Anyone have experience of pre-war cars?

[wuvvum]

Model A's go like the clappers for a mass-production '20s car - I followed one on a classic car run a few years back and he was leaving my 100E in the dust on the straights (although he had a period overdrive fitted which basically gave him six gears). They have a 3.3-litre engine and don't weigh very much, so the torque to weight ratio is immense.

[Guest]

John Dillinger seemed happy enough with his!

[wuvvum]

Just a few thoughts - have you driven many (or any) and what did you like/dislike? Are you ok with weak/no synchromesh and wandery steering, weak brakes, etc.? Will you be happy to do all the grease-gunning, brake-adjusting etc.?

The only one I did any significant mileage in was the Renault Novaquatre, and that handled and rode superbly (inexplicably so as it was on beam axles and cart springs), the synchro was adequate as long as you didn't rush and the brakes were assisted so stood the thing on its nose (although the assistance was via a clutch running from the gearbox so didn't work at very low speed). The main drawback with that was the complete lack of spares availability in this country.

The Vauxhall Ten wasn't too bad, it wandered a bit but then it was on ancient crossplies, and the brakes were no worse than say a Morris 1000. I'd be happy to have one as my "weekend car".

The Austin Ten was rather more primitive, steering was very vague to say the least and the rod brakes didn't inspire much confidence - in fact I disliked the driving experience enough that I sold it pretty much as soon as I'd got it up and running.

The only other prewar car I've driven on the road was the Morris Eight, which was dreadful but thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless - couldn't live with one though, or an Austin Seven for that matter (although I've only driven one of those round a field).

[Pete-M]

Not pre-war, but have you considered a Rover P4?

 

They're very charming old things to drive and bits are dead easy to find. Cheap, too.

[seth]

Oh, Model A spares are easy to get in the UK too. I suspect that the cars are more expensive than an Austin or Morris (or similar) would be due to their attractiveness to rodders and vscc types.

[Lankytim]

Many years ago I took a trip as a passenger from Malvern to Birmingham in an Austin heavy 12 (I think!). 45 MPH all the way but it seemed to have plenty of poke and didn't hold anyone up! This was about 18 years ago mind, so no Insignas or A4s up the bum.

[Station]

Are those wheels pressed metal or cast?

 

 

There used to be an old house that had these cars in the garden. You could just walk in and look at them - they were surrounded by these crazy stone statues and the like. The bloke came out and started telling us the statues were 'alive' and if you looked into the eyes you could see the soul, etc. It scared us and we made a quick escape, I always feel a bit uncomfortable when I see one, I can still smell the oily scent.

[Mash]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VAUXHALL-BEDFORD- ... 2eb1067f9f

This might not be too horrible and some interesting old stuff in the background

 

Oooh that's tempting! I'm not ready to take the plunge yet and I shall do a fair bit more research however. I do know someone who has a 1934 Austin 10 so I might see if I can wangle a go in it at some point. I do take your point about the completely different driving experience - the oldest car I've driven is a 1963 Victor. Mind you my Violet has pretty vague steering so I'm fairly well prepared...

[Formula Autos]

The oldest car I've ever driven is a mid-'50s Ford Pop. Although technically post-war it is pretty much as a small pre-war Ford would be, from what I gather.

 

It was 'interesting' to drive, and I was in no hurry to buy it. Although in fine fettle it was annoyingly, and probably dangerously, slow for today's traffic conditions. 'Charming' period details like semaphores were still in place that made me feel more than a tad unsafe too. As did the lack of seatbelts, ineffectual brakes, and universally hard surfaces in front of me when sitting behind the wheel.

 

Though that is just what really old cars are like, and you're either happy to accept that or not. This one was very much an economy special as well, built down to a very, very low price, which no doubt shows all older cars like this in a very poor light - had I driven a pre-war Bentley I might not have been so dismissive of cars of this age.

 

Personally I can't get my head around non-synchro boxes either, so that means any trip in an old car would no doubt be a Krypton Factor challenge sort of event. Basically anything pre-'60s doesn't float my boat, but if pre-war cars are your thing .......

 

On the plus side, the Pop looked like it could be fixed with a monkey wrench and a couple of screwdrivers - tinkering would probably be very easy. So it's not all bad.

[eddyramrod]

As it happens, I drove one of those once too and felt more or less the same about it! Certainly my 123E Anglia felt like a sports car by comparison. I may have a chance to drive a Model A sometime soon, so I'll let you know...

 

And by the way, let me say thanks to Eccentric for that Buick photo!