Rust Special

[Angrydicky]

I'm doing a Torsten and am considering acquiring this old Accraim:

 

 

It's been sitting in a driveway not far from me for years. Well today I was going past and I decided to stop and ask about it, there was a little old lady pottering around in the front garden. Turns out it belongs to her son-in-law who is thinking of getting rid of it. She certainly wants it gone as it's been sitting in her drive since 2003 (that's when the tax expired!) and he hasn't done much to it in the time it's been sitting there.

 

Apparently it was started up and moved around the drive a couple of weeks ago, in true Jap engine style. The (beige) interior is in good condition, with 49k showing on the speedo. There are some nasty parking knocks to both bumpers so they could do with replacing. There is moss growing in the windows, and plenty of rust. Although there were no holes as such, the backs of the sills looked a bit "thin" and there was some nasty bubbling under the windscreen on the drivers side, the sort of rot that would need the windscreen removing to sort it properly. Unusually for a BL car, it did have good rear arches however!

 

I left my phone number but I have to remember it's a very unsaleable car in pretty poor condition, which I don't need or really have space for, so I just wondered what the nice people of Autoshite thought?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

They think that you should get it immediately and fix it up!

[HillmanImp]

Offer to buy the blanket that is covering the rear seats for your Maestro and say you will dispose of the rest of the car as an act of kindness for the old dear.

[eddyramrod]

I think you absolutely do need it, Richard, as a "sister" to your Maestro. After all, she's a bit young to be out-and-about in the company of all those disreputable old ladies you have already! If she doesn't get some Acclaim guidance she might be led into bad habits...

[trigger]

I can imagine it just falling to bits as soon as you move it but at least you would have given it a go, With a good clean up it might be better then it looks as well, I say save it!

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I used to hate these, but they've grown on my over the past couple of years. Now I'm interested whenever one crops up on eBay.

 

I think you should have already bought this.

[pogweasel]

As "interesting" as these are, I think I would still rather spend 20 mins slamming my cock in the bathroom door than pay money for one.

[Torsten2001]

Glad you could drag yourself away to comment!

 

Get it, it's a cracking car and I bet you'll need to do bugger all to get it MOT'd

 

Don't pay for it of course!

[dollywobbler]

Well, no-one's building any more Acclaims, so if it isn't chronically rotten, could be a good buy. Valances front and rear can be a pain on these judging by the 'tide mark' paint jobs many of them seemed to sport back in the day.

[CreepingJesus]

I'd say give it a go. It doesn't give the impression of being in too bad a way, and other than the odd rust bubbles, and the bent bumpers (the back one looks fixable to me), the rest is probly just 'recomissioning'.

I hope someone saves it tho', it's survived this long, all it needs is a bit of care and attention. And I do say that as someone who didn't give a toss for them when they were plentiful. I believe that there should be at least a few of every model left somewhere, for posterity.

[Albert Ross]

Grind the paint off the bonnet, slam it, roll it on some 20s, add a roof rack, but don't wash it, whatever you do. It will drop to bits, just like the rear seat cushion under that blanket will. Oh. and drop in a Honda Leg-end/Rover 827 engine/autobox. Yeah!

[Angrydicky]

Glad you could drag yourself away to comment!

 

Get it, it's a cracking car and I bet you'll need to do bugger all to get it MOT'd

 

Don't pay for it of course!

That's what I was thinking, free is the order of the day here!

 

Apparently the chap was thinking of breaking it and selling the engine - we'll just have to see if he'd rather see it scrapped for the want of a few extra quid.

[dollywobbler]

drop in a Honda Leg-end/Rover 827 engine/autobox. Yeah!

Oh my. I think that must just be my dream car right there. Acclaim sleeper!

[Torsten2001]

Glad you could drag yourself away to comment!

 

Get it, it's a cracking car and I bet you'll need to do bugger all to get it MOT'd

 

Don't pay for it of course!

That's what I was thinking, free is the order of the day here!

 

Apparently the chap was thinking of breaking it and selling the engine - we'll just have to see if he'd rather see it scrapped for the want of a few extra quid.

It is deeply unsaleable I'm afraid but it is a great car, pretty quick and parts are pretty easy to find, there's a new front exhaust free on RR at the moment and it makes a great partner for my 25,000 mile Maestro!

 

I think I'll start a new thread on that!

[Angrydicky]

It is deeply unsaleable I'm afraid but it is a great car, pretty quick and parts are pretty easy to find, there's a new front exhaust free on RR at the moment and it makes a great partner for my 25,000 mile Maestro!

 

I think I'll start a new thread on that!

Oooh, now that is lovely!

 

Here's mine (30,000 miles) !

 

 

[Torsten2001]

oooooo! Beige!

[Angrydicky]

oooooo! Beige!

1.3 Base FTW.

 

Is your Mayfair Moonraker Blue?

[Torsten2001]

Quite possibly, I have the build sheet in the file...

[eddyramrod]

I believe that there should be at least a few of every model left somewhere, for posterity.

Couldn't agree more!

 

I found an A40, the twin of what mine would have looked like new, here in Cyprus. Last time I saw it, it was near the end of a beautiful restoration. The owner also has another, in a different colour. All good news, as I now feel free to make mine the A40 my first one might have been, if I'd had any money or skills 32 years ago.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

 

 

That's a stunna. Oxfordshire number too - any dealer stickers from Hartwells, Youngs Garage or Kernahan?

 

Regarding the Acclaim, he's 'probly gonna do it up m8, but iss worf at least 150 on the bridge Pal'

[Torsten2001]

My beautiful Maestro was finished in Nightwatch Blue and supplied new by Hartwells of Oxford, on the Austin Rover employee scheme!

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

The main Hartwells Austin Morris place was a fantastic split level place on the big roundabout going into Kidlington - it used to be where Sainsburys is now. It got flattened a good 15 years ago.

In Oxford, Kernahan had the ARG franchise (and one in Witney) and Hartwells Oxford was a Jaguar dealership.

There was a Hartwells in Cowley though, a stone's throw from the factory and I think that's where it came from - well, it was built next door.

When Hartwells got shafted by BL in the nineties, they cleared the showroom over a weekend and converted it into a Ford dealership! There was a superb banger sales pitch accross the road which used to sell the most appalling rubbish. In 1989 I bagged a 1977 LHD Taunus 4 door 2.0S for £75 on Belgian plates and smoked it about for weeks.