Cafe Racers and a 'British' style for cars...

[HoTWire]

You know what I was saying about it partly being a return to the early Retro Cars thing... both of these featured in the seminal early editions of Retro Cars magazine.

Jul 11, 2014 16:32:39 GMT Mike said:

This thread reminded me of this MG Magnette I saw at Silverstone a few years back, I think it fits the bill, lots of racing touches and a Merc engine under the hood IIRC.



I like the spotlights with grills on and the leather bonnet straps.

Jul 11, 2014 17:54:27 GMT v8ian said:

Does this fit the Bill, MGA, TR6 wheels, 4Age and Type9 box,

I was super excited to see Nick's MGA in the flesh last year, such a great car.

[dazcapri]

Jul 11, 2014 18:57:32 GMT HoTWire said:

You know what I was saying about it partly being a return to the early Retro Cars thing... both of these featured in the seminal early editions of Retro Cars magazine.

Jul 11, 2014 16:32:39 GMT Mike said:

This thread reminded me of this MG Magnette I saw at Silverstone a few years back, I think it fits the bill, lots of racing touches and a Merc engine under the hood IIRC.



I like the spotlights with grills on and the leather bonnet straps.

Jul 11, 2014 17:54:27 GMT v8ian said:

Does this fit the Bill, MGA, TR6 wheels, 4Age and Type9 box,

I was super excited to see Nick's MGA in the flesh last year, such a great car.

They sum it up for me whatever car you use has got to look just like it's driven straight off the track at Goodwood,first thing I thought of was this video

[elstro1988]

Interesting thread.

I definitely think it's a uniquely British style (just like the 'Euro look' with the fat, deep dish wheels on VWs, Opels etc), or the American look (fat chromed wheels with white-writing tyres, bright paintjobs, huge exhausts etc) and makes the most matronly or effete car look intimidating in a very understated way. That MG Magnette is a thing of beauty. The wide banded wheels just make it.

However, I think ANY car could pull this look off. Even something like a Lada Riva in dark green, cherry red, Old English white, lowered with Rostyles, banded or Minilite type wheels and fog lamps could look good.

[longman]

My mates homemade speedster fits the bill

Started out like this..

[homeforsummer]

Jul 8, 2014 13:38:11 GMT DarrenW said:

Gentleman racer?

I really like that concept. Something typically designed for wafting around in but given a bit of bite. It's why R-badged Jags really appeal to me - you still get all the leather and the comfort and the style, but there's enough punch to surprise a few people.

Doable on a budget too though, I reckon. There's been some great stuff in the thread already but one I've always thought would work well is the Rover 75 - take the V6 one, perhaps enhanced a little with a few bits from the ZT, put it on some older-style alloys and fat tyres etc.

Some might say "why not start with the ZT?", and you could, but they're a bit too boy-racerish to be "gentlemanly". I suppose you could transfer some of the 75's chrome to the ZT and swap the interiors so you get all the wood and soft colours rather than uniform blacks and greys...

Jul 11, 2014 6:32:19 GMT jader1973 said:

One style I do like is the Outlaw Porsche look

Big fan of that look at the moment. Bet it'd apply well to old Beetles too since, well, they're pretty much the same... though I suspect MX-5s and other cars with relatively soft lines would suit it too.

[sowen]

The British style to me is refrained, functional and purposeful.

I think of wider tyres on banded, reversed, re-rimmed etc original steels, a slight suspension drop (rake is optional), extra gauges in the dash (black faced Smiths), sometimes quarter bumpers or de-bumpered entirely, revvy tuned engine with straight through exhaust. Interior can either be original, part stripped, and will usually be black and have bucket style seats but in similar style to the originals. Paint is usually a single bold colour, the only accessories being essential items for fast road driving, maybe spot lights for nights, bonnet straps for quick oil/water etc checks and somewhere to put your map and driving gloves. It will be something that will be entirely at home blasting through the twisty country b-roads and hills or tearing up the continent whilst wearing a flatcap and smoking a pipe!

The gentlemen's racer is by far the best description for it, a style that can be put on anything from MG's and Mini's upto Jag's and Roller's.

[820]

This is particularly in reply to the first post of this thread, I skimmed over a lot of the discussion up to here and could not get away from the reference to the style of the old British cafe racer bikes and how you might build an equivalent car.
A good British engine, a good British built frame, stripped of unnecessary parts, lots of noise, something different.

This to me is my 4 wheeled cafe racer if you like, its British, its simple, the bits that don't matter are removed and the bits that do matter have been altered to make it faster.
It started out as a sleeper but over the years has become less so, despite being relatively modern, it is build to for the road, its uncomfortable, loud and you wont see another one like it.
I don't think it fits into any group or style other than clean and functional, so could this be close to what your thinking.

