1930’s-1940’s

[Pauly.22]

Many people got war time era cars?

I keep looking at them on eBay, and can’t help thinking I need to get one.

what have you got?

thanks  

 

[RayMK]

Several autoshiters own or have owned cars from the 30s-40s era.   It is good that you are showing an interest in them.  They are becoming more affordable as the nostalgia market of people who owned or had relatives/parents with them is thinning out!  Have you any direct experience of them?   If not, it would be worth visiting you tube reviews to get an idea of the driving qualities of 70 years old vehicles.  

My dad bought his first car in 1954 when I was 4 years old. He kept it until 1959.  Even back then, a 1933 Austin 7 required very frequent servicing and maintenance to keep it useable as a main  car.  30mph was its cruising speed.  Although more powerful cars from that era would get to 'modern' speeds,  most were happier at 40-50mph cruising.  This is enough to make Mr Audi fume somewhat.  I own a 1961 Reliant Regal MK6 which has an engine derived from a late '30s Austin 7 (Ruby).  It has much in common with cars of the period you are interested in.  

If you have done your research and are quite handy with car mechanical work, give it a go.  Good luck!

[chaseracer]

@Six-cylinder has a 1930s Rolls-Royce, @HMC an Austin from the 20s.

[SiC]

I keep thinking about one and looking at them too. Maybe even a just post war late 40s car. They tend to be more forgotten as people want something that survived the war. However they're often exactly the same as a pre war without the extra tax.

[SiC]

@horriblemercedes has an Austin 7 iirc. 

[Sigmund Fraud]

2 hours ago, RayMK said:

If not, it would be worth visiting you tube reviews to get an idea of the driving qualities of 70 years old vehicles.

Absolutely agreed - really old stuff may look lovely, but driving them is not to everyone's taste.

I really enjoy driving around in 1960s cars, but both of the 1950s (designed in the 1940s) cars I've owned were a major disappointment to drive and frankly inadequate in modern traffic. I can't imagine anything even older being realistically useable as a means of transport.

Our resident vintage car expert, @barrett, would undoubtedly disagree with me.

[eddyramrod]

37 minutes ago, SiC said:

 a just post war late 40s car. 

Ask @vulgalour or @Angrydicky, they are both firmly in this territory.  Give it a couple of weeks and I might be able to help you myself!

[Six-cylinder]

1 hour ago, chaseracer said:

@Six-cylinder has a 1930s Rolls-Royce, @HMC an Austin from the 20s.

I had a little experience with Vintage cars many years ago as I used to help a collector/racer with his cars for free, for the fun and experience. 

My car "Bucket list" had to own a Rolls Royce and to own a Vintage car on it. I was thinking of a Silver Shadow and no idea about a pre war car as the one I wanted was a Low Chassis Invicta 4 ½ Ltr, but no chance as they cost £750,000.

During lockdown Zooms I spoke to @Saabnut and he talked about his 1930’s Rolls Royce 20/25s. That got me thinking Rolls Royce and prewar in one car!

I looked at a few 20/25s and settled on a 1933 20/25 with Parkward body, owner driver layout, D back body. It has not been a bad car but did need a new clutch.

It is very different experience, much harder work to drive than a modern. Being larger engined I can cruise all day at 50 mph, uphill as well, but I pay for it at 14 mpg!

Anything you want to know just ask.

[horriblemercedes]

40 minutes ago, SiC said:

@horriblemercedes has an Austin 7 iirc. 

Yes, a 1936 Ruby. 

 

Late ones like that are really easy to drive. A very easy four speed synchromesh gearbox, rather than the earlier three speed. 30mph is about right as a cruising speed. 

 

Austin 7 works for me because you can get any component you can imagine, there is a large, knowledgeable support network and they're really very tiny and narrow, so it leaves plenty of garage space for me. 

[Matty]

5 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

Ask @vulgalour or @Angrydicky, they are both firmly in this territory.  Give it a couple of weeks and I might be able to help you myself!

Tell me/us more!

[eddyramrod]

3 minutes ago, Matty said:

Tell me/us more!

You only have to look at the ebay thread.  Suffice to say I've kept the tab for the Riley RM.

[Six-cylinder]

If you do Facebook there is a group called "Pre 1950 Classic and Vintage cars" who have lots of posts about these cars.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/940932126873613

[HMC]

ive had a few 7s (a 37 ruby and a 37 pearl cabrio) and loved them. 

currently got a  1929 12-4 which is also fun. I find them brilliant to drive as you have to focus on whats going on - particular with the non synchro gears and no passive safety. Im in awe of something launched in 1921 that is basically still eminently usable.  I keep using the word “fun” i think they are both from operating them and the reaction of other people as you pass by.  The vintage ahhhhooooogahhhhh horn is another crowd pleaser 😂

My favourite thing is using them as much as possible - i can do everything i need to week to week in one should i wish but it helps theres no dual carriage ways or motorways anywhere near, or i might change my mind about their usability.

