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2 hours ago, Qbgrey said:

Great clip.i still have dreams about the racing days.i cant describe the feeling of bieng out on the bangers.more addictive than minge

Used to love the banger car races when I was a kid at Harringay stadium, big old lumps like Austin Cambrige's with scaffolding bars for roll cages. if we were lucking at the end they'd have a roll over competition, just to have a bit more destruction! 

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Must admit it didnt  look as nice as this when i had but then i did actually drive it !....the only time it ever comes out of his garage are for these poncey vintage car shows he go,s to.  

I probably didnt fully appreciate the history to it at the time i just got caught up in the whole " Englishness " of it....it had been built at the factory in Coventry i forget what its called now and

Nice....the one i posted above is green but for some reason it looks black in the pictures.....as Jags go i think the E Type takes some beating that big old V12 the way it purrs they just ooze charact

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7 hours ago, gnasher16 said:

The chap i know with the Jag also has an Ac Cobra that had the Rover V8 engine and it was terrible,lumpy and not particularly responsive,nothing mechanically wrong with it apparently the chassis of some of these kit cars cant cope with big weighty engines but as he said you cant have a 2.0l Pinto in an Ac Cobra .....so he had a Ford V8 put in it like what the Mustangs have and its spot on now,pulls like a train,sounds beautiful.....i liked them Stags though didnt they have the same V8 that the TR7 had they were good little cars in their day as well.

The rover V8 isn't that heavy of an engine , it's a similar weight to a 2.0 pinto I think 

When people had the urge to drop the rover V8 into capris if the car started off life as a V6 they used 2ltr front springs in the car , as standard V6 springs caused the car to sit to high on the front ..

Maybe I'm wrong but I remember old boy I worked with telling me that

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8 hours ago, gnasher16 said:

The chap i know with the Jag also has an Ac Cobra that had the Rover V8 engine and it was terrible,lumpy and not particularly responsive,nothing mechanically wrong with it apparently the chassis of some of these kit cars cant cope with big weighty engines but as he said you cant have a 2.0l Pinto in an Ac Cobra .....so he had a Ford V8 put in it like what the Mustangs have and its spot on now,pulls like a train,sounds beautiful.....i liked them Stags though didnt they have the same V8 that the TR7 had they were good little cars in their day as well.

The Stag was typical of British engineering and car design of the period. Triumph and Rover were arch enemies vying for the same customers. When they merged under the Rover-Triumph and Austin-Rover companies they still maintained their rivalry. When Triumph set about designing the Stag they were influenced by the American market which accounted for the majority of UK sports car sales and the Yanks would only buy V8's. So even though Triumph had a perfectly good straight 6 they needed a V8. Rover had a V8 based on an American Buick engine, but the Triumph designers wouldn't entertain having a Rover engine in 'their' car even though by then they were the same company. Spen King, the designer told the board that the Rover V8 wouldn't fit in the Stag's engine bay which is as we now know nonsense as many Stags now have it fitted. So Triumph designed their own V8 which was basically two Dolomite 1500 engines joined at the crank shaft. The engine designers however omitted to upgrade the water pump and so a 3000cc engine only got the pump from a 1500cc engine. The Stag's engine overheated and it cost them £millions in repairs and lost their reputation.As such the Stag never got the attention it deserved. Many are now fitted with Rover V8,  Ford V6 or the old Triumph 2500cc engines.

When the Stag was being designed they used an Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti. All he did allegedly was cut the body shell of a Triumph 2500 in half lengthways, then cut strips out of each half and put them back together so the car was narrower. That and a bit of tinkering  with the roof was all he did to earn his money. When the TR7 was designed Austin-Rover designed it themselves. At the launch Michelotti who had been invited walked around the car, and at the far side stood back and said; "Oh dear. They've done the same at this side too."   ?  Needless to say that it didn't receive rave reviews especially as the sloppy electrical connectors caused a load of faults including the headlights popping up when you went over a bump.

Austin-Rover never learned from their mistakes. The Ambassadeur was basically a Princess with a hatchback and when  I went to the preview of the Ital we were greeted with dramatic lighting and 'Fanfare for the Common Man' music, dry ice smoke and then the cover was lifted off to reveal another bloody Marina with the corners squared off. ?

