What classic vehicles have you seen?

[GHT]

First John claims that my wife's Scirocco Scala is a classic. She's had it from new in 1987, it gets used regularly but not left anywhere like a multi-story car park. It's been vandalised a couple of times. After the second attack I bought us a 1998 MK3 Golf, that would have been in year 2000. I say us because my daily drive is a whopping great Mercedes Sprinter van, so when I need a car, I use The Golf and when she wants to go to a town centre to have her hair done, she uses the Golf. I say her hair, because if I told you how often she has her "nails done," you would tell me to get real.
In this month's Practical Classic magazine there's a two page spread about the MK3, the why's and wherefore's. what to look for and so on. Hold on, a MK3 is a classic? Don't cars ever reach the banger stage anymore? Not that the missus' Golf is a clapped out banger, on the contrary, in 18 years there's only one fault that she can find with it. She's bored with the thing. But calling it a classic, puhlease. The missus is more of a classic.

[jpsh120]

I recognise that venue - I presume Rare Breeds day @ Haynes Museum back in September. Had to be elsewhere on the day else I would have been on parade with Doris-the-Datsun. Like the Rapier in the background of the Metro shot.
I currently volunteer (ie "dust & dither") at BMM aka Gaydon a couple of days each month - there are always some great cars in the car park at least at weekends. Must post some..........
Ed

You have the correct venue but the photo was taken last Sunday at the Breakfast Club meet. The Rapier you can see is mine (hence my user name), and you've now given me an excuse to include a photo of it that I took on the day

Coincidentally, I took it up to Gaydon last year as the owners club national rally was held there, managed to win best fastback which I was well chuffed with. The car is being featured in Classics Monthly next month too

[GHT]

Long before I knew that a phone could be used as a camera, I saw a BMW Mini in a gaudy pink sort of colour. It had on the bonnet a picture of a zipper, partly undone, exposing a voluptuous, curvaceous cleavage. The number plate was BE 11 END which, when you close all the letters and numerals together, looks like BELL END. The image of that car conjured up some stripper with big bazookas and if you need BELL END explaining, I don't believe you.
So, today I saw a similar number plate, not sure what this one conjures up, but I am sure that this ugly little Italian car will have Rich getting all excited. I do worry about that man.

Hell Run, is that taking the missus and three kids in the car to the supermarket?

[rich.]

sorry mate, i cant get excited about those.. i used to own an alfa arna once, that was rather lovely....

[vulgalour]

November is over so here are the things I saw.

HOT DAMN! An actual Rebel out in the actual wild.




Obviously, the car you want to use when they've started putting salt down is a Frogeye Sprite on chromed wire wheels. Who says you need a 4x4 for winter?


I almost liked this Mini, it was so close. Colour and trim was appealing, I just wish it had been sporting steels and hubcaps. I have a dislike of Minilites on almost anything, even Minis.




Holden Monaro, the really very Australian one.


Inoffensively modified Mk2 Golf.





That's your lot. Not been a lot to see lately.

[JPB]

*Falls off seat*.

...Not just any Rebel but one whose owner has actually informed the DVLA of its change of engine capacity! Well done someone for keeping up with the paperwork, many wouldn't have bothered when 750s are easier to get and look similar to the untrained eye to the original 700.
Where was the small Reliant seen please? I can't find anything about it in the kitten register's archive which excites me to an alarming extent..



One vaguely interesting thing I saw all week was a very lovely Emberglow red mini HL Estate, circa 1981. Nice, but finding a Reliant Rebel estate actually out in public.. Vulgalour has won the thread as far as I can see! Only a Quasar motorcycle being ridden by that actor who played the brewery rep in a 1981 episode of Coronation Street would have beaten that for a spot. Possibly.

I feel what you're saying about minilites, but the worse crime is surely that they're 12" wheels where 10s should be? There's no clinical need for 12s on a mini of that age. I say we should just be glad that the mini hasn't been fitted with spats from a later car, which look awful and aren't needed unless much wider wheels are fitted.

[3xpendable]

Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me, but saw a near mint (as expected in this dry climate) Renault 19 on the way out to dinner the other night.

Also, I can't disclose the location, but near me I found a stash of MGB's (Both Roadsters and GT's) including the 800th production roadster, an MGC, a mini, a couple of Morris Minors, some Triumphs, 2 MK2 Cortinas and an MG Magnette in various states of repair in a yard





Also saw this nice Mustang parked up in town last month:



Also helped our neighbour load his sons Ford Fairlane onto a tralier for him to take to where he now lives:

[UKJeeper]

Local Austin and motorcycle clubs, doing their annual new years day meet:

[vulgalour]

*Falls off seat*.

...Not just any Rebel but one whose owner has actually informed the DVLA of its change of engine capacity! Well done someone for keeping up with the paperwork, many wouldn't have bothered when 750s are easier to get and look similar to the untrained eye to the original 700.
Where was the small Reliant seen please? I can't find anything about it in the kitten register's archive which excites me to an alarming extent..

In the main car park in Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees. I've not seen it again.

December 2016








January 2017










Not been seeing a lot of stuff out there lately, but what stuff I have seen has certainly been unexpected when it's popped up.

[JPB]

That beige Acclaim is stunning! Not just because it's beige yet still shiny, but also because it's the top of the range CD version as, I think, is the red one, but red on an Acclaim just doesn't turn me on the way the beige does.
Not as exciting as another four wheeled Reliant image - of which more later as I saw one today - but nonetheless good solid spotting, I must improve my game methinks.

That spot from earlier this very day was an example of Reliant's finest ever four wheeled motor vehicle and it was still in active service with a recently renewed Hackney Plate. People who take photos at taxi ranks are generally treated less well than trainspotters by regular people, so I avoided pointing my phone at it, just in case, but here's a similar example from the pages of the interwebs:



The local polises must stop that red one every day to give its driver grief over that illegally spaced reg plate..