This is intended to be light-hearted, so please, don't anyone get all heavy with me.Over in Towcars, Tony made a remark about happy dangerous days. he talked about the seventies, but I had a Morris 8 in 1958.The brake master cylinder failed, and I removed it to repair it.The parts were to expensive ( I was an apprentice mechanic on £2-5s-0d a week), so I never put the brakes back together. I drove that car for months on just the handbrake! It certainly taught me how to anticipate other road users actions! Obviously, this was pre-MOT, and I scrapped the car soon after, and bought a Delage with a straight 8 motor, but thats another story. What did you drive dangerously as a kid?
Dangerous vehicles.
- Thread starter emmerson2
- Start date
An old Mini van, I had just bought it, with a fresh MOT ready to take back to Germany. Drove it all the way from the UK and over to a place near Bremen. The previous owners had fitted rear windows and a bench seat in the rear, which I used to great effect, ferrying mates around for a month. Then I had to get it tested for BFG plates. To my horror, the car was impounded, the mechanic had put the car on ramps to check the underside, wherever his screw driver touched chassis, it went through. Should I have had an accident, they would have looked for the biggest pile of ferrous oxide, and started to dig there.
Still, what doesn't kill you, can only make you stronger, so they say.......
Still, what doesn't kill you, can only make you stronger, so they say.......
Hate to admit to this but a long time ago I knew someone who had a mate who "borrowed" tyres from a friend's car for an MOT test.
I just know I am going to hate myself!!! But,
Back in 59 when I first played soldiers for a living, three of us bought a elderly Wolsly 14 that had a history going back to a Staff car during WW2. We used it as a A1 bus from Catterick to London most weekends dropping people off to hitch the rest of the way as and when.The reverse, Pick up on the Sunday night was somewhat more precarious as we had a No Waiting rule.
This Car had a broken Chassis and the two back doors were held closed by string between them. Undoing the string was the way out. I feel that it is a good job that sleeping policemen had not been designed then, as the ladies in the back seat would have knee problems in their old age.
It finaly came to grief as the forward edge of the petrol tank kept comming into contact with the ground when more than five people were in the back, as this exasipated the brake in the chassis. It was left on fire on the A1 with 8 of us all hitching off in different directions.
ttfn
Back in 59 when I first played soldiers for a living, three of us bought a elderly Wolsly 14 that had a history going back to a Staff car during WW2. We used it as a A1 bus from Catterick to London most weekends dropping people off to hitch the rest of the way as and when.The reverse, Pick up on the Sunday night was somewhat more precarious as we had a No Waiting rule.
This Car had a broken Chassis and the two back doors were held closed by string between them. Undoing the string was the way out. I feel that it is a good job that sleeping policemen had not been designed then, as the ladies in the back seat would have knee problems in their old age.
It finaly came to grief as the forward edge of the petrol tank kept comming into contact with the ground when more than five people were in the back, as this exasipated the brake in the chassis. It was left on fire on the A1 with 8 of us all hitching off in different directions.
ttfn
I have always tended to be a bit `enthusiastic` in my driving or riding, so have always made sure my vehicles are spot-on and only use quality components.
However, when growing up our next-door neighbour who was probably about 25 when i was about 12 had a fine selection of vehicles that you felt unsafe walking past when parked at the kerbside.
Oh, the number of happy hours spent mixing filler and getting high on the fumes whilst `Phil` carefully trimmed the metal of the 1 gallon oil-can which we would glass-fibre into place to make a new footwell. This was on a mini-van which he took for MOT and it passed, only for the entire front wheel hub and suspension assembly to shear off when he got home, got out and slammed the door. "It`s not what you know,it`s who you know"
He also had a Vauxhall Cresta (a PB, the Yank styled one) which had a leaking clutch cylinder and of course he`d run out of fluid."fairy liquid does the same job". So he topped up and set off from Yorkshire to Peterborough!
And best of the lot:- A Ford Consul Classic. Typical Ford rot-box, reknowned for the weak MacPherson strut mounting which used to corrode in no time and neeed extensive welding to prevent the strut tops falling inwards to the enging bay and the front-end collapsing. Phils solution? A couple of bits of wood attached to the corroded strut mountings by self-tappers, and a piece of 2" x 2" timber between the two and across the engine bay to hold the suspension apart. "Classic" in more ways than one!
I should add that this guy was married with a young child at the time and he had no qualms about loading them in and setting off for a day out!
However, when growing up our next-door neighbour who was probably about 25 when i was about 12 had a fine selection of vehicles that you felt unsafe walking past when parked at the kerbside.
