24
Official Magazine of the Rootes Group Car Club Inc No. 356, July 2020
Official Magazine of the Rootes Group Car Club Inc
No. 356, July 2020
REG # A14412X
ROOTES GROUP CAR CLUB INCORPORATED CONTACT US Address: P.O. Box 932 GLEN WAVERLEY, VIC 3150 Note that post box is only checked fortnightly – allow plenty of time for response
Note new phone number: (03) 9005 0083 (AH)
Email: [email protected]
Web Site: vic.rootesgroup.org.au
MAIN OFFICE BEARERS 2019-20
PRESIDENT: Bernard Keating
0422 550 449 (AH) [email protected]
VICE PRESIDENT: Murray Brown
(03) 5626 6340 (AH)
SECRETARY: Thomas Clayton
0414 953 481 (AH)
TREASURER: Bernie Meehan
0412 392 470
SOCIAL MEDIA OFFICER: Jodie Brown
(03) 5626 6340 (AH)
WEB SITE: TBA
SOCIAL COORDINATOR: Tim Christie
(03) 9741 6530 (AH) or 0409 966 942
MAGAZINE EDITOR: John Howell
0434 319 910 (AH)
LIBRARIAN: Matthew Lambert
(03) 9570 5584 (After 8pm)
REGALIA OFFICER: Kristi Lambert
(03) 9570 5584 (AH)
SPARE PARTS OFFICER: Murray Brown
(03) 5626 6340 (AH)
CLUB PERMIT OFFICERS:
Neil Yeomans: 0429 295 774
Mick Lindsay: (03) 5860 8650 (AH)
or 0417 304 616
AOMC Reps: John Howell
Federation Reps: Neil Yeomans
CLUB PERMITS For club permit applications & renewals, call one of the above Club Permit Officers
who will tell you what needs to be done, and where to send your paperwork.
Include a stamped envelope and don’t forget to sign the form!
Fees: 1. Lodging an application (Post 1931 vehicle): $30 Don’t post renewals to the
2. Lodging an application (Pre 1931 vehicle): $POA Club PO Box!
3. Renewal: $10
4. Provision of paperwork to support the applicant (e.g. loss of logbook): $30
Note it is the permit holder’s responsibility to ensure that the renewal gets to VicRoads on time
MEMBERS’ MEETINGS Meeting times and locations vary each month – see the Calendar for details, which is an effort to
give more members a chance to attend meetings. New members and visitors always welcome
Rootes Group Car Club website hosted by: www.qcsgroup.com.au
This month’s cover – The cover of the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs featuring Digby Harman’s Imp and a local sign supporting the NHS workers.
THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020 3
RGCC ( Online ) Calendar
JULY 2020 Wednesday 8 Members’ Meeting - Online
AUGUST 2020 Wednesday 12 Members’ Meeting - Online
We trialled using the Zoom app to host the monthly
meeting for April, and it worked quite well.
To participate, please email the club at
to get an invite to the meeting! Future cancellations we have been advised of are the Federation Picnics in the near future (August),
National Show & Shine at Seymour and the Bendigo Swap Meet.
President’s Report
Hello To All,
Well another month of restrictions has been and gone and the COVID-19 is still with us.
If you are like me, you are becoming tired of, frustrated of, irritated by this pandemic. BUT we must
for all our well being persist with sanitising and social distancing, for all of the community.
The virus can not last forever and we will return to some normality in the future.
Hope you have been keeping well and busily occupied doing great things in the past month.
Your Treasurer, Bernie Meehan, has been very busy devising a plan for us members to have a long
weekend away in East Gippsland in support of the Bushfire areas of Eastern Victoria.
It is hoped that this drive in our vehicles will take place in early November, over the Melbourne Cup
weekend.
Bernie has been feverishly working away at the details of accommodation, eating arrangements and
so forth.
To help Bernie in his quest to make this extended weekend a success, please send your expression
of interest to either Bernie Meehan, Thomas Clayton or myself.
The phone numbers and email addresses of these people are on the inside cover of this month’s
Club Magazine.
When attendance numbers are known we can make arrangements for people’s personal
needs/requirements and liaise with the community and abide with restrictions if still in place.
The extended weekend away in springtime will lift the spirits of all.
I thank Bernie for his idea of the weekend away and the work he has put in towards the event.
Remember to follow the medical Officer’s advice about dealing with this pandemic and we will all
come through this period in time fit
and well.
Keep driving those Rootes
Vehicles,
Bernie Keating
JUNE
B IRTHDAYS • Kristi Lambert on the 2nd
• Nicholas Aspinall on the 8th
• Margaret Gee on the 8th
• Lou Mallia on the 17th
• Robin Walter on the 31st
Imp Photo of the Month
The start of Linwood Road, leading towards the Rootes factory,
with a train stopped at Ferguslie Station – more later on
4 THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020
Editor’s Report
Hi everyone,
It just keeps changing doesn’t it? I had an information page from the AOMC on how the Covid-19
restrictions affect car clubs and what we can do to run this month, however it is now obsolete as the
restrictions have been ramped up again. To our members in the lockdown suburbs – hang in there!
