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Odd, bad or just plain exotic...
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 21 Nov 14 at 01:39
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They were everywhere when the S60 launched - adverts, cover of the brochure, and plenty on the roads too. I think our own DP's 2.0T was that colour.
There are still plenty of S60s about but I very seldom see one in Maya Gold any more. The one that used to appear at work no longer does, so to come up behind one on the way home yesterday was a bit of a surprise.
Maybe there were never really that many, just that the colour made those there were especially conspicuous and memorable. Or maybe the colour appealed to the less careful type of driver and they've been disproportionately reduced by accidents - in which case the scrapyards must be full of bent ones and I could put a set of gold mirrors on mine.
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>> They were everywhere when the S60 launched - adverts, cover of the brochure, and plenty
>> on the roads too. I think our own DP's 2.0T was that colour.
>>
>> There are still plenty of S60s about but I very seldom see one in Maya
>> Gold any more. The one that used to appear at work no longer does, so
>> to come up behind one on the way home yesterday was a bit of a
>> surprise.
>>
>> Maybe there were never really that many, just that the colour made those there were
>> especially conspicuous and memorable.
Launch colour. Everyone remembers a car when it was launched and the colour sticks. It's like projects and launch dates/budgets. Once you publish them they are indelibly etched in everyone's memory and nothing can change it.
People will remember the current S60 launch car as being that horrible copper colour. Looks OK in the brochures, not so good as a used proposition on a dealer forecourt.
>> Or maybe the colour appealed to the less careful type of
>> driver and they've been disproportionately reduced by accidents - in which case the scrapyards must
>> be full of bent ones and I could put a set of gold mirrors on
>> mine.
>>
Had a Humph moment that I've missed ?
Last edited by: gmac on Fri 27 Jun 14 at 18:53
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It wasn't me! It was her. And she blames the others.
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It's a shame it's such a faff to put pix on here. I saw a sight this week that pretty much topped anything I've ever come across over here.
Walking along a back street in a little town between Limoges and Poitiers I noticed a tiny frontage with a blank-faced closed door that looked as if it might once have been a garage, with room for a petrol pump.
As I walked past the door opened and a very recent big Buick coupe began to back out, so I stopped for a nose.
After the guy had parked it outside I said (in my best French) 'that looks unusual for this part of the world'.
He said 'come and take a look inside'.
Hidden away in this building that was more like the Tardis were around a dozen big Yanks from the '50s to the '90s, surrounded by memorabilia and with a forest of wheeltrims hanging from the ceiling.
Among them were a fantastic pinky/orange Cadillac coupe from about 1956, with sky-high fins and a later Caddy convertible that looked absolutely gorgeous. Further back, on a four-post lift, was a black '60s Mustang that looked like it was fresh from the set of 'Bullitt'. Under covers, in various stages of restoration, were other gems including a Pontiac GTO. Off the main garage were rooms full of old V8 motors and the like.
SWMBO said 'will you please stop saying WOW! - it's embarrassing'.
We came out, the guy shut the door, said goodbye and drove away - and no-one would ever know...
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 27 Jun 14 at 16:47
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>> It's a shame it's such a faff to put pix on here.
Hardly difficult to provide a url link to wherever the pictures are stored in cyberland.
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Given the change in cost and capability of storage over the last 15 years, is it still not possible to allow photographs to be inserted into posts here?
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Wow indeed, Mike. I've negotiated the streets of old French towns in a relatively slim and pointy Saab, and that had its moments. The thought of doing it in a 50s Cadillac has me involuntarily pulling everything inwards.
That said, once you get out of town, central France probably has roads that come closer to the wide open spaces of the Midwest than anywhere else in Western Europe. One does see quite a lot of American machinery in France, so perhaps that's why.
Last edited by: WillDeBeest on Fri 27 Jun 14 at 16:58
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>Limoges and Poitiers
Is that where you are based, Mike ?
We are going to somewhere in the region this summer - would I be able to pick your brains off-line for route advice and thinks to see ?
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Please do feel free. I've done much more than most around here in the past 12 years.
Re the pix - my trouble these days I'm just bone lazy and anti-technology...
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Today's spots on the M3. Tesla S - thought it was a Maserati when spotted in rear view mirror. Citroen C6 - are they all black? never seen another colour. Ferrari 456 in metallic blue/grey - looked rather good.
