The Mellotron Group

It was a 1964 model as I recall. I didn't own that one; it belonged to a  
friend. We complete rebuilt that car from the frame up as I  did with the  
XK-150, which I did own. I forgot that I (briefly) owned a Triumph TR-3 back  
around 1971 or so, but it was stolen not long after I replaced the drop-down 
 top, reupholstered it and repainted it. Never got it back. A year later I 
bought  a '59 MGA and we put a narrowed Pontiac rear end in it and a 302 
Chevrolet Z-28  motor. There wasn't much Lucas left when I was finished with 
it. It was a bit  too much motor for the car. Often, under vigorous 
acceleration from a rolling or  standing start, or when banging through the gears, the 
doors would open from the  excessive torque. Scary! So I welded the doors 
closed and put a roll bar in it.  That was an improvement, but the frame was 
still not up to the task, so off came  the body and out came the welding 
torch. I tried everything I could think of to  stiffen that frame, but I could 
never completely solve the torque issue and  handling could be a tad 
unpredictable at times. The thing was a rocket and just  plain scared the shit out 
of everyone but me. It was a cool looking car  with  flared fenders and huge 
tires (at the time) and I called it the "poor  man's Cobra," which, except 
for brute power, it was most certainly not. Finally,  after a year or so of 
trying to get it right, I got rid of it. 
 
There was a guy who lived just a few houses down the street named Bill  
Pickford. My dad was his attorney and he had two Shelby 427 side-oiler Cobras. 
I  got to drive one of them a few times and it was always in my mind that I 
could  build something like it. Wrong.
 
Pickford died in 1973 of brain cancer. His wife offered one of the Cobra's  
to my dad for $7,000.00. He bought a Porsche instead. I never forgave him 
for  that, although I had a long-running affair with Porsches (I've had 9 of 
them and  sold the last shortly after I got married.)
 
 
 
In a message dated 2/21/2012 2:30:58 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
gabru@comsec.net writes:

 
 
 
 
Having owned  a MGA, XKE and a few other British “Lucas based” forms of 
transportation I  agree….absolutely horrible  
electrical  system…yet another reason a British car will ~always~ let you 
down.  But  they are so damn much fun to drive!!  
What year was  your E Type Frank? 
g 
 
 
From: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com  
[mailto:newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of  lsf5275@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 11:12  AM
To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re:  [newmellotrongroup] Mellotron M400 Lighted Power Switch  
WANTED.

 
 
 
 
I also have  rewired a (59 XK-150 and an XKE) and probably two dozen or 
even more, British  motorcycles. Lucas Electronics... "The name goes on before 
the trouble  begins..." Always fun.
 

 
 
In a message  dated 2/21/2012 1:55:04 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, 
_wonggster@gmail.com_ (mailto:wonggster@gmail.com)   writes:

 
When I  think of UK and electric I always think of the time I spent pulling 
solid  core Lucas wire out of a friends Jaguar and rewiring the car with 
lamp cord  (speaker wire).