The Triumph Dolomite Club - EzBoard Archive

You are older than that...surely?

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My interest in classic cars was fired by the people living opposite our house in Battle, East Sussex when I was a children.<br>
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Mrs Robinson (schwing!) had a 1500 Midget in yellow. My first classic was a 1500 Midget - getting a lift to work in her MG one morning made a lasting impression. And the car was nice as well.<br>
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Mr and Mrs Hargreaves had a Toledo and a 1500TC. So much nicer than the Avenger 1500 Super estate our family had.<br>
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Mr and Mrs Ayries had a son called Richard. He had a white Stag which I drooled over, particularly when he turned up with the roof down and showing off by taking it all the way round to the red line as he departed.<br>
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Those were the three houses opposite(ish). If I continue up the road in my order of car ownership, my next vehicle will be a MK3 Cortina 2.0 GXL in gold, down the road will be a beige Allegro 2 1300. I think I will stay as I am for now.

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I'm 31 Mr Nicholas and yes, I know I look older than that! Was handy when I wanted to buy pints at 15 but not so much now.<br>
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I didn't immediately venture forth into Triumph ownership as I was given a Wolseley Hornet when I was 17 in 1981. <br>
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I drove it around (illegally) for a while (don't tell my parents)and decided I didn't like it. I then bought a K reg Toledo in brown and spent a year doing it up. Dealt with all the rusty sills and rear wheel arches. Resprayed it in the original colour but with a gold midpoint stripe. It looked quite neat. Cleaned up the orangey brown vinyl interior and fitted a Dolomite steering wheel. <br>
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This little Toledo gave me tons of fun. We used to drive over to Southport and use the car as a mobile sunbed, bar, doss house, etc. I remember driving along the beach with about 6 mates draped over the car and no-one gave a damn. Good fun. Eventually it became too rusty to repair (probably due to driving it on the beach, damn!) and was sold to a mates dad. Never did find out what he did with it. It probably dissolved.<br>
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I bought an Allegro after that, not sure why. Oh yes, it was dirt cheap. Might have been an 1100DL in Sandglow, can't quite remember. Again, good fun in a twisted kind of way and really comfy. <br>
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Student nurse poverty in 1986 enabled me to own a succession of old heaps that included a Saab 99 with chrome bumpers and the early Dolomite engine (which cooked itself about two weeks after a mate bought it from me), an Austin 1100 with a knackered clutch and a borrowed Wolseley 18/85, which was quite grand really. <br>
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I then bought the brother in laws '79 Mk2 Escort 1.3GL which got nicked and torched in '87. After a few years with 3 Mk2 Granadas I ended up with a Capri 1.6GL in 1990. Dull modern car ownership beckoned for a while but I saw the light when I bought a nice tidy XJ40 in '99. Bought another in 2000 for parts and bought my final Jag from ebay for £100 in 2004. Lovely ice blue 4.0 which I had to sell for £600. First time ever I made a profit <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :lol --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /laugh.gif ALT=":lol"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br>
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All this time I managed to own a host of motorbikes which was fun. However, this came to an end in April 2005 when I was hit on the head by a bus (after having just fallen off the bike). Not fun. I still have no memory of the accident (probably not a bad thing). Sooooo, I had to get my hands dirty with 4 wheeled objects so I bought a Rover P4 via ebay. What an utter shed. Despite having a new MOT, the underside was like swiss cheese. Made the guy give me a refund after making various threats<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START >: --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... ns/mad.gif ALT=">:"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br>
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So I then bid on a 1960 Moggy Minor - all looked well, until I decided to deal with the rusty bits underneath. Some git had filled holes with silicone sealant and had brushed over that with underseal. Horrible. Sold it to a very decent bloke who plans to restore it to concours condition. <br>
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Again, the Devil makes work for idle socket sets and grinders, so Ebay beckoned very recently with a porcelain white 1300 Dolly. This was a genuine low mileage (26,000 miles) car which had stayed within the same family since it was bought new in 1981. The car has an immaculate interior, some small bits of surface corrosion, 4 knackered tyres, dodgy battery, dead ignition solenoid and a clutch that'll need doing in a couple of months. Not too bad for £102. Plus it was only 45 minutes away from where I live in North London. Bonus. <br>
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I'm looking forward to working on a fairly familiar car that is mechanically simple and straightforward. I love the shape and styling of the Dolly and plan to keep hold of her for some time yet. See you at the shows!!<br>
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Ken <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START ;) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... s/wink.gif ALT=";)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br>
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Slightly less interesting story from me I am afraid.<br>
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When young (8ish) best mates Mum had a 1500FWD, but although a quick comfortable quiet car, it didn't in truth make much impression on me.<br>
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Fast forward 25 years and umpteen classics later (see thread "Cars I have owned").<br>
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Had had a long term longing for a Magnette ZB after following a couple being driven in proper anger on the two Monte Carlo rallies I did. What a tidy handling, good looking sports saloon! Believe everything Jonners says about these cars - they are the nuts.<br>
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So, starting looking in earnest for a Z. Scoured the usuals, even joined the Club, looked at several (travelled a long way to do so too). They were all sheds held together with a mix of silicone, filler, and fibre glass. It became a depressing pattern - and remember, these were all cars described as in good, very good or excellent condition!<br>
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Eventually one October day travelled down to east Kent to view another having had a long conflab on the phone with the seller and him having assured me that it was the real deal. I get there and its the same old shite. Open both barrels at vendor, get in car, drive off.<br>
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Five or six miles up the road, I stop for petrol at a country service station. Immaculate wedgewood blue 1300FWD outside with sign in window "For Sale - Apply Within". Five minutes later I own it. Call it love at first sight, call it what you like, but I've been wedded to it since.<br>
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Never did get the Magnette thing out of my system, but then again I no longer feel the pressing need to.

