nightrider Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 I'm thinking of converting my 1956 Rolls Royce into a panelvan conversion, having problems finding a suitable converter, I approached Rolls Royce and they told me to p***off, charming? Won't buy another one off them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 When I were a lad a good friend bought an old ex hearse Humber Super Snipe and sort of 'converted' it into a sort of camper van for, as far as his parents were concerned , fishing trips - but he and I knew the real purpose as did several young ladies of the locale! The only snag was it's 6 cylinder petrol engine's insatiable thirst - especially when driven 'enthusiastically - but it was often worth it for the look on other driver's faces when they were passed by hearse travelling at an indecently high velocity! Plus the fact that it was quite unmistakeable wherever it went and was noticed - and it did get noticed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Ah! Yes!! - Did much the same in a Mini Van with a mattress in the back. Did love those mini vans - I had two - the first had a lot of rust so it was sold and a better one bought with wide wheels and the 1000 cc engine rather than the old 850cc. Great fun. Remember one thing I did that was a mistake tho - those that know the mini van from the 1960's/70's may remember that there was that funny little pop up lid thing in the roof that was about 6" x 10" and opened a bit like a more modern sun-roof. In our wisdom we thought that it would be a good idea to take it off and fit it the other way round so it acted like an air scoop when opened as a mini vans got a bit hot inside during a hot summer (remember them?) - We did it and round the town it was good - it worked well. We got a nice breeze thro' the van. But one night coming back over Romsey Marshes - doing about 60mph, my friend Norman decided he would open it. The result was instant. One minute I could see, the next the whole vehicle was a swirling mess of dust, fag ash, sweet papers and all the other detritus found in a teenagers car and the wind was howling through the vent above my head like a Vulcan Bomber on take off. Drowned out Radio Caroline When we managed to stop we could not stop laughing. Great times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 With engineering ideas like that Clive, it's a good thing you went into finance. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Vans could be equipped for all sorts of sports, mattresses for indoors and with my Morris Minor ( a classic now, it had the split screen and powerful 803 cc A series motor) the back doors removed to aid rearward visibility in my local motorclub driving tests. Handbrake turns and all that stuff. Now a 56 Roller is likely to stil have a chassis and no nasty plate with GVW . It could makea classy base for a nice woody style two berth. Most had the big six cylinder petrol engine, right at the end they used the Chrysler based V8 that much developed is still used in some Bently models. Just the thing for out dragging the boy racers in the traffic light GP. In the event of striking oil in your back yard it might even be possible to fit a nice V12 RR Merlin. Got to stop, men in white coats at the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 CliveH - 2012-05-14 9:07 AM Ah! Yes!! - Did much the same in a Mini Van with a mattress in the back. Did love those mini vans - I had two - the first had a lot of rust so it was sold and a better one bought with wide wheels and the 1000 cc engine rather than the old 850cc. . I started in 1962 (ye gods - that was fifty years ago!!!) with an ex GPO van (dark green - rubber front wings!) - 803 cc of pure sluggishness - but still made an excellent mobile 'office'! I then graduated to a mini van in 1964 - 848 cc of fun and frolics - and as Clive says - even more fun when fitted with an Austin 1100 1098 cc engine. I eventually got my hands on my first mid fifties Bedford CA Dormobile around 1970 ish - and apart from a few short forays into tenting or towing have been a motorhomer ever since and I still love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 malc d - 2012-05-14 9:57 AM With engineering ideas like that Clive, it's a good thing you went into finance. ;-) (lol) (lol) (lol) (lol) (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Thread hijack coming up. Nowt to do with vans but a mate had a Mini pickup fitted with Michelin radial tyres. The spare was a cross ply. After a rear puncture he ran it with the spare on one back wheel. The stiff walled cross ply negotiated bends emmitting a series of chirpsof protest trying to control the radial on the other side. The nastiest combination I ever drove was A1960s Humber Hawk estate with radial fronts and cross ply nobbly Town and Countries on the back. I felt like a jelly on heat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Ah! Yes!! - Crossply tyres - they were the norm back then of course. And on the mini - no problem at all. But when I drove my Dad's Ford Anglia - I could not believe how bad the handling was. Another issue I had with the Anglia (for those too young to know - it is the Harry Potter car from the Chamber of Secrets) was the front windscreen. These days windscreens are bonded in, - in those days they were held in just by a rubber seal and only on some expensive cars did you get a crome strip in the rubber seal to lock it all into place. Well one night in Dads borrowed Anglia in the back with a girlfriend - having fun - as you did! B-) We had the front seats forward to give us a bit of room and at one point a leg pushed to hard against the base of the passenger seat and it pushed the windscreen out of its rubber seal! 8-) When, in the dark, I tried to push it back in (no pun intended) - all that happened as the other side popped out as well (I am talking windscreens here). So with a 30 min drive home I decided to take the windscreen out an put it in the boot. Dropping my girlfriend home and then driving home was a cold and drafty experience obviously - but made it but had to have the window open as I feared the rear window blowing out as well. Sadly I did not manage to wake up next morning before my Dad tried to go out in his car. Apparently accotding to my Mum, he reversed off the drive and was someway down the road before he realised there was no windscreen. I can still remember his storming back into the house and into my bedroom and the anger/confusion/bemusment on his face as I tried to tell him that when cleaning the mist of the windscreen I pressed a bit too hard and the windscreen popped out a bit so for safety I removed it. Never did tell him it was the ecstatic stretch of my girlfriends leg that did it. B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightrider Posted May 15, 2012 Author Share Posted May 15, 2012 For the first ten years of my driving life I have driven round in some scrappers, my heart cringes when I think of some of the things I did, broke the law on more than one occasion. Only thing I ever got prosecuted for was not having L plates on a 125 BSA Bantam ex post office bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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