Lesser-known British cars of the 1940s, 1950s & 1960s
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ธ.ค. 2022
- For this Old Classic Car collection, I gathered together 150 photos of lesser-known British cars of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, ie those that tend to turn up less regularly than other - more mainstream - makes and models at car shows, in car museums etc - an online "Festival of the Obscure" perhaps I could have called it.
Classic cars in this video include the Ashley 750, Allard P2 Safari, Singer Roadster, Morris Six, AC 2 Litre, the British Anzani-built Astra Utility, Turner Lea-Francis, various Gilberns including the Invader estate, Unipower GT, Bond Equipe, Marcos Mantula, Peel P50, Armstrong-Siddeley 236, Peerless GT, Allard Palm Beach, Farr-bodied Jowett Jupiter, Lanchester Leda DHC, AC Greyhound, AC Buckland tourer, TVR Clipper, Sunbeam Harrington Le Mans, Beardmore Mk7 taxi, GSM Delta, Lagonda 3.0, Triumph Fury prototype, Mini "beach car", Riley RM woodie, Standard Vanguard Sportsman, Marauder, Scootacar and many many more less-often-encountered classic British cars.
If this vid was of interest, please pop a note in the comments and - if you haven't already - consider subscribing.
Elsewhere on the Old Classic Car channel you'll find all manner of content, from image collections like this, to show visits, museum walkarounds, garage waffle and much more.
Channel homepage: / @oldclassiccaruk
Channel videos list: / oldclassiccarrj
If you know of anyone else who might find these vids of interest, please forward one of the above links to them.
Thanks for watching.
#classiccar #classiccars #oldclassiccar - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Hi, thanks for watching, a full list of the videos on the channel is here:
th-cam.com/users/oldclassiccarRJvideos
Channel homepage:
th-cam.com/channels/KaTg9fPUvmUQi94FcnDbrg.html
If there are any petrolheads that you know that might find this kind of thing interesting, please pass on one of these links, thanks!
My grade 7 teacher had a Mk V Jaguar. For years my friends and I would drool over it. When I was in grade 6 I fainted in the classroom and was driven to the hospital in the Jag.
When my mother told me how I was driven to the hospital I burst into tears because I was unconscious for the entire trip.
The Gilburn Invader looks a lot like the Reliant Scimitar, and it is the same 3 litre Ford engine.
😅@@kenchristie9214
I watched and enjoyed some of this but the 'music' was just too nauseating for me to continue.
Good morning from New Zealand.
I am a 1953 model and an Ex Pat from Coventry.
I found this video while surfing TH-cam and I'm so glad I did.
I believe if information is not written down or passed on it will be lost!
My father was a big car lover and had many, mainly Triumph's.
The inspiration for the 2L Triumph Vitesse is I am told came via my father.
He had the 1600 Vitesse and had it blue printed and wider wheels put on
even before the warranty had run out and while it was being serviced at the
Coventry Service centre on the A45, Mr Wills, the Service manager asked
why it had been done. My father explained, it wasn't fast enough and wouldn't
handle fast cornering, hence the wider wheels. Sometime later my father
got a call from Mr Wills and he was given a 2L prototype to test drive.
The Berkley three wheeler originally had an Anzani 322cc, they later had a
328 cc Excelsior engine. I had the later one but never had it on the road.
I had three Reliant Super van 3’s and two Regal cars. But my favourite three
wheeler, was a kit car, it was a Mini Ranger Cub. The engine failed after two
weeks, there was a Riley Elf car siting in a lay by on the A45 for months, so
I took the engine which happened to be a Cooper 998cc engine with 10 inch
discs, God the car could move!
Do you have a way I could contact you please?
Interesting to read, thanks for sharing, my email details are on the main OCC website: www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/contact.htm thanks
There Berkley`s were built in BIGGLESWADE by the Berkley caravan maker and i believed they bankrupted them my neighbour was a foreman there on the caravan side ,
Wonderful collection of photographs. Thank you. All these beautiful machines are so very different and stylish. Certainly glad you included the 100mph Grey Lady. What a car.
