Tuesday 11 September 2012

Cars Among The Gravestones.

At the weekend I was lucky enough to visit my local church. Not for the Sunday service, not even to explore the architecture and monuments, but to attend a car show. So, although I've done a few posts recently looking at vintage vehicles, I intend to show you some of the highlights - or at least the ones that I noticed and photographed; as always when I got home and looked at the programme of the event I realised that there were several exhibits to which I should have paid more attention!


Our parish church, Holy Trinity,
and in the foreground an Austin Landaulette, 1934.


A rare beast,
An "Argyll" made in Scotland in 1905.
It has a French-made 4-litre engine.
Cost £560 including lamps and tools.
(accessories, such as windscreen, were extra).


The senior citizen amongst the many old-timers.
Peugeot Type from 1902 (that's 110 years old!), top speed 25mph.


How about a Roller, sir?
A Rolls Royce Phantom 1927.
This one was made to order for
His Highness The Maharana Of Udaipur.





This Austin-owner displayed his picnic set
on the back seat.
Redolent of a golden age of motoring.



One careful owner?



The other end of the spectrum,
A modified Ultima GTR
capable of  0-60 in 3 seconds
and a top speed of 205mph!



That's it, tick them off
 so you remember what you've seen!


But I was hoping to find a particular
motorcycle.
Jim, aka Wayfarin' Stranger, and I recently
had a correspondence about Vincent motorcycles,
particularly a song about a Vincent Black Lightning 1952.
The Black Lightning was a racing version of the bike above
which is actually a
Vincent Black Shadow 1954.
Vincents were made in Stevenage, just down the road from here
and regularly turn up at shows. 
This one still rides beautifully despite being
58 years old.


That's all, folks.

Take care.

14 comments:

  1. I always wanted a picnic set like that.... actually I always wanted a car like that too.

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  2. What a delightful series, John. It's the charming Peugot for my money (only in fine weather, of course!), and is that your reflection in the badge/front grille of the Rolls? Thanks for sharing these gorgeous vehicles from yesteryear.

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  3. looking like the perfect-weather day for the car show; great collection of well-preserved and much-loved vehicles from yester-year.

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  4. That Rolls Royce is beautiful though I too have a soft spot for that Peugeot. Of course incredible craftsmanship goes into today's car design, but what a sight it must have been to spot these beauties on the road, way back when.

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  5. I love old cars of the kind you have photographed, because they seem so optimistic. They look as if they are made of meccano but they were conceived as cutting edge designs.

    Beautiful looking old church, too.

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  6. Those old cars are something special. Can't imagine anyone wanting to look at today's cars 50 or 100 years from now. They're so boring.

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  7. What a showing! I like that Vincent bike but good to see all those cars.

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  8. The Black Shadow also "is a fine motorbike," John. And I think a red-headed girl would look just fine on it. I must admit I like the old cars better than the one capable of 200 mph, and the idea of a picnic set as part of the accessories is one we need to cultivate. Let's slow down and enjoy the journey. Jim

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  9. Even though I know absolutely nothing about cars other than how to work the brakes and steering wheels, I enjoy looking at them. The silver Ultima is pretty cool, but I am not the guy to try to drive it!

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  10. I'm not a great vintage car fan but I do have very hapy memories of going around old bike shows with my ex husband- he loved Vincent motorcycles too! I had a weakness for the BSA Goldstar... Jane xx

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  11. Good to see the Argyll - I think there were a lot of little manufacturers in the eary days - they even made cars outside Kirkcudbright in 20s.

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  12. They don't make 'em like that any more John - love the elegance.

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