Tag Archives: Morris

Rally Landcrab Recreation – Morris 1800 (ADO 17)

1964 saw the launch of the third in range of Alec Issigonis practical front wheel drive British Motor Corporation (BMC) models that started with the Mini variations in 1959 progressed to the ADO16 1100 and 1300 variations first seen in 1962 and had grown to the ADO 17 1800 variations for 1964 with the launch of the Austin 1800 that was followed two years later by the Morris 1800 of the type featured today.

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Prior to the current owner of this 1966 model purchasing it for £200 on the 28th of February 2011 the car had spent 17 years in a barn and a further two years rotting in a garden because the clutch had failed in 1992.

Morris 1800, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol.

Since 2011 the owner has replaced the clutch, rebuilt and refurbished the braking system scraped, cleaned, etch primed and coated the under side in bitumen under seal and carried out a few welding repairs to the wings / fenders around the headlights.

Morris 1800, Classic and Sports Car Action Day, Castle Combe

By May 2012 the Morris had passed it MOT and was back in use as a daily driver. Since then the owner, a member of the Norton Radstock Classic Vehicle Club has attempted to use the vehicle as a starting point to recreate a period works rally car of the type that was used in the 1968 London to Sydney and 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally marathons where Landcrabs finished 2nd and 9th respectively.

Morris 1800, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol.

The AD0 17’s in Austin, Morris and Wolseley guises, all affectionately known as land crabs were extremely roomy and rugged vehicles but ultimately even in up market Wolseley guise a touch to pragmatic for owners of vehicles of this size and consequently did not perform in the market as expected. The ADO 17’s were eventually produced in three different series being joined by six cylinder 2200 variations in the third series from 1972. Production of the Morris 1800/2200 variants totaled 95,271 between 1966 and 1975 when the model was replaced by the new wedge shaped ADO 71 Morris 1800 and 2200 which soon after became known as the Princess.

Thanks for joining me on this Morris 1800 (ADO 17) edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

More Power Bigger Drums – Morris Oxford II

Morris Centenary – Morris Oxford

Cotswold Classic Car Club – Frogmill Andoversford

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Forgoing a New Years day hangover I a woke yesterday just in time to throw a bucket of water over my Golf and head down to Queen Square in Bristol where I met my friend Ted and his friend Ron with a few other Avenue Drivers Club regulars.

Ford, Queen Square Bristol

The meeting was not a regular Avenue Drivers Club event, they only happen on the second Sunday of every month the next one is scheduled for Sunday 13th. We were meeting with the intention of heading 40 miles north to the Frogmill Inn, Andoversford where the Cotswold Classic Car Club was having it’s annual New Years Day Meeting.

Scimitar GTE, Queen Square, Bristol

Ron led the way in his recently acquired 1972 Reliant Scimitar GTE Automatic.

Cotswold Classic Car Club, Frogmill, Andoversford

After a pleasant drive under unusual blue skies we arrived at Frogmill an hour ahead of the advertised time to find the car parks filled with a variety of veteran, vintage and classic vehicles.

Bristol 411, Frogmill, Andoversford

Some of them will be familiar to regular GALPOT readers like this Bristol 411 which I featured a couple of years ago.

Amphicar, Frogmill, Andoversford

This time last year the United Kingdom was preparing for a drought but the weather has since conspired to make 2012 the wettest since records began which should be good news for owners of amphibious vehicles like this Triumph powered 1967 Amphicar.

Invicta, Frogmill Inn, Andoversford

Amongst the vintage vehicles present was this Meadows powered 4.5 litre 1931 Invicta which would have been capable of 100mph when new.

Vauxhall Victor, Frogmill Inn, Andoversford

The 1961 Vauxhall Victor F type above was originally sold by Haines & Strange in Cheltenham, it spent 10 years in Switzerland before being found in a barn in the UK by it’s present owner in 1999. It has been undergoing restoration ever since.

Morris Marina 1.3 Coupé, Frogmill Inn, Andoversford

One of the stranger classics was at the meeting was this 1972 Morris Marina 1.3 Coupé, once a familiar sight on British roads and the subject of a fair amount of derision for rust among other issues. The Maurice Morihno Racing Team logo appears to be pointing further fun at the model examples of which were used in competition rally events back in the day.

