luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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In an attempt not to get so behind with my homeworl like previous years, and less than a week late, some picktchers! First, the queue. Actually, that deserves capital letters... The Queue! When we joined it just after nine a.m, it started before the roundabout on the A245, and it got worse throughout the morning. It took us over an hour to get into the Campbell Gate, and still longer to actually get into the venue! It was sooooooo slow; when a Mustang up ahead actually ran out of petrol in the Queue, the guy had time to walk back past us, buy a can of gas from the filling station, walk back to his car and pour it in (using a special funnel from his boot... sorry, trunk... guess he runs out a lot?) before we were past him. Something actually caught fire behind us as we made it through the gate, and we saw several oldtimer cars that were overheated and brewed up. The only good things were that a) we were in The Beryl bus so didn't have to worry about coolant and b) there was plenty of fascinating and amazingly diverse vehicular porn all around to admire. We just cranked up the choooons (the best thing about The Beryl is her stereo) and chilled out to admire the view The way back by Nick Liassides, on Flickr The way forward by Nick Liassides, on Flickr 50% of the Offspring enjoyed the experience and joined in with singing and being happy. The 50% that's on the verge of teenager-dom... didn't. It read its book and ignored us Different takes on waiting by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Even when you got to the gates, things didn't improve. I struggled to understand quite how it could be so slow, given that the road was one lane but the gate approach was three, so you'd expect things to speed up. They didn't Epic queue by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Although it was nice to be surrounded by buses, all of which were cooler, older and funkier than The Beryl Queuing busses by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Rear window by Nick Liassides, on Flickr To be fair to the marshals, they did a superhuman effort to process quite so many vehicles, I've seen reports that over 1600 turned up on the day and they must have been absolutely knackered by the end of it. I applaud their efforts, truly Herculesian. Meanwhile, the three lanes moved at different rates so all kinds of weird and wonderful stuff filtered past... or we filtered past it like some giant vehicular snail race. Never seen an MGB with a hardtop like this before. Mmmm, baroque! MGB hardtop weirdness by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Even when we finally made it through the gate (for freeeee, becos Members. And if you're not, why not? It's so cheap you only need to attend two events a year for every other day to be basically free), we still had to queue even to get down the banking into the paddock. At last we could really see the truly ridiculous number of cars already in the venue down the bank by Nick Liassides, on Flickr In fact, by now the marshals were running out of all the normal places to get stuff parked and were wedging cars in anywhere there was a metre of space. We ended up stuffed in underneath some old planes, with a couple of fellow air-blowers for company buses with Beryl by Nick Liassides, on Flickr and that was fine, because it made for some shock'n'awe backdrops for photos Type 2 split green 67 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Stepside green 54ish by Nick Liassides, on Flickr The kids promptly dragged Mrs L7 off to go in planes, so at least I had a few minutes to snap the stuff that was nearby Type 2 split blue 59 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Roadrunner green 70 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Imperial white 67 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr For some unaccountable reason, I really fancy some dolly mixtures now... Type 2 split blue 67 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr still amazing how Zagato can be responsible for some of the most heart-stoppingly beautiful and some of the most goppingly ugly cars ever designed, sometimes both at the same time V8 Vantage Zagato grey 87 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Mustang yellow 69 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Love a nice old Front Drive (better get used to it; we won't be able to call them Traction Avants post-Brexit). They always look like the designer was caught goofing off halfway through drawing a hotrod in his exercise book and there wasn't time to re-do it so they went with what they had Traction Avant black 53 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Traction Avant black 53 msct by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Not really roof-down weather! Cadillac convertible cream 57 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Sidepipes? On a 'stang? How louche! Mustang cream 65 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Mustang cream 65 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Prior warning... there are probably going to be a lot of Beetles in this thread before the end. I think this fella heard about the back-in-the-day trend for old round Lucas indicator lights but couldn't find the flat ones so had to make do with pointy Dagmar-style Mini ones. Still, nice Beetle white 73 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Right, got to go to work now. Hopefully that's whetted your appetite and we'll look at some more stuff later. In no especial order of funkiness. Tune in soon, groovers
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Last Edit: Jan 7, 2019 23:24:30 GMT by luckyseven: adding "Day" to the title!
