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...

[mrbenn]

Loving the bus/Invacar montage pics LBF!

Don't suppose you know where the 4th one down was taken?

[Datsuncog]

On ‎5‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 4:43 PM, LightBulbFun said:

Awesome stuff, im happy to see they are willing to corporate 

it sounds like they dont really know much about their own Model 70! do you know where/how the museum found WOI654?

 

(BTW going by how VES108S was the latest known Invacar Model 70 Stuart knew about (before SOI7570)  and how he thought it may of originally been a WVW/WOO car, I dont think he knew about the XEV-S block of Invacar Model 70s so im excited to tell him about them when he comes back to the internet )

Nope, they don't seem to have a great deal of knowledge to hand... the Ulster Transport Museum's collection came from a few different collections smooshed together in the late '80s, and it seems they spent a fair bit of effort in the mid-1990s on the train and bus galleries - but the car stuff has always been a bit of a poor relation.

However, I gather they have some new staff there now and the last time I visited it was heartening to see they'd removed some of the broken and really embarrassingly outdated displays ('What will transport in Northern Ireland be like in the Year 2000?' - 'Restoration on this locomotive is scheduled to begin in 1997')  so maybe it'll start to improve.

I've asked them whether they have any info on this Model 70, so I'll be sure to post anything they come back with. I seem to remember seeing this vehicle on display in the late '90s, so it was there before the blanket recall of all invalid trikes in 2003. With a 1993 tax disc still in the windscreen, I'd guess that it may have been returned to the DHSS around that time (possibly after its owner gave up driving, or otherwise no longer had need of it) and from there it was maybe donated to the museum, since I believe they could no longer be issued to new users.

It's possible that it may have been gifted to the museum as a static exhibit with no registration (and maybe even marked as scrapped) while the original (valuable) three-digit numberplate was kept and sold on by whichever Health Trust originally owned it, as a cost-recovery exercise.

I know Translink (Ulsterbus/Metrobus) owns a lot of three-digit NI registrations, often corresponding to the bus numbers themselves, which have been recycled over the years - hence a reasonably new Volvo-powered Wrightbus may be seen on the streets of Belfast wearing, say KXI745 - a 1987 plate that would have been originally assigned to an Alexander-bodied Leyland Tiger with fleet number 745.

(And I'm afraid I don't know whether Ulsterbus fleet-numbered their buses according to the assigned registration plate, or whether they requested a registration that matched the fleet number - but here's BXI2599, a Bristol RE wearing Ulsterbus fleet number 2599, just for jolly.)

[egg]

I always learn something from reading your posts DC, especially as I've never been to NI. Top stuff.

[LightBulbFun]

7 hours ago, Snipes said:

It's amusing to think of a bus enthusiast snapping away only to get photobombed by an Invicar.  He (it'll be a bloke) may not have noticed until they eventually got the pictures developed, too.

well the first Photo featured, is taken by Clair  Pendrous, funnily enough She is also a well known lighting collector and I have a few very rare fluorescent tubes from her (the Ex NATO Red 2ft 40W T12 I used in one of my Rover SD1 pictures came from her ) 

3 hours ago, mrbenn said:

Loving the bus/Invacar montage pics LBF!

Don't suppose you know where the 4th one down was taken?

the one with with 305VHN? heres the flicker link to it, hope it helps   https://www.flickr.com/photos/22455491@N02/2539411018

2 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Nope, they don't seem to have a great deal of knowledge to hand... the Ulster Transport Museum's collection came from a few different collections smooshed together in the late '80s, and it seems they spent a fair bit of effort in the mid-1990s on the train and bus galleries - but the car stuff has always been a bit of a poor relation.

However, I gather they have some new staff there now and the last time I visited it was heartening to see they'd removed some of the broken and really embarrassingly outdated displays ('What will transport in Northern Ireland be like in the Year 2000?' - 'Restoration on this locomotive is scheduled to begin in 1997')  so maybe it'll start to improve.

