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]

does anyone know what happened to this Model 70? http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/20301/abandoned?page=48&scrollTo=664114 I could of sworn iv seen it somewhere else but I cant recall where, looking up the Reg (LPL791P) shows its been untaxed since 1988 so it must of been sitting there for a while...

 

(Bonus dave of many numbers in that thread too )

 

edit: wonder if this is worth a poke, its from a year ago in Sweden however! https://deskgram.net/p/1556677159787411165_175835183

[LightBulbFun]

heres a fun one for my 500th post a model 70 in a museum (in Glasgow Scotland apparently) that not only is pretty damn early for a Model 70 (Aug 1971 according to the DVLA) but apparently its been untaxed since 1978! I wonder why it was withdrawn so early in service? would love to know the milage, its also a rarer steering wheel model.

 

 

#funsoftwareanomalies

 

[LightBulbFun]

Not wanting to piss on your bonfire,but aside from the fact that London is the last place i would want to park a threewheeler in the street (it WILL be on its side in the morning) if your under 21 you wont be able to drive one on a car licence,the rules changed in 2013

"tricycle with a car licence

You can drive/ride a motor tricycle of any power rating if you're over 21 and you have a full car driving licence. If this is not the case you'll need a full category A1 motorbike licence to ride motor tricycles up to a power output of 15 Kilowatts (kW), and a full category A motorbike licence to ride trikes with a power output more than 15 kW."

 

ill chain it to a damn lamp post if I have to 

 

considering I dont even have a Full drivers licence yet, im not too worried about the licence requirements (although admittedly I did not know about the 21 thing, even tho I did check this stuff in the past Guess I missed it)

 

Find Model 70 first, worry about all the minor* details later

[mrbenn]

How does the braking work on an Invacar equipped with a steering wheel? One doesn't move the whole wheel downwards when one requires retardation, Shirley.

[dollywobbler]

How does the braking work on an Invacar equipped with a steering wheel? One doesn't move the whole wheel downwards when one requires retardation, Shirley.

 

I believe steering wheel fitment usually came with standard pedals. Never seen one close up though.

[LightBulbFun]

How does the braking work on an Invacar equipped with a steering wheel? One doesn't move the whole wheel downwards when one requires retardation, Shirley.

 

 

I believe steering wheel fitment usually came with standard pedals. Never seen one close up though.

 

 

most i have have seen have normal Pedals so I imagine they just drive like any other car

 

but while reading the Model 70 manual I noticed this steering wheel one, which looks like it does not have any pedals instead has something next to the steering wheel?

 

 

[dollywobbler]

Ah, that presumably works on the same push-pull system as the handlebars. Jeepers. Not sure I'd like to try that!

[mrbenn]

Stone me. The system in TWC looks like the lesser of the evils, frankly!

[Guest Hooli]

That hand throttle brake thing by the steering wheel looks pretty similar to things I've seen in mobility cars for those with no use of their legs. Normally joined by one of those spinny handle things on the steering wheel to impale themselves on.

[LightBulbFun]

likewise I hope the Model 70 I get is of the pedals-steering wheel or bicycle type!

[Guest Hooli]

likewise I hope the Model 70 I get is of the pedals-steering wheel or bicycle type!

 

Able to be converted I suspect.

 

The way I've seen it work on 'normal' cars is two pushrods to the throttle & brake pedal, so I suspect these equipped in such a way might just need pedals grafting in some how.

[LightBulbFun]

Able to be converted I suspect.

 

The way I've seen it work on 'normal' cars is two pushrods to the throttle & brake pedal, so I suspect these equipped in such a way might just need pedals grafting in some how.

 

indeed from reading the manual, and just visually looking at it, if I did end up with a Tiller control one I dont think it would be too hard to convert it to handle bars

 

(gosh the thought of piloting a vehicle at 50Mph~ round the twisties using just 1 arm/hand is terrifying!)

[Guest Hooli]

(gosh the thought of piloting a vehicle at 50Mph~ round the twisties using just 1 arm/hand is terrifying!)

 

I'm a biker, that's behaving & relaxing

[Scruffy Bodger]

indeed from reading the manual, and just visually looking at it, if I did end up with a Tiller control one I dont think it would be too hard to convert it to handle bars

 

(gosh the thought of piloting a vehicle at 50Mph~ round the twisties using just 1 arm/hand is terrifying!)

 

I had a next door neighbour some years back that was a big bike fan but one armed due to an accident. He had a pretty high powered trike that he somehow managed to control with the clutch lever moved over to where the front brake should be. He was very adept at skinning up one handed too, amazing what people can adapt to when needs must.

[LightBulbFun]

for reference heres a model 70 "brochure" which shows a steering wheel config with regular pedals (tho worth nothing the "available with or without foot assistance", also worth of note is the option for pedals on the bicycle option too)

 

 

(also noticed the Model 70 pictured has a thick hard top gasket, that only AC made model 70s seem to have yet this ones obviously an invacar one...)

