off-roading vintage British cars

[kevxs]

This is good for a laugh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycmnIlWZXKc

[madmax-im]

Thats totally Bonkers!!!

[CaptonZap]

What, no knobby's?

CZ

[Crusty Snippets]

Dirt

My 41 Ford would have no trouble with that little bit of mud. But then it is a tractor, with loaded rear tyres.
Light weight and large diameter tyres work best. Something like a model A.
We found this out driving on the beaches in NZ.
My dad's Bradford van went through mud very well. Aluminium body panels, canvas roof, 16 inch wheels, flat twin engine.
A mid 30s 4.5 liter WO Bentley is virtually impossible to destroy. So they are usually the ones in the most original condition. Also worth a lot.
Doing 60 mph down a steep hill in an Austin 7 is a near death experience.
A gust of wind could topple one very easily.

Unkle Crusty Snippets*

[James England]

Seems like a daft thing to do to those old cars. Spoked wheels covered in mud, no doubt overheating engines, filth all over the cars. Pity.

[Crusty Snippets]

Old cars

A friend of mine on the mainland ( Vancouver area ) has a 52 Rolls Silver Dawn. He uses it to tow his 69 Triumph Trident to Bonneville each year. It is about 800 miles. If you do a google search on Tom Mellor Bonneville, there will be info. He is an excellent mechanic. Years ago I was putting my 53 Bentley engine back together. There are no timing marks for the cam to crank. It is dialed in with a variable gear on the cam. Tom saved the day for me by providing the info I needed.

Unkle Crusty

[Prisoner6]

This is good for a laugh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycmnIlWZXKc

"This is a story of fast cars ... of mud ... of competition ... and of true British eccentricity at it's best."

Thanks for the video ... really enjoyed it.

[Gmac]

That was a blast to watch.

One of my first cars was a Hillman convertible. I learned how to drive it in the cotton fields (yes, we have these here) at the end of the street. It was great fun when it was muddy, spinning, slipping and sliding around and learning how to drive on really slippery red clay.

It did teach me one thing, don't go offroading in an underpowered car if you don't want to get stuck when the mud gets to deep.

[donebysunday]

Here's one for James, I learned how to drive at 4 yrs old sitting in dads lap. By the time I was 6 I was go karting and by 8 mini biking. In between 8 and 15 I was riding a 51 HD and mudding it on the farm in guess what ????????????? A Morris Minor, many of you will not know what this is but I bet James will . We had a station wagon, a convertible, 4 door sedan and a 2 door I resurrected at 14. Oh what fun dad and I had.

[TomB]

Morris Minor.... better known as the Moggy Thou (1000), I used to service one for a local old dear. Great little car.

[fredintoon]

Seems like a daft thing to do to those old cars. Spoked wheels covered in mud, no doubt overheating engines, filth all over the cars. Pity.

Why James, you'd want them all waxed up and in a museum somewhere?
How North American of you.

[Crusty Snippets]

Morris

The Morris Minor 1000 was a great little car. Would still be great if made today, with a few upgrades. Friend Ron in NZ had one, so did his dad. There is one near here on the big island in a park area. It is mounted as art.
When I bought Yami in Langley BC, and had gone inside thru the garage to pay the guy; there were two cars, a Morris Minor and a Triumph Tiger.
They had both been hot rodded, and gorgeous. They might not put a 350 V8 in them in England but in North America they will put a 350 V8 with a turbo 400 gearbox and a Ford or Dodge rear end in most anything. Unless they go for the expensive pieces.

Unkle Crusty

[madmax-im]

Big Motors in little cars

Where i lived in NJ was a locally owned morris that was stuffed with a huge motor...this one isnt the same but it is close to what i used to see on a weekly basis...

[donebysunday]

That's not my dad's Morris Minor any more !!!!! Bet ya can't get 30 mpg. with it.
The 2 door I fixed up looked just like this cept the hood would close and it was painted about the same as that purple truck in the background.
Was it the MG midget that used the same engine but with twin carbs ?

[jetmechmarty]

This was my mother's car. (not this one, but one like it). By time I came along it had been wrecked and painted black. My father remembers it as a horrible little car. His memories are of commuting between Jamestown, NY and Fredonia in the snow. It certainly was no good for that, having all those hills and so much snow. I have no memory of it, but I do of the 1958 Volvo that replaced it.

My mother says her Morris Minor was a 1952 model that she bought in 1955. I expect it looked similar.