Wonderful car! In one of these cars, a racing-green 1800 which my mate's dad had just bought, brand spanking new, we went to watch a massive ship launch on the north bank of the River Tees in the early 1970s (must have been 1972-73). My mate and I were about 12 and in the same class at Stockton Grammar School. There were 7 of us in the car, me and all his family, bouncing along in total luxury. It was never quite the same in my Dad's 1970 Vauxhall Viva HB SL, which we thought was the height of sophistication at the time when he bought it. My Dad went and bought a Vauxhall Victor in 1974, which took things to a different level.
I remember buying this single in 1973 ... and my Mum bought a brand new Austin Maxi HL . I know my neighbors up the road owned a white 1800 and the chap about 20 doors up owned a gold Jensen Interceptor Convertible ...(wow what a car) ! . I also just wish those days were back ? . Thanks for the upload .... cheers
What a great car,I have owned several Austin/Morris 1800 Mk.1 and 2s and dearly wanted a Wolsley 18/85 but could not afford one,the biggest regret of my life is not buying one new and keeping it forever,they were fast and economical and the most roomy comfortable car I have ever owned and maintenance was so easy,I bought one that had done over 150,000 miles and it run like a dream regretted selling that car to this day but I did,what a mistake.
This model & colour is exactly the same as I purchased New in Feb 1973 at a cost if £1,250. We had daughter of 20 months & new baby daughter only 2 weeks old when we picked it up from a garage in Stonehouse, Glos. Plenty of room at the back. Traded it in for £1,000 for a BMW 2002 ti, bright orange, by then we also had a baby son in 1975, therefore space at the back for three little ones all under 5 was very little, my wife was not amused - we have now been married 48 years - Gosh where has that time gone.
Something people never mention about the Land crab was the road holding. It was phenomenal. My mate had a 1.6 Capri, and although it was faste r in a straight line The Crab walked all oover it in the bends. If you went faster and faster through the bends the tyres just squealed louder and louder. They never let go.
I had one of these back in the 70s, an automatic. The bottom hose went and it overheated so much it was dieselling and continued to run even after I took the key out. It took three buckets of water thrown over the engine before it eventually stopped. Changed the hose the next day and it ran just fine.
I have a new BMW diesel which is wonderful but I still yearn for a Wolseley 18/85s, I am sure if somebody started to build these Landcrabs again there would be a market for them just rustproof them better with plastic wheel arches ect. I would be one of the first to order one of these wonderful vehicles, British Leyland had no idea just how good this car was and the Motoring Press just slaughtered it by saying how bad it was, most of these people know Jack about cars.
I'm sure this colour was golden sand. My parents had a wolesley six in cosmic blue which was a metallic mauve. Really suited the car and with the chrome it was beautiful. I remember it had an electric aerial too which was a feature back in the day! Sadly it suffered a few mechanical faults and became too unreliable so had to go. A very comfortable car though with wide seats and the front almost full width as the gear selector, being auto, was mounted on the right hand side of dashboard.
@@davidgibson4840 sandglow was another BMC colour, a horrible pastel orange colour, I made hundreds of gallons of it at IPJ in Birmingham. Back then all the car colours were horrid, most of the cars were so ugly too. It's actually very similar today, being in a traffic jam in the grey winter drizzle, all the cars are black white silver or grey. It's like living in a black and white film.
The Princess had a much better positioned steering wheel, but the 1800 had less heavy steering in non powered models. I don't think any car had as much interior room in such a short body.
+cgisarecrap Not really, the engines were the 'B' Series 1800 lumps or the 2200. The Maxis were either 1500 or 1750. The A and B sections were the same in both but the C section was a hatchback design in the Maxi. It's just my point of view of course, but the Landcrab was possibly the most comfortable car to travel in that Leyland/Austin ever made. Oodles of room for both front and rear passengers. No modern creature comforts, no heated seats, air-con, heads up display, or Android powered information system. Just a big old comfortable box that got you from A to B.
cgisarecrap,the Maxi 1500 and 1750 had Over Head Camshaft engines in them,the 1800s had Over Head Valve engines which seemed to last forever,I had one with over 150,000 miles on the clock,the Maxi engines and 2200 which was a 6cylinder version of it had a lot of problems and although I never owned one my friend did and was not impressed with its oil useage and reliability,the fuel economy wasn't that great either.
cgisarecrap. I'm afraid your wrong they are miles apart mechanically the 1800s had an 1800 ohv engine and four speed gearbox and the Maxi had either a 1500 or 1750 ohc engine and a five speed gearbox. The 2200 Landcrabs had a 2-2 ohc engine which was just the 1500 Maxi engine with two more cylinders added. Both the Maxi engines were never as good as the 1800 engines either on fuel or performance the 1800 would do mega mileages before overhaul was required whereas the Maxi engines were not that reliable.
Ain't no doubt it I loved these cars, give me more please 🙏🙏👍👍
Wonderful car! In one of these cars, a racing-green 1800 which my mate's dad had just bought, brand spanking new, we went to watch a massive ship launch on the north bank of the River Tees in the early 1970s (must have been 1972-73). My mate and I were about 12 and in the same class at Stockton Grammar School. There were 7 of us in the car, me and all his family, bouncing along in total luxury. It was never quite the same in my Dad's 1970 Vauxhall Viva HB SL, which we thought was the height of sophistication at the time when he bought it. My Dad went and bought a Vauxhall Victor in 1974, which took things to a different level.
I remember buying this single in 1973 ... and my Mum bought a brand new Austin Maxi HL
.
