Driving down here at 21:20 last Thursday. tinyurl.com/36fc97f
Dark (obviously) conditions other than sub zero temperature were good. The road is urban, mixed use and 30limit.
Several cars in convoy behind a truck delivering to local supermarket. Just passed the mini roundabout when vehicle from behind does an 'audacious' overtake of at least two cars & lorry.
Car further behind me turns on his blues and follows..... Miscreant observed on return journey talking to copper with open notebook.
Dangerous or at least careless driving charge will hopefully follow.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sun 28 Nov 10 at 11:09
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Nice................you're right though, 'just occasionally', I've been waiting nearly 50 years and it ain't happened yet!
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There is something satisfying when you sitness something like that. Just a shame there are not more patrols to catch more of the plebs
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Reminds me of the time my mate was showing me his TR7. Sat at red lights with something, can't remember what, beside us wanting to race. Took off from lights and rocketed up to 30 (the limit). Left matey behind. Except that he wasn't too worried about the limit and roared past. A police car pulled out of a side road ahead of us and nicked him. We did larf.
John
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Appened to me once, was coming down the A20 into Maidstone and there was a line of traffic waiting at roadworks t/signals so I hit the loud pedal on my Toyota Supra, overtook the queue inc. the lights, and got my collar felt.
He just gave me a tongue lashing (nice!) and let me orf with a caution.
A.H.
Last edited by: Dog on Sun 28 Nov 10 at 13:56
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I occasionally borrow my dads Jaguar xj-r and the amount of people who think its a good idea to outrace me at the traffic lights is ridiculous. ive only ever succombe a few times and then they lost. its very fast off the lights and in any gear.
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I had a drag race with a car from the lights. A 2.2 litre austin princess.
How did I know the police round there used unmarked Austin Princesses.
He had the decency to wait till we moved from the 40mph limit to the 30mph limit before he nicked me. 60 in a 30 sounds far worse than 60 in a 40 after all.
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Some bloke's lifestyle magazine (I forget which) used to have a "How to" feature every month where a pro would explain how to do something properly. One has always stuck in my mind, it was "How to burn an XR3i off at the lights in a Ferrari". The pro was an ex-F1 driver, can't remember which one.
His method was to let the XR3i go, let him get right over the junction, let him think that you weren't interested. Then nail it passed him in first gear. Don't change gear or drop the clutch but as soon as you're passed and he can see your rear end, suddenly take your foot off the gas and the subsequent backfire, noise and flame from the exhaust will make him crap his pants.
It's on my things to do before I die list.
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A drag race with a Princess 2200?
What were you driving , Zero? An Allegro 1100?
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A 1600 Maestro.
I was winning.
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They let you. They wanted the collar.
John
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Makes me remember the times that I have filtered to the front of a queue on by motorbike to then find some oik who think he is going to outdrag me because he is offended that I have "jumped the queue".
These people have probably never heard of power to weight ratio. :-)
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I kindly allowed a tailgating chavmobile to overtake me just before a camera van I had seen when travelling in the opposite direction a few minutes earlier. He accelerated hard to way above the 30 limit and braked about 50 yards from the van, a bit late me thinks. :-)
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>>I've been waiting nearly 50 years and it ain't happened
>> yet!
>>
Not caught you yet then B!! ;-)
I'm still trying to figure out how Zero was caught by 2.2 Prinny, they're slooooww... what were you doing, Z?!
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>> I'm still trying to figure out how Zero was caught by 2.2 Prinny, they're slooooww...
>> what were you doing, Z?!
I told you - 60
I was winning, but he put is lights and siren on. What's a boy to do.
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Assume its for someone else... as no self respecting copper will be driving a Princess, its only for Mr Averages! :-)
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...will be driving a Princess, its only for Mr Averages! :-)...
How's yours?
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...Average...
Skinny tyres, fwd, plenty of weight over the driven wheels.
I expect it's a lot better than average in these snowy conditions.