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Top of the M40 tonight just before it becomes the M42. Outside temperature reading was 22.5C. 10th of July.
In lane one, bowling northbound, a snowplough/gritter lorry.
Eh?
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I remember the council spreading sand on roads where the tar had melted when I were a lad .
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Well it did occur to me that it was near Birmingham and that someone might have sold a load of sand cheap down the pub...
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22C? Wow! It was 15C here yesterday - coldest July day in central France for years I understand.
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For the first time ever. An electric car plugged into the charging point in St Petersgate, Stockport. It was only installed 18 months ago.
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We have a bay in a street in Hulme for a couple of cars. The bay extends 2 cars further and is marked for electric cars only. There are a couple of charging points.
Not seen any cars in them yet.
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We saw one plugged in to the point at Chieveley services (M4 J13) a couple of weeks back, hadn't noticed the point was there before that.
Fairly new Nissan (maybe brand new) the passenger got a camera out & photographed the driver plugging the car in.
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M18 northbound this afternoon. 2 X British registered standard Audi Quattros on the back of a trailer being towed by a German registered 4 X 4. Would appear to be returning to the motherland via North Sea Ferries Hull.
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Two contrasting sightings in central Manchester this lunchtime. An Alfa 8c Spider, and later a Singer Chamois.
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I couldn't bear to provide a photo to go with this. A Citroen 2CV in mint condition, with - wait for it - chrome wire wheels.
The guy said they were an approved accessory, made in the UK when 2CVs were made there as well.
I am rarely lost for words...
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...made in the UK when 2CVs were made there as well.
When was that, Mike? I had no idea.
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>> ...made in the UK when 2CVs were made there as well.
>>
>> When was that, Mike? I had no idea.
>>
1950s onwards in Slough see www.citroenet.org.uk/foreign/slough/slough-2cv.html
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Well, blow me down! That also says it wasn't a success until I was reintroduced in the 1970s. That was the decade in which I became aware of cars, and it seemed to me then that the 2CV had been around for ever. But there was a time in the UK when you could buy a Renault 4 but not a 2CV?
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A very tidy Hillman Imp, southbound on the A1 on Sunday, near the A14 turn off and on an old "F" plate. Young man driving it too.
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Today in a pub car park near Midhurst ,Surrey what appeared to be a Railton Fairmile drop head coupe.
www.flickr.com/photos/austin7nut/13764917973/in/photostream/
I think it was this one , it certainly had a MG XXXX number plate which I thought was odd.
I did not see the nose but with orange indicators?
The rear lights look like MKII Jaguars plus Wipac reversing lights the same as on my Cortina 1600E.
I am wondering what it really was. Perhaps a kit car copy ? The interior ( the hood was down) certainly looked like a proper vintage interior.
Especially seeing :-.
". After the war four more cars were built using chassis stored for the duration and two cars were constructed on post war chassis."
Maybe it had been "updated"at some time ?
On the A3 near the M25 Wisley interchange A BMW Z1
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That's a very handsome Railton. Sure to have a lovely torquey silent Hudson straight eight to propel it.
A bit flash though, a lounge lizard's cruiser rather than a gentleman's thoroughbred, and probably all the more tractable and trouble free for that reason. It would certainly pass for a nice old car now.
The orange flashers would certainly have been added in the sixties or later. Original semaphores would have been mounted on the windscreen or inset perhaps behind the doors. Semaphores were subject to wear and corrosion and would stick open or shut and blow fuses. They were also vulnerable to damage in close situations, and wouldn't operate properly at high road speeds. Useless for any car made after 1930. My Bentley had them and I bent the offside one going very close to something.
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I was following a lorry on the A303 today with the following unpunctuated message o the back:
Eat Healthy British Chicken
I think I'd prefer to eat one that's dead.
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Out and about today, saw a red BL Maestro and a white Allegro estate in fairly rapid succession. Both more or less immaculate. Both smaller and weirder than I would have expected.
Always liked the Maestro. Chunky and all of a piece aesthetically. A non-rusty one would be worth a few quid.
And by the way: the Maestro was going some, over 60, on the long straight near here. I thought I would catch it but I didn't until we reached what passes for town traffic round here. Chapeau!