I've asked them whether they have any info on this Model 70, so I'll be sure to post anything they come back with. I seem to remember seeing this vehicle on display in the late '90s, so it was there before the blanket recall of all invalid trikes in 2003. With a 1993 tax disc still in the windscreen, I'd guess that it may have been returned to the DHSS around that time (possibly after its owner gave up driving, or otherwise no longer had need of it) and from there it was maybe donated to the museum, since I believe they could no longer be issued to new users.

It's possible that it may have been gifted to the museum as a static exhibit with no registration (and maybe even marked as scrapped) while the original (valuable) three-digit numberplate was kept and sold on by whichever Health Trust originally owned it, as a cost-recovery exercise.

I know Translink (Ulsterbus/Metrobus) owns a lot of three-digit NI registrations, often corresponding to the bus numbers themselves, which have been recycled over the years - hence a reasonably new Volvo-powered Wrightbus may be seen on the streets of Belfast wearing, say KXI745 - a 1987 plate that would have been originally assigned to an Alexander-bodied Leyland Tiger with fleet number 745.

(And I'm afraid I don't know whether Ulsterbus fleet-numbered their buses according to the assigned registration plate, or whether they requested a registration that matched the fleet number - but here's BXI2599, a Bristol RE wearing Ulsterbus fleet number 2599, just for jolly.)

interesting stuff  I know London Transport had their Routemaster registrations match their fleet number  (RM5 is VLT5, ER882 is WLT882, RM2037 is ALM37B, RML2760 is SMK760F etc) so LT would of requested custom registrations or reserved a block somehow I imagine? im not sure how that works exactly.

 

I Dont think WOI654 has been put on another car as even tho it does not show up on the DVLA, on the various other sites it does show up on, it shows up as an AC, however based on what others have said it looks like something like what you mention, was the case with GIG4834 as apparently "GIG" is a 1990s reg)

 

[LightBulbFun]

I see VES108S (ex XEV88S) is officially for sale, sadly from speaking to fraser before it went on sale, I know theres no way I can afford this one either sadly (he said he has spent £2800 on it and wants at least £3000, im not sure how you spend £2800 on an Invacar short of a full nut and bolt restoration and respray, however knowing where VES108S came from id not be surprised if fraser himself paid too much for it!)

(He says he does not buy and sell Model 70s as a business, but sure bloody looks like it!)

 

[egg]

I think the bills can add up. If I went full lottery win mode, 

Villiers Services charge £1300 for a full engine rebuild (and that is full, to virtually new standard) https://villiersservices.co.uk/index.php?main_page=page&id=3

Then if you add some professional fibreglass repairs, say some electrical work done, full new brakes and pipework etc etc.

But, this doesn't seem to be the case for VES108S.

[mrbenn]

 

2 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

I see VES108S (ex XEV88S) is officially for sale, sadly from speaking to fraser before it went on sale, I know theres no way I can afford this one either (he said he has spent £2800 on it and wants at least £3000, im not sure how you spend £2800 on an Invacar short of a full nut and bolt restoration and respray, however knowing where VES108S came from id not be surprised if fraser himself paid too much for it!)

(He says he does not buy and sell Model 70s as a business, but sure bloody looks like it!)

 

Crikey. So, going by the advert, he has bought is an exhaust manifold and the car owes him £2800? Does that mean he paid IRO £2700 for it?

[mrbenn]

2 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

the one with with 305VHN? heres the flicker link to it, hope it helps   https://www.flickr.com/photos/22455491@N02/2539411018

 

Thanks for that LBF!

[Datsuncog]

3 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

interesting stuff  I know London Transport had their Routemaster registrations match their fleet number  (RM5 is VLT5, ER882 is WLT882, RM2037 is ALM37B, RML2760 is SMK760F etc) so LT would of requested custom registrations or reserved a block somehow I imagine? im not sure how that works exactly.

Within NI, it's possible there was some sort of internal arrangement going on with registations - since the DVLNI (as was) and NITHCo (Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, trading as Translink) were, respectively, an agency and a government-owned company both under the auspices of the Department of the Environment. I'll try to find out if I know anyone who might have a definitive answer as to what came first: the fleet number or the registration plate.

