The Dark Wob

Clacton On Sea.

Framlingham.

I love the Gallic logic of the rear opening arrangement on those....Three doors to get something in or out. Would though, just for a hot day with that side slider locked open....

I thought it looked pretty good. I do fear it’ll be a hipster coffee shop in short order. Maybe not in deepest Suffolk.

Nowhere is safe from those fuckers unfortunately....

My mate said if he wins the lottery he's going to buy a load of barn conversions and convert 'em back to barns.

I could do the same with coffee vans....

CLINT wrote: ↑Sat May 16, 2020 10:36 pm I could only buy one if everyone thought they were shit and worthless.

I had a 1979 T2 Panel van and I do think they are shit and worthless. The amount of people I've tried to warn who ignored me, paid a fortune and then realised they are shit is amazing.

I think the Estafette is a weapon of torture and the hipsters are welcome to them. Tiny little engines that were prone to overheating in the saloon cars they were designed for means you will be constantly watching the temperature gauge. Then add in the god awful seating position, I put an engine in one a few years ago and felt like a cripple after just 2 miles. I expect if you are a French midget you would get along ok with one. The only thing that comes close to as bad for comfort was the Sprinter / VW LT from around 2001. They were another van I just can't drive more than a few miles. The Esta I put an engine in was a catering conversion done by a bloke who imported them. He was based in Essex and the quality was awful. The vans looked really good with lots of shiny paint, but he never bothered with the mechanics. The one I did had barely covered 100 miles since the young girl bought it for some stupid figure. The engine was totally fucked, not helped by the RAC man revving it up until it threw a rod out the side.

Most of the vans around the period of the Estafette were dire. Standard Atlas anyone? I haven't tried the smaller engine one - God knows what that must have been like. Reach-around gearchange, stupid side overhang etc. J4s were not a lot better unless you compared them to a J2 or J type. Try a Luton-bodied CA Mk2 some time - I don't think I'll bother again, thanks! I really wanted a Commer camper before I bought the T25. Glad I got that one out of my system at somebody else's expense.

The Transit must have been an absolute revelation when it came out, although to be fair the 400E Thames was probably one of the better efforts already.