What I saw today....

[Salamus]

I saw a Carrera GTS today at my university! Porsche's and sports cars in general are not abundant in Hamilton, Ontario, so it was a pleasant surprise.

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by nicanary

There must be a good Maserati salesman round here - I've seen in the last 12 hours a 3200GT and two different 4200GTs. And I've just been over the Holywood hills (The inspiration for Bob Seager) and passed a Triumph Stag, with top down of course.

On the way there I saw that pesky A30 again, towing a 'bike trailer which had on it a beautifully restored Manx Norton. So I saw one-quarter of a Vanwall engine.

Funny you say that, I just saw a Maserati GT today in a rural US town where you'd last expect to see one. I've only ever seen a few Maserati's on the road ever and mostly in big cities on the coasts.

[Alfaholic]

I saw this car or one virtually identical to it in Felixstowe town centre this afternoon!

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Alfaholic

I saw this car or one virtually identical to it in Felixstowe town centre this afternoon!

A nice car - a music teacher at my old school had one in the same red colour back in the 1960's. The drop-top version is rather lovely too. Skoda really did not deserve to be the butt of all those jokes.

...and speaking of drop-tops, a Dutch-registered Citroen DS Decapotable caught the eye in town the other day. Fabulous!

[nicanary]

Parked next to a Series3 lotus Esprit at Tesco just now. Nice, and I was followed home by a Maser 3200GT, (non-hockey stick, for the afficianados).

last night was hot and sunny, and I saw a small convoy of two Caterham Superlights (sounds like a packet of fags), one of which was painted in Dayglo lime. Nothing like attracting the attention of Mr. Plod. They were heading for the Portaferry road, which to Ulster readers will mean a fine twisting coast road along the Ards peninsula - very popular with bikers, who manage to "lose" one or two of their members each year on this stretch of road.

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by nicanary

Parked next to a Series3 lotus Esprit at Tesco just now. Nice, and I was followed home by a Maser 3200GT, (non-hockey stick, for the afficianados).

last night was hot and sunny, and I saw a small convoy of two Caterham Superlights (sounds like a packet of fags), one of which was painted in Dayglo lime. Nothing like attracting the attention of Mr. Plod. They were heading for the Portaferry road, which to Ulster readers will mean a fine twisting coast road along the Ards peninsula - very popular with bikers, who manage to "lose" one or two of their members each year on this stretch of road.

The Esprit really should've been at Brands Hatch this weekend (& so should I) for the Lotus Festival, where 50 Years of the Lotus Elan is being celebrated.

I saw my very first Nissan Leaf this afternoon - hope he was well-charged up as the traffic jams coming away from our beautiful Cote d'Opale are mega this evening.

Also saw what I assume was a new Chevrolet Camaro; low 'n wide head-on but smaller than I expected.

[wheelsportaddict]

Originally Posted by John Elwin

The Esprit really should've been at Brands Hatch this weekend (& so should I) for the Lotus Festival, where 50 Years of the Lotus Elan is being celebrated.

Shelsley Walsh hill climb was also having it's own celebration for the Elan as well.

[dwh43scale]

Lancia Hyena a few weeks ago near Paddington Station

[nicanary]

In the 60s our family had a series of annual holidays exploring England and Wales by hiring motorhomes, known commonly in those days as "dormoblies" or "caravettes". It's the best way to get to know your own country - most kids today have only the vaguest idea of what's out there.

Anyhoo, I've just seen a Commer "forward-control" motorhome of the type we sometimes hired. They were renowned for propensity to rust, and I couldn't tell you when I last saw one. VWs, Bedford CAs, even Thames all seem to still be about.



For your amusement... went to a council estate last night and passed a guy working on his pride and joy. Typical tattooed, tight T-shirt, shaved head type (probably with a pit-bull in the back yard) and checking a new roof spoiler he'd fixed on his car. Car all polished and gleaming, a reflection of his own image etc. What was the car?......... Daewoo Matiz.

(Apologies for stereotyping).

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by nicanary

In the 60s our family had a series of annual holidays exploring England and Wales by hiring motorhomes, known commonly in those days as "dormoblies" or "caravettes". It's the best way to get to know your own country - most kids today have only the vaguest idea of what's out there.

Anyhoo, I've just seen a Commer "forward-control" motorhome of the type we sometimes hired. They were renowned for propensity to rust, and I couldn't tell you when I last saw one. VWs, Bedford CAs, even Thames all seem to still be about.



For your amusement... went to a council estate last night and passed a guy working on his pride and joy. Typical tattooed, tight T-shirt, shaved head type (probably with a pit-bull in the back yard) and checking a new roof spoiler he'd fixed on his car. Car all polished and gleaming, a reflection of his own image etc. What was the car?......... Daewoo Matiz.

(Apologies for stereotyping).