Quote

I Dont think WOI654 has been put on another car as even tho it does not show up on the DVLA, on the various other sites it does show up on, it shows up as an AC, however based on what others have said it looks like something like what you mention, was the case with GIG4834 as apparently "GIG" is a 1990s reg)

That's good to know - I'd really be interested to know why WOI is wearing those daft mock-up plates that are meaningless. Hopefully the museum will be able to answer that mystery, too!

With regard to the other car, we may have more of a mystery on our hands - because  a vehicle wearing a GIG plate couldn't have been assigned it much before 2010.

The 'IG' office code refers to a car registered with the Enniskillen DVLNI office in rural Co. Fermanagh, and that series only kicked off with AIG1 in late 2004 - after the old 'IL' series finally concluded with YIL9999.

At present, the Enniskillen office is assigning UIG**** plates to new vehicles registered there - most of which are likely to be going onto commercials, farm or plant vehicles, since there aren't all that many new car dealerships in Fermanagh.

At a guess, GIG4834 is likely to have been issued around 2010 (the IG series is a bit shorter than usual as CIG, NIG and PIG were never issued in the series, as they were deemed potentially offensive, while QIG is also off the list) and, along with other 'word' plates such as OIL, BIG, etc, were EXTREMELY popular with private plate re-sellers as cheap dateless plates for GB cars. This probably explains why the numbers surrounding GIG4834 are assigned to all manner of random vehicles, from a 1994 Vauxhall, to a 2000 Mercedes, to a Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa bike.

So how did a Model 70 end up wearing an NI plate issued around 2010? I have no idea. Although, if the car in question is now in NI, it may have been assigned a new-series plate at the point it was brought over and registered with DVLNI (as I was offered with my Cortina). As with WOI, it could take a VIN and chassis number check for this one against the factory records to try to uncover its original identity...

 

But hey, who doesn't love a good mystery??

 

[busmansholiday]

Putting my sad bastard hat on (or " you have very strange hobby" as the nice young Greek lady said to me earlier today as I was scribbling down vin numbers on LHD East Lancs bodied Tridents and B7s), top pic is Sheffield. Leyland Nastie is leaving Harmer Lane onto Pond Street. Second pic is Doncaster, outside the old Waterdale bus station, one of 56 ECW Fleetlines bought by SYPTE. 

Third pic Manchester and a Northern Counties bodied Olympian (don't know where).

Fourth is Darlington and a Roe bodied Daimler CCG6 ( they were twats to drive with the constant mesh boxes), there's a single deck Fleetline with Roe body in the background. 

Smoke for fifth.

Not sure where the Alder Valley VR is, six cylinder may be able to recognise it.

Last pic is Chesterfield, a forward entrance version of pic 4. Cannot remember what works service 104 was (should do, drove enough bus routes into Chesterfield in the late 70's), probably to one of the pits, Markham?.

I posted a B&W of an Invacar early on in DW's post in Portsmouth. Wonder how many other of my bus pics have them in.

I'd also love to know what the reg of the one my grandfather had in the early 60's was. Travelled in that. Freedom of Information ?

 

[LightBulbFun]

On 07/05/2019 at 16:21, egg said:

I think the bills can add up. If I went full lottery win mode, 

Villiers Services charge £1300 for a full engine rebuild (and that is full, to virtually new standard) https://villiersservices.co.uk/index.php?main_page=page&id=3

Then if you add some professional fibreglass repairs, say some electrical work done, full new brakes and pipework etc etc.

But, this doesn't seem to be the case for VES108S.

Aye yeah, if you went full out im sure you could, but as you mention this does not look to be the case

ah well, I hope VES108S goes to a good home at least! (and ideally stays in the UK!)

 

On 07/05/2019 at 16:37, mrbenn said:

 

Crikey. So, going by the advert, he has bought is an exhaust manifold and the car owes him £2800? Does that mean he paid IRO £2700 for it?

