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Cars You Never See Anymore

Lovely, and a lot of money these days.

Edited to say, I have a photo on this tablet from about 1973 with me (6 years old) standing next to an old banger of a Traction holding my Yorkshire Terrier Soot.
 
Aye, was quite flabbergasted to see one in such good nick. I don't know much about the plates (I don't really have much interest in cars besides the aesthetic and engineering appeal) but I'm assuming these are all pre-WW2?

I was in the middle of a meal when I spotted it and saw the owner (a chap slightly younger than the car) getting in to drive it away and managed to spill my wine in my rush to get a shot of it before he drove off so I hope you appreciate the sacrifice :D
 
Aye, was quite flabbergasted to see one in such good nick. I don't know much about the plates (I don't really have much interest in cars besides the aesthetic and engineering appeal) but I'm assuming these are all pre-WW2?

I was in the middle of a meal when I spotted it and saw the owner (a chap slightly younger than the car) getting in to drive it away and managed to spill my wine in my rush to get a shot of it before he drove off so I hope you appreciate the sacrifice :D
I think the Traction Avant production began just before WWII, perhaps, 1937/38 but continued up until the 1950s. It was replaced by the DS so had a very long production run.
 
I just see it and think “Nazi car”.

Though the white one on the previous page looks like it has been kidnapped by hippies.
 
This one took me by surprise - this was the only shot I could get of it as another mechanic was just shutting up shop and closing the gate, but this is what appears to be the rear end of an Alvis Speed 20 saloon being worked on (mudguard and running boards removed). Still trying to get a positive ID on it;
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Just off to the side of this was what looked like a 70s XJ12 Sovereign 4.2 but I didn't get a shot of it.

I can't say I give a rodentian posterior about the Porsche 968 but this was a simply gorgeous Jaguar XK140 I spotted. The small crowd of people surrounding it weren't the owners, just another bunch of tourists gawping at what I think is a sublimely pretty car.
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This one took me by surprise - this was the only shot I could get of it as another mechanic was just shutting up shop and closing the gate, but this is what appears to be the rear end of an Alvis Speed 20 saloon being worked on (mudguard and running boards removed). Still trying to get a positive ID on it;
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Just off to the side of this was what looked like a 70s XJ12 Sovereign 4.2 but I didn't get a shot of it.

I can't say I give a rodentian posterior about the Porsche 968 but this was a simply gorgeous Jaguar XK140 I spotted. The small crowd of people surrounding it weren't the owners, just another bunch of tourists gawping at what I think is a sublimely pretty car.
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And 968!
 
No picture as I was driving but I saw a Ferrari Dino on the M5 yesterday and it was a thing of beauty - some pics at this link

The first supercar/Ferrari I ever went in was a Dino - glorious.
There was one sitting in a showroom near where I worked in Streatham many years ago and I managed to blag a ride in it.
 
Started lusting after an orange Lotus Europa S2 that's up for sale on Car & Classic last night. Looked so right on steel wheels and lovely interior and just soooo 1970.

Showed Mrs.Griff this morning and she hated it.

/Lotus Europa :(
 
Started lusting after an orange Lotus Europa S2 that's up for sale on Car & Classic last night. Looked so right on steel wheels and lovely interior and just soooo 1970.

Showed Mrs.Griff this morning and she hated it.

/Lotus Europa :(
The one I had leaked badly. The pillar comes away from the windscreen because you use it to help you get out.
 
Looks a great low mileage car. I don't imagine the performance is blistering. Good luck getting in and out of it. I doubt if I could get that into the garage here and I doubt it copes with speed humps very well. A truly iconic car.
 
Not really a specific car but you don't see too many estate cars much these days. I remember Mondeo, c class mercs and 406's etc would often be seen in their estate form on the road but apart from the odd Volvo seem conspicuous by their absence.
 
Not really a specific car but you don't see too many estate cars much these days. I remember Mondeo, c class mercs and 406's etc would often be seen in their estate form on the road but apart from the odd Volvo seem conspicuous by their absence.
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This solid gold Merc estate lives around the corner from me, it was parked on the other side of the road from where it normally lives this week granting me the opportunity of a nice shot with Brunei’s handiwork as a backdrop. The colour-matched hub caps are a treat. It always looks well polished and loved. Black numberplate is naughty though, not old enough to legitimately have one like that.

I still see a fair few estates about, Toyota Corolla/Avensis, and Octavias are still numerous.
 
There's a great Merc 200 D saloon of a similar vintage that I see round here quite often.
Spotless burnt orange and an utterly fantastic basic spec early '80s Merc. :cool:
 
I guess many people go for SUVs as load luggers now although I prefer estates if only because they drive better on corners...and no Im.not a speed demon at all lol
IMO a good estate is better than most SUVs for most people's needs. The thing is that an SUV or 4x4 gives a greater feeling of security, and an air of "look at me."
 
Most of the SUVs I’ve seen have actually been pretty tiny in the back. It’s a bit of a feature of a lot of modern cars though due to all the side impact protection and similar sacrificial padding, SUVs also have a high floor negating anything you gain from more headroom.

People carriers are the heir to the estate car, we have a C-Max which is pretty roomy once you fold stuff down, can get bikes in there quite easily. Most of them are a wretched drive though, I used to get Citroen Zsara Potatoes in the hire car lottery at work quite often and they were not much fun going over the top of the M62 on a windy day.
 
With our CX3 the luggage space has been greatly reduced because I head the audacity to carry a spare wheel in it. They normally have just gunk
for fixing punctures :(
 
Also, SUV's are easily accessible if you have mobility issues.
Curiously my dad bought for exactly that reason after driving four door saloons for years. After buying it, I tried my new three door hatch witch has longer side doors than four door saloons and then realised that was the way to solve getting and out🙄
 
Fans of cars you never see any more who are at a loose end might want to find some time to follow the live streaming of the Goodwood Festival of Speed over the next four days.

I watched a lot of it last year when I was off sick, and they really put together a good presentation which is a rare thing for a live YouTube stream. Something like 8 hours a day of continuous hill runs, interviews and feature pieces on interesting cars. Barely a dull moment and with a commentary so you know what’s going on. Highly recommended to car fans and if you miss it live, it stays there on YouTube for replay whenever you find the time.


Here‘s today’s


and the Goodwood YT channel to subscribe to to find the other days:


https://youtube.com/GoodwoodRRC
 
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This solid gold Merc estate lives around the corner from me, it was parked on the other side of the road from where it normally lives this week granting me the opportunity of a nice shot with Brunei’s handiwork as a backdrop. The colour-matched hub caps are a treat. It always looks well polished and loved. Black numberplate is naughty though, not old enough to legitimately have one like that.

I still see a fair few estates about, Toyota Corolla/Avensis, and Octavias are still numerous.
when i was in portugal there were loads of old mainly gold mercs around for some reason -
 
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