Invacar field test

I'm a very happy man at the moment. I've just ticked something odd off my bucket list that very few people have ever done and I certainly never expected to do. You may remember that a couple of years ago I told the story of the Invacar and expressed a desire that one day I might actually see one, but with so few left I honestly didn't hold out much hope of that ever happening. The day has come however, and not only have I looked closely at an Invacar in the flesh but I even had the opportunity to get behind the handlebars and take it for a drive! There was no way I could pass up a unique chance like that... 

Little TWC, star of the show

Let's start by answering the two most frequently asked questions about the Invacar.

Aren't these all banned from the road?

Yes and no. The invalid carriage scheme was ended in 1978 in favour of Motability, but existing users were allowed to keep their carriages until 2003. In that year the government reclaimed all remaining examples and sent them for scrap, and with none left on the road the invalid carriage tax class was abolished and their details wiped from the DVLA system, effectively banning them from road use.

There were so many to dispose of that a fair number were simply put aside and never destroyed, and thanks to some hard work by the Invalid Carriage Register it is now possible to re-classify these survivors as tricycles and apply for a V5. They're MOT exempt due to their age, and as long as it's taxed and insured an Invacar registered as a tricycle is now a perfectly legal road vehicle.

Can it be driven on the motorway?

Yes, now it can. Invalid carriages have always been banned from motorways but since that vehicle class ceased to exist in 2003 it is no longer legally an invalid carriage but a tricycle. As a tricycle it's subject to the same laws as any other three-wheeler such as a Reliant, Morgan or Isetta, meaning there is no legal impediment to driving an Invacar on any motorway. Just because it's legal doesn't mean it should be done though, and motorway travel is really not advised if you value your own safety

FORBIDDEN! Not any more...

Right, that's those common questions answered, so here's the story of how I ended up being given the unique opportunity to do something very few able-bodied people have ever done: actually get inside and drive an Invacar.

Introducing TWC

TWC 725K, known as TWC (pronounced 'took') to her many fans, is the oldest known surviving Model 70 Invacar. She was discovered last year slumbering in a field in Sussex along with about a dozen others, where they had languished since being taken off the road in the early 2000s awaiting the scrapman's torch that never came. Enter Ian Seabrook of HubNut.org, whose desire to own an Invacar would be TWC's saviour, and whose adventures with her have single-handedly done a huge amount to raise awareness of these odd little vehicles.

The proud owner, deep in conversation with his fans

The government never really thought of invalid carriages as vehicles but as mobility aids like wheelchairs, crutches or prosthetic limbs, and treated them the same way as other medical equipment. They were issued by the NHS from a stockpile held in a huge warehouse somewhere in northern England, and oddly there was no scheduled replacement policy. Even at the end in 2003, some users still had carriages dating from the fifties and sixties while much newer Model 70s sat in store unused, and the spare cars and parts would not be disposed of until the last example of that type was taken off the road.

Thousands went straight for scrap including some that had never actually turned a wheel, which seems incredibly wasteful, but luckily a few like TWC survived the mass cull. With sponsorship from Hagerty on condition that he brought her to the Festival of the Unexceptional in just a few months' time, Ian quickly embarked on making her roadworthy again after 15 years sat in that field, sometimes a difficult task as most of the documentation had been destroyed with the cars in 2003 and spare parts are not easy to come by.

Volvo and Dacia guard of honour at the Festival

Actually getting TWC to the Festival could have been the easy bit, but for one thing. Ian lives in the wilds of Wales over 150 miles from Stowe, and an Invacar is not exactly a great long-distance cruiser. Nevertheless he bravely set off on the Friday entirely unaccompanied, but had a trouble-free run and arrived at his overnight accommodation in good time. The next morning, TWC could be found right outside the walls of the magnificent.Stowe House, somewhere an Invacar had almost certainly never been before, as part of the Festival's Invitational Class.

No, this photo wasn't taken in the 1980s

She was a definite star of the show, attracting masses of attention, and every time I looked Ian was deep in conversation with fascinated fans. Of course Ian and TWC were invited to the after party in the Field of Dreams, where the calmer atmosphere provided an opportunity to examine the Invacar in more detail, and with ten acres at our disposal Ian could let his fellow guests loose in TWC.