Yeah exactly LOL, but I know he himself bought it from someone else who specialises in buying micro cars and flipping them for profit as well, so who knows how much he paid. (I did ask how much he paid for it originally, but he never answered me directly he just said it owes him £2800)

 

I also I noticed he did not mention the Number plate information I info I dug up, not sure what to think of that, and if I should post a comment about it? im not sure he believes me or wants to believe me sadly.

 

On 07/05/2019 at 16:46, Datsuncog said:

Within NI, it's possible there was some sort of internal arrangement going on with registations - since the DVLNI (as was) and NITHCo (Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, trading as Translink) were, respectively, an agency and a government-owned company both under the auspices of the Department of the Environment. I'll try to find out if I know anyone who might have a definitive answer as to what came first: the fleet number or the registration plate.

That's good to know - I'd really be interested to know why WOI is wearing those daft mock-up plates that are meaningless. Hopefully the museum will be able to answer that mystery, too!

With regard to the other car, we may have more of a mystery on our hands - because  a vehicle wearing a GIG plate couldn't have been assigned it much before 2010.

The 'IG' office code refers to a car registered with the Enniskillen DVLNI office in rural Co. Fermanagh, and that series only kicked off with AIG1 in late 2004 - after the old 'IL' series finally concluded with YIL9999.

At present, the Enniskillen office is assigning UIG**** plates to new vehicles registered there - most of which are likely to be going onto commercials, farm or plant vehicles, since there aren't all that many new car dealerships in Fermanagh.

At a guess, GIG4834 is likely to have been issued around 2010 (the IG series is a bit shorter than usual as CIG, NIG and PIG were never issued in the series, as they were deemed potentially offensive, while QIG is also off the list) and, along with other 'word' plates such as OIL, BIG, etc, were EXTREMELY popular with private plate re-sellers as cheap dateless plates for GB cars. This probably explains why the numbers surrounding GIG4834 are assigned to all manner of random vehicles, from a 1994 Vauxhall, to a 2000 Mercedes, to a Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa bike.

So how did a Model 70 end up wearing an NI plate issued around 2010? I have no idea. Although, if the car in question is now in NI, it may have been assigned a new-series plate at the point it was brought over and registered with DVLNI (as I was offered with my Cortina). As with WOI, it could take a VIN and chassis number check for this one against the factory records to try to uncover its original identity...

 

But hey, who doesn't love a mystery??

 

very interesting stuff!

what i can tell with UOI4719 (Chassis No *redacted* according to my checker) is, that there where later cars that where registered in the UK, the VPG243S-VPG269S block consist of 26 AC Model 70's from *redacted*, so this does tell me that either NI Model 70s where either Randomly plucked from batches of UK cars or at least that there was some overlap between the 2

what im trying to find is a mainland Model 70 from the same chassis range as one of the NI Model 70s so I can then bash the DVLA checker going up 1 registration number at a time until i  get to what the supposed UK registration of the NI Model 70 would of been if that makes any sense to you? and see what it shows up as (ie does it show up as a Model 70 that has been untaxed since 1980 which would tell us they re-registered Model 70s once exported to NI or does it show up as something unrelated?, basically do the exact same thing I did to figure out VES108S's original registration number )

like UOI4719, is Chassis number *redacted*, what im hoping to find is a UK registered Model 70 with a *redacted* series chassis number, and then increment its registration on the DVLA until I would hit *redacted* (because remember Model 70 chassis numbers went up in sync with their registration number)

sadly all the NI Model 70s I have documented are still out on their own, for example the last UK Model 70 I have before UOI is TPE409S which is *redacted*, and then after that is VPG247S which is *redacted*, so UOI is still all on its own with *redacted* if that makes sense?

(WOI and GIG are completely on there own with chassis numbers higher then any UK car I have documented, and the same with SOI, the highest Invacar Model 70 I have documented before it is XEV116S with *redacted* with SOI7570 being *redacted*)

this is one of the reasons I have asked if anyone has any new pictures containing S reg Model 70s as those will have the highest chance of intersecting with the NI Model 70s (AFAIK, there are no T Reg Model 70s but who knows!)

sadly there are no factory records or such, the only stuff out there is just pretty much what Me and Stuart have been able to figure out!

