Great british cars-nostalgia

[Whitespirit66]

Obviously for me being a Brummie the clip was extra nice,

Went through Longbidge on the train to New St recently. Sad to think it's all gone. A place that used to send cars all over the world, to nothing now.

and the car workers weren't all militant,

What surprises me, is that many workers were militant though, and seemed determined to bring down the industry they worked in, aided by poor products, useless management and bolshie unions.

Now their sons are probably grateful for a job at Honda or Toyota, working 12 hour days, screwing together efficient but dull cars. Not even a quick wildcat strike to relieve the boredom. Different times I suppose.

 

[ICTRich]

My dad had two Princesses aka the wedge. As a kid I thought it was great, the back seats were like trampolines.

Untitled

• ICTRich
• 17 Apr 2012
• 1

Then they 'upgraded them to the Ambassador. Shocking, almost as shocking as the Marinas upgrade to an Ital.

However I do remember wetting my self a little bit with John Shuttleworth's Austin Ambassador Y Reg....

 

[EddieM]

Nostaglia...... it's not what it used to be

 

[ICTRich]

Why is my youtube link not embedded?

Edit - Sorted, dodgy link..

 

[JohnD]

I think the Princess was a really nice car, especially the 6-cylinder.

Unfortunately when Rover joined the group they shifted it downmarket and brought out the tacky Ambassador to prevent competing with the big hatchback Rover SD1.

In those days cars used to go rusty so I don't suppose there are many left.

here we are

 

[ellal]

Apparently Charles was once caught trying to fit a new coil into a Princess...

 

[Whitespirit66]

Now it's safe to, I'm coming out of the closet. No not what you're thinking! I'm also a Princess fan. Had one a few years ago. It was a '76, 2200 HLS. To the uninitiated, that's a straight 6, with twin carbs. It was white, with a blue vinyl roof, and when new, came with Denovo run-flat tyres.

In it's day, the 'Wedge' was quite a quick car for it's size, and could certainly 'burn off' some sluggish Mercs, as well as many other cars. It's E series SOHC engine was also extremeley smooth, but the effect was ruined slightly by the the front wheel shake these cars suffered from over 70mph.

Also, what drugs were BL marketing department on, thinking they could convince Hans to pass over a BMW/Audi/Merc for a Princess? This advert is real.

Got to laugh at this one too.

 

[EddieM]

you cannot be serious as Mr McEnroe would say, the princess, a good car, please it was junk, best painted in dog dirt brown !

 

[pred]

I cant believe this post is still dragging on, even the heading is a farce "great British cars-nostalgia"

I think pred that what has gone missing a bit in this thread is the word 'nostalgia' to enable this you have to wear 'rose coloured glasses' its a bit like saying ...the sun always shone when I was a kid...you know it didn't it just seemed like it. We all know the cars were basically rubbish, but the fact was it was a huge turning point in car ownership. I actually owned a car as a teenager, something my parents would never even have dreamed of.
The 60-70's were a time of huge change and for those of us who were there (yes, I know we are ancient) it really was an exciting time..
Obviously for me being a Brummie the clip was extra nice, and the car workers weren't all militant, most of them were like my Dad good, decent hard working men.
It was a time when half the threads on here wouldn't even be written, kids (on the whole) went to school, had parents who had time for them , and had parents who were 'content' how many of us are these days.
So do I care that my little Triumph Herald was constantly being patched with fiberglass and if you lifted the mats you could actually see the road......no I don't because I am revelling in the 'nostalgia' of it all

So where does SusieJB come into it you ask!!!!

 

[Whitespirit66]

you cannot be serious as Mr McEnroe would say, the princess, a good car, please it was junk, best painted in dog dirt brown !

If you judge them by modern standards, then yes, it wouldn't be as reliable or cover high mileages. But this was the 70s. Most ordinary cars had problems with rust, unreliability, dodgy electrics, etc, etc. It wasn't alone. Think rusty Jap cars, Lancia engines falling out, Fords with hopeless VV carbs, dodgy cams and heaters that didn't heat, Fiats with hopeless electrics, etc, etc. Most cars were knackered at 80K miles.

At least we still made cars, and other things, even if they weren't perfect.

 

[mysteryman]

The Great British Public, seeing car workers striking, shouting and fighting, voted with their feet and bought foreign cars.

The six cylinder 2200cc Princess was slower than the same sized 4 cylinder 1647cc Renault 20.

 

[Whitespirit66]

The six cylinder 2200cc Princess was slower than the same sized 4 cylinder 1647cc Renault 20.

Completely wrong.

The Princess is faster.

http://www.leylandprincess.co.uk/Specifications.htm

http://www.autospecs.info/CarSpecs/1976-renault-20-tl

But, if you had any experience of these cars, and re-read my original post on the subject, you will realise that top speed wasn't the 2200's biggest advantage, acceleration and torque was.

For example, the Princess was 2 seconds quicker 0 - 60 than a Mercedes 200. A much more expensive car.

 

[JohnD]

The Renault is also far uglier and less luxurious.

 

[Whitespirit66]

The Renault is also far uglier and less luxurious.

And French!

 

[sooey]

Austin Cambridge/Morris oxford, Humber Hawk and Super Snipe, Triumph Herald/ Vitesse, Ford Corsair, they were proper cars. In those days you only had to see one small part of the car and you knew what it was, now they all look the same.