British Car Meeting in Mollis - Riley, Connaught and many others

One of the biggest car meetings in Switzerland every year is the British Car Meeting in Mollis (Glarus). Situated at an airport it offers both the drivers/owners and the spectators an overview on basically any car ever produced in Britain. This years guest of honor was Riley and it was quite a gathering of (mostly post war) Rileys, rarely seen here. But whatever you are interested in concerning British cars, you probably would have been able to spot one - Lotus, TVR, Nash, Hillman, Vauxhall, Triumph, MG, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Aston-Martin, Rover, Land-Rover, Jaguar, Morris, etc. they all were there, about 1'300-1'500 of them. And, probably for the first time ever, the brand new Connaught V10 GT was shown in Switzerland, as a protoype. The weather was perfect, not too warm so that most cars even survived some queuing at the entrance, sunny and dry. See you again, next year, same time!

Rolls-Royce Corniche Convertible - a classic car for larger families

The Rolls-Royce Corniche, built between 1971 and 1995, is yet another long runner. Based on the Silver Shaodw that is a good car as well, the Corniche was THE luxury convertible for centuries. The car is quite monumental and really large, but the design covers the size well. It's one of the few five seat convertibles, so often the only possible choice for aristocratic English families with bigger families.
The car has changed only marginally in its 24 years of being built. Bumpers changed and some of the luxury accessories in the interior, but that's probably it. I like them both, the Silver Shadow and the Corniche. And they are great value for the buck! A Silver Shadow in very good condition will decrease your bank account by less than a tenth of what a modern Rolls-Royce Phantom would cost you. The Corniche is probably valued at a fifth of the modern alternative. This is not because they were cheap, they were actually quite expensive comparing to a Volkswagen Golf or any other car. But they haven't kept their value well, especially the limousine. That's good for the buyer! And as Dieter Meier, the frontman of the pop group Yello used to say: If you forget about maintenance cost, fuel consumption and depreciation, it's actually a very economical car to own.

Motoring in 2000-2009 - why there's so little to be remembered from that decade

In the previous post I talked about the cars from the passing decade that people will remember in 20 to 30 years. However, maybe more interesting than these memorable cars from the 2000 to 2009 decade is the very long list of cars that will be forgotten and why that’s the case.

If you have read my other list you will have missed a number of cars that you may have expected, for example certain models from BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes or Audi.
The Audi R8 didn’t make it onto the list, because while Audi being brave entering a new category with a new car, the R8 wasn’t really that innovative. BMW didn’t really present any remarkable model during and after the Bangle period. The Mercedes SLS is somewhat interesting, but will only really arrive in 2010 and even then it is somewhat of a Dinosaur. The Ferrari 458 Italia could have made it onto the list, but didn’t because it’s only shipped in 2010. However it’s an impressive and beautiful car offering Ferrari Enzo performance at half the price. The Alfa-Romeo 8C is probably the best repackaging gig, but is almost more of a showcar than a real production car. And what about the other manufacturers? Where is Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce, Porsche, Bentley or Honda? None of these really brought something new and exciting that will be remembered in 20-30 years.

I even wonder whether people in 2030 or 2040 will remember any car of the passing decade. In all the decades before there were some really mind boggling cars, for example the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing in the 50ties, the Jaguar E-Type and the Lamborghini Miura in the 60ties, the Lamborghini Countach in the 70ties, the Ferrari F40 in the 80ties or the McLaren F1 in the 90ies.
Super and hypercar manufacturers totally missed the point in the 2000-2009 decade really. Where is the sub-1000kg 400+ HP rocket that could have made the difference combining performance AND efficiency? It is possible from an engineering point of view, it’s just a lack of imagination and passion hindering us to go there!

What we will remember though from the 200x years are the massive failures, such as Saab going down the drain, GM, Chrysler and Ford going after governmental help, BMW dropping models in in-existent niches, besides many other events.

Cars starring in TV Series - best of the best

As announced in my blog post on cars in movies, I assembled also a list on TV Series with cars as stars. Of course almost any TV series will show cars here and then, at least if we forget western TV series like Bonanza or Science Fiction like Star Trek, but in some of these TV programs cars are more important than in others. The Ford Torino in Starsky & Hutch for example plays an important role, as does the SUV that Colt drives in The Fall Guy. Some TV series even did more for car makers in terms of publicity than a lot of their own marketing department. Most people for example know the Ferrari 308 GTS that Magnum drove in Magnum PI. The Aston Martin DBS and the Ferrari Dino 246 GT in The Persuaders are legendary. And many people know the Volvo P1800 sportscar rather from The Saint than from having it seen on the street. By the way in one episode of The Saint Roger Moores drives a TVR Vixen race car. Emma Peal in The Avengers uses a Lotus Elan (S2 and S3 models), John Steed drives a vintage Bentley. And the Harts in Hart to Hart use a range of cars including a Rolls-Royce Corniche, a Dino 246 GT, a Mercedes 450 SL and a Mercedes 280 TE model. The Professionals use and crash various Ford models and The New Avengers drive Jaguar XJS and other 70ies cars. Many people probably remember Miami Vice, showcasing a Ferrari Daytona spider, though being a fake. It was replaced later with a white Ferrari Testarossa and helped to sell the car in the US. So the list could go on, listing Pontiacs (K.I.T.T.), Thunderbirds (Vegas) and others. However two series are special in my eyes.
TopGear is more a car show than a TV Series, however it's not that clear. And finally "Michel Vaillant" was a TV series produced in France, telling the story of the Vaillant family, being both car manufacturers and racers. Interestingly many of the Vaillants looked a lot like Alpines or Matras, but is okay. The race scenes at the Targa Florio and other races are a joy to watch and nothing like this has been produced since.

What a shame - Harald Schmidt blowing up a RR Silver-Shadow

Comedians and obviously TV talk masters do come up with all kinds of more or less funny idea. Here's one from Harald Schmidt, blowing up a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. Now, this is clearly not a car in pristine condition and probably could be bought for the price of a Volkswagen Polo or less, but it's still a 70ies icon and I actually do love the shape and the aura of this car. So, how funny the idea may be, Mr. Schmidt, please take another car next time, for example a Cadillac or a Buick or something.