<p>Martin<br>
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1968 Triumph 1300FWD<br>
2002 BMW 320d<br>
2002 Renault Scenic<br>
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My favourite salloon alongside ours and the Rover P6 and Jag 420...<br>
But yes they are serious rust buckets in the way that only a fifties car can be.<br>
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I have great plans for mine now I can afford to pay a man to weld them up....or I may just buy another like that 10 k miler with no front wings and a silly start price that recently bombed twice on the bay.<br>
Good job it was so far away....wife would have done something unspeakable to me...<br>
Best steering on any car ever....but then in those days they didnt worry about solid columns and accident occupant safety. Bit slow by todays standards but nothing an MGB engine and overdrive box wont cure...<br>
Will out corner a Mk1 escort....did this on the denham roundabout (old format) on crossply tyres too...<br>
Jonners

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I had a Daimler V8 as car to tinker with when at school, which I used to run up and down my old mans drive at silly speeds, I removed the complete exhaust just coz it sounded good - bloody good job the neighbours were a long way away!<br>
Anyway - on one cold and wintery night (do you remember them - late 70's early 80's) a tree came down on the old banger (I've nearly always subscribed to bangerology - get an old banger - run it into the ground and throw it away). As it happens my brother was restoring a Mk2 Jag, and another V8 - so the Daimler was sold for bits and that funded my first Triumph - a Mk1 GT6...from there on I've tinkered with Triumphs - no rose coloured glasses for me as all Triumphs are crap in one form or another - the GT6 MK1 in lots of ways!<br>
That car did not make it to my 17th birthday - new floor pans were made and welded in, fibreglass front added - then sold to fund a sensible first "road" car - a 2 door 2 litre daytona yellow Mk3 GT tincorner. Crap in lots of ways, but fun.<br>
Second road car was a TR7 (hardtop, spit..) Sprint engine, STR91, 2" SU's blah blah - really crap on the road (very very fast, but really really rubbish in the snow (remember that stuff). A 1850 Auto Dolly was bought as a run about - ideal banger - cheap as chips, comfy. and it was still cool to add Sprint alloys etc. Another TR7 drophead, twin 45's blah blahg. From there on (20+ years ago) I've loved the rotten old dolly's - but what really made me and the misses enjoy them was a Brooklands green sprint we had, janspeed, 2" su's blah blah, that the misses could drift around the shepherd and flock roundabout on the A31. (I would have probably stuffed it into another car) but the misses could keep that old girl at a 30deg angle 7K revs in second, beautiful. Stupid but fun (funny how the roads seemed much clearer even 20 years ago).<br>
We then went through modern bangers, until getting bit by the track day bug - 205GTI 1.9, na, E30 M3 na, old 911 na, Sprint with mods - yup - the misses can teach me to drive properly!<br>
My british racing brown Sprint is undergoing body repairs, but I've also managed to find a 2 door toledo - that now has 1850 Auto power (why not Sprint power?- it will have the track day cars new "standard" engine once the race engine is complete, the Spirnt lump will go into the Toledo and the Sprint will get an expensive unreliable, boat anchor of an engine - why oh why did I not put a modern lump in there and be done with it, optimisism, enthusiasm or just plain stupidity. I'll never get 200bhp from the Sprint - which I easily could with cossie, sx200, red top etc. Lets just put it down to stupidity. The Sprint has had more money spent on it than I care tell her indoors - but do I love it and all it's foibles (the car) oh yes. <br>


