A few people have been crazy enough to suggest that they've enjoyed my previous videos and that I should make a new one, so here it is, blame them for this one!
Great to see Dolly's still on the road (my wife's name for her)' to her EUD stood for, EXTREMELY UNIQUE DOLOMITE! She was my pride and joy for more than ten year's, We brought her on new years eve 1981,and( regretfully) sold her in 1992/3. She was a head Turner then,and still is today, thanks to you!...... yes she was originally automatic, and I converted her to manual, although from memory, it was 1887/8 ,definitely not 1991 I brought an ex road/race car, and took all the parts needed from that,... I am a carpenter by trade, and one of my customers son had just finished his apprenticeship as a mechanic, and helped convert it at weekends, it was a lot of work, but the conversation went perfectly!...When I sold her,she was immaculate, but completely standard. I wish she was still mine!....Full credit to you for getting her to the condition she's in now ....Well done!
Hi, That's absolutely fantastic to hear from you! I'm so pleased to read your post. I unfortunately sold the car last year but it's now living near Colchester and is the current owners pride and joy so it's definitely in good hands still. It was a real hoot to drive and i still miss it. :)
Beautiful, beautiful car mate. I had 5 of these bloody things over the years and totally love the damn things. One of the most underestimated cars of all time in my opinion.
In theory I still own one. I kept all the mechanical parts when I broke mine, too much rust & I already had two classics. I’ve kept the parts including a rebuilt engine with a new short engine from Rimmers just in case I ever find a good shell from an 1850/1500.
Was my dream car, 1973, I bought a dark red one around 1975 and ran it for about 5 years, the engine was amazingly powerful, was one the fastest saloon cars on the road at the time, even 3 litre Capri's couldn't match the acceleration from a standing start. . lol. I had overheating problems on the motorway which were due to previous owner fitting incorrect radiator. Had a fair bit of rust by the end and needed valve guides so I had to sell it, but love the Sprint for it's great looks and the engine.
I love the Dolomite Sprints. I've never owend one but I grew up with them because my dad was a passionate owner so for most of my childhood we had one in the family. I always get excited when I see one on the road.
Down here in Australia, I had a 76 Sprint, with factory LSD. Only ever made 2 mistakes with the car. 1. I bought it. 2. I sold it. Had it for about 6 years and loved it. Never had an overheating issue with it, but I did stick in the biggest custom made radiator I could get, with thermo fan. Sold it to buy a 4AG powered Corolla, which I could never get to handle as good as the Dolly.
Oh wow a manual choke - forgot all about these in these very old cars when I was a lil nipper growing up in the late 1970s. The Dolly is a magnificent motor then and now. Very lucky if any of you has owned them.
Awesome car- grossly under estimated in my humble opinion. 127 Bhp. 60 in 8.4 seconds, 116 mph top end. They were seriously impressive figures back in the 70's. The Sprint was an RS2000 eater, and by far the better car in terms of the interior, dash, instrumentation etc. My father owned a white Sprint circa 1977-79, UTB 729M, white. Huge fan, would love one, but I own a very 'interesting' Capri and a P6 3500 already. Thoroughly enjoyed seeing your fabulous Mimosa yellow, (one of the best colours) Sprint. Enjoy! :)
That a lovely car, I was fortunate enough to have two of these great cars back in the eighties. If I ever won the lottery I would have one again, which would compliment my Honda type R very nicely which is what I would consider as a modern day sprint.
A fantastic old bus! The dolomite has grown on me a lot. I tended not to like them back when they still made them but in reality they were incredible cars and you just demonstrated that they are a lot of fun. Great video!
Great video, I enjoyed your walk around tour of your Dolomite. Your car is in great condition and you’ve got some nice extras on it. I like your door speakers, they look great. Your video is definitely not boring, you did everything perfectly, I also enjoyed your driving and how you explained everything. Well done, and keep up the good work of looking after your very tidy Dolly.
I've wanted a Dolomite since I was about 17-years old, which was a long time ago. The Sprint would be the absolute dream. I remember your first Dolomite, which was gorgeous, and this one's just as striking. As others have pointed out, such an underrated car for years, but I reckon you bought at just the right time. Prices are only going one way right now. Great video!
