***** This thread is now closed, please CLICK HERE to go to Volume 8 *****
Following on from Stargazer's original thread, Vol 2, Vol 3, Vol 4, Vol 5, & Vol 6:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=23902 (Vol 1)
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=23901 (Vol 2)
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=25308 (Vol 3)
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=31443 (Vol 4)
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=32419 (Vol 5)
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=34483 (Vol 6)
Another thread for commenting on rare, unusual, old or just plain daft cars etc.
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Alfa Romeo Veloce Spyder, late 1950s model but G suffix reg.., medium blue. Seen on my commute in the Peak District in the snow, ice and salt the past few days.
A very pretty car - I'd never seen one before.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Seen yesterday; a totally mint Talbot Horizon.
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These Talbot/Chrysler engines sounded like demented, clapped out sewing machines after 30,000 or so. Not a good example of the breed. Impressed that one has survived.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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---------------------------------------------------------------- Alfa Romeo Veloce Spyder, late 1950s model but G suffix reg.., medium blue.
Was it a 2000 or a 2600? They looked very similar but the 2600 somehow seemed just a bit beefier... both came in coupe versions too.
A friend had a 2000 for a while, finished in white with just a hint of pink in it, terrific offwhite. He loved it dearly although it wasn't all that fast.
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A couple of days ago I followed a smart white Saab 95 from the late 60's. The noise and fumes left no doubt that this had the 3-cylinder 2-stroke engine, not the Ford V4 as fitted to the otherwise similar Saab 96.
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Both the 95 (estate) and the 96 (saloon) got the Ford 1500 V4 engine in 1967 when the last of the two-strokes would have arrived in the UK. If you hadn't been following, nose style would have given it away as a 2-stroke. Not many right hand drive 2-strokes left so a rare sighting.
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I once was the proud owner of a SAAB 95 Monte Carlo. For its day a wonderful car, with handling only the Mini could match. Big drawback was only 22mpg on petroil mixture. Oh and it had a free wheel clutch. Sorry I sold it but I couldn't afford the fuel costs - even then - sad!
Roger. (Costa del Sol, España)
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Saw a 'R' class Mercedes in Witham Essex today but i'm fairly sure they're not on sale yet?
could anyone confirm?
Btw it's pretty big!
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Only saw the Alfa from the front so no idea of badging.
Also over this weekend TWO shiny and immaculate Lancia Delta Integrales.
Is there a new rust proofing polish on the market?
How dare people expose these latin lovelies to the heavily salted Derbyshire roads!
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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GWS: I have spoken to my Alfa-owning friend. His white roadster was a 2000 tourer as he remembered it, with body appropriately by Touring. He couldn't remember what year, but it was a left-hooker previously owned by the Maharaja of Baroda, perhaps in the US, and he bought it from (I think) Len Street with only 4000 miles on it. What he really liked best was the gearbox, five speeds then being pretty exotic and Alfa gear levers (like Fiat ones for many years) being satisfyingly substantial.
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Lancia Integrales ?
Dead common round here - there's a specialist up the road that charges silly money for them.
www.walkersgarage.co.uk/main.htm
They have a delivery miles S4 in at the moment.
I remember in my first job after uni a friend bought one and had to scrap it when the mot fell due because of chassis rot.
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1979 Mitsubishi Celeste hatchback in brown. In Trowbridge, Wiltshire.
Bet you can't remember those...
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I've seen 3 '06' reg cars on the road - a Golf, a Mercedes McLaren SLR and a MG TF - which of the last 2 is the rarer new now?
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I've seen 3 '06' reg cars on the road - a Golf, a Mercedes McLaren SLR and a MG TF - which of the last 2 is the rarer new now?
I've seen at least 6 '06' regs since the beginning of the month.
--
Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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On the A1(M) this afteroon.... a BMW 5-series in Lane 1.
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On the A1(M) this afteroon.... a BMW 5-series in Lane 1.