Thank you Rick for another great video. My late father and I owned four of the cars you showcased.. He owned an AC 2 litre aluminium bodied saloon in with grey-green bodywork and a tan interior and an Armstrong Siddeley Star Sapphire in blue. I owned a late 1940s Lea Francis light fourteen; the one with the separate Lucas headlights, and a Berkeley four wheeler. When I say owned, I'm stretching a point, as I had it for around two hours, and I'm also stretching a point by calling it a four wheeler. I bought the car as restored from a professional seller in Stretford or Sale, and on the way back to north Manchester the front offside wheel fell off. I rang my father and recounted the sorry tale, and he came out to rescue me. When he arrived, he told me that the wheel had come off because the studs had been replaced with mild steel bolts and that the car was very unsafe. We then re-secured the wheel and took the car back to the seller and asked for my money back. The seller was reluctant at first, but changed his mind when my father reminded him that his professional reputation was at stake from selling me an unroadworthy car. I was happy to get my money back, but sorry the deal hadn't worked out.
My first car was a Vauxhall Wyvern 1950, then a Morris Minor with twin SU carbs, followed by a Mini van and then a Mini traveller. My last car before going overseas was a Triumph Vitesse 2l. Ended up with boring old family cars after that!
A VERY interesting collection, which bought back many memories. Some good, some not so. But a refreshing change to the usual "wall to wall" examples of many well known models. Thank you for sharing !
Thanks, I try to vary things when I can :-)
What a beautifully presented and engagingly narrated video! This was an era with an incredible variety of designs. It is fascinating to see so many that did not make it into any kind of volume production. This is one to revisit and enjoy again. Thank you! 👍👍👏👏👏👏
Glad you enjoyed it!
Love the way you “hold” the pic for a few seconds.
All with individual body styles and designs making them all so unique. Very well compiled and great narration. Thank you.
Thanks Paul
Gosh, my favourite has yo be the covetable Humber Super Snipe, thanks for the video!
I do love these videos of yours with all the various photos. Your commentary and knowledge of each vehicle is absolutely fantastic, makes them enjoyable to watch. 👍👍👍
Thanks Chris, please check out the rest of the channel if you haven't yet done so!
Amazing collection of UK's remarkable creativity and beautifully photographed as well.
Thanks Paul, the photos were taken over a period of around 20 years or so
Excellent, and your understated commentary makes for very relaxing viewing.
Thanks Bill
Great collection of photos. Cheers Bob
Thanks for that. They brought back memories. I recognised most of them, including the Lloyd, the Allards and the Lea Francis.
Always loved the look of the earlier GTMs, and thanks again for bringing the Lloyd Roadster to my attention. Great video.
I agree re the GTMs, my uncle's example went very well indeed
Wonderful selection of some of the less known cars,have read about some of these thru the years(Clan, Ginetta, Gilbern,etc),and have seen a n immaculate Bristol Brigand and a 1964 Alvis on display at a local business in the suburb where I live thanks for the opportunity to look at some of the more obscure but still classic cars Auckland New Zealand 2022
So many Brit cars I have never seen on the road, or even in photos. An excellent video tour, thank you.
Thanks for the video collection, glad you've included the Turner 950 Sports at 31.01! I have an early one, needs TLC, off the road at present, probably imported to South Africa in 1958 or so. Cheers from Gareth in Cape Town
Great video Rick
Your enthusiasm shines through mate, keep up the good work 👍
Thanks Pat, I'll try!!
Thank you so much for this video. Wonderful information!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I forgot just how many smaller and niche car companies there were in Britain.
Some amazing marques .
🚗🙂
Thank you for presenting this extensive collection of photos.
42:04 THAT is the Stand-Out entry in this video - Wow !
47:08 THIS is a very strong challenger to the above - Oh Yes !
Another 'cracker' of a collection, Rick. Well done! 🙌Lots of favourites - too many to list. At 38:16 is one of four Vanden Plas Princess DM4 Limousines (based on the Austin A135 chassis), all from the Royal Household, that wore the NGN 2 plates at successive stages. Another five had the plates NGN 1 passed down from one Princess DM4 to another. They were often used by H.M. The Queen Mother. The four DM4s with the number NGN 2 were chassis nos. 10273 (May 1953); 13547 (April 1958); 15705 (March 1964); and 16807 (June 1968). I believe the 'real' NGN 1 and NGN 2 plates now adorn a pair of Jaguar XJ State Limousines of the Royal fleet.