Had one back in 83/84, was only 18, what a fast car it was back then, head went on it, was a total rust bucket but I loved until someone turn into me, I tried too avoid but went through a bus stop, was probably speeding being a young lad in a car like that, fond memories ❤️
What a lovely car, I had four back in the day two 1850s and two Sprints, I have seen other comments on here about the twin tailpipes but I guess that's preference these days and I don't think the twin pipes helped gas flow one bit. The overheating problems were largely caused by people not realising that the antifreeze needed to stay in year round and used to drain it in the spring (which is what we used to do back then) run through the summer with plain water which used to damage the waterways and head gasket and then refill with antifreeze which is a searcher and that's when the problems used to start. They were seen as a bit of an old mans car back in the day but I think it's a bit unfair to compare them to the RS2000 because I think they were aimed at a slightly different market for example the middle manager who had a young family and warranted a slightly more upmarket car than a Marina or a Cortina but wasn't quite senior enough for a Rover P6 or later on an SD1 or a Granada whereas the Escort was aimed very much at te other end of the market i.e. The young lad who'd just got enough insurance bonus so could afford to insure a Mexico or RS and really didn't have to worry about getting the family in the car. I loved all my Dolomites and with hindsight I wish I'd kept the last one a 1977 Sprint in Mimosa yellow.
Beautiful car, thanks for sharing, great video. Memories of 70’s and 80’s when my uncle had three of these from new. Glad to see how well you’re looking after it. Looks and sounds amazing, well done. Continue to enjoy.
Enjoyed the video, got fond memories of this car, well the sprint I should say, use to look forward to my dads mate coming round in his, dad would get the tools out, nice thanks.
Your Sprint looks awesome matey, I owned 10 of these in the 1980/1990s , Never suffered a blown head gasket in any of them probably due to the fact I would renew the water-pump as soon as I bought one and fitted aircraft bolts in the camshaft (they were prone to snap) my favourite one was the yellow one which I fitted a blue printed engine into it, It was awesome and used to run rings round the BMW's of the day and my friends holbay engined hunter gls, Great to see yours keep up the videos :) It would look better with the standard twin pipe exhaust :) (just my opinion)
Great video thanks I had 3 of these and the last one in 1981 was in Inca yellow. The car had great performance and reasonable fuel consumption too. Pleased to see you enjoying your sprint. Hope it has a long life.
Worked on these when they were brand new, loved them, never did a head gasket but did spend lots of time setting differential angle to reduce driveline vibration under heavy accel.
Looks lovely. I had a Dolly 1850 many years ago. Unfortunately it was plagued by rust and was finally finished off when someone ran into the back of it. That yellow (Inca yellow?) sets it off a treat. I'd like to invest in a well restored version one day.
Lovely car mate, my Dad had one around 1980 to 1986 in Burgundy with tan interior we went to the south of France every summer in it, we were the coolest car on the road, especially in France.🤣 Your walk around your car, has brought back so many memories.👍🏼
My dad bought a new Sprint for my 18th Birthday in 1978.We installed twin Weber DCOE 45's and managed 135 mph on the motorway from Croydon to Gatwick Airport.What a great car it was.Subscribed.
Love these cars, I had one myself many years ago and they're quick even by todays standards but you will have to paint it again...and again and again...They love distributor caps which at the time were bloody expensive and head gaskets too...But I still loved them, mainly because they would piss off an XR3. Yours is a beautiful example, enjoy it.
I worked on these at the police garage in the first 6 months of my apprenticeship where we had 18 of them as patrol cars. There performance was second to none, but the engines reliability was terrible, head gaskets, big ends etc. BL supplied an engine in the end, that lasted 3 weeks. I loved them and in fact bought one myself and had no problems. Liked them with the viscous fan fitted as they sounded great. Great video, thanks.
I’ve just rewatched this one Trig as you’ve bought the red 1850 today. I know I sound like a broken record but I’d still give my right ball for the green Sprint that the Haynes museum have, 22k from new on that one. Such a lovely engine noise amongst everything else.
I saw mine for sale last year on Google. Its like factory now with a factory price tag. I miss it. I loved it . Lovely car by the way. Hope you're proud.
I had 3 Dolomites a 76 1500 HL and two 1850HLs last was a 'W' Reg. I fitted a Kenlow fan to that and used to get 45mpg easily on a run! Only once did I need to use the Remote switch for the fan as it was getting hot on a hot day in Somerset going up hill! I loved them! The 1500 was Honeysuckle and the others Russet Brown.
I bought a 2 year old in 1980, same color and very nice condition, almost new - S reg. The overdrive was the best part and brought down the revs and noise. It had some legs up to the speed limit and a bit beyond but was not a very fast car. Also a bit tail happy in corners and never do anything silly in the wet. I liked it and was reliable only stopped once but restarted after about 20 mins, something with the su carbs. From the investment point of view the RS2K would have been much better but that is history and hindsight. Good luck with the car.