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On a car transporter?
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I once over took a Merc 320CDi estate up the M40, the driver did seem to be in his early 60's though.
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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If we are going down that route, frazerjp, then how about a hyundai terracan overtaking a Ferrari 430 on the M5?? (It was me, how proud was I? Must get a life!!)
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I think it was doing 74.647mph, sarge, but I'm not sure because this Hyundai Jerrycan went past at 76.324mph just as I snapped it.
Curses lad! Foiled again!
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If you think thats bad Phil, about 6 years ago i was in my Uncles Rover 214, when we overtook a McLaren F1 on the M25!! My uncle was driving about 70 mph in the middle lane!
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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I have overtaken a Ferrari Enzo on the M40 near J4.
It was drifting along at under 70 with nothing to prove to my Ford.
The reg was something like IY.
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Mk2 Escort in brown with brown vinyl roof on the M4 ....now I am grateful that brown has been dropped from most car colour schemes!
StarGazer
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A beige (!) Triumph Acclaim !
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An 'N' reg Austin Metro
What is odd about that?
It was a red convertible
How many soft top metros have you ever seen?
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Saw an 06 reg Rover 75 estate yesterday - how long has that been in a field somewhere?
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A veyron on the back of a transporter...in Devon would you believe it!
Beat That!
This should be a regular feature on Honest John's Web site!!!
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More economical than actually driving it of course, and probably better from insurance angle too. I won't suggest that the transporter might be easier to drive well, but it probably is all the same.
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Quote ""A veyron on the back of a transporter...in Devon would you believe it!
Beat That!""
If I owned a Veyron I think I'd put it on a transporter every time I wanted to take it out for a spin!
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Saw one on the road on Monday, on the M40 just after the M25 junction, making a wonderful sound!
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Police traffic car sitting on raised hump by side of M6 this morning traffic watching.
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Are you sure it wasn't a cardboard cut out? :)
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Yep it was the real thing. The proof was they were both drinking coffee funnily enough :-)
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Renault Fuego outside a block of flats at the junction of the A406 and A1. Also a C plate Rover SD1 for sale at a garage a few miles further down the North Circular towards Hendon. They want £1495 and it's got a bent bumper!
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Northbound on the M6 last sunday -
a Morris Minor, painted blue and white (as a panda car, but not signed), a grey haired gent and lady in the front, and in the back.....
an inflatable female doll, dressed in a WPC's uniform.
What sort of a weekend where they coming back from?
--
Go on, get out of the car...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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Last weekend a red GTM Lybra. Had to look it up - can have a Honda engine midships - attractive looking but the ready assembled prices are eye watering.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Seen a number of Bentley Continental Flying Spurs around in town.
Not sure what to think. The 2 door coupe is OK, not sure why they bothered to make a 4 door version. Although not sure what competition it is up against. Rolls are a lot dearer as are Maybach, Flying Spur more expensive than S Class. Would you buy a car that sits in between say an S class and a Rolls?
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Yes, to go with the S Class and the Royce and the Maybach and the VW Phaeton and all the Ferraris and stuff. Gotta have the full set.
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Was in Spain a couple of weeks ago and saw no less than THREE examples of the Rover Streetwise. So that's where they all went!
Well, actually, not all of them. The (former although they are still showing the sign) Rover dealer in Limoges, France, has had a used one for sale for nearly two years...
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Terex 100 Dump trucks in convoy on the M27 going west towards Poole.
They were, of course, on load loaders and taking up nearly two lanes.
They certainly looked impressive in the traffic.
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Terex 100 Dump trucks in convoy on the M27 going west towards Poole.
Should read Terex model 100.
I saw two in convoy and I think they were half the total order.
I did not see the other two so they were well separated, I assume, to reduce congestion when overtaking them.
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What they? Huge yellow 100ton things with 12ft wheels and tyres costing 10 grand each?
