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]

speaking of picture resolution and two tone Invacar Mk12's funnily enough, I was very pleased to finally find this picture in high resolution today  

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/the-liberty-department-store-on-regent-street-london-19th-news-photo/183113764

I had come across it in basically thumbnail size before hand and could not make out the mark on the Invacar Mk12, now I can HNO672B  

(I was going to save this for another photo montage at some point, but figured i'd post it now seeing as there is somewhat of a theme developing this page LOL  )

[calebaaront]

Seen this on Facebook, is this one you have in your archive @LightBulbFun? 

[LightBulbFun]

no its not one I have , shame its in a montage like that, I was hoping to find the original, to save to my archive, by visiting the website in the watermark, but it seems that website is exclusively for railway stuff only

[LightBulbFun]

Today marks REV's 47th Birthday  sadly I have not got much to report on her, unless @red5 has a birthday update for us?  

 

but in other Model 70-ish news , this was unearthed a couple weeks back! an actual starting handle for the Steyr puch engine!  I have seen lots with starter dogs on them, but I have never seen an actual handle for them until now

https://prokschi.at/puch-500/turning-crank.html

(screen shot included because the website is quite broken and often gives erroneous Error 404's)

 

I feel like @Zelandeth or @dollywobbler should get one and do a video trying to hand start their Model 70! i'd get one myself for giggles, but REV does not actually have a starter dog, however I know TPA and TWC do  

[chancer]

Any idea what this is?

[LightBulbFun]

  On 05/11/2023 at 17:16, chancer said:

Any idea what this is?

Expand  

its a badly colourised close up a Tippen Delta Mk2  

which was the last Tippen Delta Mark to have a singular headlamp (after which the Ministry standard specification demanded dual headlamps so the Tippen Delta Mk3 was brought out)

but the Mk2 was the first Invalid vehicle to have the classic light "Ministry blue" colour scheme  

 

heres a link the original black and white photo https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/18108512.days---locarno-dancehall-1962-1963/

[dollywobbler]

In TWC news, she hasn't been out much this year. Too much else going on and the single seat option isn't great for a family... Hope to boost the number of driving family members in the coming months.

But, the winter project is to finally do something about the bodywork, which has been getting worse since she returned to the road. More on that once we get started.

I also hope to go over the mechanicals. I've managed to acquire (courtesy of Adam) a stripped engine. I know it rotates but haven't yet assessed whether the distributor moves. That is very much my hope. The engine appears to be an early one with the old-style filter, correct for TWC. I also need to do something about the transmission. I do have a spare, but it is locked in gear. Considering swapping just the diff, but that could well be beyond my meagre abilities. 

[LightBulbFun]

  On 07/11/2023 at 06:21, dollywobbler said:

In TWC news, she hasn't been out much this year. Too much else going on and the single seat option isn't great for a family... Hope to boost the number of driving family members in the coming months.

But, the winter project is to finally do something about the bodywork, which has been getting worse since she returned to the road. More on that once we get started.

I also hope to go over the mechanicals. I've managed to acquire (courtesy of Adam) a stripped engine. I know it rotates but haven't yet assessed whether the distributor moves. That is very much my hope. The engine appears to be an early one with the old-style filter, correct for TWC. I also need to do something about the transmission. I do have a spare, but it is locked in gear. Considering swapping just the diff, but that could well be beyond my meagre abilities. 

Expand  

Glad to hear some word on TWC  I had heard about the engine, glad ya managed to pick it up in the end! indeed it is pretty era appropriate for TWC only about 1750 engines newer then her original per the chassis plate

the good thing there is it will also match with your Weber 32ICS3 carburettor, on that front 

heres a gasket set 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265075077626

and heres an oversized throttle throttle shaft should ya need it

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/295448247125

(typically this one was not on eBay back when REV needed one so had to go down the replacement carburettor route, which has been its own fun and games)

and related to that might be worth talking to @red5 for advice on freeing up the distributor, if it is frozen on the new engine, he managed to free off REV's dizzy somehow! 

