Interesting vehicles you’ve owned or driven?

[Cowley]

I’ve driven quite a few strange things over the years so I thought this might make an interesting thread.

I’ll post a few of mine later but for now… Over to you.

 

[Richard Scott]

Ok, drove a Leyland Tiger coach and a Leyland National 2 once! Also remember driving a Volvo B10M coach on a school trip in Switzerland in a car park complete with 46 school kids on board!
Also drove a Dodge fire engine with a Perkins V8, quite a machine.
As for cars owned think my Alfa 75 2.5 was rarest, still regret selling it. Was great fun, could drive it on the throttle.

 

[fourtytwo]

Well I had a V12 E-type coupe many years ago that I would definitely classify as interesting, much more powerful than the later XJS that was de-tuned for the American market. The rear end would break away at 30mph on a dry road if you floored it in 4th gear, that being only just above tickover!
I bought it after it had been "attended to" by customs & excise on a drugs bust so just about the whole interior had been explored, took some restoration.....

I also had an original range rover with the low-compression V8 in it, very handy during the petrol strikes as while everybody else was limited to just 2 gallons of 4* I was allowed a full tank of 2* (think that was around 15-18 gallons), needed it because until I worked out the Stromberg diaphragms were kaput I seem to remember it was only doing 8mpg. Very handy for getting home from the pub across the fields if other roads were patrolled.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Very briefly and not on the public road, a Trabant.

 

[jackot]

I have a friend who has an old Mercedes Unimog that used to belong to a power company, which is always a bit of fun to drive off road. I also had the chance to drive a mates homemade hovercraft on a field once, which resulted in me nearly wiping out an entire shed after I lost control of it As far as more 'normal' vehicles go, I once borrowed a BMW M5 E61 Touring for a few days in Austria, which was one of my favourite cars I have driven considering its' size.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I have had both a Series 3 Landy (in my 20s, was terrifying to drive it round MK as it topped out at about 40mph and you had to stand up on the brake to stop quickly) and a late model 2.2 Defender. Loved both though perhaps a bit impractical. I did think of electric converting the Defender but due to its weight the range would have been poor, so I sold it in the end.

 

[Ken H]

Landrover Mk1. Borrowed. Canvas top. About 1980.

Owned and drove a Sunbeam Rapier for a while. Maintenance liability. About 1990.

Had abright orange opel ascona. Kids refused to go in it. Same as a cavalier really.

72 beetle 1300. </shudders> could see the road through the floor. That what comes of giving the MOT bloke beer.

 

[birchesgreen]

My first car, a Lada Riva 1500 Estate, what a beast. Crude and primitive of course, i think it was made out of recycled T-34 tanks. Manual choke, non-powered steering which always made it quite jarring when i switched from my Dad's brand new Fiesta. Always felt like it was on the verge of coming apart.

Fantastic of course.

 

[Gloster]

I drove a dual-control tractor in Sweden for a couple of hundred yards. It was a bit of a home-made lash-up and I am not sure if it was supposed to be used on the public road. I gathered that the dual control was so that someone could sit (in a cramped seat) on the passenger side and keep a look-out when snow clearing.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

1950's vintage "Fergie" tractor, offroad in Derbyshire.

Possibly a TE20, but not 100% sure, good fun though.

 

[RuddA]

Not something I have ever driven, but when I was young I can remember my father borrowing a tractor and trailor from the farm he worked at for the weekend. Always wondered how you would drive it in the rain whilst manually operating the windscreen wiper, moving the internal lever back and forth.

 

[Cowley]

Ok, drove a Leyland Tiger coach and a Leyland National 2 once! Also remember driving a Volvo B10M coach on a school trip in Switzerland in a car park complete with 46 school kids on board!
Also drove a Dodge fire engine with a Perkins V8, quite a machine.
As for cars owned think my Alfa 75 2.5 was rarest, still regret selling it. Was great fun, could drive it on the throttle.

Some good ones there.

I had a Bedford Angus fire engine for a couple of years. I bought it when I was 21 with grand ambitions to turn it into a bespoke motor home (I was going to keep the shutters on the side and have windows behind them).
We used to go out in it at 2am up the lanes and stick the blue lights and nee-nars on…

I drove a few vintage trucks in the large yard at my old work when I was an HGV apprentice, including a 1960s Atkinson 8 wheeler and an AEC Mandator tractor unit.