Another first rate video and the next best thing to visiting the museums and meets. The 1952 Lagonda 2.6L Saloon struck me as being particularly handsome. The Triumph Dove and GT6 (with the silky smooth 2 litre straight six) have always been favourites of mine. I like the Triumph Renown too - a classy car for its size. The Sunbeam Harrington comes a close second to the Dove when it comes to looks. The Talbot convertible is a looker too. The Jowett Javelin was fairly common in the day - I remember seeing quite a few in the 1950's. Keep up the good work Richard!
First car I owned was an a40 sports 85 mph speedo had it pin it once. Worked for M Leo on Lagondas for about a year then back to Canada
Excellent video!!! I saw many cars that I never even knew existed.Eye candy for any car lover!!!
Thanks William!
Fascinating collection of really seen cars. Did not know to many of them.
Thank you for your job! Very nice channel! I couldn't even imagine that so many models of cars are in the world!
Thanks for watching!
Morning RJ, a great collection.
what a nice change, cars i have never heard of let alone seen. thank you. brian d.
Thanks Brian, when I started looking I wasn't too sure that I'd find enough examples to make up a vid.
The Turner GT 8 has some similar lines to my dad's Volvo P1800, which he owned around 1969. I was brought up around many cars as my dad restored many over the years. One that comes to mind is a mark 5 Jaguar. My grandfather worked for Rolls Royce assembling aircraft engines. As you can imagine the conversation between them was always cars and engineering related. Thanks for a very interesting video.
Glad it was of interest!
Some absolute stunning cars there. I'd love any one of them
Thank you for making this I enjoyed it so much I watched it twice.
My favourite was the AC greyhound followed closely by Alvis or Armstrong siddley no Bristol ......oh I don't know so many gorgeous machines
Glad you liked it!
Outstanding. Thank you for such a great video
Thanks for checking it out!
fantastic looking back at these icons. all beauty's wish they made like this now 👍👍
loved your video-thanks
lovely collection of photos there
ive seen photos of this model of Alvis woody type car in a old friends photo album he was in a Jazz band and he and the band used to use it to get to the gigs with all there gear he said it was huge with loads of space. Hes passed away now bless him
Just about the most interesting video you've done.
That's very kind of you to say so
Some lovely cars here, far too many to pick one. I think that a Bristol is a nice car which ever shape, possibly underrated? I like Gordon Keeble as well. Thanks Rick for putting this together. 👍👍
Great video. Thanks. My very first car was shown here. A Singer SM9 Roadster. Mine was a '52. Drop down windscreen. Aluminium skin a on an ash frame. Loved it.
Very nice!
I’m a 1938 model and arrived in Australia in 1948, spent the next 20 years in and owned a lot of the cars you highlighted. What memories!!. Australia had money at that time and purchased everything the UK could throw at it, some excellent some not, great times.
Unfortunately we now import all vehicles all major manufacturers have now ceased.
This shows what a rich automotive history we have. I was born in 57 and thought I had seen most British cars. Alas, how wrong I was. A few I have seen at the EC motor show.
Yes, this video should be of interest to serious historians of this Era, epoch really, as it is to auto enthusiasts. Being from The States and Canada, I've only seen these cars previously in the odd auto yearbook and old magazines. This is really worth the watch! I kept yelling into the other room to the Mars. Saying "he's still at it." And she'd return to the TV in amazement several times. Excellent show.
What a captivating video. Thank you.
Thank you too!
Great to finally see the AC drop head saloon (?). My father's best friend had one of these in the early 50's. Reportedly one of only two in the U.S. at that time. I was quite young at the time but vividly remember a summertime trip in this car. This car was sold and replaced by a new 1953 Jaguar XK 120 coupe. Loved both of those cars! Thank you.
Probably the AC Buckland. Glad you liked it.
Thank you showing us these rarities, especially as I doubt I'd ever see these in front of me because I live in Australia!
It was a fun collection to put together, thanks for watching
I love your work. Learned much I didn't know. You make up for my lamented inability to visit the motor museums in the UK.
Glad these videos are of use & interest!
