Car models based on the floorpans of other car models are today slickly designed, looking and even feeling like completely different vehicles, but it was not always so.
I am thinking in particular of two badge-engineered Mini variants, the Riley Elf and Wolseley Hornet. Actually said to be quite nice little cars, had 12-inch wheels I think rather than the Mini's 10-inch items, but the styling with sharp little snout and pert little boot always looked ridiculous to me although well executed. However for a true BL monstrosity, wasn't there a version of the Austin 1800 with a longitudinally-placed 6-cylinder?
Citroen did something similar by adopting for the Light 15's last couple of years of production the big bootlid originally fitted to the Slough-assembled RHD cars. It wasn't all that bad but ruined the Light 15's lines. And there was a truly grotesque aftermarket boot some people used to fit to 2CVs.
Any other gargoyles?
|
|
Had a Wolseley Hornet - don't recall it having 12" wheels though. Leather seats, and had an illuminated badge atop the "radiator" which always seemed slightly ridiculous, as did the vestigial rear wings.
|
|
Stand corrected on the wheels, Manatee, but to me the illuminated badge always seemed charming, in all Wolseleys. Was it nicer than a plain old Mini though, wood and leather apart? The Riley I know had two carburettors.
|
|
I think the Riley was the sportier of the two brands - I'm pretty sure the Wolsley had the single SU and standard Mini mechanicals. It was nicer than the Mini inside, and I was very proud of the leather seats!
|
|
The six cylinder version of the ghastly Austin 1800 was badged Austin 2200 and the engine was transverse, I drove one for a while in the mid 70s, the steering wheel was offset which meant the driver had to sit at an angle to the seatback. The car handled quite well though except for gear changes which were done via a very long wobbly lever.
|
The six cylinder version of the ghastly Austin 1800 was badged Austin 2200 and the engine was transverse, I drove one for a while in the mid 70s, the steering wheel was offset which meant the driver had to sit at an angle to the seatback. The car handled quite well though except for gear changes which were done via a very long wobbly lever.
Oh dear. But didn't it have an extended Vanden Plas snout? Of course the 1800 had that offset and strangely raked steering column too, but one quickly got used to it. Quite a capable holdall, seemed to me. Gear linkage was a bit imprecise but it had a shortish lever.
|
|
The best landcrab was the Morris 1800 Auto. Yes the seating was still wonky, but the dash mounted gearlever was dead easy to find and of course shifts were no problem. Performed quite well in 'kickdown' too as i recall.
|
The landcrab with the longitudinal engine and extended front and rear decks was the short-lived Austin 3-litre, aka the landlobster. A good idea that went wrong in the execution, like so many British Leyland products. It had an engine not unrelated to the Austin Healey 3000 and 'self-levelling' suspension that quickly sagged at the back.
Now almost extinct but not quite - see Practical Classics now and again.
|
I have a 1967 Riley Elf sitting in the corner of my garage. It was my sister's first car and when she moved upmarket to better things (OK a Fiesta!) she didn't have the heart to dispose of 'Mavis' - named after Mavis Riley in Coronation St (before she got married - keep up ,please!) and with same distinguishing features - whined a lot and went to pieces when stressed.....
I bought the heap off my sister for £500 about 15 years ago with the intention of restoring it. Maybe when I retire.....
Graeme
|
|
|
The landcrab with the longitudinal engine and extended front and rear decks was the short-lived Austin 3-litre, aka the landlobster. A good idea that went wrong in the execution, like so many British Leyland products. It had an engine not unrelated to the Austin Healey 3000 and 'self-levelling' suspension that quickly sagged at the back. Now almost extinct but not quite - see Practical Classics now and again.
Thank you, I thought there was one. Remarkably ugly I seem to remember, with that old truck unit sometimes described as a 'Rolls-Royce engine', or was that the 4 litre... it can't matter now except to historians.
|
Thank you, I thought there was one. Remarkably ugly I seem to remember, with that old truck unit sometimes described as a 'Rolls-Royce engine', or was that the 4 litre... it can't matter now except to historians.
Hi Lud the beer was great!
