Methinks I'll go by rail

[Newportnobby]

I remember driving over the Hardknott in my Citroen BX14.
Nearly fried the clutch, and my girlfriend of the time was scared, erm , witless

[Bealman]

You'd have been a hero surely.Rewards must have been forthcoming. Beer, of course.. 

[Newportnobby]

You'd have been a hero surely.Rewards must have been forthcoming. Beer, of course.. 

Sadly the complete opposite. I think I was walking oddly for a month or so after that

[Bealman]

That's what I meant. 

[daveg]

Scary stuff!

I remember doing that one and Wrynose in my MK3 Hillman Minx while on hols, a long time back. The clutch was OK but it fried the brakes.

Loved that old car.

Dave G

[Bealman]

Hillman Minx... eeh oh aye. Forgotten about them. Wonder how one would have coped with the road in the video?

Probably ok, depending on the driver! 

[lil chris]

My dad had a Hillman Minx the later one, it was a GT 1700cc engine,twin stromberg's and overdrive ie a switch on the gear lever. He used to let me drive it, I wanted a minx too but ended up with a mk11 Ford Cortina.

Ps, a guy at the top of my street has a Morris Minor convertable, he says the brakes are crap, well they would be wouldn't they compared to today's brakes.

[Chetcombe]

 I remember my dad's Mk3 Cortina failing to make it up Hardknott pass. He had to do a 97 point turn and coast back down in shame :'(

[Caz]

I remember once on a trip (I think it was to somewhere in N Wales) in a Ford Popular (sit up and beg type) we tried to get up the narrow steep hill and the car just wouldn't make it and we had to turn around.  The only problem was it was narrow and very, very steep, so steep in fact we all had to get out and help by putting our hands against the side of the car to stop the car rolling over as it did a 11 point turn, bit like that video of the people releasing that guy's leg from a train in Australia.  Those were the days.   

[Bealman]

Oh aye... them's were the days, alright.... 

Did the Popular (wasn't it Poplar?) have a little knob on top of the dash that you had to fiddle to make the windscreen wipers work? I think they worked off vacuum or something.

Only reason I remember is 'cos of a holiday in Kent when I was a kid and it was really pouring rain, late at night, me mum had to keep fiddling the knob to keep the wipers going, and me dad was swearing a lot.

He was a BRS driver but was lost and wouldn't admit it. Hence the swearing. It was nowt to do with the wipers or the rain 

[Sprintex]

I wonder if that's the same steep hill my dad burnt the clutch out on in my mum's Vauxhall Viva HC 1,159cc? Poor thing struggling to pull two parents and us three kids up it, then there was a burning smell All had to get out and walk up while my dad drove to the top. New clutch next day


Paul

[daveg]

Vacuum wipers were definitely on the little square shaped 'Pop's - 100E I think.

I remember being with my dad thundering across Bodmin Moor in his company issue Pop (chasing a train!  ) and the wipers going slower and slower. Stop for any reason and the darned things would go beserk!

Dave G

[lil chris]

yes them Vacuum wipers were rubbish, slowing down when you needed them most,thankfully they were gone by the time the Ford Anglia came out(105E). Down set me off on these Ford model codes, I used to work for Ford has a parts man.

anybody know these.....113E/106E/211E/3014E/3024E.........and that's enough for now I am starting to feel a bit of a ............, well sad......

[MinZaPint]

Going back to the video, which I thought was really scary (suffer with vertigo). On a trip to the Indian hill station of Ootty we came back on the road to Mysore down the hill road, pic of one of the 36! hairpin bends.



What made our trip slightly different was that there were 5 of us in a little Maruti (Indian built Suzuki) there was a sort of rubbing noise! when we got to turn 5 the brakes failed and we came down round the other 31 with a very scared  Indian driver being instructed by my pal Terry on how to use the gears for breaking

[Bealman]

Eeeeek!