Fantastic show Rick. I'm 81, and can remember a good half of these gems, but not necesarily 'in the flesh'. It's kind of sad, that most of that artistic energy and engineeering abiity , came to so little. Just after the war, my dad bought and sold 'vehicles', Looking back, he would say, ''You could sell anything with a wheel on it back then, and he would often attend Auctions, and drive his newly acquired purchases home. One day, we, and the locals were startled by a collossal roaring noise. Dad had turned up, Grinning, at the wheel of a monster Red Racing car, with single seat, huge wire wheels, huge steering wheel. Small split windscreeen. The straight through exhaust, which was bound in what could only be a sought of Asbesdos tape. ran along the outside of the body, ending with a fishtail. The rear end , had a boat tail shape. He then roared off again, saying he'd already sold it. I doubt very much, that---whatever it was, it wasn't road legal, and belonged on a Race track.. I wish I knew was it was, probably Italian, and what happened to it, today of course, it would be quite valuable, and in a Auto museum, possibly Beaulie
Wow that car sounds fantastic, thanks for sharing those memories
Thanks for an excellent video Rick,my favourite is the Austin A40 Dorset. Always loved the A40 Devon but never owned one. Seeing the Riley Pathfinder reminded me of its nickname "Riley ditchfinder" as I imagine the handling was abysmal!
At 38.51. In Auckland, New Zealand, my late Dad had an Alvis TC21 during 1965-1968. Had to have a complete engine and gearbox rebuild as previous owner mistreated it. Various body repairs to get rid of rust were also required and carried out. One summer holiday, we were on a remote main road with little traffic, and Dad put his foot down. I was in the front pax seat (Mum liked being in the rear) and I watched as the speedo needle went up to 95 mph, and Mum must have sighted the speedo and yelled at Dad to slow down. For the sake of matrimonial harmony, he did - reluctantly. Up to that point the car was still gaining speed, fairly quickly, as I recall (I was then perhaps 19 years old, and had my driving licence). Yes, I can believe it would have been capable of doing 100mph. The Alvis Grey Lady behaved like a Lady, even at that speed, and was gentle on the road, with her nose staying still "way out in front".
Hi Rick, another great collection. To possibly update you, I came across the Invicta Black Prince you show at a small classic car and motorcycle show at Rolleston (near Burton on Trent) about five years ago when visiting with a couple of my classic motorcycles. I had a good chat with the owner who was surprised that I knew what it was. He was an obliging fellow who let me have a good look over this interesting and very impressive vehicle. I was good to see the Morris six too; some years ago I had a '52 Wolseley 4/50 (itself a relatively uncommon car and smaller brother to the more popular 6/80) with the same stock Nuffield body from the bulkhead back as the Morris six and Oxford MO. Relating to one the comments below; as far as I'm aware Lea Francis did not make motorcycles, this possibly being mixed up with the motorcycle manufacturers Chater Lea and Francis Barnett, the latter becoming part of the ill fated Associated Motorcycles (AMC) alongside such great marques as Matchless, AJS and Norton.
Brilliantly interesting compilation Rick , a few certainly caught me out , especially the Allard estate - must be unique !.The Gordon Keeble marque was attempted to be relaunched in the 1970s by local business man , John De Bruyne at Newmarket, his father developed Araldite with his firm Ciba-Geigy .A shame production was never maintained , as you say a truly beautiful timeless car.The Princess at 38.29 NGN 2 was a sister Royal car to NGN 1, the car from which the attempted kidnap of The Princess Royal in The Mall was ambushed.
Someone once contacted me directly via my website, asking if I was interested in buying one of the few De Bruynes ever made. It had been stored very poorly so I declined.
Cars with character, much loved, cherished, reviewed and argued over, repaired altered and became family.
Great vid, thanks
Another fantastic photographic collection of rare and unusual British cars. Thank you.
The 1952 Farr-bodied Jowett Jupiter, MTJ 300, was built by this Lancashire coachbuilder specifically for Robert Ellison and was privately entered in the 1952 Monte Carlo Rally. The car still regularly attends Jowett Car Club meetings and other shows. The 1951, green Jowett Bradford, BCW 144, is not a van to which side windows were added later, but is a factory built Bradford Utility de-luxe and can be identified as such by the chromed radiator surround and headlamps, the side step beside the driver's door and the twin wiper arrangement. Merry Christmas!
Ahhhh I'll look out for the chome rad surround in future, useful info! thanks for watching, Merry Christmas to you also
I like the 53 big triumph mayflower at minute 28 and after.. the silver paint with stainless pillars along side and the hubcaps ,,, the micro electric tells me to get back on my one off home built international microstar truck which needs the box welded together and installed .. nice enjoyable video ..
Being an old git, I am older than all the cars featured and can remember most of them when new. Some real classic rareities made in the days when Britain had a motor industry.
