The ‘Dolly’ Sprint..

This car had almost the same performance as the BMW 2002tii but, unlike the BMW, the Dolomite Sprint did not change or save British Leyland.

Had the car been developed properly, it could have been seen as a stroke of genius. As it was, luck played more of a part, but it did show what BL could do with a bit of effort.

Power came from a SOHC four pot, four valve 122 cu.in engine which gave it 117mph and 0-60mph in around 8 seconds. In 1980, that was quick for a small family saloon, especially from the house of British Leyland.

Inside, it was carpet and wood trim, typical Triumph, a little bland perhaps but comfortable and with a nice array gauges to keep the driver happy..

Transmission was coupled to a short gear shift, four on the floor with ‘overdrive’ operated by a switch in the gearshift knob.

Sadly, the Triumph marque was sliding into obscurity, and by 1981, the only car to wear the proud badge was a reworked Honda Ballade, a heartless, soulless car if ever the was one.

Apart from the colours offered, this was a car which didn’t frighten family car buyers. It wasn’t garish, it wasn’t boy racer material, just a nice solid car which didn’t attract negative attention. It was a good Triumph, probably the best Triumph saloon in many a year.

A major flaw..

Triumph engines of the era were prone to fragility and, unless looked after properly, were prone to breaking.. The all alloy head of the Dolly Sprint required that the cooling system was kept well, with inhibitors in the fluid mix to stop internal corrosion. The Triumph Stag’s engine was a total disaster, and the Triumph Spitfire’s 1498 cc unit was two main bearings short of a good engine.

This kind of trouble didn’t just affect Triumph. It was prevalent throughout BL so don’t feel too sad for the Dolly Sprint. It was a shining star amongst a starting grid of mediocrity, and at least it has seven years to shine..

The Coventry Cat..

There was nothing quite like it when it was first released in 1961, and there still isn’t.

It had a claimed top speed of 150mph and could hit 60mph in 7 seconds. There was no speed difference between the 3.8 and 4.2 straight six, but one would need to use the gears less with the higher torque 4.2.

For the money, a touch over £2000, there was nothing better, and it is still a sought after vehicle even now but you will have to pay more than the original asking price. At the time, it was cheaper than all of the competition, and you still got searing performance, leather interior, full dashboard, and looks which will never age. Unlike all of its competitors, this one was mass-produced, hence the original price.

The photo shows an early Coupe model, not the 2+2 Coupe which had a different roofline to better accommodate rear passengers. Note the faired headlamps and turn signal lights above the bumpers. This is the giveaway that it is a Series 1 example.

You can find out more from here, but the photo is good for more than a thousand words..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_E-Type

How to spoil a favourite..

This is a Jeep WJ, better known as the 1999-2004 Grand Cherokee. Big lights, well positioned fog lights, the seven bar grille, slightly flared arches. Yep, it is definitely a Jeep, the kind of vehicle which gives the driver confidence that the journey will be completed in one piece. 

Not particularly cheap from new, and not ‘trail rated’ unless fitted with the ‘country pack’ option, they were solid and practical.

OK, let’s move on.. This is a new Jeep Grand Cherokee..

The seven bar grille is still there, as is the Jeep badge, but what happened to the slightly flared arches, the headlights, the fog lamps, the nicely sculpted front end?

No wheel arch flares is bad enough, the headlights look like they were borrowed from a pimped rice burner (and should be given back immediately), and the fog lamps are not USABLE fog lamps at that height. The idea behind fog lamps is that they illuminate the road UNDER the fog, not glare back from the wall of fog into the driver’s eyes. 

The new Jeep GC is not a go anywhere, get you out of anywhere vehicle. It is a vehicle for the highway or a track, and not the kind of track which leads to one’s favourite fishing spot.

I will admit that inside, the new Jeep is nice, but lots of cars have nice interiors, while not many can get you through the worst of weather conditions. I always promised myself a new Jeep if ever I had the funds, but this one Chrysler can keep. Instead, I will get the WJ fully restored and get the full country pack too.. 

