First tow car

[Buckman]

Found a picture of the very first tow car that I used to tow a Gypsey caravan. Picture is not of the same car that I used. It along with about another 140 classic cars is up for sale. Apparently he auction contains the biggest collection of Mercedes Benz in the world. If interested in pictrues of old cars have a look at http://icandicq.co.za/HighStreetCar/pages/PageOne/Product_one.html

 

[Raywood]

Afraid I started with a Ford Escort, far less exotic.

 

[Buckman]

The Peugeot was a diesel and you pulled or pressed a knob and waited for the glow plug to get hot before starting the car s so no good for bank robberies. LOL!
The car actually belonged to my boss TBH. I took that vehicle across the veld where there were no roads as we had to do survey work in some very inaccessible areas.
On one occasion the boss broke the leaf spring on the vehicle and did a bush repair. A sapling Mopani tree was tied to the broken leaf spring and he drove it home about 400 miles with probably about 100 miles on corrugated gravel roads. It was a very hardy vehicle with the weird column gear change.

 

[otherclive]

Mine was a mini van bought from my redundancy payment from AEI . Next one was a Humber Hawk bought out of my student grant. Pure luxury compared to the mini van.

 

[otherclive]

The Peugeot was a diesel and you pulled or pressed a knob and waited for the glow plug to get hot before starting the car s so no good for bank robberies. LOL!
The car actually belonged to my boss TBH. I took that vehicle across the veld where there were no roads as we had to do survey work in some very inaccessible areas.
On one occasion the boss broke the leaf spring on the vehicle and did a bush repair. A sapling Mopani tree was tied to the broken leaf spring and he drove it home about 400 miles with probably about 100 miles on corrugated gravel roads. It was a very hardy vehicle with the weird column gear change.

Peugeot cars always seemed to win the East African Rally with a Sikh driver who again was generally out front most years.

 

[Buckman]

My own 404 was an estate and the column gear change took a bit of getting used to in comparison to the column change on my Zephyr.

 

[Beachball]

This was mine it a Austin Rover Maestro it was passed on to me when my dad died we pulled a Ci Cadet 10 .

 

[SamandRose]

I vaguely remember when I was very young, my parents bought a small Sprite Alpine caravan and towed it with a Riley One Point Five. It wasn't the best towing vehicle - the gear ratios were such that it spent most of its time in third and you could physically watch the fuel gauge drop. Not great when the tank only held 6 gallons ...! After about a year both the car and caravan got upgraded, the former to the first in a succession of Volvo 240 estates.

As for me, I've only ever towed with a VW Passat or Arteon. Boring by comparison!

 

[Raywood]

I have managed to tow with a decent selection of Fords, Vauxhalls and Mazdas, all were competent and very few problems. The exception was the Rover which was about as bad as they get I am afraid.

 

[Buckman]

Originally my first tow car was a Peugeot 404 pickup which was a company tow car and it went places where no many had been before. Many years later we had a 1980's BMW 525 whuch was great for towing a fold up caravan.
Our first tow car in the UK was a 2004 Volvo S80. Brilliant on motorways etc however on grass fields terible as front wheels tended to spin. Next was a Toyota Surf CRD 3.0L. Brilliant all round. Then a 2010 Ford Mondeo auto which IMHO was the worst tow car ever as the gearbox could never make up its mind which gear to select at round abouts and yield junctions. Have had Jeep Grand Cherokees since 2012 and found them to be brilliant tow cars.

 

[Robert_374373903]

First tow car Ford Cortina 1500cc pulling Sprite Alpine, first trip Scotland over 500 miles there with two small children , fantastic.

 

[Beachball]

My selection of towcars over the years has been a Austin Rover, Fiat , Madza ,Vauxhall , .Citroen Volkswagen, Seat ,
Fiat Uno & Kip Kompakt was great
Worst car was the Austin Rover was not good .

 

[Dustydog]

Started with a Triumph Vitesse 2 litre and a 12 ft Ski replaced a year later with a Swift Pirouette.

 

[Hutch]

My first Tow car was a Rover 3.5 P5, reg . GPK 35K, total disregard for towing speeds, over 80 mph with a two motorcycle trailer behind.
The first caravan to be towed was a borrowed one, a twin axle , about 1976 down to St Ives in Cornwall that was interesting, as I could not get 5 star fuel and had to (****** I think ) the ignition to get the engine to run correctly.
We found out years later my mate had taken the caravan in exchange for money he was owed, guess what, It had been stolen.
Edit. ******* means reta*** moving the ignition , auto delete

 

[otherclive]

My first Tow car was a Rover 3.5 P5, reg . GPK 35K, total disregard for towing speeds, over 80 mph with a two motorcycle trailer behind.
The first caravan to be towed was a borrowed one, a twin axle , about 1976 down to St Ives in Cornwall that was interesting, as I could not get 5 star fuel and had to (****** I think ) the ignition to get the engine to run correctly.
We found out years later my mate had taken the caravan in exchange for money he was owed, guess what, It had been stolen. View attachment 1070
Edit. ******* means reta*** moving the ignition , auto delete

A really nice looking car. I’ve read that the P5 is still the Queens favourite car.