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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After emerging from a random plane where they'd been talking to "a lovely old man".... disappointingly, not Santa but one of the ancient and unfeasibly knowledgeable retired plane gimmers that Brooklands seems to own in excessive numbers... I managed to keep the kids and Mrs L7 focused for all of five seconds. Until they were distracted by the prospect of climbing on buses. Oh well, at least I crossed paths with Ada, who was having child-wrangling problems of his own. I decided, as Father of the Year, to ignore it all and do my own thing. Which meant moar pics Elan Sprint green 71 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr This is nice, and can you spot why? Hawk 289 FIA blue 67 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Nope, not because "Cobra" is up there with "Snow Leopard" and "Norma Jean Mortenson" as one of the most naturally beautiful shapes ever devised by evolution. Not even because it's happy to be a Hawk, not claim Shelby provenance like so many kits. Nope, it's because it manages to avoid that most heinous of crimes often committed by kitcar builders desperate to run Hallibrands; knock-off lugs with wheel nuts. One or the other, guys. Take note Speaking of evolution, it's a good job Moggy Minors evolved quickly. They'd never have built enough to justify painting them lilac if they'd stayed looking like this Minor maroon 52 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr And then the sun came out, rather suddenly and unexpectedly. And made taking decent photos almost impossible for half an hour or so CROWN Royal Saloon white 92 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr because no matter how patient you were, someone would be guaranteed to drape their shadow right across whatever you pointed your camera at. Even if that happened to be an Urraco... have they no respect, damn them! Urraco blue 77 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr It was OK taking pics pointing downstream away from the sun (like, duh), which meant some very strange angles as that banking is steep! Unfortunately, 50% of the cars were facing the other way Galaxie white 63 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Because the kids had somehow lapped me and were scurrying about on the banking, despite the signs warning of dire injury and death, I felt I may as well join them. The view was... impressive long way down by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I mean, the banks at Brooklands are impressive anyway, as anyone who's struggled to walk up their steepness will testify. But then you put them into context; add in that photograph of the Napier Railton doing an average lap of 140+mph on banks so steep you fight to keep your balance and then you twig that it's got all four wheels off the ground and a little trickle of ice rolls down the back of your neck for a split second. And there you are, on ground as hallowed to us petrolheads as the Basilica of St Paul is to papists and the sun's come out on New Year's Day and all you can see as far as vision carries round these century-old banks is every conceivable type of car... anything as long as it's old, unusual, or groovy. Well, it makes you think maybe it was worth getting out of your hungover pit at early o'clock round the banking by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I did warn of frequent Beetle content Beetle white 69 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Pretty unusual to see an AC Aceca anywhere. Even rarer, I suspect, to see one in such a fantastic colour Aceca grey 58 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr By now the li'l un had scraped the backside out of her leggings by climbing and then sliding down the banks and since she'd only got them for Christmas I thought it wise to remove her from temptation before we both got a right old rollicking off her mum. So we clambered down again. Which meant moar crazy angles, more blinding low sun, and more... much, much moar... people. It was rammed! Corvette C3 black 78 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Corvette C3 black 78 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Not only do I like vurrah much an early Spitfire, but I salute anyone who cares enough about their car to stick marque badges inside the wheel wells Spitfire MkII white 67 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Funny how simple... austere, even... early Porsches look compared to the scoops and swoops of modern ones. Modern life is rubbish. 911 green 67 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Gotta have a Tiger for georgeb. It's pic thread law Tiger black 65 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr The forgotten muscle car. Stage 1 Buick Gran Sport. Proper. Caddish speed for the gentleman who does not need to boast GS Stage 1 white 69 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr ...and similarly, though much more Gallic; SM silver 71 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr This wasn't supposed to be titled "Self Portrait using Canon and Maserati-Citroen Glass front Light Pelmet" but I forgot how sunny it was at that particular moment. Glass bumpers eh? How'd they never catch on? SM silver 71 selfportrait by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Ruff. And in all probability, tuff. F100 grey 59 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr twenty-odd feet of Caddy. That's a lot of sun flashes! Cadillac coupe de ville black 58 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Apparently this was some kind of prototype for the droopsnoot Firenze? Or so I'm told. Dunno if this is true. Write in if you know, lol Firenze silver 73 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I've always got time for Herbie. Even though his sunroof seems to have healed over Beetle Herbie 72 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Nice to see a bit of restomod creeping into our sceptic isle. I know people have longtime modded Yankee iron, but they tend to be either mad all-out custom, hardcore drag refugees, ratted out and held together with baler twine, or painted like Nashville is the only town in the US. Maybe I've never noticed before, but lately I've seen a lot more cars that just happen to be American and have been modified a bit, customised a bit, sacrilegiously taken on features designed after 1972 (angel eye headlights? On a 'Vette? Heresy!)... all the stuff that British modifying does so well, in fact. Corvette C2 maroon 67 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Then again, some cars just need to be ratted out and look like they just dropped in with Harrison Ford on the way to call out Milner Chevrolet 2door post black 55 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Moar Beetle. Your paint'd look a bit tired if you'd been born in 1956, too Beetle blue 56 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Note bootscrapers on the running board though. Civilised, innit! Beetle blue 56 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Holy arch gap, Batman! What the hell went wrong here? Escort MkI RS1600 black 70 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I dunno if I mentioned the sun came out quite strongly for a bit? Yeah, thought so. You can see it in this here hazy picture of sun-drenched Beetles. But also... hark! Is that the sound of kids moaning they're too hot in their coats? Yes, I believe it is. And you see that large protagonist with the kids by that nice Poppodom Beige Beetle there? Let's call him... for the sake of argument, let's call him Ada, because that is his name and so shall he be called. Lo! Behold our erstwhile hero Ada, doting parent that he his, succour his little children to put their hot coats in the car rather than have to listen to the little blighters whinging about carrying them. And if you listen very carefully, right at the edge of hearing the cogs of his brain are whirring..."might as well leave my own jacket in the car" Don't Beetle doors close with a satisfying clunk? Famously airtight enough to float, we all know the heft and slam you have to put into a Beetle door to ensure that it's properly shut. Which is why there's such a horrifying air of finality about our almost Homerian* Hero's tragic demeanour as he crashes closed the door to the Beetle. See Ada's disconsolate misery... verily he is as doomladen as Achilles, surety in the foretelling of his inevitable demise... as he realises he's just emphatically left his keys in his jacket and locked the whole cocking lot in the car Hide the keys by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Laugh? I very truthfully and genuinely almost shat! Tune in to the next thrilling installment to see if our hero makes it out alive with all his quarterlight glass intact... * Homer as in the Iliad, not as in The Simpsons. Although arguably both are equally apposite in this instance
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Cheers for sharing and the comedic sidenotes.