 

on the gearbox front, I would encourage you to look at your existing spare gearbox and see why its locked in gear, these gearboxes are pretty simple as gearboxes go, might be worth just whipping the top "AC" cover off and having a look inside to see if you can spot anything obvious  

the workshop manual does do a full teardown of the gearbox and how to do it/put it back together

but if it turns out its too far gone, I think there are a few spare gearboxes kicking around, something also worth talking to Adam about 

sorry to hear that her bodywork is getting sad! from the outside perspective TWC has pretty good bodywork all considered, no major cracks or chunks missing out of it, apart from the roof cracks, and the chunk missing where she slipped off the jack when you first got her all those years ago! (I hope you saved the chunk, if ya did should be pretty easy to fibreglass it back in ) 

 

on the single seat issue, ya could always fit a bench seat! and have 2 people crammed in either side of you  (the bench seat in MPH759P is how the owner of that Model 70 takes his girlfriend out in it!)

 

[LightBulbFun]

well this is very interesting, while doing some research today, I noticed the DVLA have issued a new page and set of forms for registering mobility scooters and the such like

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-first-vehicle-tax-and-registration-of-a-mobility-vehicle-v55mv

V55/MV is now what you seemingly should use, previously they had a PDF on just how to fill in a regular V55/5 or V55/4 for your scooter

https://media.mobilitysmart.cc/blog/INF210.pdf

https://media.mobilitysmart.cc/blog/INF211.pdf

it seems like these have now been replaced by INF304 and the new V55/MV form

 

and this is further interesting as this is rather coincidental time wise, to the whole "INVACAR" vs "INVACARE" thing that I am so grumpy about,

and I noticed interestingly the DVLA now call mobility scooters etc, "Mobility vehicle" rather than "Invalid Carriage" for example where it says if the make is not known, to enter "Mobility vehicle" previously if you look at the old PDF's they would say to put "invalid carriage" in the make field 

 

now all this got me wondering, if the DVLA have recently been updating their documentation on mobility scooters, perhaps they have been fiddling with the back end, and finally added some mobility scooter manufactures to the DVLA's computer system, 

and low and behold they did!

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?q=mobility+vehicle&commit=Search

which is a good thing! it means now mobility scooters will be properly be able to be tracked, on statistics and so forth, as well as better show up on online lookup tools and the such like, just like how they now show up in how many left, where they did not before, this part is good to see

but notice Invacare is there!, however, Invacar is still listed on how many left, (How many left is a handy resource as its A-Z list shows every single manufacturer and model that exists in proper coded form on the DVLA's databse)

and this is backed up by the DVLA's official statistics sheets

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/vehicle-licensing-statistics-data-files

so nothing has yet to be cleared up fully, but it at least gives me a bit of insight into whats going on and confirms my earlier suspensions that this is the result of the DVLA making major adjustments (the addition of all the mobility scooter manufacturers to the database) and Invacar getting caught in the cross fire so to speak

 

[RayMK]

@LightBulbFun I have not opened any of the  links but assume the DVLA is only interested in class 3 mobility scooters i.e. of the road legal 8mph type.  I've only ever had class 2 pavement type mobility scooters but when I first felt the need for such a contraption in the late 1990s I understood that registration of class 3 scooters was optional rather than compulsory - has that changed?  There are a few old users of class 3s around here who hurtle around everywhere at 8mph.  Will the authorities be issued with police class 3s, blue lights and all,  to caution those who are speeding on pavements and maybe check that their vehicles are registered and insured?

 

[LightBulbFun]

  On 08/11/2023 at 01:57, RayMK said:

@LightBulbFun I have not opened any of the  links but assume the DVLA is only interested in class 3 mobility scooters i.e. of the road legal 8mph type.  I've only ever had class 2 pavement type mobility scooters but when I first felt the need for such a contraption in the late 1990s I understood that registration of class 3 scooters was optional rather than compulsory - has that changed?  There are a few old users of class 3s around here who hurtle around everywhere at 8mph.  Will the authorities be issued with police class 3s, blue lights and all,  to caution those who are speeding on pavements and maybe check that their vehicles are registered and insured?

