In article ,
Julian wrote:

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
Now they've become quite common - in London at least, due to the
artificial tax advantages - just watch the way they are driven.
Despite claiming to have nippy performance they in practice accelerate
like a side valve Morris Minor - the owner obviously with his eyes
clamped on the economy gauge.

Which touches on an old thread. (IYR?) I'd bet that the Minor achieved a
similar or better MPG than the Prius, and you could probably
manufacture two or three Minors with the materials needed for one P. It
may pollute a little more out of the exhaust pipe, but it's always
worth keeping a clear distinction in the mind between pollution and
green house gas.

My dad had many Minors and Travellers, I'm sure he always got mid 40's
MPG - can't ask now because he's dead. I do remember that he always
tried to thin the mixture off as much as the engine would tolerate by
turning the big nut on the underside of the SU carb.

My father had the first Morris Minor in Scotland fitted with the Austin
803cc OHV engine - in 1953. It being a business car, he kept accurate
records of the fuel used over the three years he had it. And that averaged
out at 53 mpg. He was averaging about 12,000 miles a year and much of that
open road motoring, and of course traffic wasn't so heavy. But then the
roads were less straight and level than today.

--
*Born free - taxed to death *

Dave Plowman London SW
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"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Julian wrote:

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...


It being a business car, he kept accurate
records of the fuel used over the three years he had it. And that averaged
out at 53 mpg. He was averaging about 12,000 miles a year and much of that
open road motoring, and of course traffic wasn't so heavy. But then the
roads were less straight and level than today.

My dad did too. He was a freight manager for a large shipping company, (now
part of P&O) and travelled the length and breadth of the country in his
Minor on a regular basis meeting customers etc, also often travelling to the
far east - but in a VC-10! Weekends often partially spent servicing it.
(front lower swivels need regular grease) I also remember that he kept two
or three paving flags in the boot in winter and used proper winter tyres on
the rear - snow came every winter in the 60's. The world's moved on a fair
bit since then and I don't think people today would tolerate driving such
huge mileages in a basic vehicle. Having said that he seemed to laugh and
smile a good deal more than people in similar positions today.

Julian.