First impressions

An Invacar is a very ungainly and unstable looking vehicle, tall and narrow with a single wheel stuck right out in front and all the weight at the back. It's amazingly roomy though and not the horrible little cramped box you might imagine. Even with an aftermarket headlining fitted to provide some much-needed sound deadening, there's enough headroom for my 6'3" frame and thanks to the lack of pedals I can stretch my legs right out, although it did feel as though if I kicked the bulkhead my foot would go straight through the fibreglass. It would have benefitted from some proper bumpers though as they're just moulded into the body, not ideal for drivers with potentially limited eyesight or dexterity.

Tricycle friends. An Invacar is one of the few vehicles that can make a Reliant look sophisticated.

Getting in is an interesting experience in itself. The doors drop outwards by a few inches and then slide forwards, making it possible to drive with them open. The driving position is in the centre but the seat will slide to either side for easier access. It feels like it's going to tip over when you put all your weight on one side to clamber in, and rather alarmingly you can make the whole car wobble from side to side just by wiggling your buttocks in the seat! There is plenty of space around the seat that was designed to store a folded-up wheelchair, a good thing as Invacars have no boot whatsoever. Under the 'bonnet' where you might expect some luggage space sits the fuel tank, front wheel assembly and nothing else, and you can see the ground through it.

A bit of instruction but everyone soon got the hang of it

At the back is a 493cc air-cooled flat-twin engine made in Austria by Steyr-Puch and also found in their licence-built Fiat 500. It drives the rear wheels via a continuously variable transmission of belts and pulleys, just like a DAF, so there are no gearchanges to worry about - all you have to do is move the lever in the direction you want to go. The combination of the 'putt-putt' engine and whirring transmission gives the Invacar a unique sound totally unlike any other vehicle I've ever heard, added to by TWC's drive belts starting to squeal for reasons that still need further investigation. Even with the added headlining, noise levels inside are very high and you couldn't call it refined by any stretch.

TWC is outstanding in her field

Behind the wheel handlebars

After Ian and the MOT tester, I'm only the third person to have ever driven TWC since she was recommissioned and it's certainly a unique experience. You really do have to forget how to drive a normal car as Invacar controls are so different. Many of those disabled users who had them back in the seventies would actually be at an advantage by never having driven anything else so they didn't have to un-learn conventional driving before getting in their Invacar. They didn't need a licence or any formal test either - as long as they could drive it around the hospital car park they'd be let loose on the road!

Invacar in motion. When did you last see such a thing?

Although outwardly all identical and finished in the same shade of 'Ministry blue', there were many different control layouts available to suit different disabilities. TWC was clearly built for someone without use of their legs as she has motorcycle-style handlebars and no foot pedals, but other steering mechanisms included conventional wheels, tillers, and even at least one with foot-operated steering for somebody with no arms! Sadly nothing is known of her user except that they once bought a can of peaches, as the only surviving paperwork is a supermarket receipt found in the car.

Off she goes again for another run

The twist-grip throttle should be familiar to anyone who has ridden a motorbike, but the braking method is unique to the Invacar. The brakes are applied by pushing down on the handlebars and even very slight pressure is enough to start slowing down, so you can't rest your arms on the bars and almost have to hold them up to keep the brakes off. That soon gets tiring and as fatigue set in on his marathon roadtrip Ian resorted to supporting his aching arms with his legs. The simple dashboard has just two dials (speedometer and fuel gauge), an umbrella handbrake sprouting from the right. a cluster of warning lights, and of course the infamous plaque that never lets the driver forget that passenger carrying is forbidden.

A unique driving experience for sure

The control layout is a bit odd and not entirely logical. The choke lever for some strange reason is not on the dashboard but with the heater controls in a box at the top right-hand corner of the windscreen, although later Model 70s did have a dash-mounted choke. TWC's wiper switch (taken from the BL parts bin and also used on the Maxi, incidentally) is mounted above the right handlebar, meaning to operate the wiper you have to either release the throttle or reach across awkwardly with your left arm. That wasn't an issue with this hot dry weather but would no doubt be annoying in intermittent rain.

