classic car forum header
Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 
Register     Posting Photographs     Privacy     F/book OCC Facebook     OCC on Patreon

Invacars
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration. Forum Index -> Classic & Vintage Cars, Lorries, Vans, Motorcycles etc - General Chat
Author Message
colwyn500



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 1745
Location: Nairn, Scotland

PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 9:03 am    Post subject: Invacars Reply with quote

I spotted this yesterday. It had been converted to have a two-cylinder, Kubota diesel engine.
MAL_1011 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
MAL_1013 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
I had an inkling that they were originally electrically propelled. Not so according to Wikipedia, and I was amazed to discover that models had [I]"a much more powerful 4-stroke 500 cc or 600 cc Steyr-Puch engine"[/I]
Apparently there were loads of them which had to be scrapped when the stockplile of part became redundant when the car was discontinued for safety reasons.
I wondered if anyone has experience of these or knows more about how the Fiat engines were acquired and possibly disposed of.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Penman



Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 4751
Location: Swindon, Wilts.

PostPosted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 10:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi
I heard that part of the reason for them being scrapped was that they were still owned by the government not the users.

There were some electric vehicles for people with disabilities, here is a link to a couple of articles about the company that made them.
http://www.guildford-dragon.com/?s=nelco&x=3&y=4
_________________
Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
exbmc



Joined: 18 Jun 2009
Posts: 236
Location: Derby East Midlands

PostPosted: Tue Sep 27, 2016 7:21 pm    Post subject: Invacar Reply with quote

When I ran a filling station, in north wales, I used to look after an AC Invacar, for a lady who lived round the corner. As she couldn't manage herself, I would check tyres, and battery etc, and mix fuel for it's two stroke engine. This
Would be about 1973, I don't know when the engines changed to four stroke.
When it's annual inspection was due, a man turned up with one on a trailer, for the lady to use, and took hers away for whatever was required.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
emmerson



Joined: 30 Sep 2008
Posts: 1268
Location: South East Wales

PostPosted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 5:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A caravanning friend tells us of one fitted with a 650cc Triumph twin whilst the owner/operator was in hospital. He apparently got quite a shock when he came out!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Ray White



Joined: 02 Dec 2014
Posts: 6286
Location: Derby

PostPosted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 10:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dreadful things. Symptomatic of an attitude which in less enlightened times denigrated people with physical impairment. Fortunately today disabled drivers have access to normal cars adapted to their needs. I hope there is never return to such inadequate and unsafe contraptions.

I will concede that to many people at the time they were a valued means of independent transport and their small size benefitted those for whom space was at a premium. I am sure there were some who regretted their passing.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
peppiB



Joined: 30 Jun 2008
Posts: 686
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne

PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 8:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

With the launch of the Mini in 1959, an affordable easily adapted small car became available. It was much safer and had more respect on the road than the disabled carriages, and didn't single out the driver as a disabled person also allowing transportation of the whole family. The death toll sounded for the'invalid carriage'
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Ray White



Joined: 02 Dec 2014
Posts: 6286
Location: Derby

PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 10:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

peppiB wrote:
With the launch of the Mini in 1959, an affordable easily adapted small car became available. It was much safer and had more respect on the road than the disabled carriages, and didn't single out the driver as a disabled person also allowing transportation of the whole family. The death toll sounded for the'invalid carriage'



Yes peppiB you are right. My Dad did a few conversions of Minis for ex servicemen. Also, the Mini became available as an automatic. This must have been one the first small affordable cars fitted with an automatic gearbox. Dad, an engineer, had previously made and fitted automatic clutches to older cars. I think I remember him saying he was unable to go into full time production because of existing Patents. We forget just how many ex services amputees there were back then but it seems today that history has been repeating itself.
http://alfredbekker.com/portfolio-view/automatic-clutch-for-manual-cars/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Peter_L



Joined: 10 Apr 2008
Posts: 2680
Location: New Brunswick. Canada.

PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 11:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

.... and not just war casualties. Polio had brought problems for a lot of people who, by the 60's and 70' were in the work place. I knew of 5 people who were able to travel to and from work because of the Invacar.

Vehicle safety and as Peppi mentioned, low cost small cars helped make the Invacar obsolete, however, in a way they helped change society by allowing people with physical disabilities to live with more freedom and dignity.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Keith D



Joined: 16 Oct 2008
Posts: 1127
Location: Upper Swan, Western Australia

PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 12:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Invacar was built in Thundersley. Essex. The company, owned by Bert Greeves, also made Greeves motorcycles. I worked for them for a short period in 1966 before migrating to Oz. At that time the engine was still the trusty Villiers two stroke.

Keith
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Ray White



Joined: 02 Dec 2014
Posts: 6286
Location: Derby

PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 12:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Keith D wrote:
The Invacar was built in Thundersley. Essex. The company, owned by Bert Greeves, also made Greeves motorcycles. I worked for them for a short period in 1966 before migrating to Oz. At that time the engine was still the trusty Villiers two stroke.

Keith


According to the inter web The Invacar was also built by other firms including AC, Harding, Dingwall, Barrett, Frank tippen &Son and Coventry Climax. Apparently there are several still on the road despite being made illegal in 2003 due to a loophole in the way they are taxed. Seemingly it's O.K. to tax them as a tricycle but not as an invalid carriage!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
old iron



Joined: 22 Mar 2016
Posts: 185

PostPosted: Fri Sep 30, 2016 9:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Keith D wrote:
The Invacar was built in Thundersley. Essex. The company, owned by Bert Greeves, also made Greeves motorcycles. I worked for them for a short period in 1966 before migrating to Oz. At that time the engine was still the trusty Villiers two stroke.

Keith


Just around the corner to where I lived as a kid, used to see them occasionally on the road presumably testing. What with these contraptions and the fabulous greeves motorbikes also manufactured on the same industrial site they are ingrained in my memory.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Ray White



Joined: 02 Dec 2014
Posts: 6286
Location: Derby

PostPosted: Fri Sep 30, 2016 12:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't know what they did to them but the Greeves bike was much quicker and slicker than any of the regular competition. (Sorry, bit off topic !)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
billysugga



Joined: 01 Jan 2017
Posts: 55
Location: Carlisle

PostPosted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There was a garage near cargo just north of Carlisle that maintained them and scrapped lots of them. There is a company in Scotland that sells parts for the steyr puch haflinger (slightly larger engine) so you could still get parts from them. I had a haf years ago.
_________________
Volvo Sugga ,Volvo Trygge
I just wish one was working!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Phil - Nottingham



Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Posts: 1252
Location: Nottingham

PostPosted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 5:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A garage at Long Eaton dismantled them in the 1960s/70's. I think it was Cue & Jones. The trailer me and my dad built in 1970 has the rear suspension and brakes - it did use the 12" wheels but 10" Mini wheels are better and the tyres easier to get hold of. It's still in use. They had Villiers 2 Stroke engines then
_________________
Rover P2
Rover P4
Rover P5 & P5B
Land Rover S2 & S3
Morris Mini Traveller Mk2
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Dobbin



Joined: 15 May 2013
Posts: 67
Location: Central Scotland

PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2017 7:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I hadn't seen one of these for years and then came across one at the Glasgow Transport Museum a couple of years ago.

I also remember seeing them whilst watching Grandstand on a Saturday afternoon in the 70's as a boy when there would be around the ends of the football pitches. There was a sea of pale blue 'funny wee cars' not realising they were cars for the disabled. How things have changed.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration. Forum Index -> Classic & Vintage Cars, Lorries, Vans, Motorcycles etc - General Chat All times are GMT + 1 Hour
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
OCC Merch link
Forum T&C


php BB powered © php BB Grp.