• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES BRITISH CARS SO SPECIAL?

Share this page

My 2 cents here.....and I am thinking about British cars as a whole, not just LBC's or high end makes.

British cars and all cars of that genre were built, not assembled. Why is Mom's cooking different than the same food from a restaurant?

Things were high-tech for the times and very mechanical and very visual.

British cars are interactive. You have to actively participate in the operations, not sit passively and steer.

British cars do the same thing as other cars, only differently.

Options, accessories and details.

Don't accept the standards accepted by others. Make it a little more, a little different.

Cars were built for owners and drivers not accountants and CEO's. It was the car that mattered more than the bottom line - which probably was a key factor to the demise of most of the makes in the long run.

When you see a British car, you know it, just as you know an Italian car or a French car, etc., not very measurable I know.

Just a few thoughts, I'll add more if I think of any. Hope this helps! :smile:
 
Silverghost said:
British cars and all cars of that genre were built, not assembled. Why is Mom's cooking different than the same food from a restaurant?
Click to expand...
One car still has it.....Morgan.

You can't tell where a car comes from anymore by looking at it. Such a shame, too.
 
Sadly, the best sports car in the idiom of all the great old British cars is...the Mazda Miata. It is a latter day Lotus Elan. Why they couldn't build that in England probably comes down to their ridiculous labour union situation as well as their stodgy attitude (with certain obvious exceptions in the racing community) to innovation.
 
the problem you're going to find by polling us here to see what we like is two things.
First is, that what we like about our cars is that they are not modern, they are not refined, or or decked out with gadgets. heck most of us don't even have radios in our cars. We are tinkers and craftsmen. we want involvement, not isolation. and a drive in an LBC is like taking a trip in a time machine, back to when motoring was an adventure.
That leads into the second problem. That being that we are a small minority of the car buying market. the opinions of this quirky group are not going to lead to the design of some smash hit modern vehicle that will thrill the top brass of any major manufacturer and the majority of the motoring public.
They want refinment, technology, and never a need to open the hood.
We like simplicity, basics, and generally smaller cars that are fun, functional, and cool.
But simple, small cars do not make large profits.
Another sport/luxury car may be the latest eye-candy and get snapped up by the elite, but it'll be out of reach for most of us, so our opinions won't mean a whole lot in the end.
 
Banjo said:
the problem you're going to find by polling us here to see what we like is two things.
First is, that what we like about our cars is that they are not modern, they are not refined, or or decked out with gadgets. heck most of us don't even have radios in our cars.

But simple, small cars do not make large profits.
Click to expand...

I totally agree, though the reality is that there is no such thing a simple small car any longer. By the time you've added fuel injection/ emissions/ ABS/ safety features/ crumple zones/ air bags/ etc etc it's not simple any longer. now, don't get me wrong, I want all those things - in a new car. I want it safe and reliable and comfortable and able to go many miles on little gas. But, that doesn't mean I can restore a car like that.

In other words, we judge our LBC's according to a different standard
 
Well, I must agree with all of you for all the every reason you have stated, especially Tony's observation re "luxuries". My personal favorite of them (just my personal quirk, though much the same can be said for old TRs and MGs!)is the A.H. "Bugeyed" Sprite for two reasons, the first being the very lack of luxuries, I mean, not even windows or outside door handles!! This makes for a "minimalist" kind of vehicle, ergo simple in design and simple to work on (except for the "knuck-busting" part of its compactness!). The second, and perhaps more important from the point of view of not just liking the design but deriving enjoyment from it HAS to be the responsiveness, the feel, the looks the smells, the sounds and the wind in ones hair. The openness of the sky overhead! The car "sings" in its responses to your input as you drive it. The very "Sopwith Camel" feel to piloting it that was cited above!!! :cheers:
 
Maybe an example. Our Jaguar Club is having its annual concours Saturday. The local dealer helps sponsor the club and show. This is a XK140 I have just finished the restoration in time for the show and the dealer wanted to display it on the showroom floor until showtime. That is a brand new $100K XKR in the background. Now most of the club members do own the newer cars as there are not many of these veterans left around. But, guess which one drew the most interest while on display.
 

Attachments

  • 13419.jpg
    13419.jpg
    43.8 KB · Views: 173
Ok, I just had to get this one in too.
 

Attachments

  • 13420.jpg
    13420.jpg
    62.2 KB · Views: 176
OK, I have to chime in here as a relative "newcomer" to LBC love. Understand, I love cars...Mustang, Chevelle, Supra, Z's....all of these are very fine cars but there is just no real comparison of any of these to my experiences driving an LBC. I fell in love that very first drive down the road in my midget.
Top down, the smells of the world around me mixed with the smells of oil and exhaust, sunshine, the road so close you feel like you could reach out and touch it if it weren't zipping by so fast under your feet. No radio (you can't really hear it anyway) The hum of the motor and Monza exhaust is music enough.
No matter how bad the day went, the drive home always brings a smile. No way can you drink coffee or talk on the phone ...all your senses and concentration are on driving and feeling like you are a part of the world you are driving through. I often found myself taking the long way home so I could make the drive through that park with the winding, tree lined roads.
These cars are not about luxury...luxury cars deaden the world when you are in them. They are not about power...that is more of the muscle car relationship between the driver and the machine. My LBC and I are a a part of the world we are driving through. Maybe that's why we always like to talk about our favorite "country drives" You get to smell the wisteria and honeysuckle in the spring and the cows in the pasture as you fly by. Clutch, Shift, brake into the curve....and still you are aware of the scissortail flycatcher on the powerlines above or the hawk soaring over the field to your left. Mixing machine and nature. Driving becomes an experience every time you turn the key.
Man I gotta get that B on the road......
 