I am obviously of a similar age and also remember when growing up many of the larger families used Bedford and Ford Dormobile type of vehicles as a normal estate car wasn't big enough.
Then many years later Renault release the Espace and claim to have invented the People carrier!

[Peter Mallett]

Ditto.

[nicanary]

Yes, I'd forgotten those. I think Martin Walter did the conversions for the "people carriers" as well. Remember the Standard Atlas Kenebrake? Dinky did a model of it.

Mind you, the whole lot were totally gutless. The Thames was powered by a Consul engine, and the Commer by a Minx. When you added the weight of the fittings inside and the family it carried, they could hardly get up Porlock Hill. The VW was all of 1200cc, and the Atlas was, I think, a Herald engine. The motor was in between the front seats, and you could hear and feel the thing screaming for mercy on steep inclines.

No common-rail diesels back then.

[John Elwin]

Spotted a very smart Renault Dauphine on the back of a low-loader this afternoon looking like it was fresh out of restoration.

[Alfaholic]

Heading towards Ipswich this afternoon was a hot rod based on a mid '30s Chevrolet Coupe (as used small scale in Legends race series) with a marshal's overall orange paint scheme towing a caravan.

John, following on from the information you gave on the Elanbulance, one was at Brands Hatch on Saturday. Yellow in colour, appeared to be French based (but on UK plates) and was for sale.

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Alfaholic

Heading towards Ipswich this afternoon was a hot rod based on a mid '30s Chevrolet Coupe (as used small scale in Legends race series) with a marshal's overall orange paint scheme towing a caravan.

John, following on from the information you gave on the Elanbulance, one was at Brands Hatch on Saturday. Yellow in colour, appeared to be French based (but on UK plates) and was for sale.

Thanks Alfaholic - I hope you enjoyed Brands. I really should've been there but family illness has kept me away from most things this year. A photographer colleague has some excellent shots from the weekend up on the net, including the Elanbulance. I didn't realise it was French-based though - I must make enquiries! There are a few French Lotus connections - the Elise races are organised by a near neighbour of mine. A few days ago I spotted a 1965 Lotus Seven with a registration not too far off the one used in 'The Prisoner'.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by John Elwin

Thanks Alfaholic - I hope you enjoyed Brands. I really should've been there but family illness has kept me away from most things this year. A photographer colleague has some excellent shots from the weekend up on the net, including the Elanbulance. I didn't realise it was French-based though - I must make enquiries! There are a few French Lotus connections - the Elise races are organised by a near neighbour of mine. A few days ago I spotted a 1965 Lotus Seven with a registration not too far off the one used in 'The Prisoner'.

KAR 120 C?
(How sad am I knowing that?)
Be seeing you...

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

KAR 120 C?
(How sad am I knowing that?)
Be seeing you...

Not sad at all! I must admit I did check my model of 'The Prisoner' car to confirm it.

I don't know the reason why but '120' often featured in Lotus press car numbers. A well-known Elan was LNK 120C whilst an early press Elan +2 was LPW 120E.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by John Elwin

Not sad at all! I must admit I did check my model of 'The Prisoner' car to confirm it.

I don't know the reason why but '120' often featured in Lotus press car numbers. A well-known Elan was LNK 120C whilst an early press Elan +2 was LPW 120E.

Wasn't 120E the casting number on the Ford 1500cc cylinder block as used in these cars? Maybe that's the convoluted reason?

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

Wasn't 120E the casting number on the Ford 1500cc cylinder block as used in these cars? Maybe that's the convoluted reason?

Hadn't thought of that - and I worked for Lotus for 10 years too! Just after that period though, so that's my excuse!

[nicanary]

Gazing idly out of the window at work last night, and what should go past but a new Maserati Quattroporte. Boy, that thing is long. It was followed by a Merc E-class, which seemed small in comparison. There must be a lot of rear legroom in the Maser, that's all I can say.

[nicanary]

Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante outside the local DSS offices. Either someone's ripping off the taxpayer, or we're paying the civil servants too much

[John Elwin]

The Metro is becoming an increasingly rare site although I think I see more here in France these days than in England. One of our local garages even has a very tidy green one as courtesy car. However, I was amazed today to see a Metro Convertible - I can't even remember the last time I saw one of those.

[GORDON STREETER]

The Metro has all but disappeared because of the old "metal moth" .
I used to work on the old Commer PB vans and camper vans when they were new, absolutely gutless and would get stuck in a muddy puddle , so would the Thames 25 cwt, they had a job to pull away on a wet road without wheel spin

[nicanary]

Followed a nice HRG last night - not something you see every day. BRG of course, and in restored nick. There was a badge on the spare wheel which read SINGER 1500 HRG - surprised to see such a public display of a mundane power source.

Also a really nice Mercedes 280SL Pagoda in taupe, with hardtop in place.Absolutely beautiful, and a better driving car by all accounts, than people give it credit for.

[b1ackcr0w]

One make of car I haven't seen for a long time which I really miss badly... Marcos.