Always fancied a drive of a fly-by-wire behemoth, ever since spending an hour on a working large bulldozer on a steep slope in Sri Lanka when I was 9, crouching and in seventh heaven next to its proud and kindly local pilot...
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A Renault Avantime in Guildford.
The first I have seen on the road. How many were sold in the UK?
I had a good poke at one on the Renault stand at Hampton Court about launch time but surprising there appears to be none in my area.
I note there are just 14 nation wide on autotrader. Priced £7.8K to £13
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Two (different coloured) Cityrovers with smiling drivers.
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Several Austin-Healey's in North Wales yesterday.
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A very nice 1965 Royal Blue Bristol in Beddgelert N.Wales. Class. Also saw a 06 reg. old shape XKR. Have a guess which one will be worth something in a few years.
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A Gordon Keeble B reg ,in Morisons car park Dumbarton. Only 80 left running out of 104 made between1964 and 1968 acording to the website. what a time warp car! would never have guessed what it was without the badges. Next week a DeLorean!!
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It was always said that only 99 Gordon Keeble GTs (British running gear, Italian style, big US V8) were made.
I guess GKs are a bit like many rare old cars these days - every so often an extra one is 'discovered' by the trade...
Friend of mine had one 35 years ago but his business went belly-up and it was re-possessed by the finance company! I seem to recall it was designed by the same guy who was behind the Peerless and the Warwick GT - fine motors with Triumph TR mechanicals - think his name was Bernie Rodger.
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We should award Wickerman a 'backroomer silver medal' for spotting a Gordon Keeble in daily traffic as opposed to at an old car event. A true rarity! Never seen one in the metal (or should that be in the fibreglass?) myself.
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Never seen one in the metal (or should that be in the fibreglass?) myself
'Milestones' museum in Basingstoke had a real Gordon Keeble on display last time I was there, don't suppose that counts as a proper 'sighting' though.
One car I really liked the look of as a youngster, and haven't seen in many, many years is the Audi 100 coupe :-
www.uk-classic-cars.com/accgb.htm
Anyone seen one recently?
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Gordon Keebles used to be about as common as Cortinas around Brackley when I lived there 20 years ago. Ernie Knott's coachworks in the town carried spares and was also I think home for the Owner's Club. Rather Italianate-looking and the original Warwick design was indeed by Bernie Rodger.
My own contribution to this rarely-seen list -- a Renault Logan. Cheap but so unattractive, in silver at least, that it brings to mind an updated Skoda 120. I saw the French were complaining they could not get a supply of them a few months ago. They should be thankful.
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>>Next week a DeLorean!!
Last week I saw 4 DeLoreans in five minutes, about 80Km south of Amsterdam - I can only assume there was a rally somehwere.
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Seen in Bath today, An orange Bond Equipe 2-litre convertible (basically a fibreglass body Triumph Vitesse chassis). The car looked to be intact but was on a transporter.
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on the M61 this morning, a Triumph Dolomite - didn't half look small by comparison with modern cars.
on the M62 yesterday, a DVLA van with an ANPR camera at each corner. What is worrying, according to the signage, it was being operated by NCP !
--
Go on, get out of the car...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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I always wanted a Dolomite when I was younger. Thought they were dead sexy cars. Does that make me weird?
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I always wanted a Dolomite when I was younger. Thought they were dead sexy cars. Does that make me weird?
Probably, I had one.
A 1977 Russet Brown Sprint with a Beige Vinyl roof incorporating a fold back sunroof, I had the vinyl replaced (it was pealing) with black. Excellent to drive, more power than grip though controllable oversteer, brakes were the weak point, as was rust, it was four years old and 50k when I got it and it was already suffering, I sold it in 1985 to a neighbour who put all of the Sprint bits on a maroon 1850 shell. I did the head gasket once and the water pump at the same time which was a pig otherwise the engine was fine.
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I always wanted a Dolomite when I was younger. Thought they were dead sexy cars. Does that make me weird?
