Re: What classic vehicles have you seen?
Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 12:14 pm
At the Riverside Cafe, Colnbrook Bypass, an original Sweeney location. These were gathered for a self-funded film I`m involved in.
Was that Kadett Oliver? Nice even if it isn't owned by a short journalist with extra white teeth though. 
I've long been threatening to post pics of my mate's bright yellow "before and after" 1955 Minor, which he rescued from a garage where the car had been laid up back in 1988 when its then owner left his house to seek out a new life in that America place. The guy succeeded and, fast forwarding to 2013, me old pal Tom discovered that the car was in there when the house was about to be cleared as the local authority had finally worked out that the property owner was long gone. It had been fitted with a new 1098cc engine back in '88, some few weeks before the car was abandoned in that garage and the bright yellow was applied in the '70s, the decade that taste forgot. Anyway, Tom offered to remove the car without charging for his labour and - a fresh set of tyres on its period Weller steel wheels, a fuel tank and a complete brake overhaul later - this extra yellow Minor was back on the road and running absolutely perfectly, even if the original magic wand gearbox from the car's 803cc days is now a little noisy.
Throughout this year's show season - which isn't over yet so this one may yet be at Ryhope this coming Sunday - Tom has displayed the car in "before and after" condition, by which he means that he's washed the glass so that all of the windows are transparent but has left the passenger side of the body in the same, dusty state it was in when he drove (yes, I did say "drove") the car out of what had been its prison these past 25 years.
He may restore it to its original shade of beige (see dashboard shot for the colour), fit original style rear wings and a set of original wheels but then again, it does handle nicely on its 185/70% tyres and has attracted more photograph taking than any of the concours cars that have been around it at shows. So it may stay yellow and keep its present level of general uniqueness!
The car is as solid as the day it was built, the only rust being a few very slight blebs at the bottom of the driver's door, it has good sills, floors, flitches and chassis legs, even the jacking points are sound enough not to creak ominously when they're used.
That original Phenolic steering wheel is a sight to behold and for that alone, Tom has turned down offers in excess of the few quid that the car owes him for the very few parts he needed to make it reliable and safe. He wouldn't mind my telling you that this was a free car and is justifiably rather proud of that fact.
So anyway, Tom came to call on me this morning and I was working at home so was able to take some snaps, enjoy:
Original pics as taken outside this very morning are HERE and they can be embiggened for any detail anoraks who want to have a critical look.
ERIC, GET YOUR BONY ARSE BACK IN HERE!
