Greetings from the North-West

Hi Peeps,

I'm Norm, from St Helens, near Liverpool, and recently joined the club - seemed to be the sensible thing to do, as not long ago I started investigating the LB car, and now I seem to have developed a strange desire for one... what a surprise (not).

I've got a bit of history with Stratos reps, as I built an Allora back in the day. Steve Greenwood used it on his stand at a couple of shows when he took over the Allora project and started Litton Cars, before he built his own. I got it on the road in '89 and kept it till '92, when I got seduced by an Integrale Evo. What can I say...I'm fickle :)

Looking at some of the build threads on here has only strengthened the desire, so I've exchanged a couple of emails with Craig, and now it's time to arrange a time to go and have a look at his setup. But, I was also wondering if there was anyone in the North-West who's got an LB in build, or complete, and who wouldn't mind me coming to have a look? Actually, it doesn't have to be just the North-West, but anywhere I can get to and back in a day...can't beat seeing something for real, and incidentally drinking other people's coffee ;)

Looking forward to making some new friends (cos it's not just the cars, is it?)

Cheers!

Norm

Norman? There's a name from the past! I suspect that you'll remember the names Geoff Turton, Gary Picken, Austin Smith and myself? Of the four of us I'm the only one still with his car although I doubt you'd recognise it these days unless you have a memory for number plates! Geoff moved on to an Integrale then a couple of Mitsubishis, a Peugeot with the rally arches etc and is now back in his favourite. The Integrale. But he's also looking for a Mk1 Escort and a Stratos replica again and is still in the same workshop in Widnes. Austin is racing a Morgan and Gary is developing turbos and is into Porsches. I've not changed allegiances!

I'm not aware of anyone in this neck of the woods building a LB at the moment but good luck scratching the itch again!

Guy

Hi Norman,

Welcome to the forum! Perhaps you'll remember Reg Barker from the Lake District who built a white Litton in the late 80s/early 90s? He still has his car, and it's his fault really that I got into Stratos replicas, after seeing his car from the window of the school swimming bus as a 10-year-old!

I too have been fighting to scratch the itch, having sold a Hawk a couple of years ago. Went to see Craig last week and put an order in for a chassis (oops!). I must say that I think you'll be impressed with the quality and engineering of the new kits, and you'll probably get just as much from going to see him as you would from seeing any other kits. He's got quite a bit down there at the moment so there's plenty to look at. That said, I have also been to see a car that's about 80% done, and it was great to get a builder's perspective too and have a chat about any challenges involved in building.

You'll have plenty of time to source your donor car and find the other bits required as there's quite a waiting list at the moment. I suppose that means though that you'll have no excuse to mess around when you finally take delivery!

Cheers
Richard

Hi Fellas! Impressively fast responses there...obviously just sitting around waiting for your tea :)

Guy, yeah, how could I forget you and those others? I know you've still got your car - saw you a couple of times over the last few years, but you always seemed to be in conversation with someone so never did get the chance to say hello. I saw Geoff Turton a couple of years back at a launch do at Porsche Chester, where he was demo'ing his gaming rig with the racing seat and pedals and screen, XBox etc. As usual for Geoff it was top-flight stuff...if he's still at the Gold Triangle Industrial Estate (sounds like somewhere that Stratos replicas disappear....) I must pop round and say Hello.
I've got into Porsches too over the last 10 years. Never used to like 'em till I drove one - now I'm on my 3rd - a Boxster Spyder, and it truly is a bit good, even better than the GT3 I had before it!
Impressed you've still got the old girl - I reckon they'll probably bury you in it :) Thanks for saying Hello and great to meet you again, if only virtually - next time I see you I'll deffo do it for real, even if it means pushing some poor sod out of the way! :)

Rich, thanks for the welcome! I don't remember Reg - not the name, anyway - but if he bought a Litton in the late '80's, I must have met him. Cool that he's still got it! Does he still drive it? I get up to Cumbria quite a bit, but never seen him out in it (although I did see one parked up down at Backbarrow, must be, what, 10 years ago now...maybe that was his...think it had black wheels?)
I'm a bit jealous of you getting on the list - you've got something to look forward to now (probably "sleepless nights"). I won't be able to do anything for a couple of years for one reason and another, but I suppose that's no reason not to get my name down...
What struck me, having looking at the LB component set, was how much the state of the art has moved on. I think that's down to customer demand and expectation, but it's also attracted a different breed, who aren't prepared to cut corners just because they can't afford the real thing (in fact the LB seems to be a lot better than the real thing in many ways). However, I still need to do my homework and get answers to a few things, and as you say, you can't beat speaking to someone who's been there, done that. So this is probably only the start of me annoying the L out of folks on here....

