Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Classics you still would like to own ?

Alfa Sud - is that a translation for Alka Seltzer?

I bought an Elan kit when I was at University. Went to the Motor Show and in those days if you looked like a real customer they offered you drinks ob the Lotus stand. Got chatting , got pi55ed, and placed an order for a kit Elan. My father explained to me the following morning that he wasnt about to finance that deal. Sad - order cancelled. Where was the fatherly support?

I bought an Elan kit when I was at University. Went to the Motor Show and in those days if you looked like a real customer they offered you drinks ob the Lotus stand. Got chatting , got pi55ed, and placed an order for a kit Elan. My father explained to me the following morning that he wasnt about to finance that deal. Sad - order cancelled. Where was the fatherly support?

There is something about the driver dynamics of a Lotus that until very recently wasnt matched in any other make of car. I test drove an Elise and as soon as I felt the steering and cornering, I was hooked and bought one.

I'm fascinated by the innovation in small capacity car engines taking place pre-war with little constraints on costs it seems, although possibly explained by the RAC horsepower tax in force at that time. One example was the four cylinder 1104 cc twin overhead cam engine used in the Lagonda Rapier. The brief was to design "Britain's finest 1100 cc engine" and the result was to be built in light alloy. Even then though costs resulted in the block being in cast iron making it heavier than anticipated although it did produce a healthy 50 bhp, and that's without the supercharger fitted to some two seater variants.



When Lagonda failed in 1935, part of the sell off included supplying all the remaining Rapier engines and chassis to the newly formed Rapier Cars Ltd. They built just 46 cars with their own 4 seater touring bodywork. The organiser of local M3W club branch has one and explained a lot of this history to me. Apparently the Lagonda name was ground off engine covers and Rapier added. Although of considerably larger capacity, he hinted that the engine design was the inspiration for the post war twin ohc six cylinder Jaguar range.

The Wolseley OHC engines with the vertical dynamo drive were innovative designs for the time.

Used in pre war MGs.......

And the preselector gearboxes.

If I buy a classic car in the future, it will be a Ford Model A roadster or coupe.



I like them very much and they are in a resonable price range. Spare parts are no problem.

Oh goodness, where to start:-

Ferrari 275 GTB 4 cam
Ferrari Superfast
Ferrari 250 SWB
Bentley 3 Ltr
Invicta Low Chassis
Alfa 8C
Delahaye 165 ( Figoni & Falaschi )
Lagonda LG6
I'll have to stop now, I'm dribbling on the keyboard

As someone who enjoyed owning a Scimitar gte back in the day (how many 'sports cars' can you move house in ?) ....I've always hankered after one of these ..... shape works well! ....and not out of my price range by several miles like most of my other wish-list cars.







K

Many years ago I owned two at the same time. Never got either on The road . To busy rebuilding a Datsun 260 Z....loved that car wish I had it today.

Coincidentally I had 2 Scimitar GTs at the same time too Ray . Sadly one caught fire and was written off when my then girlfriend was driving it , handy for spares though 😃
The second one was written off by the same person who had by then become my wife just after I had finished a full restoration ...
I did hear someone had repaired it and was racing it .
Lovely cars

Hugh