American Muscle Day, August, Brooklands PICS!

[Lucky]

It was a Good Thing to see this back on again, after Brooklands threw their rattle out of the pram last year and refused to ever let the Mustang club back on their turf ever again. The usual thing, y'know... someone had the temerity to leave in an enthusiastic manner, tyresmoke was involved and instantly the adenoidal anti-fun brigade whip themselves into a paroxysm of righteous indignation. "They're disrespecting our neighbours!" they scream, the froth of denture fixative collecting at the corners of their wizened mouths. "Nuns and kittens will die by the thousands," they yelp, wringing their hi-viz vests into plaits with their liver-spotted hands in fury. "Their hooligan antics could damage the hallowed concrete of the Brooklands banking!"

....errrr, probably not damage it as much as eighty years of neglect and then selling most of it to housing developers and Tescos did, then...


Anyway, moving on. The Mustang club obviously were content to sneak in the back door by letting someone else organise the meet and then turning up anyway, looking all contrite and socially responsible. Winning. To be fair, it was more of an Anything-American Day than strictly muscle anyway. I don't have too much time for words... no-one reads them anyway, lol... as I'm about three shows behind still, so this'll be a bit of a whizz-through. Still, what better place to start than those Mustang scamps?






















If nothing else, pretty much the entire gamut of Ford's finest pony shows just how boring modern car colours have become

If we're having Mustangs, best have Camaros too then. RS pack always is a winner for me





This one is a really, really well-built car... apart from the immediately obvious bling stuff, there's plenty you wouldn't necessarily spot without a long hard look... such as the rear end that's tubbed so subtly and finished so well you'd swear it'd come from the factory like that. Superb car!









Did I ever mention how BelAirs are the Escort of American cars? In the old days, we used to call the FireBlade the clitoris bike because every [expletive deleted] had one... It's a bit like that. Mind you, it's just as well that BelAirs are so groovy as I for one never get tired of them. Here's the pick of the day. I love the unusual colours on the fiddy-three... brown flames really ought not to work, but they so do









Dodge are not exactly famous for their vans, which is why it's great to see this zany li'l A100. You could get one of these with a 5.2 litre V8 mounted under the front seats!





I guess it's funny to think now, but it appears that some people were capable of walking into a Cadillac dealers in 1954 and thinking "Hmmm... it's good but it's just not long enough... and people might not notice me properly... plus the trunk is only ten feet long so there really isn't room for the spare... dagnabbit, I'll just have to order the Continental Touring pack as well..."

Awesome









I know a lot of people don't really "get" 50s Americana... and in every dynamic respect that we generally use to judge cars, they're undeniably terrible... but that's really missing the point. Just look at them! If such mad excess doesn't make you feel some stirrings of admiration, you probably ought to check your pulse!











Alright, that last CdV 'vert is a '68, but you get the point. Of course, by the 70s it had all gone horribly wrong. Yes, it might have the length (and manouvrability) of a supertanker but this is not the sort of pink Cadillac that would have got Elvis fired up



And if length truly matters... although your momma tells me girth is just as important... then where better to go next than the brace of Pontiac Bonnevilles that I seem to be seeing everywhere this year? Still worth another look, though!











Of course, since we're all agreed by now that length matters, the easiest way to get truly preposterous proportions is just to turn something into a station wagon. Hence the superb Ford Country Sedan, a car that goes on longer than a jazz recital

[Lucky]

This definitely seemed to be the day of the Challenger. From the excellent original Plum Crazy '71 to the lurid yellow Sad-Face '72 to a whole glut of moderns... the Hellcats especially floated my boat. Hmmm... looks like I might need to retract my previous statement that all modern cars are boring colours





















There were the usual gamut of rods and stuff, some really unusual things around too for a change from the ubiquitous Ford-based things. Let's get them out the way first, shall we? Excellent '36 pickup



Delightfully bright '42



Another great paint colour on this '32 five-window





Dunno what this is... badged as both Jensen and Ford. Weirdness.





