Classic for under £10K

[Zelandeth]

Looking at some of those prices, it's very lucky I wasn't there!

...or Jim would have seen me turning up on his doorstep looking slightly baffled saying "Um...I appear to have bought a CX...help!" the day after when it inevitably decided to cover my driveway in LHM...

[CitroJim]

Looking at some of those prices, it's very lucky I wasn't there!

...or Jim would have seen me turning up on his doorstep looking slightly baffled saying "Um...I appear to have bought a CX...help!" the day after when it inevitably decided to cover my driveway in LHM...

[NewcastleFalcon]

Brightwells have an auction on 12th July at Leominster

Any fans of this type of thing? Its a GAZ Volga M-21 Series 3 1962 in Beige, Est £4,000-£5,000
There's also a LADA Niva on the sales list too.

https://assets.brightwells.com/image/lo ... .jpg?w=630

Full Catalogue here for perusal

Full Catalogue here for perusal

Regards Neil

[Zelandeth]

Yes please...

That Niva failed to sell a couple of weeks back.

The earliest one I've seen on our shores (or anywhere now I think...following a 1977 launch), and a gorgeous colour for it. Never seen that on a Niva before.

Very much want both...but especially the Niva.

[van ordinaire]

That Niva is seriously expensive BUT it is probably the best pre-Cossack around.

Same age as mine, with a very close reg. No. BUT about 6,000 times better!

On balance I'd rather have the Volga (but then I've got a Niva - or what's left of one): something at the back of my mind about the colour - because weren't they all black or grey?

[NewcastleFalcon]

Chinquecento!!!

To celebrate this landmark reply I pose the question why does the humble Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino 500 consistently achieve higher sales prices at auction than a whole host of Rolls-Royces, Daimlers, Jaguars, BMW's, Mercedes, and Porsches?

Obvious really


1970 Fiat 500 L -- 2011 DC 1 [Public domain], by IFCAR (Own work), from Wikimedia Commons

Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

That 500 looks so pretty in yellow I love it dearly!

And I much prefer it to the modern 500...

[elma]

That 500 looks so pretty in yellow I love it dearly!

And I much prefer it to the modern 500...

My thoughts exactly.

[Zelandeth]

Van: I don't think - to the right buyer - that £4K for one in that condition, that old and that (at least apparently) original is unreasonable. They've really gone up in value in the last few years as people have started to realise what good little cars they are - £2-3K for a decent "normal" one isn't uncommon.

Even Rivas are heading that way now!

[NewcastleFalcon]

You can definitely still pick up a nice Midget for well under £10K. Saw one today, recent purchase and nice and shiny paintwork and chrome.

L.Falcon Thirstane Castle

Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

I do like them in that pale blue duck-egg blue... Makes a pleasant change from the ubiquitous BRG even though it is a lovely colour. It's just a bit over-used these days...

I have happy memories of doing front trunnions on Midgets back in the 80s - Oh what fun. An angel grinder was your friend

Used to love driving them; true wind in your hair - unlike modern rag-tops where you're not even aware the top is down unless it rains. No fun in that

[NewcastleFalcon]

You have to know your trunnions with the British sports car. My GT6 had them. I do think the one at the right hand side siezed, and whether this was the root cause of the king pin shearing in two and leaving me with 3-wheels on my wagon, grinding to a rapid halt I don't know. Fortunately it was at pretty slow speed, so no more serious consequence.

I owned my GT6 in pre-internet days and it was over 30 years ago now so I have just refreshed my memory with a bit of googling and found this....

At the bottom of the vertical link (and after you have cleaned off 30 years of crud) you will find a lump of brass that the lower wishbone bolts to and the vertical link sticks out of. This is the trunnion.

Should you take it all appart (probably a good idea so you know what condition everything is in, you will find the brass lump has a female thread inside of it and the bottom of the vertical link has a male screw thread.

Now 1/4 the weight of the car sits on these screw threads, which is why Triumph specify EP90 oil (Extreme Pressure 90 oil). If you use grease it's too thick and just sits at the bottom. As I said before, make sure it's an EP90 oil to GL4 spec. Modern GL5 spec EP90 oils have additives that eat brass - not good. Thankfully GL4 oil tends to be cheaper and is the same stuff you need for your gearbox/rear dif.

Each trunnion is taking about 186Kg static load on a thread contact area of what...500mm x 5mm or 0.0025 sq meters - a force of 74400 Kg/sq m.

The most common problem with using grease is that the top of the thread gets dry, the dust cover goes dry and doesn't seal and so water gets in to the top of the thread on the vertical link. This starts to rust and weaken, then one day your turning right at a junction and the wheel falls off with a failed vertical link.

Yes that last bit was exactly what happened to my GT6....no internet forums to assist with that kind of stuff then

Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

Yes, that would have been it Neil, used to happen to Moggie Minors too if I recall correctly...

Back in the day it was not unusual at all to see a crippled car on the side of the road with a front wheel out at a jaunty angle from a failed trunnion...

It was then when the angle grinder came in good as once really seized they were a right 'mare to disassemble... If you could you could 'service-exchange' your old ones and get the surcharge back on the new ones. If you had to angle off the old ones it was a lost surcharge and a considerably more expensive job...

Thing was, a monthly application of the old grease gun was all you needed to do to keep them happy...

[NewcastleFalcon]

Brightwells 12th July 2017 results in here

https://www.brightwells.com/classic-mot ... 12th-july/

The GAZ Volga M-21 Series 3 went for £4,100
Lada Niva went for £3,000
Mini Moke £7,000
The 2 Rover P6's I had an interest in weren't sold, but a P5B went for £10,700.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Lots of modern cars just come in the most boring of standard colours..50 shades of grey, white, silver and even the blues and reds are conservative and dull.

The electric offerings are just the same...nothing unusual or bright.

However this is just too bright for a classic. ACA sale 26th August 2017-1959 Armstrong Siddeley Star Sapphire est £2,250 to £2750.



...and a Rolls Royce should surely be a bit more demure than this



There's also this Citroen DS21 Safari with "Citroen Car Club" emblazoned all over its rear window est £6,000-£8,000



Regards Neil