Invalid cars

[mrcooke]

Been thinking about getting something small to pop into town in. A mini is unnecessarily big, a moped doesn't have a boot, I'd love a proper Fiat 500, but they're too dear.

So, have I gone utterly mental, or could a modded one of these actually be a win in the waiting :

[alfazer]

I think you'll have a hard job finding one for sale.
I think the NHS owned them all and most were scrapped.
If you want something small and retro a Suzuki Wizzkid would be worth a look.
Or a bond bug.

[Darrel]

yep i looked at these a couple of years ago.The little blue cars. They were never privately owned and when they were phased out thegoverment/nhs (cant remember who) destroyed all of them. Even if you could find one intact I'm not sure what the DVLA would think about registering it?

[briandamaged]

It really was called the 'Thundersley Invacar'.

www.virtualgaz.com/invacarpage.htm
Good job they didn't call them a Crip-wagen, or else there'd have been a whole lotta gang-banging in South Central Sheffield.

[trigger]

There must still be some out there as I spotted these two last year at a car show I went to.

[froggy]

i had one last year on a q plate ,some where privatley owned and they were made by two firms ac and thundersley .all the ac cars were registered as tricycles so could be put back on the road with a q or age related plate but the thundersley cars were registered as invalid carriages and the plates were wiped off the dvla,s books when they were withdrawn from use in the nineties . if you can find one they are a hoot to drive and mechanically they use bits from all sorts of cars

[mrcooke]

There must still be some out there as I spotted these two last year at a car show I went to.

Looking at those two fellas with the boaters holding hands in the background - was it some sort of gay car show?

I had one last year on a q plate

Mind me asking what you paid / sold it for?

[skoda_norman]

I love these, but I can honestly say that I have only ever seen one.

Why on Earth did they decide to withdraw and scrap them?!

How many were built?

[skoda_norman]

Answered my own question:

-5,928 Invacar Model 67 'Acedes' carriages were built.
-A 1966 'Delta' by Frank Tippen Ltd. and the aluminium Invacar Model 57 which was available only in blue with a petrol engine (13,155 manufactured) or the rarer 72-volt electric version - both with sliding windows.

[trigger]

Mar 1, 2009 20:15:25 GMT mrcooke said:

There must still be some out there as I spotted these two last year at a car show I went to.

Looking at those two fellas with the boaters holding hands in the background - was it some sort of gay car show?

Oh Err misses! Never noticed that, Thought it was very friendly there!

[Stiff]

Me and a mate was gonna build one of these about 10 years ago with a bike engine, for York Dragway. We just couldn't get hold of one though :/ We heard that they had been deemed unfit for the road (or something along them lines). Any truth in that? I've not seen one on the road for ages now so it may well be true.

[trigger]

Just done a DVLA check on the two in the photo I took, Both are still taxed and on the road, The Tippen at the front is a 600cc and the Invcar is a 493cc and cost £66 to tax for the year.

Some histroy on them here:
pages.zoom.co.uk/elvis/invacar.html

[froggy]

i paid £900 and it was complete but not on the road after sorting the brakes etc i used it a few times then started thinking about a bike engine conversion but decided it was too rare and sold it to a guy in sweden for a few quid more than it cost me. i have to say though it was mega reliable as it was in my garage at work and we had to move it every day and it always started on the button. mine managed a wind assisted 70mph ;D and had handlebars which you pushed down to apply the brakes , i wouldnt like to see one get modded as they are such a laugh to drive in standard form ,our favourite trick was to drive it two up to mc donalds to get dinner for everyone at the garage

[Deleted]

i don't know why but when I look at them I get the horrible feeling they would smell of wee...

(probably because all the ones I saw in eastbourne as a kid were driven by ancient old people)

[SparksECM]

it just has to be done, I seem to remember seeing one in Ali G in da house as well

Edit, yep as seen below

[reeman237]

i live in thundersley and work on manor trading estate where the invacar place was the factory is owned by my mates uncle and was where i did my work experience when i was still at school a few years back although now its a garage and engineering shop. they used to have a few old ways out the back.
also down the road from me there is an old persons caravan site and an old boy has got one of those little blue things still see him zippin around in it from time to time

[briandamaged]

Mar 1, 2009 20:59:03 GMT @rottie007 said:

I don't know why but when I look at them I get the horrible feeling they would smell of wee...

Take that idea to its logical extreme...do the floor in wipe-clean chequered lino, replace the stock seat with a toilet and have a selection of lavatorial accoutriments in the back window (Airwick solid, bottle of Toilet Duck, pack of Brobat Bloo, framed picture of Sir Winston Churchill).

Add a wad of newspaper squares on a string tied to the door and the illusion's complete. Piece of pi55.

[sooty]

It was because of the bad brakes that they were deemed as unroadworthy in the early 90s iirc, and they were supposedly destroyed. However there are rumours that hundreds of them are being kept in a compound rather than be destroyed.

[reeman237]

i heard that they went as fast backwards as they did forwards.

[datman]

dammit, I want one now!