Valve Bounce

Bella Italian Morris Minor Traveller

Daily drivers Rome edition number 2. This Morris Traveller is probably the height of sophistication in Rome high society, forget your fancy Lancias and Maseratis. BMC is where the smart money is.

Spotted on a Rome backstreet with some very exotic badges on the rear, it's obviously well travelled and seen some action over the years.

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Fiat 500s in Rome

It's daily drivers Rome edition. Guess what there are lots of Fiat 500s in Rome.

I was particularly impressed by their battered state and some of the rust patterns which approached works of art, quite heart warming.

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Old Mercedes-Benz, do they really go on forever?

I spotted this postcard earlier in the week. An illustration of the Woody Allen quote "Eternity is a long time, especially towards the end". What else could you possibly use to illustrate that quote?

Available in the UK from Cath Tate Cards.

Steve McQueen's Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso

It it must have been the most expensive car at the NEC Classic Car show last week, Chris Evans only brought his Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spyder not the £5m SWB version, and it certainly was one of the most evocative.  Steve McQueen's 250 Lusso was a mere $2.3m a few years ago and is now apparently living in the UK.

What strikes you first of all is the audacity and confidence that must have inspired the colour scheme, the paint is a medium-brown metallic hue called Marrone. This is decidedly unconventional in a world where most 250s are red, some are a conservative navy or possibly, if courageous, canary yellow. However, it works beautifully, especially with the beige leather interior; in the flesh it looks elegant and tastefully understated.

The book McQueen's Machines does a good job of describing the story behind the car. Apparently it was purchased by his wife for his 34th birthday and cost $14k. It features the same v-12 configuration as the 250 GT/SWB and GTO with three 36-DCS Webers giving around 250bhp. McQueen owned it for three years and sold it after his attempts to stop it burning oil failed. The valve guides would wear quickly and even after a rebuild the problem persisted. Oh the joys of Ferrari ownership.

Photo (c) Watson Family Archives

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Another Bugatti - a Veyron this time - lifted from the depths of a lake

In perfect symmetry with a story from earlier this year when a 1920s Bugatti was lifted from the depths of an Italian lake.  It's happened again, only this time in Galveston USA, and it was pulled it out a little sooner this time.

From the Galveston Daily News:

The two-seater, with 16 cylinders and four turbo chargers, can reach speeds of more than 250 mph. New models sell for about $2 million.

The man, who refused to give his name, was looking at real estate in Galveston.

About 3 p.m. a low-flying pelican distracted him as he travelled north on Interstate 45 just south of the hurricane levee near Omega Bay.

The man jerked the wheel, dropped his cell phone, and the car's front tire left the frontage road and entered a muddy patch, which foiled his attempt to manoeuvre away from the lagoon.

The Veyron's powerful engine gurgled like an outboard motor for about 15 minutes before it died.

Just how stupid would that make you feel...

NEWS FLASH....amazingly someone just happened to be filming it when it crashed, see if you can spot the pelican (and I'm not quite sure why they thought it was a' Lambo'!).

The new ecofriendly Mini from Birmingham City Council

I spotted this unique car parked up in Birmingham recently, I'm not sure if it's a daily driver but it must be ecologically sound nonetheless. All part of the Birmingham City floral trail.

I'm not sure what happens when you get above 30 mph, some foliage might suffer....

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London to Brighton Veteran Car Run Concours 2009

The 113th London to Brighton veteran car run was held last Sunday. We went along to the international concours event which for the last few years has been held on Regents Street the day before. Over 100 of the 550 entries were on display. It’s a really great way to spend a Saturday morning with some fabulously rare and historic cars mixing with the early Christmas shoppers. It’s largely a static display but there are a few cars which are driven up and down Conduit Street. This always gets a lot of attention especially the steam engines which need a lot of coaxing into life.

These are unique cars which have taken a real commitment to build, maintain and run. Owners are only too eager to tell you their cars history which in one case involved a twenty year rebuild with many new parts being made by hand on the lathe in the garden shed. I’m sure that is a common story after all your local Motor Factor isn’t going to help much. Many entrants have owned there cars for many years and come back to this event year after year.

There are always lots of familiar manufacturers cars on show; Fiat, Renault, Mercedes, Benz, Daimler, Peugeot, Ford and Cadillac. But it’s the number and variation of obscure names that always is surprising; Martini, Clement, Rex, Humberette, Pope-Tribune and Knox - the list could go on for a very long time. The variation in the driver controls is fascinating with variations in pedal layouts, braking systems and even steering controls. The evolution of the motor car must have been a cut-throat business but it gradually filtered out the best designs and strongest companies.

Having spent a few days at Fowey Hall earlier in the year, which apparently was the inspiration for Toad Hall (of Toad of Toad Hall fame) it was also good to see owners maintaining standards by dressing for the part and wearing some marvellously silly hats and goggles…

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Steve McQueen and The Great Escape from London N1

Steve's on the run again in London N1...

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