BS: British Cars!

Subject: RE: BS: British Cars!
From: Newport Boy
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 12:52 PM

My worst two cars were both Fords. A 3-gear 100E Anglia with vacuum wipers which I hired about 1959. With 4 adults, it wouldn't pull up the hills on the A30 in top, and quickly ran out of revs in 2nd. In either gear, the wipers stopped after about a minute of full throttle, which meant frequent slowdowns to clear the screen. At least there wasn't much traffic then.

The other was a 105E Anglia (with the cut-back rear window) which I had as a works car in March 1967. The handling was lethal - wouldn't hold a line in a corner, and the back end would hop if it hit a matchstick. I managed to improve it a bit by bolting a 100 lb paving slab down in the boot, but it still wasn't good. I put up with it until August, when I managed to exchange with an office guy. The soft-top SWB Land Rover with a 2-litre engine was a much more civilised car!

The most fun was a Citroen 2CV in which I did 60,000 miles in 3 years. It worked well as a site vehicle in the earthworks stage of the M4 - kept up with the foreman's land rover. I can also vouch for Citroen's advertised "70mph maximum, 70mph cruising", if cruising is the right word. With 4 adults into a strong headwind on the M4, I held the throttle hard against the floor from Almondsbury to Heston Services on the M4 - 100 miles flat out. Downhill, it just reached 72, uphill it slowed to below 60. I can also confirm that the 2CV will go all round a roundabout on 3 wheels!

Phil

Subject: RE: BS: British Cars!
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 12:50 PM

Well, I used to have an MGB GT back in the seventies. Great car to look at then, and easy to work on (huge engine bay, plenty of room). Four speed box with overdrive on 3rd and 4th.

Great on the open road, but the bloody gear ratios for 2nd and 3rd were about a mile apart so driving it in town was a real pain. And let's not mention the clutch...I always said it was the car that put the strain back into driving (and no, there's was nothing wrong with the clutch).

Mind you, as Dave hints at, it wasn't a patch on the All-agro. I drove my mate's down to Paignton one time (from Wednesbury). Simply awful. The square steering wheel didn't help...worst car I ever drove by a long chalk.

Subject: RE: BS: British Cars!
From: Rapparee
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 12:29 PM

How about the German Ford? Ever try to get parts for one in Ft. Madison, Iowa? Or that thing from the Isle of Man -- the Peel?

Subject: BS: British Cars!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 12:24 PM

I feel left out with the spate of American car threads! I'll have you know that us Brits can have cars that are just as bad as your US ones :-)

I am sure that some of the petrol heads here will add to the list (C'mon Richard, you know you want to :-) ) but I can start off with the ones that I have personal experience of -

Austin Allegro (When the wheel falls off, A leg grows...)

MG Maestro (Brilliant 1.6 normaly aspirated twin-carb engine but rusted like hell and talked nonsense to me all the time!)

Hillman Imp (Imitation Mini with a rear engine. Used to frighten the life out of me thinking about head on collisions!)

and the ultimate...
Reliant Supervan III. Yep, the original Del boy one but in turquoise rather than yellow. I remember having to get the kids to pee in a jug so I could top the coolant up on the way back from Whitby one year. Surprised they made it through childhood unscathed both mentally and physically after having to sit on a make-do seat with no restraints in the back of a three-wheeled death trap!

Eeeeeh. Then were the days...

Cheers

DtG

...and I wont mention the European ones I had like the numerous Ladas, the Peugeot 505 and the Datsun Cherry!