Delta's Twentea-Twentea Break

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by lotustwincam

Attachment 56284
No green stripe or "Tin Can" for the van..... but there will be for this, the other winter project.

Is it an original one?

[morninggents]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

I don't think that any of those dealers ever saw any competition car, except for, of course, the odd occasion that they might put one on display. For example, most of Dagenham Motors entered cars were built, prepared and maintained at Boreham.

And then came the era of the Dealer Teams, started by Vauxhall; and those cars were often projects that came out of Bill Blydenstein up in Royston.

Don't forget East Anglian Racing Team made up of Ford advanced engineers at Boreham and probably part financed by Ford. They pre-dated Shaw and Kilburn and DTV.
Up north we had the Perdal racing team (George PERcival and the DALkin brothers) based in Newcastle around the Dalkins' garage. Probably received some support from local Ford dealers.

[lotustwincam]

It is a restored shell based on a very rusty cast off from a Lotus re shelling in the 80s.
The rest has been collected over many years. If the distractions are managed it should become a hillclimber.

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by lotustwincam

It is a restored shell based on a very rusty cast off from a Lotus re shelling in the 80s.
The rest has been collected over many years. If the distractions are managed it should become a hillclimber.

Interesting. I have a soft spot for Lotus Cortinas so keep us informed please!

[Tel 911S]

When Ford still had Boreham for R&D , they gave us [ Work ] a Transit for long time independent testing .
Did about 100,000 miles in just over a year .
They would never say quite what was in it , [ 3.5 Ton LWB diesel ], but it would whistle straight up to 115 MPH , & in another half mile would top 120MPH.

That did surprise a lot of people on the road .

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by John Elwin

Interesting. I have a soft spot for Lotus Cortinas so keep us informed please!

One for ‘Winter Projects’ maybe!

[bauble]

You know it is a sad moment in one's life, when, upon reaching the great age of 82 you realise how much time you have wasted on trivial matters to the detriment of the my important things in life.

I have spent years taking thousands of picture of racing cars of every type, and have come to realise that I should have been out and about the highways of this great nation taking pictures of …….

Transit vans!

If only I had my time over again …………………………..

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by bauble

You know it is a sad moment in one's life, when, upon reaching the great age of 82 you realise how much time you have wasted on trivial matters to the detriment of the my important things in life.

I have spent years taking thousands of picture of racing cars of every type, and have come to realise that I should have been out and about the highways of this great nation taking pictures of …….

Transit vans!

If only I had my time over again …………………………..

To be honest, part-way through the Great Transit Debate of 2020 I thought I sensed a burning smell. I presumed that it must be your blood boiling Baub!

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by bauble

You know it is a sad moment in one's life, when, upon reaching the great age of 82 you realise how much time you have wasted on trivial matters to the detriment of the my important things in life.

I have spent years taking thousands of picture of racing cars of every type, and have come to realise that I should have been out and about the highways of this great nation taking pictures of …….

Transit vans!

If only I had my time over again …………………………..

Don't fret too much Bob - you know there's not much to talk about in the winter. Anyway, only another 51 weeks & there will be an entirely new thread.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Going back to rare cars, this ((IMHO) has to be the prettiest Abarth ever....

https://www.supercars.net/blog/1951→1951-abarth-205/

A beautiful car indeed. I dont know why as it is not as gorgeous as the one you posted but I always loved the tiny 1959 Abarth 750 GT Zagato 'double bubble' berlinetta

https://www.conceptcarz.com/view/pho...ato_photo.aspx

That is a gallery of images so click next above the image to go through the gallery ( for better photos of the car.)

[grantp]

It occurs to me that old transits are probably rarer then old Cortinas and Escorts.


Possibly more original as well - if one stretches a point about worn out parts swapped in service ...

[John Elwin]

Yesterday I was looking at Corgi's forthcoming releases for 2020 & amongst them are one or two rat-look etc Transit's, so perhaps its time has come.

Sorry Bob!

[bauble]

Originally Posted by John Elwin

Yesterday I was looking at Corgi's forthcoming releases for 2020 & amongst them are one or two rat-look etc Transit's, so perhaps its time has come.

Sorry Bob!

John, I fear for what comes next ……………after...……….. transits ………?

The mind boggles.

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by bauble

John, I fear for what comes next ……………after...……….. transits ………?

The mind boggles.

You wait until our Australian friend starts on VW Combi's.

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by John Elwin

You wait until our Australian friend starts on VW Combi's.

Holden Utes more likely!

[Lancsbreaker]

[QUOTE=grantp;3950084]"Ford offered a 2.5 ltr V6 transit with the diesel front.

We had one with overdrive fitted and some sort of mechanical anti-lock system for the rear brakes. LWB twin rear wheels.

Empty there was very little grip at the rear and the LWB made it quite controllable. Power was not massive but just about sufficient to have some fun. Especially if damp. "

I converted my early Mk1 Transit LWB rally barge from 2.0 V4 to 3.0 V6 in the 80s - using a fabricated front cross member and the diesel front panel and bonnet. Pretty easy conversion and made it a whole lot more useable when loaded with spares, tyres and fuel, and towing the rally car. Amazingly fuel consumption wasn't much worse than standard - virtually identical when empty, and only about 3mpg worse (down to 12 from 15!) when fully laden and towing - one heck of a lot faster, though!


I agree that the LWB was very controllable when it got sideways

[grantp]

Originally Posted by bauble

John, I fear for what comes next ……………after...……….. transits ………?