Trying to sell Austin-Rovers in the period when Ford had the Escort and Cortina and Vauxhall had the Cavalier wasn't easy. The Japs were making inroads too as well as the Germans with their front wheel drive cars. The Metro saved the company for a while but they let it slip again and went to the wall. What typifies cars of that period for me was when they launched the Mini Mayfair. It had a radio located above the passenger foot well where the driver couldn't reach it and a single speaker on the rear parcel shelf where you couldn't hear it for the engine noise and that was their premium Mini.

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9 hours ago, gnasher16 said:

Id not had a Range Rover for years the last one i had was the same as yours single headlight job,must of been about a Y reg had them big window winders that took up half the door panel and looked like half the rear bumper was missing ?...then last year thought id treat myself to one of these SVR's......barely driven it for 2 hours when some little f****r reversed into me....poxy thing come apart like a dry biscuit !

I had a Range Rover in Saudi, a Wood & Pickett job. It came from the Royal Mews.

A joy to drive until it went wrong ........everything was modified, the wheels were bigger, bigger discs and callipers, even bigger, braided brake hoses. Desert cooling system with dual core radiator, bigger water pump, long range fuel tank, good job I could fill it up for next to nowt, I'd guess it did about 8-10 to the gallon ! 

Heavily modified suspension and body, Recaro seats, Momo steering wheel. Weird slatted front grill.

I remember going to a specialist Range Rover dealer in Derbyshire for an exhaust and rear light lens, they insisted I needed a double exhaust until I showed them photos and they said they couldn't help me. I had to change both rear lights as the one fitted weren't standard.

It was great to go in the desert with and run the Salukis, but a pain to repair if anything went wrong.

IMG_0113.JPG.59599098afc2e90ecdb1451625d7e301.JPG

IMG_0424.JPG.626aa3badee80f34d81936b78b131a6d.JPG

Cheers.

Edited by chartpolski
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It's like the saying goes it's ok buying a range rover but you have to have the money to maintain it. My dad's been impressed with the svr he's had the sq7 the x5 and he said it pisses all over them. But he's nearly 70 now so he's decided to get a McLaren  (after he went on Ryan Rhodes the other week) my  mum a really happy about it thinks he's gonna kill himself ??? 

Edited by keepdiggin
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3 hours ago, Chid said:

The rover V8 isn't that heavy of an engine , it's a similar weight to a 2.0 pinto I think 

When people had the urge to drop the rover V8 into capris if the car started off life as a V6 they used 2ltr front springs in the car , as standard V6 springs caused the car to sit to high on the front ..

Maybe I'm wrong but I remember old boy I worked with telling me that

I think it depends what V8 i know one is quite a bit different from the other maybe ive got them the wrong way round i know it was more of a balance issue as opposed to sheer weight i remember as youngsters trying to whack a V8 into a mk 1 escort.....cutting all the bulkhead and transmission tunnel back we didnt have the foggiest idea what we was doing it was just like a big Meccano set to us....then finally getting it to fit but without realising you have to uprate the brakes/leaf springs and everything ?.....funny days.

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2 hours ago, Nicepix said:

The Stag was typical of British engineering and car design of the period. Triumph and Rover were arch enemies vying for the same customers. When they merged under the Rover-Triumph and Austin-Rover companies they still maintained their rivalry. When Triumph set about designing the Stag they were influenced by the American market which accounted for the majority of UK sports car sales and the Yanks would only buy V8's. So even though Triumph had a perfectly good straight 6 they needed a V8. Rover had a V8 based on an American Buick engine, but the Triumph designers wouldn't entertain having a Rover engine in 'their' car even though by then they were the same company. Spen King, the designer told the board that the Rover V8 wouldn't fit in the Stag's engine bay which is as we now know nonsense as many Stags now have it fitted. So Triumph designed their own V8 which was basically two Dolomite 1500 engines joined at the crank shaft. The engine designers however omitted to upgrade the water pump and so a 3000cc engine only got the pump from a 1500cc engine. The Stag's engine overheated and it cost them £millions in repairs and lost their reputation.As such the Stag never got the attention it deserved. Many are now fitted with Rover V8,  Ford V6 or the old Triumph 2500cc engines.

When the Stag was being designed they used an Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti. All he did allegedly was cut the body shell of a Triumph 2500 in half lengthways, then cut strips out of each half and put them back together so the car was narrower. That and a bit of tinkering  with the roof was all he did to earn his money. When the TR7 was designed Austin-Rover designed it themselves. At the launch Michelotti who had been invited walked around the car, and at the far side stood back and said; "Oh dear. They've done the same at this side too."   ?  Needless to say that it didn't receive rave reviews especially as the sloppy electrical connectors caused a load of faults including the headlights popping up when you went over a bump.