On the move

The world's slowest drag race?

So, having worked out how it all works, it was time to take TWC for a spin around the Field of Dreams. With her idling in gear, you just twist and go like a scooter - for this reason you should always be sure to start the car in neutral to prevent it running away. Acceleration, at least from a standstill to 30mph, is amazingly brisk - she gets off the line remarkably well and isn't the ponderous machine I was expecting. Top speed varies depending on road conditions and gravity: it drops off rapidly going uphill (but she usually gets there in the end), yet Ian very bravely got up to 65mph downhill on the way home. Somewhere around 45 to 50 is a comfortable cruising speed though.

The business end, and another crowd of admirers

I took to the controls surprisingly quickly, perhaps because I'd watched Ian's videos beforehand. After only a minute or so I instinctively found myself depressing the handlebars to slow down and then twisting the right-hand grip to speed up again, and my feet didn't try to press imaginary pedals as I thought they would. Ride and handling, at low speeds and in calm conditions anyway, is not as bad as I feared. She wasn't unpleasantly bouncy and soaked up the bumps in the field very well for something with only three tiny wheels and very little weight, and the body roll is no worse than an average car (and much better than the Range Rover I also drove that weekend). I don't think I'd be brave enough to drive an Invacar on a twisty road in a crosswind though, given their reputation for tipping over and catching fire.

TWC and the Mighty Dacia, lowering the tone at Stowe

Invacar invalided?

Everything was going well and I was growing in confidence but then all of a sudden the revs started rising and I ran out of forward motion. I was terrified I had broken TWC and left Ian stranded over 150 miles from home, but I'd forgotten she has a tendency to jump out of gear sometimes and he hadn't attached the bungee cord he uses to keep it in. With the bungee reattached, she was soon back on the move ready for the next test driver. Of course, everyone wanted a go and TWC clocked up four whole miles just trundling around the field. Her total mileage is now approaching 30,000, quite a lot for one of these.

A Rover chasing an Invacar across a field. Not something you see everyday.

All too soon, the weekend came to an end and Ian and TWC set off for home. Everyone was very relived to hear they had made it back safely several hours later as he was worried about the squealing belts and had travelled further in one weekend than most Invacars would have done in a year. TWC wouldn't have gone much further though as the squeals were getting ever louder and hill-climbing ability had all but disappeared, not great when you live in Wales. So what does the future hold for TWC now Ian has accomplished his mission to bring her to the Festival of the Unexceptional? For now she's safely tucked up in his garage with Elly the 2CV enjoying a well-earned rest after her 400-mile roadtrip and Ian is concentrating on some other projects.

The sun sets on TWC and friends

I have to confess I was pleasantly surprised by the Invacar and it's nowhere near as terrible as its reputation would suggest. Yes, in terms of a car it's crude, noisy and as Ian has proved not at all suitable for long journeys, but they were never originally thought of that way and the closest modern equivalent would be a mobility scooter, against which it starts to make sense. Overly sensitive brakes aside, once you get the hang of the unusual controls it really isn't difficult to drive, and its performance is perfectly adequate for urban driving so the Invacar has some merit as a town car, even for the able-bodied.

Maybe the novelty value has clouded my views and I'd feel differently if I had to live with one every day, but we also mustn't forget how important a part of social history these little cars are. They were a valuable lifeline for disabled people, providing their only means of mobility to escape the confines of their homes and live a fulfilling life, and many were genuinely heartbroken when they were taken away.

Reflecting on a once in a lifetime opportunity

Above all, I feel highly privileged and honoured to be one of the very few able-bodied people ever to have driven an invalid carriage, giving me an all-too-rare insight into the lives of the disabled in the days before Motability. It's a tragedy really that so few Invacars have survived to inform the younger generation of this long-gone era, but thanks to people like Ian they will never be totally forgotten. Many many thanks must go to him for this once in a lifetime opportunity to fulfil a quite bizarre dream I honestly never thought would come true.

For plenty more of Ian's adventures with TWC, make sure you check out the Project Invacar series on the HubNut YouTube channel.