Not realy the 1850 & sprint did look the part. My dad bought a 1850HL for my mother, went very well but alas so did the cylinder head. 3 times i seem to recall, then after about 2 years it started to rust vey badly in fact i think the divers side sill was found to be only finnished in primer. He then bought her a Fiesta 1.3 GL enough said!
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Anybody seen a earnshaw diamond or a contadini lately?
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You're showing your age mrmender - or you've been reading the wrong magazines for too long.
You'll be asking for viewings of the Spagforth Whippet next...
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Saw a Mk 1 Astra today. Even rarer, it was the weird 4 door that still looked like a hatch - what was the point of that?
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Slightly off-topic: not an unusual vehicle but a vehicle doing something out-of-character.
Today I was followed on a main road by what looked like one of those modern scooters - the plastic pizzabike type. But it was doing 60 mph and right on my tail. As soon as the road reached a downhill stretch the rider overtook me, obviously hammering the bike to its maximum as an oncoming car approached. Shortly afterwards, on a short stretch of dual carraigeway he undertook a car that was in lane 2. I didn't realise these scooters could do such speeds.
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I had a similar experience a few years ago i was working in the IOM at the time, and Mrsmm had come over for a weekend. I was taking her back to the airport early on a sunday morn, in a borrowed fiesta van. I had a 2cv on my tail i overtook a mini or similar doing about 60 with the 2cv still on my tail i was creeping up to 75-80 when the 2cv went into hyper drive and shot past me. Obviously some sort of special, it did not roll as it cornered either. Anyone know what mods it could have had a GS engine prahaps?
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A garage in Sheffield (I believe) used to offer the conversion to a GS motor if you didn't want to do it yourself. May have been called a Sidewinder or similar. Best method was to get a flat-four engine and an Ami 8 chassis (this and rust is why you hardly see one of those now) or that of the Ami Super which already had the 1015 cc GS engine and drop the 2CV body on there. The James Bond 2CV had a flat-four motor by all accounts.
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Citroen made their own flat-4 version of the 2CV for a short time in the 70's - with a longer bonnet and called, of all things, the 2CV Metro! The engine was from the GS and from the picture it looks like a car that should have been crushed at birth!!
www.fotosdecarros.com/watermark.php?file=2181&size...1
I remember there was a breed of flat-out hell-for-leather 2CV driver one used to see on our roads. They drove ordinary 2CVs flat-out as far as possible, getting the car up to 65-70 mph and staying there. Bends? Go round them on the door handles! Slower traffic in front? Overtake by maintaining speed and using split second timing! These drivers were difficult to keep up with in a normal car because of their wrecklessness. I'm glad I never had a lift with one.
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While the car pictured may have existed, it was not built by Citroen in Europe and looks more like an earlier special by some Latin coachbuilder going by the styling cues, and definitely not from the Indonesian or other plants. AFAIK Citroen never put the flat four engine in a production 2CV -- only the 2CV-derived Ami Super. By the 1970s, Citroen was embarrassed by its pre-war simple car and doing all it could to end its effectively hand-built production in Paris prior to the transfer to Portugal.
Incidentally, is there another way to drive 2CVs?
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Obviously some sort ofspecial, it did not roll as it cornered either. Anyone know what mods it could have had a GS engine prahaps?
Hi mm. In my Bijou/Dyane owning days I always used to long for one of those GS-engined specials, because I never could get the hang of driving either car without my foot permanently glued to the floor, which wasn't especially good for them, their fuel consumption or my passengers' equanimity... Now being old and grey might do a bit better, but they're cl*ss*cs now so I wouldn't bother...
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A Honda Insight and it was a horrible colour.
Then a VW Phaeton. Well it was unusual to me as there are so many new/expensive vehicles in my area.
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Red Alfa RZ by Wetherby racecourse this afternoon - striking styling still looks pretty modern and those three square headlamps looked so distinctive in the rear-view mirror. Only seen one other, a SZ, at the Spa GP in the mid 80s - what a noise!