Actually, I probably won't be initiating any posts on here (yet) as I've not got anything to post about. I might, however, stick my oar in on existing threads...if you're not careful :)

Well, gotta go, as the nurse has come to wheel me away to bed. See you both about on here soon, assuming they let me play with the computer thingy again :)

TTFN

Norm

Hi Stratos-Type Peeps,

thought I'd let y'all know that I finally succumbed to temptation and gave Craig and Lydia the Xmas prezzie they'd been dreading - a deposit on an LB kit...I must have worn them down because they sent me a receipt for it, rather than immediately returning the dosh :)

Anyway, I've been looking out for donor parts and suddenly, in the space of a few weeks, I seem to have accumulated the large bit (an Alfa 156) and almost all the smaller bits - just need another pair of X1/9 targa catches and a pair of 850 Spider interior handles, and that should be me done (Famous Last Words). While waiting for the chassis I can lay them all out in the garage, in the approximate positions they'll occupy in the kit, and in a Cinderella-style twist hope for a Fairy Godfather (well, it's Italian, innit) to come and wave his wand (!!!) and turn them into a Stratos (till the clock strikes midnight, or the beer wears off). Well, it'll keep me amused, anyway.

Still not decided on colour, but fave at the mo is some sort of mad screaming yellow with blue interior (carpets, anyway) and wheels, and black spoilers. Although the orange of the original prototype has a certain allure...

To Be Continued, as they say in certain circles (the ones I usually find myself going round in).

Well done Norman. You can call it a Xmas present even if it's not going to show up for a while!

Yellow looks great. Admired Micks yellow LB.

Hi Norman,

Did you turn up at the Kit Car Action Day at Oulton Park in a yellow Corbra?
On this day? (see pics.):

Congrats Norman and welcome to family LB owners !;)
Yellow , Orange .... watever they are very very nice colors specially with your choice of interior
Your christmas day will come surely do not worry .... as soon as you will have to unpack all these cardboard full of nice laser cut part , stainless beautifully welded ones, machined uprights etc etc
For now you will be probably busy too??? ...Alfa 156 to pickup all needed parts.... Cleaning engine....
Well done
Looking forward to start watching at your build thread :o

Norm
I think this one is the closest Lister Bell to you, see the thread " LB in Wales " and give Steve a shout.

mel



http://www.stratosec.com/Forum/attac...0&d=1477846193

Hi Norm and welcome to the forum.

What was the reg number of the Allora you built? Is it one we know here?

Tom.

Hey Guys,

thanks muchly for all the good wishes - it's nice to be wanted (except, maybe, by the rozzers!). Loooong way off getting anything that may one day resemble a Stratos, but that won't stop me posting rubbish on here ;)

Prototipo - it's Chris, isn't it? - yeah, you're right, I did go to that Oulton gig with my yellow Cobra! The yellow Stratos in your pics was owned by my pal Dave...we both had yellow Strati at the same time between '89 and '92, at which point I sold mine (part exchanged it at a Lancia dealer's for a new Integrale Evo).
Are you the guy who does all the decals? - cos if so, I bought a set from you a few weeks back via ebay :)

Tom, my Allora was SBM 660R, built between late '87 and early '89, and it's now owned by Steve Struthers (Susit on here). He called me when he bought it and we had a good long chat, and next time I was up his way I got to see it all over again! At the time of the Oulton thing (2006) Steve was there and told me someone had crashed into the back of him...I believe he's got it sorted now (or is on the way, anyway). I did try and send him a PM on here but his mailbox is full.

Coupla pix of Cobra....

Attachment 10662Attachment 10663Attachment 10664

It's a Superformance, made in South Africa, and mine was no. 24 which turned out to be a prototype raced by the factory. Motor was a 351 Cleveland (5.7 litres) and it was very close visually to a real one - so much so that someone at Oulton asked me if it was real. No surprise there, till he told me he actually had a real one and couldn't tell!!

Mel, I think I've already spoken to Steve by chance - I think it was him at the Heaves Hotel "Car's the Star" car show in July, when I was there sorting out some details for a driving weekend I'd organised. Small world, eh? He never said it was a Lister Bell - but I was only vaguely aware of them then, and assumed it was a Hawk/Transformer.

Not sure whether I should continue to post in this thread or start a new one with any news...what's the accepted protocol? (assuming there is one!) :)

Laterz

The Norm

Welcome Norm.
Looks like your already beyond the 'just joined' status, so just post anywhere and everywhere!

