Some-one had to do it...

[BenzBoy]

Some-one had to do it and no-one would come with me (I can undersand - it being Easter and all) into the wilds of the South Coast today for a little drive of;
4 Bentley MkVIs
2 Silver Dawns
1 Stutz Bearcat
1 Dennis Fire Engine
1 Daimler 250
I now know what a totally original low mileage 1954 Silver Dawn drives like. Even the straight cut 1st gear was dead silent and the motor purred at little more than 45dba at idle. To have had one new must have been wonderful. Do more of these survive than earlier Benzes? Perhaps one simply needs to know where to look. And last weekend was fun in the Phantom V.
Well it's Easter, what am I supposed to do: stay home and clean my white-walls? At least Miss Olga came with me - and that in itself raises a few eyebrows.
Regards,
BenzBoy

Edit - and I forgot, the Lanchester 40 undergoing restoration.

 

[116Benz]

What, Owners and their, erm...children? arent allowed to go for test drives? Some people just dont get it...

That said, what did you buy? I can see Miss Olga in a little fire hat and an axe in her mouth!

 

[Michel]

Sorry BenzBoy,

I would have loved to come for a drive (or many drives as I can read you might have had... )

Family matters, you know of, prevented me from doing so.

I can't wait to know whether you made a bid for any?

 

[BenzBoy]

Children? What are they?
Miss Olga carries nothing in her mouth other than the occasional leg she has ripped from a passing motorist who has impeded her way...
Michel - I know you were otherwise engaged but one day, one day, I shall entice you out on a journey of discovery...the world is not made up solely of big block V8s.
Did I buy? Not yet. Not yet....the more I see pre-war machinery the more I want something genuinely old and unique.
Regards,
BenzBoy

 

[Styria]

So BenzBoy, you have obviously done a lot of looking and 'kicking tyres' - is there anything on the horizon at this stage or have you already bought ?

I believe you have been in Victoria (looking at cars ?) and was there anything that appealed to you ?

Talking about straight-cut first gears. Rover 3 litres used to have them and the 1st gear's working life was measured in hours and not kilometers as on Farm and Heavy Machinery. In the case of the Rover it was 60 hours. Just a snippet of information for the unknowing and (possibly) disinterested. Regards, Styria

 

[BenzBoy]

Styria, The more I look the more I find that there are a lot of interesting things out there. So no, I have not yet bought but I am in the final stages of negotiations - and as Lady Luck is a contary lass, she keeps finding new and interesting things to distract me.
I am interested in what you say about the Rover straight-cut teeth. 60 hours is not long but if you spent five minutes in 1st gear each time you use the car then that is 720 start-ups and if one drove an average of 20 kilometers for trip that means the gear would last for 14,400 kilometers......
Gears and plain mechanical devices interest me far more than electronic management modules...yet they have a real place in motoring.
Regards,
BenzBoy

 

[OzBenzHead]

[...] Talking about straight-cut first gears. Rover 3 litres used to have them [...]

Not that one needed them very often. About the only time I ever used first gear in any of my manual Rovers (P4 and P5) was when starting from scratch, uphill, with the mother-in-law being Queen Merle in the back seat. They were typically low-geared and long-stroked Pommy cars with the torque of a tractor.