Shite at the Vicarage: Early Bini

[lesapandre]

On 6/27/2023 at 10:52 AM, wuvvum said:

Nobody said anything when I turned up in my Renault 4, but then the Big Boss drives one so they couldn't really...

God drives a Renault 4?

That explains a lot.

[vulgalour]

8 hours ago, The Vicar said:

This has just come up for sale and now I’m in a crisis:

 

 

 

That looks like it might be a very honest car.  None of the usual bubbling or waviness in the usual places - door bottoms, rear arch lip, front valance, boot lid lip - all the trim looks to be present.  The front wing coachstripe stops before the wheel arch, like it should on the earlier cars, which suggests it might actually be a pretty original car.  The 1800 is a robust unit and it sits at a sensible height.  If you're going to buy a Princess, that one doesn't look a terrible proposition.  Have a look in person and lift the outer corners of the carpet since they hide the rust there unseen.  On the face of it, you could do an awful lot worse.

If only you hadn't bought a Landcrab, apart from the styling, a more airy cabin, and a slightly more relaxed driving position there's not really a huge amount of difference between the Landcrab and the Princess since they're pretty much the same thing underneath it all.  Good luck making the decision on this one.

[The Vicar]

Picked up a starter today from a guy who really likes landcrabs..

[666jjp]

@keef

[Lankytim]

On 6/27/2023 at 11:15 AM, sierraman said:

Spotted this today, doubt it will see the road again though, it’s not moved in my living memory. 

I bet me and @wuvvum could get that demolished and carted away in bits pretty quickly if they ever decided to get rid! 

[The Vicar]

Nice spin in the Wooley 

[The Vicar]

But of a spruce up under the bonnet of the 164 in preparation for an international road trip this weekend:

[Wibble]

Wow, looks amazing!

[High Jetter]

A lot smarter! How far are you attempting?

[The Vicar]

12 hours ago, High Jetter said:

A lot smarter! How far are you attempting?

Not too far, just Dublin-Wales. I’m over here for a month with work, and got a very reasonably priced ferry crossing, so figured I’d bring it over and enjoy it here too.  

[The Vicar]

Washed, hoovered, fueled up etc. Leaving tonight for Wales

[The Vicar]

Plain sailing for the Volvo this morning; same can’t be said for the ferry 🤢

[The Vicar]

Like I predicted when starting this thread; it will be boring. I’m afraid I just have nothing to report other than that it has been faultless, all day. Also, I just remembered that on Monday it will celebrate 50 years since it’s first registration:

If I want to be picky, the fuel gauge stopped working an hour ago. A bit of a pain but I’ll forgive it that. Shortly beforehand I had brimmed the tank for the first time ever in my ownership so I’m wondering if that might be related. Still, no fret and I’ll look at it another time. 

[Dj_efk]

It’s probably pushed the fuel sender to now-uncharted territory on its resistor scale or sommat. Dare say normal service will resume around the halfway mark?

amazing to think that’s a 50 year old car!

[Matty]

22 minutes ago, The Vicar said:

Like I predicted when starting this thread; it will be boring. I’m afraid I just have nothing to report other than that it has been faultless, all day. Also, I just remembered that on Monday it will celebrate 50 years since it’s first registration:

If I want to be picky, the fuel gauge stopped working an hour ago. A bit of a pain but I’ll forgive it that. Shortly beforehand I had brimmed the tank for the first time ever in my ownership so I’m wondering if that might be related. Still, no fret and I’ll look at it another time. 

50 year old car takes man to another country is a thing to celebrate. In no way is that  boring

 

[High Jetter]

Crab may be sulking, but that looks invincible

[NorfolkNWeigh]

That Volvo is a thing of beauty, I haven’t seen one with those trims since my deputy heads white H reg 164 auto in the 70’s , he bought it off his next door neighbour the opera singer Sir Geraint Evans who replaced it with a very late gold 164 with the usual deep trim rings. Our headmaster lived 2 doors down and had a 244 Anniversary thing. No surprise that they lived in the street in front of Lloyd Motors the local Volvo dealer.