(and I am very thankful to the person who provided the link to the Number plate to VIN number website it has been very valuable to me! and also to lanciamatt for running full HPI checks when the usual website could not get the Chassis number, and to everyone else who has helped with this escapade!)

hopefully all this makes sense! I always struggle to explain the whole Chassis number and registration numbers thing LOL

 

On 07/05/2019 at 16:47, busmansholiday said:

Putting my sad bastard hat on (or " you have very strange hobby" as the nice young Greek lady said to me earlier today as I was scribbling down vin numbers on LHD East Lancs bodied Tridents and B7s), top pic is Sheffield. Leyland Nastie is leaving Harmer Lane onto Pond Street. Second pic is Doncaster, outside the old Waterdale bus station, one of 56 ECW Fleetlines bought by SYPTE. 

Third pic Manchester and a Northern Counties bodied Olympian (don't know where).

Fourth is Darlington and a Roe bodied Daimler CCG6 ( they were twats to drive with the constant mesh boxes), there's a single deck Fleetline with Roe body in the background. 

Smoke for fifth.

Not sure where the Alder Valley VR is, six cylinder may be able to recognise it.

Last pic is Chesterfield, a forward entrance version of pic 4. Cannot remember what works service 104 was (should do, drove enough bus routes into Chesterfield in the late 70's), probably to one of the pits, Markham?.

I posted a B&W of an Invacar early on in DW's post in Portsmouth. Wonder how many other of my bus pics have them in.

I'd also love to know what the reg of the one my grandfather had in the early 60's was. Travelled in that. Freedom of Information ?

 

very cool stuff!, sadly the Government washed their hands of all things invalid carriage a good 15 years ago, so a FOI request would not go anywhere sadly as they dont have the info themselves!

and what information that did escape destruction is with the ICR, who have not been much use/help sadly!

I would love to be able to teleport to where all the information is stored and just sort through it all!

 

[mrbenn]

5 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

Yeah exactly LOL, but I know he himself bought it from someone else who specialises in buying micro cars and flipping them for profit as well, so who knows how much he paid. (I did ask how much he paid for it originally, but he never answered me directly he just said it owes him £2800)

Well, it'll certainly be interesting to see if he gets anything like that money without an MOT and brakes needing doing. I was under the impression that the brakes on these are fairly straightforward?

[LightBulbFun]

Just now, mrbenn said:

Well, it'll certainly be interesting to see if he gets anything like that money without an MOT and brakes needing doing. I was under the impression that the brakes on these are fairly straightforward?

same im keeping a close eye on it

the one thing is he has it advertised in a Microcar group, and we all know how the microcar people like to pay silly money for pretty much anything if they get a hankering for it!

(indeed the brakes on a Model 70 are very simple, with all the parts being BMC parts bin stuff)

[mrbenn]

It's BMC stuff? I didn't realise. Cheap as chips, then.

[LightBulbFun]

20 minutes ago, mrbenn said:

It's BMC stuff? I didn't realise. Cheap as chips, then.

indeed, just normal 7 inch Girling brakes, shared with The Mini I think

and yeah, DW himself said the most expensive thing on project invacar so far has been new pulleys which was "only" a couple hundred quid

so the rest of things must of been quite cheap in the scheme of things  (especially knowing that he had to do a full engine servicing and brake system rebuild to get TWC back on the road plus new tyres etc) which is also good to know for my shoe string budget when it comes to maintaining my future Model 70

which also goes back to the £100 field cars, if I did get one for that cheap, yes it would probably need more work then I could physically give it in my current situation, but at the same time the stuff It would need would most likely be simple enough that I could just throw the rest of the money I have saved up at a shop and have them get it going without much hassle

 

[mrbenn]

If you end up getting one that needs a bit of work I suspect a few of us could appear at your residence and form some sort of working party!

Still can't get over the £100 field cars (which I appreciate is very cheap). Then suddenly they're worth so much more.

[LightBulbFun]

39 minutes ago, mrbenn said:

If you end up getting one that needs a bit of work I suspect a few of us could appear at your residence and form some sort of working party!

