Summer is drawing to a close, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s been, in the UK at least, a bit of an odd one. Not only has the weather been a bit off colour for most of it, those events that have happened have often been on the “wrong” date, and various restrictions have inevitably had to continue. Indeed, it does sometimes still feel like it ought to be the 534th of March 2020. Never mind – CCs are still about – here are some of my picks of the CC season summer of 2021, in no particular order.
First up, a 2000 Fiat Coupe 20v, with the 1998cc 20v five cylinder engine with a turbocharger.
All in, 220 bhp and styling to match.
This is the car that brought Chris Bangle to the world’s attention, including the boardroom at BMW.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Something else Fiat – a 1971 Fiat 500L. L for luxury, 500 for 499cc.
It’s not often a Citroen C3 (Citroen’s Ford Fiesta competitor) can tower over anything, but it can a Fiat “Nuova” 500. Truly Dante Giacosa’s masterpiece.
A car with a universal appeal to rival the Mini, 2CV or Beetle, or indeed just about anything else.
Sticking with a rear engine, a 1973 Hillman Imp mk 2, by now a Chrysler UK product.
The Imp was not a commercial success but endured for 13 years, to 1976 and the implosion of Chrysler UK under a Government bail out.
Any Imp on the road, or even on the show circuit, is rare now, so one this good in a daily driver condition is very scarce indeed.
No such selection could be complete without a Morris Minor. In this case, a 1970 Traveller with the 1098cc A series engine.
In another case of how cars have grown, the blue next to the Minor is a European Ford Fusion, a tall crossover built on the 2002 Fiesta.
This car is dated to March 1970; production of the saloon ended in November 1070 and of the Traveller in April 1971. A very late Minor in other words, after production had been moved from Cowley to make way for the Morris Marina.
In the same car park, a 1986 Porsche 924S. The 924S was a late model of the 924 and used a detuned version of the 944’s 2.5 litre four cylinder engine, rather than the VW 2 litre engine the earlier car came with. More of an entry level 944 than a typical 924.
I don’t normally go for white cars, but this one works for me, just.
This one is not quite what it seems but it serves a purpose and deserves its moment in the sun
Despite initial appearances, it’s actually a post war 1948 Humber Hawk Mk II, though in fact any differences to the 1945-7 Humber Hawk Mk1 were minimal, which in turn was little more than a 1938-40 Hillman 14 with a bootid and no running boards.
But for WW2 military reenactors and explainers, it’s close enough to represent a senor Army officer’s transport, which was typically the larger Super Snipe or the Hillman 14.
Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery had a Super Snipe, which has been preserved.
A 1950 Morris Oxford MO series. Looking like a Minor that had eaten all the pies, it a 1476cc 4 cylinder engine. Torsion bar front suspension and unitary construction were evidence that Alec Issigonis was moving Morris forward.
Alongside it was a 1939 Morris Eight Series E, the first compact Morris with no running board and faired in headlights. This was Morris’s main family market car from 1938 to 1948, give or take the obvious interruption. The 918cc side valve engine lived on in the Minor to 1953.
An interesting paring, which were travelling together. But what were they parked in between?
On one side, MINI Clubman, from the same Cowley factory. And on the other (next to the Oxford) an MG XS, a Chinese built compact SUV carrying the famous badge….
Across the car park, a 1962-64 Austin Healey Mk2 convertible, the first beginning of the softening of the big Healey from a real man’s sports car to something a little calmer and comfortable.
Technically, a four seater, though I’m not sure quite who would want to ride in those seats over that rear axle.
Still, a nice example of a charismatic car.
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Nice selection I thought the 39 series E Morris 8s were all two doors, mine was, Hillman Imps arent particularly rare here a whole herd of them turned up to the British Euro show I attended recently including a Commer Imp van, MO Oxfords are coming out of the woodwork lately people keep finding them stashed away in sheds long forgotten but in usually reasonable condition, Lately Ive been seeing a Morris Minor woody in the town where I keep my Superminx someone uses it as their daily commuter she waves if I pass her going the other way in my wagon, those Fiat 500s were called a Bambina here locally assembled there used to be a few about theres one sitting atop a shipping container in a nearby wrecking yard with a A30 Austin for company both beyond salvage.
What a wide and wonderful range of ages and brands/models, thanks!
That Pontiac isn’t a Tempest GTO, it’s a full size model (Bonneville, Catalina, etc.). I think Catalina, although my memory on these, never great to begin with, is getting fainter.
Thanks for the correction
Skye is correct, the Pontiac is a full-size B-body. Looks to be a Catalina.