[hairnet]

oof

pre 1990 volvo

only thing left if everything goes ping

@wuvvum are you jealous

 

 

[The Vicar]

I recently watched one of Hubnut’s brilliant Austin 7 video and have fallen into a bit of a rabbit hole since..

 

I’m fascinated, and a quick look at the classifieds has only added fuel to the fire:

https://www.adverts.ie/30586652

Now I’m asking myself if I really need two big, 70s automatic saloons..

[somewhatfoolish]

Less a practical means of transport and more of a hobby, journeys that start despite not knowing you're going to arrive in a motorised potting shed that gathers speed rather than accelerates.

[The Vicar]

32 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Less a practical means of transport and more of a hobby, journeys that start despite not knowing you're going to arrive in a motorised potting shed that gathers speed rather than accelerates.

Yeah, I had a very brief drive once in a late Austin Big 7 which was a bit of a faff, but I liked many things about it and think I could get used to it.

Also, as much as I love both the Volvo and Wolseley, they both kind of do the same thing; they’re both automatic saloon cars from the 70s, so I probably wouldn’t miss one of them. 

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Less a practical means of transport and more of a hobby, journeys that start despite not knowing you're going to arrive in a motorised potting shed that gathers speed rather than accelerates.

In the case of an Austin Ten, you also really need an asterisk after "speed".

[wuvvum]

On 7/23/2023 at 4:12 PM, hairnet said:

 

@wuvvum are you jealous

Yes.

Although mine does have Lourdes louvres.

[The Vicar]

Potentially big update coming tomorrow. A bit rash, but we’ll see how it pans out..

[The Vicar]

Deal done, keys exchanged. Have known this car for a while, owner has always been keen on the 164 since I got it and he has another though in poor condition (that he might break, paging @wuvvum)

Took a drive down not really expecting much, thinking that if anything I’d get to see one in the flesh at least. But I was pleasantly surprised. It’s in nice, useable nick, drives well (well for a 70 year old car)  and comes with a book full of spares. It’s not an Austin 7 but it’s the oldest car I’ve ever had, so it’ll be an experience, and it might open the doors to the prospect of something older again in the future

[The Vicar]

Small bit of history about this particular car. It is one of 26 that were built in Ireland from CKD kits in 51/52, of which it is apparently the only surviving example. It has been known in Jowett circles since the 60s and was restored about 30 years ago. Spent some time in the UK before being repatriated by the previous owner.

It also stated in a BBC drama called Ballykissangel in the late 90s where it was…the priests car. Fitting:

[Saabnut]

17 minutes ago, The Vicar said:

Deal done, keys exchanged. Have known this car for a while, owner has always been keen on the 164 since I got it and he has another though in poor condition (that he might break, paging @wuvvum)

Took a drive down not really expecting much, thinking that if anything I’d get to see one in the flesh at least. But I was pleasantly surprised. It’s in nice, useable nick, drives well (well for a 70 year old car)  and comes with a book full of spares. It’s not an Austin 7 but it’s the oldest car I’ve ever had, so it’ll be an experience, and it might open the doors to the prospect of something older again in the future

I am going to call dibs on this one!  When you get bored with it, let me know and I will see if I can find something older hiding in a corner.....

[Matty]

Very impressed @The Vicar

2 hours ago, Saabnut said:

I will see if I can find something older hiding in a corner....

Won't be surprised 😄

[High Jetter]

Blimey, that's a rare thing then. I'd have seen it, I guess, as BallyK was watched each week but I don't recall the car.

[The Vicar]

6 hours ago, Saabnut said:

I am going to call dibs on this one!  When you get bored with it, let me know and I will see if I can find something older hiding in a corner.....

I might also hate it, and want to go back to something 80s/90s like my Camry on the previous page 😅

time will tell