I must admit that is rather less than I would have thought. Admittedly,
not cheap.
I vaguely recall that the price of a replacement from Autoglass for our
Escort in 1983 was well over £100 (I checked even though the insurance
company were paying). Ford were far cheaper but the local dealer made a
mess of fitting it! I had a run of chipped/broken screens in a couple of
months, they (the dealer) eventually mastered it!
Given the nature of the vehicle, I did not assume it was a commercial
(ie profit-making) price, and that Pilkington would offer the same or
similar if asked for, say, a heated windscreen for a courier's 2012 Caddy ;)
--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid
https://www.adrianflux.co.uk/forever-cars/doc-shepherds-historic-a40-restored/?utm_source=Taboola&utm_medium=native&utm_campaign=Austin_A40
That sounds very good value indeed.
--
*Change is inevitable ... except from vending machines *
Dave Plowman snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk London SW
Sweet.
We had two grey-green A40 'Countryman' and I can remember going
everywhere in it (as a kid) and the family using it for a whole range
of things (mostly boat related).
It's only when you see them at classic car shoes and museums do you
realise how small they actually were (especially by today's
standards).
Cheers, T i m
I had one in the early 70's, marvellous little car to drive, but very
rotten. Started with one pull of the handle, even in a hard winter,
rest of the day the battery would do. Headlights were completely bonded
in place with fibreglass. Actually happy memories!
The A40 was credited with being something of a trend setter - it was a
forerunner of the hatch backs which came later. It wasn't really and
estate car, which it resembled.
Just a pity the quality etc wasn't there.
My one had the two piece tailgate, so was quite practical, the ones with
only a boot lid were much less useful. Dad had several A40s which were
part of the hire fleet, and they were always out on hire, so were
definitely popular with the general public. Mine was quite quick enough
at the time and did 40mpg at best and over 30mpg all the time.
The quality was fairly par for the course for a small car of those days.
Thing is many will only remember them as a very used car - probably
neglected for ages. ;-)
--
*I must always remember that I'm unique, just like everyone else. *
Dave Plowman snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk London SW
True. However, the point I was making was, rather like the Mini, 'we'
set a trend but didn't capitalise on it. All the cars built here, at
least the mass market ones, were poor. Had we licked the quality and
specification problems we may still have had a motor industry.
The A40 was just basically a re-bodied A35. Which was an updated A30 -
designed just after WW2.
Push rod engine, rigid rear axle on cart springs, part mechanical drum
brakes etc were hardly trend setting even in the 1960s.
The construction quality was very little different to other small cars of
the day from Ford and Vauxhall, etc.
--
*He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
Dave Plowman snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk London SW
My best friend at school and university was the son of a police driver,
and he had an A40. He used to take us both to college with all our stuff
(and usually with his wife in the front passenger seat). It was small,
but (like the Mini) you could use all the space. I do wonder if we will
see smaller vehicles coming back, especially for urban use. I'd quite
like to see a "size limit" for inner cities (having just followed a
Smart car into Bath this evening).
--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
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Agreed ... and when you compare it with a modern vehicle, how thin the
doors were!
I think that may depend on them passing all the current safety
requirements (side impact / crumple zones / passenger cell etc).
You may be able to have some sort of lightweight urban car as long as
the speeds were limited to something reasonable. That said, a head-on
between two vehicles doing 20 mph would still be fairly uncomfortable.
;-(
Maybe when all the crash prevention / driverless stuff comes in that
will make such safer?
It's funny, our kitcar is based on a Mk2 Escort and is fairly 'slab
sided' (Jeep stylee). You only realise how much narrower it is than
most cars these days when you have two people sitting side by side
(even in the front) or park behind something and compare widths. ;-)
It does make a big difference when driving in traffic (you can get
though gaps that few others can (or will attempt)) and with the near
taxi level of steering lock fiddle your way though the other
obstacles. ;-)
The real issue would be the crash protection, especially against those
only driving 'tanks' as a means of increasing *their* odds of
survival. ;-(
Cheers, T i m
There's an original Fiat 500 that lives close to here. With a current one
often parked beside - could be the same owner. Think the difference is
even more marked, size wise, than between original and new Mini.
--
*If you think this van is dirty, you should try having sex with the driver*
Dave Plowman snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk London SW
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