Hello everyone.
Traction Owner’s Club › Forums › General discussions › Hello everyone.
- This topic has 4 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 2 weeks, 4 days ago by Ian Mair.
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19th May 2026 at 3:07 pm #38213
Ian Mair
ParticipantHi all, new member here. Currently have a 76 Triumph Stag, a 2000 Mercedes Slk230 and 7 pre 66 Lambrettas in my little collection.
I don’t have a Traction but have been looking and researching for a couple of years now, just love the look of these cars. I’m after some advice /opinions on a car I’ve seen for sale.
It’s a pre-war 1939 light 12 in what looks like good restored condition for an older restoration. Has an ID19 engine fitted many years ago which was rebuilt in 2007 a few other electrical improvements. Also has electric power steering fitted. Bodywork looks good in the pictures except for a bit of flaky paint around the boot hinges. Is this a weak spot for rot on these? Interior in good order and the sunroof works.
Its up for £25k and I think I’ll go and see it in the next week or so. Difficult for me to compare as I cant find any similar ones for sale at the moment. First thoughts are it’s maybe overpriced but be interested to hear what you guys with much more knowledge than me think about it.
Any and all thoughts welcome.
Ian
6th July 2026 at 5:30 pm #38689Chris
ParticipantHi Ian
Did you look at it? May be a bit late but £25k seems a lot for a traction in today’s climate. Especially one thats been improved.
Boot hinges are not a particular problem as far as I know. The lower boot floor that the hinges attach to is a bit of a rot spot.
Is the interior ok? That’s costly to fix.
Pre-war Tractions are nice but you can get a decent flat boot Traction for less than half the asking price of this one.Chris
7th July 2026 at 9:29 am #38697ParticipantHi Chris,
Thanks for responding. I haven’t seen it yet but it is still for sale which says something about the price I guess.
Its about a 3 hour drive away so would need a whole day at least to see it and truth is I’ve just been too busy to find the time. I may still go and have a look but for the moment just keeping an eye out for any similar ones that might come up.
It does look in overall solid condition, paintwork looks nice and the red leather interior has obviously been replaced long ago but still looks good.
The vendor mentions that the id19 is much easier to maintain than the original engine, is this true in you opinion or does it not make much difference?
7th July 2026 at 11:33 am #38699ParticipantHi Ian
The original (e.g. Perfo) engine has white metal “Babbitt” bearings which, when they wear out, need to be remade by specialists, unlike the later 11D and ID engines which have shells for all the bearings. There is no oil filter so bearing damage is almost inevitable at some point. The ID engine also has a higher capacity oil pump than the earlier engines. I think these are the key differences as fas as maintenance are concerned. I would not say it is “much” easier as it still needs frequent oil changes.
My own 1951 Normale had a Perfo engine which was, I believe, rebuilt before I bought it 29 years ago. It gave me no trouble until a couple of years ago when one of the big end bearings picked up and failed. Knock, knock, knock…
You can buy a complete set of crankshaft and conrods from Pat2D to convert a Perfo engine to shell bearings and I was thinking of going down that road, but then I was offered an ID engine, minus its head and flywheel. I took that route instead so now I have the benefit of the shell bearings and uprated oil pump. So far so good. I still have the Perfo engine and one way or another will fix it up at some point, probably…
Chris
7th July 2026 at 9:10 pm #38707ParticipantHi Chris,
Thanks for that, very useful info.
My search continues.
Ian
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