Valve amps
 

Hi,

In message , Keith G
writes

"Glenn Booth" wrote


The revered Rustin Allaggro. I once had to pump three gallons of water
out of the petrol tank of one of those. To this day, I have no idea how
it got there. I was running a mobile disco using a 1750 Austin Maxi as a
'van' about then (1983?). It was a horrible piece of junk, but it just
wouldn't die, despite all my friends learning to drive in it.


I'm surprised to hear that - I always thought the Maxi was ****e-looking but
quite 'useable'.

Oh it was definitely usable - my old man used it as a butcher's van for
five years, he taught all my mates to drive in it, and I used it to tow
DJ equipment around for ages. It was a workhorse. However, the speedo
didn't work, ever, from the day it was new, the paint fell off in lumps
and it had a nasty habit of blowing fuses for no apparent reason.

....And it was definitely ****e-looking :-)

There used to be a load of speed bumps in this road (on an Industrial
Estate, near the Bedford Truck factory in Dunstable) which were very big -
an 'up and over you go' kinda thing. However, if you floored this (brand
new) Maxi and took them all at DEAD ON 60 (I think it was) the car stayed
level and steady as a rock and the speed bumps just went 'whadap, whadap,
whadap' underneath!!

I can believe it. I gave my old man's Maxi a real hard time on a lot of
bumpy country lanes around the coast in South Wales and it never missed
a beat. The 'horrible piece of junk' comment was just the subjective
view of a (then) 17 year old. It's easier to 'pull' in a hearse than it
is in a Maxi (but that's another story...)

--
Regards,
Glenn Booth

Valve amps
 

"Stimpy" wrote in message
...
Keith G wrote:

Early Suzuki (pre Santana) - these vehicles are about the C and D reg
mark - I could go a number of days without seeing another 4 x 4 that
wasn't a Land Rover or Range Rover

In other words, if not the 'originator' of the current 4 x 4 trend, I
was one of the very first...!!! ;-)

You mean the trend for driving 4x4's that look the part but won't even
cross
a muddy field? ;-)


Yes indeed, but don't make the mistake that (certainly back in those days -
I don't know about now...) just because the majority of 4 x 4s never go
'off-road' that they actually *can't* - in the right hands and on the right
tyres....

Another anecdote (or I'll have to go out in this sun and start stripping
paint of the back gate!):

Due to being a big customer of Blue Circle Cement at the time, I used to
hold the keys to Sundon Quarry, Luton - a massive disused cement works miles
long and miles wide which has been used as landfill for years and with
terrain you wouldn't believe! Anyhoo, it was mine on Saturdays for clay
pigeon shooting. One afternoon there were a couple of guys banging in sticks
way over in the distance. I got in my SWB Landrover and took the direct
route across (lunar surface with 45 deg tilt all four ways) to see what was
going on....

The blokey explained they were setting out a course for an 'off road club'
meeting on the Sunday morning. (Bit naughty - should have come and asked me
first...). OK, no problem. The blokey looked a bit lost - so I said
'everything OK?' - yes, he said, it's just that we've laid that section out
as 'V Diff' and we didn't expect anybody to be able to clear it....'!!

(I went back the same way I'd come over... ;-)



But the Allegro is a classic of British engineering!

Had one as a company car (not my company) - it was the '3 stripe'
version and went like a rocket!

Allegro Equipe by the sound of it - had an extra carb over the standard
model


Unlikely - it was just one of a number of company cars we (I was a rep at
the time) used to thrash the tits off! (1750cc, IIRC...???)

Valve amps
 

"Glenn Booth" wrote


I can believe it. I gave my old man's Maxi a real hard time on a lot of
bumpy country lanes around the coast in South Wales and it never missed
a beat. The 'horrible piece of junk' comment was just the subjective
view of a (then) 17 year old.

Fair comment.


It's easier to 'pull' in a hearse than it
is in a Maxi (but that's another story...)


Oh aye - I can believe that! :-)

(Ever seen how an 'empty' hearse can shift on the motorway.....??? ;-)

Valve amps
 

Keith G wrote:

Yes indeed, but don't make the mistake that (certainly back in those
days - I don't know about now...) just because the majority of 4 x 4s
never go 'off-road' that they actually *can't* - in the right hands
and on the right tyres....

Hmmm yeah, maybe the tyres are the thing. Certainly a lot of the 4x4
'soft-roaders' have trouble crossing a field let alone a muddy one :-)
Remember the 4x4 market is a *lot* different now to 10 years ago! The
manufacturers are simply making products to fulfill the demand - seems
no-one wants 'proper' 4x4's any more


Allegro Equipe by the sound of it - had an extra carb over the
standard model

Unlikely - it was just one of a number of company cars we (I was a
rep at the time) used to thrash the tits off! (1750cc, IIRC...???)

The Equipe had the go-faster stripes and the 1750 twin-carb engine (IIRC)

Valve amps
 

"Stimpy" wrote


Allegro Equipe by the sound of it - had an extra carb over the
standard model

Unlikely - it was just one of a number of company cars we (I was a
rep at the time) used to thrash the tits off! (1750cc, IIRC...???)

