Intro
There’s still loads more content I have to come from this show, in part 4 we take a broader look at some of the eccentric and eclectic cars on display last September at the Buckfastleigh classic car show held at the historic South Devon Railway (Steam train station). All these were taken with an iPhoneXS, edited in Photoshop and then cropped and optimized for display online. If you’re interested in any of the originals, feel free to get in touch. Soon, I’ll be hitting some car shows in Thailand, now that they are allowed again! More on that later.
BSA 3 Wheeler … A 90 year old sportster!
Today is really about the old timers, pre-1960s where possible. Below, before dashboards really took off, one way to monitor your radiator temp was to place the gauge right on the hood as an ornament! From the drivers seat, it would have been an easily spotted visual cue to check the temp. In the modern age, it looks incredibly quirky and ‘steampunk’ like to have the dial up here on the front of the car … note the dilapidation on this car, it’s never been restored – as is for it’s 90 or so years existence and still on the road. Testimony to the fact old school engineering was really built to last.
A vintage BSA with an early example of a temp gauge – mounted directly above the radiator out on the front of the car!
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The next shot shows how small the car is, it would be easy to read the hood mounted radiator dial from the drivers seat, whilst also using it as a ‘sight’ to point the car down the round and through the bends.
Now looking online to identify this model, it seems it is a BSA 3 Wheeler dating from the 1930s. Very old school, and still on the road – 90 years old!
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Crossley Tourer – High Quality Roadster for all the Family
These are from the 1920s, and were favored by Royalty until Rolls Royce stepped their game up and took over that mantle in the 1930s. A seriously sophisticated, complex, and expensive luxury car from back in the day. The engine looks advanced – alloy block, overhead cams, looks to have had a modern starter motor added (can’t blame anyone for that – you don’t want to be hand cranking your vintage on modern roads because you stalled at a stop light!).
Vintage car engine – simple looking today yet very advanced for its era. Model unknown.
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These are the running panels on a 1927 Crossley, I had to use my hand for scale, I was amazed how wide they were – you could ride along standing on them.
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Hand controls for fuel mixture and acceleration – driving cars of this era can be a little more involved than just 3 pedals and a gear lever …
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Something very steampunk about that dashboard, would have looked futuristic or like something out of aviation almost 100 years ago when this car first appeared.
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No roof, 2 windscreens! almost like the cockpit of an old bi-plane. Note the fur jacket – fake and just for the period look and glamour of the 1920s.
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Back in the days when engine tolerances were not what they are today, engines would leak or burn away oil over time. You’d attach a can full of oil to your car to be carried at all times, so not to be caught out or ever risk running dry.
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The way this Austin badge looks so proud and bold on this grill against the red.
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MG B V8
A staple Brit classic. Deserves every bit to be here, although not pre-1960s, the brand was around through the previous eras. The MGB V8 is perhaps the last great sports car the MG built, before things went sour in the entire British car industry during the 70s and into the 80s, it’s last hurrah was some modernized recreations made in the 90s and early 2000s before BMW finally sold off all the assets (keeping ‘Mini’, but selling the MG brand to China, and now, MG is a China brand of car, employing British engineers to design them, I’ll be doing a full story and visit to a modern MG showroom in Thailand soon).
Personally, I will always think BMW missed a trick selling the MG brand, and China is missing the point now by turning it into just another white goods car brand – or is it? In a future post, I will be investigating further and trying some of the latest models from MG to find out for certain 🙂
The MGB never appealed to me much, unless it had the V8. Then it becameS a lot more interesting.
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Cramming the Rover 3500 V8 into the tiny MG was a stroke of genius, and transformed it into an effortless and powerful, yet light and nimble 2 seat sports car.
The V8 version of the MG B is also the most desirable.
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Plaque here allows us to determine it is a later model MG B V8, as there is no longer a suffix for the assembly plant (they’d consolidated by this model year to one central assembly line).
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MGB V8 interior is well appointed with lots of leather and wood. Very British sports car.
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Commer ‘Express’ Delivery Van
I’d never seen one of these, and I ignored the Mini next to it for this very reason – seen millions of Minis. This was so intriguing because it had a real stately classy and smooth look about it, but, it’s a delivery van? Seems like some kind of premium delivery van with car-like comforts. Very common these days, however in the early 60’s, not so much.
1961 Commer ‘Express Delivery Van’. It’s a very rare vehicle to find these days.
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Elegant swooping lines mark out this van as unique, ahead of it’s time. An early example of small commercial vehicle with car like qualities – a rare format back in the 1950s.
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Interior shot of the Commer helps us visualize how this was at one time a working man’s mobile office …
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Big wide opening for easy loading of goods, and rear windows for good visibility
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Land Rover Series II
Another car of which lots has been written, and as we are in Devon, these are everywhere! They go on forever, many farmers still use them, and then they get restored by enthusiasts and go on forever again … below, first a very original ‘unmolested’ series 2, then what appears to be a ‘restomodded’ Series 2 which has been accessorized, painted, modified with different upper body parts and more I didn’t really have the inclination to go into. Land Rovers come in endless variations, barely any 2 are the same.
Series II Land Rover – Identifiable by the headlamps being inside of the wings, and the number plate dating the car as a 1961 – Series II production ran from 1958 – 1961.
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Note in the below are visible coil springs, sump guard, a safari top, none of which (I believe) originally appeared on a 1962 model. It appears to have had extensive work over original specs.
Series II or possibly IIa Land Rover, 1962 – this time with various modifications like clearly non original suspension and other parts. An impressive restomod (e.g. looks as close to the original as possible, whilst also adding many modern parts).
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Austin Healey 100z – Star of the Show
One of my absolute favorites of the show. In the 1950s, the Austin Healey was a British Sports Car that could hold it’s own against a Ferrari anyday, in looks and performance. An absolute ‘reference’ design of what a sports car should look like – low to the ground, open top, long swooping hood, seating almost over the rear axle, engine up front and drive going to the rear wheels. Oh, and somehow just draw-dropping gorgeous. No ABS, no Airbags, no Traction control – heck, it probably didn’t even have seatbelts. Roll cage? better hope you just get flung out and land somewhere soft …. These were the days when it took BALLS and SKILLS to drive a sports car …. The below car is so small it barely comes up to my waist when standing next to it, the headlights are about knee high!
Check out the absolute artwork of the front end with the louvered hood, and the character lines of that chrome grill, is just perfection for me.
The Austin Healey 100 was built from 1953-1956, in many ways ahead of it’s time as this format of sports car carried well on into the 1960’s and beyond.
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Thanks for reading this far and I really hope you enjoyed this latest installment of classic cars from a British Classic Car show back whilst I was ‘locked down’ in the UK. There are a few more to come. Next month is shaping up to look really exciting – 2 car events in Thailand lined up, the first is the International Motor Show, Bangkok, and then a classic car meet in Saraburi where hundreds of classic cars in Thailand are expected to gather! I’m planning to head to both and using some of the proceeds from these posts to make it happen. Before then, I’ll be filling up more of my content backlog similar to the post today until we get to the next event! Finally, apologies for not posting for a few days, I’m just recovering from a bout of Covid (which was mild, thankfully). A few more days self-isolation to go, I’ll try to catch up and publish more!
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