Vintage Thing No.103 - the Low Super Vee

The Lomax Super Vee rose again after an intensive reworking by Pete Low so I call it the Low Super Vee

Following the problems of the Super Vee engine, the Lomax Super Vee project was abandoned and the rolling chassis lingered at the Lomax factory until 1999 when my mate Pete Low (he of hopped up Armstrong motorcycle fame - see VT No.15) visited the factory.

Pete had already built a very successful 2CV-based Lomax with which he'd competed in many Guild of Endurance Motorists events throughout Europe. After many giant-killing perfomance, Pete was on the look out for more power and having owned a Moto Guzzi Le Mans had formed a cunning plan.

"To begin with, I was only thinking of putting a Guzzi engine into my much loved Lomax 223."

Then on the 1999 Guild of Endurance Motorists event, Pete met Peter Van Pelt, a Dutch guy who had a Lomax business in Holland. He was competing in a 224 Lomax with a 1300 GSA engine but told Pete he could supply an adaptor plate to fit a Guzzi engine to a GSA bellhousing and a distance piece to mount a Visa flywheel on a Guzzi crank.

But even before that the concept had been given an airing.

"It was in a supermarket restaurant at Carcasonne in 1997 on the way back from the first ever Guild of Motor Endurance trip, to Morocco, that I first remember talking to David Low about the abandoned Super Vee and telling him that they should put a Guzzi engine in it. So maybe that's where the idea really began!"

A final nudge towards realisation came from John Kassam. Pete's co-driver, when the pair of them were working on building John's Lomax in Switzwrland, He suggested Pete ask David Low - no known relation of Reverend Peter Low - if the remains of the Super Vee were available from Lomax.

The Super Vee as it arrived at the vicarage

In 2000, Pete went up to the Lomax factory to view the Super Vee (VT No.102). "The fabled Super Vee engine was gone, along with the bit of chassis it had been bolted to. This was no loss to me since I'd heard all about that engines problems. I saw enough to decide it was a suitable case for treatment. I arranged with my brother from Bristol to get a trailer and rendezvous at Lomax and paying £500 for the car, we shipped it down to Plymouth."

This shows the original layout of the fornt suspension and the location of the dampers

"The original chassis was a work of art. Round tube, space frame, but as a prototype destined for exhibition, it seemed that some welds had been over eagerly dressed, and the thickness of the tube around them greatly reduced.

"This led to a profound state of "O my God, what have I bought?

The Super Vee looked good from any angle even when partially dismantled

"But I soon rallied, remembering that my only O level was in Tech Drawing, and that as an ex-fabricator welder, I ought to be able to build a new chassis. So I went out and bought a full size drawing table from Bogie Knight's ( a world famous surplus store in Plymouth) and a ream of A0 size paper and the vicarage dining room became the drawing room. And my diary reveals, drawings were completed on Nov.20th 2000."

The original Dick Buckland design featured in board cantilever operated dampers and Pete adopted a similar approach but chose to mount them logitudinally.  He also used square section tubing for ease of construction.

Pete kept some original features such as the external hand brake lever and steering wheel boss

"In September 2000, I had made a short trip to Peter Van Pelt in Holland, to get the bits mentioned above. Sadly they proved to be hopelessly inaccurate. Peter apologised and refunded the cost without any problem. I then went to Ray Brown Engineering in Plymouth to he the crank to flywheel spacer made, and got a bit of 6mm ally plate and made the bell housing adaptor myself."

Pete built the chassis on an 8x4 sheet of blockboard as a build table using steel cut to length in Chris Meakin's workshop and the car was first on the road again in July 2002.

A couple of curiosities were some imperial spherical joints that lacked any nylon bushes. Pete reckons these came from Tarkus (VT No.100). There were also swome drive shafts and hubs, modified by Jake Challenger to a 4 stud pattern instead of the GSA's 3 stud, and some wishbones that didn't obviously fit the original Super Vee rolling chassis.

One feature that Pete and I both admired on the original Super Vee when he got it home to Plymouth was the lurverly external stainless steel handbrake lever and this was one component Pete decided to keep.

"One early outing was to a cousin's wedding in Bideford. On the way there the retaining cap on the front suspension's pivot bearing popped off at Great Torrington and that side's suspension came unhitched."

This was fixed fairly easily but then Pete made a more serious discovery.

"An early rebuild to replace a burnt out clutch revealed that  the Visa flywheel on its own was not up to the job. Cracks were evident between the crankshaft bolt holes.

I really liked the chequered grille

"Another session of gloom! But I was encouraged by a visit to a guy in Newton Abbot (I think) Fairly sure his first name was Brian, but he was the son of the guy who ran a bike shop on Victoria Rd. in St. Budeaux many years ago. He suggested using a Moto Guzzi steel clutch center, and adapt the Visa flywheel to fit it. Ray Brown rose to this challenge and produced the goods and the whole crank and flywheel was then dynamically balanced by Basset Down Balancing."

And so Pete embarked on the 2002 Guild of Motor Endurance event from Spa to Italy, but didn't get that far.

"Initially the only trouble we had was the rear suspension, which was too soft for the load carried, but this did not prevent us enjoying a fling around the Nurburgring. However that night arriving at the hotel at Karlsruhe, there was an awful noise every time the clutch was used. The next day we had a layby engine out session. The problem seemed to be that the gearbox input shaft was running dry in the bush in the center of the flywheel. 2 hours later it was running again, but not for long! It seized! Sadly, in replacing the sump (which had to come off for engine removal) I put it on the wrong way round. This blocked vital oilways and starved the crank."

Pete had a lot of fun with his Super Vee despite his injured wrist. Here we have man and machine in almost perfect harmony on top of Caradon Hill

Of course, Pete rebuilt the engine but he was beginning to wish for something that wasn't quite so bespoke. The other thing was, by now he had a dodgy wrist. He was knocked off his bike and this revealed an old break that hadn't been recognised or treated for years. The Super Vee gearchange was now too bloody stiff for its constructor.

"Another factor was its highly unusual appearance, you couldn't go anywhere without being asked what is it, and it had a most impressive ability to startle horses!"

So Pete sold it to somebody up Launceston way.

I was highly tempted but didn't have the cash.

Meanwhile Pete developed a four wheeled device for his Guild of Endurance Motoring events and duly began to take lessons for his car test. Didn't I mention that was one reason why three-wheelers held so much appeal for him?