Life at Cambridge motor co, Division st 1970's

[David Bee 10]

Maggotdrown hi David, nice one!

 

---------- Post added 30-03-2014 at 14:52 ----------

 

Davecop hi say hello to Mal for me ,he might like to join in and that would be fun.Hows life with the down town patrol, still living the high life. I don't know if I still hold the record but probably,I daren't post the time although forty years agog ,I don't want to spend Christmas in jail,makes my hair stand on end to think about it, although in early hours and no traffic on the M1.It was in a Lamborghini say no more.

Edited March 30, 2014 by David Bee

[IRONMONGER 10]

I thought that I held the Sheffield to London record in a .......wait for it....... hillman Avenger GT. 'Twas on January 1st. 1975 and we left Weston Road, Crookes at 7.45am and parked in Olympia car park at 10.25am including a toilet break at Scratchwood. We went to the Racing Car Show via Park Lane and Hyde Park Corner. It was New Year's Day AND there was a nationwide 50mph limit due to a fuel crisis.

Incidentally I achieved 14mpg !!!

[David Bee 10]

Ironmonger c.c. For c.c. You probably hold the record and at 14 mpg that was a record in its class lol.well up the reves per minute.Would that be a 1600 cc? In those days we were young and seeking thrills,and all about being King for a day. We all had fun and as long as we were impressing the girls. To be truthful any thing over sixteen hundred cc was excess, only good for showing off and busting the bank with the fuel bill.It was a privilege to have all that fun, which in some ways, this memory lane is celebrating. The value of King is King, in that way we are all equal.still doing it to day,just king for a day. lol. KEEP THE THREADS COMING. HAVE LOADS OF STORIES

Edited March 31, 2014 by David Bee

[IRONMONGER 10]

A 1600cc it was, a pretty shade of yellow with a half vinyl roof. At the said Racing Car Show I ordered a set of wide heavy spoke alloys which David Hawley equipped with very wide Kleber's. It looked great except it couldn't turn corners until Reg Long on Broomspring Lane tapped up the front wheel arches for me.

i also had a Hillman Imp at the same time which was set up for rallying, sprints, auto tests and PCT's. But I only won 1 12 car rally, with Simon Cork as navigator and that was with the Avenger.

I am now of an age where I forget names, but I remember getting fantastic service at Pickfords, mainly because I went motor racing with the lads there.

I remember going to the British GP at Silverstone with a group from Pickfords and Service Garage at Barnsley and we 'camped' at Stowe Corner all night, bet we couldn't do that these days.

Boy,I could write a book on motoring escapades in the wonderful seventies.

[David Bee 10]

Ironmonger, Did the Hillman Imp have the Coventry climax engine? Rich adventures we have. Each generation has their special times and then all of a sudden we have a memory lane full of rich experience and special people,some of it joy some scary all happens like smoke passing through a key hole.This is a great way for us to share some of those stories with each other and reconnect to our youth.I also like who I am to day.I have time for people, just for the sake of it, not because of what I can get out of it, and I like that.If I park up with one of my old bikes people come and talk of their days with a bike and share rich stories with a stranger, how they met their wife at the ace cafe or the 57 club,ton up on the A1,or how they bought a Vincent 1000 for fifty quid.:)

 

---------- Post added 02-04-2014 at 10:09 ----------

 

[/color]Brother and self and our drivers would travel all over the country to collect vehicles. Some times we would clear stock from concessionaires which we did with Maserati buying eighteen new cars split between our selves and Willy Loughran on this occasion at nine cars each. On another occasion we bought the entire stock of ISO Lele from Nicholas Vaderstein in London. We then set about buying all the used ISO Elle (Italian super car of the seventies) we could find and that gave us a theme to build on and was a very successful revenue generator. On one of these buying trips we ran across an unexpected Aston Martin DBS6. Most were V8 so we bought the car. It had been stood for a while under a dust sheet and was immaculate in silver with dark blue leather and chrome spokes. The battery was put on fast charge and the tyre pressures adjusted.My brother Mike was to set off before the rest of us and drive the Aston back.This was before mobile phones so I did not speak to him until the next day.Mike did not usually enjoy surprises so buying trips were not his favourite pass time and better suited those of us with the constitution of professional gambler! Mike had set off up the north circular and up to the M1.Fairly soon he ran in to heavy rain and day light was fading.at that point the monotony of the journey was broken by a large bang and a shudder through the car.Mikes vision through the windscreen resembled that of some fantastic fair ground ride, he was spinning up the motorway out of control .The car parked its self on the hard shoulder facing the wrong way.He says he sat for what seemed like an eternity hoping to wake up from a bad dream but of course that didn't happen.He got out to see that the o/s rear tyre had burst. Mike was between cursing and thanking god he hadn't hit any thing when the police arrived.They gave his car cover whilst the Aston was laboriously turned round. The spare wheel was fitted and Mike made his way home. This was one of several misadventures to befall Mike on his various escapades. :-) He,he ,he that'll pay back for the telephone message he left for me to deal with, a buyer for a Jenson we had in stock,reply from auto car advert.. I still remember the STD code 0161- . I dialled the number but was distracted as the phone was answered. "Can I speak to Mr Lion please"that resulted in silence so I repeated my self. There was a pause and a voice said Manchester Zoo,which Mr Lion would you like to speak to?