Oh, the number of happy hours spent mixing filler and getting high on the fumes whilst `Phil` carefully trimmed the metal of the 1 gallon oil-can which we would glass-fibre into place to make a new footwell. This was on a mini-van which he took for MOT and it passed, only for the entire front wheel hub and suspension assembly to shear off when he got home, got out and slammed the door. "It`s not what you know,it`s who you know"
He also had a Vauxhall Cresta (a PB, the Yank styled one) which had a leaking clutch cylinder and of course he`d run out of fluid."fairy liquid does the same job". So he topped up and set off from Yorkshire to Peterborough!
And best of the lot:- A Ford Consul Classic. Typical Ford rot-box, reknowned for the weak MacPherson strut mounting which used to corrode in no time and neeed extensive welding to prevent the strut tops falling inwards to the enging bay and the front-end collapsing. Phils solution? A couple of bits of wood attached to the corroded strut mountings by self-tappers, and a piece of 2" x 2" timber between the two and across the engine bay to hold the suspension apart. "Classic" in more ways than one!
I should add that this guy was married with a young child at the time and he had no qualms about loading them in and setting off for a day out!
Two young gents finished work and got a lift to meet a guy outside some flats in Bracknell to buy a car. It was nicely presented and the under side was clean and the usual rust spots seemed in good order as they had a look see, it ran OK on the test drive so one paid out the cash and off they headed to the Police section house they lived in.
The next day the car would not start as the battery was flat, the station sergent was not happy as they were late and suggested he helped the new young recruit by getting the car towed around to the "Police Friendly" garage that serviced some of the local forces cars.
After a long day they went to get the car and found it up on the car lift. The garage owner/manager explained that he had hit his head on a under coated floor box section. He was OK as it had moved, he then got them under the car to show them that the car floor was a sandwich of old AA alli road signs and flattened tin cans held together with underseal and that the undersealed box sections were in fact folded cardboard. The rusty brake pipes pitting had been covered with what looked like Araldite and then spray painted. There was next to no life from the alternator and the dasboard lights wire were cut. It was rigged to run on a fully charged battery. He also asked how it pulled away, fine said the young copper. The garage guy then explained that the engine was shot to bits, but as it was the wrong size engine coupled to a the wrong gear box hanging off the engine with no mounting he guessed it was quite low ratio so did a quick pull away.
The doc's were stolen and the MOT fake and the seller was not known at the address where they bought the car.
They were given the comfort that the car had quite a good paint job, probably as it had to cover various colours of doors boot and bonnet.
All was not lost as the garage man let them fill the car with some scap metal and use his breakdown wagon to take the car to be crushed at Blackbushe where the owner got about
The next day the car would not start as the battery was flat, the station sergent was not happy as they were late and suggested he helped the new young recruit by getting the car towed around to the "Police Friendly" garage that serviced some of the local forces cars.
After a long day they went to get the car and found it up on the car lift. The garage owner/manager explained that he had hit his head on a under coated floor box section. He was OK as it had moved, he then got them under the car to show them that the car floor was a sandwich of old AA alli road signs and flattened tin cans held together with underseal and that the undersealed box sections were in fact folded cardboard. The rusty brake pipes pitting had been covered with what looked like Araldite and then spray painted. There was next to no life from the alternator and the dasboard lights wire were cut. It was rigged to run on a fully charged battery. He also asked how it pulled away, fine said the young copper. The garage guy then explained that the engine was shot to bits, but as it was the wrong size engine coupled to a the wrong gear box hanging off the engine with no mounting he guessed it was quite low ratio so did a quick pull away.
The doc's were stolen and the MOT fake and the seller was not known at the address where they bought the car.
They were given the comfort that the car had quite a good paint job, probably as it had to cover various colours of doors boot and bonnet.
All was not lost as the garage man let them fill the car with some scap metal and use his breakdown wagon to take the car to be crushed at Blackbushe where the owner got about
One of my first cars was a Mini van - great bit of kit - with a mattress in the back - boy did I have some fun!!!
Anyway one very hot summer, the lack of cooling was a real problem and so one day we decided that the little vent in the roof - which was like a tiny flip up sun-roof - would be more effective as an "air-scoop" and decided to turn it round the other way.
It worked really well round town but then on a trip across Romney Marshes one lovely hot evening we thought we would open it up whilst travelling at about 70mph.
What happened was amazing - an enormous bolt of air shot into the car and dislodged every scrap of dust, sweet paper etc that had accrued over the life of the car.
The effect was a bit like suddenly driving in fog but the fog was in the car, made you cough and had sweet papers etc whizzing all around you.
Luckily on a straight road we managed to stop and let it all settle. Sadly there was no one behind us to tell us what it looked like - but certainly not something to be recommended
Anyway one very hot summer, the lack of cooling was a real problem and so one day we decided that the little vent in the roof - which was like a tiny flip up sun-roof - would be more effective as an "air-scoop" and decided to turn it round the other way.
