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| Our Classics: Peter Simpson (Grey-haired British car bloke & Editor-In-Chief) |
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By: Peter Simpson Peter Simpson’s tale of modern-ish Rovers and new driveways...
MY CARS 1957 Standard Vanguard
As I mentioned in my ‘column’ a few weeks back, I now have a new daily driver in the form of a 2003 Rover 75 CDTi diesel. This may or may not be a classic or future classic but I’m really not bothered; I think of it simply as a reliable and efficient everyday car, and therefore aren’t adding it to my ‘list’ of classics above; not yet anyway. That, though, doesn’t mean I don’t absolutely love it! Anyway, I’ve certainly been using it and added 3000 miles to the 71500 that was on the 75’s clock when I bought it. This has been due mainly to long trips to Devon, Beaulieu and Hastings in the past six weeks. It’s the top of the range Connoisseur SE model – which means full leather, climate control, cruise etc., etc., and it’s also a supremely comfortable and refined car that consistently returns 42.8mpg average (yes, it’s got an onboard computer..) and over 45 on a run. And being the 135bhp CDTi, it’s also got a useful extra bit of power over the standard 115CDT. It’s had four registered keepers before me but all were in the same family and the fourth and first were one and the same. Best of all though, the car came from one of my former ‘trade contacts’ which meant purchase at trade price... I can’t, though, say that the first few weeks have been trouble-free. Two days after purchase, the ABS warning light came on. As the cruise control stopped working at the same time, and ABS and cruise are both ‘fed’ from the nearside front ABS sensor, this – or the connection to it – was the likely culprit, and so it proved. Incidentally if the ABS light comes on and the speedo stops working it’s the offside front sensor. The car came in need of a service and with one month’s MoT remaining so was booked in the week after purchase for both. It failed its test on low handbrake efficiency which I’d expected, but the rear tyres which I was also expecting to fail merited only an advisory for ‘wear on limit’. Obviously though, I still renewed both... Sorting the brakes was a bit more involved though as the 75 has the traditional ‘German car’ rear set-up of discs with pads for the ‘service’ (foot) brake and a small set of shoes inside for the parking brake only. It’s a good system that lasts a long time but can be a bit involved/expensive if major work is required. And so it proved here as it needed discs, pads and handbrake shoes. The service was pretty straightforward, though the pollen filter (in the bulkhead adjacent to the electronic control unit) looked like it hadn’t actually been changed since the car was new! I’m still very happy though; and the overall impression I have is of a car that’s good overall but been neglected a bit in the past two or three years, and I’m now catching up on that. And since the car was bought for trade money anyway, there was money in the budget to cover a few repairs/issues... In other news, the Standard Vanguard, London Taxi and Rover Sterling have all now settled into Station House, while the Minx is living with the Leyland Leopard bus in secure undercover storage a few miles away. As ‘configured’ when bought, Station House had rear vehicular access plus parking opposite the main building (on what was formerly Platform 2), but nothing at the front. There was, though, also room beside the building for a driveway; I’ve been told by a couple of long-term village residents that this there was vehicular access here for loading/unloading to the platform when the station was open. Accordingly, we’re part-way through reinstating/installing a driveway there. Ours, though, stretches across the former trackbed via a section of that had already been filled and with the existing access will thus provide ‘in one side and out the other’ vehicle parking. There’s no garage yet, but there are two options. The sensible option – and the one we’ll probably go for - is to erect one of those prefab timber framed ones you can buy in a currently-overgrown area of the garden. However a more ‘interesting’ option would be to obtain an old ‘motorail’ type wagon, lay a short length of track next to the platform, and then place said wagon on the track, so cars can be driven directly in and out; an instant and totally in keeping garage! |
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