Re: 1965 Bentley T-Type
Thanks for wandering into the gallery. I hope the attendent there didn´t disturb you. He snores alot.
You know, the Lincoln MK8 was very much an under-rated car. Lincoln´s intention was to evoke the great grand tourers of the 30s - Duisenburg?- but since the 90s nobody´s been in that mood. I would cherish a chance to see a Mk8 in the metal, to reevaluate the design. In a perfect world someone from Classic&ThoroughlySportsClassic would do a head to head and re-assess the last of the US luxury coupes. I might be tempted to put the last Eldorado into the fight.
The Lincoln was nearly certainly the best made of the three cars. The Cadillac had the best engine (the Northstar, so I am told) while in my view, the Buick looked the best. But only a real head to head would tell if my prejudices and (mis) information is correct. Quite possibly the Lincoln is the best of the three. I must look into the matter further.
The Buick is in my gallery because the car was styled by one Bill Porter, one of GM´s least known but most thoughtful and hardworking designers. He was responsible aslo for the very excellent Park Avenue of 1994 which was quite simply the zenith of American car styling in its modern phase. If you feel so moved and have some cash to spare, C Edson Arme´s book, "The Art of American Car Design" is one the best and most intelligent books ever written on car design. And it covers ground that no-one else has covered, namely the nitty gritty of the car design process as it was from the 40s to the late 80s. It´s a gem. Stephen Bayley´s small volume "Sex & Drink & Fast Cars" is also excellent but is far less technical than the American book. I can recommend both.
As to Land-Windermere´s photography style, the best pointer I can think of is to cease to view the car as one single object. Look at its parts. Look close up. Look sideways. Look around the car and see if there are contrasts. Sit in the back seat and see what you can see from there. Take the photos with a film camera and transfer the images to CD and then crop/edit them but don´t mess with the other values (like saturation, hue, contrast et cetera) as it lends the photos an artifcial look. Of course, L-W did this without digital manipulation but he was a genius and could, as it were, crop and edit a photo before the shutter had even opened. Have you seen a book called "Quatre Saisons" which is a photo study of the Citroen CX? It would appear to be a photobook inspired by the aesthetics of 70s soft-core pornography but the compositions are very Land-Windermere.
