wlaidlaw Posted October 10, 2023 Share #20681 Posted October 10, 2023 Advertisement (gone after registration) I had very similar wheels also Cromodora on my Fiat Abarth 131 16V 2000, one of the few RHD ones, which I bought as an ex-Fiat UK demonstrator. Sadly when my wife was using it for a few weeks and it was parked at the hospital where she worked, it got run into on a rear corner by a laden 8 wheel construction truck. It went back to Fiat UK for repair but never drove or braked in a straight line afterwards in spite of a number of trips back to Fiat. Eventually I persuaded my insurance company to write it off after one of their engineers drove it and scared himself silly, declaring it a dangerous vehicle. I suppose it was scrapped. I just hope someone removed the lovely fuel injected 16V engine first. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 10, 2023 Posted October 10, 2023 Hi wlaidlaw, Take a look here Name this car..... I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
ramarren Posted October 10, 2023 Share #20682 Posted October 10, 2023 I'll have to look up the TVRs ... I once had the pleasure of driving a Vixen for a month or so, but that was an eon ago now! G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted October 10, 2023 Share #20683 Posted October 10, 2023 Just now, ramarren said: I'll have to look up the TVRs ... I once had the pleasure of driving a Vixen for a month or so, but that was an eon ago now! G It lasted a month??? That must be a record. 😀 Wilson 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernstk Posted October 10, 2023 Share #20684 Posted October 10, 2023 1 minute ago, wlaidlaw said: It lasted a month??? That must be a record. 😀 Wilson I had a TVR Griffith 500 for maybe 2 months. Something broke on it every day. Every single day. Ernst 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramarren Posted October 10, 2023 Share #20685 Posted October 10, 2023 1 hour ago, wlaidlaw said: It lasted a month??? That must be a record. 😀 Wilson LOL! This was a very special little monster. It was a TVR Vixen that had experienced some mechanical calamity. The owner had it completely gutted, and then had engineered fitment of a mildly up-tuned 3.5L Rover V8 with Jaguar 4 speed gearbox and rear end/suspension assembly into it. The suspension was completely prodified and redone. The shop I worked at occasionally had done a lot of the work on it, and it was solid and reliable. It was painted bright signal orange with deeply tinted rear and side glass, and side-mounted exhausts. All up weight was 2100 lbs, wet; engine had been dyno'ed at 220 hp IIRC. It was a most pleasant little animal to blast around in, as long as it wasn't a hot day. Very torquey, very responsive throttle, brutally sharp brakes ... a thorough kick in the pants to drive. By the time I had it to drive, most of the teething issues had been worked out; the month I had it was without any incident. I did a service on it for the owner, which is why he left it with me when he went on a month-long business trip. G 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramarren Posted October 10, 2023 Share #20686 Posted October 10, 2023 1 hour ago, Ernstk said: I had a TVR Griffith 500 for maybe 2 months. Something broke on it every day. Every single day. Ernst Now that sounds like my '71 BMW 2002 (with the illegal Alpina "kit" that I imported and fitted into it...). G 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramarren Posted October 10, 2023 Share #20687 Posted October 10, 2023 Advertisement (gone after registration) 8 hours ago, ramarren said: Okay ... I found a little clutch of photos I made in 2007 of another interesting car ... actually, a couple of them. So let's see if anyone else recognizes them.. Hint 1: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! enjoy! G Hmm. Nobody guessing on this? Hint 2: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelG Posted October 10, 2023 Share #20688 Posted October 10, 2023 Based on the arches, wheel type and the narrow panel at the front wing is it possibly a Jowett Jupiter or Jupiter Sport? I think they have a central boot crease and were sometimes fitted with rear racks… 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramarren Posted October 11, 2023 Share #20689 Posted October 11, 2023 13 hours ago, NigelG said: Based on the arches, wheel type and the narrow panel at the front wing is it possibly a Jowett Jupiter or Jupiter Sport? I think they have a central boot crease and were sometimes fitted with rear racks… Right on! I was visiting friends on the Isle of Man in 2007, doing my usual thing of wandering about the island and poking around all the wonderful little lanes and townlets, when I happened upon what appeared to be a Jowett Jupiter Club meeting happening up at the top of the hill near Snaefel summit. Here (and in the next post) are the photos I made... Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ... 6 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ... ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/119687-name-this-car/?do=findComment&comment=4873550'>More sharing options...