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Sun 20 Jul 14 at 18:25
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I love the grey 1932 6 cylinder, a rare model indeed. 1932 was a good year for American and Aussie Fords too.
The other tempting one is the hideous and thirsty (but strong and silent) landcrab-based 3 litre. Austin 7s are cute but not many are fun.
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Soft top Jag E Type on the A40 around Burford this weekend, not the most unusual of sightings perhaps but this one was dirty pink. Is that an original colour I wonder? Never seen a pink Jag of any kind I don't think.
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If my cells are still working it was introduced in the 70's and I think was called London Brick.
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One of these? tinyurl.com/nmdl2oy (google)
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That looks like it, but the one I saw was unrestored I think, the paintwork a bit faded. No dolly birds lounging around, either.
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Wasn't it lilac? Also available for the XJ6.
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No, not just the type - plenty of those about, genuine and otherwise. Can't say which this was but it was LHD (Danish, I think) and bearing the number shown above. Somewhere on the A3, I think - that's the way I was heading, anyway.
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I briefly followed an E Type convertible with its top down the other day, but instead of blasting off into the distance it turned right into a minor road.
In making the turn the driver either got into the wrong gear or the gearbox (or perhaps engine tune) had a problem. Anyway the car kangaroo-hopped several times chirping the back tyres.
I felt for the driver a bit but much more for the car. Early E Type rear suspension used the driveshaft as a suspension link I seem to remember, a bit of William Lyons corner-cutting that must have cost owners plenty over the years. Really set my teeth on edge. It's a terrible thing, mechanical sympathy.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Mon 28 Jul 14 at 18:58
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The early ones (3.8, not usually badged as to engine capacity IIRC) had a Moss 'box without syncro on 1st which is regarded by some as difficult to use.
I've never driven an E-type but I have driven the XK120 with a Moss, and didn't really have a problem bar that a worn syncro on second, coupled with over-cautious lever movements did result in a clang or two on the downchange (double declutching of course) before I got the hang of it. In fairness to myself, it was subsequently discovered that the box had virtually no oil in, and after it was refilled it I was a lot better!
That Lyons-era cars "looked right" seems to be the thing to say, but I do agree with it. I had a ride in a 1968ish 340 a couple of weeks ago, fully restored, and it looked perfect. When we reached our destination, quite by chance there was a Suffolk SS100 replica parked there - not a style I especially like, with full wings and running boards, but that also looked to me to be in perfect proportion.
If you like old Jaguar sports cars, though pre-E-type, see the June (I think) issue of Octane - several articles on the 2014 Mille Miglia where there was a lot of Jaguar presence, works and private.
The short article (minus pics unfortunately) by Jay Leno is here - one mistake in that article, though I haven't checked, IIRC Moss (Stirling, not gearbox) averaged just under 100mph in 1955! Leno and Robert Callum drove the Ecurie Ecosse XK120.
www.classicandperformancecar.com/features/columnists/292651/jay_leno_on_the_madness_of_the_mille_miglia.html
www.drivecult.com/videos/jay-leno-drives-a-jaguar-xk120-on-the-mille-miglia
Brundle and Bruno Senna drove a works D-type, which was sadly rear ended by a modern F-Type, of which Jaguar had sent a dozen to show off. Hooligans.
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I seem to remember a story of the Top Gear people twisting the precious forged driveshafts of someone's pet C-Type making clouds of smoke and stripping the tread off the rear tyres.
I'm not a Jaguar expert although I've been in a good few. A good friend's mother had an XK140, then a 150 coupé. In my hitching days got a memorable rapid lift in a 140, and an even better one in a 3.8 saloon, a terrific oversteerer in the dry on the old A420.
I think a nice 5 speed disc braked 150 would do me very nicely, if there's such a thing as a good one left alive and if only I had the bread. You don't need to hurry in that sort of car. They're quiet and what noise there is is pleasant. But alas...
Never really liked E Types. Perhaps a thoroughly sorted stripped and strengthened 3.8 racing coupé. But that would be a bit harsh for someone my age.
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>>The short article (minus pics unfortunately) by Jay Leno is here - one mistake in that article,
>> though I haven't checked, IIRC Moss (Stirling, not gearbox) averaged just under 100mph in
>>1955!
I have just re-read Denis Jenkinson's amazing article for Motor Sport, June 1955, and Moss and Jenks's time was 10h7m48s, average speed just under 98mph for the 1955 MM.