Driven loads of air cooled VW stuff including many many Beetles, a couple of split screen vans and my own VW Bay Window which at one point had a bored out engine, twin Webber carbs, plus loads of other tuned bits. It was 45 horsepower originally and when I got the carbs set up on the rolling road at Tipton st John he got 120 horsepower out of it. Utterly ridiculous.

The damn thing went off the clock at 90mph* and you couldn’t tell what was happening after that because the speedo needle had hit the stop where the zero was…

(* Obviously on a German autobahn)

 

[Richard Scott]

Some good ones there.

Driven loads of air cooled VW stuff including many many Beetles, a couple of split screen vans and my own VW Bay Window which at one point had a bored out engine, twin Webber carbs, plus loads of other tuned bits. It was 45 horsepower originally and when I got the carbs set up on the rolling road at Tipton st John he got 120 horsepower out of it. Utterly ridiculous.

The damn thing went off the clock at 90mph* and you couldn’t tell what was happening after that because the speedo needle had hit the stop where the zero was…

(* Obviously on a German autobahn)

Heard of a transplant for VW flat 4 was an Alfa flat 4. Remember someone telling me his dad did it and that he and his brother would slide around the back seat as it was a little quicker than normal but handling was still pretty poor!

 

[Enthusiast]

After some bar steward nicked by Lambretta SX200, which I'd bought new two months earlier, I bought a Berkeley T60 3-wheeler (which I could drive on my bike licence). Powered by a 328cc two-stroke engine - about 15bhp IIRC - it was considerably slower than my scooter - might top 55 downhill with a following wind.

It certainly was an interesting vehicle. Apart from its quirky design, its soft top let in so much water it was almost better to leave it off entirely. But best of all, my one had an uncanny habit of shedding its offside front wheel. The front wheel hubs were secured with a castleated nut secured with a split pin. For some reason my offside wheel seemed to enjoy somehow shearing the pin leaving the nut to come loose. Three times I enjoyed the sound of the front of the car hitting the ground and the sight of the front wheel swerving across the road. Fortunately no harm came to me or anybody else as a result of these episodes (which was more luck than judgement). After the third occurrence I sold it for (again, IIRC) £175 - £10 more than I'd paid for it. I think (!) I neglected to mention its unfortunate habit to the unfortunate buyer! A well restored model now goes for about £7-8k.

 

[D6130]

which resulted in me nearly wiping out an entire shed after I lost control of it

What?....You nearly collided with a class 66 on a level crossing?

 

[Bald Rick]

(* Obviously on a German autobahn)

“Obviously”

 

[Cowley]

“Obviously”

Ja.

 

[DustyBin]

I’ve mentioned my own interesting cars in other threads so I won’t bore you with those!

I’ve driven an Ariel Atom on track; an interesting car with unusual handling characteristics (and an awful gearbox!) which, whilst undoubtably quick, would take a fair bit of familiarisation to get the most out of.

At the other end of the spectrum, I like driving vintage buses. I’ve driven all sorts, from 1940s Bristols to Leyland National 2s. I tend to spend more time rolling around under the things than driving them though, unfortunately!

 

[jp4712]

Welo, I own two buses, so I suppose they count - a 1951 AEC Regent III and a 1968 Bristol RESL6G. Both lovely to drive, but most people here would be foxed by the AEC’s preselector gearbox.

Weirdest I’ve ever driven: 1941 Leyland 100’ turntable ladder. Hardest: 1930 Leyland TS2 Tiger, very challenging…

 

[jackot]

What?....You nearly collided with a class 66 on a level crossing?

Good one

 

[John Webb]

In 1976 I was driving a Bedford 'Green Goddess' fire appliance about on our site roads - brought down from our outstation in Shed 2 at Cardington - due to the heatwave that Summer and a number of grass fires on the railway embankment adjacent to us south of Elstree station.
Which leads me to the most unusual 'driving' - the (Airship) Shed No. 2 doors at Cardington. Running on two pairs of railway tracks and moved in the style of a chain ferry at about half a mile an hour or less.
I also own an Austin Gypsy L4P (Light 4-wheel drive pump-equipped) fire appliance which sadly hasn't moved for well over 20 years due to engine problems.

 

[ABB125]

Class 37 (identity to remain a secret)
142029
This trolley on the Ffestiniog Railway:


Oh, you meant road vehicles?! Well...

