Dave.... you are correct! I hadn't even thought about the Coventry Climax! Good
example. Oh yah, the Land Rover is definately a tractor. (at least the old LR's
before they became luxery grocery getters!) You know my experiences in that
department! :-)
P.S. Speaking of Land Rovers. One of my Land Rover buddies is just finishing a
restoration on a Tickford Series I. I've invited him to bring it to the
Invasion this June. That would be fun to see!
Ian Spencer
Client Services
University Hospital
Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati
(513) 584-0365
>>> "" <davidkellogg@hotmail.com> 03/07/01 07:36PM >>>
Hello to Ian, and The List:
It was common practise for companies to save on tooling costs by adapting
existing castings from say, farming, to automotive applications. This was
done in England --as noted in early Aston Martins (like the Ulster), Land
Rover (though an argument could be made that a LR *is* a tractor), TRs and
probably English Fords-- but also in Sweden by Volvo.
One of the most successful racing cars of the 50's was the Volvo 444/544
with their B-14 to B-18 engines. These blocks, too, started life as tractor
power. In the 60's, even the much-touted Coventry Climax engine, used to
great competition success by Lotus, began life as a lowly water pump for
fire service!
As an aside, the industrial production volume of these items probably kept
down the prototyping costs of our own cars; certainly this was the case with
the Sunbeam Alpine (and Tiger), as well as the Volvo 1800.
Cheers,
David Kellogg
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