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Jul 27, 2018 22:33:57 GMT
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Inspired by hotrodders 'manhouse' and the recent 'how we used to live. Retro heaven' thread, I looked through my stash of old photos in hope that Id have something suitable, but as much as I had some great photos, they wernt really quite right for that thread. But, whilst looking through them I figured there must be something I can do with them, as they sort of tell a story of all the things that inspire my interest in all things old. So I thought id do just that. First things first. My Dad, Morry Cook (RIP). It was him that introduced me to the world of classic cars, but before I was born he was already at it, He had been into steam trains from a young age, (not into them myself, but I love the atmosphere of of it all), but trains soon took a back seat when he discovered motorbikes sometime in the second half of the 60's. I don't know much about this time, but I can remember he said he had a BSA Goldstar, and built a Triton in the kitchen much to his mums dismay. It was quite well known in his local area that he was building the bike and no sooner had he finished the bike and put it outside, it was stolen. He had afew crashes during his time on bikes too, one being when he was hit on a crossroads by a lady who had jumped the lights. This resulted in a broken jaw and having to have it wired up, meaning he had to drink soup through a straw for a month. The other crash was on ''one of those 'S' bends that you always thought you could do a little bit faster each time you did it''. The 'S' bends snaked under a bridge and was a 'perfect challenge'. But one day he got it wrong and was knocked unconscious, wrecking the bike in the process. Thats as much as I know about that one. But we want pics don't we? I cant say much about the details of these pics, I don't really know much at all about motorbikes, but I do find this age of bike very nice to look at, they are my favourite type of design. I don't know if its because Ive grown up looking at these pics, or if its down to my own taste. Probably a bit of both. After the crashes and being the victim of a theft he kind of became disillusioned with motorbikes and turned to cars. A similer thing happened to me, I went through a spate of having people write off my cars for me, including one that Id spent alot of time renewing almost everything underneath, and my mk2 granada got stolen. That got me a bit fed with cars for a while. Didnt last too long though. Once the bikes went his first car was a blue Riley Elf, and he soon aquired a written off Cooper S and some reverse rims, mixed it together to result in something like this. This isnt the actual car as I don't have any pics of it, but Id imagine it looked just like this. I also don't have much of a story but I don't think he had it for long. Again, I did a similer thing when I had a Mini Clubman Estate, I bought a written off MG Metro and blended the two together. Id rather have the Elf though So, theres the first bit. The next part would be the start of something that he would really get his teeth into. Something he would need a Transit for.
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Last Edit: Mar 21, 2019 18:34:04 GMT by bmcnut
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Jul 27, 2018 22:53:33 GMT
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I'm glad to be making the first comment in this thread so that I can start it all off by saying this is excellent. LTW 7C is a gorgeous looking bike.
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Yes, this is very good. I love these personal photos, they convey an era so well. Please carry on.
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Can’t believe you posted bikes up on RR’s
Of course, I love bikes, so these photos made me smile along with the S Bend challenge,we all had them, I clearly did not try hard enough, as I survived them.
Keep telling your story.
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skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,546
Club RR Member Number: 11
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Why I like what I like. skinnylew
@skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member 11
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It's, nice that you have the pics to enjoy, I might have to ask my dad if he has pics of his old mk1 Capri, modified mini vans, or the bangers they used to drive on the beach down near Whitstable!
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A very good,interesting read! Your dad was a "character" . I'm very curious to what comes next...
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And a great title to boot👍
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Jul 28, 2018 19:15:53 GMT
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A question: is there a bodykit for a Mini,to make it look like the blue one in your post? Like your dad had one? Or is that pure "homegrown"?😉
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Jul 28, 2018 20:09:08 GMT
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Carry on.
*Sinks into armchair with tea and biscuits*
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Jul 28, 2018 20:30:18 GMT
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A question: is there a bodykit for a Mini,to make it look like the blue one in your post? Like your dad had one? Or is that pure "homegrown"?😉 Thats just a Riley Elf mate, basically the same as a Wolseley Hornet, no bodykit the only mod to that one was the wheels. Awesome little cars. Nothing to stop you fitting a bodykit to one though. Thanks for all the comments everyone. Having had so many old photographs in a box for so long its nice to put them into some sort of context, and of course, tell the story. More to come...
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Jul 28, 2018 21:31:07 GMT
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Riley Elf...cool,never heard of it. There are quite a few British cars we never see here at shows in Belgium.
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Jul 28, 2018 22:02:41 GMT
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More about the Transit in a bit. Anyone whos slightly squeamish might not want to read on, but bear in mind when these pictures were taken in the 70's, they wernt classics. They were just bangers. This was his first one, he started well. An Austin Westminster. After racing for a while he was issued with a number, and chose a proper colourscheme, based on the signs in bus stops, he worked as a bus mechanic at the time. He soon picked up a bit of sponsorship too. Here he is with a slightly smarter westminster. This was the one he used in the London Championships in 1978. He didnt win. Theres no real order to some of these pic, ive got stories, but not much idea what order things happened in He even managed to get a whole team out there in his colours, the Country Cousins. One story I do have started a bit of a fued. Whilst racing at Wimbledon Dad got spun onto the infield, when this happend the car stalled, so he restarted it and as he accelerated he realised that his throttle had stuck open. He ended up back on the track in the wrong direction and had a head on with a car totally by accident. The impact snapped the other car at the bulkhead. It was apparently worse than the pictures suggest. Later on dad got put through the fence with the top wire ending up touching the A pillar. He decided It was getting a little too rough and went to his local track instead. Pid will like this one. Authough it looks like he spent alot of time on his roof, he won a bit. These are just some of his trophies. In this next picture he's doing a spot of drifting, probably before it was even called drifting.... ... on his way to winning....... ..... the 1980 South East Open at Smallfield, Surrey. There isnt a smiley on here for proud.