As well as another comparison from the 1960’s, there are a few other features including some
information from a truck guidebook that of course features a few Rootes vehicles – thanks Tim. This
includes the Karrier 7-ton truck below with a 22/30 cubic yard Blenheim refuse collector body that was
one of 17 examples of “unusual vehicles” at the back of the book. You wouldn’t look twice at it today!
Another item shows a reminder of the Rootes Group that still exists in Scotland.
John
The Brooklands Motor Museum has some good online resources including virtual tours, online jigsaws and colouring activities. Several other museums are doing virtual tours too. https://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/explore/museum-from-home
EOI - Ern Broughton Tour of East Gippsland, Cup weekend Starting on Sat October 31st at Dandenong South, and finishing on Cup Day (3 Nov) with a bbq lunch at
Murray and Jodie’s place at Drouin.
The route is still being confirmed, and some ideas include a visit to the desalination plant near
Wonthaggi, Patties Pies at Bairnsdale, the Cape Liptrap Lighthouse, and even the Buchan Caves. If
possible we’ll include a show & shine display to raise money for CFA or similar.
Similar to the Silo Art Trail trip, the weekend will be aiming for 24 people to participate, as a ‘handy’
group size that will fit into motels etc. If there isn’t enough interest within our club, it will be opened to
the other Rootes clubs.
If you are interested, please advise Bernie Meehan! Refer to page 2 for contact details.
THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020 5
More
from the
A recent addition to Lakeland Motor Museum is a 1963
Humber Hawk Estate Series III. It has only covered
45,000miles from new. The Humber
lived a life towing caravans and making
deliveries for its owners’ hardware
business. It was stored in a heated
and sealed garage in North Yorkshire
and wrapped in blankets which ensured
it remained in excellent condition.
(Ed: located in Backbarrow, Cumbria
between Ulverstone and Windemere)
The ‘father of the automobile’ mentioned on the cover, Dr John Wesley Carhart, was an American
Methodist Minister. The article inside adds a question mark to the ‘father’ bit, as he had made a steam
driven cart in 1871-73 in Racine, Wisconsin. Parts of the car were made by a local threshing machine
firm by the name of Case, who you may have heard of! The boiler was made in New York by a company
that merged to form American LaFrance, who went on to fame making fire appliances. The cart had a
two-cylinder engine and could do 5 mph, but the noise saw it banned from the streets. It was later taken
apart, however the parts were scrapped in 1941 for the war effort.
In the article there are 3 citings
where he was named ‘father of the
automobile’ by a magazine,
newspaper and at an international
expo in Paris, and while it is noted that
there were other self-propelled steam-
powered vehicles built earlier
including in France and the UK, in
Carhart’s own words “Other heavier
machines had been tried, but mine
was the first light self-propelled road
vehicle in the USA.” One key
difference is others had steering by
pivoting a beam axle in the fashion of
a carriage, whereas Carhart’s had a
fixed (sprung) axle with steered
wheels.
In case you were curious, The Five P’s of Archiving are listed as:
• Potential The actions that need to be taken to future proof the Archive and develop it for
generations to come
• Process The process employed in cataloguing, recording & safeguarding the Archive
• People Club Committee, Archivists, Model Specialists
• Possessions The Clubs Archive material & records
• Place The home for the Clubs Archive possessions
6 THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020
From CAR magazine (UK), July 1969.
ESTATE CARS, THEY TELL US, are gaining in
popularity. Gone are the days when the market was
restricted to those who wanted a matiching mobile
extension to their half-timbered country mansion.
This is the era of the man who buys one for its
convenience, or because he wants to carry awkward
loads. For this, he has to be prepared to put up with
extra first cost and with one or two annoying
incidentals like the back window which always gets
dirty, the body boom which is always there
somewhere and the absence of anything in which to
conceal valuable luggage from dishonest eyes.
His market is served by an estate car version of
just about every basic British saloon except the very
big or very expensive ones, with surprisingly little
direct foreign competition. Most of the foreigners
(Simca, Volkswagen, Volvo) are priced out of the
bread-and-butter class while the little Renault 4L
THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020 7
offers
astonishing
value but goes
rather to the
other extreme.
There is the
growing class
of the integrated
saloon-estates
(Renault 16,
Simca 1100 and
now the Maxi)
which will
inevitably make
greater inroads
as time goes on.
Meanwhile we
are left with the
Fiat 124 as a
thoroughly
conventional
estate
conversion to
take up arms
against the
principal four-
door British
contenders. 1 Victor ohc engine looks small in bonnet space designed to take the 3300cc inline six
from the Cresta. 2 Fiat engine is small too, but bonnet is also short so that it fits well;
accessibility well looked after 3 Crossflow Cortina engine offers better accessibility
than of old, but distributor is still badly tucked away 4 Most conventional unit of all, the
all-iron Minx engine now sits between Macpherson struts à la Ford
8 THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020
STYLE AND
ENGINEERING
Estate cars are
selling well
enough now for it
to be well worth
making provision
for an estate
variant during the
design evolution
of any saloon.
Inevitably the
estate will be
heavier, and the
weight increase is
in some measure
an indication of
the effort which
has gone into the
making of a
capacious load-
carrier. Of our
four cars the
Cortina tops the
list at 8.4 percent heavier (working on a kerb weight
basis), the Minx comes next at 7.1 followed by the
Victor at 6.0 and the Fiat at 5.1.