Jaguar XK 140 FHC, Frogmill Inn, Andoversford

Signs are that this 1956 Jaguar XK140 FHC may have spent some time in the USA, the UCLA sticker on the back window being an obvious example.

Studebaker Commander, Frogmill Inn, Andoversford

This 1950 Studebaker Commander was only imported into the UK a couple of months ago it would appear to be powered by a 5.7 litre / 347 cui V8.

Wolseley 1500, Frogmill, Andoversford

This 1959 Wolseley 1500 is built on a Morris Minor floorplan and fitted with a larger motor and gearbox from the MG ZB.

Pontiac Firehawk, Frogmill Inn, Andoversford

According to it’s ‘Birth Certificate’ this manual Pontiac Firehawk Mapleleaf Transam was built on February 28th 1999 at LaSalle in Quebec with speedo reading in kilometers for the Canadian market, it’s capable of covering a quarter mile in 13.4 secs and has a restricted top speed of 160 mph.

Triumph Mayflower, Frogmill Inn, Andoversford

Conceived as a small car, same size as a Morris Minor, but following the styling queues of contemporary large Rolls Royce and Bentley models the Triumph Mayflower was aimed squarely at the US market, only 35,000 were built between 1949 and 1953 well below the targeted numbers.

Gilbern Genie, Frogmill Inn, Andoversford

Finally in the overflow car park I found this 1968 Gilbern Genie, built in Wales and powered by a 3 litre 183 cui Ford (Essex) V6 beneath the fibre glass bodywork the suspension is largely inherited from the MG B.

My thanks to Ted Walker for alerting me to the Cotswold Classic Car Club New Years Day meeting.

Thanks for joining me on this “Cotswold Classic Car Club” edition of “Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

PS Details of some of the vehicles seen at Frogmill can be seen on this link.

Coffee, Croissant & Cars #7 – Avenue Drivers Club

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The festive spirit was gathering pace, at Queen Square, Bristol yesterday, no sooner had I arrived and I was being proffered charity mince pies ! Extremely delicious they were too !

MG NA Magnette, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Among the many visitors to the Avenue Drivers Club meeting was what appears to be a 1934 MG K1 one of it’s club badges indicates that it may have spent some time in South Africa. 14 01 13 Further investigation has revealed this car is actually an NA Magnette.

The difference between a 1952 Riley RMA and 1952 Riley RME is indicated externally by the larger rear window of the later model which leads me to conclude the model seen here is the RMA.

Appearing to have come past just for a cruise around the block was this 1958 Ford Thunderbird.

These two Austin Healey Sprites were built in 1960 on the left and 1958 on the right.

The owner of this Ford Consul has only had the car for a couple of weeks, he told me he had owned many Mini’s before buying the four cylinder Ford.

This 1966 Morris 1800 has attended many of the same show’s I have this year, it was bought and prepared for a local classic Rally on a very small budget, running to hundreds rather than thousands of pounds.

One of the first cars to offer seeing round corner capability was the 1968 version of the Citroen DS that was first seen in 1955. This DS19 was built in 1972.

Another classic from 1972 was this Hillman Avenger fitted with what appear to be period correct aftermarket Cosmic alloy wheels.

Car of the day was this 1972 Crayford Ford Capri GT 3000, built in a period when Ford did not have time to satisfy a demand for convertible versions of it’s cars. Crayford took on the job fitting it with a white interior and walnut veneer.

When production of the Ford Capri ended in 1986 Ford left the massed produced Coupé market to the likes of Toyota and their Supra models the vehicles above were manufactured in 1989 on the left and 1992 on the right.

In 1990 I went to Connecticut for a week to attend a friends wedding, while I was there I hired a Ford Thunderbird similar to this 1992 example, I could not believe how big it was for a two door, at one point I found the car could carry 4 adults and two small children with a modicum of comfort from one side of town to the other !

Above another reminder that the season of Goodwill is upon us took the form of this Morris Marina Estate which dates from circa 1973.

Finding out about the Avenue Drivers Club has been one of this years simple joys for me, what could be easier or more fun than rolling 5 mins down a steep hill and finding yourself having a couple of hours of fun looking at some of the huge variety of veteran, vintage and classic cars that come from your environs and enjoying a Coffee & Croissant with some of the owners ? My thanks and seasons greetings to everyone who has brought their cars along. Next meeting January 13th 2013 !