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A Mk1 Lotus Cortina followed by a Mk1 Escort Twin Cam....must have been a Ford rally somewhere nearby (Evesham area)?
StarGazer
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I saw an immaculate MK1 Escort TC. Lovely blue colour, twin cibies and RoStyles. Nice.
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In the space of 5 minutes on the A75 on Saturday lunch time....
A Ferrari 328 and a Bentley Continental GT. Both in bright red which worked for the Ferrari, but not the GT
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Last week saw an old AC Ace (late '50's?) spotted in Chesterfield Council staff car park, with rather neglected bodywork/ oxidised red paint and body coloured steel wheels. Notably it had a little 8 inch high wraparound perspex screen instead of a full windscreen. Had a flat vinyl tonneau cover at top of door level so couldnt see the interior. Could this have been one of the Ruddspeed or other specials, or just a lookalike?
2 weeks ago in normal mid-week morning rush hour in Chesterfield, saw an unlikely trio: Original '60's Mini Cooper, being followed by a Sunbeam Tiger, followed by a Lancia Delta Integrale.
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One of the new Ford Mustangs roared past me at the weekend - what a noise, super impressive. Styling was a bit odd though, prefer the 300C.
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Seen today in Frome - unusual sighting in UK - A foreign registered LHD Fiat Seicento with a 2-cylinder engine. Given away by the unmistakable puttering sound, like that of a Fiat 500 or 126.
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Paul Smart Ducati replica in Buxton. One of the new ones. Turquoise frame, silver bodywork , wire wheels. A rolling work of art.
With those low bars the rider must have had his own personal osteopath.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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An Aston Martin DB7 Zagato on the M6 heading South on Saturday morning near j12.
And a few miles on, a Lancia Beta targa (?). Well it was a 2 seater anyway in very nice nick and in a classic 70s pale orange colour.
JH
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Two Fiat X19s in lay by yesterday (surely they both hadn't broken dow at the same time)
A Chrysler 300, impressive looking, but not for me. First I've seen in the metal.
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Last night on The Mall a red Vauxhall Monaro. Not the type of car you would associate with a city type, guy driving had a nice pin striped suit on.
Lovely sound from the V8 as it pulled away from me on my bike.
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A Fiat 126 and a G-Whiz in the Regents Park area.
These little cars really did look vulnerable in amongst the Chelsea tractors and the general mad rush in London.
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Mitsubishi Lancer Estate 06 reg (didn't even know they did one) and as is always the case I saw another a few hours later!
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Not a car, but the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight going over Dumfries on Friday afternoon. It was at a show in Northern Ireland on Saturday, so I suspect that was them on their way.
Saw the Lanc in the lead with the Spit & Hurricane escorting from the rear.
Quite a sight to see. Great noise although I was surprised at how slow they went past.
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Today in Bath, an Aeriel Atom skeleton car, or mobile pylon.
I wonder, have they thought of offering body panels as an accessory?
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I often see a guy on my commute in the summer with a red and black Atom. Not sure if his expression is terror or ecstacy. His cheeks always look a bit under tension.
Face that is.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Sure it's not the effect of colossal G forces or 400mph air in the face, GWS?
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A couple from our recent break in France;
9 or 10 Miuras (Lost count) in convoy in Chamonix - Italian club outing? Gorgeous sound - SWMBO said they were too loud!
2CV Coupe (!) in Dijon followed by a Traction Avant and a couple more unidentified old Citroens. First 2CV coupe I have ever seen!
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Seen near Limoges this morning - a gorgeous Hotchkiss big saloon from the late 1930s (I guess). Looked like a cross between a Chicago gang boss's transport and one of those big BMW limos from just after WW2.
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A55 N Wales, a yellow Jensen Healey Estate.....according to the club site one of 509 made. Also saw a badly driven (very badly) DB9 near Llanberis, nearly clipped wing mirrors on a nice left hander.