The VW Kombi Type 2 T1 camper van..

These vehicles were slow, didn’t stop too well, and were not exactly spacious. Mpg was around 25, and you never wanted to be behind one on a hill, even a shallow hill. They had length but were not really any wider than a car, making them easy to park up anywhere, and had a lot of equipment in them for the size. Best of all, they were not so large that they were impractical as a daily drive.

The T1 has a droopy face look, big eyes and it looks friendly. It isn’t an intimidating vehicle like other vans and conversions. It’s a VW which means that it is well constructed and reliable. Most of all, it is ‘home from home’.. see below

After a searing day on the beach, tired from wandering around a seaside resort, or ravaged from a few hours at the amusements, you could open up the side and relax. Brilliant stuff as long as there was only two of you.

For more, you had to hitch up a caravan, get the weight distribution right (few ever did), remember to get a tow hitch fitted every time that you changed your vehicle, become the most hated sight on the roads during the summer period…… haha..

The T1 also made a great canvas for self expression..

If you had given this treatment to a Bedford CA or a Commer FC, you’d be spending many days in the ‘house on the hill’, but it suits the character of the VW.

As is usual with Euro vans, the Type 2 T1 was available in whatever version you wanted, from camper van as shown,, to panel van,high top panel van, pick-up, ambulance, paddy wagon, minibus, you name it and somebody somewhere was producing a conversion kit.

DAF 66..

DAF were always going to have a tough time staying in the car business. The company started with the weirdest looking thing, the DAF 600, and they kept their decidedly ‘Eastern Bloc’ styling for quite a while. Mind you, under the skin, there were even stranger things.

This is DAF’s take on continuously variable transmission, CVT to you, used in the later DAF 55, and the point at which you should quit with the sniggering.

So the car only had a steering wheel, stop and go pedals, and a lever which determined direction of travel. What more do you need anyway?

So, you start the engine, ensure that the front wheels are pointing in the intended direction of travel, push the lever into FORWARDS and then you use the go pedal. As the speed increases, centrifugal weights act on the pulleys, the engine revs drop away, and you are in motion. It was ingenious automatic transmission which was simple and it worked for small engines.

At the traffic light grand prix, a DAF 66 could beat the very best. Styling hadn’t changed too much, but by time that the 55 had arrived, the rear wings had been tined down, and the 66 is sporting a very ‘Triumph TR6’ look.

You’re still laughing, aren’t you. Well quit it right now.

I used to watch Rallycross on British TV years ago, and one year, I forget which, two Dutchmen entered a couple of DAF coupes.

This DAF is in the lead and that is what the two original DAFs did. They lead from start to finish, every race, and for the whole year. In fact, the were in front until the two Dutchmen got bored with winning and withdrew from the sport. They more than proved that the DAF and its weird transmission was more than a match for any of the other cars.

Has that cleared up the unwarranted laughter? I sincerely hope so..

DAF cars were not high speed racers, but they were fast enough and tough enough to do very well in endurance rallies and the likes of Rallycross.

There were no new models after the 66, but the transmission lived on in the Volvo 340 which would have been a DAF 77 had Volvo not essentially bought out DAF.

My mother owned two Daf’s, a 55 and a 66, and she loved them. Unfortunately, when Volvo took over the marque, service had to be done by a less than honourable local Volvo dealer. The last straw was when the local dealer switched wheels and brand new tires that I had got fitted for four tatty wheels and part worn tires.It was a sad ending to what had been a happy partnership between my mother and her funny car.

Porsche..

There is no number up top because I like ALL Porsche cars. What is there not to like?

You want well built and fast? Buy a Porsche. You want a car that will be as good in 30 years as it is today? Buy a Porsche. You want class? Buy a Porsche.

This is a 356, the first Porsche if you don’t include tractors and Tiger Tanks. They are easy to make. You scale up a standard German jelly mold, cut a space out for entry by driver and passenger, use the basics of the engine made for VW Beetles, apply good quality go faster parts to it, add four wheels, and hey presto, you have a light, nimble two seater sports car which will become an icon.

