May 2014
The dear old Mini. It was an absolute revolution. I bought my first one on announcement day, 26 August 1959 and took delivery on 26 October. My car was no. 000415, one of the pre-production batch sent out to dealers.
I didn't see another one on the road for weeks. Everywhere I went, crowds gathered! Bus drivers looked down and chuckled. Driving it was a totally new experience. The handling was far better than nearly all other cars on the road. Even with only 848cc to pull you along, you could keep up by beating the others on corners. As one of the earliest ones on the road it suffered many problems, mostly fixed under warranty. When it rained the engine stopped as water got into the distributor, and the fuel pump motor, and water poured into the front seat wells due to poor construction of the front wheel arches. Synchromesh didn't last long and the dealer told me fixing it wouldn't cure it for long either. But the worst feature was the brakes. These drum brakes did not self-adjust, and the linings were awful. One had to stop and readjust them about every 250 miles. Eventually, a friend obtained some Ferodo competition linings for me which were a considerable improvement. We started to do well in rallies. But the wheels were not strong enough and were easily buckled. I believe that competitors at Silverstone actually had wheels fail completely.
But I loved her. I had more sheer driving fun with my Mini than any other car I've ever had, over more than 60 years, including sports cars. And she could take our family of four, including luggage and a push chair. I'd love to have driven a Mini Cooper S, but when I had mine she was Queen of the Road! Read more
This is what happens when a Jensen Interceptor and a BMW 740 are allowed to breed, apparently. Should've been put down at birth, I think. A good example of how to ruin one of the most timeless classic designs.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1970-JENSEN-INTERCEPTOR-MK-II-A...5 Read more
Ah, but don't think of it as a ruined Jensen Interceptor, think instead of it as an improved BMW 740, and all of a sudden it doesn't seem so awful!
wish I'd kept mine :o( Read more
how will they get them road registered as they will not meet current specifications Read more
Yep, winner winner chicken dinner!
TR7, TR8, Triumph Lynx and Triumph SD2... let's call it the Scorpion...
What a line-up!
Maybe Triumph would still be here today... Read more
Having driven many thousands of miles in a Skoda 130GL 1988 - 1990 and a Rapid 1990 - 1993 I did not experience any problems with the handling of the car. I think that duff handling could be entirely avoided by careful driving... I would buy another rear engined car without hesitation. Strange that many Porsche and all F1 cars are rear engined... and seem to suffer no handling problems on the autobahn or the racetrack. Read more
Trust me I have owned a Fiat 500 L for thirty years and yes they jolly well can be viscous,rear wheels tuck under oversteer is fast brutal and very hard to control.... a slippy corner or a bit of diesel on the roundabout and.......
I have owned numerous 911's and while the early ones- pre impact bumper- were a predictable hoot on relatively high profile tyres the first impact cars and the 930 Turbo's certainly were not. My more modern iteration is so planted I would be going at silly speeds to find any real characteristics
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Their is a teriffic echo in here.