Naturally an increase in weight cuts into the
permitted payload unless the suspension is beefed up,
and in three cases this has been done; but payload for
the standard Victor estate is actually down on the
equivalent saloon. On the other hand Vauxhall are
the only people to offer a heavy-duty option for their
car (at least on the home market). It costs a shattering
thirty bob and allows you to carry over another three
hundredweight; why on earth it isn’t standard we just
do not know, unless the Vauxhall people are scared
of what it will do to the ride. For a man buying the
Victor estate as a genuine load-carrier it looks
indispensable to us.
The extra weight doesn’t only lead to a stiff-
suspension/harsh ride spiral; it also eats into
performance. The loss in acceleration compared
with a saloon can be either accepted (Ford and
Vauxhall) or counteracted with a lower final drive
ratio (Fiat, and to a greater extent Rootes). Or a
bigger engine could be fitted as standard—something
that is open to all but Ford. In the event, Fiat is the
only firm which doesn’t (yet) offer extra power as an
option, although the Ford offer (the 1600GT engine)
is difficult to get and very expensive compared with
£33 for the Rootes 1725 unit and a bargain-basement
£26 for the Victor 200 engine with front discs and a
servo as well.
The extra weight is itself bound to drag down fuel
consumption; lower gearing must compound the
problem for the 124 and the Minx.
To recapitulate the basic engineering behind the
original saloons, they split into two pairs: the Cortina
and Minx, quite similar under the skin just as they are
to look at—Macpherson strut front suspension and
the simplest possible back end, and the usual
compromise disc/drum braking system, for instance:
and the Fiat and Victor, using coil springs all round,
with better-than-average axle location. But there are
strange contradictions where these latter two are con-
cerned. The Victor has the more modern engine—
the only overhead cam unit of the four—and yet in
standard form has drum brakes all round (discs all
round in the Fiat) together with a bench front seat and
a three-speed gearbox with a column change!
USE OF SPACE The Victor is by a fair margin the
biggest car of the four, longer and wider than the
Cortina or Minx though considerably lower. These
next two trade off inches in different directions but
are as near as dammit the same size; the Fiat is
markedly more compact. This is reflected in basic
weight, too.
THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020 9
The Italian car gains a lot of its length advantage
by having a very short and compact engine room—
the only one with a forward-hinged lid—with
everything inside neatly and fairly accessibly
disposed round the little engine. Ease of access is
also well looked after in the Cortina, except for the
tucked-away distributor (and how nice at least to see
fuse protection of the electrical system on a bread-
and-butter Ford!), but the Hillman has its bad points
with an awkward dipstick and poor access to
reservoirs and coil.
The Victor’s extra length is mainly due to the
longer engine compartment designed to the the big
inline six to make the Ventora; which means that aft
10 THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020
of the main bulkhead all the cars have about the same
sort of space to carve up.
In general, the Minx gives the driver most room
and the Fiat and Victor the least—despite a wide
range of fore-and-aft seat movement in the 124. The
size of the platform depends on the manner in which
the back seat folds. In the Cortina the cushion flips
twice and the squab follows it down to form a flat
platform which is easily the longest and one of the
widest. But it leaves the driver with no auxiliary
bulkhead behind him in case of heavy loads sliding
forward, and it also leads to some uncomfortable
compromises in back seat design.
The other seats are all much the same: the cushion
lifts to the vertical and the squab falls horizontally
behind it. The Minx sets itself up more tidily than
the other two but the Victor’s platform is as long. On
the other hand the Fiat wastes precious inches
forward of the folded cushion and has a much shorter
load platform.
With the rear seats in place the Minx and Victor
offer the most residual platform followed closely by
the Cortina and at a respectable distance by the Fiat.
It is noticeable that while the British cars all have
strong positive locks to secure the rear upright, the
Fiat is less well provided for.
Platform loading via either side or back doors is
most easily accomplished in the Cortina and the
Minx. The platforms in the 124 and the Victor start
rather far back relative to the smallish back doors,
and in the Victor the floor slopes downwards away
from the rear door.
All four cars have single, top-hinged rear loading
doors—which means that none of them can really be
driven with the doors open. The Cortina and Fiat
doors open widest for loading, but the Fiat has the
disadvantage that its door (which is more or less flat
and not kinked like the others) is not particularly
strong or rigid and is difficult to lock positively.
Loading heights are about the same for all the cars
at just under two feet, but again it is the Cortina and
the Minx which have the biggest rear apertures and
the least obstructed floors. Their floors are rubber
covered, while the Fiat and Victor use vinyl (the
latter with metal rubbing strips). Spare wheels are
flat under floor except in the Victor which stands its
up on the right. The Minx spare is in a typical Rootes
undertray which can be wound down without
disturbing the load—an excellent point.
Fuel tanks also have to live beneath the floor,
filled in all cases via a cap in one rear wing. One
unfortunate aspect of the Cortina redesign is that it
has limited tank size to a mere eight gallons.