The Equipe had the go-faster stripes and the 1750 twin-carb engine (IIRC)


There's no way this car (a company car) was anything special - other than it
had 3 stripes (when some had only one or two) and it had a square steering
wheel, I seem to recall....

(Tip to all the middle-aged boy racers here - it takes a *very* fast car to
outrun a '20 something' rep in a company car that will rev to about 32,000
revs in 3rd.......!!! :-)

Valve amps
 

On Fri, 6 Aug 2004 18:09:31 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:


"Stimpy" wrote


Allegro Equipe by the sound of it - had an extra carb over the
standard model

Unlikely - it was just one of a number of company cars we (I was a
rep at the time) used to thrash the tits off! (1750cc, IIRC...???)

The Equipe had the go-faster stripes and the 1750 twin-carb engine (IIRC)


There's no way this car (a company car) was anything special - other than it
had 3 stripes (when some had only one or two) and it had a square steering
wheel, I seem to recall....

(Tip to all the middle-aged boy racers here - it takes a *very* fast car to
outrun a '20 something' rep in a company car that will rev to about 32,000
revs in 3rd.......!!! :-)


But the best off-roaders are still definitely hire cars.

d

Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com

Valve amps
 

Hi,

In message , Stimpy
writes
Keith G wrote:

Yes indeed, but don't make the mistake that (certainly back in those
days - I don't know about now...) just because the majority of 4 x 4s
never go 'off-road' that they actually *can't* - in the right hands
and on the right tyres....

Hmmm yeah, maybe the tyres are the thing. Certainly a lot of the 4x4
'soft-roaders' have trouble crossing a field let alone a muddy one :-)
Remember the 4x4 market is a *lot* different now to 10 years ago! The
manufacturers are simply making products to fulfill the demand - seems
no-one wants 'proper' 4x4's any more

It's hardly surprising. I live in Berkshire, and around here they seem
to think that the qualifications for requiring a 4*4 are

1. Blonde hair
2. Inability to reverse
3. At least one child
4. Inability to differentiate between a diff lock and a padlock
5. Ability to entirely block a three lane road outside a school while
parking (or rather, failing to park).

I think 4*4s come free with green wellies around these parts.

Allegro Equipe by the sound of it - had an extra carb over the
standard model

Unlikely - it was just one of a number of company cars we (I was a
rep at the time) used to thrash the tits off! (1750cc, IIRC...???)

The Equipe had the go-faster stripes and the 1750 twin-carb engine (IIRC)

I don't know if it was the Equipe, but my mate's had twin SUs. He spent
half his life trying to get the sods balanced. For about three months he
was only ever seen with a bit of rubber tubing hanging out of one ear.

--
Regards,
Glenn Booth

Valve amps
 

On Fri, 6 Aug 2004 13:44:58 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:


"Glenn Booth" wrote


The revered Rustin Allaggro. I once had to pump three gallons of water
out of the petrol tank of one of those. To this day, I have no idea how
it got there. I was running a mobile disco using a 1750 Austin Maxi as a
'van' about then (1983?). It was a horrible piece of junk, but it just
wouldn't die, despite all my friends learning to drive in it.


I'm surprised to hear that - I always thought the Maxi was ****e-looking but
quite 'useable'.

There used to be a load of speed bumps in this road (on an Industrial
Estate, near the Bedford Truck factory in Dunstable) which were very big -
an 'up and over you go' kinda thing. However, if you floored this (brand
new) Maxi and took them all at DEAD ON 60 (I think it was) the car stayed
level and steady as a rock and the speed bumps just went 'whadap, whadap,
whadap' underneath!!

Great crack - scared any passengers to death and got you past dozens of
other cars doing the 'rock and roll' thing! :-)

(Another company car, you see.... ;-)

Yup, this works on any car with adequate wheel travel - try it with a
Scooby at 90 and *really* scare the crap out of your passengers!
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Valve amps
 

On Fri, 6 Aug 2004 15:19:51 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:


"Stimpy" wrote in message
...
Keith G wrote:

Early Suzuki (pre Santana) - these vehicles are about the C and D reg
mark - I could go a number of days without seeing another 4 x 4 that
wasn't a Land Rover or Range Rover

In other words, if not the 'originator' of the current 4 x 4 trend, I
was one of the very first...!!! ;-)

You mean the trend for driving 4x4's that look the part but won't even
cross
a muddy field? ;-)


Yes indeed, but don't make the mistake that (certainly back in those days -
I don't know about now...) just because the majority of 4 x 4s never go
'off-road' that they actually *can't* - in the right hands and on the right
tyres....

Yes indeedy. One of my best friends is the top Government vet in
Wales, and he had a smile a mile wide when he got his shiny new Audi
Allroad to the top of a mountain that his family owns in darkest
Taffyland. Given the crap showered on the Allroad by the muttering
rotters, he was quite chuffed that his brother had failed to make it
in his X5!
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Valve amps
 

Glenn Booth wrote:


It's easier to 'pull' in a hearse than it
is in a Maxi (but that's another story...)


which reminds me of a sticker on a hearse I saw back in uni ...

"Don't laugh. Your daughter could be in here"

;)