Tag Archives: British Cars

Car Shows, Cars We've Seen

1973 Triumph Stag at the 2017 Radnor Hunt Concours

Leave a comment

Triumph Stag Front//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

Triumph’s TR series was excellent, until the bender hit rock bottom in 1980 with the cheese-wedge TR7. Luckily, one of their brightest spots outside of that series was the striking little Stag, released in 1970 and pulled from the lineup in 1978. They weren’t without their flaws, but the body style, looks, and driving dynamics were above par in the Seventies. Just don’t keep it too long, or you’d be seeing your mechanic more often than a home-cooked meal. While far from the best car money could buy, it was a fun car for the times and still had plenty of appeal. This particular brown example shone brightly at the Radnor Hunt Concours last fall.

Triumph Stag Interior//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

Triumph Stag Rear//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

-Albert S. Davis

Advertisement
Opinions

The Senna is awesome, but please stop calling it a “hypercar”

1 Comment

The new McLaren Senna is sure to be many things, but I really don’t think it should be considered a “hypercar.” Yes, that’s right, while most others are writing the same sort of ass-kissing articles about the Senna, I’m over here with my critic hat on.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the Senna a lot, and I’m sure it will be fast in ways not thought possible, but performance alone doesn’t constitute what makes a hypercar a hypercar. In fact, I’d say it’s traditional for the next generation of track-focused supercars to exceed the performance of the previous generation’s hypercars. I mean, the Porsche GT2 RS just shattered the 918’s Nürburgring time, but does anyone consider that a hypercar?

To me, the Senna seems pretty much the 720S equivalent of the 675LT in the previous generation, an ultra hardcore track-focused version of the McLaren Super Series car. Now, it does seem as though the Senna is an even more of a step up over the 720S than the 675LT was over the 650S. They’ve definitely raised the stakes here, so if the 675LT was the 650S turned up to 11, then the Senna is the 720S turned up to 12. But, faster lap times or not, that sure as hell doesn’t put it at the relative level of a P1, let alone the legendary F1.

Continue reading The Senna is awesome, but please stop calling it a “hypercar” →

Opinions

Some say self-driven cars will be extinct in 10 years. They must all be test tube babies…

1 Comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

If everyone is really turning their backs on the automobile, then why does Singer exist? I mean, there’s a very long waiting waiting list of very wealthy people excited to spend many hundreds of thousands of dollars on a car they apparently don’t want. No, it’s clearly a chore for them when they’d all rather be carted around in autonomous electric cars, because that’s the future. I mean why would anybody want a tiny loud car that actually requires effort to drive? And with 500hp in such a featherweight package, isn’t it terribly unsafe? Why would people be lining up to get their hands on something like that in 2018?

Continue reading Some say self-driven cars will be extinct in 10 years. They must all be test tube babies… →

Car Shows, Cars We've Seen

My first McLaren 720S at Driven By Purpose

1 Comment

McLaren 720S 3

This was my first time seeing the new McLaren 720S in person, at the Driven By Purpose event in Liberty State Park. It’s pretty damn incredible when you see it in the flesh, a true cutting edge supercar. It’s proportions seem a tighter than those of the 650S, which it replaced, and a lot of the styling that seemed questionable in photos made sense when you can distinguish every little contour. I also loved this copper orange and black two tone color scheme. Very cool indeed, and supposedly that 720hp claim is more on the conservative side.

We’ll surely be seeing many more 720S’ around in the next year. Now I just need to find one I can drive for a proper review. Enjoy the gallery!

Continue reading My first McLaren 720S at Driven By Purpose →

Car Shows, Cars We've Seen

Some Highlights from Cars and Caffe at Garden State Plaza

3 Comments

Porsche Carrera GTs at Garden State Plaza

Cars and Caffe at Garden State Plaza was incredible yesterday. I hadn’t been before, and I didn’t really expect it to be quite as big an event as it was. There were thousands of people, and hundreds of cars, many of which were top-tier hypercars. The Holy Trinity was in attendance, as well as 2 Paganis, 4 or 5 Carrera GTs, an F50, Ben Chen’s Panda Bugatti, and Team Salamone’s incredible Avantador SV. Also of note, I finally got to see my first Callaway C12 Corvette in person, after having the AutoArt model on my shelf for years.

There were some great sights and sounds throughout the day, and I was blown away with the turnout. It’s kind of crazy to see people rolling up in a cars like a Ferrari 488 and barely being noticed. The rest of the parking lot was a sea of Ferraris, McLarens, Lamborghinis, and Porsches. I will definitely plan on attending the events next year, and I urge everyone in the Tri-State Area to do the same.

Enjoy these highlights. There’s a lot more to come!

Continue reading Some Highlights from Cars and Caffe at Garden State Plaza →

Car Shows, Cars We've Seen

This 1914 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost Alpine Model took Best in Show at Misselwood

Leave a comment

1914 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost Misselwood 22

I knew this unbelievable 1914 Rolls Royce Alpine Model would win Best in Show the moment it pulled up to the preview for the Misselwood Concours. There were tons of stunning cars there, but this thing had that “pop” that separates the royalty from the mere aristocracy.

This Rolls is pre-war, but we’re talking pre-World War 1. That’s right, this magnificent automobile existed when men were still riding into battle on horseback. It’s one of just 4 Rolls Royces assembled in the US before the onset of The Great War, and it remains as grand a Rolls as any since.

This car’s body and chassis, separated in 1983, were just reunited in 2015, and a lot of work was put in to bring it to the beautiful condition you see here. It totally took my breath away, and I shot literally hundreds of photos of it. What’s even better is the owner told me he drives the car around 5,000 miles per year on various rallies. He said concours events are a secondary concern to actually using and enjoying the car. You gotta love that, it’s a concours winner and it’s not a trailer queen.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is how it’s supposed to be done. Enjoy the gallery of this immaculate Rolls Royce, and you can find a little more info on it at the bottom.

Continue reading This 1914 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost Alpine Model took Best in Show at Misselwood →

Car Shows, Cars We've Seen

Aston Martin Lagonda S3 at the Greenwich Bonhams Auction

Gallery Leave a comment

Aston Martin Lagonda Front

It’s quite a shock to the system to see a real Eighties Aston Martin Lagonda. Unpopular when new and a true curiosity today, these cars were packed with enough technology to make the Pentagon look Philistine in comparison of the era. Of course, that amount of 1980s technology wasn’t the best for reliability, and sales proved it. With a price approaching $90,000 at the time, these were quite a hefty purchase at the time, adn thanks to the below par reliability (even in the later fuel injected models like this one), they were not very popular. Today, they’re a bargain at the auction, but still tough to run thanks to a slow following even to this day. Continue reading Aston Martin Lagonda S3 at the Greenwich Bonhams Auction →

Cars We've Seen

Check out the incredible spec on this Rolls Royce Dawn

Leave a comment

Rolls Royce Dawn at Miller Motorcars

After the Concours on Saturday, we spent the evening walking around Greenwich having some cigars, getting dinner and some coffee. We made our way over the check out Miller Motorcars’ strip of insane highest-of-high-end dealerships. When we reached the Rolls Royce dealer, this Dawn with an unbelievable spec was lit up in the showroom.

It’s looks black in the photo, but it was actually dark midnight blue, and yes that is an orange leather interior with a matching pinstripe. I couldn’t get enough of it, and I hope I didn’t leave too much drool on the window.

Stay tuned for more of our fantastic weekend at Greenwich to come!

-Nick