Love the car, man! I wish the 70's cars here in the States were half of what the Dolly is! Also, I know it may be sacrilege, but Moss seems to make great carbs for Triumphs too. And Webers would add some power and tunability to it too. Love the car sir
Lovely example. I owned a Sprint for 10 years. It might help your carb set up if you ditch the waxstat jets and fit plain jets and also fit plain butterfly discs. These items were fitted to improve emissions (probably for the US market) but in my opinion just made setting up the carbs impossible as the mixture would change by itself depending on engine bay temperature. Also don't worry too much about head gaskets. You have a later model fitted with uprated head studs. As long as you look after the coolant it will be fine. My Sprint got to 140k when the rust just got too much. The engine was still as sweet as a nut.
I enjoyed that, thank you! I've always wanted one of these but the opportunity never arose. I moved to Canada 20 years ago, and I now have a Triumph tr6 which I enjoy very much in the summer time! Unfortunately it doesn't have the overdrive although in theory I could have one fitted, but if I stay around 50 MPH it isn't that bad on fuel and I get about 25 miles per US gallon.
Lovely cars. I owned a Inca yellow Sprint W reg. It was made in September 1980, the same month as production stopped. There is a trick to help stop those slant 4 engines overheating. I should know, having owned 2 × Sprints, early 1850 and a Stag (the V8 is a twin Dolly engine). Never had a coolant issue. The other mechanical issue was the fuel pump whined loudly. So I change mine to a Bosch.
Very nice car, having done a full restoration my myself and yes in inca yellow😍👋👋ps i used to light up all the light cluster for fun....... i need to get out more🤣pps i remember that engine roar.....ppps 🙌🙌
That pin broke on my Sprint as well, and I also thought it was the clutch. Such a big job I did have the clutch replaced while the gearbox was out. Wished I had the O/D refurbished while the box was out as well. Its never worked 100% since.
Great looking car always likes these I did have a triumph spitfire 1500 this also had the overdrive my car was red convertible with wood dash had to sell it as needed the money for home improvements.
My mate had 2 Dollys...A purple one,Stage2 engine..A lunatic car...Then a W reg white one which I drove alot...A fantastic car....quick, comfortable and good looking...I luved the wooden dash and the webasto sunroof and of course the overdrive!!...In the time of RS2000s The Dolly could be driven just as quick .. I'd luv to own one now 😊😊😊😊😊
I read somewhere that the overheating/gasket issues were because dealers weren't used to alloy heads on iron blocks and the need for coolant with corrosion inhibitors when servicing back in the day. Typical BL. Any reputation for fragility was undeserved. Always loved Dollies especially the Sprint. Lovely example. Love your channel
Nice car bruv ! 8 had the same yellow one back in the day decked out on the floor low I could only have one person in back or it'll rub big old set of 45 webs cherry bomb it used to go round corners like it was on rails again lovely car I should never have got rid of mine 😔
A car which brings back fond memories. My father had one and it was really quite a groundbreaking engine. Very quick for it’s day and a better builld quality than most BL cars of the time. Remember Dad having problem with leak on head gasket, a common problem. The overdrive was quite a novelty. For me the highlight was driving it shortly after passing my test after my 17th birthday, learned on Austin 1100 with the worlds worst gearbox. The sprint felt like a rocket ship by comparison. Sadly the insurance company realised my age and decided they no longer wanted to insure me on dads policy so only got to drive it once but has a special place in my motoring history.
Cool car like to see more of the car interior , exterior and engine before you drove off on it but great car had a 1500 loved it . Would like a sprint but prices are mad 👍
I had one the same colour (R reg) but it had a full length Webasto sun roof. I stupidly tried to balance the 16 valve head myself which took an entire weekend.
Love these cars, a bit of luxury, nice styling and great performance. Looks great in yellow too. Your videos are anything but boring, you give a comprehensive walk around inside and out and do a decent road test! Keep ‘em coming 👍
You have yourself a beauty. You always find things that need to be done on a classic of this quality. The walnut veneer looks gorgeous & sets interior alight with added class. All the previous owners were proud of their car & now as the present owner you are benefitting of their care of this beautiful example. Is the colour Inca Yellow? What do you use to polish & wax your car? I'm sorry I'm asking questions as I want the best for my Triumph 2000TC too.
Always liked them as a teenager, thought the had a top front end look. Rivaled the BMW 2002 and the escort . A great British failure, typically snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Lovely example this mate. 🤘😎
had about 8 of these , great cars . my back still hurts from doing up the exhaust manifold to down pipe bolts though , anyone remember sprint spares in southend jamie and another guy and his wife used to run it and he raced sprints
