Oddest/daftest thing you've ridden/driven?

[Scootabout]

Probably the Saab 96 I co-owned with three friends in the late '70s. Two-stroke, with no oil reservoir, so you had to put a cup of oil in with each fill-up. Clapped-out engine, so clouds of blue smoke going uphill. Three-speed column change, with no synchromesh between 1st and 2nd.

[Count Steer]

Probably the Saab 96 I co-owned with three friends in the late '70s. Two-stroke, with no oil reservoir, so you had to put a cup of oil in with each fill-up. Clapped-out engine, so clouds of blue smoke going uphill. Three-speed column change, with no synchromesh between 1st and 2nd.

Did it do that weird freewheel thing? I did wonder if/how they coped with that when they were racing/winning rallies.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Probably the Saab 96 I co-owned with three friends in the late '70s. Two-stroke, with no oil reservoir, so you had to put a cup of oil in with each fill-up. Clapped-out engine, so clouds of blue smoke going uphill. Three-speed column change, with no synchromesh between 1st and 2nd.

Did it do that weird freewheel thing? I did wonder if/how they coped with that when they were racing/winning rallies.

I don't think the Saab had the free wheel on a closed throttle, Wartburgs did, I've raced one of those in Autocross, when you took your foot off the throttle it felt like it speeded up.

[Count Steer]

Probably the Saab 96 I co-owned with three friends in the late '70s. Two-stroke, with no oil reservoir, so you had to put a cup of oil in with each fill-up. Clapped-out engine, so clouds of blue smoke going uphill. Three-speed column change, with no synchromesh between 1st and 2nd.

Did it do that weird freewheel thing? I did wonder if/how they coped with that when they were racing/winning rallies.

I don't think the Saab had the free wheel on a closed throttle, Wartburgs did, I've raced one of those in Autocross, when you took your foot off the throttle it felt like it speeded up.

The 2T Saabs had it so that lubrication demand was reduced when travelling at speed with low throttle 'cos the lube is in the fuel etc...but, IIRC, they even retained it for a while on the 4T!

[Count Steer]

Probably the Saab 96 I co-owned with three friends in the late '70s. Two-stroke, with no oil reservoir, so you had to put a cup of oil in with each fill-up. Clapped-out engine, so clouds of blue smoke going uphill. Three-speed column change, with no synchromesh between 1st and 2nd.

Did it do that weird freewheel thing? I did wonder if/how they coped with that when they were racing/winning rallies.

I don't think the Saab had the free wheel on a closed throttle, Wartburgs did, I've raced one of those in Autocross, when you took your foot off the throttle it felt like it speeded up.

It must be really strange, I never feel quite in control when freewheeling on a (motor)bike. I can only imagine what it was like for drivers like Erik Carlsson when driving at the limits. Brakes must have been beefy!

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

It must be really strange, I never feel quite in control when freewheeling on a (motor)bike. I can only imagine what it was like for drivers like Erik Carlsson when driving at the limits. Brakes must have been beefy!

They weren't on a Wartburg, it was about the same size as a Lada and had drums all round, on loose surfaces it went from nothing much to locked wheels very quickly, you had to cadence brake.

Fortunately it caught fire when we tried to weld a roll cage into it so we only raced it once.

[Scootabout]

Did it do that weird freewheel thing? I did wonder if/how they coped with that when they were racing/winning rallies.

I don't think the Saab had the free wheel on a closed throttle, Wartburgs did, I've raced one of those in Autocross, when you took your foot off the throttle it felt like it speeded up.

The 2T Saabs had it so that lubrication demand was reduced when travelling at speed with low throttle 'cos the lube is in the fuel etc...but, IIRC, they even retained it for a while on the 4T!

I don't have a clear recollection of that, maybe because it was such an odd thing to drive anyway. A friend who knows about old cars told me it had a freewheel (or was it flywheel?) and that this meant it wasn't necessary to double de-clutch despite the lack of synchromesh. All that effort I could have saved if I'd known..
Incidentally we were told we shouldn't go over 50 in it. I later discovered a couple of my co-owners hadn't exactly stuck to that. Maybe that was why it had a tendency to break down. One occasion was on a trip from Oxford to London to see a Gilbert & Sullivan performance (yep, 'fraid so) when it conked out in West London, so we had to finish the journey on the tube from West Ruislip.

[Count Steer]

I don't think the Saab had the free wheel on a closed throttle, Wartburgs did, I've raced one of those in Autocross, when you took your foot off the throttle it felt like it speeded up.

The 2T Saabs had it so that lubrication demand was reduced when travelling at speed with low throttle 'cos the lube is in the fuel etc...but, IIRC, they even retained it for a while on the 4T!

I don't have a clear recollection of that, maybe because it was such an odd thing to drive anyway. A friend who knows about old cars told me it had a freewheel (or was it flywheel?) and that this meant it wasn't necessary to double de-clutch despite the lack of synchromesh. All that effort I could have saved if I'd known..
Incidentally we were told we shouldn't go over 50 in it. I later discovered a couple of my co-owners hadn't exactly stuck to that. Maybe that was why it had a tendency to break down. One occasion was on a trip from Oxford to London to see a Gilbert & Sullivan performance (yep, 'fraid so) when it conked out in West London, so we had to finish the journey on the tube from West Ruislip.

Dunno about the flywheel but it probably had synchro on everything but 1st gear. G&S? Some cracking tunes (better that than Gilbert O'Sullivan ).
How did you get home?

[The Spin Doctor]

One occasion was on a trip from Oxford to London to see a Gilbert & Sullivan performance (yep, 'fraid so) when it conked out in West London, so we had to finish the journey on the tube from West Ruislip.

Lucky you weren't headed to Penzance, then!

[David]

Yes, eary Saabs had a freewheel, as did some of the "Auntie" Rovers (75, 95, 110's).

And yes, it obviated the need for synchro

[Scootabout]

Dunno about the flywheel but it probably had synchro on everything but 1st gear. G&S? Some cracking tunes (better that than Gilbert O'Sullivan ).
How did you get home?

I don't remember for sure, but the car did have a habit of conking out, then reviving later - overheating, I suppose (?). So we may have retrieved it and driven it back.