<p>Ben<br>
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was a pimento red Dolly 1850HL I got when I was 16 with the 500 quid I was left when my Grandma died. Used to regularly beat on it round the roads of Hertfordshire up against my mates Alfasud and MGB ( the ford boys couldn't keep up<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :lol --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /laugh.gif ALT=":lol"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> ). had many a fun drive in it but it did earn the name the Dodgy Dolly due to its appetite for head gaskets. learn't to fix it myself and have never taken a car to the garage for repairs since.(stick with it Adam, you'll save alot in the long run). After a couple of years I needed something a bit more stylish to attract the ladies and ended up going for a 1972 MG BGT. loved that car but still hankered after the dolly that was sat idle on my dads drive ( it sat there for about 8 years before he scrapped it). after the BGT came a 1275 Midget that i ended up racing mith the MGOC for 3 seasons, that was cosmic, then off to Uni as a "mature" student where I used the midget as my road car for a while. ended up selling that to another racer (motobuild I think it was) and bought a VW Transporter to live in on the cliff tops outside Swanage for my final summer as a "mature" student. fast forward a couple of years and I found myself married to a Yank and living Stateside. Had a couple of different cars over here including a Mini Clubman Estate I imported but I still really wanted a Dolly Sprint ( Yank cars a utter, utter shite and I couldn,t find anything that took my fancy). well the mid life crisis hit, I had two little nippers and no decent car to transport them around in ( my TR6 needs full resto but don't have the time or money for it and it doesn't have enough seats). Time to remortgage the house take the $20k and buy a Dolly Sprint before I end up doing something drastic.( had to buy the missus an MPV to keep her happy, what a mistake that was, gas guzzling piece of shit). so anyway onto the internet, usual suspects ebay etc found this site (best one on the net alongside <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.rathergood.com/swearotron.ht ... <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> and found a car from someone on here( don't see him log in anymore). money was exchanged and I picked the car up a couple of months later on my next trip home. At last i was behind the wheel of my dream car. car was fantastic, there's been a few issues with it and I've found more rust than I had at first thought and I think I paid a tad too much, but hey I'm happy with it and have embarrassed a few 'faster' cars at the autocross. so there you go started with a dolly and have ended up with one, you can't say fairer than that!<br>
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If i ever have the good fortune to move back to Blighty I will be bringing the Sprint with me to rip up the tracks with you track day boys!<br>
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cheers<br>
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Mark

<p>1979 Dolomite Sprint<br>
1972 TR6 (now breaking for spares to fund the Dolly)<br>
1993 Mazda Protege ($250 Winter Hack)<br>
2000 Mazda MPV (For Sale)</p><i></i>

A lad a couple of years older than me, lived a few doors away. His father comes round to see him in a 1975 (poss late 74) Dolly Sprint, Brand New, Pimento Red......I was hooked. I'd seen the odd one in BL Dealers, but here was one 'on the road' and infront of me <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :D --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /happy.gif ALT=":D"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> . Fast forward to 1978 and Archers Garage, Solihull were celebrating their 50th Anniversary, I came away with a Sprint poster and some bri-cord demisters made out of dolly seat material. For me the Sprint was car of the evening and I was having one 'soon as' <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :D --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /happy.gif ALT=":D"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :D --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /happy.gif ALT=":D"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :D --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /happy.gif ALT=":D"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END-->

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Interesting thread...!<br>
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My (now late, sadly) Uncle had two Sprints, a white one about 22 years ago. I thought it looked amazing, especially from the front and even now I remember the blue seats and the fact it had one of the round chrome number plate lights missing! He also got a blue one, it was a week old when someone pulled out in front of my aunt and wrote it off. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :rolleyes --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... s/eyes.gif ALT=":rolleyes"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br>
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After owning nothing but old (not classic) cars since the age of 17, I started looking into getting a Dolly a few years ago - like Alun I had to pass a degree first and get a "proper" job before I could go for it. Maybe I should have got a 1500 first, in retrospect I think this would have been wise, but I dived in and got the first Sprint I viewed. Tut tut I hear you say. Hopefully we will make a few appearances at shows this year.<br>
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Come May I've been "booked" to take a friend to the church for her wedding in the Sprint. Can't wait for that - think of the wedding photos!<br>
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I drive a lease car for work. After taking it to the Vauxhall dealer and being told the charge was £62 to plug it into a diagnostic computer and to take some oil OUT the engine (previous garage had put too much in!), I was glad it isn't my car! And when my previous lease car was written off by a drunk driver two months ago, I was glad that wasn't mine either!

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