Voitures Anciennes

[RobertArthur]

Modern bodywork is so much harder. Not that I’d venture out onto the streets these days to carry out all sorts of repair work, but still. Take a front wing, for example: with a spanner or ring spanner, you could loosen those things in no time. And all sorts of bodywork parts were simply available on the market – either from official dealers, aftermarket suppliers or scrap yards. And that sometimes resulted in an attractive, albeit temporary, appearance for what were essentially quite sleek car makes with a classic and solid look. This is further emphasised below by the building in the background. That dark blue colour seems to have fallen out of favour quite a bit these days. A brand like BMW remains faithful every now and then to what was almost its traditional colour style – here a 330e. Fairly heavy, quite fast, so it needs powerful brakes. And, of course, BMW isn’t immune to public taste – or perhaps the designers’ preferences? – but the shade of grey they’ve chosen isn’t, at any rate, that matt, dull colour you’d find on a warship. Another BMW 330.
In matters of taste, there is no argument, I know – so let’s go for a different colour. A black 2005 BMW Convertible – not half bad either, quite a distinctive front end, actually. It does look a bit like a pair of sunglasses.

[RobertArthur]

France's Route Nationale 7 (RN7) is a legendary 996-kilometer (619-mile) highway running from Paris to Menton on the Italian border. Known as the Route des Vacances, it served as the ultimate post-war holiday artery to the Côte d'Azur before modern toll motorways bypassed. The same story as the Route 66. Exactly 200 kilometres from the capital, France’s last rest stop on the RN7 is still open, in Pouilly-sur-Loire, in the Nièvre.

Picture please.


More mobility here.


Voyage sur la Nationale 7.


And even a tricycle on the RN7.

[RobertArthur]

[RobertArthur]

A 1967 Austin-Healy 3000 MK III. Another one in the USA.

[curtis]

Whilst the 6 cyl engine is good, nothing can beat the original Healey 100. Much more beautiful. IMHO
Here is mine.

[RobertArthur]

Exactly 65 years ago, an iconic picture, a classic car: a Ford Taunus 12M/15M Kombi (G13) produced from 1952-1959 by the Ford-Werke AG in Cologne. Back to the fifties. Design influences from the other side of the Atlantic: its nickname was "Weltkugel". Also pictured the Berlin wall under construction, a surprise start.

[Polarengineer]

One looks like the Brit version ford consul and the other a lockheed constellation with 3 vertical stabilizers.

[RobertArthur]

Ford Taunus and Ford Consul, a timeline.

Summer holidays 1950s style: unpack your Taunus Kombi and set up the camping tent.

[RobertArthur]

" Forget about holy-grail Ferraris – the car we’re most excited about at the Monterey auctions is this unassuming Mercedes 280 TE. Buried by an earthquake and landslide in Italy in 1980, it stayed untouched until 2018. Now it heads to Gooding Christie’s at Pebble Beach with a stunning estimate price. "

Auction house Gooding Christie’s had estimated the sale price in advance at between 130,000 and 160,000 dollars. In the end, interest proved to be much greater. The hammer fell at $252,000, equivalent to approximately €215,000. This makes the remarkable Mercedes probably the most expensive unrestored W123 estate car ever sold. It is the story behind the car in particular that makes it unique: for almost four decades, it was literally a car from an underground time capsule.

This 1979 Mercedes-Benz 280 TE - with a classic 2.8-liter inline-six engine - was purchased new from the factory and was kept in the owner’s garage near Avellino. On November 23, 1980, the region was struck by a severe earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale. The quake caused major landslides and devastated parts of Campania and Basilicata. It wasn't until 2018 that the remains of the garage were excavated. The Mercedes emerged from beneath the rubble. Despite having spent nearly four decades underground, the station wagon turned out to be remarkably complete and original in 2018. The odometer read only 6088 kilometers. Instead of fully restoring the car, Mercedes specialist Scott Grundfor Company decided to leave it in its original condition as much as possible. Combined with its very special history, this Mercedes may well have become even more appealing.

Bird phoenix resurrexit.


That car used to be right at the top of my wish list, but well beyond my budget, sweet dreams... Below are a few pictures from the original Mercedes brochure from that time. I still have it in my paper archive. If it had been stored on a 5 1/4-inch floppy disk, the magnetic tracks would have disappeared long ago.

[Polarengineer]

Here is one made earlier 1979. A south italian merc that was buried for 40 years in its garage after an earthquake. Finally rescued having only covered 6100km before the quake, it was updated with new safety parts (which they obviously got wrong in 1979) it was auctioned in the US and fetched €215000.
for the Dutch readers and those with translation tools on their computer.
https://www.ad.nl/auto/auto-ligt-bijna- ... ~a34357f2/