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Two things:- 1) Thanks for the tag, saved any chance of me missing (heresy) this thread, and 2) Ta for the piccy. Loverly stuff Oh, and 3) nice thread. Light, whimsical and funny, as ever. Made me smile at the end of a long, and ultimately, frustrating day! I remember Shelby being interviewed at Le Mans many years ago, saying one of his favourite creations was the Tiger. Always considered to be an effete little British sports car at the traffic lights, until he buried it!
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Last Edit: Jan 8, 2019 11:24:21 GMT by georgeb
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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Tigers are better than Cobras ...there, I've said it Prettier, less ubiquitous, not spawned a million replicas (of extremely questionable range of talent/accuracy/sketchiness) including those ones we won't talk about with Chevy crate smallblocks.... it's just wrong. Stop doing it Plus, genuine Tigers are still (just about) affordable to motoring enthusiasts who may actually use them as God, Carrol and Sunbeam actually intended whereas genuine Cobras are miwwion-dollah unobtanium locked away in airconditioned complexes and only see the light of day twice a year at Goodwood or Pebble Beach. If only Chrysler had a motor that fitted into the Alpine when it bought out Rootes, the Tiger might have gone on to be one of the truly great hybrid (not that kind of hybrid) sportscars of all time. As it is, niche coolness for the cognoscenti will do just fine
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Always said it. L7 is a man of taste and discernment. A true epicure of the vehicular world. Not to mention, brings a little ray of sunshine into this dark corner of the world. I'd kill to smoke that here!
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Great pictures, thanks for sharing, you did well to get so many clear shots with that many people bumbling around with hangovers!
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I remember after exhausting every option.... eventually, and with a heavy heart, taking a big rock to the quarter light of my beetle Only for to spring open on contact rather than smashing on contact.... Fingers crossed for Ada.. except this has already happened, so that’s of no use
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Excellent photos and write up, in a great setting but I think they have a cut off date which rules mine out, and I could never find anyone else mad enough to get out of bed that early on New Years day. Thanks for taking the time to put such a good post up.
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Please don't throw litter, take it home.
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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shagracer , I think the cut-off was 1987? Maybe '89. Quite late really for a classics day. johnthesparky , we had a work Astravan where if you whacked it really hard on the doorskin it'd unlock. Very secure place to store tools, paperwork, all the usual stuff... gtviva , you just learn patience and to wait for a clear moment before striking like a cobra. Or whatever. And more importantly, learn to clone out all the feet, pointing fingers, hats, rucksacks and beerguts that protrude in the edges of half the photos Anyway. The look of self-loathing and anguish on Ada's face was worth the price of admission alone (except that we'd got in free, but YKWIM). And it's wrong, he shouldn't be too harsh on himself. That's what we're here for Fortunately, I used to have a Marina... which isn't a phrase many people have ever had cause to utter... but this particular example of British Leyland's finest had properly dodgy locks so you could easily shut the keys in it even without actually meaning for it to lock. It just so happened that the bonnet catch didn't lock, ever, and through the curse of an inquiring mind it was discovered that the flat end of the dipstick, given enough twiddling around, could be used not only to unlock the door but even start the car if you felt like showing off. It appears that it's a skill I haven't lost in the intervening years because with a bit of concentration and a key that was never meant to fit a Beetle lock, I managed to burgle my way into Ada's car thus sparing not only his blushes but his quarterlight glass as well. Given that I was quite preoccupied at the time, I never even noticed the drone but it appears if you watch this 'ere official Brooklands video... ...at 1:20 in the bottom left corner of the screen you can actually see us burglarising Adam's Beetle Bang to rights, guvnor! Here's the fool man himself enjoying access to his own car Beetle beige 67 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle beige 67 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr And so, disaster averted, I bumbled off to take more photos. Adam had got in a few minutes before us so was parked at the top of the pit straight near the banking. We'd walked round the widdershins end of the bank to get here, so it seemed logical to continue clockwise round the rest of the banking before heading down to the clubhouse. Even better, I managed to lose the waff and kids so got a bit of peace and quiet to admire the staggering range and variety of vehicles on offer. But first, there were quite a gaggle of old German air-blowers here that needed appreciation. Properly lovely, this old bus. And OLD, too. Semaphores and all Type 2 split green 57 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beryl's slightly elder sister in Bay window flavour Type 2 late Bay yellow 75 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle blue 65 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Type 2 split pickup black by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Bloke with red splittie; "yeah, I had to deliver a load of cement sacks onto the site with it and everyone was amazed but it's only a builders' van at the end of the day, innit". Errrr.... yes. And no. It's a wee bit more than that, fella Type 2 Split samba brown 59 & van by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Type 2 split white poptop 67 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr We used to have a set of plates and bowls in this colour scheme in the 1970s Type 2 Early Bay poptop white 68 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Enough, I hear you cry; enough aircooled German oddness. Wasn't there supposed to be a variety of stuff here? OK, then... 911 red 69 