 

Expand  

indeed, at some point a good few years back, the rules changed and it became compulsory to register class 3 mobility scooters 

not that I fully quite get the point of it, especially such that although your required to register the vehicle with the DVLA, you are not required to display number plates, so its kind of whats the point LOL

 

and yep you can indeed in theory get stopped by the police for driving a non compliant scooter...

 

 

and of course before the chronically sick and disabled persons act 1970 was introduced, all types of mobility scooters had to be road registered, as traditional invalid carriages (Like a Stanley Argson or Model 70) and could *only* be used on the road

 

this even included stuff like electrically assisted pedestrian controlled wheelchairs!

 

for example I have seen a ministry picture of a pedestrian control,  Vessa Electric wheel chair, Model 28B in Ministry speak, complete with G suffix registration plate on the side of the chair 

its up there with one of the strangest things I have seen bearing a registration mark, because apart from extra gubbins at the back for the electric assist, it really does just look like a regular wheelchair, but ya know with large square registration plate slapped on the side!

[LightBulbFun]

well shit the proverbial bed! I have just found this last night doing some late night research

it might look like "just" any old Rusty Invacar Mk8, but lets take a look at the rear,

yes an Invacar winged badge, but lets take a closer look at that plaque above the badge shall we?

"made under Invacar licence by Elliots of reading Ser No 20924"

 

yes this is a Samual Elliots Invacar!, and to further add to it all its an Invacar Mk8! 

this is really quite significant on 2 fronts, on the first front, It was not thought any of the licence built Invacars survived, so its really very awesome to see one does survive somewhere,

 

The second thing was it was always thought that once Invacar got their Benfleet/Thundersley works up and running, and got the Invacar Mk8 going, that they ended the licensing agreements, thus it was thought Vernons and Elliots only ever produced up to the Invacar Mk6, yet here we have an Elliotts Invacar Mk8, so that changes the picture somewhat! and raises a good few questions, for example Did Vernon also produce the Mk8 under licence then? and just how long did each company actually keep building Invacars for?

was it just Elliotts who got the licence, and theres also the question of the Samual Elliots Padwin, and how this would tie into it, the Padwin was a Prototype bodied machine made by Elliots that never got into production, obviously I have been talking with Stuart about everything just now, and there is the question, did Elliots even make the Padwin? our only current source for that is the A brief pictorial history of the invalid tricycle book, which we know is not 100% perfect in its fact/figures, im hoping when stuart gets time he can check his copies of the Magic Carpet, and see if any more info can be gleaned from that

 

I found the machine above, here https://angliacarauctions.co.uk/classic-auctions/2611-04-Nov-2023/3959~1-thundersley-three-wheeled-invacar-(for-restoration)

and I am really quite disappointed in myself that I did not find it sooner, so that I could have bid for it to try and secure it for preservation, I am really concerned, given how little it went for, that someone have just bought it to break it for parts, for its Villiers engine for example

its far too rare and significant machine for that fate, it really needs preserving and ideally restoring, as it really is the last of its kind, this like the Invacar Equivalent of an SAO Penza!

I would love to know what its story is exactly, how this specific machine survived, being a Ministry machine (they all where) it really should not be around but it is  

I am just so glad that one does survive somewhere, these where thought previously an extinct type

to that end, does anyone know if there is a way to get in contact with the winning bidder of it? again I would love to at least try and make sure this machine gets saved/goes to a good and informed home!

 

for those who dont know who Samual Elliots are and what they have to do with Invacar I highly recommend reading my previous postings on the subject to get you up to speed  I also recommend reading this to get you up to speed on the company in general http://biag.org.uk/elliotts/ 

although sadly in that link there is no mention of their Invacar manufacturing, which is a real shame, as Elliots by way of making Invacars for the Ministry, really played an important part in mobilising the disabled after WW2, and again thats why I think this Elliots Invacar really needs saving as not only is it physically rare, but its important from a social history POV too 

but there is good records here by the look of things, so in time I am hoping to get a look at them https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/88889134-ca15-4dfd-8eee-2fcbf0577b52

  On 13/08/2020 at 22:33, LightBulbFun said:

we also talked a bit about the Invacar Mk6's built under licence by Vernon industries, turns out they are quite the mystery  in their own right

in that a nice bit of info is known about them as to how they came to be etc , but no actual pictures are known to exist of them sadly, and its unknown if they where badged Vernon at all or or if they where still badged as Invacar 