COMFORT AND SAFETY In saloon form, the
Minx has probably the best ride of the four cars with
the Cortina coming a close second and the Victor and
Fiat tailing off in that order. In these estate cars, the
gap between Cortina and Minx seems to have
narrowed a little, although the order of the league
table stays the same. All four estates are noticeably
harsher and bouncier than their saloon counterparts.
The Minx pulls back a lot of ground on the Cortina
when it comes to overall comfort, though, because its
front seats are quite a bit better. They may not recline
as do the seats in more expensive Rootes cars, but
they are well-shaped, firm without being bouncy and
BRAKES RESPONSE in normal use. Deceleration (percent g) vs pedal load (lb)
FADE peak deceleration achieved in 10 crash stops from 60mph at one minute intervals
THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020 11
set at well-chosen angles. The Cortina seats
possess most of these virtues but not the
well-chosen angles, especially when set well
back by tall drivers. The Fiat suffers still
from its old problem of having the pedals too
close to the steering wheel; so that even
though the seats are not too bad when
considered in isolation, they serve less well
in the car. For tall drivers, the optional
reclining squabs are a necessity.
The Victor’s standard-offering bench
front seat is an abomination which should be
done away with, even if it does allow three
people to crouch matily in the front. Far too
upright, too hard and offering no sideways
support at all, not even a folding central
armrest, its only virtue is that it makes you
use the belts just to stay in place. For £26
you can get very nice individual front seats:
surely most people do? The bench seat loses
its whole raison d’être in any case if you do
away with the three-speed column change
and have four-on-the-floor.
Thus we have the Cortina and the Minx
offering acceptable driving positions, the
Fiat a marginal one and the Victor a poor
one. Major controls are all nicely enough
sorted out except in the Fiat which loses
points for out-of-reach heater controls, two
confusable stalks on the same side of the
steering column and unergonomically
angled see-saw switches. Pedals are in all
cases well spaced and sensibly large and
lacking in any offset problem. Handbrakes
live in the middle in the Fiat and Cortina, on
the right (and able to be kicked off by
mistake) in the Minx and inconveniently
under the dashboard in the Victor.
Because of the way it has to fold, the
Cortina back seat is very poor from the
passenger viewpoint. For one thing the
cushion is too low as in most Fords, but in
the estate the squab is very short and set
almost bolt upright.
Top to bottom: FIAT load platform is
smallest, suffers from rear suspension
encroachment; CORTINA is large and
unencumbered, but lacks protection be-
hind front seats; Hillman is flat and well
laid out; VICTOR slopes up to rear, loses
space to rear suspension and spare wheel
12 THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020
The other three cars treat back seat passengers
much more reasonably. The Victor redeems itself to
some extent by having a rear bench which is high-set
(at the expense of a headroom problem) and with
large and well-angled cushion and squab: still no
armrests, though. The Fiat and Minx both suffer
from rather upright squabs in the back but are
otherwise by no means bad.
Noise tends to be an estate car bugbear and all our
test cars rather bore this out. The Cortina is the
highest geared of the quartet but as we have observed
before the present crossflow engine is a rough and
noisy thing, added to which the estate body is subject
to sundry boom periods and rattles which don’t
afflict the saloon. The Minx in general feels tauter
and smoother but is lower geared to the extent that it
starts to sound really busy when cruising at 70mph.
The Victor is far noisier than it should be in this 1600
version. Engine and transmission noise both play a
part (the 2000 Estate is a great deal quieter; surely it
can’t just be the gearing?) and wind noise increases
rapidly above 60mph. The Fiat of course is quite
noisy all the time, although the open-propshaft cars
to the latest specification are less prone to those
really annoying road-excited vibrations.
Visibility, which used to be another estate car
problem, has now done a complete turnabout (except
for the perennially filthy back window for which the
only solution seems to be the wiper offered by Volvo
as an option and by some accessory people). The
driver’s view from all these cars, most of all from the
Victor, is better than in the equivalent saloon because
the rear roof pillars are slimmer and farther away.
Wiper patterns are fair except that the Minx’s seems
to be the wrong way round as usual; all the wipers
are single-speed only, and the washers manual. The
four-eyed headlamps of the Victor, and the single
units of the others, are all pretty well up to the sort of
performance available. The Fiat as always is well
provided with lights (in the engine compartment and
glove box and over the load platform). The Minx and
Victor on the other hand have no light at all over the
platform—you have to make do with the single roof
light placed well forward.
Heating and ventilation are pretty well looked
after all round. There is little to choose between the
Cortina and the Minx except that the latter’s heater
output is perhaps a little easier to regulate; the Victor
still fails to offer the same sort of mass flow through
its system, and the Fiat is generally less well
endowed, sharing with the Vauxhall an occasional
window-misting problem at the back.
PERFORMANCE, HANDLING, BRAKES
The Fiat with its low gearing and the lowest weight
gets fastest off the mark by quite a margin. But
thereafter the Cortina uses its extra torque to start
reeling it in, getting to 60mph almost as fast and to
70mph a good deal sooner. The Italian car’s real top-
end trouble is its gearing; that fabulous 1197 engine
which gives away so little in terms of power (nothing
at all to the Minx) will cheerfully rev to 7000, but
there is little to be gained from doing it. On the other
hand if you drop it into top at 6000 it will set up
consistent times to 80mph: but the third/top gap is
certainly there.
