The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

A late Dolly 1300 or 1500 would be perfect! They are relatively easy to find in good condition (especially through this Forum), and parts are easy to get and not expensive. You get decent brakes too, which is always a good thing to have on a first car! If you join the club, I believe they do a special insurance for young drivers.

I wouldn't think the insurance would be that different between a 1300 or a 1500 to be honest. I would go for a late 1500HL - you get all the fancy bits useful for everyday driving - rev counter, oil and water temp dials, twin headlamps, heated rear screen, etc.

Cheers for all the advice everyone.

Alan, Looking at it the Toledo and 1300 dashes are the same, the HL style dash would need the whole lot ripping out to fit I would expect, and possibly new fittings I am guessing. The 1300fwd would look out of place in a Dolly anyway, and would probably be even harder to fit.

It depends how tolerant of lack of modern creature comforts you are and if you are a relatively inexperienced driver it may take a bit of getting used to. The drivetrain is not as dead simple as the RWD cars and though they do feel more modern to drive than some cars of this era, a few upgrades to mix it with 21st century traffic every day would be desirable - better lights, servo, alternator, heated rear window maybe and for sustained higher speed motoring it'd need to be a well sorted one as even 60mph can feel a bit strained. You've got to keep on top of maintenance - 1960s cars need regular fettling and some parts of the FWD can be a bit fragile if abused (i.e. driven like a modern car!).

Well, the other contender for classic ownership at the momment is the Moggy Minor, which I would have thought dating back to 1948 would be even less refined than the 1300fwd, although it is incredibly popular.
I don't have a car at the momment so wouldn't really mind comfort as long as its not bone jaringly rough, and I'm used to a catching a heaterless coach at 5am where the temperature is at -5C so I have no problem with it being cold or draughty! And with the roads around my local area I should be able to drive at a steady 50-55mph unless Im in a hurry for some reason.

I would choose to upgrade the electrics though, in Winter I'll be driving in the dark so lights etc need to be in top condition. Which brings me onto matinence and reliability, I wouldn't completley trust any car to start on a cold morning, especialy one thats 40/50 years old, or to drive without cutting out or getting "irritable" but I would always have the option of getting a taxi, even if it is very expensive.
I also have alot of free time and will be rather mechanicaly minded when it come to caring for the car (you have to be with a classic!)and regular tinkering under the bonnet will probably be carried out most weekends at least.

Although ultimately you own one and I don't, so it is clear which of us has the most knowlege on the subject!

I must say the Dolly is a very inviting car too, the one and only slight let down I feel it has compared to the fwd is the dash and interior, although when you are considering an everyday car mechanical, engine and practicality would have to be considered first, not to mention avaliability of the Dolly over the fwd.

Thanks everyone, I really need to have a long talk with dad at some point!

Hey, Its good to find somebody in the same situation as me!

Im also 17 and looking for a classic, hopefully im getting a Toledo next month

I know the interiour may not be as exiting as a Dolomite but hey, look at it compared to a modern car- there still damn sexy!!

Ill try and send you some info on insurance when I get it!!

On the subject of insurance the Dolly 1300 is rated in a lower group that the others.
If going for your own policy being young and male the difference will be significant.

For my kids who act as named drivers an 1850 was still okay. Its rated in group 7 I think which makes it in the same camp as things like the rover 200/25 and bigger engined fiestas corsas and foci...

A dolomite is infinitley superior as a daily drive to a Moggy 1000. Its has real brakes, a real heater and a heated rear wndow, not to mention much better suspension and more comfortable seats.

A dolomite 1300 is the best starter classic of all no question...
The only thing better is a real dolomite (1850 slant 4 ohc engined one) but it will cost you a bot more to buy and run and insure and isnt quite so easy to work on.

Jonners

Classic car insurance companys such as RH, adrian flux, James Best etc do not rate cars in 'groups' they price by car value, costs, driver and use and not by the traditional grouping value.

I've got to pop back on here and counter a few of the points that have been raised against using an FWD as a daily driver. There's absolutely no reason why anyone shouldn't and, apart from their weakness when it comes to sustained high-speed driving (which we shouldn't really be encouraging youngsters to do anyway ), the "problems" they have are a matter of perception rather than reality.

