a lot to finish it. Everything is there to finish it off apart from my time. I don’t want to sell it, I don’t have to sell it, but it’s just sat there literally gathering dust and I’d rather see it go and be finished than sit here and probably get damaged or collect more junk on top of it. These are rocketing in value, and this one is genuine, it has its proper vins and chassis numbers in place and is believed to be the very last English registered Model 70. I have the V5 here in my name at my address. Cars located just outside Glasgow in Scotland.'

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indeed I am, I know it and the owner well, its been perpetually for sale for about 5 years now! sadly it has been somewhat lightly "barry'ed" not as bad as what he did to JPA268N, but you will note he sanded off all the mould lines on the back, which is a small but important detail in the identification of a Model 70.

Also XEV88S (which is its original registration mark) was a very rare (in-fact the only known example to still survive) Tiller bar without foot controls machine, single handed control completely, you could be the hand from Adam's family and still drive it! 

but sadly Fraser has converted it to regular handlebars (from after he converted JPA268N from Handle bars to steering wheel with foot pedal control)

it also still had its original and somewhat rare rear lights, which Fraser changed for later Britax ones, I hope in time that it will find a good home with someone who will restore it back to its original Tiller bar setup, but he is asking really quite strong money for it, which has made finding a home for it tricky

and all the potential parties I have spoken to, have been put off by the way its been messed with on top of the high asking price.

 

also as an aside, its not the Last english registered car, its the latest english registered Invacar Model 70 known to survive, but not the last one full stop, that goes to Invacar XEV116S and AC VPG269S

[LightBulbFun]

  On 25/10/2023 at 17:31, alcyonecorporation said:

Dunno. @Ghosty found it. 

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Oh thats a really awesome shot I really like that! The Model 70 almost alone on the Motorway, surrounded by Thorn Alpha 6 SLI/H street lights

this is an SLI/H lamp, a special sort of Low Pressure sodium lamp invented back in the late 1950's, the first lightsource to hit and break the 100 lumens per watt barrier  

this is my later 200W Thorn HO example with special clover-leaf shaped arc tube  

and this is a Thorn Alpha 6, not mine sadly!

http://www.streetlightonline.co.uk/a6200igphotos.htm

and the SLI/H lamp was also the first lamp used for motorway lighting

http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Spec Sheets/D SLP Atlas SLI140.htm

@Ghosty you would not happen to have a link to the original? just incase it higher res  

 

it once again goes to show that, no! Model 70's where not banned from the Motorway!

[Ghosty]

  On 25/10/2023 at 18:08, LightBulbFun said:

Oh thats a really awesome shot I really like that! The Model 70 almost alone on the Motorway, surrounded by Thorn Alpha 6 SLI/H street lights

this is an SLI/H lamp, a special sort of Low Pressure sodium lamp invented back in the late 1950's, the first lightsource to hit and break the 100 lumens per watt barrier  

this is my later 200W Thorn HO example with special clover-leaf shaped arc tube  

and this is a Thorn Alpha 6, not mine sadly!

http://www.streetlightonline.co.uk/a6200igphotos.htm

and the SLI/H lamp was also the first lamp used for motorway lighting

https://www.lamptech.co.uk/Spec Sheets/D SLP atlas SLI140.htm

@Ghosty you would not happen to have a link to the original? just incase it higher res  

 

it once again goes to show that, no Model 70's where not banned from the Motorway!

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Sent it you on FB, that's where I saw it

[LightBulbFun]

  On 25/10/2023 at 18:15, Ghosty said:

Sent it you on FB, that's where I saw it

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not seeing anything on my end sadly? have ya sent it to the right facebook account? (as well as my current account, I do have a long dead Facebook account I setup when I was young and then forgot the password too when I lost interest in facebook back then)

[LightBulbFun]

  On 25/10/2023 at 18:15, Ghosty said:

Sent it you on FB, that's where I saw it

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it just cropped up on my facebook feed, (from one of the street lighting groups I am in funnily enough! I half expecting it to show up there since obviously a lot of street scenes contain nice period streetlights so people share some of the photos there)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BritishRoadscene1955to1985/posts/7004028306320845/

is this the same source ya found it from?  

[Split_Pin]

I saved the above picture to my phone just a minute ago to post up here but you were already on it! Great shot.

[Ghosty]

Yeah that's the one! 

 

[Mrs6C]

The overhead road signs look so clean and uncluttered with text that it looks as if they have been applied with Photoshop!

[DVee8]

Watching Jimmy Savile on Netflix S1-E1 part 1, 18.45mins in he's at Leeds Hospital as a porter.

[Mrs6C]

  On 28/10/2023 at 06:02, DVee8 said:

Watching Jimmy Savile on Netflix S1-E1 part 1, 18.45mins in he's at Leeds Hospital as a porter.

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Interesting. Is that archive footage or a reconstruction with props?

[LightBulbFun]

  On 28/10/2023 at 06:02, DVee8 said:

Watching Jimmy Savile on Netflix S1-E1 part 1, 18.45mins in he's at Leeds Hospital as a porter.

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Yeah not the first time thats cropped up  tis an Invacar Mk12 and what I think is a customised AC Acedes Model 57, ya can read a bit about it in the link below  

https://autoshite.com/topic/32723-lightbulbfuns-invacar-general-ramble-thread-index-on-page-1-survivors-lists-on-pages-24134-adgecutlers-invacar-mk12-restoration-from-page-186-onwards-still-harping-on/page/256/#comment-2506591

 

[DVee8]

  On 28/10/2023 at 12:35, Mrs6C said:

Interesting. Is that archive footage or a reconstruction with props?

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It archive footage.

[Mrs6C]

  On 28/10/2023 at 12:47, LightBulbFun said:

an Invacar Mk12

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Looks to be a one of the earlier two tone Peacock Blue and White models...

[Mrs6C]

Is this one of our little friends? See from about 46s into the film...

 

 

[LightBulbFun]

  On 29/10/2023 at 20:21, Mrs6C said:

Is this one of our little friends? See from about 46s into the film...

 

 

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indeed! an AC Acedes Model 57 or AC Electric Invalid Tricycle Model 64, registration mark kinda looks like 44SPF to me

which would make it a close relative of this one  

  On 02/01/2023 at 21:43, barrett said:

A few weeks ago I bought about 1400 old car photos at auction, of which about 200 will be staying and the rest sold off to try and claw back some money... anyway, I'm keeping these two. Just quick phone snaps but you get the idea!

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[Eyersey1234]

This image was posted on one of the Facebook groups I'm on, it was taken in 1985 on what was the M63, now part of the M60

[Mrs6C]

Another early Mk12...
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/1068338342832099346/

[LightBulbFun]

  On 29/10/2023 at 22:48, Mrs6C said:

Another early Mk12...
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/1068338342832099346/

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actually for a two tone Mk12, a late one, very late  the picture aint the highest resolution, (sadly the original source URL seems to be broken, so extracting the cached image from pinterest is the best I can do)

 

but it looks like its part of the TTW101E-TTW200E block of Invacar Mk12c's notable as containing the final run of Peacock blue and white cars, official Invacar photos show TTW179E was two tone, but TTW184E was already all-over ribbon blue

the TTW-E block is also thought to be the first block in which Invacar used Tippers number plates