Random Video: Electric Cars (1967)

Back in the mid 60’s there was a push for electric cars, with Ford and BMC preparing concepts for the plug-in future that was only 5 years away-

Piper GTT/P2

The Piper GTT/P2, now these are essentially the same car with some tweaks to the lights and engine between them. The one below seems to be a combination of the two models with it having the square lights to the rear of the P2 but the bonnet bulge, rather than an air scoop, of the GTT up front.

Piper Cars came out of the Piper Cams company that produced racing upgrades, the GTT came about from being asked to produce a sports GT car body and chassis to run Austin Healy Sprite mechanics and it was debuted at the 1967 Race Car Show.

Ashley 1172 GT

Now let’s just start by saying that this was a kit car, Ashley Laminates started producing the 1172 GT body roadster body in 1958 which was design to fit on to a Ford 8 chassis and fitted with a sidevalve engine. In 1959 this was joined with a coupe body like the one below, which sat on a strengthened Ford 10 chassis.

Ford Mustang Station Wagon

A few weeks back a picture of a Mustang Station Wagon turned up on one of the Facebook pages I frequent, it was obviously an older picture but that was enough to raise my interest.

Retro Show, Santa Pod

After getting up early on the Saturday morning and replacing the radiator and thermostat seal on my own retro machine since they failed the night before, I headed off for the 160 mile drive to join the rest of the Retrobeutes at the home of British drag racing Santa Pod for the Retro Show.

Lil Big Rig "Pete"

There must be that child in us all who would love to drive a big rig, and not some modern cab over but the iconic rigs from our youth. We’re talking Snowman’s Kenworth from Smokey and the Bandit here. But only a few of us actually have a job that justifies a truck driving licence (in the UK this is one expensive addition to get).

Gilbern Genie

This is the second offering from the Welsh manufacturer after the GT and was produced from 1966 until 1970. The Genie was a much larger 2+2 grand tourer with more chiseled modern lines. It was also more powerful than its predecessor.

Random Video- Life in the Motor Industry

Not the usual type of video we highlight on The Petrol Stop but a very interesting lecture from Richard Parry-Jones given at the Bugatti Lectures at the University of Coventry in 2010. He had a long career with Ford working on most of the European cars through the 80’s and 90’s as well as stints in Australia and American. It’s well worth an hour of your time with some interesting insights, like, the decision not to build the next Land Rover Discovery and the Ford Explorer on the same platform for example-

Noble M12 GTO

The first of the cars to hold the Noble name of its creator Lee Noble.,the M12 GTO was produced in 1999 and represents the first sportscar built in Leicestershire (well the bodies were produced in South Africa).
The one below showed up at a recent car meet and to be fair wasn’t getting the attention it deserved, despite it being 14 years old it still looked fresh and how you expect a fast road/track car to look. It’s even got a huge rear wing.

Ford Fiesta Tuareg

Before the term “cross-over” had been muttered there was one such vehicle in production in the late 70’s that could have carried that name, the Matra Rancho. You remember 4x4 looks but front wheel drive. Obviously Ford quiet liked the idea and set Ghia about coming up with a Fiesta based concept on similar lines.

Ford Escort RS1700T

Before the start of the “Turbo hot hatch” war in the early 80’s there was Group B Rallying in which required them as standard. However at this point Ford had released the 3^rd generation of the Escort and as we all know it was now front wheel drive. Not the perfect start at the new dawn of the rallying elite.

Random Picture: Ford Fairlane 500

I saw the one below at a recent visit to the Haynes Motor Museum, what surprised me despite the size of the boot how small the actual storage area was if you wanted to drop that hard top in. The sticker on the side of the box says it all-

Ford Convair Special

In the 50’s there were lots of sports car companies that sprang up to both build and sell kits cars, Convair Development Company was one of many and this was their baby offered in 1957.

Spartan Starcraft Camper

This had to one of the coolest retro campers out there, and to be honest if I had a few grand free I’d seriously be tempted by the two currently for sale on ebay. What’s not to like, cool looks, over cab sleeping compartment, 4 berth and oh 6 wheels. To the fair it’s all about the wheels.

Ford Mustang RSX

Now if there’s bad timing then this concept could have been it. The Rallye Sport Experimental was first shown at the Chicago Auto Show back in 1979, having been designed by Ford’s Ghia studio in Turin. They took a standard Fox Body Mustang cut 6”s from its chassis, widened it by an inch or so and removed the rear seats but kept the four cylinder 2.3ltr turbo charged engine. The new body was designed to be more aerodynamic with the rear wing reducing drag and those doors were supposed to look like glass in reality they were plexiglass.

Lancaster Insurance Classic Car Show, NEC, Birmingham

Thanks to Lancaster Insurance I headed down to what is probably the largest indoor car show in Europe last Friday, the first time I’ve attended since 2008 and how it’s grown. Over those years it’s gone from filling three of the NEC’s massive halls to now spanning five. The quality and abundance of metal now on show has also improved from “just a classic car show that’s in doors” to showcasing the best of the best as well as club projects, rare gems and concept cars. Enough to make walking round this colossal show take six hours, and some of that was at some pace!!!!

Ford Country Squire Camper

Back in the late 50’s Ford were keen to find out what campers wanted out of a station wagon. The result was this unassuming Country Squire in 1958. To the uninitiated it looks like a normal car with a boat on it, but Ford had been playing with fitting everything a potential camper could want while transporting the whole family day to day.

Ford Capri Perana V8

The Ford Capri as we all know was Europe’s answer to the Mustang. Despite having aggressive styling and that ever so long bonnet it never really got the engine it deserved or filled it. Granted it did eventually get the awesome 2.8i as well as Ford’s V6. Most enthusiasts believe the Capri was always missing 2 cylinders. However if you were lucky enough to live in South Africa in 1970 then not only could you get those 2 additional cylinders but it was also endorsed by Ford as well. That’s right following the success of a performance/racer version of the Cortina Ford asked Basil Green (owner of Perana) to build them a prototype version of the Capri using its 5ltr V8 out of the before mentioned Mustang before endorsing it for production by Basil.

Random Picture- More than the sum of its parts!!!!!

I posted this over on the Retrobeutes Facebook page and it created quite a stir, mainly trying to work out how many different cars were in it!!!!!

Mr Beep

Mr Beep was a character developed by BP Oil to promote road safety to kids and started with adverts in the late 1950’s. However a real one was built to tour local malls, shows and other events as well as visiting schools around Ontario from 1959 until 1964, and just like the adverts, it talked!!!!