One For Classic Car Fans.....

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Ian H

Ancient randonneur
I read somewhere that numerous lubrication points had to be attended to after every maritime adventure.
 

tyred

Squire
Location
Ireland
Heralds also provided some of the best car related fun on Sunday evenings.

Screenshot_2025-09-19-00-39-41-555.jpg
 

biggs682

Itching to get back on my bike's
Location
Northamptonshire
Austin 3 litre i think. Not sure i ever saw one...ever, so presumably quite a rare car in the first place let alone now

I think you could be right re 3 litre but sure they had a name but it escapes me.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_3-Litre

I would have thought it was quite a rarity and looking at the way it was parked it needs it's hydrolastic suspension doing as it had quite a lean
 
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gbb

Squire
Location
Peterborough
I think you could be right re 3 litre but sure they had a name but it escapes me.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_3-Litre

I would have thought it was quite a rarity and looking at the way it was parked it needs it's hydrolastic suspension doing as it had quite a lean

I've perhaps relared this before but...
Early 1980s maybe, we had a production supervisor with a (I think) Wolsley 1300 with hydrolastic suspension. I was a banger, well past it's best and had that characteristic lean.
One night shift he brought it to our workshops and asked if there was anything 'we' could do.
Bear in mind none of the engineers had car experience but they quickly decided to top.up point was a schraeder valve....so let's put some air in it ?
I'm only perhaps 20, very much the junior member there and I said....errr, I think that's oil that's.meant to go in there !!!
But no, they wouldn't have it, tried air, the lean got worse.
Ok, so if we jack the car up, it will relieve the pressure on the suspension and try again.

I'm stood back now watching the 'fun'

As they used a wider set of forklift forks to raise the car, the sills were so rusty they just collapsed ...I'm laughing inside as I remember this.

Various head scratching from the others...the poor supervisor drove it out, parked it in the carpark with a now massive lean...next stop was the scrapyard.

Being an 'engineer' doesn't necessarily make you clever....
 
I've perhaps relared this before but...
Early 1980s maybe, we had a production supervisor with a (I think) Wolsley 1300 with hydrolastic suspension. I was a banger, well past it's best and had that characteristic lean.
One night shift he brought it to our workshops and asked if there was anything 'we' could do.
Bear in mind none of the engineers had car experience but they quickly decided to top.up point was a schraeder valve....so let's put some air in it ?
I'm only perhaps 20, very much the junior member there and I said....errr, I think that's oil that's.meant to go in there !!!
But no, they wouldn't have it, tried air, the lean got worse.
Ok, so if we jack the car up, it will relieve the pressure on the suspension and try again.

I'm stood back now watching the 'fun'

As they used a wider set of forklift forks to raise the car, the sills were so rusty they just collapsed ...I'm laughing inside as I remember this.

Various head scratching from the others...the poor supervisor drove it out, parked it in the carpark with a now massive lean...next stop was the scrapyard.

Being an 'engineer' doesn't necessarily make you clever....

A classic case of RTFM! :crazy:
 

raleighnut

Legendary Member
It is a 3 litre, basically a land crab but RWD with an MGC engine in it. It was a commercial flop for BMC

Nah they'd used that 3 litre lump in lots of cars notably the Vandem Plas 'Princess' 3 litre before they decided to take that further 'up-market' with the 4 litre Rolls-Royce engine, you can tell at a glance at the rear cos the 3 litre has the upright lamps of the Westminster/Cambridge 'Farina' bodyshell whereas the 4 litre had horizontal lights cos of one of the re-design tweaks.
 
The 3 litre was not a nice engine, and spoiled what was otherwise a comfortable and well appointed, if utterly unremarkable, car.

Old duffers might enjoy this...

https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/austin/3-litre/ado61-development-story/

My GranDad had a Morris 1800
had it over 15 years and it still looked like it had just come out of the showroom

I suggested to my Dad that I could buy it from him as my first car when GrandDad had to stop driving
I was told not to as every little blemish would be "noticed"

shame really - it was a lovely car
 
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