They did however average 123 from Cremona to Brescia! (In an SLR of course, not a Jag)
Last edited by: Manatee on Mon 28 Jul 14 at 20:44
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What I remember is Jenkinson's appalled account of Moss driving into dense crowds of Italian enthusiasts all over the road, but parting in a wavy line like the Red Sea for Moses... Jenkinson couldn't understand how Moss knew which way the road was going at 140mph or so. I was told at the time, perhaps dubiously, that Jenkinson had been sick.
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If you watch the video I linked to above, there's Moss talking about the crowds, and how they all leaned forward as he approached. He would waggle the steering and they would fall back!
He also shows the little aluminium box he had made, which contained a roll of paper with 'pace notes' on it which they basically invented. Nobody could really imagine that a non-Italian would win that year so Moss and Jenks decided their only chance was to makes notes.
They tried an intercom but still couldn't hear each other (the open exhausts were by Jenks's ear near enough) and devised hand signals.
Jenks was certainly sick..."Ever since leaving the start we had the rising sun shining in our eyes and, now, with the continual effects of sideways 'g' on my body, my poor stomach was beginning to suffer and, together with the heat from the gearbox by my left buttock, the engine fumes, and the nauseating brake lining smells from the inboard-mounted brakes, it cried"enough" and what little breakfast I had eaten went overboard, together with my spectacles, for I had made the fatal mistake of turning my head sideways at 150mph with my goggles lowered. Fortunately, I had a spare pair..."
Moss finished half an hour ahead of his nearest competitor, who had had no problems. That second man was Fangio.
Last edited by: Manatee on Mon 28 Jul 14 at 21:26
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I felt for the driver a bit but much more for the car. Early E Type rear suspension used the driveshaft as a suspension link I seem to remember, a bit of William Lyons corner-cutting that must have cost owners plenty over the years.
Don't know about Jags, but quite a few Lotus cars use the drive shaft as one of two suspension links. In the case of the Lotus, Colin Chapman was adding lightness!
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>> quite a few Lotus cars use the drive shaft as one of two suspension links. In the case of the Lotus, Colin Chapman was adding lightness!
Original small Lotus Elite was a truly great car, if fragile. Coventry Climax 1100cc screamer, four-speed rear transaxle, what about that 7,000rpm shaft between your legs eh?
Closer to the ground, this rear-engined 3-cylinder Twingo looks promising.
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>>Early E Type rear suspension used the driveshaft as a suspension link I seem to remember, a bit of William Lyons corner-cutting that must have cost owners plenty over the years. <<
Oh, I dunno. I reckon that rear suspension and its developed successors worked pretty well for millions over decades. Jaguars were certainly built down to a price but the basic mechanicals were well designed and often innovative.
The trouble is these days that there's no way you can ensure that the sort of person who can afford an E-type or something more exotic can actually drive it. Have you watched any 'historic' motor racing lately? It can make you weep...
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Saw a pre-A suffix registered Vauxhall Wyvern parked up in a side street near my office at lunchtime. Discharge green and rust, two-tone. I'll get a picture if it's still there tomorrow.
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They weren't all that good and some of them rusted, but I always liked Wyverns, the roly-poly high one and even more the previous, fifties one with separate wings. Of course the Velox/Cresta were better because of the engine... but like the Fords of the time they were pretty American, three-speed column shift, poor damping and so on. They did improve because Europeans complained.
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>> They did improve because Europeans complained.
So that eventually there were several quite good Vauxhall models, although in typical GM-Europe style there were far too many model ranges, competing groups inside the company no doubt, and plenty of rustbuckets.
Holden-derived snorting monsters were the best, but there were a couple of svelte low-volume discreet V6 saloons/coupés too.
There's a tasty (if somewhat obvious) Monaro that parks outside a friend's gaff in Bayswater. Makes me drool a bit when I pass.
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Funnily enough I overtook a Vauxhall Cresta the other day, dainty twin exhausts, nice little motor.
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One of my classmates in 6th form... one of the oldest for the year and first to pass his test... was sourced a Wyvern by his folks a few weeks before he actually passed. It was in dull green and such a blobby lump. Oh how all those of us that aspired to Minis, Anglias & Spitfires laughed at this daft car.....
