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| Other Cars Discussion about car marques other than Bristol |
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01-03-10, 05:02 PM
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What is this?
Hi
Just wondering if anyone can recognise this. The photo was reputedly taken in Australia in the mid to late 50's. I think the panel behind the wheel looks big enough to be a Bristol spare wheel cover, BUT there doesn't seen to be a continuation shut line behind the trim to make it a seperate panel below the trim. 
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03-03-10, 11:41 AM
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The roof line reminds me of some Boano designs. The front wings look a bit like an Ogle. Strange that it doesn't appear to have any indicators.
It doesn't look like a home made job. Maybe it's a prototype of some sort?
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03-03-10, 12:59 PM
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Where is the car ? A number of web sites in the UK have the facility for you to type a reg plate in and it gives the information of the make model and year of the car
Sell My Car | Sell Your Car | Sell Used Car Online | Sell Car This is the one I used to track Tony Crook's 100 MPH -He has put it on a Fiat 500 !!
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03-03-10, 02:04 PM
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What is This? - It's a TONTALA of course!
The car illustrated is a TONTALA which was a fibreglass bodied coupe made by Tony Thieler of the Tontala Motor Company.
The plan was to produce a two seat coupe using Holden components and engine which would be made available in various states of tune together with such individual modifications as requested by the customer. The first body was completed in October 1954 and after a road test program, during which some changes were made, the finished car was shown at the Melbourne Motor show in 1955 and later at the Sydney Motor Show. Despite the company holding sufficient orders to ensure steady production for the rest of the year the expected capitalisation of the company did not occur and no production cars were made. Thieler subsequently made the car available as a kit for those who felt they had the skills to assemble it. The price at that time was 1400 Australian Pounds. The engine was the 2 1/4 litre Holden motor with a reground camshaft 3 SU carbs 7.5 compression ratio sports coil and double valve springs. The claimed power was 90 bhp, all up weight was 17.5 cwt (about 800kg) and had a claimed top speed of 100mph. Cheers Dale Allen
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03-03-10, 03:04 PM
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Aussie Specials
Dale,
- A great Aussie special. Please find attached a snap of my 24 yr old father's first "project" car - an all Aussie JWF ITALA. My father built the car in Darwin in 1962. The car comprised a singer chassis and gearbox (Why? because that is all he could find in Darwin in 1962!!), grey motor Holden donk and triple brass bodied SUs ex Alvis Silver Eagle! The car reputedly had a terminal velocity of 107 mph (indicated) and no brakes! I believe that approx 30 shells were produced all up - quite a pretty car. Brett
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03-03-10, 03:27 PM
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Hi
Thanks for that Dale, I can now pass the info on to the Classic Car Forum where the question was first posed. It is a great old car forum for any make.
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03-03-10, 04:06 PM
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04-03-10, 11:58 AM
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Quote:
Kevin
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05-03-10, 04:01 AM
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Aussie Specials
Brett
I remember the JWF Itala from deep in my memory, thanks for re-awakening it for me. Singer chassis were often re-bodied as there were quite a few of the 1500(?) roadsters imported after the war but most suffered terminal cracking of the body behind the door which if left untreated often resulted in the whole back end of the body falling off which could be quite exciting if in motion. The T series MG's were also commonly used as a base for a fibreglass body either with the original engine or with a Holden transplant. Other interesting Aussie sports cars from the period include The Buchanan which had an in housed designed chassis with transverse lee spring front end and either a Ford Consul or Zephyr engine in various states of tune. The body was a 2 seat coupe and was made in fibreglass in one piece - bonnet, wings roof, boot and scuttle and internal bracing all laid up in one operation with only the doors, boot and bonnet lids made up separately. I don't know if they made many of these however an open version was very popular as a kit body for use over the buyers own chassis. Perhaps the best known is the Buckle which was a handsome 2 seat coupe using a combination of in-house bits with Zephyr mechanicals and a triple carb set up. I'm not sure how many were made but certainly less than 20 and probably less than 12. Buckle motors became the Australian agents for Goggomobil imported the chassis in I think CKD form and made the bodies in Australia from fibreglass. They of course went on and developed the 2 seat mini sports version known as the Dart, one of which I drove on another test drive. One could you brilliant handbrake turns with complete equanimity. A really fun little car but having no doors it was a bit difficult to enter and exit, especially on a wet day. The seats and a very simple vertical pivot which by pushing back and lifting up in the one motion raised the seat several inches to make entry and exit a bit easier. Towards the end of the run they introduced a pair doors, hinged at the bottom and which dropped down. The prettiest of all, to my mind was a car called the Ascort which was basically a re-bodied VW which featured a double skinned 2 door 4 seat body and tuned engine. It was made to a very high standard with leather interior and great attention to detail and was certainly a much nicer car than any of the Karmann variants. I went for a test drive in a used one being sold by a car yard and found it a very nice car to drive with really nice finish and fittings. I forget why I didn't buy it but I was tempted. In the late sixties and seventies Bolwell produced a range of kit cars which were light and often fitted with V8's and were quite well regarded. Some of the early hard top versions had the alarming habit of the roof lifting from the top of the windscreen at speeds above about 80mph. The roof would not blow off, just lift leaving a six inch gap between it and the windscreen. Once you slowed down the roof would drop back into place and there would be no sign that anything untoward had happened. I suppose it was a non-mechanical form of speed limiter. ;-) Their final model was the Nagari which was sold as a complete car with a Ford V8 and was very well received. Unfortunately changes in regulation requiring crash testing and all sorts of other draconian restrictions and requirements all but put and end to low volume car production in Australia. Bolwell switched from cars to fibreglass contracting making boats, shower cabinets and a multitude of other thinks. They announced last year that they were going to re-enter car making with a modern Nagari but I don't know the current position. Every few years there is an announcement of a new sports car/GT maker about to launch, they usually haven impressive prototype to show and then fade away. Probably the most successful has been Elfin set up by Garrie Cooper in SA in the 1960's to produce formula Junior cars and sports racing cars they continue today under Walkinshaw's wing, having moved to melbourne they now build limited runs of a V8 clubman and streamliner which sell for around the $AUS100000.00 mark. Oops, I seem to have got a bit carried away there, I only intend to talk about Singer chassis. Cheers Dale
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05-03-10, 04:30 AM
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What is this?