Still can't get over the £100 field cars (which I appreciate is very cheap). Then suddenly they're worth so much more.

that would be fun

Yeah as I have mentioned, Invacars seem to be in a state of flux, it makes it very hard to answer when someone asks me "so how much are invacars worth then?"

I still want to know whats happened to the rest of the field cars exactly!

 

I left a comment on frasers for sale post quickly mentioning the registration thing, and he gave it a like, which is good, I was worried he might get all funny with me about it, (while I admit dont like his adgenda so to speak, I do want to keep things friendly and amicable  )

[mrbenn]

Not sure why he'd be funny with you, you're helping to piece together the history of his car. He'd appreciate the input, Shirley

[Amishtat]

Appreciate you've seen these before but I was just passing and thought I'd grab a snap or two 

 

[egg]

Good stuff, next time you're there, ask 'em where they keep the secret stash of Invacars !

[Datsuncog]

Well, NMNI have come through on their promise...

Quote

 

Hi DATSUNCOG

 

Thank you for getting in touch. We have been down to look at the car and I have attached a photo of the VIN plate which also includes the chassis number on it.

Chassis no. T466

Contract No HAD 301/11/1

Year of Manufacture 1977/8

Engine No 5268540

 

I hope this is all the information you need but please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need any further assistance with this enquiry.

 

Kind regards,

Clare ****
Curatorial Assistant

National Museums Northern Ireland
Botanic Gardens, Belfast, , BT9 5AB

 

Nice clear pic, anyway.

 

So there we go. WOI654 has Chassis No. T466, and it seems to have a build date of August 1977, if I'm reading that right?

They haven't mentioned the chassis number stamped on the top suspension mount - but as the access hatch seemingly doesn't lock, I can mebbe verify this myself.

Hopefully this gives some indication of the batch build, and settles that it's not a 1980 build car - just a 1977 car registered in NI in 1980?

Exciting stuff... I'll respond to Clare here asking if she knows anything more about how the car came to be in the Museum's collection, and what happened to the proper registration.

Yay!

[LightBulbFun]

very interesting and cool stuff! thank you for going through all the trouble to fetch that for me!  (and thanks to the museum staff!)

indeed August 1977, so either it sat around for a while before being shipped to NI, or it was an Ex UK car they re-registered

its also interesting to see how old it is, T466, is later then any other AC UK Model 70 I have documented, with VPG269S T447 being the latest UK AC I have documented, and yet that one was registered in April 1978, yet chassis number wise its older then T466, so must of also sat around for a good few months

where as the latest UK Invacar Model 70 I have properly documented, is VES108S/XEV88S which was registered in Feb 1978, and has a manufacture date of January 1978 so make of that what you will! (makes me all the more curious what SOI7570 says on her VIN plate!)

it now raises the question of why is there such a large gap between the last? of the AC cars being made vs them being registered, compared to Invacar Model 70s which where registered pretty much right after they where made?

(did AC decide to make a load towards the end of 1977, stock pile them and then slowly push the out the door throughout the end of 1977 and into 1978?)

 

2 hours ago, Amishtat said:

Appreciate you've seen these before but I was just passing and thought I'd grab a snap or two 

 

very cool stuff! did you check round the back? it looks like google earth they have an Invacar of some kind stashed round back that I am most curious about

[Amishtat]

Damn it, I wish I'd have known that a few hours ago and I'd have enquired /had a snout about. Next time I'm round that way I'll have an ask 

[LightBulbFun]

second time something like this has happened on this thread LOL! 

 you can see it here on Page 37  

 

[LightBulbFun]

im not sure how to decifer the "contract number had" number

but I noticed on WOI654 its 301/11/1

where as on VES108S/XEV88S its 301/11/2

WOI654

VES108S/XEV88S

heres TWC and TPAs plates for reference too

 

TWC725K

 

TPA621M

 

 

looking at the VIN plates, its worth noting that both TWC and VES which are both Invacar Model 70s, both give a month and a year of manufacture

 

where as TPA (an AC Model 70) does not give a month of manufacture just a year, where as WOI (a Later AC Model 70) does? although I do wonder if on WOI the "/8" means 1977-1978 or if they mean to cross out 1977 and put 8 instead? sadly I dont have any other pictures of any other AC Model 70s VIN plate to compare against

 

(also TWC was registered June 1972, however that does not look like a 6 or 5 on her VIN plate for Month of manufacture, but sadly the picture is not good enough quality for me to make out what it says exactly)

[Datsuncog]

This is great stuff - glad the sleuthing is paying off a bit!

