One For Classic Car Fans.....

[figbat]

A few are coming in from South Africa, most are virtually rust free and have the 3.0 V6 Essex engine

I believe they were only sold in South Africa, known as a ‘bakkie’.

 

[Profpointy]

My uncle had the big one that he later sold to my old man..............Vandem Plas Princess 4 litre R

The VDP R is the very posh Morris Oxford rather than the bigger ones isn't it?

I do like the VDP R though. I read they were trying to make it expensive enough so it was just under the maximum price for a company car not to be punitively taxed. Even with wood and leather they couldn't make it expensive enough so went for the straight six RR engine. No idea if there is really any truth in this, but it is plausible

 

[raleighnut]

The VDP R is the very posh Morris Oxford rather than the bigger ones isn't it?

I do like the VDP R though. I read they were trying to make it expensive enough so it was just under the maximum price for a company car not to be punitively taxed. Even with wood and leather they couldn't make it expensive enough so went for the straight six RR engine. No idea if there is really any truth in this, but it is plausible

It's the 'Farina' body but modified, rear lights are flat rather than vertical like the rest of the range and the bonnet is different to accommodate the grill. It was the little touches that elevated it above the rest like the 'pull down' tables in the back of the front seats and heater under the drivers seat for rear passengers.
It had one other unique quality (apart from drinking fuel) in that no matter the weather it always started, other cars on the street would be grinding away but 'Queenie' (as my little sisters nicknamed the car) always went first time...............probably used half a gallon of fuel to do so.

It was also very fast (well it was when my uncle drove it) I should explain...............Uncle Jack had 2 very disabled sons (both spent their entire lives in nursing homes being spoon fed) so he kind of adopted me and every Saturday morning I'd go round to his house and sit talking in the office then go to the post office to get the national insurance stamps for him and his brother who had a building company, then as 12 'o'clock approached he'd be off to the golf club taking me with him (he was 'House Chairman' there for 10+ years.............The guy who organised the piss ups events before becoming Captain)............Half a dozen pints with lemonade/coke for me and Scampi and chips in a basket before blasting the 4-5 miles back to Enderby

 

[gbb]

Back in the 70's a lad in Enderby (Wilf Mayne) shoehorned a 3.0 litre Capri engine and gearbox (from a 'write off') into his, not for nothing was his nickname 'Maniac'

A pal of.mine in 1976 brought an Anglia that had been modded for rallying, full cage, uprated brakes and suspension and an engine bored out to 1900cc. It was still road legal and went.like absolute stink . I can't imagine what a 3ltr would go like ?

 

[raleighnut]

A pal of.mine in 1976 brought an Anglia that had been modded for rallying, full cage, uprated brakes and suspension and an engine bored out to 1900cc. It was still road legal and went.like absolute stink . I can't imagine what a 3ltr would go like ?

I don't think he'd done much to the brakes/suspension, it was just meant to blast away from traffic lights. Looked pretty standard apart from slightly bigger rear tyres and the twin exhaust pipes but other than that a pretty grotty looking Anglia.

I'll bet a tuned 1900 would be quicker through any bends cos that V6 was pretty weighty

 

[Profpointy]

It's the 'Farina' body but modified, rear lights are flat rather than vertical like the rest of the range and the bonnet is different to accommodate the grill. It was the little touches that elevated it above the rest like the 'pull down' tables in the back of the front seats and heater under the drivers seat for rear passengers.
It had one other unique quality (apart from drinking fuel) in that no matter the weather it always started, other cars on the street would be grinding away but 'Queenie' (as my little sisters nicknamed the car) always went first time...............probably used half a gallon of fuel to do so.

It was also very fast (well it was when my uncle drove it) I should explain...............Uncle Jack had 2 very disabled sons (both spent their entire lives in nursing homes being spoon fed) so he kind of adopted me and every Saturday morning I'd go round to his house and sit talking in the office then go to the post office to get the national insurance stamps for him and his brother who had a building company, then as 12 'o'clock approached he'd be off to the golf club taking me with him (he was 'House Chairman' there for 10+ years.............The guy who organised the piss ups events before becoming Captain)............Half a dozen pints with lemonade/coke for me and Scampi and chips in a basket before blasting the 4-5 miles back to Enderby

A four cylinder version of pretty much the same RR engine was used in the Austin Champ, a very very capable off road runabout for the army. It was stated in the requirements that reliability was more important than economy. A few years later the army swopped to Landrovers as they could get 3 Landies for the cost of one Champ. The Champ may arguably have been superior in some ways but it really wasn't three times as good

The Champ had a 5 speed gearbox, without the "low range" option of most 4x4 vehicles; presumably first must have been very very low instead, but interestingly reverse was a separate gearbox so it had 5 reverse gears! I would quite like a champ, and they aren't too dear these days