Bits and bobs No3.

[Clive.]

I seem to think I read that the MG 1100 had a mildly worked head.??...but perhaps special tuning dept add ons could mean further.??

Our next door neighbour used to have a Wolseley 1300...this certainly had twin SU

The MG example today had the horizontal line speedo that I remember from Dads VFW117J Austin 1100 ...he then had K and L reg 1300 which had conventional Smiths? dials being the MkIII....at M he went to Tundra green Allegro 1300...with square steering wheel and also nearside back tyre that developed square wear pattern to match ..then a new one each year up to X...which had the A plus engine and twin headlight units...then onto his first Maestro 1600 OCT 59Y...ending with G,H, and J MG Maestros 2.0L....thence to Vauxhaul....

MG Maestro notably absent today...although 2xMontego and one Metro was in attendance...

Clive.

[peter]

I had two Maestrii, both 1600, a very practical car, shame about the rust which came out of the seam near the top of the "D" pillar.

Nearly got the 2L MG Maestro with extreme bodykit, was it turbo or not?

Very fond memories of the 1300 Mk-III though, RAR 299 L a very capable little car, Austin's last mega-seller.

Looking at the Allegro you can see the lines and mechanics of the 1300.

Did I see a TR6 lurking in burnt terracotta paint or was it an earlier TR?

[Clive.]

I seem to remember back when Dad was on 1100/1300 that they were top sellers when the various makes league tables appeared in the papers..a good thing for street cred as a young lad to have a Dad with a top selling car.

The Maestro with big bodykit was the MG Turbo version...I remember when it appeared it was featured in the motoring press photographed on the Fen farm roads just South of here..

MG Maestro 2.0L (not turbo) was a very useful car as was late Montego once it got the Honda gearbox on 1.6 as well as 2.0...the estate version sold very well in this area...very sad that the body build was so poor and so prone to tin worm coming from within the seams.

No TR attending today...only MG in the front garden driveway..
Head of the line out front was the MG RV8...with some excitement when a second example of this type came up the avenue...

Clive.

[Clive.]

Dear Clive, nice to see you had a few friends round for drinks.

..and my part of drinks was...drying up some pots.

Clive.

[Geoff]

I upgraded my Austin Fastback (sorry, A35 van with 1300 engine and frightening 3 brake cylinders, one pulling the handbrake stirrup) soon after starting work in 1969 to an Austin 1100 (FOK969D). It served me well for many miles, I might be able to find a slide of it in the midnight sun in Norway. I eventually swapped it for a 1300 (GFM687H) that was always something of a disappointment. I suspect the 1300 was part way down BL's long slow terminal illness.
Don't knock Skoda, I've now got an Octavia and like it a lot, I do wonder if all the taxi drivers say "look there, one in private ownership!"

[Compo]

My favourite car was a Metro Van, very practical in Scotland even had snow chains on it once, the 1100 was never reliable, neither was the Maestro I owned for a month before getting shot pretty quickly.

And like Geoff I now have Skoda Octavia Estate, 1.9tdi and very reliable, quick, economical and practicable, looks good alongside most cars on the road today.

It used to be amazing though how BL badged everything, MG, Wolseley and Riley to name but a few, who remembers the Riley Elf, a mini with rear fins from what I recall?

Compo

[Weed]

Hi Compo

I remember the Riley Elf...I always thought it was a direct competitor for the Hillman Imp.

I have owned a few BL cars in my time, my first ever car was an old Wolseley 1500 closely followed by an MG Magnette, twin carb and a lovely roomy car when the kids were small....I moved on to an Austin 1800S (twin carb) then the later 2200 and on to a Wolseley Six

I did work for many of the garages in Leicestershire during the late sixties and into the seventies.

Does anyone remember the very large square looking Ford Mark 3 (Can't remember its name) it was a real rust bucket and had a very small engine that was lost under the bonnet... affectionately known as the Dagenham Dustbin?

[Clive.]

The MG Magnette version of the Austin Cambridge/ Morris Oxford line was one that was missing yesterday

Best I add the Skoda line up in the courtyard too...

thumbnail.

Mine's the Hot Chilli Red metallic 1.6Glxi on the right with alloys from Slxi fitted at new...see we support Skoda too. ..and these have still got a little bit of Skoda in them. ...being a developed Favorit.. a little less Skoda in mine as it has VW aee engine..but has the Skoda gearbox as on 1.3

There is a white Fabia Classic 1.2 to add to the line now too.. no Octy as yet but then the Felicia 1.3 estate on the left tows a caravan.. so perhaps Octavia will be along soon.??

Just like the old BMC group VAG have a few badges to use these days:)

Clive.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/

[Geoff]

Same model Compo, isn't it great sliding compost bags into the flat boot.

[richard p]

was the ford a zodiac or a zepher? as in z cars

[oldherbaceous]

Weed, Weed, great excitment in Milton Bryan, the Cuckoo has finaly migrated from overwintering in your neck of the woods, i heard in about twenty minutes ago whilst over the allotment.

My neighbours just stared at me in amazement, when i told them about the great excitment.

[Clive.]

..and I've seen our Kingfisher again today

Clive.

[Monika]

First willow warbler of the year sang here today - spring must be here! It was grand working outside today, too, the first decent day for quite some time.

[Weed]

Richardp

No, I don't think it was called either the Zephyr or the Zodiac they were much earlier (the mid to late fifties) and much sleaker..

This one was a huge, square monstrosity (seventies vintage) and when the bonnet was lifted it looked like a motor mower engine inside.

Dear OH....I can't hear the cuckoo these days for a multitude of wood pidgeons and a very noisy Green Woodpecker

[Geoff]

A couple made a deal that whoever died first would come back and inform the other of the after-life. Their biggest fear was that there was no after-life.

After a long life, the husband was the first to go, and true to his word he made contact, "Mary. Mary."

"Is that you, Fred?"

"Yes, I've come back like we agreed."

"What's it like?"

"Well, I get up in the morning, I have sex, I have breakfast, off to the golf course, I have sex, I bathe in the sun, and then I have sex twice.
I have lunch, another romp around the golf course, then sex pretty much all afternoon. After supper, golf course again. Then have sex until late at night. The next day it starts again."

"Oh, Fred you surely must be in heaven."

"Not exactly, I'm a rabbit in Suffolk."