In the mid 80s I returned from a year in Canada flush with cash as family had stayed behind in Devon. I decided to buy a Volvo 245GLE estate auto. What a nightmare it wouldn’t stop pinking. Well it would if the ignition was ******** (set back) but then under any load it started to overheat. It turned out that Volvo hadn’t really come to terms with the reduction of lead in the fuel. No internet in those days but I found out that Volvos shipped to east Africa had a thicker head gasket. Volvo U.K. couldn’t, or wouldn’t, source one preferring to recommend a double standard gasket. Instead I bought an octane increasing additive from a tuning company in Bristol. But the camels back was broken when the rear load door started to rust and rust scabs started appearing on the doors. Turns out it was one of the first to be built in Belgium. So off it went and the replacement Citroen BX 16 estate was sheer heaven. My second Volvo a 7 series estate went in for self immolation, followed by write off. I endured a third Volvo a 2010 XC70,but not easily 😰

 

[Beachball]

My first Tow car was a Rover 3.5 P5, reg . GPK 35K, total disregard for towing speeds, over 80 mph with a two motorcycle trailer behind.
The first caravan to be towed was a borrowed one, a twin axle , about 1976 down to St Ives in Cornwall that was interesting, as I could not get 5 star fuel and had to (****** I think ) the ignition to get the engine to run correctly.
We found out years later my mate had taken the caravan in exchange for money he was owed, guess what, It had been stolen. View attachment 1070
Edit. ******* means reta*** moving the ignition , auto delete

Hi Hutch A nice stunning car

 

[Dustydog]

As a youngster I always remember our Bishop turning up at church in one. A bit of a fuel guzzler Hutch

 

[Jcloughie]

My first Tow car was a Rover 3.5 P5, reg . GPK 35K, total disregard for towing speeds, over 80 mph with a two motorcycle trailer behind.
The first caravan to be towed was a borrowed one, a twin axle , about 1976 down to St Ives in Cornwall that was interesting, as I could not get 5 star fuel and had to (****** I think ) the ignition to get the engine to run correctly.
We found out years later my mate had taken the caravan in exchange for money he was owed, guess what, It had been stolen. View attachment 1070
Edit. ******* means reta*** moving the ignition , auto delete

Always loved the P5. Someone I worked for when I was about 17 used to take his around Oulton park on track days. Said it rolled all over the place. But then that's not what it was made for.

John

 

[Parksy]

I was an apprentice motor mechanic when I left school at a main dealers for Rover, Triumph and Hillman.
We sold great many Rover P5 and P6 models in the late 1960s, the P5 was a real gentleman's tourer.
I loved the 3.5 litre Buick engined variants and because I couldn't drive because I was too young a mechanic who resembled racing driver Graham Hill in both looks and driving style used to take me and every car that I worked on for road tests until I took and passed my driving test.
After I passed I was restricted to Hillman Hunters andTriumph Heralds, the bosses didn't fancy an 18 year old being left in control of a guided missile on local roads.
Those Rovers could shift!

 

[JezzerB]

Believe it or not a Mk2 MR2 2.0 GT Tbar-wonderful car did 160k miles in it before sadly selling it as we had another convertible and needed 4 seats. Had a towbar fitted as soon as I got it as was a mad keen windsurfer and travelled to lakes and the Lincs coast to windsurf whenever the wind was blowing-should see the faces of people when I over took them-did manage to stick to speed limits but you really didn't know the trailer of kit and 2 boards and masts was there.

 

[otherclive]

Looking at DD Classics showroom if I wasn’t short of parking space I could certainly be tempted to give a Coventry Cat a caring home. An XJ Sport V8 FSH and 38000 miles; wow. Assume it could even tow too.

 

[Hutch]

As a youngster I always remember our Bishop turning up at church in one. A bit of a fuel guzzler Hutch

The hand book stated , if you cruise at abover 100mph, inflate the tyre to xx psi, you could see the fuel gauge dropping.
Mrs H, went from Blackpool (where I was working) back to Milton Keynes, 210 miles in 2 1/2 hours, a late night run, she rang me up when she got home and said " the car is using a lot of fuel, I had to stop and fill it up again. " I asked what speed she was doing ? I don't know but nobody was passing me.

 

[Jcloughie]

Not my first tow car, 4th in fact. But an odd ball. I bought this Isuzu Piazza in about 1992. A rare car in this country as Isuzu had import limits on them and there was more demand for the Trooper. Before I bought it I checked that a tow bar was available. After purchase I went to buy it and they said it wasn't. I made them explain why there was a part number for it. Seems the part number was generated when a prototype was made, but never went into manufacture. they searched for me and found the prototype which is what I then fitted. So it is probably the only one used for towing.

An unlikely tow car. 2 litre petrol turbo. Loads of power for the time. A small car but heavier then you would expect a sporty car to be. With the short rear overhang it made a great tow car. Also great fun to drive so long as you didn't try to sit in the back.

My next door neighbour took this and somehow got his glasses into the picture.



John

 

[otherclive]

Not my first tow car, 4th in fact. But an odd ball. I bought this Isuzu Piazza in about 1992. A rare car in this country as Isuzu had import limits on them and there was more demand for the Trooper. Before I bought it I checked that a tow bar was available. After purchase I went to buy it and they said it wasn't. I made them explain why there was a part number for it. Seems the part number was generated when a prototype was made, but never went into manufacture. they searched for me and found the prototype which is what I then fitted. So it is probably the only one used for towing.

An unlikely tow car. 2 litre petrol turbo. Loads of power for the time. A small car but heavier then you would expect a sporty car to be. With the short rear overhang it made a great tow car. Also great fun to drive so long as you didn't try to sit in the back.

My next door neighbour took this and somehow got his glasses into the picture.

View attachment 1079

John

Nice looking motor and covered by Britannia too. Did you ever have to use them?

 

[otherclive]

Not a tow car as it was too nice. A E30 BMW 325 Sport. 2.5 litre straight 6 cylinder with LSD and close ratio gearbox an M3 suspension and body kit. The towcar a Saab 9000 2.3 CSE turbo sits behind.