Then he started travelling to the last year of school in it... and all the hottest girls wanted lifts.
Damn... so that's how life worked.
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>> Then he started travelling to the last year of school in it... and all the
>> hottest girls wanted lifts.
I assumed for some time that meant he not only had a supply of special shoes to sell, he also had good air conditioning.
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>> It was in dull green and such a blobby lump.
So was the one I saw. Here it is:
i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa332/alanovich/DSC_0066_zps6d3eaf0b.jpg
Last edited by: Alanović on Fri 8 Aug 14 at 09:49
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Now I reckon my mate's was more like this..
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Vauxhall_Wyvern_1507cc_registered_September_1952.JPG
It was in a matt green almost like army paint. I also remember a 3 speed column change with a weird ball in a tube thing on the end of the gear lever so the ball fell into a location that showed you which gear you were in... and it was slow... so so slow.
But those girls didn't seem to mind... damn him.
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Is the one I saw a later model than that library pic you posted, F? I wasn't born till 1970 so don't have much knowledge of these models.
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Ahhh forgotten you were such a youngster...
I think yours was one of the later ones. That image I posted was supposed to be a 1952 and they facelifted the grille around 1955/56.
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Classics-on-the-common today, saw a Dutton Legover (or some similar name), first for me:
www.madabout-kitcars.com/images/imgtxt/608/1182958131-dutton-legerra3.jpg
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 31 Jul 14 at 01:17
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Not a mark on it, the windscreen onto metalwork was bubble free as was the wiper arm surround where it sits on the scuttle panel at the bottom of the windscreen. Single washer jet outlet means it's had work but a beautiful example in what looks like a non-factory metallic mid-blue.
Original 13" alloys still looked good too.
It looked lost for size ,it was tiny, in the on street parking bay amongst today's cars.
Last edited by: gmac on Thu 7 Aug 14 at 19:20
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I worked with someone in the mid 80's who had an X1/9. I think it was only about 5 years old when it failed the MOT because of rust. The exterior bodywork was good but the engine compartment was completely rotten.
He sold it for spares and bought an Alfa GTV6 which was a really hot car. So hot it boiled over at every opportunity.
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>> I worked with someone in the mid 80's who had an X1/9. I think it
>> was only about 5 years old when it failed the MOT because of rust. The
>> exterior bodywork was good but the engine compartment was completely rotten.
>>
Similar story to our family car a FIAT 128 Coupé SL. Registered new Aug. 75 the bottoms of the doors had all but disappeared needing major repair work by Christmas 79.
I loved the GTV, always wanted one. That car lives firmly in my never meet your heroes drawer now.
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I loved Motor Sport magazine as a teenager - started a 35 year affair with its then stable mate Motorcycle Sport...easiest the best intelligent read on the market these days. Unusual sighting today was a LWB Disco with a twin wheel rear end - probably ex-Fire Service....but it was in blue..
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>> I loved Motor Sport magazine as a teenager -
The articles by Denis Jenkinson and 'Letters to the Editor? - Bill Boddy. Excellent. They don't write 'em like that nowadays!
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Do you have the book "A Passion for motor sport", Duncan? A marvellous collection of Jenks's articles.
Just read one about the time he got the idea that it would be good to drive a Grand Prix car round his usual 180 mile figure of 8 test route in Hamlshire.
He usually tested cars in the middle of the night when the roads were empty so he could explore the performance. No NSL speed limit in 1957.
On this occasion he decided it should be on Christmas Day, between 12.00 and 15.00 when everybody should be at home, and the policemen would be at the station eating their Christmas dinner.
He had a Vanwall lined up, but they got cold feet. A friend would have lent a Maserati 250F, imagine that, but it was in Italy being fettled and wouldn't be back in time.
He decided to ask Colin Chapman, who "was always up for a lark" and on the day brought along a Formula Two single seater. It was 100% illegal of course, so Chapman brought his trade plates as a gesture in case Jenks was stopped.
A different world.
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I think this qualifies as an unusual sighting rather than an old joke (which it is)...
Sometimes you come across a little gem that really does seem too good to be true. While rooting around at a car boot sale here in deepest France yesterday I found, to my surprise and pleasure because it was missing from my collection going back to 1950, a copy of Motor Sport magazine from March, 1995. As usual, I turned straight to the classifieds - always the most interesting part of the magazine. The first advert I spotted was:
RARE OPPORTUNITY. Restoration project. 1928 Daimler Sleeve-valve Hearse, registration YV846. Also Mulliner body. Telephone...