Yes the 4L unit was ROLLS Engine as as fitted to the Vanden plas Westminster thingy & i think Austin champ
But the 3litre engine was i think originaly a truck engine found its way into lots of cars austin healy, various larger austin,wolsey farina saloons & MGC
|
Yes the 4L unit was ROLLS Engine as as fitted to the Vanden plas Westminster thingy & i think Austin champ But the 3litre engine was i think originaly a truck engine found its way into lots of cars austin healy, various larger austin,wolsey farina saloons & MGC
I did remember the Champ was said to have a RR engine but didn't know it was a 4L one... drove very smoothly over bumps I remember but they were either fragile or too expensive compared to Land Rovers, so soon diasappeared.
Welcome, mm. Are you among us for long?
|
Before I bore everyone to death...
Yes, there was a 4-litre RR engine, maybe originally for use in the Champ, that ended up in the 'Princess 4-litre R'. There was also a 4-litre petrol truck engine that was all BMC and went in the same Princess body, in the Sheerline before that, in the Princess limo of fond memory, and - maybe among others - in the Jensen 541 sports. I seem to remember it was well-liked as a car power unit but presumably a different sort of customer (sucker?) was attracted to the Princess with an RR engine. My boss had a new one in 1966 and apart from one blown head gasket (IIRC) it served him well for about seven years. When the firm eventually made him replace it they would only allow him 1500 so he bought a Citroen DS21!
|
Before I bore everyone to death... Yes, there was a 4-litre RR engine, maybe originally for use in the Champ, that ended up in the 'Princess 4-litre R'. There was also a 4-litre petrol truck engine that was all BMC and went in the same Princess body, in the Sheerline before that, in the Princess limo of fond memory, and - maybe among others - in the Jensen 541 sports. I seem to remember it was well-liked as a car power unit but presumably a different sort of customer (sucker?) was attracted to the Princess with an RR engine. My boss had a new one in 1966 and apart from one blown head gasket (IIRC) it served him well for about seven years. When the firm eventually made him replace it they would only allow him 1500 so he bought a Citroen DS21!
Not boring at all unless one isn't in the mood... Did yr boss notice the improvement when he got a proper piece of automobile engineering at last in place of his updated prewar station taxi?
|
|
|
|
|
There was an aberrant version of the P4 Rover "Cyclops", called the Marauder; it was an attempt to make a sports car by ditching the roof and two doors, and looked decidedly odd, to me anyway.
|
I've always thought that the Nova Saloon was one of the worst examples of this but it seemed to sell OK. No idea why.
_______
IanS
|
>>>>>The six cylinder version of the ghastly Austin 1800 was badged Austin 2200 and the engine was transverse, I drove one for a while in the mid 70s, the steering wheel was offset which meant the driver had to sit at an angle to the seatback. The car handled quite well though except for gear changes which were done via a very long wobbly lever.>>>>
I think he means the Austin 3-litre - the centre section of an Austin 1800 with longer bonnet and boot and longitudinal straight-6 MGC engine driving rear wheels. A disastrous car that was panned by the motoring press from the outset.
www.austin-rover.co.uk/images/3litre_01.jpg
|
|
Thanks for the picture SS. Not quite as hideous as I remember but does look a bit Sovietic in styling terms. But surely someone who had driven the 2200 would know the engine was transverse. BMC and BL were forever frittering money away on these cheapskate 'new models' instead of saving it and getting something proper under way. That is why they are no longer with us.
|
|
|
|
There was an aberrant version of the P4 Rover "Cyclops", called the Marauder; it was an attempt to make a sports car by ditching the roof and two doors, and looked decidedly odd, to me anyway.
Something like the gas turbine engined Le Mans Rover to look at? Rover 75 with no roof and long tail? I thought it looked OK, chunky for a racer but decently proportioned.
|
"Something like the gas turbine engined Le Mans Rover to look at? Rover 75 with no roof and long tail? I thought it looked OK, chunky for a racer but decently proportioned."
Not really, the Marauder had a shortish tail, something like the saloon boot, and more or less the saloon bonnet but with a curious grille; it was shortened amidships so that rear seats were omitted. I would say the proportions were just wrong, so that it qualified for this topic!
Ah, found it!
www.roverp4.com/marauder.htm
|
|
Thanks for the weblink Tomo, remembered the Marauder from front view (red car), bad grille I agree, but the green example doesn't look too bad from the side, just something slightly wrong with the door... The Tickford one is the best looking and most honest, but the Pininfarina one is to me a dog... too high at the front with basking shark grin, not one of Farina's best... The coupe Marauder looks a bit like a 2-litre Bristol - probably meant to - but wd have been considerably slower.
|
But could the Pininfarina have have been as a basis for the P5?
|
|
|
|
|
