The Dark Wob

chadders wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2020 9:18 pm I thought the stage 3 had Dellortos but to be honest haven't checked.

This is wrong.

There's reports of Webers, not Dellortos, but then some people saying there were only SUs used. Apparently all the paperwork was destroyed after Daniel Richmond, the founder, died. The more that I think about it the more I think that it would just have been SUs only as, to me, that fits their style of working far better and would still produce enough power with the economy that they would find acceptable.

Given that Webers and Dells were being fitted to anything and everything at that time I wouldn't be surprised if MGCs had them fitted. Jan Odor, the founder of Janspeed, was an ex Downton employee if I remember correctly who did a lot off this sort of work and was based pretty close to them.

I suppose in the intervening half-century all kinds of mods would/could have been made.....Janspeed were in Salisbury, five or six miles from Downton but if Jan Odor did work for the Richmonds he would left before they got heavily involved in the BMC stuff as I think Janspeed had been set up by 1961/2. Years ago there were loads of people in the village who worked at DE - they had their own social club - and I remember chatting with some of them (I live about 12 miles away) but again, a half-century has since elapsed!

Hooli wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2020 8:24 pm I do like MGCs, with a few tweaks they make a great car.

And along came the 240Z, and the Capri 3000.

Game. Over.

I read a long time ago that when the MGC was released to the press the front tyres were at a lower pressure than they should have been so the understeer was exacerbated.
A few years later a famous racing driver, Gerry Marshall(?), was asked to test the Esprit S1 before the journos got hold of it. Apparently he reckoned that it understeered like a pig. This again was due to the front tyres being at lower than recommended pressures.
Obviously I don't have any direct knowledge of these but at the time there seemed to be several different, apparently independent, sources saying it.

The Reverend Bluejeans wrote: ↑Fri Mar 27, 2020 11:22 am

Hooli wrote: ↑Thu Mar 26, 2020 8:24 pm I do like MGCs, with a few tweaks they make a great car.

And along came the 240Z, and the Capri 3000.

Game. Over.

Never been a fan of the Datsuns, jap stuff just isn't interesting. I think of the Capri as a very different car tbh, I know they aren't but to me the MGC is the last of the old British GTs for the average man & Capris are the start of the hot-hatch type era.

The 240Z was a revelation when it first came out.

It got progressively heavier, usually more powerful and , in my view, worse with time.
I knew a couple of guys who bought them when they first came out in the UK and they couldn't stop singing their praises.

I've got an original road test that says they are great, I've just not got much interest as the wrong country made it.

The MG B/C are old cars in old car clothing.

Hooli wrote: ↑Fri Mar 27, 2020 12:32 pm I've got an original road test that says they are great, I've just not got much interest as the wrong country made it.

The wrong country? Can you imagine how great certain cars would be if they were made in Japan? I know they got it the wrong way round but a collaboration between the Italians and the Japanese would make a great sports car. Or a Jaguar with Lexus build quality, what a car that would be! A Lexus with Jaguar build an doesn't seem so appealing now does it?

Yeah those bloody Japs....much like the Chinese really
I'll admit to a great liking for the Japanese, their cars, architecture, gardens, pottery, art and of course young ladies wearing schoolgirl cozzies.