:iagree: Well said...& all for way under $50,000!
 
Oh yea, I forgot to mention that its an experience that the average person can afford....Even a completely restored Midget is well within the price range of the average "Joe the Plumber" :laugh:
 
terriphill said:
Oh yea, I forgot to mention that its an experience that the average person can afford....Even a completely restored Midget is well within the price range of the average "Joe the Plumber" :laugh:
Click to expand...
:iagree: Highest $25,000!
 
Driving a top down LBC is a "gustatory" experience.

It fills up the kinesthetic senses and opens you up to all the "feelings" of the world that you have been encapsulated against, driving in today's closed cars.

Just like a good motorcycle, but usually can be shared and enjoyed more in an LBC.
 
What makes British cars so special, aside from driving them? In my opinion,<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 12pt"> Mr. Lucas!</span></span>
 
Only if you like driving in the dark.....
 
Related to the comments about the safety factor of modern cars, vs. our LBC's: They force you to actually DRIVE.

Cocooned in a sedan with ABS, crumple zones, dozens of hidden airbags waiting to spring into action, and a couple tons of mass, you don't have to concentrate on the road. Just keep it between the lines as you juggle your cellphone and your coffee, and even if you wrap it around a telephone pole, there's a very good chance you'll walk away with nary a bump.

The mechanical connection with an LBC is not illusory. The immersion keeps you on your toes. You're conscious of stopping distance, shifting, anticipating every turn, driving paranoically defensively. And, like the biplane analogy, you get suddenly very aware that if anything goes very wrong, or if you hit anything, or if anything hits you, you will most likely end up quite dead. That mortal awareness probably makes LBC drivers the safest on the road, and the least likely to end up in trouble.
 
Lucas electrics.
The sinking feeling in the pit of the ol' stomach when you walk out of a meeting at 2100 local, pitch dark, POURING rain, and look out to see your Mark Two in said rain.....and wonder if the Ghost of Old Joe will smile on the A) headlamps, B) windscreen wipers, C) panel lights (off, dim and flicker), and D) defroster motor while you attempt to navigate homeward.

The handling for the era was something we didn't experience with other marques.
You had to keep (and still do) your kit of tools handy, and know how to use them.

We learned about quality, reliability, parts availability.......like the old BSA bikes, you had three.
One running, one figuring out what was wrong, the other waiting on parts from Mother England.
(650 Hornet, twin Amals, flat-tracker with mags, converted to street)

The smell.
Odd oils (and green brake fluid), the heat, smells, rattles, leaks (if there isn't oil under it, best add a couple of quarts before you drive off).
Heaters and defrosters that were of all things LESS effective than the US cars of the time.

Can't leave out metals.
Heck, if the car you design doesn't rust before it leaves the dealer's lot, ain't gonna cut it.

Have to do neat things like unplated chrome strip retainers pop-rivetted to the body metals.
Oh, and a felt or jut pad GLUED to the MIDDLE of the DOOR that absobs moisture, holds it against the inside of the door, and ROTS the door out in a nice square.

Rubber bits!
Have to have rubber bits that just flat disintegrate.
Like the "maltese cross" in the steering shaft of a Jaguar MKI.
And you discover it at 70 MPH on a sweeping left-hander......

Rots, drops out, and NO STEERING......

ALL the door seals go away.
Boot lid seals seem to vapourise.

Rubber bump pads under the bonnet go down some chipmunk's hole, as they certainly aren't there any longer.

Oh, wait!

How about a cycling cable wiper control mechanism that works via gearboxes at the wiper arm pivot?

OH!
How about door locks that have more links, levers, arms and clips than even Rube Goldberg could have imagined........and locking a rear door (from the inside handles only, please) moves arms, links, fulcrums, and finally a pivot to rotate an unseen part away from the outer pushbutton?

Clev-ver!

Should we get into shims on suspension bits?
How about cantilevered rear suspension leaf springs?

Oh, more!

How about tachometers you need to remember to rap with your knuckle to get off the peg?

Lucas Fogranger bulb contacts?
Gotta have some of those.

Wouldn't want to be buying a Limey Limo without having that innovative option, now.

Gotta stick with oil-bath air cleaners, too.

Leave synchro out of first gear, hear?

Have neat things in the service workshop manual like "Remove left wing for access to clutch master cylinder".


There are so MANY things we just LOVE about our British cars.

Pip, Pip, and all that rot.
 
TOC said:
leaks (if there isn't oil under it, best add a couple of quarts before you drive off).
Click to expand...

Now that's funny. I always do that, if the car's not leaking, then it's time to add more. :smile:

Your whole post was chuckleworthy and brought back many memories of specific situations I've been in...

...Like driving 70 mph in a downpour because there was no top to put up, and that speed was the slowest I could go and not have the rain pour into the dash and short out all the wiring....

If nothing else, it's never boring, and driving should always be an experience.
 
chortle!

BTDT on all of the above.

But, that wasn't meant at a denigrating post earlier.
We still love the rusty, leaking, smelly little beasties!
 
Back
Top