Austin-Rover never learned from their mistakes. The Ambassadeur was basically a Princess with a hatchback and when  I went to the preview of the Ital we were greeted with dramatic lighting and 'Fanfare for the Common Man' music, dry ice smoke and then the cover was lifted off to reveal another bloody Marina with the corners squared off. ?

Trying to sell Austin-Rovers in the period when Ford had the Escort and Cortina and Vauxhall had the Cavalier wasn't easy. The Japs were making inroads too as well as the Germans with their front wheel drive cars. The Metro saved the company for a while but they let it slip again and went to the wall. What typifies cars of that period for me was when they launched the Mini Mayfair. It had a radio located above the passenger foot well where the driver couldn't reach it and a single speaker on the rear parcel shelf where you couldn't hear it for the engine noise and that was their premium Mini.

I love listening to shit like this good man thanks for the info :thumbs:

There was a Toledo as well what was that like the big brother to the Dolomite i wonder....the Princess/Ambassador then you had the Marina/Ital i could never work out why they kept doing all that.......as for electrics i remember that Rover 7 series i think they called them Fastbacks they were big luxury cars but absolutely nothing worked they just had too much going on you,d turn the wipers on and the sunroof would open or something ?

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23 minutes ago, keepdiggin said:

It's like the saying goes it's ok buying a range rover but you have to have the money to maintain it. My dad's been impressed with the svr he's had the sq7 the x5 and he said it pisses all over them. But he's nearly 70 now so he's decided to get a McLaren  (after he went on Ryan Rhodes the other week) my  mum a really happy about it thinks he's gonna kill himself ??? 

Bad move buying a Mclaren at the moment hasnt he seen all the wars going on with the shitty little contracts they are making buyers sign.....steer well clear would be my advice ?

Edited by gnasher16
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Just now, gnasher16 said:

Bad move buying a Mclaren hasnt he seen all the wars going on with the shitty little contracts they are dishing out to buyers.....steer well clear would be my advice ?

I'll pass it on mate cheers 

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10 minutes ago, keepdiggin said:

I'll pass it on mate cheers 

Get him to have a look at this mate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7qpUqwL9o&t=700s

 

Its not coming up for some reason but type into Youtube.....The Truth About Buying a Mclaren - A Masterclass in Bad Service

Edited by gnasher16
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36 minutes ago, gnasher16 said:

I love listening to shit like this good man thanks for the info :thumbs:

There was a Toledo as well what was that like the big brother to the Dolomite i wonder....the Princess/Ambassador then you had the Marina/Ital i could never work out why they kept doing all that.......as for electrics i remember that Rover 7 series i think they called them Fastbacks they were big luxury cars but absolutely nothing worked they just had too much going on you,d turn the wipers on and the sunroof would open or something ?

In the olden days Triumph and Rover were the car of the middle classes; doctors, solicitors and the like. The Toledo was a small car for their wives so they could have the Triumph brand, wooden dash and door cappings and thick, comfy seats without the 2 litre engines. I think the Toledo was 1300 and 1500 and replaced the Herald. Then the Dolomite replaced the Toledo and they did that in 1500 and 1850. They brought out a sports version called the Dolomite Sprint with overdrive on third and fourth gears. The Dolomites were lovely cars and second hand great value for money.

Once Triumph became part of the British Leyland / Rover-Triumph / Austin-Rover mergers they were marginalised as a brand. The Dolomite was replaced by the Acclaim which was a re-badged Honda and as you say; the later Rovers were also Honda based. The problem was that they were built in the Midlands so they weren't put together the same as the Jap cars. Mercedes and VW later found out to their costs when they moved production abroad. The fuzzy-wuzzies can't assemble the same parts as good as the Turkish-German workers.

I once got involved in a pursuit of a Cavalier SRi. The traffic bobbies took over with their Rover 2.7 and promptly broke down.  In the end it was the Ford 1.8 diesel dog van that won the day. Of course I didn't take the pi$$ out of them - much  ?