Thanks for joining me on this “Coffee, Croissant & Cars #7″ of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Above another reminder the

Coffee, Croissant & Cars #6 – Avenue Drivers Club

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One of the simple joys I have discovered this year is the Avenue Drivers Club meetings at Queen Square in Bristol, part of the pleasure of these events is that they are only 5 mins away from where I live and the other is the ever lengthening list of acquaintances I’m making. Yesterday morning I woke up to find my car frozen shut for the first time this year, once I had ‘broken’ in deiced the windows I set off to pick up my friend Tim. On the way back into town we caught up with Rich in his MG BGT as he tried to navigate his way through a couple of diversions.

After parking I Tim met several friends he had not seen in nearly a decade and we met Ted who brought out his trusty yellow 911 GT2. Ted kindly invited me to join him at the NEC for the Classic Car Show next weekend. Among the cars that I have not seen at the Avenue Drivers Club before is this 1953 Bristol 403.

The registration ST 1 was made famous back in the 1960’s by a TV series called The Saint about an international man of mystery played by (Sir) Roger Moore who drove a white Volvo P1800 on Minilite alloy wheels registered “ST 1” in the show, today the registration belongs to a Mercedes A190 Elegance.

Among a handful of Bentleys that put in an appearance yesterday was this smart 2002 Arnage Red Label, romantically named after a 90 degree right hand corner that is one of the two slowest corners on the Le Mans 24 hour circuit.

Proof positive of the Simple Joy nature of second Sunday Avenue Drivers Club meetings can be seen on the faces of the occupants of this 1965 Morris Minor 1000 Tourer.

At the more expensive end of the spectrum was this 2010 Porsche 911 GT3, which for some reason was running on 2003/4 registration plates.

Just as Ted was observing that there were not many motorcycles present this work of customised art turned up, cant imagine what riding it on cobbled streets must be like with what looks like a seriously masochistic saddle.

Again probably not the most of comfortable vehicles to drive across the streets was this 1972 Lotus 7 Series 4 complete with period Cosmic alloy wheels.

David Roots’s Lenham ALFA Romeo was parked up next to this pristine 1959 Lancia Aprilla.

13/11/12 Correction the vehicle above is a Lancia Appia not Aprila as stated above.

Looking photogenic as ever was this Jensen 541 which I showed a detail of in last months Avenue Drivers Club blog.

Harking back to 1948 was this Chevrolet Fleetline with what appears to be a non standard two tone paint job.

Another ’59er was this customised Ford Consul Mk II with fetching period sun visor.

You would not know it looking at it but this 1929 4 1/2 litre Bentley Vanden Plas has survived not one but two fires, the second of which melted the front bulkhead and original radiator core. It has since been restored using photogrpahs of it’s original body over a period of ten years.

John the owner of the 4 1/2 litre Bentley Van Plas was telling me that the owner of this 1965 Sunbeam Tiger used to go to school with the owner of the Bristol 403 at the top of this post and that they met for the first time since yesterday. As I said the Avenue Drivers Club is a great place to meet old friends and make new acquaintances.

Thanks for joining me on this “Coffee, Croissant & Cars #6” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

One Step Back, Two Steps Forwards – MG TA

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The MG TA Midget replaced the MG PB Midget in 1936 with many, of it’s parent company, Morris components. The TA and following T series variants opened up the appeal of sports cars in general to a huge new market that had remained hitherto untapped thanks to the reputation sports cars had for being temperamental if not plain difficult to drive.

Built with a 7″ longer and 3″ wider chassis the TA’s motor was technically a retrograde step from it’s PB predecessor which had an over head cam motor. The Morris 10 based TA motor ‘only’ featured pushrod operated over head valves, but with 2 carburetors this still produced 50 hp with the benefit that the valve clearances were much easier to maintain.

If the motor was a technological retrograde step both the synchromesh gearbox, making changing gear much easier and the hydraulic brakes, which needed much less maintenance, were both technological steps forwards that made the TA a much easier car to drive and maintain, than it’s predecessor and added to the durability of the whole TA package.

Top speed of the TA was around 80 mph with a rest to 60 mph acceleration time of just over 23 seconds. 3,000 TA Midgets were manufactured between 1936 and 1939.

Thanks for joining me on this “One Step Back, Two Steps Forwards” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at an unusual tribute car. Don’t forget to come back now !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring