Reference


FittedUK 2019

FittedUK 2019

I know, I know. What’s a Green Party member doing at a car show?

I like cars, particularly ones with a bit of individuality. If I ever get to the point where I can afford to run one, switching it to electric power will be part of the customisation. Until then, I’ll enjoy the looks and styling of other folks’ rides, and steal ideas for models for the Spinneyworld Shop.

Enjoy the Flickr album. You may have to click on the image to go to the site, depending upon how temperamental the embedding code is being today.

I just got a second hand digital SLR, so I was trying it out and experimenting with settings a bit. There was definitely a lot less noise than I got from the last camera I used in EventCity, but even with aperture priority set to its widest, and ISO at 800, exposure times were enough to introduce the occasional blur from shaking. I’ve not included the worst of those, of course. And cars with darker paint jobs are less well represented as well. The autofocus had issues differentiating them from dark backgrounds.


Going sideways. Sipping champagne.

2015-Rolls-Royce-Drift-by-Paddy-McGrath-1-1200x800

I don’t understand the rules of competitive drifting, but I do love the spectacle of it*. I also appreciate the humour an No-Fucks-Given attitude of many of the participants. Particularly when the result is something like this stealth black Rolls Royce drift car, built for a pro drifter as part of a TV documentary.

What I always wanted to see was a chopped, sectioned and channelled Roller, kustom style. The nearest I’m going to get to that is building one as a kit. I started one based upon one of these Minicraft Silver Cloud IIs, but butchered it. I need to buy another and have a go again.

*Motorsport could be considered a guilty pleasure for a Green. I don’t care.


Ultimate Custom Show

Ultimate Custom Show 2015

I’m a bit of an odd Green, because this was my birthday day out (a day early). Usually you’d have to drive to the location of a car show, which is tricky when you don’t have a car, so to be able to walk to this one was pleasant. There were some really nice cars and bikes present, and a few trucks decorated with film inspired murals that bordered on kitsch. They weren’t too tightly packed, which gave me plenty of room to get some nice shots, but it felt a bit sparse. A little bit of a let down, for what I paid, but I got some neat pictures.

A couple of cars looked familiar.

Ultimate Custom Show 2015

I’m pretty sure this….

Object of Desire-Cartoon hot rod

Is this.

Ultimate Custom Show 2015

And this is a beast I passed a few times on the ride to work.

The full gallery is below.


Lost in the Antarctic

I have an idea for a sci-fi/virus outbreak story that has become an almost permanent fixture on the “will do one day, honest” list. Parts of the backstory would probably take place in an abandoned Soviet science town. None of those in this impressive collection of images, but the desolation of some of these abandoned Antarctic outposts could serve as good reference for the art if the story becomes a comic as planned.


I remember the Seventies

Cheshire Auto Promotions Indoor Classic Car Show 2011

And so did the builder of this car it would seem. It’s very retro, though I think the metalflake paint has been augmented with the colour shift stuff found on TVRs (and Nissan Micras, for some reason).

Cheshire Auto Promotions Indoor Classic Car Show 2011

I doubt it goes to many shows in Germany.

It makes me want to buy some old issues of Custom Car or Street Machine.

Most o0f the pictures I took at the indoor classic car show on Sunday are quite noisy because I didn’t use the flash or think to go to full manual and tinker with ISO, aperture etc.. However, there are a few of them in this Flickr set.


If Morse were American- Drag Jag

Dragster Jaguar Mk2

Another image from Butch Pate’s Fotki galleries, which gave us the hot rodded prison bus last week. A Mk2 Jaguar dragster (or possibly even Pro Street car, it has the headlamps and indicators as a nod to street legality, and it looks like there’s a number plate on the rear and the Oklahoma equivalent of a tax disc in the window). I can’t imagine Morse piloting this through the sleepy country roads around Oxford. Unless he really needed to get to the pub, which was a quarter of a mile away, in about 12 seconds.

Drag Jag Drag Jag Drag Jag Drag Jag Drag Jag interior Drag Jag interior Drag Jag


Billetproof

Hot rod modellers, or builders, looking for inspiration should definitely check out some of the machinery which turns up at Billetproof shows. A lot of it straddles the old genius/insane line then bleeds the air bags and sits on it defiantly. What can I say, I want a lowrider Rolls.

Jalopnik has quite a few Billetproof posts.


Drifting at the Trafford Centre

Drifting at the Trafford Centre

It may be wrong for an eco-worrier such as I to enjoy motorsport, but I do. I’ve been fascinated by drifting for a while. I blame Need For Speed and Initial D. The rules of drifting must make it the only motorsport which is scored on style. Mostly I was happy to see cars going sideways and I didn’t mind who won.

Drifting at the Trafford Centre

Drifting at the Trafford Centre

Drifting at the Trafford Centre

Motorsport doesn’t often come this close to the centre of Manchester. That the course could be laid out with mini cones on the Trafford Centre’s overflow carpark must have helped. Practice was on the Saturday, but I went for the racing on the Sunday. There was other entertainment laid on- a monster truck and motocross stunts- and a number of interesting cars in the car park. By the end of the day I was covered in flecks of tyre rubber, a side effect of standing on the apex of the corners. There are more pictures in the Drifting at the Trafford Centre set.


Objects of Desire- the Morris Minors of Didsbury 2

I went for another architecture wander this morning, but as well as the buildings I also found a few Morris Minors. No other classic cars today, just three rather nice examples of Sir Alec Issigonis’ second greatest design.

Morris Minor Morris Minor

Morris Minor Morris Minor

Morris Minor Morris Minor

I’d love to have a Minor, though I’d want to make a few minor tweaks- disc brakes, improved suspension and a newer engine. Nothing too silly, I reckon it should be easy to find something that’s both more powerful and more economical than the old block that would come with a vintage Moggy. It’s not like I’d try to emulate Nic Mann’s creation, which was the fastest street legal car in the country for a few years-

And how could I possibly pass up a chance to play this-

I’ve been driving in my car, it’s not quite a jaguar
I bought it in primrose hill from a bloke from brazil
It was made in fifty-nine in a factory by the tyne
It says morris on the door, the g.p.o. owned it before
I drive in it for my job, the governor calls me a slob
But I don’t really care, give me some gas and the open air

It’s a bit old but it’s mine, I mend it in my spare time
Just last week I changed the oil, the rocker valves and the coil
Just last week I changed the oil
Last week it went round the clock, I also had a little knock
I dented somebody’s fender, he learnt not to park on a bender, ha ha ha

I’ve been driving in my car, it don’t look much but I’ve been far
I drive up to muswell hill, I’ve even been to selsey bill
I drove along the a45, I had her up to 58
This copper stopped me the other day, you’re mistaken what could I say
The tyres were a little worn, they were o.k., I could have sworn
I like driving in my car, I’m satisfied I’ve got this far

I like driving in my car, it don’t look much but I’ve been far
I like driving in my car, even with a flat tyre
I like driving in my car, it’s not quite a jaguar
I like driving in my car, I’m satisfied I’ve got this far

MAdness- Driving in my Car (Available, along with a load of others, on Total Madness)


Object of Desire- Patina finish Chevrolet pickup 1

Patina finish Chevy pickup

You can keep your Ferraris and Lamborghinis. This is the sort of car that gets my attention. I spotted this lowered, rust finished Chevy pickup in Salford on the ride to work yesterday, and soon regretted not stopping to take pictures. But it was still there on the way back, so this time I got off the bike and grabbed a few shots.

Patina finish Chevy pickup Patina finish Chevy pickup Patina finish Chevy pickup

The number plate says it all- “Rough as toast” and just as tasty.