The mind boggles.

Bedford CFs?

[John Elwin]

[QUOTE=Lancsbreaker;3950220]

Originally Posted by grantp

"Ford offered a 2.5 ltr V6 transit with the diesel front.

We had one with overdrive fitted and some sort of mechanical anti-lock system for the rear brakes. LWB twin rear wheels.

Empty there was very little grip at the rear and the LWB made it quite controllable. Power was not massive but just about sufficient to have some fun. Especially if damp. "

I converted my early Mk1 Transit LWB rally barge from 2.0 V4 to 3.0 V6 in the 80s - using a fabricated front cross member and the diesel front panel and bonnet. Pretty easy conversion and made it a whole lot more useable when loaded with spares, tyres and fuel, and towing the rally car. Amazingly fuel consumption wasn't much worse than standard - virtually identical when empty, and only about 3mpg worse (down to 12 from 15!) when fully laden and towing - one heck of a lot faster, though!


I agree that the LWB was very controllable when it got sideways

Ah, one you might know - whatever became of the late Mike Buckler's twin-engined Alfa 164 tow car?

I was at his workshop one day when he was proudly showing-off the newly completed machine to another customer. When asked what it's purpose was, Mike replied it would be a tow car. "Wouldn't a Transit have been a lot simpler? was the response from the unimpressed customer.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Holden Utes more likely!

They dont make 'proper' utes nowadays.... The current Holden ute is the Colorado, a twin cab generic nasty made in Thailand and in fact a rebadged Isuzu with a 2.8 litre 4 cylinder Duramax diesel. I dont think there is a petrol option.
https://www.carsguide.com.au/tradies...rado-lsx-75825

Gone are the days of HSV built Corvette engined car based utes that we all loved

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

On a damp roundabout one had to have some confidence that there was no competing traffic on one's nearside ...

In the dry, in extreme situations, the different rates of front and rear axle hop could be exciting. Especially when empty.

The V6 was, iirc, slightly de-tuned compared to that used for car installations. I seem to recall a lower compression was used.

The one I had access to was great until it reached about 20k miles. Someone else took it, fully loaded and towing, to Spain for the GP.

Back then petrol in Spain was not always of the greatest quality. After the race it was decided to make haste back to UK and the tank was brimmed.

I think he managed track to door in a little under 24hrs - again fully loaded and towing (the loading ramps acting as a superb air brake) - and the poor thing never ever ran sweetly again.

It had overdrive on 3rd and 4th so effectively a 6 speed box which made it tempting to try to keep the speed up on hills but that in turn meant taking the revs into parts of the power curve that lacked the sort of torque required on some hills to keep the full rig moving rapidly. Especially with a headwind.

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by E.B

They dont make 'proper' utes nowadays....
Gone are the days of HSV built Corvette engined car based utes that we all loved

Yes, from my reading of the Oz forums I gather your motor industry is in a worse state than ours!

The recent Holden was imported as the Maloo here. On the lust list!

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by morninggents

Don't forget East Anglian Racing Team made up of Ford advanced engineers at Boreham and probably part financed by Ford. They pre-dated Shaw and Kilburn and DTV.
Up north we had the Perdal racing team (George PERcival and the DALkin brothers) based in Newcastle around the Dalkins' garage. Probably received some support from local Ford dealers.

Impossible for me to forget EART, Peter, as Roger Taylor was the benchmark I used to monitor my progress. Bert Avard, and his cohorts from Boreham, were very kind to me over the years, often coming up with spares that we didn't have or to give a helping hand when in a bind.

Roger's dad was actually a member of the Ford UK board of directors, and I am fairly certain that all his exploits were funded by Fords UK. And Roger, plus fellow team drivers, were at times entered by Dagenham Motors as well as other Ford dealers. I think that it was a case of which dealer Fords felt could benefit from a promotional boost. And regardless of who "entered" the car/s, Bert was always there at the helm along with their Transit van stacked to the gills with every conceivable spare and more.

[Cliff Ryan]

Mike that Abarth is a very pretty car, but surely doesn’t have the load carrying capacity of a Transit

The ‘black pig’ was a hand painted swb Mk1 with single wheels and a breathed on 3100, which used to regularity eat clutches no doubt due to the abuse it received in the hands of a bunch of teenagers.

Apologies Bob for the distraction, I didn’t know what I was starting when I mentioned V6 Transits. Suppose we should get back to MGBs & Escorts

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by Cliff Ryan

Mike that Abarth is a very pretty car, but surely doesn’t have the load carrying capacity of a Transit

The ‘black pig’ was a hand painted swb Mk1 with single wheels and a breathed on 3100, which used to regularity eat clutches no doubt due to the abuse it received in the hands of a bunch of teenagers.

Apologies Bob for the distraction, I didn’t know what I was starting when I mentioned V6 Transits. Suppose we should get back to MGBs & Escorts

Ah, so it’s your fault!

We had a ‘loaner’ Bedford CF panel van for a while at the leasing company I worked for, fitted with the 2.3 litre sohc slant four Victor engine. It was about the fastest standard production van on the road at that time, and unsurprisingly got crashed by virtually everyone that borrowed it!

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Ah, so it’s your fault!

We had a ‘loaner’ Bedford CF panel van for a while at the leasing company I worked for, fitted with the 2.3 litre sohc slant four Victor engine. It was about the fastest standard production van on the road at that time, and unsurprisingly got crashed by virtually everyone that borrowed it!

Ha ha! See my comment #121 re Bedford CF's