Wow. I feel that is a feast of real beauty.
Regarding conversions, many of which are gorgeous, I wonder if similarly beautiful conversions could be done on modern cars.
Two of interest to me, the Astra XUM, my Isetta is also registered XUM and the Jowett that followed it. My mum had a special bodied Jupiter that also competed in the 1953 Monte.
Well done! A bit thin on TVRs and I had hoped to see a Paramount. As a kid, an apple green Riley RM Roadster 2.5 used to park at a neighbors, and I always (still?) wanted one. It was a magnificent car.
Coincidentally I stumbled across photos of a Paramount only yesterday, a red one has featured in previous upload(s) though. Thanks for watching.
Great vid, many thanks. The Jowett was Bessie Braddock's favourite car.
The vehicles and the presentation speak for themselves, adding is the video's length making for a thoroughly relaxing viewing session. . . :>/
Nice display of cars, and one car you displayed was a red Ginetta G4R the same one we have😀
The Woody wagon looking Brit car towards the end of the second minute of the video I remember it was either Ed China or for the love of cars, actually rebuilt one of those. They bought all the wood prefabricated by a man there in the UK that has all the factory patterns for the wood pieces and it was amazing how intricate and difficult it was to put this car back together and restore it even after somebody else had did all the cutting for them. It was really quite the chore and took a couple of minutes to do. LOL but when they were finished it was absolutely gorgeous. 👍🏻🇺🇲
I have a 84 Clan S, there was a fair few made (about 500) but I have not seen another in the last ten years, these cars also had an Imp engine topping out at 105-110 MPH. Great handling little thing.
I love most of those cars, pure class excepting the odd yokes.
Thank you. Nice to see the Allard P2 Safari. I have always liked the look of them, as the Safari is a big post WW2 ‘woodie’ with a more distinctive look than the big Chrysler ‘woodies’ of the era. I purchased Tom Lush’s book on Allard about thirty (30) years ago and have read it multiple times. The link with the only man to have won the Rallye Monte Carlo in his own make of car has its own cachet.
Ah yes I know the book, there's a copy on the shelf behind me. Thanks for watching.
This video takes me back to my early car owning years where I first owned a Riley 1.5 litre 1951 (I think - the model before the RME series) which had a vinyl roof, running boards and suicide front doors. I took delivery, well actually, it was delivered to me, on the Saturday afternoon by a man in a long brown coat, from a garage in Burslem S-O-T for 50 pounds. Being my first car I was somewhat naive and soon found out it's many faults, the worst of which was that it didn't like stopping i.e one had to pump the brakes before anything happened. I knew nothing about hydraulic systems or anything else to do with cars being only 18 years old at the time! Two days later I drove it over night up the A6, over Shap and on to Arbroath. It was my first car journey of longer than 30 minutes duration. That is about 350 miles non stop, in the dark, along unknown roads and territories as a new license holder - a bit of a step into the unknown - I didn't know how dangerous that would be. Coming down the northern side of Shap I felt a severe wind around my legs and to my horror the front drivers door started to open. It was then that I found out that the body was built on ash frames and that fungus had risen up the door frame from the front wheel arch rotting the wood as it went. This left the drivers door catch hanging off by just 1 brass screw! I had to lash the door shut with a shoe lace using the door handle and the steering column before I could continue to Arbroath. Over the next 9 months or so I discovered the major weakness in the Riley engine design namely the hot spot elbow on the inlet manifold which leaked exhaust fumes from the corroded joints. These fumes managed to get into the cab via the many holes in the firewall - I was lucky not to have succumbed on that long journey. I liked the car but it was at least 13 years old at the time I bought it and was showing a lot of corrosion and rot, nevertheless it was an attractive looking car and I just wish I could get hold of a restored one now. My second car was a 1953 Bristol 401 which unfortunately came off second best when it went sideways down a hedge and into a sturdy oak tree which halted is motion somewhat violently. That's when I found out that the aluminium body was attached to the steel floor pan with rivets, which due to dissimilar metal corrosion, were seriously weakened such that the two parts of the body irretrievably parted company. The damage was extensive and as the engine (2 litre 6 cyinder Y shaped cylinder head with 3 x down draught solex carbs) was very worn I exchanged it for a similarly worn out Rover 60 which only lasted a few months. My third car was a 1953 Triumph Mayflower with a very a smoky engine and it was this engine which introduced me to DIY car engine repairs. I had a cylinder rebore and a crankshaft reground by a local reconditioner who dismantled the engine for free but wanted to charge me as much again for rebuilding it as the cost of the regrinds - my budget wouldn't extend to that so I had to do it myself. The engine was returned to me in a number of boxes and at first was quite baffling as to what the bits were and how they might go together. This being the first engine I had ever seen the insides of, it was quite a challenge to rebuild it but I did manage it with only 1 bit left over which I could not work out what it was for. I later found out what it was when I took a TR2 engine apart some years later and found an identical part in the middle of the flywheel. It was the steady bearing necessary to keep the gearbox input shaft centralised when the clutch is depressed. That explained why on occasions the car would exhibit some vibration after changing gear. Depressing the clutch again would normally remove the vibration so it was never a fault that I had to address. That gearbox was really good though, it had excellent synchro on first gear and you had 3 speeds to choose from using the column shift to get you to a terrifying top speed of about 65 MPH if you were lucky and had a following wind. How the Mayflower ever got the accolade of Car of the Year 1953 I will never know!
