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HLM with or w/o rear side vents

bernd_st

bernd_st

Bronze Level Sponsor
Here is one for the specialists:

Does anybody know when exactly Harrington´s switched over from vented to no vented roof style ? Acc. to the registry it should be somewhere around August ´62. The first visible correlating VIN# is B9117763.

Second question would be whether they only built non vented style from there on ?

Thirdly it would be intersting to know whether the chrome trim of some vented models came as standard or as an option ?

Thanks
 
Harrington Jan

Harrington Jan

Donation Time
Hi Bernd,
Nobody knows anything exactly when it comes to Harringtons since all documentations burned up in a fire shortly after the close down.
One can only guess that the rear vents disappeared at the same time as the Series C went into production up to the end of Alpine II production. You can only find chrome vent covers on LRX cars. Option or not, most of them have. The rest maybe have lost them. No LRX cars were built without rear ventilation. All cars produced during the last five months were HRO. You can find all this at www.harringtonalpine.org plus much more.
Regards
Jan
 
Harrington Jan

Harrington Jan

Donation Time
Steve,
I have a pic of your car from the time before Jan's ownership. It had chrome vent covers. Talk to Jan. I send you a PM with the pic.

Bob,
I counted in my personal reg. it's 50/50 with or without. I hope more owners will tell us what they have.
/Jan
 
bernd_st

bernd_st

Bronze Level Sponsor
Interesting thanks. Then the next 2 questions come up:

- Were the vent covers made from polished aluminium, stainless or chromed steel ?

- How were the fixed ?
 
napa 1

napa 1

Donation Time
Bernd, do you think we could reproduce them if we could get a sample pair? I have a detailed drawing with measurements of one, that Tiger Tom did at some point.
 
bernd_st

bernd_st

Bronze Level Sponsor
John,

yes with a good sample set believe we can have a batch of them reproduced. However I´m not sure about the complexity but would assume it requires a designated tooling = invest. That´s why I asked about the material & fixing method.

Rainer had some side trim pieces reproduced at a local company here in Germany earlier. He passed me a quote from them offering more sets except the spears. However it requires upfront tooling between 3-5k Euro in total. So it´s only realistic if there would be a sufficient batch size >10 sets.

Perhaps we could also get a quote for the vent covers made from stainless with chrome content from the Vietnam company as well...
 
65beam

65beam

Donation Time
side vents

not me ! i don't even want the side chrome. that's why it's not on my car . they were built based on race car heritage . why add all the chrome and white wall tires ? make them look like something that you would't be afraid to take out and run the devil out of it . the side chrome makes it look like a frog squatting .just my opinion . ????? did this ruffle any feathers ??????
 
napa 1

napa 1

Donation Time
65beam said:
not me ! i don't even want the side chrome. that's why it's not on my car . they were built based on race car heritage . why add all the chrome and white wall tires ? make them look like something that you would't be afraid to take out and run the devil out of it . the side chrome makes it look like a frog squatting .just my opinion . ????? did this ruffle any feathers ??????
Click to expand...


Nope, just painted a clear picture. An important and crucial feature to the orginal and stunning Le Mans design was the spear trim. It should be included on the car for correctness and authenticity whenever possible. These cars are so rare and special, that I believe we have a responsiblity to display them to the public in as close to the original design as possible in order to maintain the integrity of the car. Don't see the frog image, but rather a sublime and artistic version of an already beautiful car. :)
 
65beam

65beam

Donation Time
side vents

i've seen a photo of a car without the vents . was this something that harrington stopped doing or was it filled in by a previous owner ? i found years ago that i really needed to drive with the rear windows cracked open ,especially in rainy weather ,in order to keep the windows from fogging . the vents help with air flow thru the interior but are really quite small.there's not much open vent area at all. any one know if all cars had the vents ?
 
65beam

65beam

Donation Time
Hlm

john,
myself and the previous owner ( original owner ) feel the same way about the chrome . we discussed this when we had the car at their home in baltimore last year. T.D and i both have the same idea, that's why he had the chrome removed in 1965. . being an owner of british cars from the mid sixties, i must say hardly no one added whitewalls, fancy chrome or luxury items to their british cars .the ribbing from other owners would have been unbearable anyway . most of us babyboomers didn't have the money if we did want something extra . we worried more about keeping them running and added things like extra lights since you never knew when the electricals would fail . i would say i have done my share and probably more than my share over the years when it comes to having sunbeams at shows and promoting the marque . i guess i'm just a no frills type person. i have had these two cars for so many years that i feel like i don't have to promote them and show others that i have a special car . i know that. everyone is entitled to an opinion and i stick to mine.
 
Harrington Jan

Harrington Jan

Donation Time
Bob,
In my first reply in this subject I mentioned some about the cars without any ventilation at all. Those cars are all HRO (see Ians Pippin red project) and the LRX production stopped at the same time. Also, the Series C was introduced at that time.
I agree with you fully about the side trim. I took them away in the sixties when the car was repainted, just because the trim holes let the salty winter water in. The car was a daily driver. I have kept them so next time the car will have a fresh paint, they will be there again.
 
bernd_st

bernd_st

Bronze Level Sponsor
Not sure what the ultimate conclusion for the vent covers is now. So far only one guy stated "Want them". For me personally it doesn´t matter to much since my project is w/o vents- with regard to some comments perhaps the ultimate "sports edition".

Certainly the chrome "ornaments" are a matter of taste, but we still plan to anyhow look into possibility of a reproduction run if there is enough interest around the globe.

For the side trim I would also share the opinion that these are almost integral parts of the HLM appearance even though they further accentuate the rear "hanging" shape. Nothing for the purists but will try to countermeasure it on my project by putting the rear springs a bit up. Let´s see how this works/appears afterwards...
 
bernd_st

bernd_st

Bronze Level Sponsor
Would say 10 sets are the absolute minimum. 20 set would be better in order to achieve reasonable pricing, but can not see enough interest among the community.
Perhaps better to focus on a reproduction run of side trim/ spears at first...
 
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