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Ahhh. That didn't help then. How about a nice Firenze? Everyone likes a n Opel Vauxhall don't they? Firenze silver 75 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Enough frivolity. This must be a seriously rare thing, I'd have thought given how a) commercials like pickups are rarely treated gently or looked after very well ii) how prone to self-destruction any Austin product tends to be and errrrm, 3) no-one bought them, ever, because they're grotesque and rubbish. Now, of course, it looks fantastic A55 Pickup white 58 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr One thing that seems to have passed from being cool and awesome through being kitsch and naff and right back via retro to being awesome again is rocket thruster tail lights. (Disclaimer; in my world they never stopped being awesome)Galaxie 500 red 63 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr No words necessary Charger black 69 Thunderbird black 57 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Charger black 69 bdg by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Charger black 69 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I do love an early Thunderbird... especially 50s ones before they started getting all big and heavy like so many American cars did and definitely before they went truly horrid from pretty much the sixth 1971-on generation to the eleventh 2002 generation inclusive. Much as I love them though, I might have to stop posting photos of them because every time I do, I get a Flickr invitation from the Thunderbird club of GB thing who must peruse Flickr like hawks waiting to swoop on any new TBird pics. And I'm very flattered but I've no goddamned idea how to add them to the Thunderbird register's homepage, so they must think I'm a properly ignorant fox-picture by now. Anyone from the 55 56 57 Thunderbird Group reads this, I'm not ignoring you, I just dunno how to do it! Thunderbird black 57 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Thunderbird black 57 r d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr and now for an entirely different flavour of Ford! Prefect 107E green by Nick Liassides, on Flickr ...and another. Or not. But Ford thought so, claiming copyright infringement on the rear lights. Bless them Celica ST grey 77 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Celica ST grey 77 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr yep, moar Beetle Beetle purple 71 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr As pointed out many times on these threads, everything looks best when painted like booze or fags 2002 tii red & white 74 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Yes, it's been photographed more often than the Eiffel Tower, but it always bears repeating. VW Allegro beige 71 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Two of the absolute best things in the known universe; an aircoled VW and umm, an Austin Allegro in a marriage only a madman or a genius could conceive of. Possibly both. What's not to like VW Allegro beige 71 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Another Front Drive... although IIRC the fact this one's blue means it was built in Slough? And thus we're perfectly justified in having no truck with the mulatto French debased excuse of a language* Traction Avant blue 56 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr * this is, obviously, a joke, by the way. I voted Remain, I'll have you knowNot sure if this is patina or just really thick filler? Type 2 Early Bay patina 71 bdg by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Type 2 Early Bay patina 71 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Saw a couple of early "Ferraris". One of them was a BMW Z3. The other one.... wasn't 275 GTB red 65 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Iron Mask Skyline. Cool name. Thug of a car. Bonkers rear lights. Inspired by Ford Galaxies, alleged no-one, ever Skyline GTSX black 88 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Skyline GTSX black 88 bdg by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Skyline GTSX black 88 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Given how flimsy H-vans always seem to be it's amazing that so many of them seem to last as long as they do. Given how they flex like Stretch Armstrong, sway about like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and dissolve like Alka Seltzer H-Vans by Nick Liassides, on Flickr H-Van patina 63 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Moar Beetle. Red this time. See, didn't I promise variety? Beetle red 66 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr glad it's not just mine that does this the crystal cracked by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle red 66 bdg by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I dunno much about BMWs as a general rule, but I'm guessing this is quite rare/desirable. I just love the 80s Tron graphics Alpina B6 black 82 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Alpina B6 black 82 bdg by Nick Liassides, on Flickr It's not an Imp. It's a Stiletto, baby Stiletto blue 69 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr ....and as we return to that rather natty Galaxie 500, parked next to this excitingly low Caddy bedecked with somewhat inexplicable lightbulbs. we have come back round to the pit straight. Caddy red white 91 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr so why not tune in to the next thrilling installment where we'll wander down to the clubhouse, look at more cool and eclectic tin, and see if I can ever re-find my kids?
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Sammo
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,461
Club RR Member Number: 103
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I’m gutted Mrs Sammo and I didn’t pop along to this. We woke up on New Years Day with no kids for the day, full of good intentions of getting up at a reasonable time and driving the entire 10 miles to Brooklands, only for us to both fall asleep again for a considerable amount of time.
Although seeing how bad the traffic was to get in there’s every chance I would of ended up turning round and going home anyway!
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Follow Me On Instagram - @parttimecartinkerer
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Sammo
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,461
Club RR Member Number: 103
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Oh, excellent pics by the way!