Stuart did mention that it seems like some of the Later ones where fitted 125cc BSA Bantam engines rather then the usual villiers engine as he has a handbook that curiously says vernon-invacar "For Invacar fitted with 123cc BSA Bantam Engine" (not sure if 123cc is a typo or if thats what it actually says)

so gives us at least one thing to look out for  

and its sadly not known how/where they where registered (however Stuart says he has not seen any Cheshire registered Invacar Mk6's so he thinks they where still registered by Invacar just built by vernon)

Expand  

  On 20/08/2021 at 12:49, LightBulbFun said:

well Looky what I just found last Night  (well this Morning technically as it was 1AM but I digress)

what looks like an Invacar Mk6 with weather protection

is actually the first known Photograph of a Vernon industries ltd Licence built Invacar Mk6  

and this one is even complete with the Vernon only BSA Bantam engine (which is how we where able to tell its Vernon and not an Invacar)

its very useful to our research as it does show that it looks like Vernon built Invacars where registered in Cheshire by Vernon themselves

so now we know this, we know what to look out for to spot a Vernon invacar from a regular Invacar in old photos and British Pathe videos etc  

last question I wonder is, where they badged Invacar still or not?

Expand  

  On 20/08/2021 at 18:46, LightBulbFun said:

well continuing the the theme of Licence built Invacars

I was talking with Stuart about the Vernon to which he closed out saying  "one needs to find a Samuel Elliot-produced one for full bonus points "

to which he further went to say "Samuel Elliot of Reading Berkshire" which then upon seeing they where based in Reading Berkshire

I went Ooooh hang on a tick and pulled these 2 screen grabs I have  

which was a Curious Invacar I had spotted in one of the British pathe Invalid tricycle Association videos a good while ago

It caught my eye because it was of non Essex registration and did not have the winged Invacar badge on the back, back in the day I wondered if it Was a Vernon but the registration mark did not line up Vernon Industries location

so at the time I had just chalked it up to perhaps a Private machine

but is a Reading mark which does lineup with where Samuel Elliot Ltd where based, so this combined with the lack of an Invacar Badge strongly points to this being a Samuel Elliot Licence built Invacar Mk6  

It was very fascinating to learn about, I knew of Samuel Elliot Ltd from the Padwin Prototype of 1951

 

but I had no idea that they had also built Invacars under licence like Vernon did  

and Stuart was very happy with my finds as like the Vernon no previous pictures where known (and even less is known of the Samuel Invacars than the Vernon Invacars)

have to admit to feeling very pleased with myself over these 2 recent Major Invacar finds   

would love to know if anyone else out there might be able to shed some more light on these licence built Invacars?

 

Expand  

  On 18/12/2022 at 19:32, LightBulbFun said:

 

which itself owes its existence to the The Invacar (as in the originial Invacar!) which is the genesis of everything! Yes Invariably inevitably Invacar! 

as Vernon Industries started out by building Invacars under licence from Invacar Ltd, when Invacar got swamped by orders from the Ministry 

they licensed out the design to Vernon Industry Limited (note Vernon's non standard use of a BSA engine rather then usual Villiers engine)

and Samuel Elliot Ltd

 

who both produced the original Invacar under licence 

with the introduction of the Invacar Mk8 however, Invacar ended their licensing agreements with Vernon and Samuel Elliot 

this forced both companies to produce their own designs to retain their lucrative government sales,

resulting in the above Vernon Invalid Car, which owes a lot of its design to the Invacar hence the side mounted outboard engine like an Original Invacar!

and also the Samual Elliot Padwin (which never entered serial production)

 

Sadly no Vernon Invalid cars are known to still survive

Expand  

  

 

[Mrs6C]

  On 10/11/2023 at 17:03, LightBulbFun said:

to that end, does anyone know if there is a way to get in contact with the winning bidder of it?

Expand  

You could email the auction house, explain you are researching the history of Invacar vehicles and ask them if they could forward your contact details to the winning bidder, with an invitation to get in touch with you if they would like to know more about their new purchase.