I know my neighbors up the road owned a white 1800 and the chap about 20 doors up
owned a gold Jensen Interceptor Convertible ...(wow what a car) !
.
I also just wish those days were back ?
.
Thanks for the upload ....
cheers
What a great car,I have owned several Austin/Morris 1800 Mk.1 and 2s and dearly wanted a Wolsley 18/85 but could not afford one,the biggest regret of my life is not buying one new and keeping it forever,they were fast and economical and the most roomy comfortable car I have ever owned and maintenance was so easy,I bought one that had done over 150,000 miles and it run like a dream regretted selling that car to this day but I did,what a mistake.
This model & colour is exactly the same as I purchased New in Feb 1973 at a cost if £1,250. We had daughter of 20 months & new baby daughter only 2 weeks old when we picked it up from a garage in Stonehouse, Glos. Plenty of room at the back. Traded it in for £1,000 for a BMW 2002 ti, bright orange, by then we also had a baby son in 1975, therefore space at the back for three little ones all under 5 was very little, my wife was not amused - we have now been married 48 years - Gosh where has that time gone.
Something people never mention about the Land crab was the road holding. It was phenomenal. My mate had a 1.6 Capri, and although it was faste
r in a straight line The Crab walked all oover it in the bends. If you went faster and faster through the bends the tyres just squealed louder and louder. They never let go.
I had one of these back in the 70s, an automatic. The bottom hose went and it overheated so much it was dieselling and continued to run even after I took the key out. It took three buckets of water thrown over the engine before it eventually stopped. Changed the hose the next day and it ran just fine.
I have a new BMW diesel which is wonderful but I still yearn for a Wolseley 18/85s, I am sure if somebody started to build these Landcrabs again there would be a market for them just rustproof them better with plastic wheel arches ect. I would be one of the first to order one of these wonderful vehicles, British Leyland had no idea just how good this car was and the Motoring Press just slaughtered it by saying how bad it was, most of these people know Jack about cars.
I'd buy one. But definitely in the Wolseley spec!!
My Nanna had one from new until she passed. Thanks to further development by BMC in Australia - it became an an awesome car
Love the Life on Mars reference. I was expecting Gene to smash into the side of it with the Ford cortina at any moment.
The 'Landcrabs' had class-beating body rigidity, matching cars right up the recent past.
Brilliant car
My first car in Australia. Had a bird-shit green one. Automatic. Topped out at 85mph what a great car. Best back seat in the business 😉
Nice car.....
I had two of these. I remember six volt positive ground.
I came for a landcrab but I stayed for Ziggy.
I'm sure this colour was golden sand. My parents had a wolesley six in cosmic blue which was a metallic mauve. Really suited the car and with the chrome it was beautiful. I remember it had an electric aerial too which was a feature back in the day! Sadly it suffered a few mechanical faults and became too unreliable so had to go. A very comfortable car though with wide seats and the front almost full width as the gear selector, being auto, was mounted on the right hand side of dashboard.
beaufighter245 it was harvest gold.
David Gibson yes, thank you indeed it was.
@@davidgibson4840 sandglow was another BMC colour, a horrible pastel orange colour, I made hundreds of gallons of it at IPJ in Birmingham.
Back then all the car colours were horrid, most of the cars were so ugly too.
It's actually very similar today, being in a traffic jam in the grey winter drizzle, all the cars are black white silver or grey.
It's like living in a black and white film.
I would say that a Princess beats the 1800 for comfort, but it's a close run thing. The 1800 was certainly ahead on this score when introduced.
The Princess had a much better positioned steering wheel, but the 1800 had less heavy steering in non powered models. I don't think any car had as much interior room in such a short body.
This is the car that I learnt to drive in
Me also. My dad taught me to drive in his.. Beautiful car it was. One of the best cars he had
Definitely,harvest gold.
My dad's was Mallard green
Don't worry I like them too! Oh and it's a mark 3. 🙂
Alwase wanted one
I'm assuming these were similar/the same mechanically as the Maxi?
+cgisarecrap Not really, the engines were the 'B' Series 1800 lumps or the 2200. The Maxis were either 1500 or 1750. The A and B sections were the same in both but the C section was a hatchback design in the Maxi. It's just my point of view of course, but the Landcrab was possibly the most comfortable car to travel in that Leyland/Austin ever made. Oodles of room for both front and rear passengers. No modern creature comforts, no heated seats, air-con, heads up display, or Android powered information system. Just a big old comfortable box that got you from A to B.
...And so much the better for that!
Maxi has OHC version of the B series (E series)
cgisarecrap,the Maxi 1500 and 1750 had Over Head Camshaft engines in them,the 1800s had Over Head Valve engines which seemed to last forever,I had one with over 150,000 miles on the clock,the Maxi engines and 2200 which was a 6cylinder version of it had a lot of problems and although I never owned one my friend did and was not impressed with its oil useage and reliability,the fuel economy wasn't that great either.
cgisarecrap. I'm afraid your wrong they are miles apart mechanically the 1800s had an 1800 ohv engine and four speed gearbox and the Maxi had either a 1500 or 1750 ohc engine and a five speed gearbox. The 2200 Landcrabs had a 2-2 ohc engine which was just the 1500 Maxi engine with two more cylinders added. Both the Maxi engines were never as good as the 1800 engines either on fuel or performance the 1800 would do mega mileages before overhaul was required whereas the Maxi engines were not that reliable.
limeflower?
Or Harvest Gold?
really nice example but styling at least helps sell cars