Very very nice Cobra Indeed !!!:o
Congrats
I do like the details and the way the front oil cooler is connected !!!!!!!!!!

Welcome and congratulations for your gorgeous Superformance...probably the most accurate cobra reproduction built since Shelby original ones!

Here there is another one in my shared garage...one red contemporary powered with a real FE side oiler 1965 427 SC engine

Have change to use it sometimes with some infidelity to my Corse S!
Only words you can say when you drive it its "WOW My God!!" :)Attachment 10665

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Normb666

Prototipo - it's Chris, isn't it? - yeah, you're right, I did go to that Oulton gig with my yellow Cobra! The yellow Stratos in your pics was owned by my pal Dave...we both had yellow Strati at the same time between '89 and '92, at which point I sold mine (part exchanged it at a Lancia dealer's for a new Integrale Evo).
Are you the guy who does all the decals? - cos if so, I bought a set from you a few weeks back via ebay :)

The Norm

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Yep, that's right.
There's a chap in our village that brought a similar Cobra back from South Africa. I wonder if it's the same make?

The Allora:

Yes I remember the car. It was advertised at around the same time I purchased mine (2001). That's when Susit bought it.

Yes it did get hit and as far as I know never repaired. He did reappear on this forum a few years back. Anybody heard from him?

Tom.

That red Superformance looks ace! And it's got a proper 7.0-litre side-oiler too?? No wonder you say "wow" when you drive it! Mine was enough of a handful...you never have a relaxing drive in a Cobra!
The reason I bought that over the usual Cobra reps was precisely because of the way it evoked the real thing. I can't be doing with all these reps with cream leather interiors and all that fluffy malarkey. The whole point for me was that it should look and sound like it was about to rip your head off, not look like Barbie's Little Cobra or whatever :) Anyway, they must be doing something right, cos it's the only rep that Shelby actually licenced.

LM, I can't claim any credit for the Cobra as it comes out of the factory like that! All you do with a new one is drop in an engine and box! Bet the "build section" of the Superformance Owners Forum must be the most boring thing on the whole internet :)

Chris, that one in your village could well be a Superformance if it came from S A. Most of them end up in the US, although you can actually get one here through the official importer (Nigel Hulme, if I remember correctly). They also do absolutely superb Daytona Cobra reps and an incredible GT40 which is so accurate (steel centre monocoque!) that they all go on the GT40 register with proper continuation chassis numbers etc.

Ta for posting a pic of the old girl - almost brought a tear to my eye (didn't last long when I remembered all the skinned knuckles and new swear words I invented). Can't believe how tasteful I was fitting those yellow-centre Revolutions...not like me at all...probably drunk or something :cool: Where was the pic taken?
Oh, and I have to say how wonderful your decals are. Couldn't believe them when they arrived, especially for the price! I had some knocked up by a local firm when I built the Allora - still got a set somewhere - but yours knock them into a cocked hat.
Funnily enough, last weekend I came across one of the number plates from the HPE donor when I was mooching about in the garage. Wonder why we never throw anything like that away?? Must be a Man Thing...

Tom, my old car was sold from the Lancia dealer to someone in Bolton, and that was who Steve got it from. Apparently the guy never used it - said something about a broken clutch cable, which i thought was impressive considering it had a hydraulic system :)
Talking to LB Craig, he reckons Steve's got the body sorted (or is on the way) now. Hope so, but I can understand how soul-destroying it must have been to have that happen, and no source of body parts or anyone to help with fixing it.
Steve, if you're reading this, come and say Hello!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Normb666

Chris, that one in your village could well be a Superformance if it came from S A. Most of them end up in the US, although you can actually get one here through the official importer (Nigel Hulme, if I remember correctly). They also do absolutely superb Daytona Cobra reps and an incredible GT40 which is so accurate (steel centre monocoque!) that they all go on the GT40 register with proper continuation chassis numbers etc.

Ta for posting a pic of the old girl - almost brought a tear to my eye (didn't last long when I remembered all the skinned knuckles and new swear words I invented). Can't believe how tasteful I was fitting those yellow-centre Revolutions...not like me at all...probably drunk or something :cool: Where was the pic taken?
Oh, and I have to say how wonderful your decals are. Couldn't believe them when they arrived, especially for the price! I had some knocked up by a local firm when I built the Allora - still got a set somewhere - but yours knock them into a cocked hat.
Funnily enough, last weekend I came across one of the number plates from the HPE donor when I was mooching about in the garage. Wonder why we never throw anything like that away?? Must be a Man Thing...

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I saw Stephen not so long ago. I think it might have been at this year's Kit Car Show?