[SiC]

Elliots was a big furniture maker in Newbury (which is down the road from Reading) right up to the 70s I believe. I'll have to ask the in-laws if they know more. The expert would have been Mrs SiC grandfather as he worked most of his career there. But he died last year. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliotts_of_Newbury

Interesting that only really mentions gliders. My wife's grandfather certainly did build them during the war there as an apprentice. But after the war also definitely built furniture. 

Might not have been the same company but could have been as local enough. 

[SiC]

Ah a lot more details here:

http://biag.org.uk/elliotts/

I won't repeat what's on there but essentially it looks like the two entities split in 1900s. Elliotts of Newbury and Elliotts of Reading. 

[warren t claim]

  On 05/11/2023 at 14:52, LightBulbFun said:

Today marks REV's 47th Birthday  sadly I have not got much to report on her, unless @red5 has a birthday update for us?  

 

but in other Model 70-ish news , this was unearthed a couple weeks back! an actual starting handle for the Steyr puch engine!  I have seen lots with starter dogs on them, but I have never seen an actual handle for them until now

https://prokschi.at/puch-500/turning-crank.html

(screen shot included because the website is quite broken and often gives erroneous Error 404's)

 

I feel like @Zelandeth or @dollywobbler should get one and do a video trying to hand start their Model 70! i'd get one myself for giggles, but REV does not actually have a starter dog, however I know TPA and TWC do  

Expand  

I hate to state the obvious, but an Invacare is hardly likely to have been fitted with a kickstart.

[SiC]

A bit more here about Elliotts of Reading here too:

http://biag.org.uk/elliotts/

Interesting to read that McAlpine, the enormous building firm, bought up the Reading entity. I know personally that the McAlpine family live around that area and have strong connections. (I went to a wedding of a McAlpine daughter earlier this year - extremely grand affair as you might imagine.)

[LightBulbFun]

  On 10/11/2023 at 21:09, SiC said:

Ah a lot more details here:

http://biag.org.uk/elliotts/

I won't repeat what's on there but essentially it looks like the two entities split in 1900s. Elliotts of Newbury and Elliotts of Reading. 

Expand  

Yeah I linked to that at the end of my post, I highly recommend also giving all the posts I quoted a read, they will get you up to speed on the whole Invacar connection  

the Berkshire archive office also look to hold a good deal of material on the company, I do wonder if I might find some more info on the Invacar licensing deal in there

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/88889134-ca15-4dfd-8eee-2fcbf0577b52

  On 10/11/2023 at 21:16, SiC said:

A bit more here about Elliotts of Reading here too:

http://biag.org.uk/elliotts/

Interesting to read that McAlpine, the enormous building firm, bought up the Reading entity. I know personally that the McAlpine family live around that area. (I went to a wedding of a McAlpine daughter earlier this year - extremely grand as you might imagine. )

Expand  

very interesting to hear about your McAlpine connection also, you would not happen to know anything about the McAlpine Invalid Tricycle talked about in the letter in this post would you?  

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/307/#comment-2735343

  On 10/11/2023 at 21:14, warren t claim said:

I hate to state the obvious, but an Invacare is hardly likely to have been fitted with a kickstart.

Expand  

all early Invacars had a kick starter or hand starter of some kind, in-fact most early petrol invalid carriages did, either because that was the only means of starting them, or as a back up incase the starter/electrics failed, and on some machines like Petrol Stanley Argsons, the hand starter was also a way to move the machine by hand for fine positioning, like you would a unpowered hand propelled tricycle

even Model 70's have the provision for hand starting (although this is more by happenstance rather then by explicit design, I think!)

 

[SiC]

  On 10/11/2023 at 21:24, LightBulbFun said:

the Berkshire archive office also look to hold a good deal of material on the company, I do wonder if I might find some more info on the Invacar licensing deal in there

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/88889134-ca15-4dfd-8eee-2fcbf0577b52

Expand  

Why not go pay them a visit? Train to Reading station straight from Paddington and then Uber to their office.

https://www.royalberkshirearchives.org.uk/visit-us

  On 10/11/2023 at 21:24, LightBulbFun said:

you would not happen to know anything about the McAlpine Invalid Tricycle talked about in the letter in this post would you

Expand  

They're a very private family. 

