As a retired U.K. car dealer I can wholeheartedly empathise with this article. Enthusiasts are often just that enthusiasts, not buyers. They get so much enjoyment out of going round looking for that absolutely perfect car that even when they find it they often don’t buy because there just may be an even better one out there. When I first started trading I dealt in all sports cars i.e. cars I liked, E type Jags etc. I soon got fed up with punters coming in and wanting to test drive one and realising that was just what they wanted - a drive - no intention to buy! I changed tack and dealt in the bread and butter end serving the people that just wanted a nice car and earned well enough to treat myself to the sporty stuff. ... View more

Being an owner of several Ducati sports bikes I can confirm that the 999 was poorly received but not I feel for the stacked headlights you mention. The big bugbear was its original equipment exhaust which terminated in a silencer (muffler or can) that would have looked more at home on truck. Once Akropovic and others started to produce stylish carbon replacements it took off. Compared to my 916 variants the 999 is a much nicer bike to ride although for sheer design beauty nothing comes close to my MV Agusta F4. Once I acquired it my nickname among fellow bikers became “Johnny 4 pipes” due to the iconic exhaust styling. ... View more

I’m in the UK and remember well when circa 1968 I was working as an installer of Lennox warm air heating systems which were trying tentatively to make their way against the prevailing water based radiator systems. They were considerably more expensive and difficult to fit to English houses due to limited under floor spaces etc and as a consequence they tended to be bought by people with a better than average income level. I distinctly recall fitting a system in the very nice home of a car dealer in the upmarket Hainault/Chingford area. He had unusually for that time a large garage complex and contained in it side by side were three Ford GT40’s. At the time - or even now - these were akin to space ships and drew lots of attention from myself and the couple of men working with me. One of them dared to remark that they were ‘ugly’ to which the forever unforgettable riposte from the other was, “Yes but they’re ugly fast!” ... View more

Thanks for this glossary. As a U.K. member I’m often ‘behind the 8 ball’ in understanding what’s being spoken of. ... View more

The problem with the Lotus is that like the rest of it kin lots of it are from the parts bins of other manufacturers and when you’re shopping in those places you don’t usually go to the shops with the highest spec/ biggest priced items. An example for many years Lotus used a threaded length of studding as the centre bolt for their door hinges which obviously didn’t have to much of a bearing surface. It didn’t take long for the threaded surface to wear leading to door drop. ... View more

The “little incident” you refer to regarding the Duke of Edinburgh was when he pulled out onto a main road without stopping right into the path of a car travelling along the main highway and although he was uninjured the two women in the other car suffered broken bones - fortunately a baby in the rear was not harmed. He did not surrender his licence willingly but only after many public calls for him to be prosecuted, which most certainly would have been the likely outcome had it been anyone else. Giving up his licence was a sop to get both him and the reluctant police off the hook. ... View more

In around 1984 I had an Ally bodied 6 carb Ferrari 275 GTB which had been supplied new to Bernard White’s Team Chameco Collect and delivered personally to him at Le Mans in 1966 by Col. Ronnie Hoare. When delivered it was Connaught Green (BRG) with a spare set of Borrani wire wheels. All this information was supplied to me by Maranello Concessionaires. I have no idea whether it was ever used in anger by Mr Whites racing team but that by implication was the intention. When I owned the car it had been resprayed red but other than that was original. I used it for a couple of years including competition events such as the Brighton Speed Trials and a full season of historic sports car racing.  In 1986/7 I had the opportunity to purchase an industrial unit for £100k and needed £20k deposit for the finance. At the time I was being offered circa £12k by dealers for the Ferrari but an advert in MotorSport magazine brought a phone call from a Belgian gentleman by the name of Armand Blaton who had a brother called Jean Blaton who raced very successfully at Le Mans under the pseudonym “Beurleys” and was well placed driving a 275 GTB in the same spec as mine. He paid my £20k asking price and car went from the U.K. to Belgium and I bought my factory unit. All’s well except four years ago I sold the building for £400k and the Ferrari is probably worth circa £1.5m. Some you win......,, Grrrrr! ... View more

Whilst agreeing with most of your choices was not Bill Blydenstein a tuner rather than designer and as a Brit I have to point out that you have your own fair share of irresponsible drinkers. ... View more

I have a BMW E46 M3 CSL which fits into the lightening model. The car is available fully spec’d with air con etc to which you are then offered delete options to save weight and become more track focused. Thus they have hit on the clever strategy of charging the same price but supplying less whilst at the same time appearing to tailor the car specifically to you. If they had chosen to offer it as base with ad ons they would have made less profit and the buyer would have got a cheaper car. Marketing eh! ... View more

Unless the spelling is different in the US surely the car’s name is Mabel? ... View more

I remember the 787B at Le Mans and it was a truly awe inspiring beast. The noise as it passed by was wonderful as a spectator but I dread to think what is was like for the poor souls in the cockpit. I would imagine winning at the Sarthe was some degree of consolation though. ... View more

Another method using masking tape or similar is to put the bolt in the socket and then wrap tape round the socket with enough overhang to wrap gently round the bolt and pinch the end loosely under the bolt head. Once you have the bolt started you just pull up and the tape should come up with the socket and you remove it and finish tightening. ... View more

Not a straight answer in the whole piece, I wonder why a grown man talks that way?  ... View more

Sorry just noticed your comment after posting an almost identical one myself. What’s interesting is that I’m in the U.K. so minds across the ocean! ... View more

I made a simple tool for this purpose over forty years ago merely by knocking out the ceramic part of the spark plug itself and adapting a suitable rod to go through the centre. Screw it in and off you go. ... View more

I agree. It’s rather like when they remake a classic movie, they have alter it just to show they’ve been there but it’s seldom an improvement and I cannot see much in Chip Foose’s adaption that would make me want his version over the original. ... View more

I live in the U.K. but my wife and I visit the U.S. as often as possible and there is an old family owned Drive-in called Silver Moon near Plant City, Florida not far off I-4 which we love to visit. You can either use the old-fashioned speaker on door post or tune in your radio. For the authentic feel we usually use the door speaker but regretted it one night as there was a swarm of some kind of vicious bugs and we got eaten alive and itched for days after. ... View more

MG land speed record car at Benneville. ... View more

I too met Stirling both on the racetrack in historic racing and professionally when I had an idea back in 1980 to produce a limited edition print by getting selected drivers to nominate their own choice of favourite race. I drew up a list of drivers that would interest me and I thought the public. Top of that list; Stirling Moss but how to contact him? On a guess I looked in the phone book and there he was! A short telephone call later to propose the idea to him and he invited me up to his high tech house in Curzon Street to discuss it further. I went there with the preconception that he would choose the 1955 Mille Miglia in which, he along with pace note reading co-driver Denis Jenkinson, the famed, DSJ, Continental Correspondent of MotorSport magazine, set a never to be beaten winning record time. However to my surprise he chose the 1961 Monaco Gran Prix. When I asked him why that was his preference his answer was that in the Mille Miglia the Mercedes 300 SLR he was driving was certainly one of the best cars whereas at Monaco his Rob Walker Lotus was outdated and outclassed by the Ferraris he was up against and thus the win was entirely due to his own driving talent. He said he had never driven so hard for so long in any other race in his career and that was why it stood out for him. They often say you should never meet your heroes but I’m glad I met mine. ... View more