I appreciate I may be stretching the definition of "road" vehicle though...
Incidentally, I believe the Nissan Navara (the black one on the left, in case you can't tell which one! ) is the first vehicle I ever drove (around age 6/7); admittedly it was a case of a "responsible" adult putting it in 1st gear (low range) at the top of a hill, starts moving, then gets out and climbs onto the back to throw hay into the field, with instructions to me (or one of my brothers) of "point it at that tree at the bottom". And more often that not, we would also be on the back chucking out hay (ie: no driver)... Fun times! I think all three are currently in the "broken" pile

I'm yet to get my hands on this attractive "convertible":


I think I've driven one of these tractors once, but I was probably about 10 so can't remember which (and it was unlikely to have been very far!)


I've also "driven" this Land Rover. By which I mean sitting in the driver's seat as a child, poking levers which were long since broken, attempting to turn the (seized) steering wheel, and making "brmmmmm" noises


Perhaps more in keeping with the spirit of the thread (not that I would ever go off topic, honest!), these two vans:


Bear in mind that I've only had a driving license for a bit over 3 years, so haven't had much opportunity to try anything more exciting. It's definitely in the long term plan though!

 

[pdq]

Unusual for this country, but not in North America, I drove a 30' long motor home for a fortnight in Canada this summer.
It felt big to us but just see how it's dwarfed in the last photo...

 

[jmh59]

Land Rover ambulance, 3 litre straight 6, would do 70MPH followed by Transit ambulance, 3 litre V6, 110MPH (all fully kitted out, my motorsport rescue days); Lotus twin cam powered Escort Mk2 rally car (10MPG, 115MPH, er no sorry, I mean 70MPH!); S2A SWB land Rover - I had both hard and soft tops for it; S3 LWB Land Rover FFR (24V ex military) (13MPG); but the oddest perhaps was a Morris JU250 van which I turned into a mobile workshop-ish. That had the engine under the floor on its side and accessed via a hatch between the seats. The seats were basically chairs. Top speed was 40…

 

[Cowley]

Some great stuff on here, well done everyone.

I thought of a couple more:

Drove a friends TR6 along the coast road to Croyde Bay on a beautiful summers evening with the roof down about twenty years ago. That felt pretty cool.

When I worked at British Road Services and then later on in my youth in another haulage company in Exeter I used to drive all kinds of HGV stuff around the big yards. So various Scanias, Fodens, ERFs etc. I was only 17/18 years old.

We had an 8 wheeler Foden recovery truck at BRS which I loved. If we were going out on a breakdown I’d go and start it and prepare it by fuelling it up (we had our own diesel pump) and loading the tools etc. It had a 6 cylinder Gardner engine that would fill the entire yard up with smoke when started up on a cold day. An amazing machine.

Quite a few years later a friend of mine had an old single decker bus that she lived in which looked very much like a far scruffier version of this one from Wikipedia:


I drove that for a couple of hundred miles through France sometime around 1999. At one point on the motorway I felt a slight bump and looked across to the guy in the white Renault Twingo that was overtaking me at the time, we momentarily locked eyes and I looked down at the side of his car and all the side of it was dented in with a huge great red scratch the length of the car.

He’d obviously smashed into the side of the bus at about 70 mph but he didn’t even stop! I pulled over at the next services and honestly her bus was so rough you could only just work out which bit he’d actually hit.

 

[Lloyds siding]

I used to drive a cherrypicker.
Another unusual commercial vehicle was a Bedford CF2 van with the factory option of Ferguson FF four wheel drive. Great fun driving over sandhills!
I used to get lifts in Arocats, Supacats, big quadbikes. Also going a little way offshore in a DUKW.
Motorbikes: first bike I rode was a Moto Parilla 250 (1968 or so). Ridden a couple of Hillman Imp engined motorbikes.
Had a pillion ride with Robert Dunlop round Donington Park.
Lots of trips as a passenger in cars with racing drivers and motorcycle racers (including world champs).

 

[GusB]

Ok, drove a Leyland Tiger coach and a Leyland National 2 once! Also remember driving a Volvo B10M coach on a school trip in Switzerland in a car park complete with 46 school kids on board!
Also drove a Dodge fire engine with a Perkins V8, quite a machine.
As for cars owned think my Alfa 75 2.5 was rarest, still regret selling it. Was great fun, could drive it on the throttle.