[sdkrc]

https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/invacar-model-70-1978-icon-retro-trike-invalid-disabled/1469320841

[Christine]

Those headlights look fantastic

[LightBulbFun]

  On 14/11/2023 at 18:35, sdkrc said:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/invacar-model-70-1978-icon-retro-trike-invalid-disabled/1469320841

Expand  

he has had the perpetually for sale for the past 5 or so years now, and for the past 2 or 3 years (after he had it painted etc) has had it up for £5500

ya would think by now, that maybe he would try either lowering the price a bit, or actually finish it off, I imagine if he got it running driving and stopping, he would get much more interest

its no good having it look "pretty" if it does not actually function

 

(although from the people I have spoken to about it, people who had shown potential interest in purchasing it, have all been put off by whats been done to it, the modifications, shaving off of the mould lines and removal of its original tiller bar system, as well the lack of its original registration mark)

[martc]

  On 08/11/2023 at 00:51, LightBulbFun said:

 

 

Expand  

Mystic Martc predicts that, in the very near future, a Kymco road going petrol scooter will be registered as a mobility scooter (or vice versa) causing much confusion with the local plod...

https://www.kymco.co.uk/scooters-and-motorcycles-range

https://www.kymco.co.uk/mobility-range

 

[brummiejon]

  On 10/11/2023 at 17:03, LightBulbFun said:

well shit the proverbial bed! I have just found this last night doing some late night research

it might look like "just" any old Rusty Invacar Mk8, but lets take a look at the rear,

yes an Invacar winged badge, but lets take a closer look at that plaque above the badge shall we?

"made under Invacar licence by Elliots of reading Ser No 20924"

 

yes this is a Samual Elliots Invacar!, and to further add to it all its an Invacar Mk8! 

this is really quite significant on 2 fronts, on the first front, It was not thought any of the licence built Invacars survived, so its really very awesome to see one does survive somewhere,

 

The second thing was it was always thought that once Invacar got their Benfleet/Thundersley works up and running, and got the Invacar Mk8 going, that they ended the licensing agreements, thus it was thought Vernons and Elliots only ever produced up to the Invacar Mk6, yet here we have an Elliotts Invacar Mk8, so that changes the picture somewhat! and raises a good few questions, for example Did Vernon also produce the Mk8 under licence then? and just how long did each company actually keep building Invacars for?

was it just Elliotts who got the licence, and theres also the question of the Samual Elliots Padwin, and how this would tie into it, the Padwin was a Prototype bodied machine made by Elliots that never got into production, obviously I have been talking with Stuart about everything just now, and there is the question, did Elliots even make the Padwin? our only current source for that is the A brief pictorial history of the invalid tricycle book, which we know is not 100% perfect in its fact/figures, im hoping when stuart gets time he can check his copies of the Magic Carpet, and see if any more info can be gleaned from that

 

I found the machine above, here https://angliacarauctions.co.uk/classic-auctions/2611-04-Nov-2023/3959~1-thundersley-three-wheeled-invacar-(for-restoration)

and I am really quite disappointed in myself that I did not find it sooner, so that I could have bid for it to try and secure it for preservation, I am really concerned, given how little it went for, that someone have just bought it to break it for parts, for its Villiers engine for example

its far too rare and significant machine for that fate, it really needs preserving and ideally restoring, as it really is the last of its kind, this like the Invacar Equivalent of an SAO Penza!

I would love to know what its story is exactly, how this specific machine survived, being a Ministry machine (they all where) it really should not be around but it is  

I am just so glad that one does survive somewhere, these where thought previously an extinct type

to that end, does anyone know if there is a way to get in contact with the winning bidder of it? again I would love to at least try and make sure this machine gets saved/goes to a good and informed home!