• Alternators offer little advantage over dynamos unless you're spending most of your time sitting in traffic jams. As an example, our Daf with its 6 volt dynamo system and a 4 year old battery was absolutely fine through last winter being used almost every day but with a couple of week-long breaks when we were using the Colt. That's after she's had halogen lights and a 40 watt stereo fitted, which is a lot more load than her designers expected on the charging system. All cars used to have dynamos and it was only neglected ones that showed starting problems - maintained correctly, dynamos really aren't a problem.
• The "modern brakes" myth is a myth. Unless you're talking track use, or driving like a complete idiot, the brakes on most classics are well up to stopping the car - they just take a bit more pedal pressure to do it. Sheila gives about 85% brake efficiency and the limit is tyres losing grip rather than the brakes themselves. That's about what you'd expect from a modern and gives a 42m braking distance from 60mph compared to the 54m that the highway code quotes.
• If I fitted better tyres the brakes themselves will give about 95% but need around 120lbs pressure on the pedal to do it. All that moderns do is add a servo with non-linear response so that they "feel" like they bite harder but, like ABS, that doesn't actually let you stop any quicker - which is what brakes are really about!
• In an old Motor test (when they did the tests properly) they actually found that the FWD brakes exhibited negative fade over a series of stops - the brakes worked better the hotter they got. That's dependent more on the friction material than the system design but it does demonstrate the heat dissipation capability of the stock system.
• If you can't see far enough down the road with a pair of sealed-beam headlights on high, you're driving too fast. No question. The only real reason for upgrading to halogens (which is cheap anyway) is convenience - and the chance to mis-fit a bulb and dazzle everyone.
• Reliability of any car is down to maintenance. Learning to look after a car in the early days of your driving is a good thing which has sadly been lost to a lot of drivers thanks to the laziness moderns encourage. It also helps develop a sense of mechanical sympathy with the car which improves driving, and enjoyment of driving, generally.

All IMHO of course


Edited to add: as for inexperienced drivers having trouble with the "quirks" of old cars - inexperienced is exactly the right time to be learning them because you have fewer preconceived ideas of how it "should" be. My partner got her licence last year and was driving the Daf the same day (you don't get much more qirky than a Daf!). She also drives the Colt (2 year old eurobox) but prefers the Daf in every way - even the noise and bounciness. Would that have happened if she's clocked up years in moderns learning "what a car feels like" before experiencing the oldie?

Couldnt agree more...
My youngest daughter is 17 and pased her test 3 weeks ago. Her car experience ammounted to a driving school fiesta and a diesel mk5 golf.
Her commnet about driving the yellow peril 1850 is that she feels like she is really much more involved in the driving proces in the dolomite...and loves it.

Son of 20 also thinks driving the dolomite is more fun than the Golf.

My biggest beef when driving moderns myself is how por visibility is out of those thck pillars..you cant see the end of the sloping bonnet and the rear vis is like looking through a slot compared with the rear view out of the 'mite...

Jonners

Cheers for all the advice.

At the momment I'm job hunting, I need the money to fund driving lessons/tests/cars etc! I thought it would be better to drive a classic before a modern so you don't get high expectations from a 30 year old car after driving a new one. Although I'll be taking my lessons and test in a modern car, so I don't know how easy it will be to 'acclimatise' to an older car.


Currently only thing that worrying me is rust and reliability, I know a car of that age can be kept running well with regular matinence but at some point an old or worn component is going to break, and I can't really take it to a garage for a part that might not be easy to find anymore.
I also don't know how to weld, or have anywhere to weld. how vigarous is rust on the structurable parts of these cars, and how long would it be do you reckon before a car stored outside and used in all weathers needs serious work doing?

captain_70s wrote:I also don't know how to weld, or have anywhere to weld. how vigarous is rust on the structurable parts of these cars, and how long would it be do you reckon before a car stored outside and used in all weathers needs serious work doing?

Just buy one with the best body you can find - as for if it will last, have a read: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=11696

A good car well kept should last for a few years without needing any work at all. Bear in mind my 11 year old fiesta needed welding on a sill for the MOT this year; no steel car is immune. Keep it clean, try to avoid driving on salted roads (not easy) and get a good (Breathable) car cover. It'll be worth your while looking to see if there are any car maintenance/repair courses at local colleges as well. Being able to fix stuff yourself will make everything so much cheaper.