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Saw 2 today
1. A Vx Nova Saloon A reg, not seen one in years.
2. A humber pig in a camo paint scheme, pulling a caravan in the same camo paint scheme.
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Today, in Walton on Thames, I twice saw an Aston Martin Lagonda ( of the 1970s) registration 6UJ
www.astonmartin.com/en/heritage/past-models/lagonda
Gosh if I had taken a photo I could have earned 450 Plate wave points :-)
platewave.com/6UJ
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>> Aston Martin Lagonda ( of the 1970s)
It's a bit of an ugly monster though, with that gross overhang at both ends.
The first post-war Lagonda, around 1950, had very nice curvaceous lines and looked good when new.
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Stopped for a coffee at my friend's bar in Oradour-sur-Glane this afternoon and parked right outside was a LHD 1969 Vanden Plas Princess 1300. I got chatting to the (French) owner who told me he had owned it for many years.
It's a mystery - I now know for certain there are three VDP 11/1300s in this area, one RHD on UK plates and two French. I would have thought they are rare enough in the UK let alone over here, deep in a rural area.
And - although I have now seen one - I really can't imagine the sort of French person who would have bought one new.
Anyway, I got an invitation for a drink at the local golf club out of it!
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Didn't they have (Hydragas?) suspension similar to that of the 2CV, and hence ideally suited to ambling down French farm tracks?
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>> Didn't they have (Hydragas?) suspension similar to that of the 2CV, and hence ideally suited
>> to ambling down French farm tracks?
Yep. Known as hydralastic in Mini, 11/1300, 1800 etc. Morphed into hydragas, I thoght for the Metro but Wiki suggests change came with the Allegro.
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>> Known as hydralastic in Mini, 11/1300, 1800 etc. Morphed into hydragas, I thoght for the Metro but Wiki suggests change came with the Allegro.
But absolutely nothing like 2CV suspension which worked on an entirely different principle and had no gas or rubber bits.
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>> But absolutely nothing like 2CV suspension which worked on an entirely different principle and had
>> no gas or rubber bits.
oops :)
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At a very large but very boring car show/autojumble today near Limoges (I only went to look for a 12V coil for my friend's 1949 Pontiac Blue Streak that he's converting from 6V because of the price of the batteries these days) I came across a Ford Consul Capri - the one with four headlights and fins. I can't remember the last time I saw one. Very period and very nice.
There was also a 'Frank Cannon' Lincoln Continental coupe. I've had a yen for one of those for decades. It sure makes the XJS look small.
Incidentally, we went in the Honda - I don't do all this 'look at mine' stuff.
On the way home, actually on the road, I saw a Citroen C6. They really are as scarce as hens' teeth. French friend of mine had a new one four or five years ago. He kept it the three years his company was paying for it, then swore 'never again'. He now drives an Audi A7.
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I saw a Citroen DS Convertible, in the back streets of Harlesden the other day. I was so shocked that I nearly crashed! A double-take confirmed it to be a genuine Chapron convertible, rather than a dodgy after-market hatchet job on a standard saloon (which did happen!). They are worth a ton at auction.
And last Sunday I went to the Concours D'Elegance at Hampton Court. Many, many fine and rare cars, but my personal highlight was the Lancia Stratos Zero concept car. 33" tall, the driver lies down in the front with a Lancia V4 engine behind. The wheels are so small that when you see a photo of it it looks quite a big car, but in reality it's tiny. Designed by Gandini before he did the Countach and BX when he was at Bertone. The best bit was talking to the owner, apparently the biggest problem is getting the bespoke tyres for it. This is a concept car which drives (it has done 19,000 mikes). Breathtaking!
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Had half an hour or so entirely on my own and unwatched to peer at Lord Pembroke's car collection this morning, so got very close up to a Veyron, BMW M1, a Maserati, Honda S2000, Mercedes Gullwing, Ferrari 330, Nissan Skyline, and a few others. And a racing something from 1905 that apparently cost £65000 actually in 1905, which must be Veyron price for the day and more.
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...cost £65000 actually in 1905, which must be Veyron price for the day and more.