The Victor also catches up the Fiat—eventually;
but nothing can disguise the fact that for a car which
is supposed to be 15 percent up on power it feels bog-
slow. The Victor 2000 which we also drove during
testing would outrun any of the others, all for an extra
£26 (a price which, as we have said, includes decent
brakes). We are left to wonder why anybody wants
to buy the 1600, especially in estate form. Fuel
consumption? By our reckoning there is little in it;
for some drivers, quite conceivably nothing at all.
Insurance? A few quid a year. Scared of a big
engine? You’d never tell the difference, except that
overtaking is safer.
Notwithstanding its lower gearing the Minx is
slowest of the lot—it was the only one of the quartet
which would not pull a true 80mph. Clearly the 1725
engine option is a good one for the man who likes to
press on; it was noticeable in the 1500 that the lower
gearing had made third much less useful as a high-
speed overtaking gear.
The Victor comes out top of the handling league
by quite a margin. The estate comes on fat low-
profile tyres as standard, and there is roadholding in
abundance. Handling is just on the understeer side
of neutral so that the car can be pushed round corners
with a minimum of effort. Even so, some wheel-
winding is called for because the steering is low
geared. It makes up for it by being extremely precise
and relatively light. The snag to all this comes when
you distribute a heavy load badly in the back: the car
then develops a distressing tendency to wander and
becomes much more sensitive to sidewinds.
Ford always try to confuse the handling picture by
fitting their press fleet with wide rims and fat radials,
thus adding decent roadholding to the basic
soundness of their balance and suspension geometry.
THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020 13
Even as standard the estate Cortinas are not fitted
with tyres quite as skinny as those offered for the
saloons, but the standard of adhesion is lower,
especially in the wet. As always, radials are a good
thing to order when buying a Cortina—they don’t
seem to make the steering much mushier or heavier.
The Minx does everything the Cortina does in the
handling department, but generally does it
marginally less well. There is more understeer,
making the steering feel slightly less wieldy (there is
also a suggestion of lost-motion about the straight
ahead position). The back end unsticks relatively
quickly in the wet, and is more susceptible to axle
tramp in the dry. Neither it nor the Cortina is unduly
put out by a maldistributed load and neither reacts
noticeably to sidewinds.
On the six-ply Sempiones with which (to carry the
rated load) the 124 Estate is shod roadholding is not
a strong point, especially in the wet. In fact by and
large the Fiat is the least pleasant of the cars to drive,
for its steering is fairly heavy and feels spongy and
lacking precision. It is also the only one of the four
to exhibit anything like a real tendency to oversteer
when pushed. When badly loaded it tends to wallow
like the Victor although not to the same extent, and
the steering becomes noticeably lighter.
As to gearchanges there is little to choose between
the Fiat, Cortina and Minx. Our Fiat had an untypical
reluctance to enter first gear but otherwise
approached the Cortina’s standard of excellence.
The Minx change was heavier and yet smoother, with
a very positive feel. But the Victor change—the
gearbox, you will recall, was inherited from the old
Victor 101—is sticky and heavy and baulks
frequently: not at all nice.
In the same way, the standard Victor drum brakes
are hardly in keeping with the modern concept of its
engine and body. They light and progressive but
fairly spongy and can get into real trouble with fade
if the car is driven fast with something like its full
rated load. At the other extreme the Fiat with discs
all round resisted fade handsomely and its pedal
loads were no heavier than those in the Cortina or
Minx. But it did suffer from a woefully weak
handbrake. Between those two extremes the Minx
and Cortina brakes performed efficiently enough,
with the Rootes car perhaps feeling the nicer of the
two.
IN CONCLUSION The Cortina stands out straight
away as being the most capacious and convenient
load carrier: and so it should be, since the design of
the back seat has clearly been subjugated to this end.
The Minx strikes us as a far more reasonable
compromise, though we would certainly opt for a
1725 engine to give the sort of performance it
deserves, and have a serious think about tyre
equipment to see if it could be persuaded to handle
better.
The Victor is an enigma. In this form the bench
seat and sluggish performance lost more friends for
it amongst the staff than its handling gained. We can
only reiterate that the only way you can do justice to
the car is to order the 2000 with individual front seats
and (preferably) heavy-duty suspension: but then you
must face the fact that you are paying much more
than for the Cortina and are still not getting the load
capacity—volumewise, that is.
The Fiat 124 may be outstanding value as a saloon
but as an estate it doesn’t come off in the same way.
The price increment is on the high side, it still suffers
from some of the saloon’s detail drawbacks like the
driving position and the steering, it doesn’t offer the
same sort of floor area and some aspects of the
conversion, such as the rigidity of the rear door, are
not too well handle.
There is no doubt that the commercial travellers
are right to stick with the Cortina; but the family man
should take a hard look at the current Rootes
offerings. ●
14 THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020
FIAT 124 ESTATE FORD CORTINA 1600 ESTATE
HILLMAN MINX ESTATE
VAUXHALL VICTOR 1600 EST.