Wot they said on t'other thread. If you get a reasonable one to start with, the steel is a lot thicker than later cars so takes more rusting to go through

As an example (sorry Adam!) here's a picture of Sheila as she was when I got her



This was a year after her previous owner rescued her from lots of years storage and did nothing to the bodywork except for filling the big dent in her drivers wing. He didn't actually finish the filler or paint over it cos he was using the car (hard) as his daily transport in sunny South Wales By The Sea, parked outside.

He also got an advise on the MOT for "heavy surface corrosion on all the underside" which meant that 90% of the underseal had flaked off and it was lightly flaking all over (but no holes). He also did nothing about that but, a year later, all I had to to was brush it off, coat with rust converter, and replace the underseal - no holes involved!

The hole in the bonnet is a known weak point on these cars btw. "Known weak point" in this context means that if you neglect them for 40 years then a hole will appear. The body was covered in scratches (to the metal) which he also did nothing with cos he liked the "shed" effect.

After a year of that treatment, the only MOT welding that was needed was one front jacking point and a small patch on an inner wing. Some may have been prone to rust (steel batches do vary) but the ones that are left are unlikely to have come from those batches.

Get one, avoid ones that are already basket cases, and give it a reasonable amount of loving attention and rust really won't be a big issue. Oh, and learn to weld anyway - it'll come in handy at some point!

Steady on there Joe, a 40 watt stereo, that must annoy the neighbours

Sarah passed her test two years ago and although she is not what some would call young (slap, ouch) she uses her 1500 dolly as an everyday car and now won't drive the modern.

1300dolly wrote:Steady on there Joe, a 40 watt stereo, that must annoy the neighbours

Don't forget, it has a lot less soundproofing to escape from than most. Think speaker in a big bean can Besides, my electronics was too rusty to get more than about 10 amps of 12v power out of the 6v system, and it does hammer the dynamo for 25 amps when it's on full

Well, as these cars are so cheap compared to Minors I'll have the same budget but with a larger ammount of good condition cars to choose from. I'm not worried about cosmetics either, I'd actually prefer something tatty, don't want to get a minter and then watch it dissolve under my use of it.

As an example (sorry Adam!) here's a picture of Sheila as she was when I got her

I'd be happy to have a car like that... with the possible exception of the big hole in the bonnet!

It'll be worth your while looking to see if there are any car maintenance/repair courses at local colleges as well. Being able to fix stuff yourself will make everything so much cheaper.

My nearest college is 30 miles away, (and thats closer than the one I might be commuting to!) don't know if they do car courses. Last year I was considering the Classic Car Resto course at Leeds but I just couldn't afford the £3000 enterance fee, for that I could buy my own car and fuel/insure it for a year!
I'll be doing most of the mechanical matinence, but body work is, at the momment, beyond me. I will learn in time though, as funds permit, car ownership is a challenge!

Hello and welcome.

As regular board users know, I have owned and restored all of these ohv cars and currently am running a Toledo and a 1300FWD.

They make excellent first cars - costs are low (lower still if you get a 1300FWD or a tax exempt early Toledo), parts are plentiful, and they are easy to work on. Mechanical bits are Herald/Spitfire generally (FWD's are a bit more complex in the transmission area) so there are lots of simple cheap upgrades that you can do.

I would buy a 1300 of any description over a 1500 all day long as the engine is much revvier and more robust generally. Insurance is cheaper too.

Any properly set up 1300 sensibly driven should average 35-40 mpg and on a gentle run they can do considerably better.

For me FWD's are better looking, and they are definitely better made. They are also more comfortable, with much better seats and suspension.

The Dolly 1300 offers the long boot look, and has a plusher interior with the brush nylon trim and recliners, also bits like a heated window and hazards, though these are easily retrofitted to earlier cars.


The Toledo offers a middle way, with early examples tax exempt, and the option of a two door model. The short boot shell is a bit lighter than the later Dolly's, so they are slightly more spritely.

At the end of the day buy the best car you can find based on bodywork as the mechanics cost buttons and are widely available new or second hand.

There is lots of advice available on here to help you. Good luck.