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Follow Me On Instagram - @parttimecartinkerer
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ada7
Part of things
Posts: 108
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Awesome as always. It was a great show but my god it was busy. I couldn’t really take much of it in as I was doing my best not to let one or both of my boys get killed to death as they either took advantage of the banking as their new favourite playground or getting run over by a passing vehicle. I’ve tried to tell them what Charlie said about crossing roads but they just look at me with a face that just says ‘shut up dad’. Glad you took so many pictures as all I can remember was locking myself out of my car (at least I know who to call now to get back in again) and the black Dodge Charger... hmmm!!! I’ll let you finish up before I’ll add the few pics I did take.
Adam
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Last Edit: Jan 10, 2019 8:30:20 GMT by ada7
Rotaries help make the world go around... And around and around and...
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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Jan 10, 2019 11:58:47 GMT
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I'd better crack on then By now I was getting texts off Mrs L7 demanding to know where I'd got to (errr... exactly where I told you I was getting to) and to find her in the aircraft hangar where the kids were waiting to sit in a Harrier. Obviously, being a committed parent and doting husband, I immediately did the decent thing and utterly ignored her. Instead, I scurried off down the pit straight to get as many cars seen and snapped before the chain pulled too taught to breathe. So then, a quick whistle stop of stuff in no especial order of significance.... Anglia blue 56 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr All-red American taillights and blue dots. Probably the most pointless lights ever fitted to a vehicle, then. But do look nice, which is what matters. Isn't it? Yet a safety star. I think this person is either so scene they bleed monograde 30-weight or simply very confused Beetle blue 65 II r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle blue 65 II d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I've always loved the idea of a pickup with an engine in under the load bay. Seems like the most impractical idea ever, and surely only Volkswagen with their pathological need to prove engineering superiority at all costs would have bothered Type 2 late Bay cream pickup 73 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Why can't Westfalias wear A-Team van wheels? It's a van innit. Just a bit... slower. And better for making a cup of tea in Type 2 late Bay wetfalia orange 76 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Still hard to believe that this wonderful slice of madness is IVA-certified. Just goes to prove, dunnit. Errr.... something. Possibly insanity Black Pop r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Black Pop by Nick Liassides, on Flickr 911 white 85 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I'm sure if all Crestas had looked like this Vauxhall would have sold a lot fewer than they did. But I bet the owners would have been the happiest ever. How can you look at this and not want to smile? (For the right or wrong reasons, you chose) Cresta red black 62 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Cresta red black 62 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Moar Beetle. Saw this one at Dubs in the Park and thought then it's one of the most beautiful ever. Still think that, to be honest. Close to OE+ perfection Beetle grey 64 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle grey 64 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle grey 64 wh by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Not the spankiest Ghia ever, but it was the only one I saw so it'll have to do. Having watched the official video of the vehicles arriving in time-lapse, it appears I missed several hundred cars anyway, including a razor-edge Ghia T34. Which is really annoying because a) they're rare and b) they're great Karmann Ghia red 68 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr This... this was... I dunno. Odd. Unique? weird. Dunno what it is GTM Mini blue 65 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Looks like a jolly good laugh though GTM Mini blue 65 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Moar Beetle. Yes, it's contrived but I can't help but liking it anyway, probably just cos of the attention-to-detail. And becos Ratfink Beetle patina 68 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle patina 68 ratfink by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle patina 68 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Nice to see a MkI Escort that's happy being an 1100 and not trying to be a Mexico or some other ficticious RS/whatever model Escort MkI 1100 white 72 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Is it even possible to make the Allegro into a worse car than BL did? Of course, just cut the roof off and bung on an ill-fitting pram roof. Add gaps you could fit your head through for genuine wind (and rain) in your face motoring, even when the roof's "up". Then finish in a fetching chade of your gran's curtains maroon and buff with grit and steel wool for that "I've not been waxed in years, possibly decades" look.It's... it's just perfect. The only way this car could be better is if the brake lights flash on and off in cadence to the indicators, but I didn't see it running to check this Crayford Allegro maroon 75 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Now, speaking of perfection, this is just about it.... even much moar perfecter than the last perfect Beetle was. This, as if you don't know, is the JK-sponsored Okrasa-engined Mille Miglia competing oval window bug. Yep, this little fierce yet unassuming beastie has been where only true competition giants have trod, in the footsteps of Nuvolari and Moss. Respect is very much due Beetle MM green 56 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle MM green 56 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle MM green 56 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Go on, give us a kiss... Dyna Z blue 58 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Panhard madness could only be French. Not sure if it resembles a fish or a sex toy the most. Not even sure which way it's facing. Errr... like all the best sex toys, I suppose Dyna Z blue 58 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Dyna Z blue 58 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Somewhere around here I bumped into Lewis and family, who'd finally managed to queue their way