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No LBCs in the UK????

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I think you are more likely to see British Sportscars in the US as more have survived there. If you consider that up to 90% of British sportscars were exported to the states then it works out that, as a proportion of the population, there were as many in the States as the UK (ie 10 times as many cars but 10 times the population). And given that the climate in large parts of the North American continent is much kinder to old cars than the UK climate I would have thought the ratio of LB Sportscars to population is now higher in the US than here.
 
As far as seeing old cars of any sort on the road in general... Here in Calgary it is quite a regular occurence during the summer, just behind me in traffic today was a guy who drives a 1963 Chrysler sedan, he drives it regularly and was headed for the horse racing track (where he spends much of his time apparently).

And that is but one example of many I see all the time, whether they are British or American.

I don't know how common this is in other parts of the continent here in North America. And I even see a few older classic cars driving all winter as daily drivers here, usually they are beaters in tough shape...
 
Hi Mark

I guess you were just unlucky or (more typically) the weather was bad.....we don't take them out too much in the rain.
I wish I had known you were coming to Bath, I could have given you a guided tour of the best LBC spotting areas in my Healey...
Most of these cars are not daily drivers and you only really see them on weekends and then not in Towns or City Centres, (You did notice the heavy traffic I hope!).
During the Summer months you can attend Classic Rallies most weekends.

Regards

Alan
 
Last week I had to make a quick trip to Adelaide (Australia). No shortage of older British cars there. I was only there a couple of nights but spotted a Daimler 250 V8 (collecting an order from a McDonalds drive through), a Mk VIII Hillman Minx and an original shape Singer Vogue. All seemed to be everyday use cars.

I also spotted the only current model Bentley Continental GT I've seen on the road to date.
 
Wish I'd known about you there, Alan! Bath was beautiful and facinating with the Roman Ruins, what a place to live. In retrospect, my expectation of seeing "lots" of LBCs in the UK was a bit unrealistic. But, I was still slightly disappointed, especially considering the great weather we had.

The MG Midget in Bath had a Porsche-esque rollbar/spoiler (very unusual, obviously custom-made and nice), no bumpers and very nicely painted in blue/yellow. The guy driving it was zipping about traffic like a bee.

Strangely, the weather was glorious for all but one day of our 9 day stay: our last day (Edinburgh) was cold and drizzly. We feel very lucky about the good weather, I know it's unusual.

Maybe next time, eh?
 
Mark
The Sprite you saw running around Bath has a Rover K series engine fitted to it mated to a Sierra (Ford) five speed box and eats Porsches for breakfast. The guy produces them locally. Not my thing but they do go well.

Also I've got to stick up for the Triumph guys, there are masses floating around the UK. A lot of Spitfires are run as "first classics" as they are cheap and easy to work on, but you will also find lots of TR2's/3's etc and well sorted TR6's with proper Fuel injection systems not those puny little carb versions that went to the States. As for TR7's most I know have been fitted with Rover V8's. The Stag is also very popular, again due to it's fairly low retail value and the fact that it can carry four people.

You guys should have seen the Ferry ports on the South coast of the UK last weekend as the Brits make their annual trip to Le Mans, the boats were full of every type of classic from Blower Bentleys to Ferrari's. Magnificent.

Modern Sports cars are attracting a whole new audience especially Lotus Elise, Caterhams, Westfields, MG TF's and TVR's..not many guys run MX5's (Miata) though as they are considered to be a bit of a "girlie car" and the majority are run by young ladies who also favour Ford Street KA's.

Regards

Alan
 
As a postscript, the gentleman who said he paid 32 pounds for 40 litres of gasoline miscalculated. That is not just "over 4 dollars" but near enough 5.50 dollars per US gallon ... and it's probably gone up since then.

Ken G, 1925 Rover 16/50 (San Francisco) ... about 12 mpg US!
 
It seems luck has a great deal to play when it comes to spotting those LBCs. A friend and I went to a Healey Club concours on Sunday in his Frog. A lovely, bright, sunny day. Trip was about 1hour 20 minutes each way and we didn't see one LBC other than at the event. After we got home I went and picked my son up from his friends 8th birthday party, a round trip of less than 20 miles. On that trip I saw (all seperately) an MGA, two crome and one rubber bumpered MGB and a flat rad Morgan! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Cars (not used for business) registered before 1st January 1973 are Tax Exempt in the UK.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gifJust realised that this has already been mentioned earlier in the thread.
 
[ QUOTE ]
all vehicles are subject to stringent Ministry of Transport inspections annually

[/ QUOTE ]
That's true, although my old cars usually pass the test without any problem, it's the newer ones that do lots of miles that have more problems
[ QUOTE ]
and pay a "road tax"

[/ QUOTE ]
Not if they were built before 1973 they don't
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in Kansas, and no cars are subject to inspection.

[/ QUOTE ]
****** **** that is TERRIFYING - what sort of dangerous wrecks are let loose there!

[ QUOTE ]
Second, I don't believe that multi-car garages attached to homes are as common in GB as here in the USA.

[/ QUOTE ] True. Remember that we started building houses here about 1000 years before you did, so there are lots of houses that were built before cars were invented. That's a bit tongue in cheek, but you get the idea.

The other difference is the weather. Many of you (US) live in warm dry places, and we live is a cool wet place, so old cars are used only for fun in good weather, not daily.

There are plenty of old cars about, but you will generally see them at shows, on runs and rallys and at club meeting, not driving round cities in the daytime.

John, Brighton, UK
 
Hello Curtis,

I have just updated my profile and added an avatar, just for fun, does anyone know what make it is?
 
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