A lot more. As far as I can tell, that's about £7m in 2014 money. At the 1m€ launch price that would buy you a Veyron for each day of the week and an extra one for Sundays.
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I was pleased to see the Veyron had a current tax disc and mud on the wheels and up the sides. Looked like it had been used an hour earlier to be honest.
I realised afterwards the affable chap who said I could go and wander about and I had a few words with, but then disappeared a few minutes later was in fact Lord Pembroke. So he might have just parked it in there.
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>> Had half an hour or so entirely on my own and unwatched to peer at
>> Lord Pembroke's car collection this morning, so got very close up to a Veyron, BMW
>> M1, a Maserati, Honda S2000, Mercedes Gullwing, Ferrari 330, Nissan Skyline, and a few others.
>> And a racing something from 1905 that apparently cost £65000 actually in 1905, which must
>> be Veyron price for the day and more.
Was that at his country pile in wilton? (see what I did there? Pile - Wilton !!)
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You're right, it was. He clearly keeps cars as pets.
Today's unusual sighting was only remotely to do with cars. A trip to West Kennet Long Barrow yielded, inevitably, the little group of Spaniards being led about by a long haired Wiltshire chap with large orange trousers. I wouldn't say they were hippies but the interior of the tomb afterwards smelled very sweet and I was strangely relaxed. They made lots of noises about an exciting crop circle down the hill that looked to me suspiciously like a patch of weeds, but I'm clearly not in tune with the Kabbalah.
I thought they'd all depart in a mystery wagon, but as it transpired they all somehow squashed in the back of a Fiat 500, which can only have been achieved by sitting on one another's chakras, and rushed off, tooting at us and waving merrily. A few minutes later they rushed back the other way; clearly a man with a strong sense of the mysterious but no sense of direction.
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Driving through Dunstable this morning, an Austin 1100, an A35, an A40 Somerset and some other pre-war Austin I didn't recognise. Not in convoy, but separated by other cars, including an E-type.
Some event further north up the A5 perhaps?
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Saw an immaculate knobbly scarlet Maserati sports-racer yesterday, something to do with Goodwood I think. Didn't get a proper look of course, but I don't think it was a birdcage one... I wouldn't really know.
Very fine object, a cheering sight on the road.
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Not unusual, more faintly intriguing: a white late-model low-key VW camper, well and briskly driven, which I followed for a few miles down the A29 near here, signposts to Chichester and Portsmouth etc., bore the discreet bumper sticker: Helicopter pilots get it up quicker...
Couldn't help wondering if it was someone we know, displaying a touch of macho vainglory. No, perish the thought.
:o}
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>> bore the discreet bumper sticker: Helicopter pilots get it up quicker...
>>
>> Couldn't help wondering if it was someone we know, displaying a touch of macho vainglory.
>> No, perish the thought.
>>
My late brother had a sticker" Tower crane erectors get it up higher and swing it around"
To late to ask him what it meant
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Windsurfers do it standing up.
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Many moons ago YHA group through which I subsequently met Mrs B had amongst its members a guy who was an engineer at Heathrow ATC. He drove a rather nice nearly new Alfasud.
The back window bore a sticker of a shapely young woman with thumbs in the elastic of her panties.
The slogan underneath read 'Get 'em down safely with Air Traffic Control'.
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A lateish 4.2 e-type coupe, just parked casually outside the corner shop. In everyday use condition, judging by the coating of road grime and unpolished paintwork. Nice to see it being used rather than mollycoddled in a garage.
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Two very different motors from the 70s yesterday in Llanberis. An immaculate turd brown Mk3 Cortina on a local K plate. And a very nice but slightly shabby Sunbeam Lotus - baby blue with a lovely sounding exhaust, driven with verve down the by pass out of town..
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Beware, computer programmer bytes.
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Ventured out yesterday, European Heritage Sunday, to do my bit as a volunteer guide at a paper and printing museum an hour from here. We were in the Honda - I prefer anonymity these days, mostly.
Not 10 minutes from home I was interested, to say the least, to spot an XJS convertible on a UK N registration, going the other way. Must have been a 4-litre, there only 70-odd V12s of that age in the world, but I'll never know.
