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Where Are All the British Cars?
- Thread starter AngliaGT
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Kalispell - beautiful country!
I just got back from a great 30 mile drive in the ol' Mercedes. This morning I replaced the jammed heater valves - this was the first drive since I got the car that I didn't have 185 degree air blowing all over me. It's 95 outside - Yeehaa!
Tom
I just got back from a great 30 mile drive in the ol' Mercedes. This morning I replaced the jammed heater valves - this was the first drive since I got the car that I didn't have 185 degree air blowing all over me. It's 95 outside - Yeehaa!
Tom
aeronca65t
Great Pumpkin
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MGB has that too. I use it all the time on hot days.
As a kid growing up in South Jersey, we always called those "spittin' windows".
Some small aircraft are fitted with similar windows.....often, euphemistically called "relief windows". - Use your imagination. :friendly_wink:
G
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If I didn't know any better I'd swear that was a VW.
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We had a couple at Lake Tahoe this last week.
sail
Darth Vader
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I travel to the Flathead Valley 2 or three times a year. Most of the guys I know there drive giant diesel pickups, obnoxious things if you ask me but those guys use them to actually work for a living. I blast out in my Civic at 40mpg. Where is my British car, running around here daily since the snow melted. I've only seen a couple MGB's and one Sprite since. It's almost to the point I'd trust the TR to make a trip to Montana. Almost.
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Just got back from 2 weeks in Ireland and only saw ONE classic car on regular roads (!)... a Lotus Seven (all wet in the rain - top down). Did see a 60s Rolls at Ashford Castle in Cong, but that doesn't count as one would expect them there. One often sees special stuff on English roads, but thought I'd see a bit more than I did in Ireland this trip.
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I'm completely naive about ireland. Still want to visit there however. Does Ireland have it's own "classic car" tradition? AH, MG, Triumph, Jaguar, etc. in the UK. Citroen, Renault, etc. in France. SEAT in Spain. FIAT in Italy. BWM, Mercedes in Germany. But what about Eire?
Thanks.
Tom
aeronca65t
Great Pumpkin
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Yeah last time I was in Ireland, I didn't see many classics either.
Not really many cars were purely built in the Republic of Ireland (or "The Free State" as I call it), but a few were done in Northern Ireland.
DeLorean was built it Northern Ireland and Crossle' racing cars (a fairly modern Formula Ford open wheel car) are still built there.
They did build some other cars in Northern Ireland but in very small numbers.
One was the TMC Costin (sort of like a Lotus Seven...designed by Frank Costin as in Coworth). The American-built Panoz is based on this car.
The other was a mini-American styled car with Austin parts called the Shamrock.
And the Clan Crusader...another rare model.
In the Republic of Ireland (the free state) there was assembly of knock-down kits from foreign companies.
Manufacturers included Ford, British Leyland, Renault, Fiat, VW, even Mercedes.
A knock down version of Isetta was built there too....I think in The North.
But none of these cars were really built in big numbers. I know there are classic car clubs in Ireland, but I know very little about them. One of the members here lives in Ireland and is involved with one, but he's not real active.
Not really many cars were purely built in the Republic of Ireland (or "The Free State" as I call it), but a few were done in Northern Ireland.
DeLorean was built it Northern Ireland and Crossle' racing cars (a fairly modern Formula Ford open wheel car) are still built there.
They did build some other cars in Northern Ireland but in very small numbers.
One was the TMC Costin (sort of like a Lotus Seven...designed by Frank Costin as in Coworth). The American-built Panoz is based on this car.
The other was a mini-American styled car with Austin parts called the Shamrock.
And the Clan Crusader...another rare model.
In the Republic of Ireland (the free state) there was assembly of knock-down kits from foreign companies.
Manufacturers included Ford, British Leyland, Renault, Fiat, VW, even Mercedes.
A knock down version of Isetta was built there too....I think in The North.
But none of these cars were really built in big numbers. I know there are classic car clubs in Ireland, but I know very little about them. One of the members here lives in Ireland and is involved with one, but he's not real active.
BustedKnuckles
Jedi Knight
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They are trying... Google classic cars in Ireland for more about what the action is
https://www.classiccarsireland.eu/the_benefits.asp
https://www.irishvintagescene.ie/
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I suspect that there aren't a lot because:
a) it was traditionally a somewhat poor country (compared to England)
b) ****, it rains a LOT all year around.
Of course, this means that what top-down classics there are were likely inside most of the time.
They like to mention the glory days of the DeLorean, but in Belfast anyway, the big thing is the new multi-million-Euro "Titanic Zone" where they are really milking the Titanic craze. I was amazed how SMALL the Titanic was compared to modern cruise-ships. One funny thing, they have some T-shirt with the ship on it (and "Belfast") stating: "It was fine when it left here!" or "Built by an Irishman and sunk by an Englishman." :highly_amused:
Belfast still have evidence of "The Troubles" (that started in The Bog district of Derry) and because we were there on July 5th, the bonfires were still being built for the July 12th "celebration" - which still creates a lot of tension. BTW, those bonfire piles are HUGE - something like 75' wide at the base and maybe 50' tall and sometimes filled with HUNDREDS of tires). There's a joke that some commercial pilots would say "ladies and gentlemen, we are about to land in Belfast, where the local time is 1690." Of course, referring to the Battle of Boyne where William of Orange beat James the 2nd... and that is recognized every year on the 12th as if they just can't get over it. Derry has a bit of this tension too around the 12th. There are marches of the Orangemen that try to go into Protestant neighborhoods but the police keep them out. Despite what some think, it's really less about the Catholics vs. Protestants, and more the Loyalists vs. the Unionists (though that does tend to also split down religious lines). I saw some signs where "London" was crossed out on Londonderry... and which name you use reveals whether you'd rather be in the UK or the Republic. Interesting history... 1690, 1916, 1921-24 (civil war), early 70s... right up to the US-brokered peace of 1994 (and is still holding).
a) it was traditionally a somewhat poor country (compared to England)
b) ****, it rains a LOT all year around.
Of course, this means that what top-down classics there are were likely inside most of the time.
They like to mention the glory days of the DeLorean, but in Belfast anyway, the big thing is the new multi-million-Euro "Titanic Zone" where they are really milking the Titanic craze. I was amazed how SMALL the Titanic was compared to modern cruise-ships. One funny thing, they have some T-shirt with the ship on it (and "Belfast") stating: "It was fine when it left here!" or "Built by an Irishman and sunk by an Englishman." :highly_amused:
Belfast still have evidence of "The Troubles" (that started in The Bog district of Derry) and because we were there on July 5th, the bonfires were still being built for the July 12th "celebration" - which still creates a lot of tension. BTW, those bonfire piles are HUGE - something like 75' wide at the base and maybe 50' tall and sometimes filled with HUNDREDS of tires). There's a joke that some commercial pilots would say "ladies and gentlemen, we are about to land in Belfast, where the local time is 1690." Of course, referring to the Battle of Boyne where William of Orange beat James the 2nd... and that is recognized every year on the 12th as if they just can't get over it. Derry has a bit of this tension too around the 12th. There are marches of the Orangemen that try to go into Protestant neighborhoods but the police keep them out. Despite what some think, it's really less about the Catholics vs. Protestants, and more the Loyalists vs. the Unionists (though that does tend to also split down religious lines). I saw some signs where "London" was crossed out on Londonderry... and which name you use reveals whether you'd rather be in the UK or the Republic. Interesting history... 1690, 1916, 1921-24 (civil war), early 70s... right up to the US-brokered peace of 1994 (and is still holding).