Recent content by Velox Chris

Hi, yes I had a similar experience with an Austin Maestro many years ago when I was asked to help diagnose a knocking noise coming from the front n/s suspension. We raised the car just enough to remove the road wheel but inadvertently left the passenger door open and was shocked to find it would...

Hi, that's a really great picture! I've not seen that one before. I wonder what happened to the clock that can be seen? I hope someone thought to save it. There is something else interesting that can be seen through the open hangar doors. On several occasions when I have been down to the...

Hi. You're right, I really don't think he was interested in owning it ! Is it correct what someone told me once that if you had to jack the car up at the rear to change a rear wheel, you had to put the jack under the suspension arm to get the tyre just off the ground, because otherwise using...

Hi there! I just wanted to say how flattered I am that I seem to have been labelled as 'propper brummie kid'. Even though I have lived down here since 1991, and my roots are still firmly fixed in my hometown of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, something from down here must have rubbed off on me! I...

Hi there! I've been reminded of a conversation I had some years ago with a fellow classic car club member who told me about something that had happened when he applied to rent a lock-up garage in the late 1970's, and the story is to do with the Longbridge factory. The garage in question was one...

That's brilliant! I've never seen that before. It's got all the un-PC qualities expected of the era, and funny but with a serious moral to the story. Regards, Chris.

Hi Eric! The same friend who told me about the cylinder heads under the overcoat story used to work in a section of the factory where prototype interiors were made for styling and evaluation purposes. They were sometimes tasked with putting together the overall exterior appearance and interior...

Hi there! That reminds me of the song 'One piece at a time' by Johnny Cash, about a bloke who worked on the production line at GM's Cadillac factory. He spent all day assembling the cars he always aspired to owning but could never afford, so decided to build his own from parts he'd smuggled out...

Hi there again! I just thought I'd share a funny story that I heard, about how people used to steal bits and pieces from the Longbridge factory. A friend of mine that worked there during the 1960's and 70's knew a chap who's job seemed to get him around the factory a bit, and which enabled him...

Hi, thanks for putting that link on so the film of Hurricanes being built in the Flight Shed can be viewed. A fabulous piece of film for anyone who's never seen it. I never get tired of watching it! Incidentally, near the end of the film when the Hurricane is flying off the airfield, a barrage...

Hi there! I was always fascinated by the building known as the 'Flight Shed' at the lower end of Lowhill Lane. It seemed an unusual place to have what seemed to be a WW2 aircraft hangar, until I gradually began to uncover and understand the fascinating history of the factory and the part it...

Hi there! I have lived quite close to the Longbridge works since 1995 and have seen many changes, although I have never worked there. I remember Lowhill Lane and most of the surrounding roads being clogged up with parked cars when the factory was fully functioning. Then when everything went...

Hi everyone! Yes, the Triumph Trident is a great looking bike. So much so, that there is one on display to greet you just inside the main entrance at Coventry Transport Museum, representing the latter years of production at the Meriden factory. However, the kind of motorcycles that I find most...

Hi there, I'm new to all this so apologies if things go wrong as I'm not at all good with computers. I have been doing some research into Levis Motorcycles which were in Stechford. Until about 1991 I was not aware of Levis Motorcycles until I bought a second hand air compressor from a garage...