I love what you did with the last Pic. H2O plate on a convert with the top up in the rain. Brilliant 🙂
That is actually entirely unplanned, but just occasionally British car shows do need an umbrella….to keep the dry from being diluted….. 😉
Lovely “curation” as they say today, albeit about anything from the three nasty biscuits at a meeting to the considerations of vastly-overeducated Professors about what does or doesn’t hang in the Louvre, but I digress.
For my digestion on this particular day, I shall choose your selected GTV-6. Plasticated as Giugiaro’s original work it might be, it whets my today appetite the most. Tomorrow, who knows? (Being a loony, probably that Stanza, but again, I digress).
Chris Bangle The Disliked probably shouldn’t be. His BMW’s were infamously infamous, but I remember thinking even upon the release of the 7-series that it somehow won’t date, and 20 years on, it kind-of hasn’t. I still don’t like it and sort-of do, so same then as now.
The bangly point here is that he’s a designer of more skill than many car nutters might want to admit. That Fiat coupe proves it. It looked unusual-but-good on release, and still does, and maybe even better than that. If a design endures, it clearly has real merit. The Fiat did, and does.
And without wishing to be impolite, Sir Rog, I reckon it’s a better collection of metal shapes than the GTV of the same period, which somehow does too awkward a job of marrying the square and roundy eras. Tipo-chassis limited, it ends up, proportionally, looking like too much of a square.
I’ll just nick off in that ugly and speedy XJ-S now, before you can read this and get all Alfa-red and huffy.
Hi Justy,
your opinion on styling of the Fiat vs the Alfa GTV is just as valid as mine, and I agree with your observation about Chris Bangle’s design’s ageing well.
I’ll race you to get to the XJ-S……
Our kid can get quite touchy about his Alfas….
but you’re right, the Fiat Coupe looks better
(bet that’s knackered my chance of a go in the Alfa)
Great finds here, and my eye is drawn to that GTV-6. What a great example! I’d found an ’84 GTV-6 parked curbside a year or two ago, but not in nearly as good condition. It’s on my (long) list of cars to write up some day.
The US Government license plate surprises me, since I thought those plates were only used domestically. The “AF” prefix on that particular plate designates it (logically enough) as belonging to the Air Force, but I’ve never seen a US Government plate with more than six characters after the prefix. – and I live not far from Washington, DC, so I come across quite a few of these.
So, thanks for including this unusual US plate here!
Well, since you shared this odd cross-continent license plate find, I’ll share my own recent find.
Just last week, I saw this car driving around Virginia — the license plate is a Belgian diplomatic plate. I’m guessing the car belongs to US State Department personnel who had been stationed in Belgium, but haven’t gotten around to re-registering their car. This is undoubtedly not an unusual plate to see in Europe, but here in the US, it’s definitely out-of-the-ordinary:
That’s a European-specs car, probably not the property of a US permanent resident. One of the two boxes pictured here would’ve been ticked on its HS-7 form.
Interesting. I noticed the rear fog light… and assumed that it was a US-spec car, but the owner added the rear fog light during the car’s time in Europe. Are there any other features that tell us it’s a European car?
I wish I knew whether Belgium has country codes on its diplomatic plates – that would help piece together this car’s story.
Good point; on second look, that rear frog lamp looks like an aftermarket item slapped on carelessly.
Some really outstanding stuff in this selection, Rog.
The Volvo is a delight, as is the Giulia in that unusual green. The one that really wins my vote though is the Humber. Huge, obviously high-end, yet completely unfamiliar to those of us of the Continental persuasion.
Ah ha now the second page loaded I see more Alfas that red Busso Spyder is the model my cousin has lots of engine very little car, his is blue, While in sunny Hawkes Bay where old cars last quite well I saw more Alfasuds than Datsun Stanzas, somebody obviously looked after that one,Big Pontiac contrasting the small Lotus next to it and a XJS there were a couple of daily driven V12s roaming Napier not that long ago but suddenly they are collector cars it had to happen though all the old bangers I once drove as end of life cars and threw away are now collectable.
Wonderful selection and very enjoyable comments…
Is it heretical to prefer the Pontiac to the Jag?
No
In this company the XJ-S seems like a rather pedestrian choice, but I just can’t resist them. I also prefer the coupe to the convertible, and somber colors over the more garish. One point I’d differ on would be the choice of motivation, as the 6 would be perfectly fine with me, and less notoriously cantankerous is a car already known for cantankerousness regardless of engine. A 3.6 powered example in classic British Racing Green over saddle would suit me just fine. We had a bright red convertible in the family, which I was absolutely smitten with, but it was really a bit too “Look At Me” for my more mature taste. It was the late 80’s though, so I suppose in its day it wasn’t entirely inappropriate.