OK on reflection...
Here I am banging on about keeping the Trad traditional and I bought a Plus 4 with the wider track because it sits better on the road; with alloys because they are more rigid than the wires and so they track better; with negative camber plates because the turn in is better; with AVO adjustable shocks so I can set the damping to what I want/like; with a Panhard rod to stop the back axle wandering around.
Hmmm.... a traditional Trad.... perhaps not really
Having read the assembly of posts I can see, and support, the concept of keeping the narrow body 4/4 as the truly traditional model, with the existing chassis, wires, 1600cc engines, etc. etc. with some "development" of the models as you go up the range.
Maybe keep the Trad chassis for the Plus 4 too (including the live axle and drum brakes at the rear and the sliding axle set up at the front) but include the Dan White rising rate front springs and Bilstien dampers all round and with some of the other suspension mods I've listed above. The drum brakes are adequate even for fast road work or track days and with a live axle there is little to gain from moving to discs for unsprung weight. The friction surfaces of drums keep clean easier than lightly loaded discs too, and the handbrake holds better on drums as has been stated earlier.
Finally, as a nod to the present day, try to update the materials in the front suspension with professional main and rebound spring covers (no criticism of your mohair items intended DaveW) and some self lubricating bushes to move towards a maintenance free (or at least low maintenance) front end. Maybe this would keep the Trad driving feel but with more comfort and control, and less need for us aged owners having to get down and dirty so often.
From a comfort perspective, perhaps new doors and side windows that keep more of the water out and yes, maybe even have wind up windows... if not then a convenient place to store the towels!
In response to Dean re the younger generation: I hear what you're saying Dean, but I sometimes feel the Gameboy generation would really benefit from driving a basic car without all the control toys (ABS, traction control, brake effort distribution systems, etc.) just so they know how a car responds to the laws of physics... which they all do in extremis even with all the control toys.
18 months ago, when in France, a youth with confidence levels way beyond his driving ability who probably learned to drive on a computer game, lost control of his car whilst trying to slalom through traffic on a four lane road at approximately twice the speed of the rest of the traffic. He skidded between the car behind me and the car behind that, hit and bounced off the kerb, came off the kerb in front of the car following me and hit the back of my car... hard. He bounce off my car and slid across the road (4 lanes remember) and came to rest about 2m away from a bus stop full of school children. £4.5k damage to my car... I was not happy!