DIMENSIONS inches / mm inches / mm inches / mm inches / mm
wheelbase 95.3 2421 98 2489 98.5 2502 102 2591
front track 52.4 1331 52.5 1334 52 1321 54.5 1384
rear track 51.2 1300 51 1295 52 1321 54 1372
length 159 4039 169.5 4305 171 4343 177 4496
width 64 1626 65 1651 63.5 1613 67 1702
height 57 1448 55 1397 56 1422 52 1321
ground clearance
5 127 5.5 140 5.5 140 5 127
front headroom 36.5 927 38 965 37 940 37 940
front legroom 45/36 1143/914 46/42 1168/1067 47/40.5 1194/1029 45/40 1143/1016
rear headroom 34 864 35 889 34 864 33.5 851
rear legroom 46/41 1168/4041 43/39 1092/991 44/39 1118/991 45/43 1143/1092
ENGINE
material iron/alloy iron/iron iron/iron iron/iron
bearings 5 5 5 5
cooling water water water water
valve gear pushrod ohv pushrod ohv pushrod ohv single ohc
carburettors 1 Weber 32DCOF 1 Ford 1 Strongberg 150CD 1 Zenith IV
capacity cc 1197 1599 1496 1599
bore mm 73.0 81.0 81.5 85.7
stroke mm 71.5 77.6 71.6 69.2
compression :1 8.8 9.0 8.4 8.5
net power bhp 60 64 60 72
rpm 5600 4800 4800 5600
net torque lb ft 64.5 85.5 78 83
rpm 3400 2500 2600 2200
TRANSMISSION
control floor lever floor lever floor lever floor lever
syncromesh 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4
ratios to 1 1 3.75 3.54 3.35 3.30
2 2.30 2.40 2.14 2.15
3 1.49 1.41 1.39 1.41
4 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
final drive ratio 4.44 3.90 4.22 4.12
tyre size 5.60/13 6.00/13 6.00/13 6.9/13
rim size 4.5 4.0 4.0 4.5
SUSPENSION
front double wishbones, coil springs,
telescopic dampers
Macpherson struts, lower links, coil
springs, telescopic dampers
Macpherson struts, lower links, coil
springs, telescopic dampers
Double wishbones, coil springs,
telescopic dampers
rear live axle, trailing arms, Panhard rod,
coil springs, telescopic dampers,
anti-roll bar
live axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs, lever
dampers
live axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs, telscopic
dampers
live axle, upper and lower trailing arms,
coil springs, telescopic dampers
LUBRICANT
THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020 15
FIAT 124 ESTATE FORD CORTINA 1600 ESTATE
HILLMAN MINX ESTATE
VAUXHALL VICTOR 1600 EST.
engine oil type SAE
10W/40 10W/40 10W/40 10W/40
sump pints 6.6 7.2 7.5 8.5
change miles 6000 6000 5000 6000
other lube points
none none none 4
lube intervals - - - 30,000
AIR 20psi worm and roller 24psi recirculating ball 24psi recirculating ball 24psi rack and pinion
BRAKES disc 8.9in
disc 9.5in
disc 9.6in
disc 9in
STEERING 34ft turning 3 turns Circle lock to lock
30ft turning 4.5 turns Circle lock to lock
33ft turning 3.3 turns Circle lock to lock
33ft turning 4.4 turns Circle lock to lock
AIR 24/30psi 30/30psi 30/30psi 24/28psi
BRAKES disc 8.9in drum 8in drum 9in drum 9in
WEIGHT kerb, DIN 2050lb 930kg 2140lb 971kg 2185lb 991kg 2460lb 1116kg
max payload 950lb 431kg 875lb 397kg 975lb 442kg 840 (1190)lb 367 (540)kg
max permitted 3000lb 1361kg 3015lb 1368kg 3160lb 1433kg 3300 (3650)lb 1497 (1656)
16 THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020
Just up the road…
…from the Rootes
Linwood factory is this rail
bridge over Linwood
Road, as seen on page 4,
where it was sporting
fresh “Hillman Imp,
Scotland’s Car” signage.
The reason why there are
people on the bridge and
a steam train in 1965 is that it is a
Jones Goods loco taking a special
passenger excursion, also seen in
the photo opposite.
Fast forward to the current day
and things have changed quite a
lot! There is now a roundabout at
the intersection, but more
importantly the bridge has been
raised – or should I say. The road
has been lowered. Perhaps it might be 2 metres, along the line of the change in brick colour on the
right-hand side. The bridge abutments have been changed from stone to brick too, incidentally.
It might not be immediately evident but the road has been lowered
I think the
rail bridge
has been
widened
too, as in
this photo
it looks
like two
widths of
bridge
and the
vertical
ribs of the
old photo are gone. The photo below shows the faded signage “Talbot Linwood Plant” with logo at
left, partly behind the branch. Note that the plant closed in 1981!
This was part of the Paisley and Barrhead District Railway, which was partly obsolete when it was
opened in 1905 because tramways had already taken the market for passenger travel. It ran
freight and was revitalised when the Linwood factories opened. The line closed in 1984.
THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020 17
Southern
Cross Rally I came across a reference to
Ken Tubman who is most
famous for winning the 1953
Redex Trial in a Peugeot,
running a Hillman in the first
Southern Cross Rally, so
thought I’d look into possible
Rootes history in that famous
international rally that was held
up near Port Macquarie from
1966.
It turns out that in 1969 Lynne
Keefe and Carol Waldron won
the Ladies Award in a Hillman
Hunter GT.
In 1970 Grimshaw & Russell
won Class G, Special Touring
Under 1000 cc, in a Hillman Imp GT
As well, a certain Andrew Cowan saw some success…
The Imp above is the 1968 no. 62 entry of Wallace. The non-GT Imp has the Victorian registration
JNL-107, and the signage under the side window looks like “Cuthberts Motors” or similar.
Southern Cross Rally Entries (unfortunately the information is incomplete)
1966
Ken Tubman NSW Mick Neilsen NSW Hillman
1967
10 Peter Janson Vic R. Bainbridge Vic Hillman Hunter
24 W. Taylor NSW Carol Waldron NSW Hillman Imp GT
36 Ken Tubman NSW Robyn Short NSW Hillman Arrow
65 Arthur Treloar SA G. Monoghan SA Hillman Arrow
1968
62 Wallace Hillman GT
1969
31 Lynn Keefe NSW Carol Waldron NSW Hillman Hunter GT
73 R. Luckhurst Qld M. Finlay Qld Hillman Imp
1970
83 A. Grimshaw D. Russell Hillman Imp GT
1971
78 John Patterson NSW Humber Vogue
18 THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020
Tim loaned copies of 3 editions of this pocket-sized A-Z directory type book to share with everyone, and it is interesting to dip into what the industry was like over 50 years ago. This 1966 edition was the first, following on from a similar version for automobiles. Manufacturers from 15 countries were included; Australia unfortunately, but including Belgium, Finland and several from the USSR, and vehicles ranged from 3-wheelers to the biggest mining dump trucks.
There was also a brief (12 pages- brief by encyclopedia standards?) history of commercial vehicles, starting with 1769 and the Cugnot steam carriage. Rootes makes get mentions starting with Humber and Sunbeam at the dawn of the auto era in the 1890’s, as well as the petrol-electric Tilling buses. Next was the use of Commer and Karrier by the British Army in WW1, and the 1921 Karrier ‘Mechanical Horse’ 3-wheeler, and 1920’s buses of Sunbeam and Karrier being used by ‘pirate’ bus operators in London.
Commer is mentioned again in relation to sub 2-1/2 ton vehicles that became popular when the speed limit for them was raised to 30mph instead of 20 for heavier vehicles.
COMMER GREAT BRITAIN Commer Cars Limited, Luton, Bedfordshire, England.
History: Commercial Cars Ltd. was formed in 1905 and the first vehicle produced was a 4-tonner with iron-
tyred wheels. In 1907 production commenced at Luton on the chain-driven 30-h.p. 3-ton “SC” Type. 1909
saw the first covered top double-deck buses and fire engines of various types were introduced. The first
Commer live-axle model appeared in 1910—the 30-h.p. “BC” Type. In 1912-14 the range comprised 12
models.
During the first World War over 3000 4-ton “RC” Type chassis were delivered to the Forces. After the
war a comprehensive range of vehicles ranging from 2 to 10 thons carrying capacity was introduced. In
1926 the firm was acquired by Humber Ltd. and from then to 1929 further new models announced including
the 3-ton “3PC” and 4-ton “4G” as well as the “2P” passenger chassis which utilized pneumatic tyres.
Rootes Securites Ltd. took over the company in 1928 and 1929 saw the production of a light passenger
vehicle, the “Invader”. New types introduced between 1932 and 1935 included the “Centaur” 2-tonner, the
“B3” light 3-tonner and the “N” Series which ranged from an 8-cwt. Delivery van to a 5-ton chassis.
The second World War saw production of over 20,000 vehicles which included the “Superpoise” tractor
used to haul the R.A.F.’s 60-ft “Queen Mary” aircraft transporters. After the war models ranged from an 8-
van to the 8-ton “Commer-Hands” tractor-trailer.
In 1948 a new range of under-floor engine vehicles available in load and passenger carrying forms was
announced and 1955 saw a new “Superpoise” range introduced. The 10-ton six-wheeled Commer-Unipower
appeared in 1958 and the “Walk-Thru” range in 1961.
THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020 19
COMMER
20 THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020
I’ll get to the Karrier history in future.
Here are some of the Dodge Great Britain trucks (Dodge USA is listed separately). The cabins definitely look pretty similar to Commers by this stage, being both part of Chrysler UK.
KARRIER
THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020 21
One point of interest was the impressively creative names used by many manufacturers! Check these out… (trucks in bold shown top to bottom)
AEC Mercury, Marshal, Mammoth Major, Mammoth Minor, Militant, Kudu (bus)
Albion Chieftan, Victor, Clydesdale, Super Clydesdale, Reiver, Super Reiver, Viking
Alfa Romeo Mille
Alvis Stalwart (5-ton Cross Country Amphibious Load Carrier!)