Edited April 2, 2014 by David Bee

[bullerboY 10]

David ,I looked in on Graham Castletons son and asked him to say hello to his dad from you.Regards Mel.

[David Bee 10]

Bullerboy hi mel, thanks for that. I remember Graham ringing me from Brighouse Motor Auction.He was telling me of a 3.8 E Type hard top , one of the first and had flat drivers floor pan. The car was in excellent condition, it had been through the auction and was provisionally sold. As you know Graham was a dashing chap of some bearing and influence.He arranged for the car to be held until I got there .The ensuing trip to Brighouse, once again was completed at an unpublishable time. The car was as described and a deal struck.On the way out of the auction I was stopped by a dealer who thought he had bought the E Type, we exchanged what for and I drove off. I didn't know the chap until later that year when we were introduced and he remarked on my smart suit and roll neck sweater, looking much like a modern day river boat gambler. I took that as a compliment. lol

Edited April 5, 2014 by David Bee

[hillsbro 32]

Well, bearing in mind I've never driven a car in my life I just wanted to say how much I am enjoying this thread!.

[Jim Hardie 533]

Well, bearing in mind I've never driven a car in my life I just wanted to say how much I am enjoying this thread!.

 

Me too. I've never been a car nut (had a Rover 75 for the last ten years, lol) but it's been great reading of the exploits of those that have and still are.

[David Bee 10]

Hillsboro Hi, thanks for your thread,glad that it is fun .Please tell us a tale about some thing that amused you in set in the seventies.

 

---------- Post added 05-04-2014 at 16:26 ----------

 

Jimhardy Hi, a man of taste.That series of Rovers, part of the English heritage of motoring, and right in the spirit of Rover and British post war build quality.These cars built by people who had respect for the respectful,and it's mutual respect that makes old school I think,so a motor car of the old school, also old school Aston Martin -Alvis -Bristol -Lagonda -Rolls Royce- Bently -Morgan -Talbot and so many others. Glad you are enjoying the thread. Tell us all a tale which amused you from the seventies,doesn't have to be motoring.

[hillsbro 32]

Hillsboro Hi, thanks for your thread,glad that it is fun .Please tell us a tale about some thing that amused you in set in the seventies.

Hmmmm.... I'll have to think. In the meantime I'll tell you about my motorbikes. Although I've never had a car, I did have a succession of light motorbikes, starting with a NSU "Quickly" 50cc moped and progressing through a Honda 50, a 175cc BSA D14 Bantam, an ex-police 192cc LE Velocette "Noddy Bike" and finally a BSA 250cc Starfire. It was brand new from Leather & Simpson on 1 August 1970 - the first day of the J registration. I rode it round to Roper's - not because I wanted anything from there, I just wanted to see the admiring looks on the faces of the bikers outside as I pretended to window-shop.. I had a bigger rear sprocket made (so I could out-accelerate other Starfires) but the funniest thing was the fairing. It was exactly the same type as the police used - it even had a hole for the radio switch. Often I'd be riding along in a built-up area and I'd see the driver in front look in his mirror - before slowing down to 29·9 mph.... Here is a photo of me on the Starfire, taken in 1971. Sadly, my motorcycling career came to an abrupt end a year later at a crossroads near Worrall. A "lady" ignored a 'GIVE WAY' sign and put me in the Infirmary for 3 months with a collection of fractures. But that, as they say, is another story...

[Jim Hardie 533]

Jimhardy Hi, a man of taste.That series of Rovers, part of the English heritage of motoring, and right in the spirit of Rover and British post war build quality.These cars built by people who had respect for the respectful,and it's mutual respect that makes old school I think,so a motor car of the old school, also old school Aston Martin -Alvis -Bristol -Lagonda -Rolls Royce- Bently -Morgan -Talbot and so many others. Glad you are enjoying the thread. Tell us all a tale which amused you from the seventies,doesn't have to be motoring.

 

Ok, my turn. I can't match the fantastic cars that have been mentioned on this thread - my first motoring ambition was to own a car that didn't have any rust on it.

I remember taking my new girlfriend down to Dorset for our first holiday together in a Mk 1 Cortina which I'd just purchased for £140. We were belting down a bumpy country lane when the near side headlight popped out and the wing started flapping about. We spent the rest of the holiday with the wing tied down with string. I don't think she was too impressed but she must have forgiven me as we're still together nearly 40 years later.

It got us back to Sheffield and a scrapyard headlight and a bit of spot welding got me my £140 back. It was the only car I didn't lose money on. Happy days.