I can't remember where that photo of the yellow Allora came from?
We have a thread especially for all the Alloras here:
http://www.stratosec.com/Forum/showt...ra-owner-list!

Hi Tom,

Welcome back! I have nothing much to contribute at this point, but reading this post with all of the historical information written by you and the other guys really is irreplaceable. This also goes for the whole forum! I recently managed to obtain a copy of the Nigel Trow book (at a very sensible price from a bookshop in Sweden) and found that the content is good historically but the site is fantastic for us who are building and operating these machines.

Henry

I was in touch with Stephen maybe 18 months ago while I was working on Frederics car.
He had bought some Panels to repair his car through me a good few years ago and had the car in Glasgow somewhere to complete the repair. I think he got let down a bit and the car wasn't done, but when I last spoke to him he'd recovered the car and was planning to get on with it himself.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Normb666

That red Superformance looks ace! And it's got a proper 7.0-litre side-oiler too?? No wonder you say "wow" when you drive it! Mine was enough of a handful...you never have a relaxing drive in a Cobra!
The reason I bought that over the usual Cobra reps was precisely because of the way it evoked the real thing. I can't be doing with all these reps with cream leather interiors and all that fluffy malarkey. The whole point for me was that it should look and sound like it was about to rip your head off, not look like Barbie's Little Cobra or whatever :) Anyway, they must be doing something right, cos it's the only rep that Shelby actually licenced.

LM, I can't claim any credit for the Cobra as it comes out of the factory like that! All you do with a new one is drop in an engine and box! Bet the "build section" of the Superformance Owners Forum must be the most boring thing on the whole internet :)

Chris, that one in your village could well be a Superformance if it came from S A. Most of them end up in the US, although you can actually get one here through the official importer (Nigel Hulme, if I remember correctly). They also do absolutely superb Daytona Cobra reps and an incredible GT40 which is so accurate (steel centre monocoque!) that they all go on the GT40 register with proper continuation chassis numbers etc.

!

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You'right Norm! Those cars are really amazing...A true blast to drive, A beast to tame specially on tracks!!
This red one got a genuine 7liter side oiler engine with more 425HP like the shelby cars raced during 60's!
If I well understand you also ordered to Craig one Listerbell...sounds great to accompany your Cob!!
Cheers
Frederic
Attachment 10670Attachment 10671

Ahh, John, I didn't know Steve bought his panels a good while ago. No wonder he's not been on here if he's not having much luck sorting the car. Thanks for letting me know - I'm going to try digging out his contact details from when we spoke and try and get in touch.

Frederic, I've not got my Superformance now :( - I had to sell it a few years ago, unfortunately. I was seriously thinking of getting another, maybe importing one from America - plenty for sale over there! But doing further research into various replicas, I came across Lister Bell and it was as if someone had been inside my head and created a Stratos look-a-like that was how I always wanted one to be...so here I am!

Another thing about the Superformnce...it was probably the slowest car from A to B that I've ever owned. Nothing wrong with its performance, just that every time I stopped - even at traffic lights - I'd be mobbed by people asking questions and wanting a better look and taking pix. So if it was, say, 2 o' clock, I'd have to say "I'm off out for an hour in the Cobra, see you at 5" :)

Norm you had got two of the most iconic sportcars and it was probably difficult and a bit sad to sell them at last!

Yes it's funny you says the cobra was your slowest car when you crossed people...I think you will have the same problem with your Listerbell which they are very impressive build!

When we went back with John last year from Cheshire to France with the Strat many people asked us details about it and took pictures along the roads , in LeMans circuit and at our hotel an employee helped us after a battery issue and told us it's an honor for him!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Normb666

Ahh, John, I didn't know Steve bought his panels a good while ago. No wonder he's not been on here if he's not having much luck sorting the car. Thanks for letting me know - I'm going to try digging out his contact details from when we spoke and try and get in touch.

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Steve has moved house a couple of times, gotten divorced and had serious heart problems since those days I'm afraid. I've lost track of him, unless he's still working as a Nursing Officer in Raigmore Hospital, Inverness - that would be my only contact hope now.

Yes Chris, he was still in Inverness when I was in touch, and I think he had just moved to a residence with garage so he had the car back with him.
I'll see if I still have the emails and see what address that was.
If we PM him from here he might pick up an email notification and prompt him to drop in?

John, I tried PM'ing him a few weeks ago when I first saw he was on here, but it got knocked back with a "mailbox full" alert. So it looks like it'll have to be email, if he's using the same one, that is...

I didn't know he'd been through the wars like that. I'll have another dig about later to see if I can find the addy I had for him all those years ago...you never know, it might work!