A Vintage Day Out

I think I have mentioned in previous posts that MG is a petrol head, MG recently met a fellow petrol head and now he and his lovely (long suffering, quite enthusiastic but not a complete petrol head!) wife have become good friends.

N, petrol head number two restores and sells retro cars, mainly Messershcmitts (that's Micro cars to you and me, he has barns full of his collection of amazingly quirky cars which include Bubble cars  some of which have been used in pop videos) and vintage motor cycles like the Brough Superior most famous for being the vehicle of choice to Lawrence of Arabia, N informed me he died by crashing his seventh one whilst the eighth was on order.

Messershcmitt (Micro Car) MG thinks they look like Mud skippers

I think he has a point!

N recently sold one of his lovingly restored and very valuable Brough Superior motor cycles and re invested  in a 1923, three litre Bentley.  He kindly invited MG and I out for a motor ride which included a picnic and
A Concours d'Elegance.

As I have been posting a lot recently on this era, I jumped at the chance, for a ride in a vehicle of this period and Crusoe was also invited.....

Here she is in colour, she is beautiful and much more comfortable and stately than modern cars, you really have a sense that you are sitting in a carriage and the quality of workmanship and detail is gorgeous, no plastic or cheap upholstery involved, not to mention the fact that she purrs along quite happily at around 60MPH, I believe they can reach speeds of 90MPH, quite a feat for a car that is nearly 90 years old.  I thought it would be jerky and uncomfortable but no, a very smooth ride.

 Crusoe's ears flapping in the wind, he enjoyed it too, smelling the countryside whizzing by, although we did hold onto him, just in case he felt the urge to jump out to chase something.

We had to strap the picnic hamper onto the running board as there is no boot.

Whilst at the show we admired other cars, this is a 1929 Hotchkiss.

Whilst the boys talked about technical things, I pondered on what previous passengers might have stored in these little boxes.

Mmm my favourite an E Type Jaguar.

That's what I call a dash board!

MG, explained this one is better, can't remember why, think because it's older! And it's series one.

And something to do with original bucket seats!

This one is pretty, another Jaguar, can't remember which one, I'm useless with cars, I just go "Oh look at that one, it's pretty"  MG keeps trying to teach me about chassis and stuff but it just goes in one ear and out of the other, he despairs.

Front View

Interior View

 N's lovely Bentley came second in the pre-war class, the Hotchkiss came third, the boys were amused that a 1970 Fiat 500 came first in this class, which war were they talking about?

 Back at N's he put's his elegant Green Lady to bed (In her personal garage)

A lovely day, with a lovely picnic washed down with Champagne I now know why a headscarf is essential wear for open topped cars, even though I had my hair tied in a pony tail, it still took me ages to get the knots out!

I wore my new vintage ring, remind you of anything?  Note I am lacking bangles, next time...with the marcel wave and headscarf.

Scooter Girls

The time of year is upon us when girls all over Europe take to their Scooters, I have spent many a time in an outdoor cafe watching independent sassy young women, pulling up to the curb, parking up their scooter, shaking their hair free from helmets and striding happily and confidently to go about their business, be it some shopping, meeting friends for a coffee a romantic interlude or going to work.   I am quite envious of them, I think if I lived in a big city or a sun drenched Mediterranean haven, I would have to have one, so much more practical and environmentally friendly than a car, easy to park, nippy in traffic and judging by the looks on faces lots of fun.....

Audrey Hepburn The original Scooter girl

Audrey Hepburn In Roman Holiday

The spiritual home of the Scooter has to be Italy although the design style of the Lambretta and Vespa
 dates back to Pre-WWII Cushman scooters made in Nebraska, USA. These olive green scooters were in Italy in large numbers, ordered originally by Washington as field transport for the Paratroops and Marines. The US military had used them to get around Nazi defence tactics of destroying roads and bridges in the Dolomites (a section of the Alps) and the Austrian border areas.

Aeronautical engineer General Corradino D'Ascanio, responsible for the design and construction of the first modern helicopter by Agusta, was given the job by Ferdinando Innocenti of designing a simple, robust and affordable vehicle. It had to be easy to drive for both men and women, be able to carry a passenger and not get its driver's clothes soiled.  Hence the first Lambretta was born, shortly afterwards D'Ascanio fell out with  Innocenti so he took his designs to Enrico Piaggio, together they developed the Vespa.

In Italy by the late forties and fifties Vespas and Lambrettas soon became a must have item, they were inexpensive, stylish and ideal for negotiating the war scarred roads of Italian cities, they were a symbol of future prosperity and offered young women new opportunities for independence and freedom.

It was not long before the rest of the world followed, Scooters became huge in India and Asia, and factories sprang up making their own versions of lambrettas and Vespas.  In many parts of Asia particularly India and Vietnam Scooters rule the pot holed roads.

I love the early Italian Ad campaigns for Vespa and Lambretta, mainly targeted at women, you can really see the independence conveyed in these images, they seem to be saying, "I may want to be with you, but I am a busy girl, I have options, I am independent I can do what I want and choose who I want"!

By the mid fifties and into the sixties people were starting to travel again, Scooters were marketed as the ideal vehicle for getting round sundrenched destinations.

In the early sixties the Scooter was facing stiff competition from the likes of The Fiat 500 and The Mini, these stylish inexpensive small cars for 'The people' had the advantage of seating four.

Fiat 500

Mini

Lambretta stepped up it's advertising campaigns with glamorous sixties Icon, Jean Shrimpton.

Back to the present day, retro Scooters are making a comeback, the environmental issue has probably sparked this off.  Not to mention the ease with which the scooter can nip through modern day traffic.

Jenifer Lopez

Anne Hathaway

And so much fun.....