Thank you for bringing back some very real memories of my earliest car ownership experiences. Loved the video.
That was an enjoyable read, thanks for sharing!
My father bought me my first car from a "dealer" in SW London. a 1949(?) Austin Devon LDE 17. grey body, used to haul round stage equipment for a rock band round Watford and Hemet Hempstead. fell over on the M4 following an altercation with Triumph of some kind. Thanks for your video, wold have been perfect with the inclusion of Davrian and/or Lotus!
There is a Lotus-specific collection elsewhere on the channel. Thanks for watching.
Superb versatile collection 👍 only goes to show how little I know 😢😂👍👌
Researching all these cars is a never-ending task, thanks for watching :)
Great channel 👍🇬🇧
Thanks 👍
The Berkeley four wheeler from memory had a 350 cc excelsior twin engine and also from memory Sterling Moss drove one at 60 mph and spun it just to show how stable it was
I had a lot of fun watching this. I was born in 1954 and don't remember that many of these cars at all.
I have a MK3 GILBERN INVADER, excellent vehicles!.
I owned a Turner GT (shown at 8:12) chassis GT9 reg ETB333B back in 1978 but kept it for less than a year when I realised that carrying out the substantial repairs needed for its next MOT were way beyond my capabilities. Unlike previous Turners which had a separate frame the GT had a monocoque construction with a fibreglass body bonded to a steel floorpan so rust repairs risked a fiery end. It was painted white when I owned it and very tired but I understand it is happily still around and has been completely restored in the last few years. Rick
Hi Richard, My Father owns the Turner GT8 shown at 3:12. You are right about the fibreglass bonded to steel, large areas of fibreglass had to be cut away to replace the steel, and then be re-laid. Is the Turner register aware of your story?
John.
My favourite, BEAUTIFUL, car, from the 1960s, 1968 to be precise, was the Chevron B8. Best looking car from the 1960s.
Wow, that Rover T3 gas turbine looked brilliant, shape was really unusual, for Rover. Thank you for your good video and comments (Couldn't pull a skin off of a rice pudding) fair made me giggle. Peace be unto you.
The Docker Daimler's rear end was an inspiration for that of the SP250 "Dart"
Excellent video.
I owned a Fairthorpe Electron Climax, one of 21 built.
It was bought new in England by an American Army officer and brought to the US.
It was the only known left hand drive model. I bought it for $400 USD in 1965.
I greatly regret selling it.
The modes dart was lovely
Some beautiful cars here again, I think my favourite would be the A40 sport but it would be difficult to choose just one.
A couple of cars l can remember some of these cars when l was a child back in the 1960s l can't forget the Triumph Mayflower and the Austin A40 also the Standard Vanguard there were a lot of 6 cylinders sold in Australia and there was a twin carburetor available and it was the first sedan to do 100mph in Australia
I love the Alvis. My dream car is the Alvis TD21 convertible.
Now seems a good time to buy an Alvis saloon. The convertibles are already quite dear.
29:27 The GSM (Glass Sport Motors) Delta is in fact a South African car; a GSM Dart in this country. It was manufactured and sold in the UK as the Delta, so as not to be confused with the Chrysler Dart. One of my work colleagues had previously been employed by GSM, who produced two cars between 1958 and 1964; the Dart and the Flamingo.