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15 minutes ago, Nicepix said:

In the olden days Triumph and Rover were the car of the middle classes; doctors, solicitors and the like. The Toledo was a small car for their wives so they could have the Triumph brand, wooden dash and door cappings and thick, comfy seats without the 2 litre engines. I think the Toledo was 1300 and 1500 and replaced the Herald. Then the Dolomite replaced the Toledo and they did that in 1500 and 1850. They brought out a sports version called the Dolomite Sprint with overdrive on third and fourth gears. The Dolomites were lovely cars and second hand great value for money.

Once Triumph became part of the British Leyland / Rover-Triumph / Austin-Rover mergers they were marginalised as a brand. The Dolomite was replaced by the Acclaim which was a re-badged Honda and as you say; the later Rovers were also Honda based. The problem was that they were built in the Midlands so they weren't put together the same as the Jap cars. Mercedes and VW later found out to their costs when they moved production abroad. The fuzzy-wuzzies can't assemble the same parts as good as the Turkish-German workers.

I once got involved in a pursuit of a Cavalier SRi. The traffic bobbies took over with their Rover 2.7 and promptly broke down.  In the end it was the Ford 1.8 diesel dog van that won the day. Of course I didn't take the pi$$ out of them - much  ?

My dad had the rover 213s In the early 90s and it was Honda based too, was a nice comfy car to be in they also done the 216 aswell as the vanden plas model

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2 hours ago, chartpolski said:

I had a Range Rover in Saudi, a Wood & Pickett job. It came from the Royal Mews.

A joy to drive until it went wrong ........everything was modified, the wheels were bigger, bigger discs and callipers, even bigger, braided brake hoses. Desert cooling system with dual core radiator, bigger water pump, long range fuel tank, good job I could fill it up for next to nowt, I'd guess it did about 8-10 to the gallon ! 

Heavily modified suspension and body, Recaro seats, Momo steering wheel. Weird slatted front grill.

I remember going to a specialist Range Rover dealer in Derbyshire for an exhaust and rear light lens, they insisted I needed a double exhaust until I showed them photos and they said they couldn't help me. I had to change both rear lights as the one fitted weren't standard.

It was great to go in the desert with and run the Salukis, but a pain to repair if anything went wrong.

IMG_0113.JPG.59599098afc2e90ecdb1451625d7e301.JPG

IMG_0424.JPG.626aa3badee80f34d81936b78b131a6d.JPG

Cheers.

I thought the Range Rover would be an upgrade on my Scooby, but to be fair, the Subaru was a million times more reliable !

IMG_1228.JPG.c430cc7debfa95260c51d39ce8bb4d96.JPG

Forgive the quality ot the pic, this was years before digital cameras, and developing the old Kodak roll was hit and miss at best, in Saudi !

Cheers.

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1 hour ago, Nicepix said:

In the olden days Triumph and Rover were the car of the middle classes; doctors, solicitors and the like. The Toledo was a small car for their wives so they could have the Triumph brand, wooden dash and door cappings and thick, comfy seats without the 2 litre engines. I think the Toledo was 1300 and 1500 and replaced the Herald. Then the Dolomite replaced the Toledo and they did that in 1500 and 1850. They brought out a sports version called the Dolomite Sprint with overdrive on third and fourth gears. The Dolomites were lovely cars and second hand great value for money.

Once Triumph became part of the British Leyland / Rover-Triumph / Austin-Rover mergers they were marginalised as a brand. The Dolomite was replaced by the Acclaim which was a re-badged Honda and as you say; the later Rovers were also Honda based. The problem was that they were built in the Midlands so they weren't put together the same as the Jap cars. Mercedes and VW later found out to their costs when they moved production abroad. The fuzzy-wuzzies can't assemble the same parts as good as the Turkish-German workers.

I once got involved in a pursuit of a Cavalier SRi. The traffic bobbies took over with their Rover 2.7 and promptly broke down.  In the end it was the Ford 1.8 diesel dog van that won the day. Of course I didn't take the pi$$ out of them - much  ?

Thats some cracking knowledge there chief fair do's the nearest i ever came to owning anything like that was borrowing a shitty old Montego for a couple of months i only remember it because every few miles i had to get out and re attach the elastic band that was holding the throttle cable on ?

The Toledo stands out in my mind as i was sat at the lights in quite a fast car not all that long ago with a geezer in an old Toledo giving me the eye in the next lane.....i booted it away only to watch this f****n thing roar past god knows what was under the bonnet....gotta be careful of these sleepers ?

Edited by gnasher16
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