Brits vs. Z's

[Ron Carter]

Post WW II there were many impressionable GI's returning from Europe who enjoyed driving quaint little sport cars from europe, which started a trend in the US in the early 50's. By the early 70's this same group were into other, more luxurious cars, and the current offerings from "England" could not compete with the Japanese invasion which had begun in the mid 60's.

The early 70's ushered in smog laws and new safety laws in the USA that also contributed heavily to the demise of the Brittish automotive invasion.

Remember those nasty looking 5MPH bumpers on an MGB.

[Z train]

The Lucas motto: "Get home before dark."

Lucas denies having invented darkness. But they still claim "sudden, unexpected darkness"

Lucas--inventor of the first intermittent wiper.

Lucas--inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.

The three-position Lucas switch--DIM, FLICKER and OFF.

The other three switch settings--SMOKE, SMOLDER and IGNITE.

Lucas dip-switch positions: LOW and BLOW

(Bruce Miller, www.hermit.cc)

The original anti-theft devices--Lucas Electric products.

"I've had a Lucas pacemaker for years and have never experienced any prob...

If Lucas made guns, wars would not start either.

Did you hear about the Lucas powered torpedo? It sank.

It's not true that Lucas, in 1947, tried to get Parliament to repeal Ohm's Law. They withdrew their efforts when they met too much resistance.

Did you hear the one about the guy that peeked into a Land Rover and asked the owner "How can you tell one switch from another at night, since they all look the same?" "He replied, it doesn't matter which one you use, nothing happens!"

Back in the '70s Lucas decided to diversify its product line and began manufacturing vacuum cleaners. It was the only product they offered which didn't suck.

Quality Assurance phoned and advised the Lucas engineering guy that they had trouble with his design shorting out. So he made the wires longer.

Why do the English drink warm beer? Lucas made the refrigerators, too.

Alexander Graham Bell invented the Telephone.

Thomas Edison invented the Light Bulb.

Joseph Lucas invented the Short Circuit.

Recommended procedure before taking on a repair of Lucas equipment: check the position of the stars, kill a chicken and walk three times sunwise around your car chanting: "Oh mighty Prince of Darkness protect your unworthy servant."

Lucas systems actually uses AC current; it just has a random frequency.

How to make AIDS disappear? Give it a Lucas parts number.

Recently, Lucas won out over Bosch to supply the electrical for the new Volkswagens. So, now the cars from the Black Forest will come with electrics supplied by the Lord of Darkness -- how appropriate!

Lucas is an acronym for Loose Unsoldered Connections and Splices.

The Prince's last words to his son: "don't go riding after dark"

Lucas jokes: black humor.

[DougN]

"Gentlemen do not motor about after dark." - Joseph Lucas

[zbane]

The Lucas Prayer (from my father who has had far too many dis-enlightening adventures with Lucas):

"Let there be light!"

[AggieZ]

Socialism has a way of killing innovation permenantly. :beard:

[Carl Beck]

I don' know how many people here get Classic Motorsports Magazine... but there is an interesting report about America's "British Reliability Run"

The event will take place in three States - Sept. 27-28. Each will be 800 miles long. Now here is the kicker.... "Rag Tops and Roadsters" is sponsoring the Pennsylvania trip, and they will also be providing roadside assistance in the form of a well stocked van, plus an empty enclosed trailer"....

- The whole story fits this thread to a "T" doesn't it? Road-side assistance, well stocked van's and an enclosed trailer - - for an 800 mile trip!! The picture shows MGB, Triumph Spitfire and GT... we are not talking about early 50's cars here....

All this to "prove" the reliability of the British cars..... I guess it is a challenge to get one of these to actually run 800 miles without needed a trailer to haul it home...

Just too funny...

FWIW,

Carl B.

[geezer]

Just too funny...

FWIW,

Carl B.

It could only be better if we could place bets on the outcome.:laugh:

[hls30.com]

I figured out early in my car experience that long term British car owners came in three varieties:

1) Those who loved to tinker far more than to drive.

2) Those who were in denial(and ever hopeful), but had money.

and

3) Those who knew that a show car does not have to run, if you have a winch in your trailer, and something else to pull it with!

Will

[HS30-H]

Socialism has a way of killing innovation permenantly. :beard:

Would you kindly explain the relevance of your post on this thread? Thanks.

"Rag Tops and Roadsters" is sponsoring the Pennsylvania trip, and they will also be providing roadside assistance in the form of a well stocked van, plus an empty enclosed trailer"....

All this to "prove" the reliability of the British cars..... I guess it is a challenge to get one of these to actually run 800 miles without needed a trailer to haul it home...

If these "British" cars are as unreliable as you imply, they'll be needing more than just the one enclosed trailer - don't you think?

I don't know about the USA, but here in the Europe the 'Service Barge & Trailer'-inclusive service is quite common with organised regularity / reliability / road-rally type of events, and is intended to give peace of mind to the type of prospective participants who might not use their cars all that often. There is also an insurance / public liability aspect to take into account.

Presumably there are very few such events in the USA that S30-series Z cars are eligible to take part in, then?

I figured out early in my car experience that long term British car owners came in three varieties:

Maybe you need to add: ".....in the USA".?

I wonder if one of the weak links in the chain here are actually those USA-based owners? Judging from some of the British-made 50s/60s/70s cars that I have seen being re-imported to the UK over the years, 'regular maintenance' seems to mean something less than what would elsewhere be described as necessary for even basic safety. Suspension, steering and brake componentry in particular seems to be frighteningly neglected. I've seen the same thing on 'daily driver' 240Zs that have been imported from the USA too. Some of those cars looked to have been 'maintained' in Cuba..........

When I was living in Japan, a friend of mine there started importing cars from the USA with a view to selling them. He was aiming at mid-market priced examples ( not the cheapest, for obvious reasons ) and yet he still found that - without fail - the braking, suspension and steering systems on the cars exhibited little sign of having ever been looked after. The general conscensus was that safety inspections for such vehicles must be extremely lax. Wiring was - almost without fail - full of Scotchloks and Sellotaped additions.....

[DougN]

I'd take my MGB on a 800 mile trip with no worries, and for a trip like that, I would not even haul along any spare parts.

And Will, you forgot #4, those who got their cars sorted out, and drive them regularly, only performing regular maintenance and have no problems.

I agree with Alan, in that British cars get a bad rap from all those "tinkerers" who don't really know what they are doing, so they mess up the car. Once you get them back to stock, maybe make a few proven improvements (i.e. Petronix ignition, spin on oil filter), they are extremely reliable, and will run forever with just regular maintenance. I trust my MGB to not leave me stranded just as much as I trust my 240Z.

[sblake01]

Now this lady probably doesn't care what type of bumpers an MGB had but they may have been in danger if they were the 5 mph bumpers that John spoke of.

[Arne]

Alan hit the nail on the head. It's not the British cars that are the problem, but typical American owners. People bought English sports cars who thought that changing the engine oil every 3000 mile is maintenance. Everything else is ignored until it breaks. Worse, the second (and so on) owners were people who bought the cars cheap, and often couldn't afford to maintain them even if they understood what maintenance was. We see the same issues here in the states in the typical worn out 240Z today.

Alan, you commented about "extremely lax" inspections. The truth is worse - in many states there are no regular inspections at all! And in most of the rest, the bare minimums were/are checked.

Consider this. In the USA, people consider the reliability of old English cars as a joke. But in England, the big issue is rust, same as for any other car of that vintage in a damp climate. Same cars, different results. Must be how they were taken care of here...

Edited August 7, 2008 by Arne