GENUINE FERRARI

         
Ferrari 430 competitor in the Ferrari Challenge support race - Le Mans 2011 .

SHANNONS DAY STUFF

More stuff from the recent Shannons Day at Eastern Creek  .I only remembered my old little Canon G7 at the last moment .

DUCATI 250

Beautifully restored 1956 Ducati 250 single seen at Eastern Creek Shannons day . It was too tightly parked to get a photo of the whole bike so details will have to suffice .

PORSCHES UP THE CREEK

It was the Shannons Classic Car Show at Eastern Creek Raceway ,Sydney,NSW today .As usual a big turnout of classic cars . I took my 2.2 911 down to be part of the Porsche club display . Here's my personal take on the Porsches .The 550 maybe a replica but it is a very good one with 914 motor and even a 901 gearbox .

RED NOSE DAY 1

Ferrari 430 in transporter at Le Mans 2011 . This car competed in the Ferrari Challenge 10 lap support race on Saturday morning . For just a ten lap race the teams brought a serious load of gear.

PIG UGLY

If you think that the XJS ( see post below) is ugly take a look at the Marcos Mantis-- seen at St Saturnin ,Le Mans .It's difficult to comprehend but someone must have designed this,others must have thought it worth building and someone still loves it.
Back to the XJS post below friend Roger ,Jaguar expert extraordinaire,reminds me that Malcolm Sayer , who styled the XJS ,also styled the beautiful D-type and E-type Jaguars.I guess we all have bad days.

TIME WARP XJS

I caught up with an old friend yesterday who has this 1987 ,97000 km Jaguar XJS . It is pristine .Probably better than when it left the factory but it feels preserved not restored. An absolute time warp .
The XJS has never been a car I have liked - I find the styling clumsy -the packaging is very poor -- the engine bay is a mechanic's nightmare -- and it was beset with quality and reliability problems- and it was such a let down after the absolutely stunning E-type.Nonetheless now I can appreciate the silky smooth V12 engine and the peculiar English charm of the car .The fact that this particular XJS cost about 30% of what an equivalent age/condition Porsche 911 would cost says that the market agrees with me .
I drove up the 155 kms to see him in my 1977 2.7 911 which I'd take anyday over three XJS's but each to his own.I may have roared up there and back but I still prefer that to wafting along.

L'ART DE L'AUTOMOBILE

I went to L'Art de L'Automobile exhibition in Paris at the Museum of Decorative Arts ( a wing of the Louvre ) whilst in Paris in June . It is a display of Ralph Lauren's personal car collection -or part of it . And what a collection it is.Amazing cars- beautifully displayed . And whilst I enjoyed it I would have prefered to see them at the Goodwood Revival or the Le Mans Classic -- on the road or track . Fat chance .
The exhibition runs until 28th August -see http://www.ralphlaurencarcollection.com/
I have put some of the photos I took in Paris on the trip into a book -- see http://www.blurb.com/books/2340713

MORGAN DOG

                   
Classic British cars have a surprisingly strong following in France .The French are also dog mad so the correct accessory for a French Morgan has to be an Old English Sheepdog or a Border Collie but given the space limitations in a Morgan un chien ecosse -a scotty dog - is a pretty good substitute.
                French Morgan Owners club display St Saturnin Great British Welcome Party, Le Mans .

PEUGEOTS - 90 YEARS APART

Beautiful 20's Peugeot radiator badge on car in Autoworld Brussels . Five days later I was watching some very different Peugeots nearly win Le Mans .

AUTOWORLD

Opposite the War/Aviation Museum in Brussels ( see previous post ) is Autoworld -- a large motor museum featuring some interesting stuff including this very weird  Bugatti . Apart from being pig ugly it looks so fragile that I doubt if it could actually be driven on the road for any distance. What a waste of a Bugatti chassis .

PLANES,PLANES.PLANES

I'm not really into aircraft -- despite having spent a lot of time sitting on them over the years . But in Brussels there is a vast war museum and it has an aviation section which really is amazing .It is just like a vast depository for discarded aircraft ( military and civil) and bits of aircraft and helicopters and aviation memorobilia some going  back to the first world war .There is some really interesting stuff including a Caravelle jetliner from the now defunct Sabena airline.It looks so small nowadays yet in its day it was state of the art . The museum is well worth a visit even if you are not into aircraft .And admission is free.