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anorak:ERF-NGC-European:
Wow, what a treasure-trove! Thanks for sharing, Anorak. Dipped in a bit. Loved the footage of the Cory Merc 1319 artic with London to Paris 40’ spready tilt! Really brings back the atmosphere of the 70s.I used to borrow an old Austin Gypsy to take the kids swimming back in the early '80s.
Robert
I did a bit of research into Austin Gipsies earlier. Seems like they were the same as a Land Rover, but with at least one proper engineer on the design team- proper suspension, for example. I have a bit of a downer on Land Rovers, which has intensified since they attracted a fashionable following. The reason for my negativity is- I occasionally get jobs repairing the chassis of them, and it is a pain in several parts of the body. You can’t get to the top face of the chassis, because the body is in the way, and you can’t get to parts of the body in the vicinity of the chassis, for a similar reason. Repairs to the top of the chassis have to be done leaving a “window” in the bottom or side of the section, then letting a section into the hole afterwards. The “usual” method is to slide the new section over the old, and leave the unseen joint unwelded, but I refuse to do that bodge, which makes LR “experts” think I’m a snob. The owners ■■■■ on about how great the things are, but any comparable vehicle is nicer to drive. I recount the usual waffle about them being designed to use up wartime leftovers- aluminium, draughtsmen etc.
True. I’ve had older models of Landies: very capable off-road, and lots of fun to play with; but hopelessly unreliable compared with most of the competition (especially those built during ther British Leyland era). Their Diesel engines were an embarrassment when bits of the map were still pink! At least the wartime leftover aluminium got turned into Birmabrite! Robert