Classic cars, Ealing

I'm rather anti-car in my advancing years; I scorn today's cars, don't own one, don't want one. But classic cars are a different matter; I am fond of them and love to see them on the roads today. Most of the cars that graced the streets of my childhood have met the crusher years ago, those that are still driven stir my heart. But as I wrote here the other week, I'm unlikely to ever own one - developing land makes more sense financially as well as emotionally.

Below: an MG MGA 1600 Coupe (1959-1960), very rare in the UK as most MGAs (1955-62) were exported. Plain disc wheels (rather than chrome wires) on this example.

Below: so many styling cues borrowed from the Jaguar XK120. Still, the MG MGA is a very neat vehicle!

Below: And by coincidence, here's an MG MGB passing the same bus stop in the top photo, just two days earlier. The MGB followed the MGA off the production lines at Abingdon. A 1971 example here, 48 years old... also fixed roof (as opposed to roadster), also in cream.

Below: this looks familiar! At 36 years old, this Ford Grenada Mk II estate is a real rarity; big brother to the Ford Cortina (my father had a 1979 Ford Cortina Mk IV estate, VYT38T, just four years older than this). I was amazed to see this particular beast still roadworthy - rust has claimed most.

Below: same car, same angle, different colour, different city - this Grenada estate was parked along Aleje Jerozolimskie in Warsaw.

Below: when the original Porsche 928 appeared in 1978, I predicted that its style that would still seem fresh into the 1990s - indeed, production continued into 1995. This is an early '80s model, a 928S with front and rear spoiler and side strip. These might have improved aerodynamics, but detract from the design purity of the original late '70s 928.

Below: a youngster at just 20 years old - a 1999 Mini Cooper. Production of the original BMC/Rover Group Mini spanned over 41 years and ended on 4 October 2000. The design purity of the 1959 concept certainly passed the test of time.

Sadly I was without camera (pushing my father towards Cleveland Park), when a red Daimler SP250 Dart drove past... lovely it was!


This time last year:
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics reviewed

This time two years ago:
Now it belongs to the ages - on Great Works of Art

This time three years ago:
More Brictorian Liverpool

This time four years ago:
Łódź - city of tenements
[Gosh! four years since I bought a flat there!]

This time five years ago:
Liverpool reborn

This time six years ago:
What goes round comes around: retro is cool - again.

This time seven years ago:
Warsaw's southern bypass by this time next year?

This time eight years ago:
Stand Easy! - a short story

This time 11 years ago:
God Save The Queen - I mean it, Ma'am