into the grounds in Dexter Beetle. The report from them was that the queue had got so mad and the place so rammed that the poor marshals had no choice but to just shut the gates. Dexter was one of the last cars in. I read tales of something like 1600 vehicles in, which was a staggering amount for what was "just" a turn up and drink tea sort of meet. Just goes to show, not everyone needs beer tents and DJs and jetcars to enjoy a motoring-themed day out. Anwyay. I was now getting ever shorter grumpy texts from Mrs L7, which is a surefire sign that Defcon 2 on the annoyance scale has been engaged, so I went off to pretend to find her ...via a few more cars. I mean, you can't just pass by a Jewish Racing Gold Roadrunner, can you? Roadrunner gold 68 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr The Bandit'll never die, baby Trans Am black 78 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Trans Am black 78 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr We'd seen this humongous and very orange Chevelle (after all, how the hell could you miss it!) on the way in when we stopped at Cobham for soss an hegg McMuffins. Which were two of the reasons we knew it was going to be a Good Day Chevelle orange 70 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr White 80s 911. Red braces not pictured 911 white 89 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr This was the only T25 we saw (other than The Beryl, of course) so I kinda felt I had to take a pic. In fairness to it, and as my old gran always said... if you can't say anything positive, don't say anything at all. So. Umm. It's in really good condition for an early aircooled one. Not even any seam rash T25 red green 82 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Opel GT. A working buck thrown together in the R&D department to test technology for other Opel models. Until one white-coated technician rather more observant than the others uttered "it's bloody gorgeous, why the hell aren't we building this?" only in German. And so it became. Even a feeble shade of primrose doesn't detract from it's good looks Opel GT yellow 73 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Nobody knows yet by Nick Liassides, on Flickr In case you were wondering; "Nobody yet knows how old a Volkswagen can become". A very deep Zen thought that we still haven't reached the end of! Unfortunately for me, the wife and kids had re-discovered me and I was told in no uncertain terms WE were going for a cuppa. So off we went. and no bad thing, as this meant we could go down to the clubhouse, if only to get away from the utter, massive throbber with the shoddy Escort "Cosworth" who thought he was hilarious revving it to the limiter and making it backfire. A lot. Repeatedly. Ignoring the fact he was making pretty much every child in the entire place cry and become distressed, he never seemed to tire of it. As they say, there's always one. What a total, unadulterated yog trumpet anyway, leaving aside irritating pondlife, tune in to the next thrilling instalment for more wonderful automotive eclecticism. See you soon, groovers
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Last Edit: Jan 10, 2019 12:06:38 GMT by luckyseven: spelnilgn an grammer
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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Jan 12, 2019 17:51:27 GMT
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This, then, is the end. Beautiful friend. Let's get it done. In my defence, it's only just over a week ago and 0330 starts at work aren't exactly conducive to thread-writing energy POW! Challenger orange 70 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Well, if that doesn't wake you up, you might just be already dead. Check your pulse. One of the best muscle cars right at the time Detroit had sussed how to do everything right, best model year of the run and it's even Hemi Orange. Y'know, like The General? Shame it's the base engine, "only" a 383. A feeble 6.3 litres. Hardly enough to get out of its own way Challenger orange 70 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr If you're bored waiting for surf to come up, you can always have a quick game of chess. This bus had Porsche wheels fitted... no, not Fuchs, like Cup alloys... but all the photos I tried came out really bad so you can't see them Type 2 late Bay white brown 73 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Another one that falls into the "I've seen it so many times but still can't help taking more photos of it" category. And also the "if it doesn't make you wet, you may be dead" category. Merc sled Mercury black 49 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Mercury black 49 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr This GT350 seems to be registered a good four years later than its actual model year. Dunno what that's all about. Dunno if it's genuine either (I didn't have Eeyore and his spooky "decipher VIN plate at 100 yards" skill handy). Like all Shelbys, the default is kinda to assume it's a replica until proven otherwise. Sad really Mustang GT350 white 66 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr You have no idea how long I had to wait for all of this Caddy to be clear of punters. It was a long time Cadillac coupe de ville blue 59 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Impala wagon. Almost as mad as the original El Camino based on the same model year, fins and all. Very orange. Very low. Very shiny. Very long. Very cool. Fat bloke in the second pic really ought to look a bit more happy with things Impala wagon orange 59 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Impala wagon orange 59 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr If Maximillian from The Black Hole rohypnol-raped a dump truck, their illegitimate offspring would probably look like this. Like a normal 50s Advanced Design isn't a cool enough thing, why not cab-over-engine it? One of my clear favourites of the day by some margin Chevrolet COE w Trailmobile grey 46 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Chevrolet COE w Trailmobile grey 46 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Rare old thing here; an early 50s Ford shoebox, but badged as a Meteor. Yep, another one of those bizarre Canadian-market things where they thought giving it a faerie name would make those serene people north of the border more tolerant of buying them... and presumably the good folks at Dearborn cynically thought naming it after an upmarket Mercury model would fool those poor ol' dumb Canucks. It's just a damned Ford, FGS! Surely there wasn't a country on the globe in 1953 that didn't know what a Ford was? Not 100% convinced the mascot is an original thing Meteor blue 53 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Meteor