Volvo P1800: From West Bromwich to Gothenburg.

Saw this lovely piece of Gothenburg metal in South Birmz today:

Built between 1961 and 1973, with the Shooting Brake version produced in the final year of production, the P1800 shot to fame when Roger Moore (who also owned one IRL) used a Coupe version in The Saint.

Assembled for the first year of production at the Jensen Motors factory in West Bromwich, UK, where 6000 units were built, until quality control issues led to the transfer to Volvo's Torslanda and Gothenburg plants, alongside its Amazon sibling.

So influential in design, many cues can be seen in later Volvo models, most prominently in the all-glass rear hatch, as seen in the Volvo Safety Car concept; a watered-down version of which becoming the C30, and to a lesser extent, the Peter Horbury (RIP) designed 480.

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Uncharacteristically personal post. Delete if not allowed.

Definitely not a cry for help (I'm FINE), and not attention-seeking (well, no more than usual, any road) and I think I'm writing it to keep a record of it, and offload it: Better out than in (as my dear, sweet, grandmother would say). I've always loved an off-season seaside resort. I enjoy the melancholy vibe. I particularly love this stretch of Welsh *checks* Cambrian coast; the location of many happy family holidays with my parents, brother, aunt, uncle, cousins, and Grandad Evans, who I adored: Funny, mild-mannered, generous: a true role model. He died when I was 12; the first human death I experienced. I think of him often, in fact, every time I wash my face in cold water; something he did every night; he told me so in a holiday cottage not far from here, in Harlech; one of those trivial incidents and conversations which resonate for a lifetime. I've been melancholic for a while, particularly in the last week, where the deaths of people have made me think of mort...

Biscuits for the Busmeister.

Trip to Warwickshire to see, and bring biscuits (Liebniz, Viennese Whirls, Fruit Shortcake) to my friend Robin Fearn, a.k.a Busmeister, a leading light of the VW T3 scene. Amongst the customer vehicles (Robin has just completed a PD 130 conversion to the recently reupholstered Doka on the ramp), we see his Carat which, when his client order book allows, will receive V8 might from a donor S6, and ride on Porsche Sport Design 18's. Also seen here, Robin's Massala Red panel van, recently converted to MK3 GTi 8v propulsion, the 16v's manifold being too large for the bay. Finally, we see a customer's Doka, with bespoke rear panels and a new A8 subframe, waiting in the paint booth, shortly to receive V8 brawn from an S8. More on Robin here: https://busmeister.com/

Brummie cars, The Chemical Brothers, & Lulu.

These buildings are the last remaining structures of "The Austin"; Rover Group's Longbridge car factory, where, at its peak in the mid-sixties, production reached c.325,000 units, now sitting amongst the new builds of a St Modwen housing estate, complete with mainly German or South East Asian-built cars on their drives. The tracks and paint vats of CAB1 (Car Assembly Plant) can be seen here, in a factory where thousands of workers from generations of families once built models such as the Austin Seven, MINI ( with Lulu driving the last classic Cooper off the production line in October 2000) , Metro, Allegro, 200, and in later years, the 75, and MG-F/TF. Following MG Rover's collapse in 2005, the site saw small-scale assembly until 2017, but now, Chinese state-owned car manufacturer SAIC, owner of the MG brand, operate only a technical facility in Longbridge, on the part of the site formerly known as the Q gate: the main factory entrance. The video for The Chemical Br...

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