[alolympic]

Good discussion about something that really resonates with me. I actually think the stuff we are talking about dates back many decades. Mk1 Lotus Cortina, Mk1 Mini Cooper, they have many similar traits. In the early 70's my dad was driving around in an Austin 1300GT that was Speedwell tuned, fitted with bucket seats. Maybe it is also telling is that 5 years previous, he was riding around on a Velcotte Venom. It as almost as if we have come full circle, all the way through many styles, from many countries, over many different years. For me, the place where I see most interesting and inspiring stuff these days is on the track. Classic racing, with things like the Masters Historic and HRDC series, bring all sorts of brilliant things to life. Just check out the HRDC website and it 'feels' like so much of what we are talking about.
I'm not actually sure the look I am thinking of is exclusive to Brit stuff, or ever has been. You look at the grid for a classic saloon race and you see Alfa Juniors, BMW 1800, 2002's, Lancia Aurelia's, even the earliest Toyotas all modded for speed, with many touches that have been discussed here. The reality is, 60's stuff looks great, and goes great, with added lightness and period suspension drops and tuning. Bringing period racing touches to the road can work really well. That Magnette is bang on to me. In essence, I think if you see period racing touches to the road, it is normally a recipe for wows. The trick is stopping it seem contrived. I am trying to balance this at the moment with the rebuild of my Olympic, sub consciously inspired by race meets over the past few years I guess. Lightweight. Tuned 4 pot. Period grey paint. Period buckets in a strippedinterior. Only time will tell if it will carry off racing roundels and a tow sticker etc.
I love the renewed love for this stuff, timeless cool.

[moggyman]

That has to be the best MGA I've seen!

I think this style would work on early kit cars, such as Rochdales and Ashleys.



Or Turners

[HoTWire]

Jul 12, 2014 11:01:04 GMT elstro1988 said:

However, I think ANY car could pull this look off. Even something like a Lada Riva in dark green, cherry red, Old English white, lowered with Rostyles, banded or Minilite type wheels and fog lamps could look good.

That is kind of what I was aiming for, something that you could really apply to anything, but would kind of be a style all our own at the same time.. if you see what I mean





I'm going to see if I can scan/photograph some pages from a Japanese magazine called Vintage Life that has their impression of what a European classic style is, it is interesting seeing what they pick out.

[theprong]

I "think" my Sunbeam may have elements of a cafe racer style, maybe a bit too overdone in performance upgrades. I do have a set of Minilite style wheels in 16x7 size but the 15x7 black steels will probably stay for a while (smallest wheels to fit over brake rotors). It is basically going to be a Tiger in a fastback shell with some modern touches like gearbox,diff and brakes.

[alolympic]

As my last post was a lot of chatter and no pics, here are some pics that may, or may not, be relevant to the thread































and a couple of Foreigners that, to me, are giving off the right vibe

[ettorebugatti]

I found an earlier discussion:
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/107815

But in general I would go for a group 2 touring saloon spec, but without the race livery.

Some examples, I like:





It will pass the test if you park it in front of a cafe and everybody thinks you're the cool guy/ girl in town.
Don''t the cafe mixed up with the pub in the village. It might change the look of the car...

[Deleted]

I want that Rapier for my very own, I like them anyway but I love what you're doing with it just in that one picture. alolympic, what are those obscure looking wheels on the P6? Old Dunlop 'safety rims' perhaps?

[bmcnut]

This is a great thread with great pictures, thank Hotwire. Just to basicly echo what alolympic said, my dad started his motoring on BSA goldstars and the like and fancied himself as a cafe racer, I'm not a bike person at all but based on style this is the only type of bike i like, theres little more there that whats there to get the job done. When he progressed to cars his first was a Riley elf with banded steels and a cooper lump, then a mini van with the same wheels, then a Wolseley 16/60 with MGB lump with overdrive 'box and banded steels, and the story goes on. His style really influenced me as I grew up, and as a result this thread is awesome. Thanks RR!

I recon these qualify

[Deleted]

Weirdly, that second Maxi does it for me with getting the look, I wonder if it's because it's in context with this thread or if it is genuinely just that right.

Found a couple more that do it for me on topic, first being this Escort which is impeccable and pleasantly understated. Absolutely gorgeous colour too.


Second is this Vauxhall in a rather strange colour combo that works and is itself quite British. I'm guessing it's a special performance edition, Vauxhall did tend to use those red stripes to denote such, but I'm not a fount of Vauxhall knowledge so I don't know. I do know I like it.

[elstro1988]

The Cool Moskvich Thread has thrown up a couple of 'Cafe Racer' esque Moskys!

cs407230.vk.me/v407230085/b8d5/MFaFQHVsijo.jpg [/IMG]

[Pid363!]

I think i may fit in to this group, scene what ever you wish to call it. i love the look of the 60,s saloon car racing. Ive done the escorts and cortinas. I do still love em but the escort thing is getting a bit same'ie. Ive got a couple of MG Magnette's all with wide steel's lowered a bit mgb lumps et. I think its bin around for years just never got put into a group as such?

[WillCarter]

I would seem that more people are on board with this idea than they were in 2011.

[Deleted]

Some of these examples are good but l see them being more like 'works' replicas than cafe racers and all far to polished, l see cafe racers as being work in progress, we took then cheap cars which in my era was MK1 Fiesta, cortina mk 4/5 Astra MK1's not the gte xr's usualy the basic models, first thing was to remove the bumpers and badges, probably some undercoat filler/rust and bits from the scap yard to change the interior/exterior and some engine mods depending on how well off you were, l manages to get a 1300 into a stock 950 pop plus used to wheel spin in 3rd gear with the 145 tyres!!
Today kids take budget model and do the same, they just don't go to scrap yards anymore they by parts from the tuning shops so are stuck with the latest 'look', and we call them boy racers......