frankies car fest

[fixer]

went to a local car show today held at the Ford research centre Dunton Essex about 5min from where I live
as you can gues it gets a lot of classic british fords from the 50s up to present day ,I took a few pictures of the 1-75s present and a home built rat-rod based on some 50s American low rider not one panel on this was factory built even the roof was made from several steel sections formed to give the shape welds left unfinished and just a clear coat over the body to hold the rust and bare steel as the builder desired
apologies if the pictures are not in focus too well as I only had my camera phone with me

[Sir_Matchbox_96]

Very nice Reg!

apologies if the pictures are not in focus too well as I only had my camera phone with me

The pictures are great. I really like the Ford Anglia, especially in authentic matchbox colour.
I never saw the real car...very rare here in Germany!

Thanks for sharing,
Linus

[Lummox]

Love the Mk X Jag with the (Webasto?) sliding canvas sunroof. Must be a very rare option.
Great shots!

[nickjones]

Love the Mk X Jag with the (Webasto?) sliding canvas sunroof. Must be a very rare option.
Great shots!

I am pretty sure the webasto was an aftermarket addition, I had one in my dodge van.

[motorman]

Love the Mk X Jag with the (Webasto?) sliding canvas sunroof. Must be a very rare option.
Great shots!

I am pretty sure the webasto was an aftermarket addition, I had one in my dodge van.

Dont you mean Dodgy van!!!

[nickjones]

I spotted the van in a scrap yard in east London, It was the longest van I had ever seen, I enquired if it was for sale and it was, It was a Canadian Dodge maxivan B300.
It was only 3 years old and it had 14,000 km on the clock, The original engine had been removed and replaced with a 2 litre Chrysler Alpine engine and box which could not pull the skin off of a rice pudding. The price?. £875.
It turned out that it had never been sold from new but imported to Chrysler UK and used as an evaluation vehicle and Chrysler had done the engine swap to see if it could be marketed in the UK with the 2 litre, It also came with the original slant six, After repairing the gearbox for the umpteenth time I pulled the 2 litre and refitted the slant six, Eventually I fitted a 318 Dodge V8. I kept the van for at least 5 years and eventually sold it for more than I paid.

[Lummox]

A bit of a factory prototype, huh?
Those Maxivans are HHHHUGE even by US standards. And a 3/4 ton suspension, no less.
But with a 4cyl.????
Obviously the engine was removed because it exploded like a bomb when overloaded with 3 bags of groceries and pair of fuzzy dice hanging from the rear-view mirror.
Surprised it made it to 14.000 km.!

The Webasto must have been a neat feature.
I had a '66 SAAB 96 3cyl. 2-stroke with one.
I think some new car dealers offered them, but that's just a guess.

[nickjones]

A bit of a factory prototype, huh.

It certainly was, everything had its part number written on it and stuck on with bits of dymo tape.
The van was not only long by UK standards but it looked extra long because it had such a low roof, Here in the UK the rule is generally the longer the van the higher the roof.

[Lummox]

That's really interesting.
And strange too. Most prototypes get destroyed as I'm sure you know.
It must have been a fun vehicle to study!

[nickjones]

I did not study it much, I added a pair of porthole windows, some mag wheels and generally tidied it up.
When I bought it the previous owner offered me a roll of plush velvet like brown material that had a one inch thick backing, I lined the van with it.
In about 1984 I wanted to go to a van show in Rotterdam in Holland, so did quite a few of the other members of my car club, So 13 of us went to the show in my van!.