 

for those who dont know who Samual Elliots are and what they have to do with Invacar I highly recommend reading my previous postings on the subject to get you up to speed  I also recommend reading this to get you up to speed on the company in general http://biag.org.uk/elliotts/ 

although sadly in that link there is no mention of their Invacar manufacturing, which is a real shame, as Elliots by way of making Invacars for the Ministry, really played an important part in mobilising the disabled after WW2, and again thats why I think this Elliots Invacar really needs saving as not only is it physically rare, but its important from a social history POV too 

but there is good records here by the look of things, so in time I am hoping to get a look at them https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/88889134-ca15-4dfd-8eee-2fcbf0577b52

  

 

Expand  

I would have gone for that too

[Jim]

To Lightbulb fun.  Re post Nov 12 2022.

About the Red Morris reg 775XVW.  I used to own the original Morris that had that reg. I scrapped it in 1974. The vin plate in the red one is different to mine. I suppose they reissued the reg to this import. Thanks for highlighting this. Found it really interesting,  also initially slightly confusing! Keep up the good work and thanks. Jim

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Mk12?

Taken from here:

[LightBulbFun]

  On 19/11/2023 at 08:48, Jim said:

To Lightbulb fun.  Re post Nov 12 2022.

About the Red Morris reg 775XVW.  I used to own the original Morris that had that reg. I scrapped it in 1974. The vin plate in the red one is different to mine. I suppose they reissued the reg to this import. Thanks for highlighting this. Found it really interesting,  also initially slightly confusing! Keep up the good work and thanks. Jim

Expand  

Hello! and Welcome to the Forum! thank you for joining and letting me know about the fact you owned the real 775XVW, quite amazing the chance of that  

but it proves exactly what I had feared in my post about 775XVW which for those interesting can be found 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/284/#comment-2644430

 

but as a TL;DR I discovered a while back that the DVLA had issued xxxXVW and xxxXVX as an age related series in 2022, but this was very bad because, those  2 registration series, had actually been issued in period in the early 1960's (by Essex), normally the DVLA *explicitly* does *not* issue registration marks that where issued in period

because, you never know what vehicles do and dont still exist, so the fact that it has happened is *very* bad because, you might have one of these period vehicles thats been in a barn for 50 years, and suddenly find its registration mark is on a Tractor or recently imported Fiat 500 or something!

 

sadly a few people where quite dismissive of my worry, but again this proves exactly the problem with this DVLA mistake, this is a worse case scenario here, because by chance both vehicles are Morris Minors

but if say rather then be scrapped, 775XVW was stashed away in a barn somewhere, and then someone came to unearth it 50 years later, and applied for the logbook

well the chassis number would not match up, and it could very much cause a world of pain for both parties (the DVLA *really* dont like it when you applied for the same make and model of vehicle but with the wrong/different chassis number)

you can clearly see they are not the same Morris minor! (many thanks to Jim for the period pic! )

 

and I do wonder what would happen if you tried the V765 for one of these erroneously issued registration marks, lets say you had the Buff logbook for 775XVW, the DVLA would see the registration mark has already been issued and may well reject the application, despite the fact it was themselves who had issued it erroneously as an age related mark when it should not of been

this is a problem that I am still grumpy about, and I dont know what to do about it, I dont know how one goes contacting the DVLA about it all, it feels like something the FBHVC or someone such would have to do

 

and this also proves the point why its a good thing that a historic vehicle keeps/retains its original registration mark, if someone had the real 775XVW, but it was on an another age related plate, then there would of been no chance for Jim to find it!

[LightBulbFun]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/655319641220147/posts/6920010594750989/

AC Acedes Mk11 Model 57 anyone?  @plasticvandan kindly gave me the heads up on this one, interesting to see its being sold by a Hammond, it was part of the Hammond microcar collection and was sold at auction with the rest of the cars when the collection was sold off

so I find it interesting its still with a Hammond, wonder if whoever won it, never showed up to pick it up or such!

 

I would love it myself, but I dont really have anywhere to stash it sadly! hopefully it finds a good home, its a direct from the heywood stores car so it should be fundamentally sound

[AdgeCutler]

Looks to be a nice little car for somebody at a much more sensible price compared to other recent offerings.

[doug]

Spotted in the corner of an advert for a Bond Bug on Car and Classic. Reg ends in 8S?


Sent from my SM-A145R using Tapatalk