(although, as an aside today's bonus car was a genuine Jensen, parked through the wire in one of the business carparks. As a double bonus, the long front and extra wing grilles mark this out as an Interceptor FF, the first production 4x4. lovely)



Right, back on track, I've already posted this rod on the Cranleigh show report that no-one bothered with, but it definitely deserves some more photos. The power unit is a very unusual choice; a Desoto Firedome Hemi which alone makes this beastie stand out from the crowd











A '37 Dodge isn't your average choice of rod, either; although this one looks ace, it is definitely crying out for moar lows



This '39 Chevy made a nice change too. Red as a heart attack and with superb bulbous styling culminating in that snowplough grille





I do like this "Grim Wrecker" (see what they did ther... no, wait, done that one already in the last thread...) but I couldn't live with the fact that the pin-striping is offset from the hood badge. It upsets my OCD



It's not a Nova... it's a Chevy II. OK, it's a Nova. Eventually



'70 Coronet pulls off the real challenge facing most convertibles by actually managing to look epic both with the roof up and down





Plenty of Corvettes (as always). The coupe C2 was my pick, such a great shape... odd perhaps since the droptop C2 is one of my less favourite 'Vettes. Hey, I'm fickle





well... it IS American. Kinda. In an Irish sorta way. I don't care what anyone says (and I was fighting a tide of contempt from both Rich (Eeyore) and Terry (Eeyore-plus) about just how shite they are and how no true American icon ought to have a feeble Peugeot V6 propelling it) but I prefer to focus ont he gorgeous Giugiaro styling, the unique features throughout, the uniqueness of the whole project, and of course those doors... they are cool. they just are

[Lucky]

If ever proof was needed that American "styling" from the early seventies until... well, about a couple of years ago actually... was The Wasteland, you need look no further than Mercury's Cougar. Starting life as a severely cool muscle car based on the Mustang platform (how severely? The incomparably beautiful Diana Rigg once drove one. A convertible. On ice. Being chased by villains in black Mercedes. In a James Bond film. Shortly before becoming Mrs James Bond. Honestly, how could it be any cooler than that?), by the mid-70s it had turned into a squared-off blocky sedan sprung on cartsprings as limp as an Eastenders plot and with an emissions-mangled emasculated motor. Worried by flagging sales, some unsung genius in a Ford design command bunker miles from the front line realised that there was really only one way to ensure revived sales. That's right, cover the trunk lid and half the roof in beige vinyl.



Yeah, it seems so obvious now...

What a wonderful thing! I've never had so much want for a ridiculously blocky car with a padded vinyl bikini glued to it before







...actually, in that previous sentence there was really no need for the word "before". "Ever" probably would have served just as well

Another great car I've seen everywhere this year is this '70 'cuda. Just spot on perfect, even down to the glittering Argent on the shaker hood and front grille valance







Slightly inaccurately-named "Dynamic" Eighty-Eight proves that no matter how vestigial or contrived, Olds still weren't willing to let go of the fins, even by '63. Great colour







There's always room for everyone's favourite racing pickup, the El Camino



The ElCo is a couple of years later than this '68 Chevelle, but you can still see the family resemblance. Oh, yeah, it's got Uncle Alf's ears...



65 Falcon looks great in this livery paintscheme that really brings out the lunging arrow-like styling



Fleetline? I'm always a bit hazy on these post-war Chevys, but I think this is a '49-ish Fleetline. It's a great profile, like the Hulk equivalent of a Beetle or something







Viper stripes just never cease being cool... is there a car that they look cack on? Not sure. Especially not on errrrmm... a Viper





The popularity of seventies TransAm/Firebirds goes to prove one or more of three main theories; 1) you had no choice if you wanted a muscle car, it was this or the even nastier equivalent Camaro; b) that bloody film where a moustache and a car carried more charisma than the cast had a lot to answer for; and errr... iii) there are more of "them" than there are of us. BUT certain aspects of it have a certain kitsch charm... from certain angles, lol





Brooklands really is a great setting. Even on a busy bustling summer day filled with punters queuing for Concorde and huge queues for the barbeque tent, you can still fluke photos like this;



I like later Thunderbirds. There, I've said it. And I'm not ashamed. I know to some members of the car-lovin' fraternity "real" T-Birds only had two seats and the super-sized bruisers post '58 are bordering on the blasphemous. But then, it's not as though the '55-on models were ever going to trouble a 250GTO through the bends anyway, and though the styling definitely had a restrained purity, when you look at the sheer unrestrained enthusiasm with which it was replaced, you can't help but love them. Can you? I present for the defence a nifty '59 (ignore the ugly spots) and a rocket-thruster-propelled '63











Another car that's everywhere is Don Scott's Superbird rep. It's sometimes easy to get a bit blase about such excellent cars when you see them every weekend... and then you need to give yourself a shake and realise that when a man is tired of mad Superbird aero and Hemi crate motors he's probably tired of most things. I do wish it still had the original hood rather than this cowl-induction monstrosity though



'69 Superbee. This one looks like it's had a hard life. But then it's a homologation special dragster... it's supposed to have a hard life





Sacked!