ramarren Posted October 11, 2023 Share #20690 Posted October 11, 2023 ... and ... Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! It was wonderful! I'd never even heard of a Jowett Jupiter before at the time. The owners were definitely into them ... There's something so voluptuously, properly "early post-war British Sports Car" about them... On to you... G 5 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! It was wonderful! I'd never even heard of a Jowett Jupiter before at the time. The owners were definitely into them ... There's something so voluptuously, properly "early post-war British Sports Car" about them... On to you... G ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/119687-name-this-car/?do=findComment&comment=4873552'>More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted October 11, 2023 Share #20691 Posted October 11, 2023 Very sad case Jowett. They effectively had to close down because they could no longer source body pressings. My only experience of a Jowett (Bradford was the post war version) was in a 1930's 8HP flat twin delivery van (ex-Royal Navy), which my father borrowed from his wool buying agent on a trip to Shetland in the 1950's. It wasn't very fast! It might indeed have had a scintillating 14 BHP when new, but that had long since disappeared many thousands of miles before. Wilson 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernstk Posted October 11, 2023 Share #20692 Posted October 11, 2023 5 hours ago, ramarren said: Right on! I was visiting friends on the Isle of Man in 2007, doing my usual thing of wandering about the island and poking around all the wonderful little lanes and townlets, when I happened upon what appeared to be a Jowett Jupiter Club meeting happening up at the top of the hill near Snaefel summit. Here (and in the next post) are the photos I made... Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ... Nice! They look like a slightly plump XK120 which has eaten too many portions of Sunday roast... Ernst 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indeepthought Posted October 11, 2023 Share #20693 Posted October 11, 2023 (edited) In my late teens living in Edgware, London, there was a couple of the Jowet Javelins running about, very interesting cars. I didn’t know about the sports car. As said a lightly puffed up XK120, as a matter of interest adjacent to the Canons Park (underground station) but actually overhead, was a factory turning out AC Cobra bodies. 🍷 Edited October 11, 2023 by Indeepthought Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernstk Posted October 11, 2023 Share #20694 Posted October 11, 2023 26 minutes ago, Indeepthought said: ... as a matter of interest adjacent to the Canons Park (underground station) but actually overhead, was a factory turning out AC Cobra bodies. 🍷 That's interesting. I thought AC were based in Thames Ditton? Ernst Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indeepthought Posted October 11, 2023 Share #20695 Posted October 11, 2023 9 minutes ago, Ernstk said: That's interesting. I thought AC were based in Thames Ditton? Ernst They probably farmed out the ‘bodies’ - L Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernstk Posted October 11, 2023 Share #20696 Posted October 11, 2023 1 minute ago, Indeepthought said: They probably farmed out the ‘bodies’ - L Yes, possibly. I'm just wondering who would produce them in central London? There was a similar situation with the Volvo P1800. As a young boy, my friend and I used to cycle to Grangemouth docks, a very busy port on the River Forth in Scotland, to see what was going on and off the ships. We came across a flat bed container stacked with P1800 body shells in wax primer, being loaded onto a Swedish ship. I was completely baffled by this. Why were Volvo bodies going to Sweden from Scotland? Many years later I discovered that the bodies were produced by Pressed Steel Fisher, in Linwood, just outside Glasgow, then shipped to Sweden for assembly. Ernst 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indeepthought Posted October 11, 2023 Share #20697 Posted October 11, 2023 21 minutes ago, Ernstk said: Yes, possibly. I'm just wondering who would produce them in central London? There was a similar situation with the Volvo P1800. As a young boy, my friend and I used to cycle to Grangemouth docks, a very busy port on the River Forth in Scotland, to see what was going on and off the ships. We came across a flat bed container stacked with P1800 body shells in wax primer, being loaded onto a Swedish ship. I was completely baffled by this. Why were Volvo bodies going to Sweden from Scotland? Many years later I discovered that the bodies were produced by Pressed Steel Fisher, in Linwood, just outside Glasgow, then shipped to Sweden for assembly. Ernst I honestly cannot remember the name of the company, in any event it may have changed hands many times since! Or even closed down. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted October 11, 2023 Share #20698 Posted October 11, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, Ernstk said: Nice! They look like a slightly plump XK120 which has eaten too many portions of Sunday roast... It's funny you should say that. I was trying to find a slightly more 'chummy' way to phrase the same thing but could get no better than something along the lines of a pre-pubescent XK who was yet to shed her 'puppy fat'......and realised, in all honesty, there was no escaping the true facts of the situation. Stll; Lovely Cars and I'd love to have a go in one! FWIW I first was smitten with the Jupiter way back in around '89 / '90 when three turned up at an 'Air-Cooled / Flat-Four' festival which I attended with my '59 ragtop WV Typ 1. Really very charming cars and their owners seemed to be a similarly friendly bunch. I hadn't known about the reasons behind the company's demise until, spurred-on by Wilson's post a little bit earlier, I read about it courtesy of Wiki. Such a crying shame that a small producer can be so much at the mercy of the commercial needs of the likes of Ford and BMC. Philip. Edited October 11, 2023 by pippy 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted October 12, 2023 Share #20699 Posted October 12, 2023 I think the people making the AC bodies may have been Abbey, a long established coachbuilder who disappeared in the 1970's. They were always in London but moved locations a few times (keeping ahead of the bailiffs?). Wilson 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indeepthought Posted October 12, 2023 Share #20700 Posted October 12, 2023 25 minutes ago, wlaidlaw said: I think the people making the AC bodies may have been Abbey, a long established coachbuilder who disappeared in the 1970's. They were always in London but moved locations a few times (keeping ahead of the bailiffs?). Wilson 🍷 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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