Topic: MJW #269 - Mystery 2

[woodinsight]

It's a 'real' home-built contraption......

[kwgibbs]

was it made in wimbleton england?

[woodinsight]

was it made in wimbleton england?

Sorry but I have no idea where in the UK it was built......

[kwgibbs]

i do remember a magazine article. i think they called it a womble car or something like that.

[woodinsight]

i do remember a magazine article. i think they called it a womble car or something like that.

I took it from a small photo and article asking for more information from a well-known UK classic car magazine (dated some time in the 1980s)

[kwgibbs]

did Buzz build this strange car from parts from many other car brand,s ?

[woodinsight]

did Buzz build this strange car from parts from many other car brand,s ?

I have no idea of the other parts that were used in the construction of the car except that was based on a 1931 M-Type MG.

[kwgibbs]

maybe womble truck?

[woodinsight]

maybe womble truck?

[kwgibbs]

would this be called- buzz knapp fisher,s womble car, made from surplus car part,s ?

[woodinsight]

would this be called- buzz knapp fisher,s womble car, made from surplus car part,s ?

As I said previously I have no idea.
If you can prove it there is a point to be won.

[D-type]

To me, as much of a mystery as "What is this car?" is "Why would someone build something as plug-ugly as this?"

[kwgibbs]

I certainly see what you mean, yeah it,s ugly ,there has to be more info, somewhere

[kwgibbs]

i found a bit of info on this contraption,it was made of recycled auto part,s and was an art car-womble truck,according to the article by buzz knapp-fisher?

[woodinsight]

i found a bit of info on this contraption,it was made of recycled auto part,s and was an art car-womble truck,according to the article by buzz knapp-fisher?

Well I'm looking for more information and proof so if you can post the article........?
Perhaps you could win two points!

[kwgibbs]

the article said buzz knapp-fisher was from pembroke england, he made the vehicle from 21 different cars, i found the article from <<< link removed >>> central, i hope its ok?

[Otto Puzzell]

kwgibbs: I deleted the link, as that's taboo in the puzzle threads.

http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=6373.0

Your answer is correct; here is corroborating text:

It may have been cobbled together with parts from 21 different cars, but this misshapened vehicle nicknamed the 'Womble Truck' could be Britain's most environmentally friendly car.  

The unusual mode of transport can reach speeds of up to 110mph running only on chip fat and vegetable oil.

It was created by sculptor and environmentalist Buzz Knapp-Fisher, who has spent the last six years modifying the automobile into an almost carbon-free mode of transport.

The vehicle has been cobbled together from an array of car parts including some from a Sixties Morris 1000, Seventies Mini, a Ford, a Reliant Robin, an MG Midget, a Vauxhall Viva and a Volvo 740.

It was named after the children's TV characters 'The Wombles', who lived on Wimbledon Common and collected and recycled rubbish in ingenious ways.

'I bought the Womble Truck as a wreck around six years ago and I fell in love with it straight away,' the 48-year-old from Pembrokeshire said.

'It was solid as a rock and I saw it as an ideal environmental project car.

'We will have to start living a low carbon lifestyle and a lot of people in the country are using electric or biodiesel cars and so there is a growing move towards it.'

Costing only £250 on purchase, Buzz has made some modest and cheap adjustments over the years.  

Replacing the large petrol engine for a biodiesel engine, in the last year Buzz has managed to convert the car to run entirely on chip fat.

'I started using biodiesel and then switched to chip fat and vegetable oil just over a year ago,' he said.

'I the rigged up a system where I could run straight chip fat. If the temperature is high enough then it will start and run entirely on chip fat.  

'If not then it will start on biodiesel before turning over to chip fat. We pay one pound a litre at the moment for the bio-diesel. I used a tank full of bio-diesel - £20 for the tank.

'Then the only running cost is that of the vegetable oil.'

'Its brilliant - if the filters are running she can hit a top speed of 110 mph,' said Buzz.

'She is heavy but she is lighter than a Volvo. You an set off in third gear from that you can accelerate quite steadily up to 80 mph.

'She has been very reliable over the years and so I haven't really had to replace anything.'

A sculptor by trade, Buzz also runs a non-profit company, called Guardian Angels, promoting non-profit energy.

Buzz is now is hoping to extend his fleet of environmental cars and is already working on the next project.  

'I am working on my next art vehicle which is an electric car,' he said.

'I saved enough money last year running the Womble Truck on chip fat that I had no expenses for fuel.

'That allowed me to buy the battery for our electric car. So I offset the fossil fuel to buy batteries which helped fund this next project. Then the idea is to have a hydrogen car.

'The aim of the exercise is to apply the different methods of moving around but proving to people that you don't need oil. Once we get enough money, we hope to pursue more energy projects in the future.'


I trust woodinsight will award you the two points.

[Wendax]

Sorry to be a spoilsport, but the Womble Truck looks completely different:

[kwgibbs]

i apoloize, i didn,t mean any harm. I,ll be more careful, ill read the rules more carefully I shouldn,t be awarded the points!

[Otto Puzzell]

Sorry to be a spoilsport...

Really? I think you enjoy it. 

[kwgibbs]

no i don,t enjoy doing something wrong like this

[woodinsight]

Thanks for that information kwgibbs.....
It made interesting reading but it's sadly not the puzzle car.
Oguerrerob posted a photo of Buzz Knapp-Fisher's car on reply 20 and Wendax also posted a photo on reply 42.

Here's another view of the puzzle car showing the registration number -

[kwgibbs]

wow ,I could have sworn it was the right one, my mistake

[Wendax]

According to the license plate, it is MG M-Type based, as partially stated before.

[Tom_I]

From the small amount of information available from DVLA, a car with this registration number still exists. As Wendax said above, it's registered as an MG M-Type from 1931, the colour is given as black, and it is on SORN (Statutory Off-Road Notification) until July 2013.

However, the date of first registration is given as 27 May 2002. It may be that this was a re-registration of the car which originally had this number - if a car has been off the road and is not on the DVLA database, but you can prove what the original registration number was, DVLA will re-allocate the same number if it is available.

But it could also be that this number was allocated to a different vehicle in 2002 as an age-related replacement for a car which had lost its original registration number.

PJ 795 was issued by Surrey County Council. Maybe Carnut could find out if it's likely that it was issued in or around 1931. If it was, then it's feasible that it could originally have been on an M-Type, and that could therefore be what the puzzle car is based on. If it falls outside the 1929 to 1932 bracket, then it could originally have been on something else, and only transferred to the M-Type that currently has it in 2002.