Mercury Montclair. As if in apology for seeming unkind about the last Mercury (I'm really not, that Cougar is great, for all different reasons). I love this '56; like a BelAir, but for discerning gentlemen







Parisienne. Another apparently-everywhere car this year. A Canadian Catalina-thing, in a superb colour and just a bit different. Nicely





And if we can have a Canadian American Pontiac, why not a British American Ford. How about a nice Pilot V8?



Like the bumper sticker says; if you can't Dodge it, Ram it.



Groovy little '40 Plymouth is another welcome departure from the more usual Fords. Even in primer grey...

[Lucky]

If Ford really thought up the "personal luxury car" concept to cover the fact that their sportscar the T-Bird actually wasn't all that sporty at all, then Buick knew a bloody good idea when it bit them in the tush, and ran with it. And hurrah for them because otherwise we'd never have been awestruck before the demented majesty of a boat-tailed Riviera







After all, it's not as though they didn't have plenty of smatterings of mental flakes for breakfast throughout the long and often inglorious history of the marque. The Riviera might have been one of the more recent spasms of insanity but bear witness this '56 Special. Oh, it's special all right. After all, it has a spaceship on the hood intake, the front bumper overriders are jet intakes and it has rocket exhausts down the sides of the fenders...







...all of which begs the question of how much more special this '58 Super needed to be to be... well, super rather than Special







Buick, we salute you!

We're nearing the end now, and as you all know, my dear departed old Granny always said you should end on a song. But with all this faded American glory all around us, the only thing that springs to mind is Jefferson Airplane's She Has Funny Cars and I appreciate that bygone stoner whimsy might not please everyone. So maybe, if you'll pardon the phrase, we'll end on a high instead.

I've mentioned a few times now about cars that pop up at loads of shows (well, I guess I'm guilty of that myself, it's not like I have a choice since I only have RX-7s to drive to shows in, even if they're completely inappropriate to he genre on show), and that it's easy to get jaded towards the ever-presents. This is our fault, not the cars. They don't stop being awesome just because we're used to them, we just stop noticing it. But with that said, it's nice to see some things we haven't seen a million times before. One such beast was this stunning 1959 Chrysler New Yorker (I suppose back in its namesake city it'd be a Noo Yoiker). Utterly original and unrestored, it's like a time capsule.. like walking onto a dealer's floor in the late 50s and seeing one for the first time. The only real clues to it's age are little things like the way the pink paint has worn through to white on the door-top where the driver's arm would rest whilst cruising. Talking to the current owner, he filled in the car's history. Bought new and shipped to a lady in Sweden, it's still only got very low mileage (like 30k) and has been loved all its life. She must have been quite the talk of the town on the main drag in Stockholm or Uppsala! So many details to wonder at; all the original decals in the engine bay, the push-button semi-automatic transmission, the Art Deco glory of the dash... superb car, held me captive for a long time















But for all the excellence of such a brilliant survivor car, perhaps my favourite of all on the day was also the most unusual. And hardly even what you'd really think of as an American car... although almost entirely designed for and sold in the American market, it was actually designed by a German and built in Germany, the engine and running gear were based on that most humble British mainstay the Triumph Herald. Although Heralds weren't rear-engined and didn't feature twin props, of course



Yep, it's a real, live Amphicar! Something I've never seen in real life before and can now tick off my bucket list of cars to ogle before I die. I love it, not just because of the fact it actually works ... both as a car and as a boat, albeit quite spectacularly badly at both by all accounts... but because it's something so stupid, so insane, so far-from-ordinary that it represents far more than just a hybrid of transport methodology. It represents the ability of humans to push themselves beyond the boundaries of what is accepted, what it the norm, what is easy and mundane and dull and trite... and to do something that defies all logic just to prove that it damned well can be done.

This damn-the-torpedoes-ism is something, if I might be so bold, that's sorely lacking from much in society these days. Amphicar. Excellent









That's me done then. Next time we'll be looking at the Brighton Speed Trials and asking the essential question "is a 186mph Allard driven by an octogenarian strictly safe?" Until then, thanks for the company and try not to fall down the stairs on your way out

[KiwiDave]

Awesome! Just like being there