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Paul Hilton  Posts: 2605 Joined: 21st Nov 2004 Location: UK | quotePosted at 20:50 on 13th July 2010 Know what you mean Rob; I spent 19 years driving buses along lanes like these on our country routes and always entertaining meeting something coming the other way ! Some visiting friends from Ilinois a few months ago I took to a scenic high point in Berkshire, along lanes like this and noticed one of them in the back had his camcorder out filming through the windscreen as he couldn't believe the little lanes. |
Rob Faleer Posts: 703 Joined: 10th Jun 2005 Location: USA | quotePosted at 22:40 on 13th July 2010 And yet, Paul, I really love driving on those remote lanes! Puts me in mind of some of the driving scenes in the John Steed-Emma Peel Avengers episodes. Ah, to be able to scoot down those lanes at break-neck speeds in a little Lotus Elan--I'm not sure I'd look so great, though, in a skin-tight black leather jump-suit . . . (see http://www.britishspeed.com/forum/showthread.php?1647-Official-Emma-Peel-Lotus-Elan-thread) Edited by: Rob Faleer at:13th July 2010 23:37 |
| Paul Hilton Posts: 2605 Joined: 21st Nov 2004 Location: UK | quotePosted at 23:49 on 13th July 2010 I would have thought one of John Steed's Bentley's would have suited you to bomb around in. A friend of mine used to have one----huge headlamps and leather straps over the bonnet job with the engine thumping away on idle. But the most unusual car he had was a 1912 Thorneycroft, made in Basingstoke. |
| Rob Faleer Posts: 703 Joined: 10th Jun 2005 Location: USA | quotePosted at 00:48 on 14th July 2010 The Bentley was certainly classy, but something about the low, sleek lines on that Lotus really caught my eye . . . not that it had anything to do with its attractive driver, of course! The 1912 Thorneycroft was a big car, if I recall. I think my all-time favorite car, though, has to be the 1935 Auburn 851 Boattail Speedster: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Auburn_851-Boattail-Speedster_Side-view.JPG That was one sweet ride! |
| Rob Faleer Posts: 703 Joined: 10th Jun 2005 Location: USA | quotePosted at 00:53 on 14th July 2010 Two more shots of the Auburn: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Auburn_851-Boattail-Speedster_Front-view.JPG http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Auburn_851-Boattail-Speedster_Rear-view.JPG Imagine a tour of the Chilterns, Cotswolds or South Downs in one of these babies! |
David Seager Posts: 77 Joined: 22nd Feb 2010 Location: USA | quotePosted at 19:41 on 14th July 2010 Thanks for all these wonderful replies! The Auburn is beautiful beyond belief! And I love the photo of the narrow lane road. It seems there must be some head-on collisions at times, no? All you need is two morons at high speed . . . |
| Paul Hilton Posts: 2605 Joined: 21st Nov 2004 Location: UK | quotePosted at 20:01 on 14th July 2010 I've had a few that nearly did run into me David, but I was expecting them and stopped while they hit the brakes and hope for the best they'll stop in time. They don't seem to consider there might be someone coming the other way around a corner. Like Rob, i have also come across those incapable of reversing their cars. How on earth did they pass their driving test? I think cars from the Duesenburg-Cord-Auburn stable were some of the best styled cars America has ever produced. For me, the 1930s was the golden era of car styling at the upper end of the market. Gordon Buehrig and Raymond Loewy are two of my favourite car designers/stylists. Edited by: Paul Hilton at:15th July 2010 03:25 |
| David Seager Posts: 77 Joined: 22nd Feb 2010 Location: USA | quotePosted at 20:09 on 14th July 2010 Agreed about the best styled car era--what could be better than the sexy fenders and running boards of the '30s! |
| Paul Hilton Posts: 2605 Joined: 21st Nov 2004 Location: UK | quotePosted at 20:45 on 14th July 2010 Which is why, for me, the real stars of the Beatty Bonnie and Clyde film are the cars that turn up in it. Besides the more common Fords, Buicks, Oldsmobiles, Chevrolets, Dodge, and Plymouths, there's some real gems of the period that make an appearance if you can spot them----- Willys-Knight; Cadillac, Hupmobile, Pierce-Arrow, Graham-Paige, Durant, and Nash. Quite how a 1940 Ford fire truck made it into a 1930s era film, I'm not quite sure....... Edited by: Paul Hilton at:14th July 2010 20:50 |
| Rob Faleer Posts: 703 Joined: 10th Jun 2005 Location: USA | quotePosted at 22:24 on 14th July 2010 And let's not forget the 1934 Packard 1108: http://www.conceptcarz.com/view/photo/513197,8082/1934-Packard-1108-Twelve_Photo.aspx As to less desirable cars, this Time website lists the 50 worst cars of all time. The descriptions are hilarious--some of them had me laughing so hard that I wasn't making any noise! http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/completelist/0,,1658545,00.html Enjoy! |