blue 53 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr In the clubhouse paddock were a phalanx of properly old 'tween-war beasties. Sadly, the coffee tents and restaurant meant there were literally ( literally) millions of punters milling about and getting photos was almost impossible. I had to persevere with some, though. I don't even particularly like 30s Rollers but the numberplate YOU 1 probably on its own cost more than all the cars I've ever owned put together Phantom III red black 36 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr As you'd expect with a Rolls of the heyday, every bit of componentry was Fabergé-precise and beautiful Phantom III red black 36 lgt by Nick Liassides, on Flickr We braved the cafe. It was ... well, it wasn't very restful. When there's a massive queue for the bloke's toilet you know there are too many people! In the end we settled for a cup of tea and bit of cake because anything more prolonged and complicated looked like being stressful. Once again, the Brooklands staff who kept calm and smiling through the melee have my utmost respect cos they definitely earned their corn that day! So cake consumed, we escaped from the crush back into the open air So I suppose it must be time for a Beetle then. This one particularly made me moist. MMmmmm, lovely. Even though Fuchs Beetle blue 66 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle blue 66 lgts by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle blue 66 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Beetle blue 66 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr and now I want Dolly Mixture again Type 2 split green poptop 64 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr harder than hammers, harder than those jigsaws that are just a photo of baked beans, harder than Chuck Norris on blob week. 429 Cobra Jet. Prodigious Mustang CJ brown 69 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr We went into the museum shop to buy tat and try to sort out why our membership cards had gone missing, but they told us to ask in the Members Tent (I didn't even know there was one). By the time we found that out and stopped the kids from "just looking" at every single item in the shop, quite a long time had passed and outside the field had thinned out considerably. Which was good in a way cos it meant the cars that were left were easier to photograph... and by the way, it's a Fiat Dino. It's a lovely stylish Italian carosserie-penned coupe with a sporting race-derived engine in its own right. Why debase it by putting an eBay Ferrari badge on the grille? Or is it just me? Fiat Dino silver 70 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr The other problem with stuff leaving was sometimes I just wasn't really quick enough. Tonka Toyota rocked my world, then drove out of it Land Cruiser beige 79 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Nice to see the British self-deprecating sense of humour hasn't completely disappeared from the motoring world Minor white 60 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr As previously seen, and as with almost any car thing, there were a lot of 'Vettes. And as usual.... no two the same! Corvette C2 blue 68 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr When you see an original of any reboot that you've become accustomed to day to day you suddenly realise how vast, bloated and ... well, un-stylish modern iterations have become. Beetle, Mini, but most of all Nuova 500 white 66 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr My prediction for 2109... this will be when 3rd-gen IROC/Z28/whatever Camaros finally come into their own. Wait and see. You heard it here, kids Camaro black 87 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Another confession that people will howl with derision at, but I don't really like XK 40s Jags. Too small and prissy and too many rivet-counters drone on about them. What I do like, however are the preposterous and caddish sporting saloons of the same period though. Like Hanna-Barbera designed the most louche vehicle they could. On acid. And then had a race team power it MkV red 49 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr MkV red 49 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I have to admit, this one has me a bit stumped. It's RHD so not 'Murican, and it's too small (a relatvie term admittedly). I figured it might be an Aussie one but a quick Google suggests it ain't. Any offers? Falcon wagon red 66 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Falcon wagon red 66 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Volvo coupe with sidepipes. Is there a problem here? In what way is this not super-groovy? 340 grey s by Nick Liassides, on Flickr I always think with bigger Wolseleys (once I remember how to spell the damned word after three attempts) that it's what Mr Toad would have gone on to drive once he'd got on a bit and all that time inside had broken his spirit. Poop poop! Six Eighty black 54 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr You can clearly see the Aprilia heritage in the 2/3rds-sized Lancia Ardea. Such a pretty little thing in a humpty-backed kind of way. Unfortunately... Ardea blue 47 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr ...what I can't unsee in it is the inexplicable penis that the stylist saw fit to include in the bonnet mascot finial thing. Only an Italian... Ardea blue 47 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Ardea blue 47 r by Nick Liassides, on Flickr The Ardea was right outside the Member's Tent gazebo thing, now we knew to look for it. The old gimmers in there were unable to offer any opinion as to why our membership cards hadn't arrived (they were cold, and tired, and didn't have a computer handy, bless them..... errrr... isn't the point of this gazebo to persuade people to join up?), and fobbed us off to the office manager. Who was a very nice lady who wrote our details down on the Post-it equivalent of a fag paper and promised to sort it. So I expected to never hear from them again and spend ages and many phone calls chasing it up. How wrong of me to pre-judge then; our missing stuff and a load of extras arrived two days later. Awesome service. Leaving the kids to try the lollipop raffle (don't ask, I know it sounds like some weird filth but that's your post-internet mind doing that) I took the chance to snap some last pics while they were distracted. Some moar 30s behemoths, and who doesn't like a Beh-gentleh? Bentley 4point5 green 25 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Bentley 4point5 green 25 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr And another old Roller. Really old. Coming up on a century in a few years' time. Impressive, in every sense of the word (up to and including "the Duchess left quite an impression when it ran over my foot") Phantom green 26 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Phantom green 26 st wh by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Phantom green 26 plaque by Nick Liassides, on Flickr And so we started wending our weary way back towards The Beryl. It was only early afternoon but the place was steadily emptying and it felt like we'd been up a long time (because we had) and walked a long way (because we had, even if only in ever-decreasing circles). There was still stuff to snap on the way, but I know I came nowhere near seeing everything in the place, nowhere near! V8 Volante blue 78 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr It's Milly Tant, look... Milly tant... militant, see what they've done there? Dragged out of her shed where she now permanently resides at Brooklands. What a thing! Militant brown 54 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Yet another flavour of 'Vette. Not convinced that seating arrangement is strictly legal! Corvette C3 black 71 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Zeds. One of which could use a bit of Optrex Zeds by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Nope, not a Willys Jeep, but a Ford. Funnily enough, when the US Guv'mint finally woke up and noticed there was a War on, they quickly realised the hopelessly atrophied Willys concern couldn't build anywhere near enough of the required "U.S. Army Truck, 1/4 ton, 4×4, Command Reconnaissance" and also tendered Ford to meet the backlog, little did they realise they would also create a somewhat snappier name than that mouthful! Because while Willys persisted with their MB nameplate, the Ford version was titled the GPW for " General Purpose" and the Willys license. Of course, the General Purpose became "Jeep" and has stuck ever since. So in fact, if Willys had been able to build enough of their most famous model ever, and Ford had never been involved, it might never have been called a Jeep at all. Ford Jeep green 44 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Ford Jeep green 44 d by Nick Liassides, on Flickr And after al those words, just one will suffice now. Wow. CX GTi Turbo grey 88 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr just.... wow! CX GTi Turbo grey 88 dsh by Nick Liassides, on Flickr My irrational hatred of MkI Golfs is much-documented on these threads (I was traumatised by one as an impressionable teenager), but sometimes even my unreasonable bigotry crumbles in the face of one done so well you just can't argue against it Golf MkI grey 81 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr And that's pretty much that. We were nearly back to The Beryl, lurking among the planes like a really big rusty yellow malformed bricklike lump (or, indeed, like a T25... just insert the colour of your choice instead of "yellow" to apply to other T25s in other situations). Even the kids had enjoyed the day without whingeing, which isn't always the case on such occasions. It was a tiring day, but I'm sure much more so for the staff who put on such a superb day and who earned my utmost respect. We piled into the bus and went, a lot easier than we arrived. And because my old nan always said to end on a song but the only song I can think of right now is Band of Horses' The Funeral and that's maybe a bit morbid, I'll have to end on a high instead. How about the first model year of Chevy's greatest "sports"car? Mustang might have stolen a march on the GM jugernaut, but when it got up to speed and spurted out the Camaro like Aphrodite springing fully-formed from the surging sea, the weapons-grade Accounts Division must have been laughing all the way to the bank. And they still look achingly good-looking now. So here's an icon of American vehicluar porn parked next to an icon of British progenitory motorpsorts vision, only ruined by the hulking desecrative monstrosity of Mercedes-Benz World in the background Camaro red 67 by Nick Liassides, on Flickr Thanks for reading, as always. Now, go away
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Last Edit: Jan 12, 2019 18:08:06 GMT by luckyseven
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The Doctor
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 3,434
Club RR Member Number: 48
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Jan 13, 2019 12:57:04 GMT
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Thanks for a great write up, really enjoy your show reports!
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Jan 13, 2019 21:36:09 GMT
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Nice photos, ref Fiat Dino - it is powered by a Ferrari engine and is a Ferrari under the skin so maybe that's the reason for the Ferrari badge?
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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Jan 13, 2019 22:35:20 GMT
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I know that. My point is, it's not a Ferrari. Even the Ferrari Dino isn't a Ferrari and it still annoys me to see them with Ferrari badges on them (talking about 206/246 Dinos, obviously, not the 308 GT4s... they were so hideous that literally no-one cares). The point is, the only reason Fiat ended up with the coupe was that Ferrari simply didn't have the manufacturing capacity to cope with the lad Alfredo's new baby engine so Enzo had to go cap in hand (as much as he ever did) to Fiat and the only way Fiat would build him enough engines to homologate them for F2 was if they got to keep some and build their own car.
So it's a triumph of the stoicism of big business over the passion of the sports racer. It's got an engine designed by legendary names like Afredo Ferrari, Vito Jano and converted by Lampredi. It's a true oddity even in the rarified atmosphere of Italian carrozeria coachbuilders in the it's got different bodies penned by Pininfarina for the spyder and coupes by Bertone. It is, as Gloria Gaynor almost sang, what it is. And what it is, is a perfectly respectable and intriguing classic in every sense of the word. Why pretend otherwise?
To me, it's as absurd as putting a Mustang emblem in the grille of a Capri. Equal amounts of heritage crossover... but would you?
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Last Edit: Jan 13, 2019 22:36:00 GMT by luckyseven
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Great photos - really must get along to this event one year.
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Jan 14, 2019 11:57:53 GMT
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To me, it's as absurd as putting a Mustang emblem in the grille of a Capri. Equal amounts of heritage crossover... but would you? Well, now you put it like that...
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