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[The Red Baron]

nice looking motors pete, & that 1 looks in bloomin good condition.

[relluf]

I have had two Rover SD1 2400SD (or sd turbo) one in poo brown and the other in pillar box red ,fantastic cars in their day,wish I had kept hold of one ,very few and far between now I believe!!

[Kevin Wood]

You all moan about the old Rover SD1 and turns out it can do something all our Omega's can't do. Run on coffee !!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-14917496

Surprising given the amount of "gasification" we indulge in.

[henryd]

I've always fancied one of these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/austin-morris-2200-0-previous-keepers-1973-L-reg-land-crab-wolseley-/280737418202?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item415d410bda#ht_924wt_1137

There must be something you can take for that Pete

[Neil (Cardiff)]

I have to say I'm a big fan of BL. I know I'm probably going to get a bit of stick for this but the Vanden Plas Allegro is one of my all time favourites....

In the last 7yrs I've owned an Allegro, a Maxi, 3 Princesses and an Ambassador, for which I'm sorry 

I will say you do have to be a bit of a weightlifter to get any of them round a corner! Very innovative for the day though - a 5 speed box in 1978

[Nick W]

It would probably be fun to have one as a hobby, something to keep yourself out of mischief on the days off work etc. And would probably be fun to drive on sunny Sunday afternoons etc.
To have one as everyday transport that you depend on to get to work everyday etc. would be a living nightmare imo.

Why would it be a nightmare to use such car for the purpose it was designed for?

The biggest issue I find with using an older car is one that no-one else has mentioned: it's that the heaters take ages to warm up and the fans don't work very well! So you do have to wipe the condensation off the screen occasionally.

Otherwise, they're cheap and easy to fix(head gasket on my Avenger, caused by me driving it 7 miles with a missing core plug, took an hour and cost £15 for the set, which turned up an hour after I ordered it), and rarely  require odd/expensive tools.

You might want to consider the benefits of the value of your car going up, rather than sinking through the floor!

[albitz]

Imo it would be a nightmare because the ride/handling/comfort and reliability are almost always poor by 21st century standards.Although admittedly often easier to fix when they do go wrong.
I can remember the clutch cable snapped on my Avenger just after I left the DTV workshop in Shepreth one Friday, in rush hour (around 1980), not only did it get me home (approx 50 miles) but I drove it around like that for over a week.

[henryd]

I have to say I'm a big fan of BL. I know I'm probably going to get a bit of stick for this but the Vanden Plas Allegro is one of my all time favourites....

In the last 7yrs I've owned an Allegro, a Maxi, 3 Princesses and an Ambassador, for which I'm sorry 

I will say you do have to be a bit of a weightlifter to get any of them round a corner! Very innovative for the day though - a 5 speed box in 1978

I owned a very low milage automatic version ,lovely inside with picnic tables ,autobox was dire though,I swapped the engine and box from a 1750 aggro hls into it after which it went quite well

[Andy B]

I have to say I'm a big fan of BL. I know I'm probably going to get a bit of stick for this but the Vanden Plas Allegro is one of my all time favourites....

In the last 7yrs I've owned an Allegro, a Maxi, 3 Princesses and an Ambassador, for which I'm sorry    ......

  Good god! Do you wear a hair shirt while you drive them too! 

[bigboykarl]

my dad had a princess during the miners strike in 84/85 it covered over 25k miles in the 12 months on flying picket duty, with  4 and sometimes 5 up burly yorkshire miners (no whippets or pigeons aloud) and usually on the return they had a couple of sacks of vegatables that had been borrowed from farmers fields...in 12 months it required a ball joint.

[Nick W]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1BnhZsS8a0

SD1 with a Spitfire Engine 

Or, more accurately, a Rover with tank engine. Just like the other V12 aero engined car, the Beast. Both use RR Meteors, which was developed from the Merlin, and is much more 'suitable' for such uses. Easier to find, and MUCH cheaper too. Lacking the supercharger, and with other revisions, they only make about 600hp, although I doubt that's much of an issue.

[Martin_1962]

It would probably be fun to have one as a hobby, something to keep yourself out of mischief on the days off work etc. And would probably be fun to drive on sunny Sunday afternoons etc.
To have one as everyday transport that you depend on to get to work everyday etc. would be a living nightmare imo.

Why would it be a nightmare to use such car for the purpose it was designed for?

The biggest issue I find with using an older car is one that no-one else has mentioned: it's that the heaters take ages to warm up and the fans don't work very well! So you do have to wipe the condensation off the screen occasionally.

Otherwise, they're cheap and easy to fix(head gasket on my Avenger, caused by me driving it 7 miles with a missing core plug, took an hour and cost £15 for the set, which turned up an hour after I ordered it), and rarely  require odd/expensive tools.

You might want to consider the benefits of the value of your car going up, rather than sinking through the floor!

I managed to dehead a Sunbeam (same lump) in under half hour.

Had to replace head as I had skimmed too much off the original (running over 10:1 CR), and it cracked around the plugs (lasted about 2 years), replaced with a mildly skimmed one with new valves and PB guides.

I wish I still had that car

[Martin_1962]

Imo it would be a nightmare because the ride/handling/comfort and reliability are almost always poor by 21st century standards.Although admittedly often easier to fix when they do go wrong.
I can remember the clutch cable snapped on my Avenger just after I left the DTV workshop in Shepreth one Friday, in rush hour (around 1980), not only did it get me home (approx 50 miles) but I drove it around like that for over a week.

I found the seats in UK Hillman/Chrysler stuff to be very good, better than the late 80s and 90s stuff other people had.

[pscocoa]

I've always fancied one of these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/austin-morris-2200-0-previous-keepers-1973-L-reg-land-crab-wolseley-/280737418202?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item415d410bda#ht_924wt_1137

There must be something you can take for that Pete

I had an M reg 2200 for 3 years. There was allegedly a flaw in the engine design in that the pistons were quite short and prone to failure. The reason I say this is that the engine oil light came on in middle of nowhere - somewhere between Dobwalls and Bodmin at 10 pm travelling from Manchester to St Agnes. 6 week old baby in car. Police ran me to get oil and made journey to St Agnes. New engine (well short motor) was fitted in a garage built into one of the old tin mine workings in St Agnes. Borrowed an Allegro for the 2 weeks it took to get this lot sorted.

2200 was also prone to rust - it had a respray after about 5 or 6 years. Very smooth car I recall but fwd.

[ninjapirate]

lol the Bl stuff has gone full circle, they are so un-cool they are now cool!
I have a thing for them, i dont think they are the best cars in the world, but still a good laugh to drive around.
ive had many allegros, vdp1500s, austin 1100s, princess's metros marinas pretty much the whole line up.