It worked really well round town but then on a trip across Romney Marshes one lovely hot evening we thought we would open it up whilst travelling at about 70mph.
What happened was amazing - an enormous bolt of air shot into the car and dislodged every scrap of dust, sweet paper etc that had accrued over the life of the car.
The effect was a bit like suddenly driving in fog but the fog was in the car, made you cough and had sweet papers etc whizzing all around you.
Luckily on a straight road we managed to stop and let it all settle. Sadly there was no one behind us to tell us what it looked like - but certainly not something to be recommended
I have been towed on a m/c by a car using a length of rope threaded under the handlebars between the yokes and held between your hand and the grip.
They always did it that way in my old mans motorcycling days apparently.
The theory was if anything got out of hand you let the rope go.
It worked but was more than a bit scary.
They always did it that way in my old mans motorcycling days apparently.
The theory was if anything got out of hand you let the rope go.
It worked but was more than a bit scary.
Hi Emmerson,
In the eary 70's we used HB Viva's and "Nic" "Nic" cars in Leeds.
Every morning at mealtime we would give the keys to a driver handyman to clean.
One day he came in ashen faced with half of what appeared to be a front wing under his arm.
Apparently "someone" several weeks earlier had had a "one vehicle involved" accident, which in those days was almost a hanging offence and had taken it to an all night garage to bodge the repair. It must have been a pretty dark time of the year because no one noticed for ages that the wing was made of filler and not much else.
In the eary 70's we used HB Viva's and "Nic" "Nic" cars in Leeds.
Every morning at mealtime we would give the keys to a driver handyman to clean.
One day he came in ashen faced with half of what appeared to be a front wing under his arm.
Apparently "someone" several weeks earlier had had a "one vehicle involved" accident, which in those days was almost a hanging offence and had taken it to an all night garage to bodge the repair. It must have been a pretty dark time of the year because no one noticed for ages that the wing was made of filler and not much else.
Oh those violins how there are playing, bet those were the days for you all.
Bet you wouldn't do it now though. he he he
Bet you wouldn't do it now though. he he he
Remember the FIAT 500 ????? dont laugh I was young and broke and it was all I could afford, pity because I hear they are worth a fortune now.
Anyway, rear engine, boot in the front, boot floor rotted out, and the battery box was in the boot-I think you know where this is going....yes I went over a bump and the battery fell out onto the road. One of the leads came off, I didn't have any tools so I jammed the battery back in through the hole and jammed a 1/2p between the battery terminal and the clamp. Got it home, took out the battery, couldn't afford to get it welded so I cut out a piece of hardboard to fit, cemented it into place (yes you are reading this right) and then undersealed it.
At this point my dad took pity on me and offered me reasonable use of his car while I sorted myself out, so I sold the Fiat, but not before I put it through an MOT, and guess what, the ruddy thing only passed...........
Anyway, rear engine, boot in the front, boot floor rotted out, and the battery box was in the boot-I think you know where this is going....yes I went over a bump and the battery fell out onto the road. One of the leads came off, I didn't have any tools so I jammed the battery back in through the hole and jammed a 1/2p between the battery terminal and the clamp. Got it home, took out the battery, couldn't afford to get it welded so I cut out a piece of hardboard to fit, cemented it into place (yes you are reading this right) and then undersealed it.
At this point my dad took pity on me and offered me reasonable use of his car while I sorted myself out, so I sold the Fiat, but not before I put it through an MOT, and guess what, the ruddy thing only passed...........
Back in the 70's I visited a local wine festival together with a friend. While there we met someone else who also wanted a lift home afterwards. I had a Jensen Healey at the time and as there was no space inside the car for a third person, I got out a old winter anarok (it was mid-summer) and gave it to her. She put it on and, with the top down, she sat on the boot lid with her feet on the hatshelf while we drove about 20 miles down the motorway to where she lived.
We even had three up in the car once with the top up. I gave a lift to our secretary one day and she sat on the centre console while I had to change gear between her legs.
Here's another story that didn't happen to me but I swear it's true.
We were having a office party and one of the colleagues who drove a Renault 4CV (remember them?) was so drunk after the event that he couldn't get into first gear and drove 3 miles home in reverse, apparently without hitting anything. But then there were few cars on the roads back then.
We even had three up in the car once with the top up. I gave a lift to our secretary one day and she sat on the centre console while I had to change gear between her legs.
Here's another story that didn't happen to me but I swear it's true.
We were having a office party and one of the colleagues who drove a Renault 4CV (remember them?) was so drunk after the event that he couldn't get into first gear and drove 3 miles home in reverse, apparently without hitting anything. But then there were few cars on the roads back then.
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