Kevin
I came across a web site Histmobile (http://www.histomobile.com) which purported to give details of every car and model made world wide. Whilst browsing through it I looked up the page for Goggomobil and found no mention of the Dart. I advised them accordingly and I think they now have the Dart as part of the Goggo line up. That got me thinking about the other cars from Australia which were not on the site and so I did a little research and came up with the info on the Tontala in and old Wheels magazine article. Which itself reminds me of an old copy of Modern Motor I have which gave details of a Melbourne produced car called a Tilley which was a 2 seater 3 wheeler with a very pretty body but it never got past the prototype stage as the Mini Minor was announced a few months later and the promoter saw that he had been well and truly gazumped by BMC. Another car I just remembered was the incredibly ugly Lightburn Zeta which used a 2 cylinder 350cc Villiers 2 stroke which engaged reverse by stopping the motor and re-starting it in the opposite direction giving you 4 speeds in reverse or I suppose more accurately backwards. But even though they did make a 2 seater, based in the UK Frisky, I think it is so far away from things Bristol that I should probably stop. Cheers Dale \\ ~ ~ // ( @ @ ) ---oOOo---( )---oOOo----------
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05-03-10, 05:17 AM
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Typos Aussie Sports
(Please type your reply below this line!!)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Oops My apologies for the typos Please insert the following where relevant In house leaf and do had of an Cheers Dale ______________________ CURRENT MESSAGE FROM: Dale409 Brett I remember the JWF Itala from deep in my memory, thanks for re-awakening it for me. ...The Buchanan which had an in house(d) designed chassis .... ...with transverse lee(leaf) spring front end... ...agents for Goggomobil (and) imported the chassis... ...One could (do) you brilliant handbrake turns... ...The seats (had) a very simple vertical pivot... ...introduced a pair (of) doors, hinged at the bottom and which dropped down. ...they usually have (an) impressive prototype to show and then fade away. Cheers Dale -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- (Please type your reply above this line!!) Quote:
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05-03-10, 10:57 AM
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RECOLLECTIONS ON GOGGOS m
Dale, Not long after flogging off the Itala in Melbourne, father decided to buy two Goggos - a dart and the almost pretty coupe (double lunacy). The coupe was purchased first in a semi disassembled state - some idiot had cut through the main wiring loom, which wasn't a major problem for a normal car, however, this particular model had an electric solenoid actuated gearchange (little knob/gate on the dash triggering a very quick gear change by virtue of a motorcycle type constant mesh box).I recall father spending an interesting morning sorting out the gearchange wiring ie switching on the indicators and the car changing gear etc! The dart was a big hit on the air base (except with the CO) - as it was the only car on which could slip under the boom gate without the driver taking his hat off! Brett
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05-03-10, 06:17 PM
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Aussie Specials
Doesn't the excellent Leyland P76 qualify as an Aussie special...........?
Designed there, built there, and I believe they almost sold a few. Andy Bernard
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06-03-10, 12:21 AM
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Andy
They did in fact make 18007 of them all but 81 were sedans, one was a station wagon and 80 were 2 door coupes of which 70 were crushed and 10 sold at auction to the public after they closed the business down.. The P76 was by all objective standards a better car than the competing Holden (Kingswood), Ford (Falcon) and Chrysler (Valiant) and was certainly more advanced stylistically and mechanically. They were unlucky in that shortly before the release date NSW was subject to a series of strikes covering coal mining, power generation and even car workers. The result being that there was insufficient stock on hand at the release date to meet the demand. The delay in supply of a just released car spooked the public somewhat and not even being voted Car of the Year by wheels magazine was enough to stop the rot. As Brett said the jokesters arrived with the half a car P38 tag and even the sales staff at a number of Leyland dealers had an internal nickname for the car. It seems the P76 badge on the rear of the car if seen from a distance looked like the word PIG. Dale. Quote:
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08-03-10, 02:34 AM
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what's this car?
Okay, here's a new challenge - see attached.
Photo taken Nepean Highway, Melbourne, Australia - summer 08/09 By chance, I came across an article on this car in an RACV magazine which I suspect has since been thrown away, and I've forgotten what the car was!
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08-03-10, 02:52 AM
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Quote:
Nick used to work on my Astons when he was located on North Rd but I haven't seen him since they moved to Braeside(?) because they needed bigger premises for the Elfin production. Kevin
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08-03-10, 10:06 AM
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what's this car?
Kevin,
This is an easy one! The attached image is a rump shot of an all Aussie JWF Milano GT - basically a stretched Milano roadster with a roof. The owner is obviously tall as indicated by the "helmet hump" on the roof! At a guess, I would say that the engine would be a hot "grey" or similar. The ultimate Milano GT would have to be the twin cam Waggott powered car. Brett Ps I sold my old Milano shell 12 mths ago - too many Bristol projects!
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