People have driven to the middle east in knackered 12-4 based taxis - admittedly years ago- but if they can do that, i can go to tesco. Planning a french road trip at easter.

.

[vulgalour]

@eddyramrod I think the Lanchester is more of a similar machine, rather than actual wartime.  There's some of the same tech and construction techniques being used like the wooden body frame with aluminium skin, chassis-mounted pedals, and so on, it's quite old fashioned for '51 but modern in comparison to a pre-war machine.  Can't speak for driving it, having only done so for a couple of feet, but I can speak for the structural and trim issues older stuff has.

You're going to need a few different skill sets to look after one of these machines, ideally somewhere under cover for inclement weather, and patience.  I'm not super knowledgeable, someone like @Angrydicky or @barrett are way more experienced with this sort of stuff, I'm still just figuring stuff out and getting frustrated.  Some of the clubs are surprisingly active and especially for the more common manufacturers parts support etc. can be surprisingly good.

There's a playlist for the Lanchester here (video quality does improve after the first couple of potatocam episodes):

 

Build thread here: https://autoshite.com/topic/41744-1951-lanchester-ld10-welding-near-wood/

 

I'd mainly say to avoid shiny paint, white cars, and high prices.  Something that's a little scruffy and honest (ours is perhaps a little too scruffy and honest) seems to be less likely to have a mountain of hidden bodges than something that photographs well.  Decay is your enemy, there's so many natural materials in these things they can disintegrate in an entertaining number of ways.  Wooden framed cars can be beset with rot from water, insect damage, and just general age. Bodies can suffer from steel, aluminium, and fabric rot depending what it's made of, sometimes all three! Mechanical components tend to be pretty sturdy, but age and mileage can definitely lead to quite a lot of wear, especially if greasing and other maintenance hasn't been kept up on.  You're buying an antique, expect it to need to be treated as such.  If you go in eyes open you'll be fine.

One last resource I found helpful is https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/ who mostly told me not to buy what I bought and then supported the decision and helped out anyway, there's some good knowledge there and they will answer questions if they can when you get stuck.

[vulgalour]

Oh, I forgot to add mice too.  Mice are a problem with old cars, they like to eat all of it and, unlike modern plastics, it doesn't do them any harm so they also get comfy and set up home if you're not careful.

[PhilA]

If anything, an immediately post-war car will be pretty much the same as prewar back to the late thirties, just with slightly improved materials and metallurgy.

A lot of manufacturers, until the mid fifties, had just dusted off the presses from before the war and started churning porridge out again. 

 

Phil

[alf892]

I love the old stuff. I put this down to spending my childhood years playing in the unwanted scrap stuff in the yard of my dad’s garage in the late sixties/early seventies. Nobody wanted the old style cars then.

My fleet consists of:

1947 Rover 12. Very much a pre war design but drives well enough although quite primitive. Lovely to just mooch around B roads

1948 Riley RMA. Later design is very noticeable dynamically. Excellent handling with rack and pinion steering and quite lively engine. Construction wise very old school though……lots of structural wood.

1941 Chevy pickup. Drives like you would expect an old commercial to. Slightly later (235) engine but still drives same as original. Actually quite quick off the line with crash gearbox.

All of the above happiest cruising 40/50mph…….capable of more but not enjoyable experience. You have to watch out for modern car drivers desperate to get past or out in front of you……they have no appreciation of 1940s brakes!

[SiC]

I do quite fancy an Austin 8. Looks more of a substantial "car" than the 7 especially in the interior, even if the engine isn't much extra. 

https://www.rsvintage.co.uk/for-sale-1/1946-austin-8/off

 

[somewhatfoolish]

23 hours ago, vulgalour said:

 

Are the rear windows tinted? Ghetto. It's a short step from there to full pneumatic suspension and all that frippery.

[wuvvum]

2 hours ago, SiC said:

I do quite fancy an Austin 8. Looks more of a substantial "car" than the 7 especially in the interior, even if the engine isn't much extra. 

https://www.rsvintage.co.uk/for-sale-1/1946-austin-8/off

 

A mate of mine had an 8 years ago and found it painfully slow.  Performance seems to be very similar to a late Austin 7 - 30mph cruising speed, pretty much flat out at 40.

[Matty]

21 hours ago, alf892 said:

I love the old stuff. I put this down to spending my childhood years playing in the unwanted scrap stuff in the yard of my dad’s garage in the late sixties/early seventies. Nobody wanted the old style cars then.