You then make a fastback type, and eventually scale it up again and you have a 911..

This is a new 911, but the marque has hardly changed in shape, but under the skin. Porsche cars just got better and better, aided and abetted by the best Boxer 6 cylinder engine ever.

Porsche cars didn’t change much because they didn’t have to change. The original 356 was a winner and Porsches have been winning ever since.

This is a Porsche 917, and it didn’t understand the concept of coming in second unless there was another 917 in front of it. Porsche cars are like that. None of them understand second place.

Porsche also make others, front engined even, like the 924/944 and 928’s of the past. See here..

This is the 944..

.. and this is the 928..

If you want see the latest, take a look here..

http://www.porsche.com/canada/en/

What you see is a frightening show of German motoring class. Like Mercedes and BMW, everything is carefully planned and crafted, not shot from parts guns loosely aimed at the middle of the factory floor. Every process in the manufacture of these cars is first class, and Porsche is the ‘sports’ section of the German auto industry. Even the Cayenne is a sports model, and about the only Porsche where I could still get in and out, being the old crock that I am these days.

The only setback to owning a Porsche is the cost of buying and maintaining it. Having said that, it is a more affordable supercar than a Ferrari or Bugatti, and a far more sensible daily drive than all of the other wedge shaped, often ugly, competition.

Porsche is the only marque that didn’t lose sight of its original target.

I was given the opportunity to ride shotgun in an aging 944 one time. I am sure that I should have said ‘V1’ at some point but I couldn’t speak. It would be something to go into a Porsche dealer and sit in a new one, but you know how it is, if you break something, you have to buy it. Not on what I get per annum..

Triumph TR..

There is only one thing better than a Triumph TR, and that is …………….. TWO Triumph TR’s, except for the TR7 which was ugly, not built in Coventry, and a car which should have been called anything but a TR.

Right from the Start, the TR’s were built to be winners, and they won many races in their own class, and occasionally gave much bigger stuff a real ‘drubbing’.

This is a TR2, nice sculpted intake, frog eyes, compact, fast, good handling.. a winner..

 

This is a TR3, the one with the super-sized ‘grin’, still with frog eyes, but a larger engine, compact, fast, good handling.. another winner..

This is the TR4, styling by Michelotti, slightly froggy eyes, the last of the four pot TR’s (a Standard Vanguard 2.0L), compact, fast, good handling especially with IFS.. yet another winner..

The TR5 was essentially a TR4A with 2.5L straight six motor, and it was the fastest production TR ever with a claimed top speed of 125mph.

The Triumph TR6 was a TR5 between the front and back wheels, but received a Karmann front and back end., was compact, fast, good handling and was yet another winner..

It was also the best seller of what I like to think of as REAL Triumphs, which had to be made and driven out of the gates of the Standard-Triumph, Canley Triumph, whatever you like to call the plant in COVENTRY..

This is the Triumph TR7 (PU as in pig ugly) and horrifyingly the best seller of all which just shows how low good taste had fallen. It was not a REAL Triumph TR because it was made up in Speke (Liverpool), no disrespect to the guys there.

 

Oh, and by the way, you could have any colour you liked and it didn’t have to be red. I have just shown you each car as equally as I could.

It was difficult to get these cars in the UK because almost all production went west to the USA. In fact, it was difficult to get any soft-top sports car in the UK for the same reason, and when you consider that we invented the soft-top, noisy, upholstered roller skate, and had no issues with soft-tops and bad weather, it was all rather annoying.

For the TR7, Triumph could have sent these to Mars for all I cared. They were ugly, unreliable and should never have been given a TR number. PU 7 is a much better name, and I don’t give a hoot that it gave birth to a V8 powered TR8.

Repeat after me.. The TR7 is NOT a real Triumph.. got it?

All of the others were great cars, and the Americans loved them, especially for racing. Well, lucky them. We would have raced them too, ya know, and those of us who could get a sporting Triumph, we invariably got pole position at any traffic light grand prix..