Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Here is the photo that MalcolmL sent of a 101 van available locally to him in Thailand



Whats the story behind this one ML? great find

Rick
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[Rivet_101]

Fascinating

Look at this frame from Les Tribulations d'un chinois en chine (troubles of a chinaman in china?),...taken from that film database of cars.



Particularly fascinating is the chrome surround on the radiator panel. I presume it was an eastern attempt to make a plain van fancier because in the UK the 101 was a less fancy Morris JB, with only a single strip of chrome down the middle.

What are Malcolm's plans, do you know, Rick?

Tell him I envy him. That front scuttle looks terrific condition.

[Rivet_101]

also from Les Tribs

[MalcolmL]

Hi - I've been searching around this site which is new to me and just dropped on the pic I sent with my email to register to get on the site. So, sorry for the delay in responding ....

First, it's not mine yet. A fellow car classicist here named Cleve sent me that pic which someone had posted on a Thai website - as a bit of a joke about the stuff we find on these Thai sites. And it just hit the spot for me.

BTW, Cleve has a FIAT (Fix It Again Tony) 1100 of 1937 vintage as a daily runner which he had restored locally and it looks great. Currently, he has someone working on 1950 Studebaker Starlight Champion (roof section imported from Galveston !), a Citroen Goddess (DS) and - get this - a combo of a 50's Renault estate front end (rear end smashed beyond ... ) and wedded to a Renault saloon rear end (front end smashed beyond ... ) ! And he's sculpting it all to look like a Buick Something ! These gนกกพำm yanks - there's no end to their silliness, is there ! But I forgive him, he used to work at Disney !

Back to the 101 / J, if - and it's a big IF - I can close the deal, I want to restore it to an ice cream van - and sell ice creams from it at charity shows - to raise funds for parentless hilltribe children in local orphanages.

If that's too much to swallow (ouch !), I'll revive it to be a goods, mammals and aircraft carrier. No kidding - that means - fetch the shopping & kids from school, take the dogs to the vets and load up my RC planes to go to the local flying field.

I've always liked estates, brakes, wagons but never owned one until I retired to Thailand and bought my first new pickup. A Mazda B2000 petrol which I had converted to a wagon - proper steel cab, 5 doors incl hatch, ample seating for 11 souls. None of that F/G capforme. For a number of years, it was unique in the galaxy - no other like it - until it started being copied. That's a problem here - intelectual property theft.

Now I have a Mazda Tribute SUV, a Mazda Fighter 4-WD pickup, the converted wagon, a 1957 Opel Caravan estate ready for it's test drive tomorrow after 23 years off the road, a MkII Consul which I want to convert to a convertible (what else ?) and an Escort which will emerge as a Mexico.

So this van is a departure from my usual favourites. I just fancy it !

But I know little about vans - I used to be an assistant service mechanic on industrial diesels and drove around the country in an Austin A50 (50 ?) van from job site to job site. That gave me an appreciation of the van / estate format and demonstrated how useless the saloon concept is ....

So any help and comments would be much appreciated about the 101 / J Type. The website is asking about GBPounds 1800 'as is' in the pic. I haven't seen it yet. Is that in the ballpark ? What do any of you think about that askingprice ? Thanks.

MalcolmL

PS Those movie street scenes- I lived and worked in Hong Kong for decades - they look authentic of the many back street areas. ML

[Rick]

Hi ML, ok I've amended the description that goes with the first pic

J owners would have more of an opinion than me probably, £1800 for a J Type / 101 doesn't seem bad although looking at the photo, it is really a rolling chassis with a front end (not even doors) fitted. However, if you really want a J, you won't get too many opportunities I suspect!!

anyone else have a view on the price?

Rick
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[Rivet_101]

1800 seems rather steep to me.....when you consider that fully restored ones average about 4,500.......and a top price one got £6000 (at the second attempt) on ebay and was itself overpriced.

You can't include the 18K one because that was very heavily customised and cost well over top whak to build.

Then again, as you say, Rick, they don't come up that often....

....but what competition is there for them in Thailand?

[Rick]

I agree with rivet, the price sounds strong-ish so definitely some haggling potential there. If perhaps it came with a pile of new spares then the price might be nearer the mark. The J Type van at Astle Park (photo elsewhere) was for sale at £5k and I think that was a bit top-heavy, given some evident faults that stopped it being a mint example. But again, if you really really want one...

Rick
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