110 replies to this topic

[Catalina Park]

In 1975 after Leyland closed Zetland and the oil crisis hit the Federal Government decided to give a bonus to Australian made 4 cylinder engines. (This was after the same Government refused any help to Leyland even though they were the only manufacturer of 4 cylinder engines in the country)
So Holden started working on the Starfire to collect their bonus. Chrysler started casting Datsun blocks so that they could both collect the bonus!

Chrysler also stamped some panels for Leyland Minis since Leyland no longer had their stamping plant.

[Amphicar]

Not a Landcrab or a Toronado - but huge, front wheel drive and possibly even less suited to competition - the Citroen CX2400



Seen here at Grizedale during the 1979 RAC Rally. Driven by Jean-Paul Luc and Michel Prudhomme, sadly it dnf'd

[Lee Nicolle]

In 1975 after Leyland closed Zetland and the oil crisis hit the Federal Government decided to give a bonus to Australian made 4 cylinder engines. (This was after the same Government refused any help to Leyland even though they were the only manufacturer of 4 cylinder engines in the country)
So Holden started working on the Starfire to collect their bonus. Chrysler started casting Datsun blocks so that they could both collect the bonus!

Chrysler also stamped some panels for Leyland Minis since Leyland no longer had their stamping plant.

Which Nissan blocks did Chrysler cast? In the 90s for a period the Thai built Ford Couriers [Mazdas] used Japanese cast Astron engines.
The Ford, Mazda and Mitsubishi 4 wd utes of the period were basically the same chassis, as were a alot of mechanical parts and cab parts too.
Too a degree this still happens now, most of the Thai built commercials share a lot of basic infrastructure.
Happens in other markets too.

[Ian G]

1800s and Kimberlys were rallyed quite a bit. They were at least a competitive car in that form of motorsport.
And to me all Kimberlys were 6 cyl Landcrabs!

I think that Kimberly ran in the KLG in 1972 as well,whilst NSW State rounds in the early 1970's were fully route charted the next level down,"Clubman" ,and Novice rally's weren't and some had diabolical navigation so in all fairness it didn't really matter what type of modern car you were driving if you had a top navigator.

Austin 1800 Rally.


Getting OT but BMC Oz,despite parent Co. objections, always claimed to have engineered the 1622 Engine,not only the modest cc increase but also the 10% gain in HP & Torque over the 1489 unit.


http://www.bluestrea...002cc2.html?0.5

Edited by Ian G, 03 February 2011 - 02:22.

[Catalina Park]

Which Nissan blocks did Chrysler cast?

Supposedly the 180B and 200B.

[BigunEXIN]

As an engineering student at Southampton University in the late 60's, the Engineering Society used to organise visits to places of engineering interest, mainly breweries I seem to recall. One non-brewery visit I remember, as opposed the many brewery visits I find it very difficult to recall with any clarity, was to Janspeed at Salisbury. As part of the tour, conducted by Jan Oder himself, we saw the London-Sydney 'land crabs' in their final stages of preparation. One of the notable modifications was a very large hydraulic pump handle - similar to those used for emptying the bilges of small boats - mounted on the rear seat shelf within reach of the co-driver seat. Jan explained that this was connected to the 'hydrospastic' suspension system and allowed the system to be pumped up to increase ground clearance for rougher conditions.

Hi Exflagman, that is a cool post you did, I am investigating the story of JanSpeed.
So it was a nice find, I actually have a picture, of one of the "landcrabs" you saw.

Jens Christian

[Terry Walker]

Quote: Getting OT but BMC Oz,despite parent Co. objections, always claimed to have engineered the 1622 Engine,not only the modest cc increase but also the 10% gain in HP & Torque over the 1489 unit.


http://www.bluestrea...002cc2.html?0.5 Quote


Further down, the article about the very wide experimental Austin Freeway with IRS was fascinating, specially the rare photos. In ten days a team of Zetland guys split a Freeway down the centre and inserted five inches, and because there was no existing rear axle wide enough, fitted modifed IRS rom an earlier prototype. The car was fully finished and test driven. And then ordered scrapped. A Freeway as big as a Falcon!

Edited by Terry Walker, 24 February 2011 - 01:46.

[Lee Nicolle]

Quote: Getting OT but BMC Oz,despite parent Co. objections, always claimed to have engineered the 1622 Engine,not only the modest cc increase but also the 10% gain in HP & Torque over the 1489 unit.


http://www.bluestrea...002cc2.html?0.5 Quote


Further down, the article about the very wide experimental Austin Freeway with IRS was fascinating, specially the rare photos. In ten days a team of Zetland guys split a Freeway down the centre and inserted five inches, and because there was no existing rear axle wide enough, fitted modifed IRS rom an earlier prototype. The car was fully finished and test driven. And then ordered scrapped. A Freeway as big as a Falcon!

Terry, I got a web hosting site with that link.

[Ray Bell]

Click on the link in Ian G's post, Lee, that works...

Terry has mucked it up by butchering the quote, methinks. That row of dots is forum-inflicted, but when it's a mere copy of the forum it doesn't get replaced with real stuff when you click on it.

[Catalina Park]

Try Freeway Widebody

[Lee Nicolle]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. A wide body Freeway may well have been a good seller. IRS though I think would have been a turn off though easy to make a wider diff housng. The Freeway was a bit dated though when released but was a reasonable simple car.