AC Invacar

[Richard]

I used to know a couple who got themselves a nice new car on Motability and bought their disabled son, a shitty old Volvo 340 auto to learn in.

[Captain Mainwaring]

If that were me, then I'd be chuffed to bits, provided it had the 1.4 motor.Assuming this poor disabled chap isn't into shite old cars then I can see why he might feel a bit sold short!

[Minimad5]

S.H, i guess a bit of a stupid question but ..Do you not work on your own cars then ?(Just asking out of interest)

[155V6]

[pompei]

The Steyr Puch engines were a detuned version of those used in Steyr's Fiat 500 versions - they were incredibly quick and these engines are sought after by some of the 500 fraternity for conversions.

[saabhappy]

S.H, i guess a bit of a stupid question but ..Do you not work on your own cars then ?(Just asking out of interest)

I can't - I can do small jobs, and if I need to clean my car I go to a local place which washes it. Polishing is limited to one panel at a time.I can't do a lot of the mechanical stuff any more because I can't lift anything heavy or bend to reach anything down in the bowels of the engine. I'm very lucky to have two mates who are also into old cars who help me a lot. One lives next door and the other across the road.The Mazda is serviced on the Motability contract hire agreement.Basically I do as much tinkering as I can, but as working on a car gave me another heart attack 2 years ago I have to watch what I do.Does this get me drummed out of the Brownies?

[Simon M]

Their problem was that they became very unstable at any sort of speed, and one of the great racing drivers (Graham Hill or Jackie Stewart, I can't remember which) became involved in a campaign about their safety.

It was Graham Hill - he was given one to use after a massive crash, and was utterly appalled by it. He was great mates with Frank Bough and used to constantly bother him to do a feature about it on Nationwide.I really wanted one of these Invacars when I was a kid - I used to see them driving around and thought they looked quite fun. Innocent times.....

[saabhappy]

Thanks, Simon - I remember it now. Hill had a tremendous smash and broke his legs very badly didn't he? That would tie in with the campaign and why he got involved. Graham H was a hero of mine, so I'm glad it was him.

[uk_senator]

Swiftly moving on...

 

I've seen a few now at classic car shows, They must have driven them there and they are taxed so how can they really be illegal?.

 

I`ve never seen one of the narrow ones before, I can see why that would be deemed unstable! I quite like the fact its a drop top though!

 

I wonder if anyones put a Hayabusa engine in one...

 

My uncle (who lives in Leeds) came down to us (in London) back in the late 70`s in one of them, he came down with his wife & 2 teenage sons (all sitting on the floor round him), all 3`s luggage AND a purple Raleigh Budgie bicycle for my birthday present!

[Justin Case]

Don't get too misty-eyed over these heaps. A disabled friend of ours had one and it was a lifeline to her and there was room for her wheelchair and the sliding door made it easy for her to get in and out of it. However she was more than delighted when they were phased out, and she got a new specially adapted 206 to replace it.

 

BTW hers was made by the motorbike company Greeves ( I think that one of their directors was disabled and developed the thing way back) and was powered by a Villiers engine, so it was no ball of fire and I don't think that it even had a heater.

[scooters]

Don't get too misty-eyed over these heaps. A disabled friend of ours had one and it was a lifeline to her and there was room for her wheelchair and the sliding door made it easy for her to get in and out of it. However she was more than delighted when they were phased out, and she got a new specially adapted 206 to replace it.

 

BTW hers was made by the motorbike company Greeves ( I think that one of their directors was disabled and developed the thing way back) and was powered by a Villiers engine, so it was no ball of fire and I don't think that it even had a heater.

to be fair - you can't compare a mobility vechicle designed in the 1940s with a 60 year old putput in the boot with a 1990's designed best selling Pug!

[Talbotman]

Motability is split in to two sections....Motabilty the "charity" and motability operations which is not......the scheme -whilst having many benefits and is subscribed to by the majority of genuine needy people who need a car through disablity....there is quite a large section of people who most definately play the system and in some ways Motability actually encourages this by some of the cars they put on the scheme with very little or no deposits and have no relation or bearing to a car that could be described as useful to somebody disabled. I used to supply lots of citroen c2 vts's to old grannies whos sole intention was to give their grandsons 3 years worth of ragging a motor at somebody elses expense...and within 3months be back in wanting front tyres etc etc....it makes good business sence to do this and they are always looking to expand their market by offloading more cars so i presume at the end of the day "motability operations" dont give a stuff about who or what drives their cars as long as they coin the monthly rental...and also the ultimate resale of the cars which they sell to the trade at full whack..after obtaining them from the manufacturer in the first instance at a full discount.

[warren t claim]

How much is the higher rate mobility allowance?

 

My local vauxhall stealer is offering a brand new Insignificant 2.0 CDTI with no deposit on the motability scheme.

[scaryoldcortina]

^^ £49.85 per week, plus free (disabled) tax on one vehicle at a time using form DLA904. so it's more or less the same as £199 per month nothing down give it back in 3 years lease-hire deals.

 

We spend some of Mrs S's disability on buying and running 10-15 year old luxo tanks (she likes big comfy cars) and the rest on chocolate.

[Rocket88]

With computerised MOTs, I wonder if there's some sort of "black flag" system on these, whereby if you turned up to have one tested, the garage will refuse to test it?