It appears that in the UK the registration number of a vehicle remains with that vehicle for its life. Not so in South Africa. Not only does each province have its own registration system; but in some provinces each municipal district has it's own registration system. Thus if a vehicle is sold to an owner in a different municipality, the registration number will change. This pretty much negates the ability to establish the provenance of any vehicle (especially older ones) by looking up the registration number.
Thanks for a most interesting look at some of the rare British cars produced in the 1940's, 50's and 60's.
An idea for the future. A compamy called Abbots in Farnham, Surrey did conversions of new cars to produce estate versions. For sure they built Jaguar XJ6 estates and Ford Corsair estates, neither of which where available from the factory. Plus many others I don't know about..
I got my licence in 1966, in my father's 1956 Daimler Regency. A big beast like the Mk 10 Jaguar. I made a mess of the reverse parking in my nervousness.
You mentioned you had not seen YTE187J the 1971 gold Marcos Mantis for a while. This occurs at 17mins 11 secs in your video.
One of 31 cars I kept it for 5 years before selling it to a member of The Swiss Marcos Club. While I owned it, I defended its sweeping lines, even knowing that I would have shaped it differently. It was very much a 'Marmite' love it or hate it example.
It is a pity it left these shores but it was clearly more highly valued abroad than in the UK and has joined a silver one owned by another Swiss member.
It was a poignant moment to view it again, so I have saved the video and can now view excellent images of a car I allowed to get away.
May I close by praising you for the work you do. I am sure that your videos bring pleasure to many classic car owners as well as providing a historical record.
Thanks for your kind words, and the update on that amazing Marcos. I'm glad I got chance to see it on several occasions as I doubt I'll see another any time soon.
The Jowitt Saloon had a rigid rear axle with no differential in it, so it used to tend to skid around corners.
And mine were my 3.5litre Mark Vs, one black and the other white. Red leather door panels and the horn boss aimed straight at your chest. Satisfying cars.
Cars I had never heard of too
My father owned a Gordon Keeble, incredibly beautiful cars amazing dashboard with a huge array of switches I seem to remember. Even though it had the Chrysler 327 cubic inch engine up front the cars aerodynamics were such that the front end would go extremely light at high speeds. There was a family tale of the front end actually lifting up and the car drifting across the motorway when my mother was driving it at circa 100mph one time. As I type this it seems even more remarkable to me, I must quiz her on it!
The ice-blue, Graber-styled Alvis TD at 42.15 is beautiful and I wonder whether it's the body Graber made for the Salon des Autos in Geneva. Seeing Graber's elegant treatment of this and of the Rover P3 five minutes later at 47.00 emphasises what difference a classic coach styling house could make.
Good stuff 👍👍👍
Thanks 👍
Those Woodies (with hat clearance) were shooting-brakes, to be used for their original purpose of transporting shooting parties, beaters, dogs, ammunition, & of course the game they'd shot on a country estate.
It's thought that 'brake' (or 'break' in France), originates from the Dutch word 'brik' which translates as 'cart' or 'carriage', however as this type of vehicle began to be more broadly utilised they became known as 'estate-cars. Meanwhile sportier two-door versions claimed the description of shooting-brake for themselves!
I learned to drive in an Armstrong Siddley Sapphire and later a Star Sapphire, which belonged to my father. He and I loved them. My wife’s wish list is for a Jensen Intercepter, preferable an FF.
Briggs bodies were across the road from the Dagenham Bowling at the top of the road leading to the Main Dagenham Works, PS Anzani built 3 cylinder twostrokes for motorcycles.
Great vido
One only Sunbeam Harrington Le Mans here in New Zealand🇳🇿. Bought in Australia and shipped back here for restoration. The Swallow Doretti looks nice but it was slower than the TR2, had less room for driver/passenger and no room in the boot when the top was down.
I was hoping you would include a Gordon Keeble, A late friend of mine, John Baker who was the service manager at Jensen Motors West Bromwich, restored his at the works. I was recently given his Gordon Keeble Owners Club Membership card. His being car No 84 reg FWE 893C . I believe just under one hundred were produced. Unfortunately I never saw the car but I have a photo of it.
A marauder sometimes comes to the Hebden Bridge Classic Show, first Sunday in August
I remember seeing one driving along in North Wales years ago, and a static example parked on display at the British Motor Museum