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A Mercury Comet in Norfolk. Mid 60s I believe.Nice condition.
JH
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Last weekend on the beach at Brean sands 14 jap import toyota MPV's driving along side by side 8 townaces and 6 estimas ...cheers...Keo
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A very nice grey BMW2800 CS.....it's why I fell in love with BMWs in the first place. Lovely.
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Today near Bath - one for the HGV anoraks among us.
A Scania 4 axle rigid - not rare until I add that this one had three axles at the back and one at the front. It must have been a 6-wheeler (long-wheelbase flat) that had been fitted with an extra single-tyred lifting axle ahead of the normal rear axles.
Given that normal 6-wheelers understeer I wonder what this one's like on a wet road if it's a little lightly loaded on the front!
I'm guessing weight distribution, fully loaded, would be something like 25 tons on the back and 7 on the front as oposed to 18 to 14 on a normal twin-steer 8x2 or 8x4.
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Are you a trailer freak by any chance SS? If so you're the first one I've met. Congratulations.
There isn't a branch of wheeeled transport that isn't worthy of interest at least.
www.trailerfetishists.com:/
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i couldn't access the trailerfetishists site.
I do have a trailer, a humble Erde 142 with a gross weight of 600kg.
I see in the newsagents that there is now a magazine devoted to earthmovers!
Best of all was the man on the Radio 4 some years ago who had a collectiond pieces of tram track from the old tramway systems that have disappeared from out towns and cities. He explained the subtle differences between the rails used by different authorities and really knew his subject. When the interviewer asked him about actual trams he said he didn't know much about them and wasn't very interested!!! Asbergers or what???
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Slight topic drift, but returning up the A29 in Sussex, a Roman road with lots of quick bits, a 4-door pickup towing a big low-loader trailer with nothing on it pulled out of a turning in front, to my great distaste. However it was soon bowling along at a reasonable 63 or so, not quite as good as the tall box-bodied TNT Sprinter from Bognor and blue Transit diesel I had been following on the way down at up to 70.
My favourite kind of traffic on those roads, such a contrast with all the dense mimsing carp on bank holiday saturday, included a rough red MGB that got ssideways suddenly on a 40mph bend and nearly collected us... fortunately the driver did the right thing.
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Saw a Ssangyong Rodius the night before last. Lucky it was dark - Ive only just got my vision back after seeing the monster in the flesh!
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A Lancia Stratos just outside Warrington today. Gorgeous!
JH
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MGB that got ssideways suddenly on a 40mph bend and nearly collected us... fortunately the driver did the right thing
Obviously not brought up on fwds then ! (Here we go)
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Today on the A36 south of Bath I followed a beautiful 1920's Bentley 3-litre, maroon and black open tourer. It must have been an early one as it had a brass radiator.
My dad had a similar 1924 Bentley 3-litre with Van den Plas open bodywork in the 1950's but sold it after I was born as it was unsuitable for babies to travel in! In those days, apparently, it was just seen as a funny old car and wasn't worth much. It still exists today and belonged (probably still does) to a prominent vintage Bentley collector.
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Near Nantes in north-west France, a very pretty Facel Vega Facellia coupe from the early 1960s. First Facel Vega I've seen for years and the only one I've ever spotted in France, it's home country.
A smaller, economy version of the big American V8-powered Facels with a home-grown 1500 twin-cam engine that was allegedly so unreliable it bankrupted the company. Oddly enough, this one was stopped by the side of the road...
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An 06 plated Rover 75 - they're out there and someones buying them!
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Was in York last week and a garage had two unregistered Rovers on the forecourt. The 75 was £11,995.
Saw an immaculate W reg (1980ish) Mk 1 Cavalier 2000 GLS Coupe in brown. Were these that common even when they were new? Most Cavaliers I remember were 4 door saloons.
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