My fleet consists of:

1947 Rover 12. Very much a pre war design but drives well enough although quite primitive. Lovely to just mooch around B roads

1948 Riley RMA. Later design is very noticeable dynamically. Excellent handling with rack and pinion steering and quite lively engine. Construction wise very old school though……lots of structural wood.

1941 Chevy pickup. Drives like you would expect an old commercial to. Slightly later (235) engine but still drives same as original. Actually quite quick off the line with crash gearbox.

All of the above happiest cruising 40/50mph…….capable of more but not enjoyable experience. You have to watch out for modern car drivers desperate to get past or out in front of you……they have no appreciation of 1940s brakes!

I've seen a few Rover 12s at shows and the like. A very good looking car. Uncle keeps banging on about RMs. I wish he'd bloody buy one 

[alf892]

Wants to buy an RM?     Walk this way sir!

[Matty]

4 minutes ago, alf892 said:

Wants to buy an RM?     Walk this way sir!

Not just now. He's got an Ascona in bits at the moment.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Late 30s or 40s Dodge and Plymouth are high on my wish list as they are good cars and the flathead six engine in them are really good engines they got things like modern main bearings early and are really durable and reliable so perfect if wanting a car to drive a lot.

Something like this 1939 Dodge what great looking cars these are.

 

Or like this Plymouth which drives like a car from the 50s or 60s and does 65mph just fine according to Jay.

 

[alf892]

It has been for sale since June……..not sold as I haven’t told many people

You know what’s it like…….my excuse for buying it was that it was our wedding car 40 years ago last June. Agreement with the Wench was that after our anniversary I would sell one. So I sort of want to sell it…….but not enough to actually advertise it. The Rover stays because I’ve had it over 20 years and love the shape. The Chevy stays because there is too much of me in the building. I’d like the Riley to stay just because it is a lovely car. Storage is the problem really…

[alf892]

10 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Late 30s or 40s Dodge and Plymouth are high on my wish list as they are good cars and the flathead six engine in them are really good engines they got things like modern main bearings early and are really durable and reliable so perfect if wanting a car to drive a lot.

Something like this 1939 Dodge what great looking cars these are.

good thinking……the original engine in the Chevy was a 216 which is splash lube on the big ends. Obviously worked well enough in the day but when it died (block rotted through) I took the opportunity to put a full pressure 235 in it. Pretty simple upgrade……although I made it slightly more difficult as I fettled parts to fit rather than buy conversion parts. More satisfying when done though!

[BorniteIdentity]

13 minutes ago, alf892 said:

It has been for sale since June……..not sold as I haven’t told many people

You know what’s it like…….my excuse for buying it was that it was our wedding car 40 years ago last June. Agreement with the Wench was that after our anniversary I would sell one. So I sort of want to sell it…….but not enough to actually advertise it. The Rover stays because I’ve had it over 20 years and love the shape. The Chevy stays because there is too much of me in the building. I’d like the Riley to stay just because it is a lovely car. Storage is the problem really

 

It's nice, but it's no Sierra... ;o) 

[alf892]

Nah…….that kinda 80s class is hard to buy!

[Dyslexic Viking]

18 minutes ago, alf892 said:

34 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Late 30s or 40s Dodge and Plymouth are high on my wish list as they are good cars and the flathead six engine in them are really good engines they got things like modern main bearings early and are really durable and reliable so perfect if wanting a car to drive a lot.

Something like this 1939 Dodge what great looking cars these are.

good thinking……the original engine in the Chevy was a 216 which is splash lube on the big ends. Obviously worked well enough in the day but when it died (block rotted through) I took the opportunity to put a full pressure 235 in it. Pretty simple upgrade……although I made it slightly more difficult as I fettled parts to fit rather than buy conversion parts. More satisfying when done though!

Chevy had splash lubrication and babbitt bearings surprisingly long. 

[wuvvum]

I know I tend to bang on about this, but this was by far the best pre-war car I've owned.

1938 Renault Novaquatre.  In many ways it was quite primitive even for the time - beam axles on leaf springs, cable brakes, 3-speed 'box and an ancient sidevalve engine closely related to the one used in the WW1 Renault taxis, but it was quite spacious, rode nicely, had a decent turning circle, the brakes were servo assisted (via a gearbox-driven servo like 6C's Rolls) so it stopped well, and the engine wasn't hobbled by the daft RAC taxation system so it was quite big at 2.4 litres, so although it had very little power it was extremely torquey, hence although it was far from quick the car never felt underpowered in the way a lot of pre-war porridge does.  It was also reasonably high geared (needed to be as the engine wouldn't rev) so would sit at 60 if needed without sounding like it was about to blow up.

They're very rare here but they do come up fairly regularly in France.