Twenty minutes later we became enmeshed in a Sunday convoy of 'classics' and to my surprise on my back bumper (French driving-style) was a TR7. Can't remember the last time I saw one actually moving. It was a left-hooker too. Friend of mine had a new one back in the late '70s and it nearly put him off motoring for life.
Last edited by: Mike Hannon on Mon 22 Sep 14 at 09:15
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Down to MK and back today to visit IKEA.
Followed an early model Sierra Estate 2.0l in cack brown down A5 from Towcester to Pottespury. A prefix plate so Aug 83 to July 84. Looked in good shape, no smoke etc from exhaust. Looked like a daily runner and NH reg suggests it's spent most of its life in locality.
Coming back through Greens Norton (avoiding jam on A5/A43) a lovely red Triumph TR6 parked in somebody's drive. Doubt it was a daily drive though.
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Since getting rid of my KIA, Harleyman's not had a stick to beat me with, so here's what I'm currently playing with:
i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g456/bathtubshare/Photo-0001_zps458e7200.jpg
i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g456/bathtubshare/Photo-0002_zps6c394460.jpg
i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g456/bathtubshare/Photo-0003_zps58481dcc.jpg
i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g456/bathtubshare/Photo-0005_zps5511ca82.jpg
i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g456/bathtubshare/Photo-0007_zpsef1fe42a.jpg
i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g456/bathtubshare/Photo-0006_zps114b6024.jpg
It's registered as a DMW and the square section downtube would indicate the frame started out as one. It's got Enfield forks, swinging arm and wheels. An early Tiger Cub engine (fitted with a '30s Amal carb, the only application I can find was for a Panther!) The tank has been cut and welded to form an oil tank at the rear (most DMWs were 2-stroke). I suspect it was originally plunger rear, but as all DMW records seem to be lost I've nothing to go on even though I've the frame number. I've removed the (high level) exhaust to give me better access. It's now running, but I've got to sort the oil leaks.
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Rattling up the M3 past Winchester on my way to work this morning something low, wide and black swept past me. Gave Spamcan Junior a vague description - looked like a cross between an Audi R8 and a Lambo, with a crown badge on the back - he correctly identified it as a Noble M600. Certainly looked the business.
Oh, and on the same stretch of M3 last week saw an X plate Cortina which looked like a daily driver, but rusty here and there but generally looked OK.
Last edited by: spamcan61 on Thu 6 Nov 14 at 19:42
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There's a little village near here called Montrol Senard that has managed to convert itself into something of a tourist attraction by opening all its old workshops, bar, school, etc, to show how things were 50 years ago. Very good it is, too. The most recent addition to the attractions is an amazing museum of toys and dolls' prams and the like. When there with visiting family the other day I talked to the proprietor, a Dutch guy who told me he had had a 'mother and baby' shop in Holland and amassed this huge toy collection and needed somewhere to put it. When his sister suggested Montrol he upped and moved down here, complete with 14 containers of stuff. It's incredible to see. Anyway, he has lots of cases of model cars (including one of nothing but XJSs!). When he saw me looking at them he asked if I was interested in old cars and said 'come and look at this'. At the back of the packed 'museum', under a gigantic pile of all sorts of stuff, and so hidden I had to climb in and squeeze through, was - a very tidy Austin A30.
You just never know...
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I saw a Nissan Pao in a local supermarket car park yesterday, it was in good condition. Not seen one before.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Pao
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I had a bit of a retro moment this morning.
I followed a Rover 216SLI, think it was a K or L reg ? When we were stopped at traffic lights the driver picked up the newspaper from his passenger seat and proceeded to have a wee read until the lights changed.
Thought this was stereotypical of the cars heyday whereas nowadays its usually a mobile that gets picked up at red traffic lights!
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Time warp possibly Bobby. Fine car that we had a black GTi with the superb Honda engine back in the early 90s.
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I mind when I worked in Norwich Union the reps had Maestros and then at the next change they all got Rover 214SLIs.
But a new rep started about six months later and he was able to get the 216GSI which was so much quicker.
And then someone eventually got the 220 two door thing with T bar roof.
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Loved my 214. Way ahead of its contemporary's at the time - a sign of what could have been
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I didn't actually see it, you understand?
vimeo.com/86508660
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It needs some lights :-)
Recycling at its best
Last edited by: henry k on Sat 15 Nov 14 at 14:54
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Volvo S60 in Maya Gold - WillDeBeest