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Jul 28, 2018 22:52:48 GMT
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Ok, the transit. When he started racing he sold his Elf to get a transit for towing, and painted it to match his race cars. I don't have any pictures of that, or his trailer, All I have its this that he painted, a Vanguards one. He painted both the van and the A60, so I decided to make a trailer for it. Now bearing in mind I have never seen a picture of the trailer, when id finnished it he said ''I didnt think there were any pics of the trailer, where did you find it?'' I said that I havnt seen a picture of the trailer, I just made it up as I went along. According to him he construction of it was almost identical to the original, which he'd made himself all those years ago. It just needed some grey primer on the corners. Whilst racing at Smallfield somebody made a visit. Peter Duncan from Blue Peter, for his offshoot programme Duncan Dares. I'm lucky to have the TV footage and track footage on video (now converted to DVD). I have earlier film of him on cine film, being put into the fence and rolling about 5 times but trying to take decent photos of that would be a waste of time Anyway, Peter Duncan. Heres dad doing his bit. The drivers were told to leave Peter alone so he could get some filming in. A car gets spun out, and as Peter is trying to avoid it along comes dad and knocks him.... Peter looses control..... .... ends up in the ditch and out of the race. At the end of the day Peter, my dad and another driver did a lap of honour as they had all won something. During his time of racing at somepoint he swaps the A60's for 1800 landcrabs as they were better on the dirt, and swaps the Transit for a Wolseley 6/110 for towing. He also finds a car that he considered too good to race. That made me happy as you can see. Thats my first car in the background. The gocart. Drove that thing till the wheels fell of.
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Last Edit: Jul 28, 2018 23:37:47 GMT by bmcnut
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Great great write up!!!
This is a story well worth telling. Such a wealth of pictures. A fantastic voyage back in time. I have only 1 picture of my dads previous cars,a 1963 beetle,so i appreciate this story-documentary even more so.
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Just Fab !! - Great story and look at the tracks - most of them were just fields with tyres & oil drums to delineate the inner & outer perimeter - I can recall going grass track racing in the early 70's - next to no protection for the public just a rope about 50 metres from the edge of the track to allow the cars a bit of run off
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Last Edit: Jul 29, 2018 4:42:13 GMT by Deleted
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Jul 29, 2018 19:44:08 GMT
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Now that he had the 6/110 and 16/60 banger racing started to slow down, but he did still race, so before I get more into the road cars, afew more race pics. There are so many more I could put up here, including loads that were discovered in a shoe box a couple of years ago that id never seen, but they feel a bit more special so they can stay in the box. Some people were said to be a bit concerned about the new bonnet mascot. Me. Although he got rolled afew times (A60's do that), he wasnt shy of chucking one off a ramp. And Ill end this with my favourite picture of all. To make his farinas a little bit quicker and last longer he'd build an MGB engine in his shed, what I find most excellent about this was when he came to test the engines he didnt bother putting it in the car, he'd just start it up in the shed with a bit of exhaust pipe , with no silencers, hanging out of the window. His neighbours wernt impressed lol. The knowledge he'd learnt when building the engines, as well as other little tricks went into his 16/60. Once the car was finnished his hardwork was done, maintainence was left to me. So, the first farina he had was the 6/110. Not too many pics of that one. Damn cool though. Then there was the 16/60 Then there was a Morris Oxford, which at one point was stolen for a cheap ride to the local train station. It was found safe and well. And a riley 4/72 that my mum used. So, after years of smashing them up he then turned to preservation and joined the Cambridge Oxford Owners Club. The 6/110 went to afew shows but the 16/60 was the real show car. With an MGB engine and overdrive gearbox, FX4 taxi bits used somewhere (cant remember) and banded steels it had just enough done to it to finnish it off nicely. The registration seen on the 6/110 was found on a car he bought, and Anglia I think, I don't know what happened to that. The 103 was of course his race number, and the MHC was close to his initials, MJC. I had already born at this point so no chance of naming me after the plate, so my sister got that privilege and the plate hangs proudly above her kitchen door. Soon after he sold the car in the late 80's the number plate was spotted for sale by a plate trader, so we can only guess what happened to the car. All I know about it now is that the plate is currently on a black lexus. But for the sake of this little story, the car hasnt been sold yet.
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Last Edit: Apr 18, 2020 21:28:31 GMT by bmcnut
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Why I like what I like. Mercdan68
@forddan68
Club Retro Rides Member 68
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Jul 29, 2018 20:08:32 GMT
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Just fantastic thanks for doing the thread Great pics and history
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Fraud owners club member 1999 Jaguar s type 1993 ford escort
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Jul 29, 2018 21:22:55 GMT
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A fantastic read and some great pictures. Growing up as I did in the 70s and 80s I remember seeing an awful lot of Farinas on the road, and was always amazed at how rusty most of them were. No surprise that a lot of them were regarded as perfect for smashing up as they were only a few years old and beyond economical repair.
Looking forward to the next installment!
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keyring
Part of things
Posts: 913
Club RR Member Number: 47
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Why I like what I like. keyring
@keyring
Club Retro Rides Member 47
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Jul 29, 2018 22:49:37 GMT
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What a great thread, really enjoyed reading the story so far!
Alot of great photos too, great to be able to look back on them
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More great stuff - I also have an infinity for the Farina's with the old man going through several of them in the taxi fleet that he had - I have to say I would not mind one myself if the right car ever crossed my path
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