I admit to a feeling a bit of jealousy here - I'd quite like to have a shot at driving a Tiger and I wouldn't mind having a go at a B10M either. I was going to say that you can keep the National but, being honest, if I had the opportunity I'd probably not turn it down.

As for the Dodge (Commando?) fire engines, they were standard around here for a bit and I loved the sound of the Perkins V8. We had a batch of Dennis Lancet buses that had the same engines, one of which is happily preserved (search YouTube for A506FSS - there's plenty of footage of it).

I drove that for a couple of hundred miles through France sometime around 1999. At one point on the motorway I felt a slight bump and looked across to the guy in the white Renault Twingo that was overtaking me at the time, we momentarily locked eyes and I looked down at the side of his car and all the side of it was dented in with a huge great red scratch the length of the car.

I've never experienced a Bristol RE before. Do you know if it had a Leyland or Gardner lump in the back? I've only seen footage on the internet, but they made some quite good noises.

I think the weirdest vehicle I've ever driven was a Land Rover Defender. A farmer friend of mine had his cattle lorry in for MOT and he had to go and pick it up. He asked me if I'd accompany him and drive the Landy back to the farm; it was completely different from anything else I'd driven before.

Another weird one was an original Renault Clio. I once took my Nissan Micra in to Kwik Fit for a replacement exhaust back box and they were having some trouble separating it from the rest of the system. When I indicated that I was going to be late for work, the manager asked me where I worked and then handed me the keys to his go-fast striped Clio, promising that he'd drop my car off on his way home. It just felt quite weird to drive.

 

[Tester]

I have never owned a car in my life, but it turns out that I was an electric vehicle pioneer!

In 1976 I bought a milk float (from a dairy) and ran it as a private vehicle for a few years. Morrison Electricar, 4 wheeled, 329Ah lead-acid battery.

Lots of fun and lots of tales. A hazard was finding a crate of empty milk bottles on the back. Moved house with it, and very handy for trips to the dump.

Charged from a 13A socket - fuel cost about 0.5p/mile.

 

[DustyBin]

I’ve driven lots of HGVs but not many interesting ones. The only two notable examples I can think of are a Volvo F10 tractor unit (very nice!) and a 1990/91 Hino FS tipper. The latter was very quirky with its patterned seat material (similar to NBC moquette IIRC!) and it’s array of switches borrowed from Datsun cars. It was rather asthmatic though!

Back to buses, I’ve driven an Atkinson Alpha which is a rare one. Very nice it was too. It had a Gardner 6HLW and semi-auto box, very easy and relaxing to drive.

My bus bucket list would be a MK1 National, Bristol VR (preferably Gardner 6LXB powered), RT, RF and a Routemaster (preferably on a skid pan!). There’s probably others too!

 

[Cowley]

I admit to a feeling a bit of jealousy here - I'd quite like to have a shot at driving a Tiger and I wouldn't mind having a go at a B10M either. I was going to say that you can keep the National but, being honest, if I had the opportunity I'd probably not turn it down.

As for the Dodge (Commando?) fire engines, they were standard around here for a bit and I loved the sound of the Perkins V8. We had a batch of Dennis Lancet buses that had the same engines, one of which is happily preserved (search YouTube for A506FSS - there's plenty of footage of it).


I've never experienced a Bristol RE before. Do you know if it had a Leyland or Gardner lump in the back? I've only seen footage on the internet, but they made some quite good noises.

I think the weirdest vehicle I've ever driven was a Land Rover Defender. A farmer friend of mine had his cattle lorry in for MOT and he had to go and pick it up. He asked me if I'd accompany him and drive the Landy back to the farm; it was completely different from anything else I'd driven before.

Another weird one was an original Renault Clio. I once took my Nissan Micra in to Kwik Fit for a replacement exhaust back box and they were having some trouble separating it from the rest of the system. When I indicated that I was going to be late for work, the manager asked me where I worked and then handed me the keys to his go-fast striped Clio, promising that he'd drop my car off on his way home. It just felt quite weird to drive.

It probably wasn’t one of those then. I don’t know what it was but it looked very similar, mind you it was nearly 25 years ago and I can’t say I’m exactly a bus expert.
I think it might have been a Ford and from what I remember the engine may have been in the front?