I've passed on the info to the museum - that this is one of the highest numbered AC chassis known, and might be the latest registered although it isn't the latest built - and provided a gentle reminder that any additional info on this car would be most welcome.

[dollywobbler]

All being well, I should be visiting the Greeves factory (as was) myself next week, probably Wednesday. I'll be sure to have a nose about.

[LightBulbFun]

52 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

This is great stuff - glad the sleuthing is paying off a bit!

I've passed on the info to the museum - that this is one of the highest numbered AC chassis known, and might be the latest registered although it isn't the latest built - and provided a gentle reminder that any additional info on this car would be most welcome.

indeed it has  the latest registered Model 70 im aware of is GIG4834, which was registered 1st October 1980, with WOI coming in second, 1st July 1980, GIG is also the highest/latest known AC Model 70 with the chassis number T495

(I suspect although GIG4834 is a 2010s registration number, that it is a NI Model 70 that had its original NI plates transferred off, rather than someone in 2010s importing a Model 70 into NI otherwise is expect it to show up with a more normal date of first registration and also show up on the DVLA.)

as you say GIG is a bit of its own mystery, I know it exists, but I have never actually seen a picture of it LOL (nor do I know who currently owns it etc)

 

24 minutes ago, dollywobbler said:

All being well, I should be visiting the Greeves factory (as was) myself next week, probably Wednesday. I'll be sure to have a nose about.

Woo I look forward to that

 

 

the guy who owns MPH759P has texted me that he has the V5 in hand  now  (sadly im out of phone credit so I cant respond to the text atm)

now to stalk the DVLA and watch for the tax to change  (I did tell him previously the only thing he has to change on the V5 is the tax class from Disabled to Historic and to leave body type as invalid vehicle)

[LightBulbFun]

of course after I sent the above, I get presented with a phone voucher, so have topped up my phone

so I sent him a response  and also asked what it says for revenue weight on the V5 as im curious if its 410Kg or 413Kg or something else.

(im not sure if MPH759P is a pre or post "face lift" Model 70, I see in the pictures it has the post face lift larger speedo, but I cant see if it has a headliner/rollover bar, 1975-1976 is when the "Face lift" happened)

 

(and tomorrow I give the government a piece of my mind!)

[LightBulbFun]

not sure if it was like this when I orignially checked, but I noticed GEV492N has an export marker sadly...

(I wonder where it was exported to?)

 

 

speaking of invacars, I learnt more about VES108S/XEV88S's history

 

turns out the same chap who owns TPE409S and WVW312S, almost bought VES108S back in the day, however when he want to go seal the deal with the Invacar garage that was "selling" it to him, they said it was stolen, what happened to it after that is unknown...

he did say that he recalls that when he went to look at it, that it was already wearing the reg VES108S, and that it was one of the things that caught his attention (because it was a local reg)

he also said that it was that garages "courtesy car", in that if someones personal Model 70 was in for servicing they would get handed VES108S (which must of been fun if you drove a steering wheel Model 70 with normal foot controls, because VES108S is a right hand tiller all hand control machine!)

(what I do know is that it was plate raped around 1998 or so, and is reported to have sat since 1998 until it passed into graham/Danny walkers hands and then Frasers hands, Fraser says he does not know any details about where it came from before him, so I guess ill have to ask Danny/Graham where they got VES108S from...)

 

oh and I sent a Facebook message to st185cs, the guy who supposedly has most of the field find Model 70's, I sent it a couple days ago, hopefully he does respond at some point