Yesterday, they closed off Regent Street, the famous central London shopping venue, to traffic, to make way for … some cars. I made my way to Regent Street, on the off chance of some photo ops, and was not disappointed.
There were E-Type Jags and Minis (i.e. real Minis – not the horribly huge German rehashes we see now), because both are celebrating their fiftieth birthdays this year:
And there were even more exotic vehicles, like this one:
If there was a sign explaining that, I missed it. Anyone? It looks vaguely familiar, as having been involved in something like a land speed record.
There were also new vehicles on show, involving various drearily alternative means of propulsion, but looking exactly like regular cars.
But the really old cars were something else again:
There were lots and lots of those. And it would be putting it very mildly indeed to say that I was not the only digital photographer present:
Nor was I the only digital photographer who was intrigued by many of the smaller mechanical details of these old cars:
The weather was rather grim, but the rain held off long enough for me to take all these snaps. Click on all of the above to get them bigger, and if that isn’t enough, go to my own blog, to see many, many more.
By the way, I’m not anti-German about everything they’ve done to Britain’s motor industry. I love what they’re doing with the Rolls Royce.
The blue car most certainly looks like one of the Bluebird series of land speed record cars, the most famous of course driven by Sir Donald Campbell.
Never did think much of the Jag six: DOHC for an engine redlined at 5500 RPM is ridiculous. And the RR50 alloy cylinder head weighed more than a properly designed cast iron head would have.
Also, the E-type’s windscreen was too vertical, making the car look like it was bent in the middle.
It looks like it might be one of the Bluebird Electrics built by Don Wales, Malcolm Campbell’s grandson and Donald’s nephew.
Yup; looks like the Bluebird Electric, with a few body modifications since the last photo set at http://www.bluebirdelectric.com .
Enjoyed the photo set of the vintage vehicles over at your personal site, Mr M; the time of “figuring out what a car was” led to one of those huge outbursts of innovation that’s rarely not accompanied by a war. It’s fun to look at some strange doohickey and try to figure out what it is, and from time to time, you can even find a nifty innovation that’s been lost from current cars and deserves to make a comeback (and some have, that way).
It also reminds me of what may have been the best episode of “Top Gear” yet, when the guys went to Beaulieu to find the first car to have all the controls where we now expect them to be…
Your 50th birthday for the Mini threw me a bit because I know a guy who’s got a ’59 model ( He calls it she & I suppose women have been known to lie about their age…)
As for the ‘E’, ghastly car. Contracted the rust-worm at an alarming rate, particularly the soft-tops & on a wet road like driving a motor boat.
The the near vertical flat screen was an odd feature bearing in mind the fared in headlights. It’s not as if Jags were hampered by available technology in the design. Yank cars had had radically moulded glass for years. It may also have contributed to that feeling at near flat out that the whole thing was made of feathers. On the other extreme try parking one without power steering.
Knock on wires as the splines start to wear……
Pulled the birds though……..
On the minis, it was a really low down thing the Germans did to buy a unique well loved brand, essentially to kill it and replace it with a pretty standard hatch bank.
I’ve always thought there are enough mini enthusiasts out there to buy the rights and start manufacturing them again.
PersonfromPorlock wrote:
‘Never did think much of the Jag six: DOHC for an engine redlined at 5500 RPM is ridiculous. And the RR50 alloy cylinder head weighed more than a properly designed cast iron head would have.’
And in a cast-iron behemoth of a Jag bank-robber saloon, what did you expect?
But the all-out fastest and scariest car I ever drove – a mid-80’s kit arrangement called a Kougar – was powered by the humble Jag six – a 3-carb 4.2, to be sure, but just as it came out of the bank-robber saloon. The engine was built like a brick outhouse and had endless potential for tuning.
The Jag V12 – now that’s over-rated.
llater,
llamas
[Pedant] Minis were launched in 1959, so its 50th celebration was two years ago…[/Pedant]
Minis, as in original, are superb. I always dream of getting one again.
As a bit of history linking Jags and Minis, the original test mules used to race Jags on the local roads, with shocking results for the Jag drivers! The Minis were then deemed “too fast” an the 1000cc engines reduced to 850cc at launch, rotating 180deg to protect the carburettor from icing, but exposing the electrics to the elements (the radiator being at the side!) and introducing all and sundry to the signature idle gear whine used to reverse the rotation of the output.
Of course we were to see it return to the 1000cc sweet spot, and on to 1275cc and 75HP in CooperS guise.
“My” mini was a 1978 bright blue 1000cc manual to which I added GS800 tyres, LCB cooper exhaust and a pair of 1 1/4″ SUs. The exhaust gave it such a beautiful sound. The car was stiff and rust free. A joy to drive.
It is one of the great joys of my life (surpassed only by the marriage to my wife) that I am now the proud owner of one of these babies.(Link)
Manik, I believe there was some talk around the time when the new mini was imminent of the mini heritage company buying the rights to produce the bodies. I guess nothing came of that unfortunately. It’s something of a shame that it couldn’t have followed a similar route to the VW Beetle, the old version of which is still produced in Mexico. My wife had a mini for a while. Being American she had to have an automatic, of course (she’s since been cured of that particular affliction (requiring an automatic, not being an American)). It was a lot of fun to drive (and a lot better once I fixed the kick-down). I test drove a new mini and it just wasn’t the same.
As for Jaguar, I recently became the owner of an XK8. 2nd hand prices are ridiculously low here. I’m very impressed though it does seem to have this intermittent issue with blue flashing lights in the rear-view…
Beautiful. Way out west here we get alot of stunning old American Fords – deuce coupes (I prefer the ’38), F-1s, Thunderbirds. Still have yet to see an Anglia in real life, though.
I love those Jags of yours. They are still something to be proud of today.
Some HDR video for Morgan lovers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNVjLdzumA0
it still has planes and a babe…
Oh yeah, Morgan, you Englishmen have those, too. I’d give my neighbors screaming child for one of those Aero 8 coupes. Or coupe’s…