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You are in... Forums > General > General motoring > Spotted!
Joined:
Mar 08
Posts: 4892
Batty says:
A friend of mine's father had a 635 just prior to us gaining our licenses. It was a superb thing, a little too pointy to gather too much affection for me at the time (I prefered the bluff 3 series), but it was very refined and swift. Good man the father, self made, engineer, former racer and rally man, who also did his own maintenance on the 6, including replacing the gearbox when it went. They were a wealthy family and BMW devotees (although there was also a Volvo prior to the wife's 5, can't remember which though). First family I knew that could afford to buy such cars new.
Oooh shiny!
Sep 06
Posts: 1547
kubrick says:
Today I unexpectedly caught the most recent Alfa Giulietta (in sparkling rosso) in the metal - and I have to say, while I'd still have preferred a "contemporary" design á la 159, it's rather pretty! It's also not exactly brave or extraordinarily exciting, but at the same time infinitely more pleasing to the eye than the MiTo. As its launch is even bolstered by good reviews I don't see why it shouldn't turn out to be the success Alfa so badly needs. Well, at least that's what I hope.
Dec 06
Posts: 1806
car4mh says:
While driving to work today I spotted a bright-green Trabant holding up a row of traffic as it crawled uphill. Seriously rare occurrence in New Zealand, and without a photo I'm feeling more and more like I was mistaken.
At motorsports events the carpark can often be as interesting as the vehicles on the circuit, and Rally NZ was no exception. Nothing earth-shattering to report for European readers (although I think a Lamborghini Murcielago is noteworthy anywhere) but I did like these 3: A very tidy Honda NSX, a classic Porsche 911 2.4 and a modified Renault 10 (I had to look that one up, sorry Oli!).
Attached images:
Nice!
Where I live in Newcastle, most cars are very modest, people are very proud of their working class origins and eschew most signs of obvious wealth. Nearer the beachside (where I may be just about to by a house, wish me luck), things are far more gregarious, but further in, very much the Commodore/Falcon/Corolla heartland. It came as a serious shock when I saw a Bentley Continental Fyling Spur in the carpark at a local shopping centre. Not parked somewhere safe mind, in the bloody middle of it unattended, ready to get all the parking dings from we plebians. It would have been worth half the carpark on its own.
I admire that.
Posts: 1316
-Joe- says:
Batty: I would love to have and waft(not drive, you waft) in a Rolls Royce Phantom. Just to park it in a supermarket carpark and as you walk away you must get a great sense of well being about yourself and that you made it and all that hardwork finally payed off, with that your car is worth more than the entire carpark.
"I am an admirer of Jonathan Ive's work and I like to take it as a compliment." Dieter
Joe,
As well as being very nervous about some half wit coming along and keying the side of it.
Batty said: Joe, As well as being very nervous about some half wit coming along and keying the side of it.
Batty,
in the two largest German cities those not fond of prestige cars currently don't just key them, they actually burn them (200 and counting thus far here in Hamburg). But of course that doesn't stop those more in favour of simple, spontaneous methods: one friend's 20-year-old BMW E30 convertible (the epitome of ostentatious decadence, I know) got keyed recently on a grand scale. A female friend's Nissan Almeira recently got adorned with the word "Hallo" (that's German for "hello", astonishingly) scratched into its bonnet. And just last week I saw a Porsche 996 Turbo with a swastika on the front boot lid. Quite a charming way of voicing one's social critique.
The vandalism incidents sound terrible, Kubrick. I would like to have Joe or the Bentley driver Batty spotted's sense of nonchalance about leaving a prestige car in a public carpark, but I would be fearful of the damage.
Today I have photographic proof of a bizarre vehicle which people never believe exists when I mention it. I present what was once a humble Ford Telstar (Mazda 626/Capella) wagon, now mutated into the Mossmobile. No, not Sir Stirling, but Lichen. It's not abandoned, it makes a daily commute to and from its home (which may well be a swamp, and is certainly in the wilderness) to work each day. My own car lives outdoors and suffers from the elements, as well as my reliance on the carwash machine at the local service station, so I am hardly without sin in the carcare stakes. But I still can't comprehend who in their right mind can allow their car to suffer unwashed to the point that things are growing on it, yet drive it to work each day.
Batty: Yes that too. :/
Feb 07
Posts: 568
Goatboy says:
car4mh, this is by no means an isolated occurance I can assure you. Having recently been home to Cork (which in airline speak is amusingly called Ork) a good many cars are similarly adorned. Cork (or indeed Ork) is built on marshland and with it's predominantly (Very) damp climate, anything unattended eventually ends up moss-covered. I noticed a Toyota parked in a neighbour's drive which was mutating from it's original blue to a fetching shade of green. There were plenty of other examples.
In other news, I was treated over the last couple of days to the following array of automotive wonderfulness. A late 60's Mercedes 600 Pullman hissing through the Camden streets, shortly followed by a genuine (I checked) Citroen DS Chapron Convertible parked up - again in Camden. Then at the weekend in Richmond Park a stunning restored Series 1 E-Type fixed head - dark blue. I stopped, stared and drooled as it throbbed past. Pant-wettingly gorgeous.
Lastly, I noticed in Leftlane News - http://www.leftlanenews.com/mercedes-benz-cls-2012.html - there are undisguised photos of the forthcoming Mercedes CLS. I would caution you however that owing to a nasty ear infection I have been heavily medicated, therefore I suffered no noticable ill-effects. You are therefore warned that viewing these photos come at your own risk. I recommend drugs...
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