Tinaintheforest
New member
On Wednesday, a chap, George Marshall from Bodmin, came to visit me to look at a car I had for sale…a Heinkel bubble car! He spotted EOO, my Mk 2 Lotus Cortina, and started to tell me about his old Mk 1 car…an early one, and an S/E. The registration was 26 VUR, and now long gone…. he said.
I said nothing, but whisked him in for a cuppa, and showed him the Spring 2010 Quarter Bumper issue, with Neil McCarthy’s article of 26 VUR. He was so excited to see that car, and asked if I could put this little article up on the forum (and maybe get it included in the next QB) in order to reach Neil and get them in contact.
Here’s his short version of the story…..
l was 25 years old, when in early 1969 l bought 26 VUR from chap who worked as a mechanic for Allan Rogers Car Sales in Potters Bar (Herts), He lived in Little Heath, Herts, and l understand he bought her from a Doctor. The mechanic didn't really want to part with her as it was immaculate inside and out and a superb example, even the alloy panels did not show any signs of damage, and it was after all his daily driver. At the time l was running a very nice red and black 998cc Mini Cooper and offered to swap the Mini and £300 cash for the Lotus, the cash managed to persuade him to do the deal as he had just moved into a new house and his misses was pushing to have all new fitted carpets!! .Everyone was happy, he still had a daily driver, his misses got her new carpets, and l had, what turned out to be one of the best cars I’ve ever owned.
Life went on much as normal, having great fun at the traffic lights with many a boy racer in a GT Cortina that always wanted to prove that their GT was quicker, as remember the GT was a bit quicker away from the lights, but l was normally level at about 60 and soon disappeared into the distance. The car was very reliable, started first time and was existing to drive and own. Living in Hatfield we were only about twenty-five miles from London and on one trip 'to town' l spotted what l thought was a Lotus look-a-like up ahead, as some of the GT boys were painting their cars in Lotus colours, but when l got up behind it, it was '27 VUR' looking identical to mine, there was much blowing of horns and flashing of lights for a few miles, before he eventually turned off, the odds of that happening must be thousands to one!!!.
A good friend of mine,( the tall lad in the picture) who l served my apprenticeship with, suggested having a couple of weeks holiday in Spain...."we could take the Lotus, should be a lot fun" he said, which is what we did, covering a round trip of about 2500 miles. The throttle cable broke, which was easily fixed and a very worrying hissing noise turned out to be no more than a litre bottle of coke which was rolling around under the seat trying to blow it's cap off.
We did have a great time, but a few months later the temperature gauge started to show the water was getting warmer one day then cooler the next, all the usual ideas didn't cure it and eventually l took the head off to discover the alloy was being eaten away between the cylinders, it looked as if the wrong antifreeze had been used and it was eating all the alloy castings. l thought about putting a GT Cortina engine in........but that would never do.....a GT engine in a Lotus....never!!!!!!. So l had it welded by a specialist, machined it myself and all was well, (ish) but l was never really happy after that, one eye was always on that gauge.
Life moved on again, the kids came along and l swapped the lotus in for a nearly new Ford Escort 1300 GT, big mistake...........but that's life.
So that was a quick story from George, and here a a few photos of the car. Note the security lock on the off-side rear wing, the green painted wheel centres, and what looks like THE exhaust system to have in 1970…a Peco!
1969 in Spain….
Jan 1970, George’s wedding at ‘The Horns’, Bulls Green, Herts.
And finally, just before being sold at the end of 1970…
So if you’re reading this, Neil, or if anybody knows how to contact Neil, could you contact me via the forum or via my contact details in this quarter’s QB, and I will put you in touch with George, who is digging out more photos. George was so excited to see that ‘his’ car is still alive, and better that that, undergoing a full and proper restoration. He was also amazed to see the article on the 25 and 27 VUR cars by Keith in the same issue.
And he’s coming up tomorrow to pick up the Heinkel !
Mark
I said nothing, but whisked him in for a cuppa, and showed him the Spring 2010 Quarter Bumper issue, with Neil McCarthy’s article of 26 VUR. He was so excited to see that car, and asked if I could put this little article up on the forum (and maybe get it included in the next QB) in order to reach Neil and get them in contact.
Here’s his short version of the story…..
l was 25 years old, when in early 1969 l bought 26 VUR from chap who worked as a mechanic for Allan Rogers Car Sales in Potters Bar (Herts), He lived in Little Heath, Herts, and l understand he bought her from a Doctor. The mechanic didn't really want to part with her as it was immaculate inside and out and a superb example, even the alloy panels did not show any signs of damage, and it was after all his daily driver. At the time l was running a very nice red and black 998cc Mini Cooper and offered to swap the Mini and £300 cash for the Lotus, the cash managed to persuade him to do the deal as he had just moved into a new house and his misses was pushing to have all new fitted carpets!! .Everyone was happy, he still had a daily driver, his misses got her new carpets, and l had, what turned out to be one of the best cars I’ve ever owned.
Life went on much as normal, having great fun at the traffic lights with many a boy racer in a GT Cortina that always wanted to prove that their GT was quicker, as remember the GT was a bit quicker away from the lights, but l was normally level at about 60 and soon disappeared into the distance. The car was very reliable, started first time and was existing to drive and own. Living in Hatfield we were only about twenty-five miles from London and on one trip 'to town' l spotted what l thought was a Lotus look-a-like up ahead, as some of the GT boys were painting their cars in Lotus colours, but when l got up behind it, it was '27 VUR' looking identical to mine, there was much blowing of horns and flashing of lights for a few miles, before he eventually turned off, the odds of that happening must be thousands to one!!!.
A good friend of mine,( the tall lad in the picture) who l served my apprenticeship with, suggested having a couple of weeks holiday in Spain...."we could take the Lotus, should be a lot fun" he said, which is what we did, covering a round trip of about 2500 miles. The throttle cable broke, which was easily fixed and a very worrying hissing noise turned out to be no more than a litre bottle of coke which was rolling around under the seat trying to blow it's cap off.
We did have a great time, but a few months later the temperature gauge started to show the water was getting warmer one day then cooler the next, all the usual ideas didn't cure it and eventually l took the head off to discover the alloy was being eaten away between the cylinders, it looked as if the wrong antifreeze had been used and it was eating all the alloy castings. l thought about putting a GT Cortina engine in........but that would never do.....a GT engine in a Lotus....never!!!!!!. So l had it welded by a specialist, machined it myself and all was well, (ish) but l was never really happy after that, one eye was always on that gauge.
Life moved on again, the kids came along and l swapped the lotus in for a nearly new Ford Escort 1300 GT, big mistake...........but that's life.
So that was a quick story from George, and here a a few photos of the car. Note the security lock on the off-side rear wing, the green painted wheel centres, and what looks like THE exhaust system to have in 1970…a Peco!
1969 in Spain….
Jan 1970, George’s wedding at ‘The Horns’, Bulls Green, Herts.
And finally, just before being sold at the end of 1970…
So if you’re reading this, Neil, or if anybody knows how to contact Neil, could you contact me via the forum or via my contact details in this quarter’s QB, and I will put you in touch with George, who is digging out more photos. George was so excited to see that ‘his’ car is still alive, and better that that, undergoing a full and proper restoration. He was also amazed to see the article on the 25 and 27 VUR cars by Keith in the same issue.
And he’s coming up tomorrow to pick up the Heinkel !
Mark
