Illaveago
Guru
- Location
- Chippenham,Wiltshire.
I have been looking in a classic car book . It is amazing how many of the big cars had small engines . The Austin A40 Somerset only had a 1.2 litre engine .
Austin A35 fuel economy test
- Thread starter mustang1
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Profpointy
Legendary Member
Nice and roomy in the back if giving a lift to a young lady guess
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rogerzilla
Legendary Member
Tax, I think.
It's still common for 2 litre cars to be 1998cc, presumably to dodge tax thresholds in some countries.
Profpointy
Legendary Member
I think back in the day vehicles were taxed on "horse power", but not the measure of power one might sensibly infer, but some kind of calculation based on bore and stroke. A consequence is a lot of British cars had very long stroke engines. You also see a fair few pre-war vehicle classed as 12HP or whatever, and whilst they were no doubt under powered by modern standards they weren't quite as feeble as that
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
And long stroke is good for economy as a long stroke takes, er, longer and this gives more opportunity for the combustion process to be fully effective and burn every last be bit of fuel.
Not so good for power, which wants the next bang in there as quickly as possible with the minimum of internal friction , but for us grown ups that drive sensibly it's good indeed.
Not so good for power, which wants the next bang in there as quickly as possible with the minimum of internal friction , but for us grown ups that drive sensibly it's good indeed.
When the van’s a rockin’ don’t come knockin’
It's performance was probably perfectly adequate in an era before dual carriage ways and motorways. Life was less hurried and people had lower expectations. It was also a less prosperous time and fuel was probably more expensive in real terms than it is today.
Saying that, years later, you could buy Sierras with 1300cc engines and I have driven a 1,045cc MKII Golf, possibly the most underpowered car I have ever driven. In Ireland, cars were taxed on engine capacity until 2008 so large bodies with inadequate engines were often the norm as people tried to save on tax (which is precisely why I bought a 998cc Yaris. It saves me €140 per year on "road tax" over the 1200cc Fabia and is adequate for my needs).
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raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
Funny thing is my Dad bought a car off my uncle, a 1964 Vandem Plas Princess with a 4 litre Rolls Royce engine, it would get 12mpg on a run and about 6mpg in traffic, went like stink if you 'booted' it though but then it only did a couple of miles to a gallon. My uncle replaced it with a 5.3 litre Mercedes V12 that used even more petrol in fact he used to claim it didn't have a carb, it had a small Arab with a bucket under the bonnet.
Then 1973 happened so uncle Jack bought an Allegro but the 1750 version Vandem Plas model that again went like 5hit off a shiney shovel. He always liked fast cars and as a former sergeant in the Coldstream Guards and House Chairman then later Captain of Cosby Golf Club was quite an imposing bloke
Then 1973 happened so uncle Jack bought an Allegro but the 1750 version Vandem Plas model that again went like 5hit off a shiney shovel. He always liked fast cars and as a former sergeant in the Coldstream Guards and House Chairman then later Captain of Cosby Golf Club was quite an imposing bloke
DRM
Guru
- Location
- West Yorks
My Grandad had one of those, but in automatic gearbox Austin Westminster guise, I remember us using it for a while, and for what was a large luxury barge could get a fair move on, I think dad's summary of it was quite accurate, he said "It'll pass anything but a petrol station" it was a comfy car though.
If I had more spare cash, I wouldn't mind one of the posh big Farinas. A friend of my uncle's who deals in cars had Riley version for a while and it was beautifully detailed and incredibly relaxing to drive. The Vanden Plas R must have been something very special.
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
Yep there were several different versions of the same car body with lots of different engines from a 4 cylinder 2.2 to a 6 cylinder 3.0 and even an 1800 but the 4 Litre Rolls Royce Vandem Plas version was the ultimate.
Yep built to rival the Bentley as BMC's absolute 'top of the range' car, 2 tonnes of 'gentlemens club' or library on wheels..........Made a Jag look like a Mini. Both front seats had individual centre armrests (In Leather of course) but if these were retracted 3 people could sit in luxury, rear seats had a centre armrest about a foot wide with integral 'picnic tables' built into the back of the front seats (in solid Walnut of course as were the door cappings and dashboard) but with that folded up it would sit 3 comfortably. When Dad had it we would go on holibobs mostly in Norfolk (Wells next the sea) or twice just down the road to Stiffkey (pronounced 'Stewkey if you live in Norfolk) with a boot you could have lived in (four or five suitcases and multiple deckchairs and a 'windbreak' fitted in easy peasy) Or four sets of Golf Bats (clubs) with trolleys fitted.
Downsides, well it didn't do many miles per gallon, servicing costs were astronomical, tyres cost a fortune and they rotted like anything BMC ever built (don't get me wrong, the top looked incredible but underneath the car needed 'welding' at pretty much every MOT
rogerzilla
Legendary Member
A friend's uncle had a Ford Zephyr MkII, old and knackered even back then. He claimed you could see the fuel gauge dropping on the motorway.
D
Deleted member 1258
Guest
Someone I worked with a long time ago had a Singer, I can't remember which model, he used to say the same thing, he used to use old cans to patch the rust.
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Richard A Thackeray
Legendary Member
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Profpointy
Legendary Member
A mate at Uni had the Riley version of the Morris Oxford which was slightly smaller that the "big" Farina models being discussed here. It was rather nice to travel in with wood and leather and so on. I did have a drive a go in the more basic Morris Oxford version which another mate had and was hoping to sell. Sadly it was very rusty so I declined, but it was pleasant to drive to be fair
I quite fancy one of the bigger Farinas but never driven one. The Wolsley version was a popular police car back in the day I believe. Only slightly before my time, but you'd see them in films. Not sure whether there a Riley version of this ? I'd assumed so but Wiki suggested otherwise
Another mate had a 50s Riley (maybe an RME?) which was quite fine too, but I didn't have a ride in that. This isn't his one but it was similar
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