[mrbenn]

They really are fascinating things. 56 "control variations" available - amazing!

 

Sorry if I've missed this elsewhere (I'm sure I have) but do we know:

 

a) how many survive in total

b ) how many are currently MOT'd/on the road?

[dollywobbler]

We don't know for certain, but my guess is 70 survivors worldwide, with no more than six or seven road legal in the UK. That's based on almost no scientific fact at all.

[mrbenn]

Thanks for the info.

 

Safe to say they're somewhat rare!

[LightBulbFun]

the fun thing is, you can put invacar into How many left and get a good idea of how many Invacar Model 70s are registered still (tho there will be a few Mk12s etc I imagine in the results)

 

but the AC Model 70s are known as "AC (ELECTRIC)" on the V5 and nothing else, but if you search "AC (ELECTRIC)" on how many left you also get all the Sports cars etc LOL (tho you can check engine sizes, it says 1 for engines up to 499cc...)

[LightBulbFun]

They really are fascinating things. 56 "control variations" available - amazing!

 

Sorry if I've missed this elsewhere (I'm sure I have) but do we know:

 

a) how many survive in total

b ) how many are currently MOT'd/on the road?

 

theres an old joke that theres was a 57th option, an Opaque windscreen for the blind 

 

 

I think I just discovered why st185cs's profile picture is what it is

 

 

because if you look at Episode 1 of Project invacar...

 

 

(IIRC st185cs is who ended up with most of the invacars from that field)

[Zelandeth]

My guess was between 70 and a hundred survivors, but the vast majority being in museums or private collections, with probably 10 or 20 actually roadworthy.

 

...again purely based on prior experience with so called rare cars rather than any actual hard data.

 

Next year I do hope to find out exactly how many are in UK museums though...

[LightBulbFun]

another ringed Model 70? at least this one comes back as "AC (ELECTRIC)" and 500cc still....

 

[LightBulbFun]

was doing some more sleuthing and check this out, a 1978 Model 70 with the older rear light clusters

 

https://www.imcdb.org/v181657.html

 

(by sleuthing, i mean I literally google "invacar" (or some variation of) and then click on images and ogle at all the model 70 pictures that pop up )

 

also think I found the dragster that was mentioned at some point by DW, would love to know the details on this LOL (shame to see another model 70 thats been hacked up tho)

 

[Zelandeth]

Not sure what the story with that one is! Judging from the exhaust, what appears to be the original engine is there and running...

 

It seems a sad thing to be done now, but there was a long period of time when there looked to be no chance of them being returned to the road, so it was that or the scrap heap (where it *should* by the letter of the law ended up). Better make a few people smile than wind up in a scrap heap.

[LightBulbFun]

edit: wonder if this is worth a poke, its from a year ago in Sweden however! https://deskgram.net/p/1556677159787411165_175835183

 

 

twas doing some more sleuthing and I realised this is TLX322! I had come across TLX322 before but at the time I thought it was in the UK but had wondered why its reg plate pulled up nothing on the DVLA (well at the time I could of sworn it did not, but looking it up now, it pulls up a 1957 Reliant Robin?! showing Export marker=Yes, so guessing this was some sort of elaborate ringing job)

 

 

(wonder how much it would cost to ship it back home, or drive it back  )

[LightBulbFun]

Oh Jolly... 

 

 

I Have no idea why seeing as I have not posted anything apart from my initial wanted post....

[Guest Hooli]

You know that old saying, once you go beige no on wants you back?

[mrbenn]

Oh Jolly...

 

Screenshot 2018-12-24 at 22.50.21.png

 

I Have no idea why seeing as I have not posted anything apart from my initial wanted post....

Their loss!

[LightBulbFun]

Must be a Christmas miracle* im no longer banned LOL

 

I did notice that a spam account showed up before hand, I wonder if I got accidentally culled while they sorted that out.

 

(I did notice even going to the site with another browser where im not logged in, just said "Sorry Guest you have been banned" which leads me to believe I was banned via my IP address, so maybe all thats happened is my IP address changed LOL)

[LightBulbFun]

we Have seen Model 70s with 2 styles of rear lights, how about both styles on the same Model 70! 

 

 

picture stolen from here https://petrolblog.com/2010/05/whatever-happened-to-the-ac-invacar/ 

 

im curious what happened to it as its showing as Untaxed/No MOT since 2013, (im pretty sure by then you had to declare something SORN if you did not want to Road Tax it) also worth noting that this quite late Invacar model 70 has a 493cc engine I have still not come across a 600cc Model 70...

 

(Edit: interestingly it also comes back as "INVACAR INVALID VEIHCLE" pretty much every other Model 70 I have looked up comes up as INVACAR UNKNOWN (since the model name is never filled out on the V5 from what i can tell), I think a private? owner put that in as other Invacars from the same reg series just display the normal "INVACAR UNKNOWN". also yes they spelt vehicle wrong LOL)