Atkinson Black Knight, Gold Knight, Silver Knight
Auto Union Munga
Cony Guppy (Japan)
Guy Otter, Warrior, Invincible, Victory, Wulfrunian
Jeep Gladiator
Lancia Jolly
Leyland Comet, Super Comet, Badger, Beaver, Retriever, Hippo, Octopus, Titan, Lowlander, Atlantean, Panther, Tiger Cub, Leopard, Royal Tiger Worldmaster
Magirus Deutz Mercur, Saturn, Pluto, Jupiter, Sirius, Uranus
Mitsubishi Colt, Fuso Canter, Jupiter Junior, Jupiter
Nissan Junior, Caball, Cablight, Echo, Cabstar
O.M. Lupetto, Leoncino, Tigrotto, Tigre, Titano
Renault Fourgon, Estafette, Voltigeur, Goelette, Galion
Scammell Townsman, Scarab 4, Highwayman, Handyman, Routeman, Mountaineer, Constructor, Contractor, Sherpa, Himalayan
Tempo Viking, Rapid, Matador
Thornycroft Nubian, Big Ben, Big Ben Sandmaster, Mighty Antar, Mighty Antar Sandmaster
Unic Bonhomme, Saverne, Belfont, Sancy, Auvergne, Esterel
Unipower Forester, Hannibal, Centipede
22 THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020
THE INVERTED COMMER – July 2020 23
TRADING COLUMN To advertise, please use the contact details on page 2 of the magazine. Ads
for vehicles must contain registration, engine or chassis number, as well as a
full description, contact name and location for the car. Ads will run in the
magazine and appear on the website for two months unless otherwise requested. Please let the editor know if a car or part is sold.
For Sale
Jaeger three in one gauge Treasurer Bernie finally
got sufficiently annoyed at not being able to easily his
temp oil and amp gauges to commission new gauge
faces. A batch had to be made and he still has three
complete gauges at $95 each and five gauge faces at
$40 each for people happy to swap them themselves
Contact 0412 392 470 or [email protected]
Last Month 1956 Mk 8 Minx
$2,650 Mechanically
good cond, body and
interior presentable.
Roadworthy, on cond.
rego 29285H not
Transferrable. and
1961 Minx 3B Special
$7,250 Fully restored,
mechanicals, body,
interior excellent,
motor rebuilt. On cond.
rego 30900H not trans.
Over $14,000 spent. Please contact Geoff Prescott:
(02) 4997 9258 or [email protected] 2006
1959 Minx S2 $3,900
Original Sth Aust car, laid
up in 1976, sticker still on
window & has B&W rego
plates. 33,000 miles, in
beautiful condition.
Recent new tyres, fuel
pump, oil change and coolant clean & flush. Starts
but only runs for a few seconds (suspect carburettor).
No rust whatsoever, interior is in great condition.
Contact Greg Hatsitsopanidis on 0455 999 976 or
[email protected] 2006
Humber Vogue $300
1725 motor runs &
drives, brakes need
attention. Some rust
in front lower guard.
Suit restoration or
parts. North Geelong.
Contact Doug on
0497 157 893. Must be sold urgently. 2005
Early series 3 Minx wagon and Mark Minx for sale
by the gent in Yarragon who came to our 60th birthday
morning tea stop last year Contact John Bowan in
Warragul on 0438 231 838 2004
Wine 2007 Humber Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon &
Ruby Cabernet, Alpine Port, 1984 Rapier Dry Red &
Rootes Riesling. Collector wines the early club days.
Best offer or highest bidder. No reserve haha Contact
Neil on 0429 295 774 or neil@ swanbay.com.au 2004
Also Neil still has some parts for sale.
1970 Commer Table Top truck $30,000 ONO.
Fully restored. Contact Peter on 0412 205 856 or
[email protected] 2003
WANTED Hillman Minx Series IIIC leaf springs wanted by
Duncan and Sandra McHarg, contact 0427 144 313 or
email [email protected]
MKVIII Hillman Minx Parts windscreen wiper
motor, left hand sun visor arm, 2 x window winder
handles and 4 escutcheons to suit. Drivers side
window for a Californian/Convertible. Contact Mick
Taylor on 0418 564 592 or [email protected]
1955 Mark VI Humber Hawk starter motor
(working), for the car for sale above. Contact John
0413 516 233 OR (03) 5147 1841
Badge bar Viv Cassin [email protected]
SIMON NUSKE
ROOTES SERVICE
ENGINES, REPAIRS,
MECHANICAL PARTS
** All Rootes Vehicles **
Contact Simon:
PO Box 40, Loch 3945
Phone 0400 550 657 email: [email protected]
Friendly Service, Realistic Rates
ALLMAKES SUSPENSION & ENGINEERING
Repairs & Servicing
Rootes vehicle front end alignments
Phone (03) 9376 0661 86-92 Parsons St KENSINGTON
A Logofarm logo says it all Call 1300 LOGOFARM Contact RGCC member Paul Custance m. 0412 398 566
Rootes Group Car Club website hosted by:
www.qcsgroup.com.au
Auto Surplus Pty Ltd (ABN 66 337 496 692) 35 Rooks Road, Mitcham, Victoria 3192 Tel (03) 9873 3566 Fax (03) 9874 1485
Email [email protected] www.autosurplus.com.au