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car dealer i knew advertised an austin princess and the words in the advert read
"get yourself in a princess"
charles has
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Dad had a Princess with the 1700 engine,i had one with the 1800 B series, i had a Landcrab with the 2200 back in the 70's, it was that heavy it was fitted with reinforced (van) tyres from new...in 6" of snow it never faltered where most cars just sat and span.
It holds the dubious memory for me of needing 22 pints of oil for an engine oil change.
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Sun 28 Nov 10 at 16:41
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Didn't the 2.2 litre ones have a reputation for splitting their bulkheads ? My dad had a 1.8 they were big and roomy and really comfortable...
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I reckon the Wolseley version of the wedge Princess is the last Wolseley made, or badge-engineered, if you prefer.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_%28car%29
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Had they been better made and had a hatchback from the outset they would have been at the cutting edge - they certainly could look good in certain colours...typical BL full of potential let down in the execution..
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...typical BL full of potential let down in the execution...
So, so, true.
They were doing it right to the end with the 25/45/75.
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>>Had they been better made and had a hatchback from the outset
They made a hatchback, they called it Ambassador and a crock of wotsit it was too, far too heavy.
I know, I got rid of a Princess for one.
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...they made a hatchback...
Strictly speaking, I think it was an authorised conversion, at least to start with:
www.leylandprincess.co.uk/Hatchbacks.htm
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>> ...they made a hatchback...
I used to service a chaps Ambassador, i liked it to be honest but it could eat top and bottom swivels as quickly as you fitted them, IIRC by then they'd got rid of the grease nipples and the joints were sealed for life or till the subsequent MOT whichever came first.
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love this gem within that link to the Leyland 1800 series:-
To quote a phrase in Parker's Car price guide from the 1990s, "an early critic suggested that the people responsible for designing the front and rear of the car were not speaking to one another".
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>> Didn't the 2.2 litre ones have a reputation for splitting their bulkheads
Having had the dubious honour of stripping and rebuilding that unbelievably heavy combination of engine and box i don't think my bulkhead's ever been the same since either.
The quad post lift sank in the tarmac outside.
I had an 1800 B series engined Landcrab before that, and there were really good roomy cars for a young hard up family.
Come to think of it i had quite a few BL cars over the years, just as well i was mechanically minded there was always something needed mending, but nothing compares in awfulness to the Rover 2300 SD1, the shortest list was the one of bits that didn't go wrong.
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I joined the A65 S out of Settle last sunday 6pm ish, just getting in front of a long queue of people heading home from the Lakes & Dales. In my mirror I spotted someone overtaking on the double whites going into Long Preston, again between LP & Hellifield just over the rail bridge, again going into Hellifield, finally overtaking me outside the Coniston Hall hotel, again going into Gargrave and the wrong side of a traffic island, then thrice more between Gargrave & Skipton. So, a distance of 13miles, 7 overtakes on double whites, and he gained some 18 cars in total. In a perverse sort of way I quiet enjoyed watching this numpty with his Darwinesque overtaking manouvres.
Praying, of course, that no innocent would be hurt when he finally pushed his luck a little too far.
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Which BMW series was he driving? :)
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Methinks it was an Accord.
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Used to travel that road twice a week in the seventies on my way from Bradford to Wick and back its lovely road not changed a lot in all those years,Settle bypass and plenty of police scoobies I believe.
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>> Didn't the 2.2 litre ones have a reputation for splitting their bulkheads
On some early fwd VWs, the design engineers came up with the bright idea of fixing the clutch cable on the rhd versions to a non-reinforced part of the bulkhead. Over a period of years, the metal fatigue caused by the movement of the clutch cable caused the bulkhead to spilt. Fortunately modern ones use hydraulic clutch mechanisms.
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Ford developed this technique long before VW. Easily cured on my 69 vintage capri with a nice thick plate welded to the bulkhead.
They also added of course, corrosion to the inner wings round the macpherson strut mounts, leading to the famous "rising bonnet" syndrome.
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Just Occasionally....... - Berisford
