davidwilkins

davidwilkins, 7 days ago to random

After yesterday’s Morris Commercial, I thought it would be interesting to look at another Morris that provided sterling service delivering letters and parcels on behalf of the Royal Mail. This Morris Minor van lives at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in Hampshire where I saw it last year. Another, slightly more obscure, Royal Mail vehicle tomorrow. I’ll do a separate sequence on the Morris Minor story later on as well.

#davidsdailycar #MorrisMinor #WeirdCarMastodon

Red Royal Mail Morris Minor van, side view

MarSolRivas, 7 days ago to random French

📅 Aujourd'hui 5 juin, journée mondiale de l'environnement. On fête Boniface et Igor.

#JournéeMondiale #WorldDay (A/RES/2994 (XXVII))

davidwilkins, 8 days ago to random

Yesterday I was saying how BL’s light commercials in the early 1980s carried the Morris badge, and I also mentioned to @HubCityLocal the old British ritual of going to the Post Office to buy an annual car tax disc. These two themes are united in this Royal Mail Morris Commercial van. The Morris Commercial was produced between 1949 and 1961, and badged as the J-Type from 1952. Pic: NEC Classic Car Show, 2023.

#davidsdailycar #Morris #WeirdCarMastodon

Royal Mail Morris Commercial van, front quarter view

davidwilkins, 22 days ago to random

Torrential rain in Ipswich, UK. Atrocious, near-impossible driving conditions on the A14 so time for a break

MarSolRivas, 22 days ago to random French

📅 Aujourd'hui 21 mai, journée mondiale du thé. On fête Constantin.

#JournéeMondiale #WorldDay

davidwilkins, 24 days ago to random

Yesterday’s Seat 600 and 133 are a reminder that prior to being acquired by Volkswagen, the Spanish manufacturer mainly made Fiats under licence. Car makers draw heavily on their historical models for inspiration - a problem when your back-catalogue is based so heavily on a rival group’s designs. Seat has therefore always struggled to define itself clearly but this third-gen Leon (snapped at the 2013 press launch in Spain) was one of the better efforts.

#davidsdailycar #Seat #WeirdCarMastodon

Blue metallic third generation Seat Leon, rear quarter view
Blue metallic third generation Seat Leon, rear light detail
Blue metallic third generation Seat Leon, tailgate badge detail

davidwilkins, 28 days ago to random

More construction machinery for @MarSolRivas - a big wheeled crane at a hospital rebuilding project near where I live.

Big crane with white cab and orange lifting arm, cab detail

davidwilkins, 28 days ago to Fiat

Today, we’re back at Techno Classica Essen 2014, with the pretty little Fiat 850 Coupé, which was based on the Fiat 600. The 850 Coupé was designed by Fiat itself, and was first introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 1965.

#davidsdailycar #Fiat #GIMS #WeirdCarMastodon

davidwilkins, 29 days ago to Fiat

Today, we’re looking at Fiat’s mid-engined X1/9. I should logically have done this one after I covered the Fiat 128 as it uses the 128’s engine and gearbox shifted to the rear - rather in the manner of the later Metro/MGF ‘flip’ I also featured recently. The X1/9, introduced in 1972, was designed, and later manufactured, by Bertone. It carried that company’s badge, rather than Fiat’s, from 1982. I saw this one at Techno Classica Essen in 2014.

#davidsdailycar #Fiat #Bertone #WeirdCarMastodon

davidwilkins, 30 days ago to Fiat

More sporty Fiats today with these two quite similar Fiat 500s that have been given the Abarth treatment. On the left, a 500 “upgraded with the Abarth Classiche 595 Engine Tuning Kit” and on the right, one “with Abarth ‘record’ tuning”. Both cars were on display at Techno Classica in Essen in 2019.

#davidsdailycar #Fiat #Abarth #WeirdCarMastodon

Light grey Fiat 500 “with Abarth ‘record’ tuning”, front quarter view