Stu_davros Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 56 minutes ago, MR2Don said: Emmm...this is interesting. I can't help it, always do it, just through curiosity, but that reg number belongs to a Ferrari 308 Dino (GT4) and it's MoT expired last July...unless it has very recently got one! Mind you, it's never had a failure recorded. As it was built more than 40 years ago it's now exempt from MOT. July 2019 would have been the last it needed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR2Don Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 12 hours ago, Stu_davros said: As it was built more than 40 years ago it's now exempt from MOT. July 2019 would have been the last it needed. Aah, I'd forgotten that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnlambert Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 I was out for a walk to the local shop this evening and spotted this Vanden Plas Princess 1100 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 I'm increasingly fond of those ADO16s, though actually I think the Austin/Morris versions are better looking than any of the BL badge engineered clones, which just look dated to my eye. The Innocenti IM3 is the best of the lot, though... best, M. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rs2man Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 16 minutes ago, johnlambert said: I was out for a walk to the local shop this evening and spotted this Vanden Plas Princess 1100 I just love those Vanden Plas 1100s and 1300s . I was surprised to see that was a Mk 1 - never seen one before just the better looking , in my opinion , Mk 2 and Mk 3 with the cropped rear fins . Back in those days , the Vanden Plas nameplate really meant something and they were finished off in the Vanden Plas factory at Kingsbury - walnut veneer , Wilton carpet and Connolly leather , just like a Rolls Royce which had shrunk in the wash . Casting my mind back to the 1960s , however , I recall a BMC , or it may have been BL by then , advert which stated that the ADO16 had more rear legroom than a Silver Shadow , so maybe it hadn't shrunk that much . 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR2Don Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 10 hours ago, rs2man said: I was out for a walk to the local shop this evening and spotted this Vanden Plas Princess 1100 I learnt to drive in the Morris version and my dad bought one for a while. I always liked it. BTW, the BSM one had a drawing pin stuck into the rear window rubber in exactly the right place for lining up to the pavement for the reversing requirement. That VDP looks very neat. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 15 hours ago, johnlambert said: I was out for a walk to the local shop this evening and spotted this Vanden Plas Princess 1100 My first car, which I loved, was a more common Austin version in a sort of RAF Blue Grey colour - the twin SU carbs a previous owner had fitted helped make it a bit more nippy and it had a 6 foot tall fibreglass whip aerial on the rear wing - wonder how many on here remember them?! Unfortunately it also had another performance enhancement I only found out about after a spell of heavy rain and the car started smelling really musty - it was actually a bit lighter than standard as the passenger floor had rusted away and a piece of plywood and a couple of Daily Mirrors had been fibreglassed in it's place....!!! I'd love another one as tidy as that V.P. though! Keith 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anteater Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 2 hours ago, keefr22 said: it was actually a bit lighter than standard as the passenger floor had rusted away and a piece of plywood and a couple of Daily Mirrors had been fibreglassed in it's place....!!! Probably heavier than the steel that was supposed to be there! 😀 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 32 minutes ago, Anteater said: Probably heavier than the steel that was supposed to be there! 😀 Might have been when new, but most of the plywood had rotted away too...!! 🤣 K 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeepboy Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 We had a Riley Kestrel 1300 (mk2). Beautiful car and quick for its day. Leather and walnut, a more sporting and less opulent car than the Vanden Plas. The Riley rusted, failed it's MOT and we put the twin carb engine in a mk2 Austin 1300, my first car. My friends all laughed as they had Escorts and Capris and I had "granny car". BUT - they couldn't keep up with me on twisty roads and they were always being stopped by Devon & Cornwall Constabulary's finest while my teal blue 1300 with the strategically placed tartan picnic rug on the rear parcel shelf just sailed on past. Happy 'innocent' days 🙂 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco F. Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Oh yeah, a Vanden Plas I like these cars, don't care of the badge, here in Germany most of the people don't know this style, whether MG, Austin, Morris and Vanden Plas is totally unknown Marco F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR2Don Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 6 hours ago, keefr22 said: it was actually a bit lighter than standard as the passenger floor had rusted away and a piece of plywood and a couple of Daily Mirrors had been fibreglassed in it's place....!!! Aah, the good old days! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 Very tatty looking Citroen BX in town today. Looked like the suspension was pumped right up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 9 minutes ago, bentwaters81tfw said: Very tatty looking Citroen BX in town today. Looked like the suspension was pumped right up. Probably because the lever for raising and lowering the suspension got stuck in the "pumped right up" position 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 3 minutes ago, JeroenS said: Probably because the lever for raising and lowering the suspension got stuck in the "pumped right up" position 🙂 Or the front was stuck, and he put the rear up to level it off. Seen them 'nose up' a few times. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 23 minutes ago, bentwaters81tfw said: Or the front was stuck, and he put the rear up to level it off. Seen them 'nose up' a few times. Yep, let's face it, all kinds of things could be stuck in the BX. My father had 3 before he switched to something more reliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rs2man Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 On the way to Sainsbury's in Nantwich yesterday afternoon I followed a BMW 2002 cabrio , the one with the fixed centre roof section , targa panel in front & a thing like a pram hood at the back . Immaculate in bright orange . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted May 26, 2020 Author Share Posted May 26, 2020 A dark blue L reg Mk 5 Escort today, A split screen VW camper on Sunday, and some Orange American thing on a garage forecourt, was hoping it might still be there to identify it. (No, it wasn't Trump) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnlambert Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 No photos, sadly, as I was driving on both occasions. Yesterday there was a majestic late-model Citroen DS driving through Warwick and today there was a very tidy Mk3, round wheel arch MG Midget also in Warwick. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rs2man Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 On the way to the supermarket this afternoon I saw a Jaguar XK140 roadster in Opalescent Pearl Blue with chrome wires . Very nice car . 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rs2man Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 Whilst on the way back from the garage yesterday afternoon I spotted , within the space of around 2 minutes , a mint dark green 1974 TR6 , an equally mint Old English White 1964 Austin Mini 850 & a 1991 Mk5 Escort . I only saw the Escort in the distance so don't know what exactly it was , but it was a 3-door & appeared to be wearing some sort of factory bodykit so I'd have to assume it was one of the more sporting variants . 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu_davros Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 Todays shopping visit included a very original Plymouth Valiant Scamp. Nice! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 22 minutes ago, Stu_davros said: Todays shopping visit included a very original Plymouth Valiant Scamp. Nice! Really cool shopping car...!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 Especially as petrol is now cheaper! Makes a nice change from the usual boring stuff in the supermarket car park. Shame it doesn't if in the box though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnlambert Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 28 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said: Especially as petrol is now cheaper! Makes a nice change from the usual boring stuff in the supermarket car park. Shame it doesn't if in the box though. And that was the smallest Plymouth you could buy in the late 1960s (at least I'm pretty sure it was) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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